The Artist

I'm taking a break this week from writing about new releases.  Instead, I want to bring to your attention a movie that swept the awards circuit but that you may have missed, as I did.  You see, I live in a small town, and "artsy" movies either pass us by entirely, or make a brief half-week stay.  Which all goes to explain how I missed The Artist last year.  It's just been released on DVD, though, so you can easily pick up this award-winning gem.

The Artist is that rarity among films - a risk-taker.  Set during the tumultuous few years when film whipsawed from silents to "talkies," the film is a throwback to those days.*  You have to pay attention to what's happening on the screen; you can't drop your eyes and expect the dialogue to carry you through, for there is no dialogue.  Practically the entire film is silent, with a few title cards and a very few spoken words. (And this film is an excellent example of the power of having just a few words as opposed to lengthy speech after lengthy speech.) The entrancing story of pride, love, ambition, and innovation will catch you at the very beginning and keep a tight hold on you.  The cast is marvelous and it's worth your time.  


I'm not advocating for a return to silent films, but this one works.  Give it a try.


*Yes, the magnificent Singin' in the Rain farmed this same ground, but in a very, very different way.  See that one, too.

Walter White Wednesday 19

Season 5 is coming quickly and I wanted to make sure everyone here is up to speed on the teasers that AMC is beginning to send our way.  (By the way, that means I'm posting with the idea that you've seen all of Season 4 by now.  Just saying.)  A few weeks ago, I posted the first Season 5 shot of Walt surrounded by bales of cash in what seems to be a run-down warehouse - you can see that at the foot of the post linked here.  Since then, AMC has given us a few more tastes.

Look at this cast shot for Season 5:

About which I want to say - YAY!  Mike's back!  I've missed him and I'm anxious to see what direction he's going to go in, once he finds out that, due to a slight case of explosion, he's no longer working for Gus.  Also note the dark, muted colors - even Marie's usual purple is leaning toward dull.  Walt's choices (he's front and [almost] center, of course) have bled the vibrancy out of everyone around him.  Hmmm.

And here's the first trailer for Season 5:

Mike's doing the voice-over, so yep, he's definitely back and in a big way.  Walt seems to be playing Billy Badass, which might work out okay for him, but it never has in the past.  And he's done darker and darker things to keep his head above water.  Too many secrets to keep straight and (to totally mangle my metaphors) chickens eventually want to come home to roost.  The scuttlebutt is that Season 5 starts full-out with no ramp-up to the action, so this is going to be quite a ride!

Check out the official AMC site for more still photos, interviews, minisodes, and more as we prep for the final cook of Breaking Bad!

I plan to spend the final two Walter White Wednesdays before Season 5 begins on July 15 briefly outlining Season 4 and where I think a few threads might be leading.  I accept that speculating on the direction of Breaking Bad is probably a useless exercise, since Vince Gilligan & Company perpetually surprise me by upending my expectations, but hey! I speculate anyway.

Brave

This weekend's new pick for me and my Viewing Companion was Pixar's Brave.  I'll admit, I went in with high expectations - like Ridley Scott, Pixar knows how to make a stunner of a movie in terms of the look of the thing and on that score, Brave is wonderful.  The scenery is so detailed and realistic that I caught my breath more than once.  I wasn't sure of the storyline, though.  This is a joint effort between Pixar and Disney and I've been an outspoken critic of Disney princesses.  Don't get me wrong - I cut my milk teeth on Disney animation and I like it just fine.  However, Disney sanitizes its fairy tales to sell tickets to the Younger Set and the Mouse tends to like weak female characters.  Face it, the stories of Disney princesses tend to be of girls who are sweet and good and gentle who have bad things happen to them and who then need saving.

And don't even bother telling me to lighten up, that it's just a movie, and a kids' movie at that.  What on God's green earth could be more important than the messages we send to children?  As Brave puts it, "Legends are lessons."  We absorb a tremendous amount of identity messages through popular culture.  The rationale behind not having female-driven stories has always been that girls will go see/read stories about boys, but boys won't go see/read stories about girls.

Here's hoping the box office shatters that myth once and for all, for Brave tells a story we can all benefit from hearing.

I will admit that I sat in the darkened theatre as the credits played with tears running down my face.  Now, Pixar's made me cry before (if the first ten minutes of Up don't get you weepy, seek clinical help), but this was different.  My whole life, I've been waiting to see Brave, I just didn't know the title.  Maybe this is just a "girl thing;" I don't know.  But I've yearned to see a girl take charge of her own life.  A girl who demands that she be given the same choices that a boy would have - and the same opportunities to rule her own destiny.  Brave also does some really nice things with (of all things) hair.  Look at how wild and untamed Merida's red curls are as opposed to her mother Elinor's smooth, restrained locks - there's a nice metaphor going on there.  Also, unlike many Disney pictures, there's no evil here (which is often portrayed as female - a witch or a stepmother, for example).  In Brave,  the bad things happen because of poor choices that are made, including the failure to listen, and Merida then chooses to square her shoulders and fix the mess she created.  It's a powerful message to send to children - girls and boys both - and seeing that story told, and told so beautifully, got me to crying.

Nothing wrong with tears.  Madness often springs from the inability to shed them.

All this said, Brave has a few scenes that are probably too intense for very young children.  But they'll be old enough to benefit from this story of a strong girl raised by strong parents and the ties that bind us together soon enough.  And I'm so glad that kids are going to have this movie as a touchstone - girls and boys both will grow up thinking that Merida is pretty darned cool and we'll all better off for that.

By the way, Pixar also included a short called La Luna to go with Brave.  Absolutely gorgeous and another jewel in Pixar's crown of family-oriented stories.  Be sure you see it.

Walter White Wednesday 18

. . . which is the one about Junior.

Walter Jr. is (as you would imagine from the name) Walt's son.  He's a good kid.  He loves his parents (even as he's exasperated by their utter failure to understand him), he's trying hard to navigate the choppy waters of high school life, he doesn't get into trouble, he sets up a Website to generate money to help his cancer-stricken dad (which generates a LOT of cash, thanks to Saul's Not-Quite-Legal Laundry) and overall, really - he's a good kid.  (Also a kid who seems to eat a LOT of breakfasts!  Ever notice that?  It's like he's hollow or something.  Then again - teenage boy.)

Walt Jr. also has cerebral palsy.  This condition can manifest in a wide spectrum of ways - in Junior's case, his speech is a bit slowed (his mind is just fine, thankyouverymuch), and he walks with crutches, which has made learning to drive a little more difficult as it takes him both feet to manage the accelerator and brake when using only one foot is the standard method.  [Worthy sidenote:  It's worth noting that RJ Mitte, who plays Walt Jr., also has cerebral palsy, albeit a less severe case than Jr.  Mitte has used the visibility the role has brought him to both publicize CP and to champion the cause of actors with disabilities working in the industry.]

When Walt claims to be doing "all this" for the family, he's including Junior in that statement.  Walt Jr. (or "Flynn," a name he's trying out as a way to assert some independence from his befuddled parents) has had to develop a thick skin over the years, for children are not only the epitome of Pollyanna innocence, they are also the beasts of Lord of the Flies.  Teenagers in particular are quick to pounce on anybody who doesn't squarely fit into their template of perceived cool.  We see this early on in Breaking Bad when the Whites are shopping with Junior for school clothes.  Due to the financial situation (which includes baby Holly on the way at this point), they're shopping at a secondhand store where a gaggle of insensitive clods mock Junior's speech and mobility issues.  In just about the most satisfying scene in the first season, Walt thrashes the bejeezus out of the ringleader of this pack of peckerwoods in defense of his son.  Walt Jr. is (of course) embarrassed by this, but as a viewer, I find it extremely satisfying, although I don't recommend it in real life.*

It's Walt Jr. who takes his dad to task for his reluctance to get treatment for the lung cancer, reminding Walt that a little chemo is nothing compared with what Walt Jr. goes through every single day.  It's Walt Jr. who lashes out at Skyler when Walt moves out of the family home - a boy needs his dad, something Skyler admits but, with what she knows, she's not sure that he needs this dad.  

Walt Jr. knows nothing - repeat, nothing - about what Walt's been up to.  He's been sold the "lucky at gambling" story and can't fathom that his dad would lie to him.

Season 5 will get interesting.

By the way - there are only 3 more Walter White Wednesdays before Season 5 kicks off on Sunday, July 15!  Beginning that Wednesday (July 18), WWW will focus on the "new stuff!"    

*Instead, take out your house key and drag it firmly through the paint of the kid's car instead.  I joke, I joke!

Jazz Hands, Everybody!

Sometime in the next day or so, I'll go see Rock of Ages.  See the things I'm willing to do for you?  I have to admit, that's one movie that's going to have an uphill climb for me.  It might be great and if it is, I'll say so, but  I'm dreadfully afraid that it's karaoke night in Hollywood and the only category the machine is programmed for is "80s hair bands."

But that got me to thinking about musicals in general.  While Rock of Ages is a musical, it's not really the type I'm talking about, which is the kind where the songs are specifically written for the show and also serve to propel the plot forward.  Musicals are a genre that people have very strong feelings about - many people enjoy the escapism of a good show and others despise the non-realism of people suddenly bursting into song and dancing in perfect synchronization.  I get that, although I feel compelled to point out that going to the movies for realism makes about as much sense as going to an art museum to pick out upholstery.

There are some great, fun, moving musicals out there.  While not to everyone's taste (how boring a world would that be?), you might want to give the following a try - links are provided for each.  In no particular order:

1.  Chicago.  With coarse language and murderous characters, this is not one to share with the kiddies, but it is one that'll get you talking about crime as fame and the kinks of the American legal system.
2.  Evita.  I'm one of those who thinks Madonna did a great job with this role, which might hit close to home  for her with its themes of sex as power and sex appeal as the shortest way for a woman to move up the political/corporate ladder.  Catchy, complex songs and Antonio Banderas as Che, who's basically the Greek chorus.
3.  Jesus Christ Superstar.  Straight from the Gospel of St. Matthew, this early Webber/Rice collaboration has long been an Easter favorite of mine.  Carl Anderson as Judas - chills.
4.  A Chorus Line.  Not everyone can be a star, but everyone has rent to pay.  And everyone has a story.
5.  Little Shop of Horrors.  Alien plant life, a lovestruck geek, a sexy girl who wants to throw a Tupperware party, the Supremes as Greek chorus and a sadistic dentist.  Plus Levi Stubbs!
6.  The Muppets.  No way I could leave this out.  Frank Oz of Little Shop fame was Miss Piggy, after all. It's time to play the music.  It's time to light the lights.
7.  Purple Rain.  Maybe Prince can't act (and the good Lord knows Apollonia can't), but this is well worth a look.
8.  Hair.  Dated, sure, but the whole thing is worth is for the final shots of  Treat Williams.
9. The Wall. 'Nuff said.
10. Enchanted.  A charming take on Disney tales and "what if?" complete with a massive dance number in Central Park.  With Amy Adams, who was also central in The Muppets.

Lastly, don't overlook Disney.  Heck, The Lion King went from cartoon to Broadway smash.  And when you're ready, Les Miserables will be coming out around Christmas.  Shhh - don't tell anyone, but that show is a "sung-through" with serious themes and leitmotifs, which means it can just as easily be cataloged as an "opera" as it can a "musical."

I know I left a lot off - Sweeney Todd, Grease, Camelot, South Park - that's sort of my point.  There's something out there for everyone.  It's worth looking for.