Baumbach's take on Wild Strawberries is full of talent and memorable moments but possibly pulls its punches - George Clooney has some mild regrets but not major ones, ditto Adam Sander's manager (nice wife Greta Gerwig, two kids) and life as a movie star is clearly still pretty good. Full of warmth. Sandler steals the show with a soulful performance. Nice to see Stacy Keach. A lot of nepo babies involved - Emily Mortimer, Bono's daughte, Sandler's, etc.
Showing posts with label Noah Baumbach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noah Baumbach. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Movie review - "Barbie" (2023) ****
Moves like a dream for the first two thirds. Can't quite dramatise its plot and issues for the last third - when it needed to build up to a big song, or dance or something it was a lot of talk. And they struggled to use the Will Ferrell subplot. But it has integrity, the politics are complex, the imagination off the charts. Great that it's such a theatrical experience too.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Movie review - "Little Women" (2019) ****
Bright version of the oft film tale. Benefits from strong production values and cast. Soraise Ronan is ideal as Jo, though the show is stolen by Florence Pugh as Amy, an under-rated role. Emma Watson is fine as Meg, though Meg is a terrible part (she's pretty and gets married). An Aussie played Beth. There's Laura Dern, Saul Goodman and Meryl Streep, and two floppy black haired guys who look like Noah Baumbach.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Movie review - "Marriage Story" (2019) ****
Very good acting. Maybe Scarlett Johansson was outclassed by the others at times but she did pretty well. Intense scenes. Great supporting turns from Ray Liotta and Laura Dern especially - they felt like Hollywood agents as much as lawyers: bombastic, aggressive but not inaccurate Liotta, and nice but nasty Dern, taking her shoes off in the office and talking about her book.
Also strong were Julie Hegarty (so great to see her in a high profile movie), Alan Alda, Merrit Weaver, Wallace Shawn. The character of Driver's mistress was sketchy (she seemed to go from casual root to "I love you" quite quickly). Occasionally sometimes it felt "gag-y."
But it's strong. It's passionate. It's very specific but that gives it universality. Maybe don't watch it with your partner.
Also strong were Julie Hegarty (so great to see her in a high profile movie), Alan Alda, Merrit Weaver, Wallace Shawn. The character of Driver's mistress was sketchy (she seemed to go from casual root to "I love you" quite quickly). Occasionally sometimes it felt "gag-y."
But it's strong. It's passionate. It's very specific but that gives it universality. Maybe don't watch it with your partner.
Monday, February 05, 2018
Movie review - "De Palma" (2017) ***1/2
Funny sort of doco - basically just De Palma talking to camera about his career, interspersed with photos, clips from his films and home movies. But since his career has been so long and varied and De Palma is a strong raconteur (I'd actually never heard him speak before, I think!) it passes the time well.
I particularly enjoyed hearing about his upbringing - upper middle class (dad was a surgeon), squabbling family life but Brian seemed to have plenty of cash (another spoilt boomer director!), lots of education, he only got the film bug at college. Loved seeing clips of a young De Niro, Jennifer Salt and Jill Clayburgh.
De Palma was given a lot of advantages in life (his sex, his background) but was/is a self starter - he had the moxie to make his own feature back in the 60s, and made a living out of doing promotional documentaries. He also has resilience to bounce back from things like being booted off Getting to Know Your Rabbit.
He's got one of those careers where failures are followed by successes then failures. The success of Sisters led to the failure of Phantom of the Paradise led to the success of Obsession (Cliff Robertson was a pain in the neck which was sad to hear) and Carrie, led to the failure of Home Movies, led to the success of Dressed to Kill (the script was hot property and sold for $1 million), led to the failure of Blow Out, led to the success (ish) of Scarface, led to the failure of Body Double and Wise Guys led to the success of The Untouchables led to the failure of Casualties of War and Bonfire of the Vanities, led to the success of Carlito's Way (which he says "I can't do better than that"), Raising Cain and Mission Impossible (clashes in approach from David Koepp and Robert Towne), the mixed success of Snake Eyes and the failure of Mission to Mars, then the more "indie" path he's tread since then.
De Palma comes across as affable and confident, hungering for success as much as anyone in Hollywood, remarkably unaware and un-analytical of what all these scenes in his films where women die violently might mean for him or how derivative he is, and simplistic in his political takes ("it's a sewer"). He's appreciative of great composers and actors and collaborators.
Lots of interesting bits:
- Sean Penn punched out Michael J Fox in Casualties of War to help Fox's performance - thanks Sean
- he still stands by Bonfire of the Vanities
- he's bitter Sidney Lumet pinched Prince of the City off him
- he was offered Flashdance
- he followed his father around when younger to see who his dad was cheating on his mother with
- he hit up Spielberg and Scorsese for money to finish Home Movies
Very much worthwhile.
I particularly enjoyed hearing about his upbringing - upper middle class (dad was a surgeon), squabbling family life but Brian seemed to have plenty of cash (another spoilt boomer director!), lots of education, he only got the film bug at college. Loved seeing clips of a young De Niro, Jennifer Salt and Jill Clayburgh.
De Palma was given a lot of advantages in life (his sex, his background) but was/is a self starter - he had the moxie to make his own feature back in the 60s, and made a living out of doing promotional documentaries. He also has resilience to bounce back from things like being booted off Getting to Know Your Rabbit.
He's got one of those careers where failures are followed by successes then failures. The success of Sisters led to the failure of Phantom of the Paradise led to the success of Obsession (Cliff Robertson was a pain in the neck which was sad to hear) and Carrie, led to the failure of Home Movies, led to the success of Dressed to Kill (the script was hot property and sold for $1 million), led to the failure of Blow Out, led to the success (ish) of Scarface, led to the failure of Body Double and Wise Guys led to the success of The Untouchables led to the failure of Casualties of War and Bonfire of the Vanities, led to the success of Carlito's Way (which he says "I can't do better than that"), Raising Cain and Mission Impossible (clashes in approach from David Koepp and Robert Towne), the mixed success of Snake Eyes and the failure of Mission to Mars, then the more "indie" path he's tread since then.
De Palma comes across as affable and confident, hungering for success as much as anyone in Hollywood, remarkably unaware and un-analytical of what all these scenes in his films where women die violently might mean for him or how derivative he is, and simplistic in his political takes ("it's a sewer"). He's appreciative of great composers and actors and collaborators.
Lots of interesting bits:
- Sean Penn punched out Michael J Fox in Casualties of War to help Fox's performance - thanks Sean
- he still stands by Bonfire of the Vanities
- he's bitter Sidney Lumet pinched Prince of the City off him
- he was offered Flashdance
- he followed his father around when younger to see who his dad was cheating on his mother with
- he hit up Spielberg and Scorsese for money to finish Home Movies
Very much worthwhile.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Movie review - "One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich & the Lost American Film" (2014) ****
Peter Bogdanovich is one of those directors I feel I know personally, mostly because, in addition to seeing his films, I've read so many things he's written - his pieces on directors and actors, especially Orson Welles, are really good. So I'm the perfect target market for this documentary, which explores his life and work, focusing on the making of They All Laughed.
I actually found this a better and more moving film than They All Laughed which I've never loved that much. Bogdanovich is a fantastic protagonist - actor and film enthusiast turned writer about film and then filmmaker; who had such a hot streak from Targets to Paper Moon (all entirely different films); so famous he appeared in the trailers for his movies (as Quentin Tarantino points out, he even sidelines Barbra Streisand in the What's Up Doc? trailer); a high-publicised romance with Cybill Shepherd; guest hosting The Tonight Show. Then the downfall - a series of flops, breaking up with Shepherd - before restoring critical favour with Saint Jack and finding love with Dorothy Stratten and enjoying a wonderful creative experience on They All Laughed.
Then the true nightmare begins - Stratten is killed, Bogdanovich tries to distribute the film himself and goes broke, has a comeback with Mask but stuffs it by being difficult over Bruce Springsteen's music. He recovers to marry Dorothy's sister and makes some decent films but never regains his old heights. (The film omits his second bankruptcy in the late 90s). However he remains revered as a filmmaker, his reputation continues to be strong and the film ends with him making a movie with decent stars, She's Funny That Way.
I was familiar with a lot of the material but there's a great collection of talking heads: Tarantino's take on his films is genuinely fresh; Noah Bambach and Wes Anderson are true fans; Bogdanovich's daughters talk about their dad and his life with love but some wariness; several of his exes appear, including Cybil Shepherd and Colleen Camp. We get to meet some critics such as Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris and Todd McCarthy. There's also Ben Gazzara who sounds like he's had a stroke.
Bogdanovich leant his papers which mean we see his old annotated scripts and, movingly, a card Stratten wrote for him. Bogdanovich was a bit of a goose but is a very talented filmmaker and it's a shame his post 1985 credits aren't stronger. Excellent doco.
I actually found this a better and more moving film than They All Laughed which I've never loved that much. Bogdanovich is a fantastic protagonist - actor and film enthusiast turned writer about film and then filmmaker; who had such a hot streak from Targets to Paper Moon (all entirely different films); so famous he appeared in the trailers for his movies (as Quentin Tarantino points out, he even sidelines Barbra Streisand in the What's Up Doc? trailer); a high-publicised romance with Cybill Shepherd; guest hosting The Tonight Show. Then the downfall - a series of flops, breaking up with Shepherd - before restoring critical favour with Saint Jack and finding love with Dorothy Stratten and enjoying a wonderful creative experience on They All Laughed.
Then the true nightmare begins - Stratten is killed, Bogdanovich tries to distribute the film himself and goes broke, has a comeback with Mask but stuffs it by being difficult over Bruce Springsteen's music. He recovers to marry Dorothy's sister and makes some decent films but never regains his old heights. (The film omits his second bankruptcy in the late 90s). However he remains revered as a filmmaker, his reputation continues to be strong and the film ends with him making a movie with decent stars, She's Funny That Way.
I was familiar with a lot of the material but there's a great collection of talking heads: Tarantino's take on his films is genuinely fresh; Noah Bambach and Wes Anderson are true fans; Bogdanovich's daughters talk about their dad and his life with love but some wariness; several of his exes appear, including Cybil Shepherd and Colleen Camp. We get to meet some critics such as Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris and Todd McCarthy. There's also Ben Gazzara who sounds like he's had a stroke.
Bogdanovich leant his papers which mean we see his old annotated scripts and, movingly, a card Stratten wrote for him. Bogdanovich was a bit of a goose but is a very talented filmmaker and it's a shame his post 1985 credits aren't stronger. Excellent doco.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Movie review - "While We're Young" (2014) ***
After watching Noah Baumbach's first film, Kicking and Screaming, I never thought I'd never see him again, but he's stuck at it and is not one of the leading independent filmmakers in American cinema. For the most part this is a fresh, wryly entertaining look at the generation gap between X and Y as Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts befriend Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried.
A lot of this feels so honest and true - the documentary filmmaker unable to resist flattery, the enthusiasm that comes from associating with the younger generation, the pressure caused by fertility issues. It falls down in a couple of places - the film doesnt do anything with Seyfriend's character, she's just sort of "there"; and it gets too plotty at the end when it falls into All About Eve/ Broadcast News territory.
The acting is good and I liked the look of New York - it's a side to the city we don't often see, which had novelty to me, even though to New Yorkers in the film industry it probably seemed agonisingly naval gazing.
A lot of this feels so honest and true - the documentary filmmaker unable to resist flattery, the enthusiasm that comes from associating with the younger generation, the pressure caused by fertility issues. It falls down in a couple of places - the film doesnt do anything with Seyfriend's character, she's just sort of "there"; and it gets too plotty at the end when it falls into All About Eve/ Broadcast News territory.
The acting is good and I liked the look of New York - it's a side to the city we don't often see, which had novelty to me, even though to New Yorkers in the film industry it probably seemed agonisingly naval gazing.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Movie review - "Frances Ha" (2013) ****
I really loved this movie although it's not hard to see that it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. It might depend on how much you can stand Greta Gerwig - personally I found her enchanting, beautiful and funny, an original character: a stuff up, nerd, but likeable. It's consistently fresh and entertaining, continually subverting expectations: the key relationship is with her female best friend not some guy, she doesn't have a pure triumph at any stage, she's worried about money but constantly spends it.
It is lovingly shot in black and white and is a remarkable valentine to a single performer as I can recall seeing. There's obviously decent money behind this for all it's indie status - the sound track includes 'Everyone's a Winner' and Bowie's 'Modern Love', I was produced by Scott Rudin - but it's a sweet wonderful movie.
It is lovingly shot in black and white and is a remarkable valentine to a single performer as I can recall seeing. There's obviously decent money behind this for all it's indie status - the sound track includes 'Everyone's a Winner' and Bowie's 'Modern Love', I was produced by Scott Rudin - but it's a sweet wonderful movie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)