Carrie Bradshaw clones on the streets? It may happen, if the "Sex and the City" movie makes a splash this summer. If so, it will be just another example ... moreof how movies have a tremendous influence on our fashion choices: Film and fashion are so inexorably linked, we almost don't notice their trendy sway. Working as big-screen invitations to don duds we may have feared or using fashion to signify a character's quirkiness, movies have contributed to major changes, trends and standards in hair, makeup and clothes. So, to credit celluloid's style authority, we count down our personal favorite 10 important fashion moments in film. Not the 10 most fashionable stars, mind you, but 10 outfits that became not only iconic, but in some cases, standards. To this, we tip our hat.

 

Lately, Diane Keaton has been lambasted for her fashion sense. Yet there was a time when she was celebrated for it. As Woody Allen's quirky, eponymous leading lady in the beloved "Annie Hall," Keaton received kudos (and an Oscar) not only ... more for her performance but also for her irreverent style. Costume designer Ruth Morley worked alongside Ralph Lauren to create Keaton's signature look of cheeky, chic menswear. Her hat, man's tie, shirt, waistcoat and wide-leg pants appeared simultaneously polished yet just thrown on. More importantly, the look perfectly symbolized Keaton's New York character -- not overtly feminine, a little daffy yet wholesome and always up for new experiences (like reading the National Review). The look became a '70s sensation as women opted for Lauren's masculine/feminine style, making menswear à la mode. As Annie would say, it was all very "la-di-da."

Read my entire list here.

--posted by Kim

The great director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack (so stellar in "Tootsie," "Eyes Wide Shut" and one of Woody Allen's greatest, "Husbands and Wives") has passed away.

 

I had heard he was ill, but this still comes as a shock to me. He always appeared so solid and healthy. I'll write more about the man, a man who has directed a few of my favorite repeat viewing pictures (ask me how many times I've seen his brilliant "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and you'll think I need professional help) and a multi-talent who wore many hats and skillfully worked in multiple genres. He was a force in Hollywood and in some of his best work, a true artist. 

 

Here's an obit from The New York Times.

 

And here's some of my favorite Pollack pictures:

 

"The Firm" (1993)

"Out of Africa" (1985)

"Absence of Malice" (1981)

"The Electric Horseman" (1979)

"Tootsie" (1982)
"Absence of Malice" (1981)

"Three Days of the Condor" (1975)
"The Yakuza" (1974)
"Jeremiah Johnson" (1972)

"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969)
"Castle Keep" (1969)
"The Swimmer" (1968) (uncredited work)
"This Property Is Condemned" (1966)

 

Rest in peace Mr. Pollack. I'm set to watch "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" -- yet again. Or maybe for lighter fare, "Tootsie" -- nothing makes me happier watching you hilariously holler at Dustin Hoffman: "A tomato doesn't have logic!" 

 

And the Palme d'Or goe to...

From Dave McCoy's report at Cannes:

I was just finishing up my final dispatch when the word came down that the Cannes jury had made their award selections. Coincidentally, I was writing a rave review of the second to last film I saw Friday at the festival. It's called "Entre les murs" ("The Class"), directed by Laurent Cantet. It's passionate, pulsing with life and along with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Three Monkeys" the best film I saw at Cannes.

Apparently, the jury agreed with me.

In an unanimous decision, "The Class" just received the coveted Palme d'Or, which not only means the jury got it right, but in the process, ended 21 years of French failure and frustration at Cannes. The last French film to win the festival's top award was "Under the Sun of Satan" in 1987. That Cantet is among the best current French filmmakers (rent "Human Resources" or "Time Out" for proof), rather than a one-time knock off, is icing for a French nation hungry for a win. Jury president Sean Penn set the tone two weeks ago when he said the Palme d'Or winner would (and I'm paraphrasing) reflect what is going in the world i.e. a social or political work. "The Class" is definitely that. It's entirely set within the walls of in an inner-city Paris junior high school, either in a class room or a teacher's lounge. It's the anthesis of typical American maudlin underdog teacher-student movies, like "Stand and Deliver" and "Lean on Me," instead presenting school realistically, difficultly. Cantet made enit tirely with non-actors and it's easily the smartest, most authentic film about school I've ever seen. It's also hilarious (the kids could have collectively shared the acting award) and riveting, and delves into socio-political-racial issues (not to mention educational approaches) in naturalistic ways. Never does the film stoop to preachy, heavy-handed sentimentality. Hopefully the Palme means the film will find an audience in America. It has the potential to be a huge art house hit.

The jury also made me do the happy dance by awarding Ceylan the Best Director award for "Three Monkeys." Other winners included: two Italian films, "Gomorra" and "Il Divo" won second and third place prizes, respectively; the Dardenne brothers, who failed in their third attempt for a Palme d'Or, settled for Best Screenplay for "The Silence of Lorna"; Best Actress went to Sandra Corveloni for "Linha de Passe" and Best Actor to deserved Benicio del Toro for "Che." That award, plus special jury prize for Clint Eastwood and "Changeling," was the closest thing to an American win. Yanks were otherwise shut out. Also shut out was the well-received, visionary Israeli feature, "Waltz with Bashir." I guess the jury doesn't like animation.

For the rest of the list, click here.

Read the rest of his Cannes coverage here.

--posted by Kim

Critics couldn't be any more split regarding "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

 

Here are two tremendously disparate takes:

 

Indy love from Seattle Post-Intelligencer's William Arnold: "It's crammed full of the dash, filmmaking flair, swashbuckling magic, impossible stunts and tongue-in-cheek humor that made the series such a phenomenon of its time, and -- for those versed in its traditions -- almost every frame is enjoyable on some level."

 

And then a little...

 

Indy loathe from Village Voice's Robert Wilonsky: "It's hard to tell whether Spielberg and Lucas are trying too hard or trying at all--the thing's such a mess, such an unmitigated disaster, that damned is the scholar stuck with the unfortunate task of deciphering this cynical, clinical gibberish in decades to come."

 

And a bunch of critics somewhere in between. Read their reviews here.

 

And obviously, you will decide for yourself. I'm no box office genius, but there's no stopping audiences from seeing this one.

 

 

 

I can't wait for Steven Soderbergh's "Che" -- and no, I neither owned nor wore a Che tee-shirt ever in my life... 

 

From Dave McCoy's report at Cannes:

 

Don't get me wrong: Soderbergh's opus is a staggeringly impressive piece of work. It's pure storytelling, because the director has dropped all his self-reflexive tricks. I can't fathom how he made this thing. One of its greatest achievements, however, is also one of its biggest flaws. I don't think I've seen something this large in scope and length be so minutely, acutely focused. Despite covering 10 to 15 years, it's not sprawling. In fact, the two halves are reverse images of each other, or two sides of the same peso. Soderbergh is not interested in a thorough character study of Che; he views him as an ideology and cause that's mobilized.

Outside of a few flashbacks and flash-forwards, Part 1 is a meticulous study of the Cuban Revolution, from Fidel Castro's initial idea to take out dictator Fulgencio Batista to the final drive into Havana, from a ragtag group of boys landing in Cuba without enough weapons, to the military machine that took down Santa Clara (an exhilarating 40-minute or so battle that will surely be studied in film schools). It's raucous and celebratory, a passionate look at camaraderie during battle and ultimately victory. At the center is Che (Benicio Del Toro, in easily the greatest performance of his career; you don't see the actor ... he just becomes Che), the doctor-turned-rebel, the man who wrote the book on guerrilla warfare, a charismatic leader, fierce idealist, humanist, principled, motivated, educated ... well, as presented here, perfect (in battle, the dude had a broken arm and still hits the streets firing a machine gun like Tony Montana in "Scarface"; he's a god). Part 1 is revolution and ideology gloriously realized.

Part 2 is the flipside of the peso. Post-Cuba, Che heads to Bolivia, incognito, to start another proletariat revolution. However, this time, things don't work out so well. Peasants don't trust the rebels, the United States refuses to let another Cuba happen and intervenes and ... well, it ain't pretty. However, it is scrupulous and visually stunning -- the full year in the jungle is portrayed in more than two hours; I think Soderbergh watched Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" too many times. Despite the failure, at the center is Che, a charismatic leader, fierce idealist, humanist, principled, motivated, educated, who as presented here -- in the middle of a gigantic, miscalculated, bloody debacle -- is still perfect.

Read his entire take here.

--posted by Kim

We'd like to think all women are sweetness and light -- terrific girlfriends, wonderful mothers, loving, caring individuals, right? Oh, please.

Nice is, well, nice most of the time of course, but who doesn't enjoy a little spice in their life? Even if said spice is riding a broomstick, wielding a dagger or transforming into a dragon? They're certainly never boring and decidedly cinematic. The villainess, from Medusa to "Mean Girls," makes for some of the greatest roles in cinematic history -- which is why we're excited to watch ubertalented Cate Blanchett play sexy Russian dominatrix Agent Spalko in the eagerly anticipated "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Reportedly inspired by famed James Bond villainess Rosa Klebb (who appeared in "From Russia With Love"), Blanchett got us thinking about the treacherous tradition of female movie villains, and we've listed 10 of our favorite ladies (including one little girl and one fairy) here. To paraphrase the great Mae West, these gals show that when they're bad, they're better.

Here's a few of the bad girls gracing my list:

Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), "Misery" (1990) Bates' Annie Wilkes is a nurse with a past who "just happens to" rescue her favorite writer, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), a novelist whose car crashes in a snowbank. Though tending to his every need and nursing him back to health, the... more fanatical woman isn't going to let him leave. No, really, she's not going to let him leave -- even if she has to break both of his legs to keep him bedridden and under her control forever! This Stephen King adaptation could have been some cheesy, ridiculously over-the-top stuff, but Bates is so fantastically demented and Caan is so genuinely terrified that the horror and black humor meld together beautifully. "Misery" offered Bates, who was relatively unknown at that point, something she could sink her teeth and claws into with explosive abandon; and, again, not only was she scary as hell, but also hilarious -- her creative use of expletives like "cockadoodie" are howlingly funny. And who can forget her threat: "You just better start showing me a little appreciation around here, Mr. MAN!" Sure, she's nuts, but after "Misery" we were her No. 1 fan.

The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) If you're old enough to remember pre-cable days, you may recall those thrilling childhood moments when "The Wizard of Oz" would appear on TV. Excited to watch the movie, you would always think you ... morewere prepared. Sure, it starts out rather innocent, albeit a little scary but lovely (especially when Judy Garland's Dorothy sings the beautiful, iconic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow") but then ... that witch shows up. Long considered one of the most, if not the most, horrifying visions of our youth, Margaret Hamilton's enduring, green-faced Wicked Witch of the West was like a nightmare come to life. (How many of you hid behind couches when she appeared? Fess up.) And truly, Hamilton's witch was a nightmare since (spoiler alert ... but, please, you've all seen this movie) sweet little Dorothy was, yes, dreaming about her memorable exile to Oz. Dream or no dream, when Miss Witch hissed, "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!" or unleashed her horrific flying monkeys on the kind Kansas girl -- kids, adults, animals and any other living thing was sufficiently freaked out. And no one has touched that gleeful, evil cackle.

Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), "Double Indemnity" (1944) Oh, Barbara. You were often bad, but you were seriously evil in "Double Indemnity." Phyllis Dietrichson is one of the sickest femme fatales in film noir history. Stanwyck took to her dark part with nasty ... morebrilliance as a double-crossing, bitchy seductress in Billy Wilder's seminal noir, donning that now famous blond wig, that sexy, cynical smirk and (dear God) that anklet, oozing a snaky sex appeal that's deliciously evil. Eyeing her mark in Fred MacMurray's insurance salesman, Stanwyck convinces the lovesick lug to help plot and execute the murder of her husband, but, as usual in these situations, nothing ever comes off without a hitch -- numerous hitches in this case. All dolled up in pom-pom heels, creamy sweaters and dramatically lined lips, Stanwyck's Phyllis, who's not as young as she used to be and not quite as lush, can't hide the poison within her. And her chemistry with MacMurray sizzles as they swap barbs and coos with sleazy ease. They yearn for more, but Stanwyck, the perfect noir siren, seems perfectly aware of how fatalistic this kind of dream really is. Sometimes murder really does smell like honeysuckle.

Read my entire list including Rhoda, Mrs. Danvers and the great Rosa Klebb. And all hail the bad girls!

--posted by Kim

I'm fascinated by the very (very) controversial ex heavyweight champion/pigeon lover/ex prisoner Mike Tyson so I'm more than intrigued by James Toback's documentary on the fallen champ. And so are the French.

 

So much so, that MSN's Dave McCoy was a little grossed out.

 

As he reported from Cannes:

 

The only event that rivaled Indy last weekend was Mike Tyson's appearance on the Croisette. He was here promoting the documentary "Tyson," which is playing in the Un Certain Regard program. The man is a three-ring circus unto himself, so all the attention he received wasn't surprising. However, what was surprising was his reception. I've seen some bizarre things at Cannes during the past few years, but nothing compares to watching the former heavyweight champion-turned-freak-show get a standing, cheering ovation upon his introduction at the Debussy Theater on Friday night. And this was before the movie screen. So to recap: The thug who went to prison for rape, who has physically abused numerous people outside of the ring, who bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight and who famously said things (among thousands of inanities) such as "I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children" got a hero's welcome. I needed a vomit bag.

That reaction was nothing compared to the fawning the film got from the audience and subsequently the press. Director James Toback ("Fingers," "Two Girls and a Guy") said before the screening he wanted to show the iconic figure as a "noble human being." Reread my earlier description of Tyson ... and yet, Toback seems to have fooled them all. A French paper the next day led with the headline: "Mike Tyson, Tragic Hero." What a friggin' sham.

Read his entire take here.

--posted by Kim

The report from Cannes regarding the worldwide premiere of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull": not great, not terrible just (and I think this is worse) booooring.

 

From Dave McCoy:

 

The movie began, lasted two hours, ended and ... nothing. As the lights went down, a few folks in the balcony cheered and began serenading the screen with the film's theme song. When the lights came up, those same fans cheered. And the rest, the other couple thousand people packed into the Lumiere Theatre -- many of whom nearly trampled one another to get into the horribly organized screening? We, they, quietly stood up and filed out. The behavior was the same during the film: quiet, still, languid. Now, if we were watching a Ken Burns documentary, that wouldn't be uncommon.

Sadly that was what I experienced during "Indy 4." I didn't laugh much (there is a great prop joke about 10 minutes in and another snake gag that works), never felt exhilarated or had that incredible sense of "Oh, wow! That was cool!" That wave of nostalgia never washed over me when Indy first appeared. Nor did the absolutely incomprehensible plot either challenge or annoy me. I stopped trying to figure it out rather quickly, but there was nothing to distract me this time. Seriously, explain the plot of "Raiders" or "Temple of Doom." Go. I didn't think so ... it doesn't matter because the rest of those movies compensated for the convoluted plots.

But now, it's been several hours since I saw "Indy 4," and the only thing I can really say for certain is perhaps the most damning thing you can say about any action/adventure film: It's boring. And in fact, if I don't finish writing about it soon, I'm in serious trouble, because I won't remember it tomorrow. (I'm not kidding; I saw another film after "Indy 4" and I'm really having a tough time here, kids).

Before you say, "Well, Dave, you obviously don't like the series" -- well, I do. I own it, I love it and I can tell you exactly where I was the first time I saw all three films. So, even though I was skeptical of 65-year-old Harrison Ford donning the hat-and-whip combo again (oh, there is a salacious Calista joke in there, but I digress) and having to watch another one of George Lucas' ideas, the kid in me was excited. I just wanted to have fun. Silly me.

Read the rest of his review here.

--posted by Kim

From Dave McCoy's Cannes dispatch:

 

No cute, self-absorbed intro today. No cheap shots at Paramount for debuting "Kung Fu Panda" at the most serious film festival on the planet. Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?

"Kung Fu Panda" (playing out of competition) is the best non-Pixar animated film I've seen since "Happy Feet." It doesn't have that film's depth or subtext or, honestly, originality. But it makes up for its predictable plot and tired underdog message with some incredible visceral energy, an unadulterated love for its oddball characters and genre, and, most importantly, a completely random, off-the-wall, gave-me-the-giggles sense of humor. I'm not saying there were bongs in the filmmaker room ... actually, yes ... yes, I am saying that. Look, it features the resin-stained vocal talents of Jack Black and David Cross. Hellll-o?

You want an example? Sure, but first let me set it up. The movie is a formulaic martial arts genre picture, only animated. The major difference is that every character is an animal. It's set in a small village at the base of a kung fu temple in China where pigs (my favorite one sports a 5 o'clock shadow ... yeah, so I'm easily amused) and bears and all sorts of furry or flying critters commingle, sans humans. Our protagonist is an obese (weight issues, uh, weigh heavy in this film) panda named Po, voiced by a laid-back Black, who spouts "awesome" a lot and basically plays his "High Fidelity" character if his obsession was kung fu instead of music. (Here comes that example.) Though he dreams of becoming a martial arts warrior, Po works with his dad at a noodle house. Oh, and his dad is a goose. Why? Who knows, dude! It works, bro. (If I could write the gurgling sound of water being sucked through a bulbous contraption, here's where I'd insert it.)

Read the rest of his dispatch here.

--posted by Kim

 

 

From MSN lead film editor Dave McCoy's Dispatch at Cannes:

Upon arriving at the Debussy Theatre for the festival's first film, the opening-night morality drama, "Blindness," I spotted an MSN Movies contributor waiting in line. After exchanging pleasantries, he leaned in and said, "Sir, you may want to check your zipper." I did and then realized I had just enjoyed coffee and walked several blocks with my fly open. Thankfully, we Americans love telling other clueless Americans about our foibles. It also begs an important question: Reader, can you honestly trust a man's critical opinion when he doesn't even realize when he's sailing at half mast? You have 10 days to decide ...

White Out

First up for consideration is "Blindness," which has the honor of both opening Cannes and being entered in the official competition (it joins 21 other features, all vying for the prestigious Palme d'Or, not to mention many other awards). It's a fairly ironic choice. After all, what faculty does one need more than sight during a film festival? Yes, hearing is helpful, but there are plenty of subtitles. Trust me, you don't want smell here, especially on hot, muggy days. And fewer and fewer people actually think about what they see, so thought, reason and analysis aren't as important. But one definitely needs eyes to take in the optical overload that is a film festival, no matter how blurry and battered they are about to become.

So, as if to say, "Hey, aren't y'all lucky to watch what we're about to show you over the next few weeks?" Cannes kicks things off with an allegorical tale in which a city (perhaps the world) is hit, seemingly overnight, with a plague: A contagious blindness hits one man while driving, then blindness is passed on to an ophthalmologist (Mark Ruffalo) and so on. The afflicted see not darkness but blinding white light ("Feels like I'm swimming in milk," admits the driver). God's punishment for man's selfishness? Probably, because director Fernando Meirelles ("City of God," "The Constant Gardener") isn't really interested in telling a tale; he's got a serious morality play on his mind.

Read Dave's entire take here. And XYZPDQ Dave.

--posted by Kim

I don't care about the rumored bad reviews -- I'm officially excited (for Cate Blanchett and Karen Allen...OK...a little for Harrison Ford).

 

Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will be opening May 22 -- 19 years since its last installment ("Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"), and 27 years since its first old movie style adventure, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," a picture some of us hold with higher regard than "Star Wars." But Spielberg and George Lucas aside, a lot of that has to do with Harrison Ford. He brought a weathered masculinity, intelligence and oodles of charm to his adventurous, academic archaeologist. He was a hero who nonchalantly (and hilariously) shot a sword-twirling bad guy, wielded a mean bull whip, and went head to head with crazy Nazis, but can't stand the sight of snakes. So here we are with older Indy, a young Shia LaBeouf, a hot-to-trot villainess Cate Blanchett and (swoon) the re-entry of Indy's true love, Marion Ravenwood (played by Karen Allen).

 

Since we're thinking this might be the last we see of ol' Indy (Ford will soon be 66 years old), we're looking at some of the newer (and older) action stars gracing our screens. Some barely in their 20s, some more seasoned (remember, Ford was 39 in the first Indy movie), these guys might become almost as iconic as Ford. Almost, because, honestly, that's asking a lot. Here's to the new breed! 

 

Here's two from ten on my list of torch-bearers:

 

 

This gruff-voiced toughie has lived a life almost as interesting as some of the parts he has played. In his teens, the tough guy joined the British national diving team, finishing 12th at the world championships in 1992. But that was perhaps just a bit too square for the rough and tumble Brit, who moved into (allegedly, you never know what is apocryphal in Hollywood) the street world as a black-market salesman (no wonder director Guy Ritchie likes him so much). He then became a model, which led to an audition for Ritchie's breakthrough action quirk fest, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." From then on, Statham was in demand, appearing in, among other pictures, Ritchie's popular "Snatch," "The One" (with Jet Li), "Mean Machine" (with Vinnie Jones), the incredibly entertaining "Transporter" films, "Crank," and the impressive "The Bank Job." Up next for this curious cross between Bruce Willis and Anthony Hopkins is "Death Race," the remake of the cult film "Death Race 2000." Let's hope he does David Carradine proud.

 

 

With his fantastically popular WWE career behind him (and that famous arched brow and vocal bravado), millions of viewers had already smelled what "The Rock" had been cooking before this multitalent hit the movie screens in Stephen Sommers' "The Mummy Returns" and "The Scorpion King." Though these two big-budget extravaganzas were Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's entrée into movie-stardom, it was actually Peter Berg's underrated "The Rundown" that revealed the actor's wonderful charm and ease with action and comedy -- whenever he's on-screen, you can't take your eyes off of him. It was also in this picture that an iconic torch was quite literally passed, when then-gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in a cameo, practically anointing Johnson as Hollywood's newest "it" boy action hero. Though Johnson has made an impression in action movies like "Walking Tall" (also underrated) and "Doom," the broad-smiling, sweet-natured, beefy star has showcased an impressive array of characters in movies like "Be Cool" (in which he and Vince Vaughn managed to steal every scene), the massively popular family film "The Game Plan" and the now notorious cult curio "Southland Tales." As far as we're concerned, "The Rock" can do anything, and we can't wait to see what's next (particularly his role as Agent 23 in "Get Smart") for this likable lug.

 

Read my entire list here.

 

 

 

Bad reviews for the new Indy movie?

 

From the New York Times:

 

"Mr. Spielberg is unusually fastidious when it comes to protecting his films from advance word that can diminish excitement or muddy a message planted by months of carefully orchestrated publicity and expensive promotions (including, in this case, a February cover article in Vanity Fair, complete with Annie Leibovitz photos of the cast, and leather bullwhips delivered weeks ago to newsrooms).

 

"Mr. Spielberg customarily avoids leaky test screenings. Even Marvin Levy, his publicist of more than 30 years, said he had not yet seen the new movie.

 

"Still, there it was, at 6:42 a.m. on Thursday: a harshly critical review on aintitcoolnews.com, from a poster who identified himself as 'ShogunMaster.' Rife with details from the film, the review said, 'This is the Indiana Movie that you were dreading.'”

 

Read the entire story here.

 

 

Did you take your mother to see "Speed Racer?" Probably not.

 

If I had kids, I'd rather see "Iron Man" too. Not sure why, but I just know this to be true.

 

Here's the top five movies over the weekend:

 

1. "Iron Man," $50.5 million.

 

2. "Speed Racer," $20.2 million.

 

3. "What Happens in Vegas," $20 million.

 

4. "Made of Honor," $7.6 million.

 

5. "Baby Mama," $5.8 million.

 

 

Reviews for "Speed Racer" (opening today) are, to use driving terms, all over the map.

 

The Good: Time's Richard Corliss: "'Speed Racer' announces the arrival of the virtual movie. If you watch the film overwhelmed by the assault of seductive visual information and wonder what you're seeing, here's the happy answer: the future of movies." [Actually that sounds kind of scary]

 

The Bad: Onion AV Club's Scott Tobias: "Borderline-experimental in the way it challenges the limits of perception.  It's forward-thinking, visionary, and much of the time unwatchable."

 

The Ugly: San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle: "If this action extravaganza represents the future of movies, it's going to be a sad, dead and awful future."

 

The Ugliest: Salon's Stephanie Zacharek: "This isn't a picture filled with wonder and a sense of fun; it's so jaded and crass that I almost wonder if it's a highly unscientific experiment designed to gauge how little audiences will settle for these days. Manic and multicolored, Speed Racer is an excess of nothingness."

 

Read more reviews at MetaCritic.

 

Finally.  A biography of eccentric (and that's a vast understatement) German actor Max Schreck, the greatest vampire ever put to celluloid in F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent "Nosferatu." Though the gorgeously shot "Shadow of the Vampire" featured an inspired performance by Willem Dafoe as Schreck, I wanted to know more about this impressive, yet bizarre actor.

 

From Galley Cat:

 

"'Whoever hopes to discover a vampire will be disappointed, but they will find an actor of real skill and versatility,' biographer Stefan Eickhoff tells Reuters. 'Yet he himself remains somewhat shrouded in mystery.' Max Schreck—Gespenstertheater ('Ghost Theater') will be published in Germany later this year. There's no mention of any American interest yet, but you translate this into English and it seems like it might be of a kind with the early Hollywood biographies the University Press of Kentucky has been doing regularly for the past few years..."

 

I love it when film writer/cultural philosopher/blonde booster Erik Kuersten preaches from his singular mountaintop -- this time championing/quivering in fear over cinematic blonde moms of death (just in time for Mother's Day).

 

Sayeth colleague (and fellow Swede -- I hear you brother) Kuersten:

 

"It's mother's day and as I was watching MULHOLLAND DRIVE just now for the millionth time, it occured to me that my love for cinema would not be nearly so fierce if not for my own mother was not a natural blonde, Swedish to be precise, and if you don't know what that means, it's a mix of tenderness and disinterest, the teutonic fire that burns not out nor warm nor long... and it's what cinema is! For psychological subtext there's Hitchcock and Lynch - Naomi Watts, the mother of mirrors hallucinating in her dirty bathrobe while we hover as camera lens ghosts at her hem line, or Marnie in PSYCHO or Melanie in THE BIRDS, creating this sense of unfulfillable longing-- we can never please her so we spend our lives creating shadow plays to distract ourselves... stuffing birds... a curious hobby, and not as expensive as you'd think, until they attack everyone as manifestations of Jessica Tandy's ferocious id."

 

Read the rest of his story here. Covering moms from "Persona" to "Poison Ivy" -- this is good good stuff.

 

 

--A first look at Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's "Milk."

 

--James Brolin is replacing James Caan in David O. Russell's "Nailed." Guess he'll cough and choke on a cookie...

 

--It's like an indie-cute major talent explosion of crush-worthy actors: Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt together in the Marc Webb-helmed romantic comedy "500 Days of Summer." Wonder if she'll sing? Hope so.

 

--Classsics gone Blue-Ray. Criterion have announced thirteen titles from their collection to be released, beginning in October.

 

--"Beckett shmeckett." How can you not love Elaine Stritch?

 

Pamela Anderson recently had a garage sale and while I can agree with most of the items she cleared out -- why sell your book on the history of Grindhouse cinema Pam? That's a keeper!

 

From the Daily Mail:

 

"Fans hoping for an insight into Pamela would be interested to see her book collection, including political pundit William J. Bennett's moral story book 'The Book Of Virtues', Eddie Muller and Daniel Faris's 'Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of "Adults Only" Cinema' and the pictorial 'Kiss Kiss' by Patrick McMullan."

 

I already own a copy of Muller and Faris's "Grindhouse" but I would have loved to have purchased Miss Anderson's. Or at least told her to hang on to it! And further, reminded her to track down a copy of Eddie Muller's "Dark City" or even better,  "Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir" -- a book she might relate to...or gain some new fashion tips from.