BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY Directed by Constance Marks Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg
I was always a big Muppets fan growing up but I must have grown out of “Sesame Street” just before Elmo got there because I have no childhood recollections of the lovable little red fur guy. And judging from how massive Elmo’s a global fan base is today, I’m pretty sure that if I had seen him as a kid, I would have fallen in love with him just as much as everyone else has. Over the years, Elmo has grown to rank as one of the most popular Muppets of all time, standing alongside the likes of Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear. BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY goes beneath the frame to introduce the man below Elmo, Kevin Clash, the self-made puppeteer who found himself crouching alongside Jim Henson and Frank Oz.
Under Constance Marks’ direction, this portrait of Clash is tender one that gives the viewer a true success story. Clash started making puppets when he started watching “Sesame Street” as a child and never looked back. Thanks to the beautifully unflinching support of his parents, said to be the inspiration behind the puppet that would become his legacy, Clash never lost sight of his dreams. His determination and raw talent were evident to all who met him and the love his success has brought him is channeled through the unwavering love of Elmo himself. The film itself isn’t terribly dynamic but what it makes up in formal aesthetic, it more than makes up for in heart. And if there’s anything Elmo has ever taught us, its that heart is what matters most of all.
FRIENDS WITH KIDS Written and Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt Starring Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Ed Burns and Megan Fox
I don’t know if you’ve heard this one before but indulge me a moment. Couples, no matter how much chemistry they have, be that physical or emotional, will inevitably crumble to pieces when they bring kids into their lives. For years now, love and intimacy have been seen as the killers of freedom and individuality. Now, its time for babies to step in and bring their special brand of devastation to the cornerstone of American society known as marriage. Enter new comedy, FRIENDS WITH KIDS, from first time director, Jennifer Westfeldt, to either capitalize on or continue to perpetuate this modern notion.
FRIENDS WITH KIDS is a sharp, savvy comedy, set in what seems like the only place this story could take place, New York City. Two perfectly plutonic friends, played by the charmingly neurotic Westfeldt and the just plain charming, Adam Scott, decide to have a baby together when they see how their friends’ relationships have deteriorated after having them. They both want kids but they don’t want the disaster that comes with having them. Just look at their examples! To their right, they have Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig. They used to have sex constantly but post-baby, they can barely look at each other. To their left, Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd are drowning in diapers and despair. Can Westfeldt and Scott avoid the baby bomb that killed their friends? Though obvious counterpoints to play off of, this miniature BRIDESMAIDS reunion ensemble brings humanity to these characters, allowing them to be more real than they would have been in lesser hands. It may never get uproarious but Westfeldt provides her laughs with enough insight and heart to make them matter.
I know plenty of people who subscribe to this “Baby = Bad” theory and are putting off children specifically out of fear for what hell they will bring. That being said, I know just as many people who have children and who have become stronger families as a result. The truth of it is, and please keep in mind this is a truth spoken by someone who neither has children nor is in any position to have them anytime in the near future, that having children is difficult. It will place a strain on your relationship that may cause irreparable damage if you aren’t careful. If you survive the initial stress though, the strength derived from the experience is invaluable. And even though FRIENDS WITH KIDS is ripe with easy devices and tricks, Westfeldt (who incidentally wrote and starred in one one my favourite indies, KISSING JESSICA STEIN) is a clever enough writer to understand that even cliches have enough nuances of their own that separate them from the pack. From the way she takes care of her characters, you can tell this film is her baby.
SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN Written by Simon Beaufoy Directed by Lasse Hallstrom Starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas
The people behind SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN are fully aware of how ridiculous the title of their movie is. In fact, director Lasse Hallstrom capitalizes on just how ludicrous the entire concept of transplanting salmon fishing as a sport form Ireland to the Yemen truly is, by juxtaposing it against that other ever elusive impossibility we call love. Enter Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. He’s repressed; she’s passionate. Clearly, they have much to learn from each other. The whole international affair is a tad bit obvious at times in its intention but thanks to delightful turns by McGregor, Blunt and a hysterical Kristin Scott Thomas, this film is abundantly charming.
JOHN CARTER Written by Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon Directed by Andrew Stanton Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe and Mark Strong
Introduction: Mars - So you name it and think you know it.
In all honesty, there are only two reasons I wanted to see JOHN CARTER. The first was to see the live-action debut from Andrew Stanton, a director who has given me two of my favorite films, FINDING NEMO and WALL-E, and who has established himself as one of the great contemporary animated filmmakers. The second reason I wanted to see JOHN CARTER was so that I could finally make sense of what was happening in the trailers for the film. Every time I would see them, my head would hurt trying to figure out what exactly it was I was looking at. Sadly, making sense of the images, did nothing to make them any more interesting to me. It’s passable but I doubt it will ever be memorable.
For those of you who are still in the dark about JOHN CARTER, allow me to break it down for you. A young marksman by the name of John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is evading the army in 1881, New York City. He struggles with a weird bald guy wearing a robe in a cave and suddenly he is on Mars, otherwise known to the people of Mars as Barsoom. Here he is dropped into the middle of planetary unrest and civil war and he can’t even understand how to get his footing on the ground. He encounters a species known as the Tarks and they take him into their barbaric society, which leads to his eventual meeting with Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), the princess of one of the planet’s last remaining ruling cities. And like most princesses I know, she needs saving. Civilizations are crashing all over Barsoom but yet the fate of the planet hangs in the balance of whether the princess decides to marry the mean man or not. Different planet, same old contrived plot problem.
I readily admit that fantasy films are not my thing but I have no problems getting lost in the imaginings of another man’s mind as long as there seems to be adequate reason to be there. JOHN CARTER is plenty pretty from a visual standpoint and contains many a well executed thrill sequence but it never reaches the heights its grandness needs to sustain itself. Albeit based on a much loved and thought to be heavily influential Edgar Rice Burroughs (the author who created “Tarzan”) series, JOHN CARTER the movie bears very little weight or depth, which leaves the viewer wondering what all the fuss is about. If this is truly one of the greatest untold film stories, then why does it feel like a somewhat tenuous cornerstone of a film franchise that may never live to see its first sequel?
LIKE A SECOND SKIN An interview with THE SKIN IN LIVE IN star, Antonio Banderas
In 1986, a relatively unknown Spanish director by the name of Pedro Almodovar, cast a little known young actor, named Antonio Banderas, in MATADOR, a controversial indie film about a former bullfighter and a lawyer who get turned on by the act of killing. The successful pairing would repeat itself three more times in three more years but then Banderas would move to Hollywood. It’s been 20 years since this famous twosome last worked together.
“I was in New York doing a workshop for a musical there and Pedro called me when I was in the car and said, ‘It’s about time.’” Banderas has a smirk on his face as he recalls the story of when he and his old friend decided to make another movie again. “He didn’t even introduce himself. He just called me and the first thing that I heard was ‘It’s about time.’”
This was still a ways back even. Banderas, now 51 years old, was working on a 2003 production of Nine on Broadway when he first read, THE SKIN IN LIVE IN (LA PIEL QUE HABITO), and even though he knew it would be some time before the two would be able to coordinate their schedules, he was still very careful to give this script its due. “I know that the first time I read a script is the only time that I’m going to be a spectator of my own work,” Banderas says, demonstrating an appreciation for his craft I’m not sure why I wasn’t expecting. “From that moment on, I’m contaminated.”
Banderas and Almodovar at Cannes 2011
Banderas’s choice of words are particularly poignant in this case considering how easily THE SKIN IN LIVE IN gets under your skin. Loosely based on a novel called, Tarantula, by Thierry Jonquet, Almodovar’s film is as stylish as one would expect but also deeply disturbing, with Banderas anchoring most of that madness as a scientist consumed by a mounting obsession. It plays with time and convention; it has scenes of costumed rape and bloody mutilation; in essence, the film is executed with an eerie and concise control that Banderas finds quite admirable. “In the formal aspects, Pedro has become more minimalist, more austere. He is now more serious, more complex, more profound.”
It isn’t the mainstream he has grown accustomed to in Hollywood but Banderas believes there is a place for all forms of cinema in the world today. “I cannot ask a guy who has been working on the roads under the sun the entire week to go see 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini on the weekend,” he jokes. “What he needs is to take his girlfriend and a big bucket of popcorn to see PUSS IN BOOTS.” As both the aforementioned SHREK spinoff, in which Banderas voices the titular Puss, and the Almodovar picture are playing well to their respective audiences, he has a point.
Banderas watching The Skin I Live In co-star, Elena Ayaya
“Pedro is a genre unto himself,” Banderas states, after citing Lars Von Trier and Terrence Malick as Almodovar’s most comparable contemporaries. “In one scene, you feel like you are in the altitudes of Shakespeare and three minutes after you are in a soap opera from Mexico and everything in between.” As much of a mind melt that can be at times, especially on set, Banderas would not have it any other way. “Pedro loves to go to different places and explore the more intricate complexities of the human experience. He keeps turning the wheels.”
Banderas returns to Hollywood next in Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming thriller, HAYWIRE, and comedy in Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’s follow-up to LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, entitled HE LOVES ME. His break from the masses to return home to the familiar was a welcome one though. “Going back to Pedro at this particular time in my life is like a Coca-Cola in the desert. It feels good, it feels very good.”
THE WINNER'S CIRCLE An interview with UNDEFEATED directors, Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
“It was completely unexpected,” filmmaker, T.J. Martin tells me of his Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature, an honour he shares with two-time collaborator, Daniel Lindsay. Just days before the three of us speak over the phone, Martin and Lindsay were sitting amongst the biggest names in Hollywood, each of them waiting to hear PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY called as the winner in their category. When Robert Downey Jr. announced that their film, UNDEFEATED, had in fact won the Academy Award, it was bewildering to say the least. Concludes Martin on the moment, “I didn’t quite understand what was happening.”
Martin and Lindsay, along with their producing partner, Rich Middlemass, were cut off during their acceptance speech, which has turned their win somewhat sour unfortunately. UNDEFEATED tells the story of a North Memphis high school football team that reaches completely unexpected levels of success in their senior year, despite a number of socioeconomic obstacles. The filmmakers were cut off before they were able to thank the players and the community, which has in turn led to a number of people from the community denouncing the filmmakers as opportunistic.
While a shout out at the Academy Awards would have been appreciative, I believe that the win itself outweighs their not being mentioned on television. The fact is more people will see UNDEFEATED now that it has won the Oscar, allowing for more people to be made aware of the community’s plight.
Undefeated (2011)
“We wanted a celebratory narrative in a community that often times would never have it,” Lindsay tells me of their original intentions for the film. “Hopefully we could show the potential in a place where a lot of people think there isn’t any potential, but never shy away from the reality, so that a conversation can happen.”
The conversation in question is one that is still difficult even today to have. “We want the film to inspire a conversation about class and how closely that is related to race in this country,” Lindsay explains further. “We never wanted to tell people what they should think. We just wanted to present a world and allow for that conversation to happen. We’re not experts in any of this and don’t want to pretend that we are.”
Now, does that sound like opportunism to you?
As revealing as UNDEFEATED is regarding class struggles in America, its success as a satisfying documentary can perhaps most be attributed to the surprising familiarity in its structure. The Manassas Tigers, the team the film features, are considered a joke by every other team in their district. This season was different though; this season, they were winning. Suddenly, although they never set out to pursue this course, the filmmakers had the structure of a narrative sports movie on their hands.
Middlemass, Martin and Lindsay backstage at the Academy Awards
“We did fight against the sports movie story for a long time,” explains Martin of his initial reluctance to the way his film was evolving. “It wasn’t until midway through the season where we realized that A) a lot of the drama was unfolding on the field and B) the football team spine and structure of the film was really shaping up into a nice three act structure.” While it may be unexpected, its accessibility certainly won’t hurt UNDEFEATED when it comes to finding an audience.
Still, it was never about whether the kids won or lost. “Even if they had lost all their games,” Martin states, with both adamancy and pride, “we would have still made a human interest piece at the end of the day, a coming of age story about the kids and the challenges and obstacles they face every day, both on and off the field.”
UNDEFEATED is in select threatres now. Sports fans and human interest enthusiasts alike should make a point to see it.
THE LORAX Written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul Directed by Chris Renaud Voices by Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Danny DeVito
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.
DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX is perhaps the most blatantly obvious attempt to speak down to people about the perils of industrialization on the environment since AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Yes, I understand this is a children’s film, but the original work from 1971 was a brave warning of trouble to come, while director, Chris Renaud’s follow-up to DESPICABLE ME, is just a complete farce, unlikely to inspire any young people to care about the planet. Sadly, I don’t see it encouraging a lot of laughter and enjoyment in kids either. As is unfortunately too often the case, this is another Seuss adaptation that gets the imagination in the imagery right but doesn’t understand the roots of the story.
It didn’t take very long for me to stop enjoying THE LORAX. This stumpy, little orange thing (voiced by Danny DeVito), with a pretty well maintained mustache appears on screen to welcome us to the tale at the onset of the film. He’s certainly cute but the rhymes he drops sound somewhat watered down. And then before you know it, the entire thing turns into a giant musical number to introduce the good people of Thneedville that make up the story. It is awkward and uncomfortable to watch and while I’m sure Renaud imagined this opening as a grand and triumphant celebration of Dr. Seuss, it merely only serves to confirm that this will be a Seuss translation that doesn’t sustain its expansion into a feature length film. I’m no Seuss expert but I’m pretty sure he would never have used the phrase, “I know, right.”
Weak rhymes and unsuccessful modernization aside, THE LORAX is weighty and that is ultimately its undoing. Ted (Zac Efron) tries to impress a girl (Taylor Swift) by finding her a real tree in a world made entirely of plastic. In doing so, he meets The Once-ler (Ed Helms), who proceeds to tell him about how he chopped them all down long ago to pursue his own greedy needs. Let alone that the entire motivation of this story is about a girl and not really about the environment itself, the manner in which The Once-ler’s story’s is told is almost condemning. By the time he sings about how bad could he possibly be for pushing his own agenda at the expense of the planet, towering on screen and painted as this evil, destructive giant, I was done with it. It’s one thing to use media to scare adults into conforming but its a whole other level of wrong to use that same tactic on children. At least, the movie looks pretty.
BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY
