Airborne Toxic Event...again (And Many Films)
I saw the Airborne Toxic Event, one of my favorite bands of the past 10 years for their poetic lyrics about life and relationships, and also because any band that enlists a violinist as a key member is quite all right with me- and she (Anna Bulbrook, the violinist) tends to steal the show/spotlight (at least the 4x I've seen them live). This was the first time I saw them in a theatre (the Orpheum Theatre in Boston), which is a different setting than the small clubs I've seen them in prior, but they certainly commanded the entire venue.
"Life of Crime"
starring: Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, Mos Def, John Hawkes, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mark Boone Junior, Clea Lewis, Kevin Corrigan
written and directed by: Daniel Schechter
Unfortunately, "Life of Crime" falls victim to be the same type of film, albeit an indie version, as one that was far more supported by Hollywood and had far more star power (re: "American Hustle" starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, the IT girl of the past several years who cannot seem to make a bad film, with the exception of "Serena"). And this film came out around the same time as its far better counter film. And let's face it, Jennifer Aniston is no Jennifer Lawrence, at least not these days. This film is based on the Elmore Leonard novel aptly titled "The Switch" but changed its name for the film because of the confusion that could be had with another Jennifer Aniston film with Jason Bateman titled "The Switch" as well.
This film is obnoxious if nothing else because it is so self-aware and stuck on the details of staying true to being a period piece and crime caper. It never focuses on any one character for too long. Never ties itself in a perfect knot. And never feels like it's putting much of an effort into being more than its surface value. It's an ensemble piece and that's about it.
Structurally, Schechter commits a classic error of novel-to-screen adaptation by (admirably, at least on paper) refusing to sacrifice one of Elmore's checkered personalities at the sake of another. So when his film is introducing its versions of Ordell Robbie (Mos Def) and Louis Gara (John Hawkes), it resembles a funky, smooth crime caper; when it introduces bored Detroit housewife Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston) as she drifts further away from her bourbon-slugging husband, Frank (Tim Robbins), it feels like a lurid domestic woman's psychodrama from the era. Will Forte appears as Marshall, her would-be paramour from the country club, but his notably straight-laced characterization prevents the guy from taking over an inch of the viewer's attention when he's not on screen (normally in a flat, lengthy medium close-up). The film's clear-eyed, bloodless professionalism in emulating genres cries out for recognition, and as it turns the screws of its kidnapping plot.
Once she's taken hostage by Ordell and Robbie, Mickey is probably intended as the movie's bedrock, but Aniston simply doesn't have the range to make the character stick; Schechter plays to neither her strengths nor her weaknesses. Mickey proceeds from deeply, silently hurt in Life of Crime's expository passages to being bemused and irritated every step of her kidnapping; she even strikes up a feel-good kinship with Hawkes' Louis. Two additional characters feature in the final 30 minutes: Melanie (Isla Fisher), the loud younger woman Robbins is leaving his wife for, and Richard (Mark Boone Junior), the haggard neo-Nazi at whose place they stash Mickey. Rather than threatening to derail the plot, their appearances are explicit signifiers that the film is coming close to wrapping itself up.
A disappointing film, given the stars of it, but mostly because they are never given a chance to go beyond the surface of what was written on the paper for them. They stick to the script far too religiously.
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"Columbus Circle"
starring: Jason Lee, Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Kevin Pollak, Jason Antoon, Robert Guillaume, Giovanni Ribisi, Beau Bridges, Samm Levine
directed by: George Gallo
written by: George Gallo and Kevin Pollak
"Columbus Circle" presents itself better than it actually plays out. You are led to believe it's a thriller which will explore what it means to come out of your comfort zone, when the main character, Abigail (Selma Blair, an otherwise indie film queen) is battling with agoraphobia and hasn't left her ritzy penthouse apartment in nearly 20 years in an attempt to bury and forget the past that she cannot seem to escape. But her life is turned upside down when her elderly neighbor dies in a mysterious fall in her apartment, which plays out all too fishy for it to truly be an accident. Foul play is in the midst- but who exactly is responsible is the question. A homicide detective (Ribisi, underused) comes knocking on her door for answers. And then, a young couple moves into the emptied apartment. Charles (Jason Lee) and Lillian (Amy Smart) seem to be hiding something from Abigail but not from the audience. Abigail slowly opens up her past wounds to Lillian, because she seems like someone she can trust, but that's one of the problems with the script, because someone suffering like Abigail would not so easily shed her skin and disease like she does.
As the story unfolds, you start to feel conned by the filmmakers because what was supposed to be a thriller slowly unravels into a Lifetime-type movie-of-the-week with cheap shots and plot holes. The setup seems pulled right out of other films, most notably "Rear Window," with Abigail spying on her neighbors through her own peephole in the door. The audience gets more of the background and we know that Abigail is not who she says she is, so why should we care about her and what happens to her? Abigail overcomes her apparent fears of what's outside her walls because she deems it necessary to help Lillian and save her from her allegedly abusive husband (not realizing its a con), hence the Lifetime movie feeling.
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"Life Happens"
starring: Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson, Geoff Stults, Justin Kirk, Fallon Goodson, Andrea Savage, Kristen Johnson, Rhys Coiro, Jason Biggs
directed by: Kat Coiro
written by: Kat Coiro and Krysten Ritter
Despite all its faults, I actually enjoyed this film, but upon further exploration into the embedded themes at play, if I were a lady, I might take offense to its suggestions. Let's look deeper:
Kim (Krysten Ritter) and Deena (Kate Bosworth) are BFF roommates having sex with random guys at the same time in their respective rooms. Aren’t they strong independent women? They say yes to sex, unapologetically. When it becomes time to wrap it up, however, they realize there’s only one condom left from their stash. Deena claims first dibs, so Kim is “forced” to have unprotected sex with her Australian trick. This is a mistake she’ll pay for dearly, but not without the help of Deena, who’ll share babysitting duties once a child is born and ruins the girls’ dating lives.
Set in the stereotypical world of L.A. where life’s anxieties revolve around whether or not one is “on the list,” L!fe Happens wants us to believe its message is one of female independence and empowerment, which it seems to equate to a woman’s willingness to pay any price for her horniness—including pretending her child is actually her roommate’s. They juggle their careers—one is a writer, the other a dog-walker—with their hookup needs. They aren’t embarrassed of their libido, perhaps because, and only because, the ultimate goal is to settle down monogamously.
Female sexuality is not embedded into the everyday life as a fundamental element of existence (even given the Southern California location), but more as a cartoonish spectacle that paints its female characters as clumsy, desperate cartoon versions of real, working ladies with ambitions far deeper than finding a man who'll take care of them. I would have liked the film a bit more if it had stuck to the mantra it seems to want (given it's main character is played by Krysten Ritter who embodies the sentiment of): be sassy, but still be a lady.
There are many out of the ordinary, slapstick moments that try hard to get a laugh, but fall flat upon delivery, as well. I want better for Krysten Ritter, who was amazing in "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23" and her supporting role on "Breaking Bad." She can do better.
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"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichter, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Johnny Knoxville (voice), Tony Shalhoub (voice) Whoopi Goldberg, Abby Elliott
directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Not sure anything else needs to be said about this film other than: completely unnecessary attempt at capturing nostalgia of young men's childhood love for the cartoons and two previous films (forget about the third one) and the action figures, etc. Add to that, the starring role of Megan Fox as April O'Neil and you would like to believe this film is pandering to a very specific crowd (young boys), because of the action, explosions, and supposed-to-be funny jokes, and you get a film that never leaves the launchpad. That being said, I still had to watch it, because much like a car wreck or trainwreck, you cannot help but keep your eyes on it the whole time it's going down.
I cannot even bother to tell you about the plot, because it's just not worth it, other than to tell you, the screenwriters try to give the teenage mutant ninja turtles a background story worthy of the entire film and help us understand the connection April O'Neil has to the whole lot of them, including Splinter.
Avoid this at all costs. But, if you do decide to watch it, don't say I didn't warn you.
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"Cat Run"
starring: Paz Vega, Janet McTeer, Alphonso McAuley, Scott Mechlowicz, Christopher McDonald, Karel Roden, D.L. Hughley, Tony Curran, Michelle Lombardo
directed by: John Stockwell
In the same regard that "Run Lola Run" is about a main character, a lady named Lola, is on the run from a bad guy, this film employs the same plot. Except, with this film, we have a lady named Cat (played by the very sexy and hauntingly beautiful Paz Vega) who is a high-end prostitute, caught on the run from "The Boss," "The Enforcer," The Exploiter," The Seeker" and any other tough guy moniker you could possibly think of. This is director John Stockwell's attempt at a hyper-processed pulp caper of a film, using split screens to move the story forward in "real time" for the viewer, a blaxploitation soundtrack, and unnecessary sound effects.
After comely call girl Cat witnesses her friend’s murder at the hands of a U.S. senator (Christopher McDonald) at a high-end Montenegro sex party, she makes a bolt for the border. On the way, she steals a car from Anthony (Scott Mechlowicz) and a cell phone from his buddy Julian (Alphonso McAuley), two American drifters who will be talking into their sleeves before the end of the movie. Anthony and Julian decide to start a gumshoe outfit and join the A-Team of assassins pursuing the hooker that got away.
Janet McTeer shows up in an attempt to save the film from itself, because she shines as an MI6 style Mary Poppins.
I did sort of like this film, but question whether or not it was solely because Paz Vega is a delight to look at for a good solid 90 minutes.
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"Joyride"
starring: Tobey Maguire, Amy Hathaway, Wilson Cruz, Benicio Del Toro, Christina Zilber
written and directed by: Quinton Peeples
This is a film from the 1990s that starred Tobey Maguire as he flew just under the radar before soaring to stardom and leading role parts thanks in large part to his role as Peter Parker/Spiderman in Sam Raimi's superhero trilogy.
In his directorial debut, writer/director Quinton Peeples brings us the story of JT (Toby Maguire, Spider-Man)—the whiny, restless son of a white trash, rat trap motel owner (Steven Gilborn, Wonder Years). Together with his best friend James (Wilson Cruz, My So Called Life) the two dream of adventures far from their backwater hometown in the armpit of Texas. For them, life is like a broken record—go to night school and get harassed by the local redneck thugs, sit around the motel pool and get drunk, and drive around town (while drinking) because there is nothing else to do. But wait—all this is about to change, with the arrival of a mysterious female stranger (Christina Naify, in her only film role). Dressed all in black and driving a fine set of wheels, she is the catalyst for change (even though she doesn't do anything until Act Two). Large quantities of alcohol give JT the courage to hit on Tanya (Amy Hathaway, My Two Dads), the other female motel guest and model/whore daughter of a pimp daddy businessman (Adam West, Batman). The three bond during an inebriated evening of skinny-dipping, establishing our protagonist trio of twentysomething troublemakers. Fast forward to one hot Friday night. While James' car lies dead in the parking lot, a fight breaks out between one of Tanya's clients and her father. JT uses the distraction to rescue Tanya and steal the mysterious Ms. Smith's car for a night on the town. Slight problem—she's a professional assassin and there's a dead body in the trunk. In a moment of sheer brilliance, JT decides to dump the body into the lake and use his fantastic powers of extortion to secure ownership of the car, in exchange for not exposing Ms. Smith's secret. When two local fishermen discover the body, our trio of would be rebels without a clue quickly realize a walk on the wild side isn't as glamorous and exotic as it once seemed.
Everything about this film is just wrong and unnecessary, although it stars many actors and actresses that I bet would rather have this film erased from their resume. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
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(Kid Cudi cover)
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"Life of Crime"
starring: Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, Mos Def, John Hawkes, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mark Boone Junior, Clea Lewis, Kevin Corrigan
written and directed by: Daniel Schechter
Unfortunately, "Life of Crime" falls victim to be the same type of film, albeit an indie version, as one that was far more supported by Hollywood and had far more star power (re: "American Hustle" starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, the IT girl of the past several years who cannot seem to make a bad film, with the exception of "Serena"). And this film came out around the same time as its far better counter film. And let's face it, Jennifer Aniston is no Jennifer Lawrence, at least not these days. This film is based on the Elmore Leonard novel aptly titled "The Switch" but changed its name for the film because of the confusion that could be had with another Jennifer Aniston film with Jason Bateman titled "The Switch" as well.
This film is obnoxious if nothing else because it is so self-aware and stuck on the details of staying true to being a period piece and crime caper. It never focuses on any one character for too long. Never ties itself in a perfect knot. And never feels like it's putting much of an effort into being more than its surface value. It's an ensemble piece and that's about it.
Structurally, Schechter commits a classic error of novel-to-screen adaptation by (admirably, at least on paper) refusing to sacrifice one of Elmore's checkered personalities at the sake of another. So when his film is introducing its versions of Ordell Robbie (Mos Def) and Louis Gara (John Hawkes), it resembles a funky, smooth crime caper; when it introduces bored Detroit housewife Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston) as she drifts further away from her bourbon-slugging husband, Frank (Tim Robbins), it feels like a lurid domestic woman's psychodrama from the era. Will Forte appears as Marshall, her would-be paramour from the country club, but his notably straight-laced characterization prevents the guy from taking over an inch of the viewer's attention when he's not on screen (normally in a flat, lengthy medium close-up). The film's clear-eyed, bloodless professionalism in emulating genres cries out for recognition, and as it turns the screws of its kidnapping plot.
Once she's taken hostage by Ordell and Robbie, Mickey is probably intended as the movie's bedrock, but Aniston simply doesn't have the range to make the character stick; Schechter plays to neither her strengths nor her weaknesses. Mickey proceeds from deeply, silently hurt in Life of Crime's expository passages to being bemused and irritated every step of her kidnapping; she even strikes up a feel-good kinship with Hawkes' Louis. Two additional characters feature in the final 30 minutes: Melanie (Isla Fisher), the loud younger woman Robbins is leaving his wife for, and Richard (Mark Boone Junior), the haggard neo-Nazi at whose place they stash Mickey. Rather than threatening to derail the plot, their appearances are explicit signifiers that the film is coming close to wrapping itself up.
A disappointing film, given the stars of it, but mostly because they are never given a chance to go beyond the surface of what was written on the paper for them. They stick to the script far too religiously.
.........................................................................................
"Columbus Circle"
starring: Jason Lee, Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Kevin Pollak, Jason Antoon, Robert Guillaume, Giovanni Ribisi, Beau Bridges, Samm Levine
directed by: George Gallo
written by: George Gallo and Kevin Pollak
"Columbus Circle" presents itself better than it actually plays out. You are led to believe it's a thriller which will explore what it means to come out of your comfort zone, when the main character, Abigail (Selma Blair, an otherwise indie film queen) is battling with agoraphobia and hasn't left her ritzy penthouse apartment in nearly 20 years in an attempt to bury and forget the past that she cannot seem to escape. But her life is turned upside down when her elderly neighbor dies in a mysterious fall in her apartment, which plays out all too fishy for it to truly be an accident. Foul play is in the midst- but who exactly is responsible is the question. A homicide detective (Ribisi, underused) comes knocking on her door for answers. And then, a young couple moves into the emptied apartment. Charles (Jason Lee) and Lillian (Amy Smart) seem to be hiding something from Abigail but not from the audience. Abigail slowly opens up her past wounds to Lillian, because she seems like someone she can trust, but that's one of the problems with the script, because someone suffering like Abigail would not so easily shed her skin and disease like she does.
As the story unfolds, you start to feel conned by the filmmakers because what was supposed to be a thriller slowly unravels into a Lifetime-type movie-of-the-week with cheap shots and plot holes. The setup seems pulled right out of other films, most notably "Rear Window," with Abigail spying on her neighbors through her own peephole in the door. The audience gets more of the background and we know that Abigail is not who she says she is, so why should we care about her and what happens to her? Abigail overcomes her apparent fears of what's outside her walls because she deems it necessary to help Lillian and save her from her allegedly abusive husband (not realizing its a con), hence the Lifetime movie feeling.
Once inside Abigail's fortress, they begin to talk endlessly about their respective histories and the horrible cycle of abuse. No doubt that it's an important issue, but as Abigail admonishes Lillian for what seems like the hundredth time not to justify why Charles kept punching her in the face, all hope for suspense became lost and started to settle in for a screed against abuse. Then Jason Lee, who up to this point had been the single least convincing abusive husband I've ever seen, does something to make it clear why all of this had seemed so ridiculous.
That setup may have been necessary for the rest of the story to make sense, but that hardly excuses how boring and heavy handed it is. At fewer than ninety minutes, there isn't a lot of time to build suspense in the first place. Wasting a third of a movie on what amounts to anti-suspense means that everybody, both in the film and in the audience, has to work that much harder to get back into the groove once they finally get to business. Columbus Circle is simply not worth the trouble, though, even if it does have some modest virtues.
Skip this one.........................................................................................
"Life Happens"
starring: Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson, Geoff Stults, Justin Kirk, Fallon Goodson, Andrea Savage, Kristen Johnson, Rhys Coiro, Jason Biggs
directed by: Kat Coiro
written by: Kat Coiro and Krysten Ritter
Despite all its faults, I actually enjoyed this film, but upon further exploration into the embedded themes at play, if I were a lady, I might take offense to its suggestions. Let's look deeper:
Kim (Krysten Ritter) and Deena (Kate Bosworth) are BFF roommates having sex with random guys at the same time in their respective rooms. Aren’t they strong independent women? They say yes to sex, unapologetically. When it becomes time to wrap it up, however, they realize there’s only one condom left from their stash. Deena claims first dibs, so Kim is “forced” to have unprotected sex with her Australian trick. This is a mistake she’ll pay for dearly, but not without the help of Deena, who’ll share babysitting duties once a child is born and ruins the girls’ dating lives.
Set in the stereotypical world of L.A. where life’s anxieties revolve around whether or not one is “on the list,” L!fe Happens wants us to believe its message is one of female independence and empowerment, which it seems to equate to a woman’s willingness to pay any price for her horniness—including pretending her child is actually her roommate’s. They juggle their careers—one is a writer, the other a dog-walker—with their hookup needs. They aren’t embarrassed of their libido, perhaps because, and only because, the ultimate goal is to settle down monogamously.
Female sexuality is not embedded into the everyday life as a fundamental element of existence (even given the Southern California location), but more as a cartoonish spectacle that paints its female characters as clumsy, desperate cartoon versions of real, working ladies with ambitions far deeper than finding a man who'll take care of them. I would have liked the film a bit more if it had stuck to the mantra it seems to want (given it's main character is played by Krysten Ritter who embodies the sentiment of): be sassy, but still be a lady.
There are many out of the ordinary, slapstick moments that try hard to get a laugh, but fall flat upon delivery, as well. I want better for Krysten Ritter, who was amazing in "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23" and her supporting role on "Breaking Bad." She can do better.
.........................................................................................
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichter, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Johnny Knoxville (voice), Tony Shalhoub (voice) Whoopi Goldberg, Abby Elliott
directed by: Jonathan Liebesman
Not sure anything else needs to be said about this film other than: completely unnecessary attempt at capturing nostalgia of young men's childhood love for the cartoons and two previous films (forget about the third one) and the action figures, etc. Add to that, the starring role of Megan Fox as April O'Neil and you would like to believe this film is pandering to a very specific crowd (young boys), because of the action, explosions, and supposed-to-be funny jokes, and you get a film that never leaves the launchpad. That being said, I still had to watch it, because much like a car wreck or trainwreck, you cannot help but keep your eyes on it the whole time it's going down.
I cannot even bother to tell you about the plot, because it's just not worth it, other than to tell you, the screenwriters try to give the teenage mutant ninja turtles a background story worthy of the entire film and help us understand the connection April O'Neil has to the whole lot of them, including Splinter.
Avoid this at all costs. But, if you do decide to watch it, don't say I didn't warn you.
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"Cat Run"
starring: Paz Vega, Janet McTeer, Alphonso McAuley, Scott Mechlowicz, Christopher McDonald, Karel Roden, D.L. Hughley, Tony Curran, Michelle Lombardo
directed by: John Stockwell
In the same regard that "Run Lola Run" is about a main character, a lady named Lola, is on the run from a bad guy, this film employs the same plot. Except, with this film, we have a lady named Cat (played by the very sexy and hauntingly beautiful Paz Vega) who is a high-end prostitute, caught on the run from "The Boss," "The Enforcer," The Exploiter," The Seeker" and any other tough guy moniker you could possibly think of. This is director John Stockwell's attempt at a hyper-processed pulp caper of a film, using split screens to move the story forward in "real time" for the viewer, a blaxploitation soundtrack, and unnecessary sound effects.
After comely call girl Cat witnesses her friend’s murder at the hands of a U.S. senator (Christopher McDonald) at a high-end Montenegro sex party, she makes a bolt for the border. On the way, she steals a car from Anthony (Scott Mechlowicz) and a cell phone from his buddy Julian (Alphonso McAuley), two American drifters who will be talking into their sleeves before the end of the movie. Anthony and Julian decide to start a gumshoe outfit and join the A-Team of assassins pursuing the hooker that got away.
Janet McTeer shows up in an attempt to save the film from itself, because she shines as an MI6 style Mary Poppins.
I did sort of like this film, but question whether or not it was solely because Paz Vega is a delight to look at for a good solid 90 minutes.
............................................................................................
"Joyride"
starring: Tobey Maguire, Amy Hathaway, Wilson Cruz, Benicio Del Toro, Christina Zilber
written and directed by: Quinton Peeples
This is a film from the 1990s that starred Tobey Maguire as he flew just under the radar before soaring to stardom and leading role parts thanks in large part to his role as Peter Parker/Spiderman in Sam Raimi's superhero trilogy.
In his directorial debut, writer/director Quinton Peeples brings us the story of JT (Toby Maguire, Spider-Man)—the whiny, restless son of a white trash, rat trap motel owner (Steven Gilborn, Wonder Years). Together with his best friend James (Wilson Cruz, My So Called Life) the two dream of adventures far from their backwater hometown in the armpit of Texas. For them, life is like a broken record—go to night school and get harassed by the local redneck thugs, sit around the motel pool and get drunk, and drive around town (while drinking) because there is nothing else to do. But wait—all this is about to change, with the arrival of a mysterious female stranger (Christina Naify, in her only film role). Dressed all in black and driving a fine set of wheels, she is the catalyst for change (even though she doesn't do anything until Act Two). Large quantities of alcohol give JT the courage to hit on Tanya (Amy Hathaway, My Two Dads), the other female motel guest and model/whore daughter of a pimp daddy businessman (Adam West, Batman). The three bond during an inebriated evening of skinny-dipping, establishing our protagonist trio of twentysomething troublemakers. Fast forward to one hot Friday night. While James' car lies dead in the parking lot, a fight breaks out between one of Tanya's clients and her father. JT uses the distraction to rescue Tanya and steal the mysterious Ms. Smith's car for a night on the town. Slight problem—she's a professional assassin and there's a dead body in the trunk. In a moment of sheer brilliance, JT decides to dump the body into the lake and use his fantastic powers of extortion to secure ownership of the car, in exchange for not exposing Ms. Smith's secret. When two local fishermen discover the body, our trio of would be rebels without a clue quickly realize a walk on the wild side isn't as glamorous and exotic as it once seemed.
Everything about this film is just wrong and unnecessary, although it stars many actors and actresses that I bet would rather have this film erased from their resume. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.
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