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Teeveespotting
From Chicago/Milwaukee, this is The Dope Sheet... I'm Sam Van
Hallgren.
Adam and I get a lot of great feedback every week in response to
our movie reviews, but when Adam mentioned "Studio 60" and "The Wire"
in last week's Dope Sheet, we received the kind of passionate
response we haven't seen since I admitted to having a religious
experience watching "Superman Returns."
From Matt Midboe in Dallas:
"[A] new episode of The Wire will trump just about anything.
When I take a step back from the engaging and entertaining story I
realize I just got lessons in civics, public education, law
enforcement, the drug war, and labor unions that I missed out in
school. The kinds of detail that go into an episode of The Wire are
usually reserved for a science fiction series. While I wasn't 5-star
thrilled with season 2, season 3 was a return to form and the current
season has been outstanding.
I say all this as someone who doesn't watch TV. I don't have any cable or satellite. At one point I was traveling on Greyhound for a month and I'd time the nights I stayed in a hotel so they coincided with new episodes of The Wire."
Nobody wrote in to disagree with the likes of Matt, but some
wrote in to to recommend other good television that we're missing.
"Adam, forget "The Wire." It's nothing compared to the incredible Battlestar Galactica. I know you may cringe at the name, but this remake of the show is some of the best written Sci-Fi ever. I highly recommend it and if you don't believe me, put a shout out on the show to anyone who might be watching it."
-- David Jaffe
Like Adam, I haven't seen a single episode of The Wire. [I
actually have seen an episode of "Battlestar Galactica" and ... ah
... it was no "Serenity" ... I'll leave it at that.] But I did my
due diligence, went to Netflix and put Season 1 of "The Wire" in my
queue. The problem? All five discs that make up Season 1 are
available "now" ... except for Disc 1, which has a status of "long
wait." Netflix needs to do something about this.
Until that happens, I'll stick to "Studio 60" and the only other
TV show that I make time for every week: "The Office." Yes, the
American version. And as someone who believes that the two seasons
of the BBC's "The Office" are pretty much perfect, that's saying
something. The American version isn't better, but it's not any worse
either.
It's perfectly cast, it's hysterical, and it's unlike anything
else on television. And if there is something else like it on TV,
don't bother letting me know; I don't have the time to watch it.
In a related note, I was programming my Tivo for the next couple
of weeks and came across several Filmspotting favorites that will be
playing between now and the end of the month.
Jane Fonda in Klute - 10/18 (Oxygen)
Top 5 Best Performances, Cop Movies, Movies "With A Heart Of Gold"
Safe Men - 10/20 (Sundance)
Overlooked DVD Pick
Nashville - 10/25 (TCM)
Top 5 Ensembles, Satires, Death Scenes
Adam's Rib - 10/26 (TCM)
Screwball Comedies Marathon
In The Bedroom - 10/16 (IFC)
Todd Field's debut film; check it out in time for our review of
his follow up "Little Children" on FS #132
The Sweet Hereafter - 10/17 (IFC)
Top 5 Movies With Narrators, Movies About Money, Death Scenes,
Book Adaptations
May - 10/19 (IFC)
Edited by Brick's Rian Johnson
Mr. Death - 10/20 (IFC)
Errol Morris -- Docs Marathon extra credit!
In America - 10/23 (IFC)
Top 5 NY Movies, Movies With Child Protagonist, Movies About
Marriage, Inspirational Movies
The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg - 10/19 (Sundance)
My favorite of the Musicals Marathon
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How fewer critics screenings would bring peace to the world
aka Another one of my ill-considered editorials.
Neither The Marine nor The Grudge 2 were screened for critics, possibly because they were deemed too awesome.
- From the 10/12-10/18 issue of The Onion A/V Club.
When I read this quote in this week's Onion, I laughed. [In fact,
I laughed again just typing it out.] But that's not really why I'm
including the quote in this week's Dope Sheet. My question: why
should I care what The Onion has to say about "The Marine" or "Grudge
2"?
I mean, is every film worthy of a review?
What percentage of movies released every year are going to get
across-the-board critical pans? Maybe 30%? And couldn't we look at
a list of prospective films to be released every year and pick out
probably 90% of them? So why don't critics just avoid these movies?
Why not just let them sink or swim on their own merits? Will critics
be accused of neglecting their journalistic duty? Is the movie
critics equivalent to the Hippocratic oath not, "Do no harm," but
"Let no crappy movie go unwatched?" Does any critic go into a
screening of The Marine with anything less than absolute dread?
Does this sound cynical? Because it's not meant to be.
Instead of a review, Onion critics and others could just write:
"Looked bad to us so we didn't waste our time. If you see it and it's
good, let us know and maybe we'll check it out."
That's exactly what happened this summer with "The Lake House."
We had no plans to see it; some listeners wrote in to tell us we were
missing one of the surprises of the summer; and now it will always be
true that Adam confessed to liking The Lake House. Democracy works.
[Adam's note: Liking it a lot, in fact.]
My proposal: let more movies go without critics screenings. The
world will be a better place.
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How critics screen(ers) saved Filmspotting
I want to admit something here that might strike some of you as
ironic in light of the above editorial. Due to the fact that I live
(and work) in Milwaukee, and because of Adam's particularly busy
schedule these last couple of weeks, our experience at the CIFF was
almost entirely restricted to screener copies of festival films
loaned to us by the CIFF media office.
In fact, the closest I came to a theatre during the festival was
at the AMC River East downtown where I met DB Sweeney after a
screening of his film "Dirt Nap." I was there to drive him over to
Chicago Public Radio on Navy Pier for our interview. [Actually, Adam
was doing the driving, and DB ended up getting shuttled to the pier
by CIFF officials, which meant that Adam stowed away his twin car
seats into the trunk of his gray Hyundai in vain.]
In this case, the screeners made our show possible. With our
conflicting schedules (and locations), there was just no way that
Adam and I would have been able to see the same films at the fest.
And as it turns out, Adam got to see a film that I think he'll admit
is one of his favorites of the year -- and so did I. And they
weren't the same film. Imagine that.
The reason I mention all this in The Dope Sheet is because
although the film Adam liked so much is getting a theatrical release
later this fall, the film I liked has no current plans for
distribution ... but CAN be seen at the Milwaukee International Film
Festival in a couple of weeks.
And I'm feeling so confident that at least a couple of you [that
happen to live in the Chicago/Milwaukee area] will like this film as
much as I did, that
I'm proposing a mini Milwaukee-area meetup at one of the two
MIFF screenings.
Oh, and the movie is "Wristcutters: A Love Story." Below are the
screening times. Send an e-mail to
feedback@filmspotting.net
and let me know if you're interested and we'll plan something.
Friday, October 27th - 7:00 pm Downer Theatre
Sunday, October 29th - 4:30 pm Times Cinema
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Overlooked DVD Pick: Heart of Gold
 "This is more than a movie, it's a privilege."
I can't believe I'm quoting Peter Travers. It sounds like
hyperbole, but he's right. That's exactly how I felt.
A week after Adam establishes his hip hop cred by making "Dave
Chapelle's Block Party" his overlooked pick of the week, I try to
establish cred with listeners my parents' age with another concert
film.
"Neil Young: Heart of Gold" documents the concert debut of
Young's 2005 album "Prairie Wind." Directed by Jonathan Demme, the
film was recorded over two nights at Nashville's historic Ryman
Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.
It doesn't hurt to know that Young wrote and recorded the songs
on "Prairie Wind" soon after receiving a diagnosis for a potentially
deadly brain aneurysm. It's hard not to listen to the lyrics without
thinking that Young was writing songs that might be the last he'd
ever write.
And like any concert film, it helps to have at least some
interest in the music. A director could be revolutionizing the
concert movie genre, but if you hate the music, it's probably not
going to be worth the effort. And I do like Neil Young. Despite the
fact that, as a friend of mine describes him, Young can sound like an
old woman singing from inside a garbage can.
But as much as I like Young, I was suspicious of reviews that
were claiming that Demme's film was some kind of masterpiece. I'm
not terribly well informed about the tradition of concert films
(though I know that Demme has made one of the classics -- "Stop
Making Sense"), but it was hard for me to imagine just what Demme was
doing that was so special. And with all the films out there, it was
hard for me to get really excited about a concert movie. Isn't that
what public television is for?
But what made the film special for me was Demme's attention to
detail. The movie is beautiful to look at and the songs are great;
but watching "Heart of Gold" as I would any other film, I became
aware of just how carefully and beautifully constructed it is. Like
any deliberately-paced film, individual choices are easier to
discern. And suddenly every pan of the camera turned into a moment
of great drama.
Occasionally, I would stop listening to the songs and just get
caught up in the faces of the musicians on stage as they took their
cues from Young and from each other.
Several months ago when "Heart of Gold" was released in theatres,
a listener wrote in and suggested that we do a Concert Film marathon.
I had my doubts. But after watching "Heart of Gold," I'm curious.
"Heart of Gold" is
Available on Peerflix
- Long Wait
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A Look Ahead
Just a quick look ahead at the next couple shows, as some things have
changed.
FS #130 originally aired Saturday night on Chicago Public Radio
and is devoted to the 42nd Annual Chicago International Film
Festival. And at somewhere around 60 minutes, it will be a break for
those of you that were tiring of the 80+ minute shows we've been
posting recently [Magnus From Berlin, we're talking to you].
We have reviews of three films that had their Chicago debuts at
the festival ("A Guide To Recignizing Your Saints," "Dixie Chicks:
Shut Up and Sing," and "Wristcutters: A Love Story"), plus an
interview with actor/first-time director DB Sweeney and our Top 5
Movies About Starting Over.
Filmspotting #131 (Wed. 10/25) aka the October "Bonus Show" will
feature a review of "The Last King of Scotland," plus the fifth film
in our docs marathon -- Errol Morris' "Vernon, Florida." [We'd
planned to discuss both "Vernon" and the final film in the docs
marathon, "The Times Of Harvey Milk," but decided to push "Milk" back
to FS#133 (11/1). I know what you're thinking, and no, we're not
intentionally avoiding the Animation Marathon. I promise.]
We might also get a chance to discuss John Cameron Mitchell's
"Shortbus" -- which would be great because I saw it a month ago and
have been dying to talk about it -- but that seems a little
far-fetched. We'll also have listener reviews of "The Departed" and
Top 5 "Cool Characters" lists.
Filmspotting #132 (Sat. 10/28) is our monthly WBEZ show and will
feature reviews of "The Prestige" and Todd Field's "Little Children."
We'll also have an interview with Field (Oscar nominated in 2001
for "In The Bedroom"), and our Top 5 Movies About Deception. We'll
have a review of Sophia Copolla's "Marie Antoinette" on FS #133
(11/1).
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