Movies with Abe

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Movie with Abe: Harlem Aria

Harlem Aria
Directed by William Jennings
Released March 5, 2010

Everyone has the right to have a dream. Trying to achieve it may be trickier, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth putting in the effort. The story of a kind-hearted, somewhat slow African-American young man from Harlem who yearns to become an opera singer can certainly be seen as an inspiring tale of someone no one else believed in who still sought to prevail over the starkest of odds. Watching as Anton tries hard to realize his lifelong dream is compelling at times, but its presentation diminishes the considerable impact that Anton’s journey could have had.

This is absolutely one of those cases where the concept is far better than the execution. Those involved probably pitched it well and had it received positively, but it doesn’t work terribly well as a film. The inspirational nature of Anton’s transformation into an opera singer as a result of his newfound partnership with a piano player in the park instead comes off as immensely hokey, counteracting any positive possibilities it may have had. There’s nothing particularly inventive or stylized about the filmmaking, and the sappy, predictable story can’t tell itself.

Lead actor Gabriel Casseus gives his performance his all, perfectly mimicking the tics and naivety that the well-meaning Anton exhibits. It’s his portrayal that serves as the key element of the film that makes it worthwhile. The same can’t be said for his two buddies, however. As a homeless hustler who constantly takes advantage of Anton’s handicap, Damon Wayans is obscenely obnoxious and altogether too over-the-top. As the park pianist who more quickly takes to Anton due to his talent and good nature, Christian Camargo, recently seen in powerful roles in both TV’s “Dexter” and the Oscar-winning film “The Hurt Locker,” is sort of useless as a sap and doesn’t add much. The trio is ultimately more comic than compelling, which poses a problem for this allegedly moving film.

What carries “Harlem Aria” in some limited capacity is the essence of the film – Anton’s passion for and love of music. The scenes where Anton throws himself completely into the opera singing he so adores are by far the best in the film. At a point, however, there’s little left to be excited about, but opera lovers will easily be taken in by Casseus’ voice and energy. Those not prone to opera may not look as kindly on this film that presents an uplifting tale but tells it in a less than polished way.

C-

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wednesday Oscar Retrospective: The Forgotten Five of 2004

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Wednesday Oscar Retrospective. The Forgotten Five is the first in a series of projects looking back at the past eight years of the Oscars, dating back to the first ceremony I watched and closely followed.

Each year, a number of films are left off of Oscar’s Best Picture list. This year, even with ten nominees, films still didn’t make the cut. What I’m interested in looking at is the Forgotten Five – five films that probably came closest to getting nominated for Best Picture and ended up without a single nomination.

Each week, I’ll be working backwards one week. The rules are that the film cannot have earned any Oscar nominations at all. These are the movies that came so close and had buzz but just couldn’t ultimately cut it. If you disagree with my choices or think I missed one, please leave a note in the comments. This is designed to be a fun look back at some of the movies that may have been great (or not) and just missed the mark.

The Forgotten Five of 2004:

Fahrenheit 9/11 was submitted by Michael Moore for consideration in the Best Picture category instead of the Best Documentary one in an attempt to follow up on Moore’s win in the latter category in 2002 for “Bowling for Columbine.” The film and the stunt presumably pissed a number of people off and didn’t pan out, though I predicted the film to get in for Best Picture and Best Director.

Garden State was the directorial debut of “Scrubs” actor Zach Braff. Despite turning in a surprisingly mature performance and showcasing the wonderful Natalie Portman, the film didn’t win many awards other than honors for Braff’s debut. His take on life in New Jersey earned a WGA nod for its original screenplay, but didn’t cater to the older block of Oscar voters.

Kill Bill Volume 2 was the second part of Quentin Tarantino’s bloody revenge saga. Uma Thurman earned Golden Globe nominations for both parts, and Bill himself picked up a nod for this part (the late David Carradine). The first one didn’t earn any accolades, but it was possible that the second might earn the duo’s due. It’s likely that the strong amount of violence and excessive swordplay may have diminished its chances.

Mean Girls was a searing send-up of high school life featuring starlet Lindsay Lohan before her days of crazy partying. “Saturday Night Live” stalwart player Tina Fey adapted the screenplay and the film was a critical success. This precursor to “Gossip Girl” didn’t get much farther than a WGA nod for Fey’s script, demonstrating that Oscar voters aren’t known for their sense of humor.

The Notebook made teenage girls across the country swoon. Rising stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams were certainly a major part of that, but the presence of veteran actors and past Oscar nominees James Garner, who earned a SAG Award nomination and Gena Rowlands seemed like it might propel the film to a spot on Oscar radar. This great love story just wasn’t destined to win awards.

Get started on 2003 and come back next Wednesday for a look at the Forgotten Five of that year!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Date Night

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

Date Night – Opening April 9, 2010

There’s enough reason to be excited for this movie before even seeing a trailer: it brings together the two people who really brought back NBC’s Must-See TV Thursday night. Steve Carrell is the undisputed star of “The Office,” and I’ve always considered Tina Fey to be the true lead of “30 Rock.” Before Alec Baldwin had two Emmys and three Golden Globes spouting “Best Actor in a Leading Role,” I had always considered him a supporting actor. More importantly, though, Fey works behind-the-scenes as a writer of the show. Unfortunately, Fey didn’t pen this film (her last and only film screenwriting credit was “Mean Girls”), but she should have a grand chance to show off the acting comedy chops she has demonstrated time and again on the four seasons of her hit TV show. Carrell should have no problem either, and he also proved his action-comedy abilities as the strongest part of “Get Smart,” but the question is: which one is the straight man? Fey usually plays that part, but it’s hard to decide which one of them is more of an oddball. But on to the movie! I was very surprised when I saw the trailer after hearing about this movie that it wasn’t a straight comedy a la “Knocked Up.” Instead, it’s an action comedy flick that, while still certainly emphasizing the latter, features killers and dangers aplently. In a sense that’s a relief because its something wildly original that doesn’t just depend, or worse, fall back on, the likeability and popularity of its two stars. They both do look like they’re having a blast though, playing low-key, fairly bland spouses who gradually let their inner crazy out as they’re on the run from hitmen who think they’re a different couple. The fact that the real couple is played by Mila Kunis and James Franco, as revealed ever-so-briefly in the trailer, is great considering their successful work in recent Judd Apatow troupe films, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Pineapple Express,” respectively. Simply put, even if the script isn’t sharp, the thespian talent involved should make it more than compelling, and I’ll definitely be thrilled to see it. Are you looking forward to it?

Monday, March 8, 2010

Movie with Abe: Toe to Toe

Toe to Toe
Directed by Emily Abt
Released February 26, 2010

After the same core story is told over and over in assorted variations and iterations, it begins to lose some of its impact. A revealing look at two teenagers with nothing in common who come together as a result of an unexpected share passion can only reveal so much before the trail has already been adequately covered. Treading the same ground with only slighted altered versions of the same archetype doesn’t automatically make the new take interesting or worthwhile. Those that imitate but don’t go above and beyond what came before risk fading into oblivion in the realm of the hundreds of film released each year.

“Toe to Toe” is the tale of two girls from different sides of the track who are united by their talent for playing lacrosse. Jesse is a rich white girl who has essentially been raised by her nanny due to her traveling workaholic mother’s busy schedule. Tosha is a black girl who comes from a bad neighborhood but has the drive to succeed so that she can get a scholarship to Princeton and leave the memories of her destitute world behind. They are brought together by lacrosse, but like last year’s “The Blind Side,” this is a sports movie that fails to adequately play up the love for the sport itself and therefore remains painfully ordinary.

It’s not a terribly original story, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still resonate and have some meaning, even if it’s diminished considerably. These are two characters who, despite fitting very broadly and loosely defined caricatures that hardly make them unique, are living their own individual lives. The intersection of their stories creates an interesting dynamic that, above all, showcases the strong performances of young actresses Louisa Krause and Sonequa Martin, both of who have a limited professional resume and deliver admirably. They should not be penalized if the characters written for them are not as three-dimensional as their portrayals.

There’s little more to say about “Toe to Toe” than to emphasize the fact that this is a familiar story which could have been more meaningful and effective if it had made use of more creative filmic and storytelling devices. There’s nothing to distinguish this particular tale and these specific characters from any such personages in a similar film. It isn’t a bad film, but it’s certainly not a terribly good one either. Expect more from these young and talented actresses in the future, but don’t spend too much time on this movie.

C+

Oscar Winner Reactions

Well, the annual awards season has officially come to a close. After the Oscars aired last night, we now have four first-time acting winners, the first woman ever to win best director, an underdog that defeated a film that earned over thirty times as much money at the box office for the top prize, and a few surprises along the way. None of the surprises are too exciting, since “Precious” did not deserve to beat “Up in the Air” for Best Adapted Screenplay and I, like pretty much every person who isn’t an Oscar voter who voted in the Best Foreign Film category, haven’t seen “The Secret in their Eyes,” which doesn’t open in U.S. theatres until April 16, so I can’t say whether or not it deserves it. I’m happy to report that the two most deserving short films (live action and animated) did in fact win, with the amazing “Logorama” defeating the equally entertaining but not quite as creative Wallace & Gromit entry “A Matter of Loaf and Death” and the incomparable “The New Tenants” winning the other award.

Predictions-wise, I did alright but not excellently. I missed seven categories in total – both screenplays, sound, makeup, foreign language film, documentary short, and animated short. For those keeping track, 17/24 (71%) is one more category up from last year, when I predicted 16/24, and five up from two years ago, when I got 12/24. More importantly, I got the top six categories right this time around, which wasn’t necessarily an easy feat considering many didn’t have faith in “The Hurt Locker.” Anyway, it’s been a fun season.

Ceremony-wise, I don’t have much to say because there wasn’t anything too exciting about it. Neil Patrick Harris’ appearance was fun, but Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin didn’t really have a chance to do too much funny stuff. Ben Stiller’s Avatar appearance was entertaining, and the mix of presenters worked pretty well. Some at my Oscar-watching party took issue with having Barbra Streisand present Best Director and endorse two candidates before handing out the award, not unjustly. I prefer a subtler choice which honors all directors, like when Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg presented because everyone thought that Martin Scorsese was going to win and it still would have been meaningful if someone else had taken home the trophy. Streisand is also a strange choice because she is not one of the other three women who was nominated for Best Director, despite having helmed a Best Picture nominee.

What were your favorite moments from the Oscars and what did you think of the winners? Post a comment and below and share your thoughts!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Your Guide to the Oscars

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Oscar-Nominated Documentaries: Burma VJ & The Cove

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
Directed by Anders Ostergaard
Released May 20, 2009

The Cove
Directed by Louie Psihoyos
Released July 31, 2009

Two of the films nominated for this weekend’s Oscar for Best Documentary are no longer in theatres. While “The Cove” has been out on DVD since December, “Burma VJ,” which enjoyed an extremely brief theatrical run last May, won’t be available on DVD until around June. Luckily, the IFC Center in New York City brought the latter film back for one night as part of the Stranger than Fiction series last week. These two films actually have quite a bit in common, and it’s very interesting to look at these two posited beside each other.

With any hard-hitting documentary, exposing the facts requires a certain determination on the part of the researchers and often forces them to put their lives in serious danger. In the case of “Burma VJ,” the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) faces life imprisonment by the military government and the destruction of all of the video material its members have worked to assemble. In “The Cove,” former Flipper trainer Richard O’Barry and his team of dolphin rescuers also risk the daily possibility of being apprehended and held without anyone back home to come and save them. The stories of people being beaten and shot versus dolphins being murdered might not exactly carry the same weight, but through these two films, each presents an extraordinarily compelling tale.

In both “The Cove” and “Burma VJ,” a brave few try to expose some truth about which the rest of the world seems hopelessly unaware. In the effort to save the dolphins, the small crew seeks to film as much as they can so that they can use it to inspire others back in the United States and other countries to take part in the cause. In Burma, however, the most significant part of the work done by the DVB is the transmission of the footage taken to the rest of the world and even back into the closed country of Burma. Spreading information is paramount, and if a small number of people can inspire hundreds, thousands, or millions, then maybe the world can be changed one step at a time.

The two films take different tones in spotlighting their respective injustices. “Burma VJ” is an ultra-serious instance of true groundbreaking reporting from a closed country, as the subtitle suggests, and it operates under the premise that everyone is watching and therefore it’s simply unbelievable that nothing is changing. “The Cove” starts with the opening line “we tried to do this legally” while operating as a thriller of sorts, but there’s a fair amount of humor in the film, including O’Barry deliberately lying to police in interviews and answering the question “how many times have you been arrested” with “this year?” O’Barry also utters a distinctly trademark line that no other person in thee world could call their own: “if there’s a dolphin in trouble anywhere in the world, my phone rings.” The DVB similarly attempts to prevent any government misconduct in the country of Burma. These watchdogs are doing incredible work, and these films do their stories justice.

Burma VJ: B+
The Cove: B+

Movie with Abe: The Secret of Kells

The Secret of Kells
Directed by Tomm Moore & Nora Twomey
Released March 5, 2010

This year’s surprise nominee for Best Animated Feature is finally here, and it’s quite an interesting experience. It’s one of the most astonishing uses of traditional two-dimensional animation to tell a story about the writing of the Book of Kells amid an impending invasion of Kells by the murderous Vikings. There’s something inherently fascinating and intoxicating about the film, but there seems to be something missing in the impact and overall effectiveness of the film in seeming like a finished project and a complete story.

In a sense, “The Secret of Kells” is like a film adaptation of a children’s book. While it tells a dark history often wrought with gruesome violence (though it isn’t rated by the MPAA, it would likely earn a PG-13), the way it presents it is through the eyes of the impressionable young Brendan, the nephew of the Abbot who has never left the confines of the abbey. Brendan’s curiosity always gets the best of him, and the arrival of the legendary Brother Aidan of Iona, illustrator of the Book of Kells, propels him into a whirlwind adventure that pits him both against the wrath of his overprotective uncle and much more gravely dangerous forces in his path.

Brendan’s real journey begins when he runs deep into a mysterious forest which he has been forbidden to enter by his uncle. The way he so quickly becomes simultaneously lost and awed by his fantastical surroundings is reminiscent of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” where magic often aids the main character and things are never quite as they seem. The energy with which the excitable young protagonist runs headfirst into danger and the dominance of fascination over fear by what he finds is also similar in a wonderful way. The presence of Brendan’s fairy friend Aisling is probably the most amazing part of the film, and a haunting song that she sings to help spirit Brendan to safety is simply mesmerizing.

The two-dimensional animation is particularly impressive considering the current predominance of computer animation today. The active workings of Brendan’s imagination are spectacularly illustrated and represented by the startling and incredible designs that play out on screen. Aesthetically and technically speaking, it’s a marvelous achievement that serves as a strong argument for the continued use of hand-drawn animation, and its resemblance to a children’s story book only helps make it all the more compelling. As a narrative film, however, it falls somewhat short because its 75-minute runtime doesn’t allow it the time to fully develop, and more crucially, finish telling, its intriguing tale.

B

Movies with Abe

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Movie with Abe: Harlem Aria

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wednesday Oscar Retrospective: The Forgotten Five of 2004

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Date Night

Monday, March 8, 2010

Movie with Abe: Toe to Toe

Oscar Winner Reactions

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Your Guide to the Oscars

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Oscar-Nominated Documentaries: Burma VJ & The Cove

Movie with Abe: The Secret of Kells

TV with Abe

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Oscar Predictions & AFT Awards

2010 Film Reviews

2009 Film Reviews

Golden Globe Predictions

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