Films – Page 57 – Spinning Platters

Spinning Platters Interview: Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig & Craig Johnson, “The Skeleton Twins”

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At the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, I sit with a group of other writers around a table as the audible antics begin approaching outside the door. SNL veterans Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, along with director Craig Johnson, are splitting each others’ sides with jokes and voices. They are tired and somewhat giddy from a day of press, supporting their incredible new film, The Skeleton Twins, and they loosely greet us with smiles and how ya dos. Bill chucks a muffin from that morning down the hallway, comically screaming ‘This BETTER BE GOOD!’. Bill and Kristen feed off each other’s energy, a polite and friendly Craig Johnson between them, and they all take a deep breath and search around the table for who’s first to dive in…

———-

Craig, you co-wrote the script with Mark Heyman, and I heard he’d been working on the script for eight years. How did the final cut of the film differentiate from the original script?

Craig Johnson: Well, we actually had a couple versions of it that were unfinished that were all over the place. We had one where Milo was a drag queen. (To Bill) I haven’t even told you about these versions of it. There was a road trip element.

Kristen Wiig: Maggie was a cat. (laughing)

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Film Review: The Trip to Italy

The boys are back out of town.

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan strike an intellectual pose.

You know when you think that your conversations with your friends are prime material for a movie, television show, or web series? Well, 9 times out of 10, your conversations wouldn’t be very entertaining to others. I’m guilty of this as well. Thankfully we have Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, two comedians who have now created two hilarious and engaging films mostly consisting of them talking and eating. The Trip (2010) introduced us to the semi-improvised story of Rob and Steve, playing fictionalized versions of themselves, where the latter joined the former on a restaurant tour assignment in Northern England. The Trip to Italy is a direct continuation from the first film, featuring the same bickering, multi-course meal montages, and Michael Caine impersonations that made the first trip so enjoyable…this time with a side of Italy and a pinch of emotional depth.

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Film Review: The November Man

Bond he is not. Bourne he is not. Hunt he is not. Ladies and Gentlemen, The November Man!

Pierce Brosnan attempts a return to the spy game in Roger Donaldson’s spy thriller, The November Man. The film is based on the novel There Are No Spies by Bill Granger. And, wouldn’t you know it, the spies in this film don’t resemble spies at all. They run through public streets with guns blazing, have no issues killing off members of any agency (even their own), and are incredibly oblivious to the most blatant clues and plot twists right in front of them. This is also the first action spy film I’ve ever seen that has no police presence. No matter how destructive and time consuming the shootouts and chases, there are no basic security or police squad personnel to be seen. Not even a siren! Maybe I just missed it and need to rewatch it to notice (I’m not going to rewatch it). Ultimately, The November Man is a scattered mess, trying to tackle too many plot lines whilst relying on nearly every spy film cliché to move the story forward. If it weren’t for Brosnan’s charisma, The November Man would be a complete dud.

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Film Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Stark, Bloody, and two smoking Marvs

Josh Brolin and Eva Green gets black and white and red all over.

It’s a little bizarre that Sin City: A Dame to Kill For took this long to get made. Creative differences, production and casting issues, and the usual onslaught of headlines and rumors supposedly got in the way of this film getting off the ground. But nearly ten years later, we have A Dame to Kill For, and there are many disappointing elements that the filmmakers, with ten years to play with, should have gotten right. The Sin City film franchise nevertheless continues to showcase some of the most impressive visuals in movies — but has the novelty worn off? The black and white psychedelic neo-noir tone is fun, yet a lacking depth of emotion and a shortage of character variety (compared to 2005’s Sin City) spoils the return to Frank Miller’s dark seedy world.

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Now in Theaters: Frank/When the Game Stands Tall/If I Stay/Island of the Lemurs: Madagascar

Frank

by Carrie Kahn

Loosely inspired by alt rocker Chris Sievey’s stage creation Frank Sidebottom, Irish director Lenny Abrahamson’s new film is co-written by Peter Straughan and Jon Ronson, whose memoir details his experiences with Sidebottom. But no knowledge of the film’s backstory is necessary to be utterly delighted by this quirky and very funny film, which chronicles Jon’s (Domhnall Gleeson) induction into, and relationship with, an avant-garde band led by the mysterious Frank (Michael Fassbender). The catch is that Frank wears a large papier-mâché mask not only when on stage, but during all parts of his life (even while showering). What is amazing is that although the mask has just one expression – a crudely drawn, unsmiling, wide-eyed stare, its features seem to change simply by virtue of Fassbender’s tone of voice and body language; his performance is truly remarkable. Why Frank chooses to cover himself this way is one of the film’s central questions; themes of identity, artistic integrity, and creativity are explored with nuanced humor and depth. Does creativity have to stem from inner darkness, the film asks, or can normalcy and happiness drive the creative process just as forcefully? If artistic creations become widely popular, is their worth somehow lessened? With hauntingly beautiful cinematography (many scenes were filmed around Austin) and a weird and wonderful soundtrack, Frank delves into these issues with style, charm, and black humor. Plusses: Unique, intelligent story; brilliant performances by Fassbender and relative newcomer Gleeson. Minuses: Maggie Gyllenhall is slightly grating as fellow band-mate Clara; her range here seems to hover only between fiercely angry and completely insane. Final Analysis: A smart, compelling picture about the inner lives of artists that, frankly (yes, pun intended) may well be one of the best films of the year.

Frank opens today at the Landmark Embarcadero theater in San Francisco and the Landmark Shattuck theater in Berkeley.

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Film Review: Into the Storm

An unnatural disaster.

Should we stay or should we go? It's just so pretty and destructive! — Should we stay or should we leave…the theater.

Into the Storm is one of those movies in which you can easily tell how most of, if not all, the budget was spent. The tornado sequences look great. There’s a lot of debris flying around, making a mess. I’m sure that if I were to compare the destructive tornadoes in 1996’s Twister to those in Into the Storm, the latter would make the former look silly and cartoonish. But taken in its entirety, Into the Storm makes Twister look like a masterpiece (my apologies to those who were of this opinion of Twister already). Into the Storm, aside from a few intense in-the-thick-of-it moments, completely misses the mark. A weak story, awkward acting, and makeshift dialogue derail Into the Storm, and even the tornadoes are welcome interruptions from the sloppy storyline, rather than harbingers of impending doom.

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Film Review: Calvary

Trying to find light in a very dark place.

Chris O'Dowd and Brendan Gleeson are laughin' it up! — Chris O’Dowd and Brendan Gleeson compare serious faces.

Pay close attention to the title. The word is ‘calvary’, not ‘cavalry’. If you go into watching Calvary expecting to see a charging army on horseback, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Calvary, titled after the name of the hill outside Jerusalem where Christ was crucified and also a term used to describe great suffering, is a very dark yet beautiful and at times humorously allegorical tale. The film is also a pointed study on the rocky relationship between Ireland and the Catholic church. It’s a very tightly bound film without much fluff — with no air to breathe, Calvary can sometimes come across as contrived or forced. This winds up benefitting the film, since moments of contrivance are superseded by how these moments challenge our morality and judgmental nature. Calvary expects us to listen closely to what the characters have to say, but also to open ourselves up to heavy discussions on the nature of sin, faith, life and death. It’s a tall order, indeed, but one that the film handles intelligently.

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Film Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

The best talking tree movie since Lord of the Rings is also the most fun Marvel movie yet.

The Guardians of the Galaxy are here to make your summer more fun.

The Guardians of the Galaxy, the superhero team, was an odd choice for a Marvel movie. They’re not famous, which should make them a hard sell to the mainstream audiences that these movies are expected to attract. It could have gone really wrong, but because they’re oddballs operating out in space where they can’t interact with our earthbound heroes, the movie Guardians of the Galaxy is a delightful throwback romp. Continue reading “Film Review: Guardians of the Galaxy”

Film Review: Get on Up

Fantastic funk fills flawed film

Chadwick Boseman channels James Brown in Get on Up.

Director Tate Taylor, who most recently brought Kathryn Stockett’s best selling novel The Help to the big screen, tries his hand at true life material in Get on Up, a biopic of the Godfather of Soul himself, the legendary James Brown. The results are mixed; tonally, the picture is a bit uneven, but some fine performances elevate the proceedings, and the soundtrack alone is almost worth the price of admission. Continue reading “Film Review: Get on Up”

Film Review: Happy Christmas

Soft and low key, and a healthy dose of reality

Melanie Lynskey and Joe Swanberg snuggle up tight in 'Happy Christmas' — Melanie Lynskey and Joe Swanberg snuggle up tight in ‘Happy Christmas’

Some people enjoy movies because they provide an escape from the hardships of real life. To them, the more out-of-this-world, the better. Other people enjoy realistic movies the most – the movies that capture the intricacies of real human behavior, real emotions, and stories grounded in reality. Happy Christmas will definitely please the latter group of movie watchers, but has a rather good shot at pleasing the former group, too. Director Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies) is a rising talent getting known for his acute handling of complex onscreen relationships. Happy Christmas is Swanberg’s most mature film to date, capturing a segment in the life of a few in a way that doesn’t rely on overly dramatic instances to drive the plot. In doing so, the film is actually a pleasant invitation into another family’s life, one in which the characters ring true.

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