Category: Articles

New Alien Invaders, Jack Ryan to Fight Terrorists & John Hamm Fights the Tea Party: Hollywood Round-up, 9/21

By Jason Apuzzo. • The Affleck movie won the weekend at the box office. I’ve generally been pro-Affleck, but The Town didn’t grab my attention at all. Also, I didn’t like the advertising for it; even though my Catholic days are long in the past, the ugly nun masks really turned me off, in so far as they were being used as an advertising ploy. In any case, Affleck’s career now appears to be resuscitated, so now we can look forward to that Daredevil sequel we’ve all been waiting for.

Aly Michalka of "The Roommate."

• There’s always James Cameron news, isn’t there? And so today we’re learning more details about the new Avatar DVD, with its 5,000 hours of extra bonus features, 900 deleted scenes, new sequences set in the Amazon rainforest, etc. Who has time for this? There might even be a plan to halt global warming in the box set, for all I know. In any case, I only wish there was this type of set available for Aliens, which is still Cameron’s best film in my book (the Blu-ray for Aliens is coming out soon, btw, and apparently looks fabulous). And guess what? This Avatar content-dump will all get re-released again at some point down the line in 3D for Blu-ray, so get used to the fact that this film is never going away.

• In related Avatar news, Stephen Lang has been cast as the lead in a new sci-fi TV series called Terra Nova, which is apparently about “a colony of humans from 2149 who take a second chance at building a civilization by going back 85 million years.” That sounds like what Congress will be doing after the November elections. Finally, on the Cameron front, ABC has apparently picked up his True Lies TV series. As a side note, ABC also just picked up a series called Good Christian B*****s, which has the distinction of being the first network series the title of which I can’t even put on this site. Nice work, ABC – you’re breaking important new ground, there.

• Mad Men star Jon Hamm apparently believes that the Tea Party has a secret “racist” agenda. This is so disappointing to report, for all the obvious reasons. Thanks, Jon! The illusion is now shattered. One gets the sense that you’ve completely missed the point of your own show. [Sigh.]

• As usual, there’s a lot of news on the ‘alien invasion’ front: if you can believe it, it looks like we may be getting a Voltron movie – a Voltron movie, for goodness sake! … so check out some of the production art for this project at the top of this post; there’s also some new Iron Sky casting news; plus there are some intriguing new set photos out from the J.J. Abrams/Steven Spielberg alien-on-the-loose thriller Super 8, which is slated for next year. I’m expecting that film to be the best of this new alien invasion wave, chiefly because the guys doing it have a lot of practice at this sort of thing. Based on the set photos, the setting for this film is obviously supposed to be ‘middle America,’ which used to be where Spielberg set all his stories. It’s nice to see him return there, as I think that’s where he’s at his best.

Monica Cruz.

• Perhaps the most unusual news on the ‘alien invasion’ front, however, is that there’s apparently a new version of the old Space Invaders video game coming out – and even that’s now been redesigned for 3D. See the Wall Street Journal’s report on this subject, plus we’ve put the trailer for the game above. The ‘alien invasion’ trend is obviously cross-platform at this point. [Footnote: did you know that Halo: Reach made $200 million on its first day on sale … although even that was still shy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which made $310 million on its first day last year. I’m in the wrong profession.]

• The Jack Ryan reboot Moscow starring Star Trek’s Chris Pine apparently has a new screenwriter … and we’re learning a few more details about the project. Not surprisingly, the movie is set in Moscow, and will feature “terrorist acts as a backdrop.” It is also apparently about Ryan’s early career – I don’t know if that means it’s set in the past, though, or in the ongoing present a lá Bond. We’ll keep an eye on this one.

• We now have a Psycho Hottie College Roommate From Hell Movie coming out (The Roommate, see the trailer here), complete with shower scenes and subtextual lesbianism. Perfect for the start of the academic school year! [Jess Franco retired too early.] This should give parents a lot of confidence as they pack their young daughters off to college. Academia sure isn’t what it used to be! Footnote: saucy Aly Michalka from Hellcats is one of the co-stars, so that’s a plus.

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … Monica Cruz, Spanish TV star and younger-sister-of-Penelope made a splash the other day at the new Aire collection event in Madrid, and some wags are now asking whether she’s better looking than her famous sister. Even my trained eye isn’t sure, but I’ll bet double-dating with those sisters must’ve really be something back in the day … En Fuego!

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood.

Posted on September 20th, 2010 at 6:38pm.

LFM Review: Easy A

By Patricia Ducey. The threshold question any movie review has to answer is, should you see this movie?  [Sigh.] There are some things to like in Easy A, but I can’t give it a nod.

First, the good: Easy A is a teen movie without much actual sex—the kids are still for the most part as innocent as, well, real kids.The story reflects on literature, like The Scarlet Letter or author Mark Twain, as well as the late John Hughes’ (more accomplished) teen oeuvre. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci steal every scene they are in as our teen heroine Olive’s adorably loopy parents—they leave the Focker folks in the dust. Director Will Gluck intentionally pokes fun at their obnoxious PC-ness: every time they trill “no judgment” you know they are going to indeed judge someone. The dialogue, although self-consciously snarky, at times sparkles with wit, and Gluck and his cast have mastered their comic timing. Emma Stone as Olive and Penn Badgley as Todd, the couple in romantic jeopardy, are too old by a decade for the roles, as per usual – but are affecting. That’s the first two acts.

Now, for the not-so-good: this movie is totally bereft of values or character and thus fails as a story or as a lesson. And the stock character of The Princess, a feature of most every high school movie, has now been transformed into a Christian Princess – thereby exploiting what is increasingly becoming the new “Other” in filmdom: Christians.  At least director Will Gluck has had the presence of mind to state in recent interviews that he regrets this decision.

Then why did he do it? The Pew Center reports that 78.5% of Americans identify as Christians. Why would a purportedly capitalist enterprise like a Hollywood movie studio continually insult the majority of its audience? The only answer to this seemingly contradictory impulse is ideology.

I cringe at the thought of the story meetings on this one. Here once more the Hollywood myth machine offers us its alternative to the Judeo-Christian ethic: identity politics. Look at any police procedural on TV these days, for example, and watch out for the White Christian Male. He’s probably guilty of something. In teen movies, if you are a smart kid or gay, you are good. If you are Christian, you are bad. This is your lesson for the day. [And it’s an irrelevant lesson, if we’re supposed to be avoiding stereotypes of minority groups altogether.]

Gluck could have utilized the technique employed by movies from Lawrence of Arabia to TV’s 24: vary things up. For example, do not use Muslims solely as terrorists – but include Muslim characters as counterterrorism agents or ordinary people. In Easy A’s case, why not have one of the Christian kids decide to stick up for Olive, because it’s wrong to ostracize someone? You know, she could say something like: her faith compels her to walk her talk, ‘hate the sin but love the sinner,’ etc. That way you would get a villain, and some truthfulness, that this movie has abandoned.

As the trailer above reveals, Olive agrees to fake a sexual encounter with Brandon, a gay student, so that he can gain some high school cred with the bully boys. She agrees, as a misguided teen might. Surely she will come to her senses and right this wrong and support Brandon in his quest for real acceptance by the last reel? Sadly, no. She accepts a gift card from him in “payment” for her deed. As word gets around, more boys approach her and pay her for their own fake deflowering. Why does she do it, why does she accept money for it? Her family is well off; there is no set-up explaining that she needs the money. She just takes it, like any prostitute would. There goes the parallel story with Hester Prynne, who did not ask for or accept a penny from anyone. The rest of the class gradually ostracizes her, led by the evangelical Marianne (Amanda Bynes) and her Christian club mates. And you can guess what is coming—the Christians themselves are a bunch of hypocrites! Continue reading LFM Review: Easy A

American Master — Cachao: Uno Mas Airs Tonight

By Joe Bendel. He played for Presidents FDR and W. In between, he revolutionized Latin dance music, endured the pain of exile from his Cuban homeland, and enjoyed a late-career renaissance thanks in large measure to the efforts of musician-actor Andy Garcia. His name was Israel López, but most knew him simply as Cachao. His life and insistently danceable music are lovingly remembered in Dikayl Rimmasch’s Cachao: Uno Mas, co-produced by Garcia, which airs today as part of the current season of PBS’s American Masters.

A classically trained bassist, Cachao co-wrote Mambo #1 with his brother Orestes. Simply titled “Mambo,” it was the first of his signature danzóns (Cuban ballroom dances), featuring jazz like syncopation and an infectious rhythmic drive. Needless to say, the mambo was a hit—everywhere—spawning the global mambo craze. Yet, Cachao usually was not the one in the spotlight. Hip musicians certainly knew who he was though.

According to Cachao, he and his brother wrote 1,500 danzóns each. He also recorded his classic Descargas: Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature, thoroughly blurring the distinctions between jazz and traditional Cuban musical forms. He even penned “Chanchullo,” the original melody that would become first Tito Puente’s and then Carlos Santana’s “Oye Como Va.” That Cachao never received proper credit or compensation for those monster hits still visibly rankles Garcia, but the zen-like master bassist was apparently unconcerned with such worldly matters.

Unfortunately, worldly events would intrude into Cachao’s musical life. Though he initially supported the revolution against Battista, Cachao (like Garcia’s parents) chose the pain of exile as the oppressive nature of the Castro regime became painfully apparent. As the American Master himself explains: “Over there they say, ‘No, because of Fidel . . .’ and that’s it. Everyone is listening to you to hear what you say. If they don’t like it, you’re asking for trouble.”

Though Cachao passed away in early 2008, he was playing strong up until his final bar. Wisely, Uno Mas showcases his musical fire, fitting its profile segments around a scorching hot 2005 concert in San Francisco. Cachao swings like mad with an all-star ensemble including Garcia on bongos, John Santos on congas, Justo Almario on saxophone, and Federico Britos on violin (at one point engaging in some tasty call-and-response with the leader).

Utilizing nine cameras, Rimmasch shot some of the best live concert footage you are ever likely to see on television. He beautifully captures the unspoken back-and-forth between musicians, which probably gives a better sense of Cachao the man than any of the interview segments. Indeed, the music is so good, Uno Mas is probably destined to become a staple of PBS pledge break programming for years to come. While he does not perform in the film, trumpeter and Cuban defector Arturo Sandoval (played by Garcia in the under-appreciated HBO film For Love or Country) also adds some entertainingly animated musical commentary.

Cachao led a dramatic life and left behind an impressive body of absolutely joyous music. Like many Cuban exiles, he became a loyal patriot of two countries, making him a perfect subject for American Masters. Sometimes touching, but ultimately a blast of invigorating music, Uno Mas airs today (9/20) on PBS outlets nationwide.

Posted on September 20th, 2010 at 9:11am.

Never Let Me Go: ‘Devastating, Dystopian’

By Jason Apuzzo. I’m not sure we’re going to have time today to review director Mark Romanek’s new adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian novel Never Let Me Go – which recently debuted in Toronto and opens in limited release nationwide today, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield (the new Spider-Man) – so I thought I’d post an excerpt from Andrew O’Hehir’s interesting review over at Salon.

From Salon:

You could describe “Never Let Me Go” as set in an alternate-history version of postwar Britain, but as with all really good alternate histories, the changed universe really isn’t the point. Director Mark Romanek captures the slightly seedy and rundown reality of ’70s and ’80s British life in astonishing and even tragic detail; this is more like a period piece than a science-fiction movie. In fact, it resembles a Merchant-Ivory tragedy about doomed love in a war zone, except that the doomed love involves human guinea pigs and the war zone is not some tropic zone but the alleged good intentions of medical science.

Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley in "Never Let Me Go."

There’s no way to write about “Never Let Me Go” without at least dropping hints about the ultimate destiny of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley), the romantic triangle who meet as children in a dreary, peculiar boarding school called Hailsham House. If you don’t want to know any more about that, stop reading now. This is really never a secret in the film, although it’s concealed at first under a mask of horrifying euphemism — as an adult, Kathy becomes a “carer,” who works with “donors” until they reach “completion” — and I had read Ishiguro’s unforgettable novel and knew what was coming. Still, there’s a scene about 20 minutes into the movie when a sympathetic teacher named Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins) finally spells out what the Hailsham children need to know about their future if they’re to have “decent lives,” as she puts it, and Romanek dramatizes this hammer-blow, life-changing moment with such power that I don’t want to undermine it.

Screenwriter Alex Garland, who is himself a novelist, sticks close to both the letter and spirit of Ishiguro’s novel; this movie is a veritable clinic in precise literary adaptation. He incorporates snatches of dialogue and even voiceover (read by Mulligan) straight from the book, without swamping the human drama or overwhelming Romanek’s astonishing visual evocation of a bygone Britain. His innovations are limited, but they help set the stage in important ways: The big medical breakthrough came in 1952, we are told in an opening title, and by 1967 life expectancy exceeded 100 years. This came at a price, of course, and “Never Let Me Go” asks us to consider that price in all its dimensions. Continue reading Never Let Me Go: ‘Devastating, Dystopian’

ATTN: Mr. Democrat Challenges the Iranian Regime

By Jason Apuzzo. I wanted Libertas readers to have a chance today to see an extraordinary short film by Iranian filmmaker Farbod “Fred” Khoshtinat called, ATTN: Mr. Democrat. The ‘Mr. Democrat’ of the title is an ironic reference to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who actually claims to preside over a democratic republic in Iran.

Fred Khoshtinat with Hillary Clinton.

Khoshtinat is a multi-talented filmmaker who edited the music video sequences in a poignant movie I really admired this past summer called No One Knows About Persian Cats (see my review of that here).

ATTN: Mr. Democrat is a short film that created a big splash recently by winning the State Department’s ‘Democracy Video Challenge,’ in the Near East and North Africa category. Khoshtinat was given the ‘Democracy Video Challenge’ award for this short this past week by Hillary Clinton.

Dissident filmmakers like Khoshtinat will always have a ‘virtual home’ here at Libertas. We wish him the best in his future endeavors, and hope the success of his film opens up another tiny crack in the Iranian regime.

Posted on September 17th, 2010 at 12:43pm.

Living with the Infidels Episode 5 – “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”

PLEASE NOTE: Living with the Infidels Episode 5, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” features adult language and situations. If that might offend you, please don’t watch the webisode. Otherwise, enjoy.

By Jason Apuzzo. Here is Episode 5, the final installment of Living with the Infidels. We hope you’ve enjoyed the series. This episode may be the best. It is genuinely hilarious – in large measure because it’s dominated by the terror cell’s raging narcissist, Psycho Ali, who delivers the funniest riff on a terror video I’ve ever seen – Four Lions included. Watch him as he struggles to find his ‘actor’s moment.’ Enjoy!

Posted on September 16th, 2010 at 10:15am.