RIP Baby Diego

Jose here with some sad news from the future.


In exactly seventeen years from today, the youngest person on Earth will die in a gruesome murder, leaving humanity's fate in the hands of...


It doesn't help that he has some issues to solve with Julianne Moore and thinks Baby Diego was a wanker...


How do you feel about the possibility that in the future no new children will be born? Wasn't Children of Men one of the most amazing movies of the last decade? Are you still pissed someone stole El Chivo Lubezki's Oscar?

Modern Maestros: Alfonso Cuarón

Maestro: Alfonso Cuarón
Known For: long takes, intellectual films that are sensuous and sensual.
Influences: American Noir, French New Wave, Orson Welles (it's always Orson Welles ain't it?)
Masterpieces: Children of Men
Disasters: none
Better than you remember: you probably love all of his stuff, but it might be time to revisit his good but lesser received films from the 90's.
Box Office: Almost 250 mil for Harry Potter but you knew that.
Favorite Actor: Not a lot of recurring actors, and by not a lot I mean, not any. Do you know of any? I don't.

Orson Welles often said that sustaining a take was how one separated the boys from the men. And through cinematic history the long shot has been employed as a tool of artistic showmanship in films renowned for their languorous and contemplative pacing. While I love almost all of them, I have a special kind of admiration for Alfonso Cuarón, whose film making technique utilizes uninterrupted takes in ways that are exciting, tense and filled with life. They are, unlike many artistic long shots, easy to miss at first since they don't draw attention to themselves as a device, but instead blend organically into the aesthetic of the film. The obvious choice for an example is the car chase scene in Children of Men. Cuarón's camera swirls around the car filled with our heroes (in a rig specially designed for the shot) providing an unflinching experience of growing tension. Certainly the scene could have been a series of fast-paced, chopped cuts. But while that may have increased adrenaline (not that the scene needed any more) we, the viewers would have lost our place in that car.

Children of Men

Just as a bloody shootout is the best example of Cuarón's style, it is a conflicted example of his themes. As Cuarón said when interviewed for the Oscars in 2006, "I believe in hope, but not a hoola, hoola, hope!" So car chases, and bleak futures are a necessity, but in Cuarón films there is always the slightest yet most powerful glimmer of hope where none seems likely. In a high concept just-barely pre-apocalyptic future there's just enough humanity left to sustain life. In a simple tale of hormone addled adolescents driving through a country filled with unrest toward a future of expected mediocrity there is the potential of love in unanticipated places. Even in Hogwarts wizard school where triumph over evil seems like a foregone conclusion, Cuarón brings a sense of naturalistic darkness which makes that triumph more rewarding than ever.

Y Tu Mamá También

Anyone highly anticipating how Alfonso Cuarón's next film will increase his ever growing status in the film community will have a long wait ahead of them. Gravity isn't expected out until 2012. The film will keep Cuarón in the realm of science fiction as it follows an astronauts attempts to return to earth and her daughter. Those of us expecting it with bated anticipation, are prepared for more stylistic audaciousness that beckons our emotional commitment and promises the hope of something slightly greater than the reality we know.
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Cast This: Gravity (Without Angelina Jolie)

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that I'd never mentioned Alfonso Cuarón's upcoming sci-fi epic Gravity. And here's a worrisome opportunity to do so. According to CHUD Angelina Jolie has passed on the big budget project for a second time. That type of a "no" can often doom an expensive project.

Gravity sans Jolie. What will they do?

Who will Alfonso Cuarón find to handle the heavy duty film-carrying demands of the role? The film concerns a man and a woman who are stranded in a space station. Or at least the woman iss (details are kind of unclear) The rest of the crew is dead. Robert Downey Jr has the principal male role but for whatever reason, it's a supporting gig. Gravity will rest on the female lead's shoulders. Most exciting from a filmmaking perspective is not, for me, the abundant groundbreaking CGI (as much as in Avatar) but that Cuarón wants to include long unbroken shots... one of them 20 minutes long.

Long unbroken shots are just about my favorite cinematic thing in the world after actresses so I should have mentioned this project long ago. This movie gives both. And Cuarón's already given plenty just by making Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men. (Speaking of unbroken shots...)

Anyway, this has got to be a tough role to cast... and not just because of bankability issues. Not every actor would understand the shift in performance style required to carry huge metaphysical but also action-tinged sci-fi epics all by their lonesomes. Who were the last actors to do so? I guess Jodie Foster (Contact), Hugh Jackman (The Fountain), and George Clooney (Solaris) have all given that a go in their respective ways. Carrying a survival epic on your own? Tom Hanks in Castaway pops into mind... though that's decidedly earthbound. But we'll allow for him since he's also got the stranded in space thing with Apollo 13. Obviously you have to have a star people love to look at if they have to spend 90-120 minutes with primarily one face.


I always find it amusing/annoying that when big roles for women that don't seem to require a specific age range are being cast, studios always seem willing to consider any currently hot A list star of any age and virtually every 20something in town with any heat that month even though there's usually no proven bankability (which is how so many people end up starring in like 10 movies simultaneously and are never heard from again. Remember Kate Bosworth?). Studios will almost never bank on someone who once had heat and lost it despite the cold hard fact that showbiz is nothing if not a random chaotic collection of people who are walking embodiments of the cyclical nature of heat.

"Interested" lists always make me realize how rare and lucky we are as moviegoers when something accidental happens like when someone gives someone great a real shot even though they aren't perceived as "hot right now" or bankable or on every shortlist in town. Like Marisa Tomei in all of her Oscar nominated roles. She was never on the top of every list but she's so damn talented and reliably watchable. Or like Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham in '88. She had to fight to get that and then was magnificent obliterating any notions that she had already peaked. Many people even thought Streep was over in the early 90s, you know?

Who would you cast? Bear in mind we know virtually nothing about the role other than that it's a solo and the character has a daughter back on earth (so you can't skew as young as Ellen Page, or at least you probably shouldn't because why would someone leave a baby on Earth while they were space travelling?) They'll have to have chemistry with RDJ if he stays on, and they'll need to be comfortable in an effects heavy film (which is why I worry about the studio's interest in Natalie Portman. When exactly is she good in those situations even though she's often good elsewhere?). I'd be considering Gwyneth Paltrow first (I'm serious) and then probably Nicole Kidman. Hell, I'd even test Christina Ricci on account of the curveball aspect of it. There's a familiar interesting face that nobody would be expecting but that many people would enjoy and if she ever delivers big somewhere a million people are going to say "I knew she had it in her all along!". But as much as it surprises me to hear myself type it, the studio's rumored interest in Sandra Bullock makes total sense to me artistically even if they're probably only interested due to the monetary heat. Still, I can imagine her being a good match with RDJ and her uncomplicated but highly watchable acting style might actually be an assett to an effects heavy film. She's never tried one and maybe she'll want to stretch a little post-Oscar?

The possibilities are endless... aren't they?

I'll shut up now. I do go on. Your turn. Which actress would you love to see carrying a sci-fi epic for Alfonso Cuarón.
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Behind the Scenes

Theme days continue... only 3 days until Oscar! Final predictions later today. Today's semi-coherent thru-line: 'Behind the Scenes'. No, no. I have no idea why I'm doing theme days either. It's just something to keep us going like NoDoz.

3 of our favorite movie people: actor Clive Owen, DP Emmanuel
Lubezki and director Alfonso Cuarón on the set of Children of Men

So as I down that last cup of morning joe, answer me this question (twice) in the comments:

• Which movies -- this Oscar year and all time -- would you most have liked a set visit on and why?
  

Favorite 100 Movies of the Decade (#75-51)

We're doing this a little different than we did the male and female performances... but we're still skipping the 2009 films -- we'll get to those soon

the list #100-76, #75-51, #50-31, #30-16 and #15-1.

Awards for 2009 begin tomorrow or thereabouts.

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*****
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Here we go again...


75 The Fountain dir. Darren Aronofsky (2006)
Who needs drugs when you can snort Aronofsky movies?

74 thirteen dir Catherine Hardwicke (2003)
I still maintain that this was a stunning debut, deeply felt and ferociously performed. I'm still confused about what followed with Hardwicke.

73 Monsoon Wedding dir. Mira Nair (2001, released 2002)
For its color, energy and beauty and for one of my all-time favorite portraits of extended family love. Naseeruddin Shah and Shefali Shetty jerk my tears every time. Plus a great soundtrack.

72 Kings and Queen (Kings and Queen) dir. Arnaud Desplechin (2004, released in 2005)
Anchored by two of the most important French actors of the decade (Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos) and so rich with feeling and complication, that I actually feel guilt that I haven't returned for a second look


71 Brødre (Brothers) dir. Susanne Bier (2004, released in 2005)
The remake is Globe nominated and in theaters right now, but this is the one for you.

70 Lovely & Amazing dir. Nicole Holofcener (2001, released in 2002)
So few films are made about women and when they are they're so often cheaply written romantic comedies with clichéd quirks for lovable girlwomen protagonists. I love how thorny and mature these characters are and how authentically they navigate their relationships. Bonus points to Holofcener for achieving here what she didn't achieve with Friends With Money which is the threading of thematics (body image and identity) through interpersonal drama without coming across as stiffly THEMATIC at its core.

69 Peter Pan dir. PJ Hogan (released in 2003)
If more people had read the source material, they'd understand how diluted this story had become and what a gift this movie was for the centennial of J.M. Barrie. Bonus points for the amazing below the line team: Roger Ford (production design) known for the Babe films, Donald McAlphine (cinematography) fresh off of Moulin Rouge! and Janet Patterson (costumes) of Jane Campion filmography fame.

68 Ying Xiong (Hero) dir. Zhang Yimou (2002, released in 2004)
It couldn't possibly live up to my expectations since I had to wait two years for it (Damn you Weinsteins!) but it was still a joy to lay eyes upon. The color and structure alone... orgasmic. Please don't remind me that this is the last pairing of one of the greatest screen couples of the entirety of cinema (Maggie Cheung & Tony Leung Chiu Wai) or I may well burst into tears. Don't do it!


67 Me and You and Everyone We Know dir. Miranda July (2005)

))<>(( forever

66 Sen to Chihiro no Kamikushi (Spirited Away) dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2001, released in 2002)
Transfixing. I really need to see it again. I only wish it had proven more influential. I'm not going to pretend it hasn't been a great decade for animated films, but there is a certain "sameness" that can occassionally feel like poison. Miyazaki is the antidote.

65 American Psycho dir. Mary Harron (2000)
What could have been another disposable serial killer picture (my god there are too many of them) was instead a slickly sick smart and well judged character piece. Without the character.

There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping you and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.

64 Shia Mian Mai Fu (The House of Flying Daggers) dir. Zhang Yimou (2004)
Eye candy extraordinaire

63 Shortbus dir. John Cameron Mitchell (2006)
I've realized in the years since its debut that the cracks from concept to execution show. But whatever. This is one of my favorite films about New York City and it's recognizable to me in a way too few films are. The cinema needs more intensely personal visions like this. Mitchell has only made two films and they're both on this countdown. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see Rabbit Hole.

62 Morvern Callar dir. Lynne Ramsay (2002)
A signature role for the screen's most talented enigma, Samantha Morton.

61 Pola X dir. Leo Caraz (1999, released in 2000)
Restless, foreboding, confident, shocking, erotic, dangerous, indelible... certifiable. At least that's how I remember it.


60 Ratatouille dir. Brad Bird & Jan Pinkava (2007)
Everyone can cook. Too bad that not everyone can make movies as well as Pixar.

59 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl dir. Gore Verbinski (2003)
Every once in a blue moon a summer blockbuster is perfect. I still remember the joy and shock of the first viewing. I pretend that the useless sequels don't exist and I watch this grand adventure any time it's on TV.

58 Tillsammans (Together) dir. Lukas Moodyson (2000, released in 2001)
So unusually warm, generous and moving that I felt scarred by the brutality of Moodyson's follow up Lilya 4Ever (2002). I've been scared to go forward into any of the subsequent miserabilist movies since. I like depressing hopeless movies (as this countdown should make clear) but I don't want to think of Moodyson making them after the humane beauty of Together and Show Me Love (1998)

57 Se, Jie (Lust, Caution) dir. Ang Lee (2007)
Against all odds, the follow up to Brokeback Mountain wasn't a letdown at all but another startlingly potent and exquisitely rendered doomed romance.

56 The Devil Wears Prada dir. (2006)
über quotable and movies that achieve that last. Think about it: they do. "Gird your loins!"

55 Children of Men dir. Alfonso Cuarón (2006)
So many great moments: a morning coffee explosion, the purring kitten, that slow car escape, that long violent tracking shot, Theo crying by the tree, the "theatrics" of the kidnapping. I don't even mind so much that they left out such fascinating parts of the book. Here was a complicated concept beautifully executed. I'm still mortified that Oscar didn't give Emmanuel Lubezki the cinematography prize. How many times have they stiffed him now? For shame.

54 Happy-Go-Lucky dir. Mike Leigh (2008)
Leigh's follow up to the brilliant Vera Drake put another cheerful woman center stage to very different inspirational effect. Life isn't always sweet, but why not enjoy it all the same?

53 In the Bedroom dir. Todd Field (2001)
Because I saw it so long ago but I can still feel the sting of the Sissy slap, the echo of the gunshot and the disturbing domesticity of that subversive quiet finale.

52 Pride & Prejudice dir. Joe Wright (2005)
One of the freshest liveliest filmmaking debuts of the decade... and for something that should have felt so disposable. Thankfully Joe Wright didn't make us wait for more. (Atonement almost made this top 100 list, too)

51 Milk dir. Gus Van Sant (2008)
If we have to have so many biopics every year, why can't they all be like this one: original, focused on a worthy subject, technically accomplished, and overflowing with fine performances?

continue on to #50-31

back to beginning / back to full blog
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DVD: Berry, Browncoats, Betty

TV
Ugly Betty I don't usually mention TV DVD releases but this series collects delectable B list movie actresses like Gina Gershon, Lucy Liu and Rebecca Romijn who all ought to get better movie roles than they do, don'cha think? I bet executive producer Salma Hayek (left... and how pregnant is she!?) ups the star ante in the second season.

The Cult of Personality
Broken English I am Nathaniel's guilt for abandoning Parker Posey. I haven't seen so many of her recent efforts. What's wrong with me? Must correct that.
Serenity (Collectors Edition) Joss Whedon fans have another DVD to snatch up as the movie version of Firefly gets an extras-loaded edition. Now if only we could get the Buffyverse revived for television or movies.

She Owes Us
Perfect Stranger "Halle Berry, [shakes head disapprovingly] have you seen your filmography lately?"

Oscar Completists
The Lives of Others won the foreign film Oscar this past February. I still haven't seen it but I'll tell you this. After Pan's Labyrinth stole Children of Men's cinematography Oscar I wanted it to lose the big one. Payback is a bitch.

Dystopias, Divas, and Drugs

new on DVD

The Must See
Children of Men -The ideal place to see this was on the big screen since it's truly cinematic (t'was frightfully robbed of the cinematography Oscar) but this dystopian vision should still prove potent on your TV. It's strong thematically as well.

Viewing Tip: Turn the sound way up. Keep your cats close by for comfort. And report back if you're just now discovering this fine film (12 FB nominations and 4 gold medals)

Also Worth a Look
Curse of the Golden Flower -Zhang Yimou's follow up to House of the Flying Dagger is a litle less adventurous and operatic --this ones more implosive than explosive --but it's still a visual feast. Zhang Ziyi (an Yimou regular) does not appear. Yimou's original muse Gong Li is back for leading lady duties (praise be). If you like diva performances your heart may go boom.

Drinking game suggestion (for those who want to be very very drunk): A swig every time the Empress gives any of the other characters a dirty look.

Satisfy Your Curiousity
Candy an Australian drama about two drug addicts. For those who've wondered who the hell this Abbie Cornish person is that people keep talking about. And for those who've wondered how Heath Ledger followed up his tour de force as Ennis Del Mar


Relive Your Childhood...
The Brady Bunch: Complete Series ...not that your childhood involved a perfectly gender matched blended family, a cousin named Oliver and a wisecracking maid with a butcher for a beau... but still.

You Could Also Rent:
Happy Feet In case you were wondering if it's as weird as people said. (It is)
Night at the Museum In case you were wondering if all the best laughs were in the trailer.
The Pursuit of Happyness In case you were wondering if Will Smith deserved that Oscar nomination. I think it'd shoulda been James Bond's personally.
Tempest In case you were wondering what Molly Ringwald, Gena Rowlands, Raul Julia, Sam Robards and Susan Sarandon were all up to in 1982.

Friday CatBlogging: Children of Men

There are many, many things to admire about Children of Men but precious little to love -- I mean not in the traditional cuddly way of loving things. So thank you to the sound guy who made sure we heard the purring as Clive Owen, smoking some weed on his best friend's couch, absently pets a large and lazy feline. The scene has a terrific lived-in quality. You know that this exact moment: friends, weed, cat has occurred regularly for years.

And thank you to the editor for another moment later in the film --a cutaway to a tiny adorable kitten eagerly climbing up Clive Owen's leg. So cute. I wanted to reach through the screen and take him home with me. The kitten can come, too.

TTT: Three Amigos

Tuesday Top Ten! ~a new weekly feature. For the listmaker in me and the list lover in you. Today's top ten should in no way be confused with the year in review: top ten of 2006 which is coming in the next couple of days (or something -shut up)

Top Ten Films by the 'Three Amigos', Mexico's trio of celebrated filmmakers: Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Guillermo Del Toro who, awards watchers take not, all seem to be vying for this year's "lone director" spot on the Oscar shortlist.

It seems obvious that Scorsese (The Departed), Eastwood (Letters From Iwo Jima), Condon (Dreamgirls), and Frears (The Queen) will place in the directors nominations. But the fifth slot is, as ever, up for grabs. It's between any of these three Mexican auteurs, Pedro Almodovar (Volver), Paul Greengrass (United 93) or *sigh* a double dip for Eastwood (Flags of...). Who do you think will nab the coveted spot? Or do you think two of them will, leaving Condon without a song for Dreamgirls?

Anyway... the list:

1. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001, Cuarón)
2. Children of Men (2006, Cuarón)
3. Pan's Labyrinth (2006, Del Toro)
4. Powder Keg (2001 *short The Hire, Iñárritu)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004, Cuarón)
6. Amores Perros (2001, Iñárritu)
7. Cronos (1993, Del Toro)
8. Babel (2006, Iñárritu)
9. Mimic (1997, Del Toro)
10. Hellboy (2004, Del Toro)

I have not seen The Little Princess but given my affection for Cuarón, easily my favorite of the three, it would knock some of these down a peg. You'll notice that Iñárritu's highest rank comes from a short film. I still don't think his miserabilism works particularly well in the two hour format. It's too aggressive and forcefed. But in short form: wowie. I'm not a fan of Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone. Now, consensus opinion tells me I should rethink that but consensus also says that Pan's Labyrinth is a masterpiece (ignoring the movies considerable difficulty in fusing its two halves and its able but unrevelatory central performance) so: consensus be damned. Pan's sure is a beaut' to look at, though.

p.s. Speaking of beauty...here's hoping that the talented Fernando Eimbcke can raise his profile soon and become a fourth amigos --at least in regards to international media attention.

A History of... Juli's (Screen) Kids

Tuesday. Time for the sophomore edition of the new series: "A History Of..." Rather than pull a James Cameron who, fearing he'd never top Titanic just stopped making movies, I'll just work through this here sophomore slump. In the absence of a Gyllenhaalic burst-of-inspiration, I'm returning to my personal obsession, god herself. I worry for Julianne Moore these days. Especially when there's a small child in tow [onscreen].


1993-1995 Establishes herself as a great actress in a trio of critical darlings: Short Cuts, Vanya, and Safe. No children are seen in her vicinity.

1995 She plays Hugh Grant's preggers gal in Nine Months, exhibiting no discernable skill at romantic comedy whilst doing so. If I had known what portents this first screen pregnancy suggested, I would have thought this was a remake. Entertainment Weekly, eternally suckling from the teat of La Julia, momentarily comes up for air to suggest that Moore may be "the new Julia Roberts!" [Er, OK.... And also: calm down]

1996 Appears on Vanity Fair's Hollywood cover wearing nothing but a slip. She's anything but matronly. Unless by matronly you mean "yousexymotherf***er"(much hotter than Scarlett & Keira at any rate.)

1997 Receives her first Oscar nod for playing a porn star in Boogie Nights. But uh.oh. --here comes the shadow side: "Amber Waves" proves so indelible a creation that JM becomes Hollywood's go-to gal for slightly cuckoo inappropriately maternal characters. Casting directors and Julianne herself get caught in the typecasting undertow. Who knew that "Rollergirl" wasn't just a nubile hottie but a prophetess? 'Will you be my mommy?' indeed.

1999 Julianne grieves up a storm in A Map of the World when her child accidentally drowns.

2001 Escaping the germy grasp of tykes she trips and falls with other adults in bad sequels and unfortunate comedies.

2002 Both her peak and downfall. She displays truly awful parenting skills in not one. not two. but three roles. First there's an impactful supporting bit in World Traveller. She plays a woman obsessed with [gulp] an imaginary (or dead?) child.

With dangerously inept mommy roles descending on her like an avalanche, she squeezes out two Oscar noms. In Far From Heaven her parenting style is set permanently on ignore mode [If your husband looked like this and only wanted to sleep with men, you'd ignore your kids, too. Don't judge.] In The Hours Juli completely abandons her needy beautiful son after a cake baking session gets too intimate for her bookish sensibilities. But that little boy, those huge pleading eyes--my heart...ouch. How could she?

2004Vanity Fair again. The theme of this Hollywood Issue is "Moms" or "Moms to Be". I'm not kidding. The Forgotten becomes Juli's biggest headliner hit. In it she plays a mother with [gulp] an imaginary (or dead?) child.

Is this recap too subtle?

2005 Birth control be damned. Julianne's alter ego has 10 children in The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. Unfortunately neither the film nor the kids are imaginary.

2006 Freedom Land brings Juli back with toddler in tow--oops. Spoke too soon. He just went missing. He may already be dead. Next Julianne Moore will appear in The Children of Men. The plot involves Julianne trying to save a miraculously pregnant woman whose child's birth may save mankind.

This gives me pause.

Is it really a good idea to leave Ms. Moore responsible for the profligation of the entire species? I'm thinking this role is a better fit.



next installment:
A History of... Gay Cowboys