Dead Cinema opening reception/hiatus

A reminder to any area Tulsa readers that my photography exhibit, Dead Cinema, will have its opening reception on September 27 from 6-9. I hope to have a really good turnout and see a lot of people I know, so I hope to see you there. Just a reminder about what Dead Cinema is: twenty photographs of unused/abandoned movie theatres across the state of Oklahoma. I recently was asked to include a selection of Dead Cinema images for a group show at the Norman Arts Council's Mainsite gallery titled Emerging Artists of Oklahoma. So, I'm very excited that this project will get another showing in Norman from December 2011 to late January of 2012. I will possibly add some new theatres located in downtown Los Angeles as they've got some wonderful old palaces sitting empty.

I am so busy with my move to Los Angeles [all our earthly possessions worth taking are loaded onto a "pod" travelling west, so I have no computer at home] that CineRobot is going to take a brief hiatus until I can get settled, unpacked and re-wired in our new apartment in Los Angeles. Hopefully that will be some time in the first week of October.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Film: Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011, usa]
Where I saw it: Jenks, Oklahoma
Who with: Greg and Randy
Rating: ***1/2
Banksy rip-off poster rating: ****

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a surprisingly fun piece of genre entertainment from director Rupert Wyatt [The Escapist]. Growing up male when I did [my childhood and teenage years are firmly steeped in 1970s and 1980s culture], I revered the original Planet of the Apes series. Repeated watchings revealed many levels in the landmark science fiction film from 1968. Of course, I even watched all the lackluster sequels such as Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Heck, I even read the novel by Pierre Boulle that came out in 1963.

One of my favorite memories of a kid connected to film was when I was home sick from school while in junior high, I watched all five films in a row from the couch. It was a great day to be ill when I could gorge myself on "ape" lore! Tim Burton's soulless, disastrous remake [aren't the vast majority of these cash-ins, ahem, remakes this way?] in 2001 made me think the impossible: hoping I'd never see the apes on screen again. Then comes Rise of the Planet of the Apes and changes that opinion I've held onto for a decade.

An origin film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the story of the genesis of the ape's rise up from being cage dwellers and at the mercy of the humans who controlled them, to being simian revolutionaries, fighting for their chimpanzian independence. These apes just want to be free! If you recall your ape lore you will remember that there's already been an origin film--Conquest of the Planet of the Apes--but I guess the filmmakers thought no one would remember that less-than-stellar film, so they just decided to redo it. So this new one is kind of a remake, kind of not a remake.

Obviously, primitive apes alone can't take down the entire earth population of humans so a nifty element of Rise of the Planet of the Apes tracks how a virus does the bulk of the serious labor for the apes. This is a believable story point as we are currently bombarded with paranoid missives from an assortment of disease control centers around the globe as they preach about nefarious strains that could wipe out human kind. Let's not forget movies either as Contagion just came out and it's about the same topic--rapid spreading disease and the vulnerability of the human species.

The movie follows the path of Caesar [a CGI/live action creation played by actor Andy Serkis] from a newborn to his childhood living in the attic of a genius scientist [James Franco]. Caesar shows remarkable cognitive ability and actually surpasses human kids much older than him. Franco's scientist is trying to find a cure for his father's debilitating alzheimers [dad is played by John Lithgow]. He might find out how to slow the disease, but through his research and experiments, he unleashes something devastating. You know, the virus that kills humans and turns apes into intelligent creatures looking to take over.

Caesar is kind of the Jesus figure among the apes, the chosen one you could say, and will eventually rule. The film does a terrific job of creating a bond between viewer and Caesar. How can you not fall in love with the adorable little guy when he's young? By the time the tone shifts to a darker shade, you are right there with Caesar and his simian army, rooting them on against the humans. Very effective how the humans become the villains in this world.

Full of top-notch special effects, a minimum of silly science talk by Franco, a lack of over-the-top action and a rooting interest for the fortunes of Caesar/apes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a welcome addition to the "ape" universe. It's the kind of summer entertainment that I'd like to see more of in ultra-mainstream releases. This is probably better than the spawn of sequels I mentioned earlier and much better than the Burton embarrassment a decade ago.

The Guard

Film: The Guard [2011, Ireland]
Where I saw it: London, England 
Who with: Scott
Rating: ****
Brendan Gleeson rating: *****!

The Irish comedy The Guard comes oh-so-close to being an incredibly satisfying bit of dark humor. While it goes slightly off the rails a bit, it's still got enough moments of sheer lunacy, pure deadpan delight and originality to make it one of my favorites of the year. The Guard ends up being crackpot entertainment, delivering heaping slices of quirky Irishness while only being tinged slightly with a few spots of disappointment due to the fact it could have risen to "cult classic" status without the false steps.

Brendan Gleeson plays "Gerry Boyle," a small village cop who would rather be doing any number of things instead of doing police work. This includes drinking, drugging, ordering prostitutes from Dublin...that sort of thing. When a dead body shows up in his village, "Gerry" is sent for a briefing by an FBI agent "Wendell Everett" [Don Cheadle] on the gang of criminals in their midst. The pair become an unlikely team with "Everett" becoming increasingly baffled, amused and irritated by the outlandish, blustering, racist force of nature that is "Gerry Boyle."

By far the best thing about The Guard is this character of "Gerry Boyle" concocted by writer/director John Michael McDonagh and performed by Glesson. While Glesson has shined before, his performance in this is electric and nuanced and probably the best role he's ever done. The man can flat out act. Watching the interaction between Gleeson/Cheadle is pure pleasure for me. When character actors [of which both Gleeson and Cheadle are] get leading roles, they always play to their strengths and one of those attributes is to let fellow actors have space to move around in a scene. Such is the case with The Guard, as when these two people say their dialogue, the pauses, flourishes and spaces the duo fill in are magical. It's a joy to watch.

What holds The Guard back from elevating itself from being better than the really good? My first gripe is it gives the gang that Gleeson/Cheadle chase after too much screen time. These scenes take away from the best thing in the movie--Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle--and the gang conversations regarding philosophy is forced and overwritten. It just felt way to fake and written some of the things the gang talks about. Every second that Gleeson's "Gerry Boyle" was not on the screen is a waste of time in The Guard's story. It's too bad McDonagh got too cute and in love with writing about this absurd gang because it damages his film in the end.

The Guard, erased of these wrong choices by McDonagh and his insistence on showing us the uninteresting gang, could have risen to the top as possible favorite of 2011. It's still hovering in my top ten and definitely worth seeing for the comedic tour-de-force that is Brendan Gleeson, but it had the chance to be truly special.

The Guard trailer

New Beverly Cinema

Well, it didn't take me long to go to the New Beverly Cinema on our recent five day apartment search in Los Angeles. The day we signed our lease, we actually made it to see the 1987 Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire. I obviously plan on spending a lot of time at this place because our apartment is only a 1/2 mile walk from the New Beverly! I promise that wasn't on my "must-have" list when we started driving all over Los Angeles searching for an apartment. Lucky for me, it just worked out that way. $7 double features!

Photo is of New Beverly at sunset as SJ and I are standing in line to buy our ticket to Wings of Desire.

Attack The Block

While I won't be "officially" a Los Angeles resident until October 1st, I'm
counting Attack the Block as the first movie I watched since I saw it after
an apartment lease was signed. I'd been longing to see this buzzed about
British film all summer and it lived up to the lofty expectations I'd built.
It's the most fun I've had with film all summer. Boundless energy, vibrant,
youthful performances, one-liners, action, pulsating score--Attack the
Block is a perfect summery concoction about a group of teenagers fighting
off aliens when they land on their particular council block estate in a rough
part of London.

What I wasn't into so much was the $13.50 charge to see it. It's a good thing
I liked it with those prices.

Movie tickets #24

The Girl From Paris

Film: The Girl From Paris [2001, france]
Where: Tulsa/at home/dvd
Who with: loner style
Rating: ***1/2

Every so often, I love to be transported to France via cinema. I've never even been to France properly [I'm not counting the times I've stopped in the airport for connecting flights], but based on the 15 to 20 films I see each year from there, think I'd get along swimmingly if I spent time there. The Girl From Paris, a low-key charmer only solidifies that opinion. Forget visiting though, after watching stuff like this, I'd like to pack up all my belongings and move there for a spell.

Sandrine [Mathilde Seigner] is in her late 20s or early 30s and is tired of the city life in Paris. Burned out by her technology based job, the endless traffic, noise and hustle of urban living, she enrolls in a two year program to learn how to become a farmer. She is paired up with a surly goat farmer in a gorgeous, but extremely remote, mountaintop region and begins to devote her time to the goats, the property and her quiet life. It's not easy, but Sandrine is fully dedicated until events lead her to question her resolve once the harsh winter comes sweeping in.

I'm a fan of movies set on farms. I've always loved seeing people work on the land, in barns, with animals. Documentaries or fiction, it doesn't matter. If the setting is rural, I'm interested. Toss in the French element and the stunning location and I'm an easy mark. Luckily, The Girl From Paris is a sweet, tender comedy/drama about simplifying your life. There's also the pleasant side-story about the deepening relationship between the cantankerous old goat farmer and this woman with newfangled ideas such as selling goat cheese online or opening up a small hotel for guests looking for a rural retreat. The Girl From Paris has a lot of heart and might make you want to move to France--or at least go for a visit.

August movies

Highlight of the month [obviously, not counting a midnight screening of The Big Lebowski that saw quite a few dress-ups like the image to the left of "The Dude" and "Walter" done up Tulsa style] was watching the pitch-black Irish comedy The Guard with Scott while in London. Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle are the most unlikely of comic pairings in 2011. See this one if you get the chance. Gleeson fans in particular should run to the theatre and watch his dazzling performance as a small-time local cop with a taste for hard living, women and politically incorrect opinions.

Right before I met Scott, I killed some time in the nerd nirvana known as Forbidden Planet. Their science fiction book section downstairs is a mindblower for sci-fi fans in terms of sheer number of offerings. Lots of English sci-fi you don't see in America. I was disciplined and only got three books including Ready Player One with a much better cover than the edition that just came out in the USA. I like my sci-fi.

Finally saw Super 8. Pretty mediocre actually. I wish it had absolutely no aliens in the story. Had it just been about these kids trying to make a super 8 film in the early 1980s without all the action, aliens and that stuff, I would have liked it a lot more. Fun in spots, but nothing more than that.


High Ballin'---1978---usa   **
30 Minutes or Less---2011---usa   ***
The Infidel---2010---england   **
The Help---2011---usa   ***1/2
The Girl from Paris---2001---france   ***1/2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes---2011---usa   ***
Revanche---2008---austria   ***
Paul---2011---usa   ***
Unknown---2010---usa   ***
The Guard---2011---ireland   ****
Salt of Life---2011---italy   ***1/2
Star Trek---2009---usa   ****
The Band That Wouldn't Die---2010---usa   ***
Chasing 3000---2007---usa   **1/2
Our Idiot Brother---2011---usa   ***1/2
The Big Lebowski---1998---usa   *****!
Super 8---2011---usa   ***
Hot Coffee---2011---usa   ***1/2

1980s video game version of Zardoz

Back in April of 2007 I wrote a review of the Sean Connery psych

freak-out known as Zardoz. It is one strange movie with Connery

running around in a red loin cloth [waxing be damned!] whilst

all kinds of weird stuff happens. Go here to read the review and

check out some images.

It seems someone has done an Atari 2600 style faux video game

for the film. This is awesome. I wish I could have played this on my

old 1980s era systems like the Atari 2600 or even my beloved

Colecovision. Zardoz! Zardoz!

All the Real Girls, postcard review, 2004

CineRobot:::Los Angeles

If I were to make a master list of all the cities that I would possibly move to anytime soon, Los Angeles would not have made the top ten. Or twenty. Or maybe even the top 30! But, here I sit, writing a post about how I will be moving to Los Angeles in early October with Sarah and Mozi. You can never forget about Mozi as she will be leaving the state of Oklahoma for the first time and moving west. We asked her about it and she's fairly calm about the move, but that's her regular disposition.

My first reaction when the possibility to move: a strange cocktail of fascination and revulsion. I don't know what the actual split was between the two, but it was in the neighborhood of 60/40 and I'm not sure which of the two was the 60%. Eight years ago I spent four days in Los Angeles and had a fun time. I was surprised just how much I liked that brief visit as it was happening as I had a lot of built-up preconceptions about the city. Visiting and living in a city such as LA are completely different animals. I don't particularly care for the sun and I love seasons, rain and other unpredictable weather. Tornados and thunderstorms I love, earthquakes and never ending sun? Not so much. I am not sure how I'm going to respond to 330 days of sunlight each year. I literally might explode.

Of course, this move will definitely be a boon to the diversity of my film watching. Los Angeles obliterates Tulsa in that regard and this is one of the most exciting things about the move for me. Not only will I have the chance to see obscure, indie, foreign films at the first opportunity, I'm probably more excited about repertory cinema and seeing older films via prints on the screen. New Beverly Cinema here I come! How could I not be excited about something like this? Click on the theatres after the jump to see the palaces that are showing movies. I get goosebumps over this kind of stuff. Seriously.

Another reason I'm really excited: food. But, this isn't a food blog, so I'll stick to cinema on here. Expect lots of Los Angeles creeping into the movie talk once those posts start coming.

Friends With Benefits poster

While in London recently, I was bombarded with the poster for Friends with Benefits at virtually every subway station. I somehow missed this poster when the film came out in the USA, but was immediately struck at just how ridiculous, crass and absurd it is. With their individual hand gestures, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis tell you the entire plot of the film: they are going to be doing it! Yes, fornication between these two attractive people will be a major point of the plot. I loathe this poster.

Side rant. Why is Timberlake getting to be in all these films? I gritted my teeth all through The Social Network and then was flabbergasted by all the positive attention he received. Really? He semi-whispered the entire performance in faux intensity. Now he's a leading man in films with this and multiple others on the docket. Am I missing something with him other than he's a popular singer who has been around since the halcyon days of the boy band? Every time I see him act I cringe a little, but here he is, making rude hand gestures on a movie poster [in case you forgot the plot of Friends with Benefits--they are gettin' it on!] for comedies or starring in upcoming thrillers [In Time]. Can we just find actors to act, singers to sing...this craze to be a "hyphenated" star doesn't make for better entertainment, it just means the same yahoo like Timberlake gets to make crappy music or movies with plots that require naughty hand gestures.

The Help

Film: The Help [2011, usa]
Where I saw it: Tulsa/theatre
Who with: Sarah J. 
Rating: Joshua ***1/2; SJ ??

The Help is one of those films that takes an historical event that was painful, frightening or fraught with danger for the real-life individuals who experienced it. Then the story gets the "Hollywood treatment" where everything is glossed in the feel-good qualities that will warm the corners of the viewer's heart. The Help is set amongst the backdrop of the early civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi as a young white reporter attempts to capture the stories of the city's female African-American maids as they battle race division in various houses they work at. It's perilous for these women to voice their opinions in their stories, yet many do, to empower or free themselves from the decades of weight the racism of their daily lives has built up.

The Help could have just as easily been called "The Whites" as it has more time devoted to the lives of the white characters as it does the black ones. Typical for Hollywood. It might be a movie about the struggle for equality amongst poor African-American women, but you have to get a whole section of the film devoted to the spunky white recent college graduate "Skeeter" [Emma Stone] and her dating troubles. This is always the way with mainstream films that attempt to tell this kind of story and I could see why some people might be irritated or frustrated by the amount of attention given to Skeeter's curly hair versus the bigger issues that could be shown on screen.

But, that's Hollywood for you and Hollywood has to sell as many tickets as they can. Loading the film with as many opportunities to laugh or cry [Skeeter's mom has cancer! A maid's son died young!] gives the creators to check as many boxes as they can to give the audience. These obvious qualities are less annoying  due to the fact that The Help is such a wonderfully crafted film for what it is--a manipulative piece of entertainment that will make you sad, happy, angry and uplifted by its end. The cast is terrific, from Stone to Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer as maids, to Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica Chastain as a couple of employers.

The Help pulled my strings as if I were a marionette and at the mercy of a professional puppeteer. I laughed, cried a few tears, I felt all the feelings I was supposed to feel despite my attempts to resist. You can't really hold it against The Help that it is so utterly manipulative as all films try to manipulate the audience, whether it is to quicken the pulse or let loose the waterworks. Part of the experience of the movies is to go emotionally where a well-done movie takes you, regardless if you want to go there or not. The Help is no different as it tells the story of this southern community's facing the racial divide that exists not only in the city's boundaries, but the walls of every house.

The Help trailer

Greta Gerwig on the set of Lola Versus

Back in June I was in New York City for a few days. As we were wondering down Houston street on our way to a couple of favorite places of mine [Russ & Daughters, Katz's Delicatessen] we came across a film set right on the sidewalk. Lo and behold we saw it was Greta Gerwig sitting on a bench in front of Russ & Daughters, surrounded by cameras, crew, extras, other assorted film-related people and gawkers like me trying to get to my pastrami sandwich at Katz's. My guess after consulting IMDB is that we watched Gerwig on the set of Lola Versus [go here for IMDB information]. We watched her film a few takes and I snapped a couple of photos with my non-paparazzi Minolta Hi-Matic G and have included one here for your pleasure. Greta on right in turquoise top.

Movie tickets #23

The Infidel

Film: The Infidel [england, 2010]
Where I saw it: home/streamer
Who with: Loner style
Rating: **

Last year one of my favorite films was the scathing black comedy Four Lions. It's an English film from director Christopher Morris and it was a relentless slice of subversive comedy based around a small group of bumbling jihadists who want to strike a blow against the oppressors. You know, blow up stuff and kill people. Four Lions is a brave film in this day and age. I don't know why in the world I thought The Infidel would be the same kind of edgy film [the poster is awful by the way], but I got sucked in by the plot: Muslim finds out he's adopted and horror of all horrors--he's Jewish! His family, friends, fellow Muslims and himself are all horrified at the turn of events and the film follows the struggle to come to acceptance of his strange Muslim/Jewish identity.

The Infidel tackles its subject matter with the lowest common denominator styled broad comedy. It's just not funny. It sticks in every stripe of religious stereotype about these two groups. If you want cardboard cutouts and characters with little depth, The Infidel has you covered. The lead character is played by Omid Djalili [who is also a popular stand-up comic] and I've never seen him in anything, but his performance [and the film in general] reminded me of something the low-bar setting Kevin James might attempt. James has perfected the comedy stylings where everything is exaggerated and everyone is trying so hard that it saps the film of life, laughs and charm. Or, that might be reading too much into it. Maybe it's just not funny and that is why it is a failure? That's probably it.

The Infidel trailer

30 Minutes or Less

• Film: 30 Minutes or Less [2011, usa]
• Date: August 3
• Where: Tulsa/theatre/press screening
• Who with: Loner style
• Rating: ***
• Rating for how similar Danny McBride is in every single role he does: ****1/2
• Rating for how similar Jesse Eisenberg is in every single role he does: ****1/2

Note the date--I saw this at a press screening last week, but didn't want to post anything about it too early as the studios don't really like that. Not that any studios are ever perusing this lil' ol' blog in Tulsa, but just want to be a gentleman since I got to see the film for free. Plus, I'm about to say some negative things about it, which they definitely don't want to read about nine days before it gets released to the masses.

I knew absolutely nothing about 30 Minutes or Less other than its three lead characters, but realized very quickly into it that it is based on a real life event that I read about in a New Yorker, Wired or some other magazine awhile back. The story was pretty wild and concerned a pizza delivery guy who delivers a pizza only to be taken hostage, tied up and forced to rob a bank against his will. Oh, did I mention the kidnappers attach a bomb to his chest and will trigger it if he goes to the cops, attempts to take it off or fails to get them their cash. 30 Minutes or Less is the comedic version of that dark slice of true Americana crime.

The early portions of the film are just too manic as most of the characters act as if they'd just ingested a couple of Red Bulls right before their scenes started. The frenetic energy begins to work as the film progresses and the clock ticks down closer to when the bomb is supposed to go off, but the uneven, erratic elements never truly go away. There'll be some humorous moments, then some flat-out duds and this repeats for the entire movie.

I hate to say it, but Danny McBride's schtick is starting to wear thin for me. With every role he takes it's obvious how limited he is crafting a character as he plays pretty much the same foul-mouthed a-hole he revels in. It can still elicit laughs, he just doesn't have the same humor batting average as he once did. The same thing can be said for Jesse Eisenberg. I was openly critical of his Oscar nomination for The Social Network as I didn't see him do anything in that film he hasn't already done. Yes, the movie was more serious, but how different was Eisenberg's performance? So many performers just play variations of the same note and both Eisenberg and McBride are two of them. I did love seeing the awesome Fred Ward chewing up some dialogue as an ex-Marine though. Dang, I love Fred Ward!

Wildly erratic, uneven and forced, 30 Minutes or Less provides boundless energy and some laughs, but when it ends it just feels underwhelming.