Rookie of the Year

A few weeks ago, during spring break, the Wifey and decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch a movie that we loved as children. The movie would have to be simple and fun enough to fit our laid-back mood while also befitting of the newly born spring season we were supposedly celebrating (albeit indoors). Scouring the Netflix instant, we came across a movie we could both agree on and we hoped would still hold the same magic we remembered from childhood.

The film shows a summer in the life of Henry Rowengartner (played by Thomas Ian Nicholas in his pre-"American Pie" days). In spring, Henry breaks his arm, only to find out later that the tendons in his arm have healed extremely tight. This twist-of-nature has given him an unnaturally strong arm - the kind that major league pitchers dream of having. In a whirlwind, he is signed by the Chicago Cubs to pitch and is taken under the wing of aging journeyman pitcher Chet Steadman (the ever-gruff Gary Busey). Riding his medical miracle arm, Henry brings the Cubs to the brink of the World Series...

It would be easy to start listing the flaws in this movie. The fact that Major League Baseball prohibits signing players under 18 to a major league contract stands out. As does the fact that Henry's school schedule neatly fits the narrative's need to develop friendships and middle-school romance. This doesn't even begin to touch on things like the laws of physics or the technicalities of how the baseball playoff system works.

Even with all these glaring errors, I must admit that I found the movie almost as charming as I remembered it. It reminded me of how, at age eight, I imagined life could be in a slightly alternate universe (which doesn't necessarily say much about Daniel Stern's direction). The only somewhat well-developed characters are the children, while the adults are broad and over-acted caricatures of humans (see: Daniel Stern, Dan Hedaya, John Candy in this film). Time and reality are flexible and generally irrelevant - but isn't that how childhood is? And how about that David-versus-Goliath, good-versus-evil climax? Pure childhood fantasy, but also pure entertainment.

Not the best film ever made, but definitely entertaining. I'm glad I re-watched it eighteen years after I first saw it in the theatre. I recommend it for some casual fun for a lazy afternoon - the same way I recommend watching baseball.

Director: Daniel Stern

Writer: Sam Harper

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough (with some help from the Wifey) to get tickets to a special screening of "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair." The New Beverly Cinema was screening this elusive and long-rumored print which includes both parts of the film unedited, as it was originally shown at the Cannes Film Festival, showing it as "The Fourth Film by Quentin Tarantino" as it was originally advertised. Coming in at just over four hours, this version is how Quentin Tarantino (supposedly) intended it to be seen.

There is no need to get into the bloody details of the plot (pun intended) here. Essentially, a woman survives an attempted assassination and then seeks revenge on the group of people who tried to kill her. There are a few subplots involving the assassins and a couple of battles, all leading to the climactic confrontation with Bill.

A few of the differences between this version of the film and the final version released in the US:

1. The story is treated as one long film, rather than two separate movies. Although it is still divided between "Volume 1" and "Volume 2," they are shown together with only a brief intermission.

2. Since the two parts are shown together, the narrative bridge at the beginning of "Volume 2" - in which The Bride reminds everyone of what happened in "Volume 1" - is completely cut.

3. The Japanese animation sequence showing the back story of O-Ren is slightly more gruesome, including a shot of a human having been gutted.

4. The Bride is shown removing an extra limb from Sophie Fatale, which was only implied in the regular release.

5. The battle in the Japanese dance hall between The Bride and the Crazy 88 gang seems longer and is shown in full color, making it much more graphic. (Apparently, it was edited to black and white to help earn the "R" rating for the final cut.)

From the opening shot of the bloody bride and Bills narration followed by the straight opening credits scored with Nancy Sinatra's haunting "Bang Bang, My Baby Shot Me Down," this film hooks the audience completely into its suspense. Yet the suspense is interesting because it's never a question of if the Bride will get her revenge (especially in "Volume 1" - how else would we get "Volume 2?"), but a question of how. How will all her training pay off? How will all these story lines tie together? How will she overcome the seemingly impervious Bill?

I definitely enjoyed seeing both parts together on the big screen. Although I own both films (and even have the special box that Best Buy gave away when the "Volume 2" DVD was released), I know for a fact that I would never sit down and force myself to watch them back-to-back. Viewing it in this way, though, made it much easier to see the continuity between the two very distinct parts. For example, the importance of the Hanzo sword always seemed out of place in "Volume 2," but made much more sense immediately after "Volume 1."

The New Beverly Cinema also added several trailers to the beginning of the film which were obviously major influences on Tarantino. Although not necessarily affecting the film in any way, it added an interesting perspective to the entire experience of the screening. It also revealed the significance of Gordon Liu and Sonny Chiba's inclusion in the cast, if it was not already understood

Given that Tarantino's films are all so different, it's hard to compare them to each other. And given that his career is still relatively young, it's hard to give this film much perspective. But, ultimately, "Kill Bill" will stand as one of his best, if not, at least, as his most unique.

Kicking and Screaming

"Kicking and Screaming" is Noah Baumbach's debut comedy (with a twist of drama), originally released in 1995. My original interest in the film derived from how much I love Baumbach's later work "The Squid and the Whale." Later, I saw the cover when digging through DVDs put out by the Criterion Collection, and when I realized that it was available from streaming from Netflix, the table was set.

The plot of the film is nearly untraceable, if not almost non-existent. The story begins with several friends celebrating their college graduation (for one character, not his first). At this party, the young men realize that they are at a crossroads, and from that point on they spend the rest of their time trying to figure out what to do with their lives, whether it be writing, starting a book club, or (ironically) going back to college and taking all the classes they couldn't take earlier. Meanwhile, Grover - our dubious protagonist - is also trying to work out his feelings regarding his estranged girlfriend, who has moved to Europe rather than join him in stasis. The emotion reaches its climax when Grover, finally deciding to take action, attempts to buy a ticket to join his girlfriend in Europe only to be foiled by lack of a passport.

Considering it was merely his rookie work, Baumbach's "Kicking and Screaming" is impressive. Granted, the production is very low-fi, but that factor can be overlooked. Chris Eigeman, Eric Stoltz, and Josh Hamilton all bring their characters to life without over-acting or forcing the drama.

The film does not have a clearly linear narrative. It's more episodic and random, punctuated by recurring motifs such as the characters' inability to find their IDs when they need them (symbolizing, not so complexly, their inability to "find their identities"). Still, the film subtly builds to a climax in which you can't help but feel Grover's despair when - once again - he cannot move forward because he does not have the proper ID.

The writing of the film is rough and unrefined. The characters - especially the minor characters - tend to blend together into one indistinguishable list. The main characters themselves seem somewhat interchangeable - most of the dialogue could be delivered by any of the characters. The direction of the story is impossible to grasp as the film unwinds, although that may have been a point of style considering the characters themselves lack any direction. Either way, it dragged the movie to a crawl at points. It's also hard to figure out whether it's supposed to be a comedy with dramatic moments or a drama with moments of comedy.

Overlooking these flaws, "Kicking and Screaming" is enjoyable. Clearly, Baumbach was developing the style that he now relies on and setting himself up for his later success.

Less Than Zero

At first, I was skeptical that Ellis could write and publish such an acclaimed book at the age of nineteen. Then, I totally bought into the idea. Then, I actually read the book.

The story centers on Clay, a college student returning home to Los Angeles during his winter break. At first, his biggest problem is resolving his relationship with ex-girlfriend Blair. His hometown is unromanticized, and crawling with characters who are darkly apathetic at best and downright evil at their worst. At first, his friends' depravity seems harmless enough - the typical mischief one would expect of inherently wealthy young adults taking designer drugs. Soon, though, Clay is describing cocaine causing blood to come out of his nose, a torture porn viewing which the other characters discuss with vague disinterest, and ultimately a dead body and a young girl being raped by his friends.

The core plot outlines Clay's attempt to find his friend Julian, who disappears after Clay loans him a large sum of money to ostensibly pay for an abortion. Clay tries to track him down, with many suggesting that Julian has died. When he does finally locate him, Clay finds out that Julian has a major heroin problem and has taken to whoring himself out - literally - to get himself out of debt. Julian's problem is like quicksand, though, and Clay sees how the more Julian struggles against it, the further in he sinks.

Through all of this, Clay's narrative occasionally provides us glimpses into his privileged past as he tries to pinpoint the moment he lost all passion for life. He suggests a summer spent at his grandparents' mansion in Palm Springs may have been the turning point, after which his grandmother died and things began to decay.

Ellis's prose is cold and crisp to the point of harshness, which aptly fitting of the apathetic characters in the novel. As the novel is told through Clay's perspective, everything is viewed through his disinterested and disaffected lens. The novel itself feels very episodic, which could be a flaw if it did not feel intentional. (Wouldn't a life with limitless time and money and lacking any obligation seem like a random string of events connected only by recurring locations and characters? It would to me. But, then again, I'm poor in money and imagination.)

Aside from its brutality and bluntness and the look-what-he-did-at-nineteen factor, the book has some features of literary merit. For example, the theme of individual insignificance in the face of such a cold and cruel city is hammered home in some interesting ways. The punk group X repeatedly pops up which (aside from hopefully inspiring people to go out and buy their music) suggests an anonymity and facelessness to the background noise of these characters lives - the band doesn't even have a real name, just the mathematical variable "X" which could be anything. There is also the not-so-subtle "You could disappear here" billboard which haunts Clay at various intersections in Los Angeles, vaguely reminiscent of the "Eyes of T. J. Eckleburg" in "The Great Gatsby."

I'd recommend this book with one caveat: there are some moments of gruesome brutality which are hard to read. Given the anhedonia of the characters, though, it's hard to tell whether or not the reader is supposed to feel anything in these scenes. And that may be the most disturbing feature of the book.

Mark Twain

Documentary Director Ken Burns does it again. This time he sets his sights on the quintessential American author Samuel Clemens, more famously known as Mark Twain.

This three-and-a-half hour biographical documentary covers every imaginable detail that was significant to his life and writing, from his rambunctious youth and young adulthood to his rise to the top of American literature with the Mark Twain persona to his tragic later years when he was left with no family and resting merely on his own celebrity.

Of course, Ken Burns does an amazing job of tracing the storylines of Twain's life, showing the roots and growth of his strong moral positions that pulled at his consciousness and influenced his literature. But, as usual with Ken Burns's films, the biographical and historical narrative is broken up with enlightening commentary by a nice mix of celebrities and historians - such as Hal Holbrook who performed as Mark Twain.

At times the film is dragged down in some of the details of his lesser works while perhaps a few more minutes could have been used to discuss the significance of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This would not have stayed true to the form, though, as it focused Clemens's life and work and not on the works themselves - regardless of whether one of those works ("Finn") is possibly the single greatest piece of American literature ever written.

Ultimately, we grow to understand the writer as a human being apart from the books he wrote. It helps to have at least a general knowledge of the Twain books, but isn't necessary. What is necessary is a nice long chunk of time to truly absorb the life of quintessential American writer as documented by the quintessential American documentarian.

Up

I must admit that I was originally hesitant to watch "Up" given that it arrived with such universal acclaim, which often leads to disappointment. Thankfully, disappointment never arrived, though. Wonderment showed up instead.

Carl Fredrickson (voiced by Ed Asner) is a lonely, grumpy old man who isn't quite sure what to do with himself after the death of his adventure-loving wife Ellie. When he is forced out of his home by redevelopment in the neighborhood, he decides to pick his house up via balloon and move it to Paradise Falls - a trip he had always promised his wife, but never followed through on. Along the way he picks up an energetic but misguided boy scout named Russell and a loyal if challenged dog named Dug. Almost to his goal, Carl runs into the missing adventurer Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer) who has grown a bit crazy in search of the elusive bird called the Snipe. Ultimately, Carl must choose between the past he built with his wife - quite literally his home - and the "family" he has acquired on his quest.

The first twenty minutes of this movie are some of the most emotionally charged scenes in any feature film I've seen - animated or live action. Directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson use these waves emotion masterfully to help pace the story. Every moment of action is tinted with a moment of emotional reflection. The musical cues heighten this effect, reminding us of Carl's wife whenever he needs to make a difficult decision.

My only complaint about this film - and this is a minor gripe - is that it felt a little too chunky and episodic. The "person vs. person" conflict that gives the film its climactic moment felt too distant from the early "person vs. self" and "person vs. nature" conflicts. In fact, the whole final conflict between Carl and Charles felt a bit forced and unnecessary compared to the profound simplicity of Carl's personal conflicts.

Still, this movie is easily one of the best films of the last few years. It is humorous and entertaining while also containing an intense emotional poignancy. Although the "happy ending" may not have been Carl's first choice, it is ultimately the most fitting ending to such a strangely powerful movie.

Hiatus

I sincerely apologize to anyone who may have been chewing their nails waiting for me to post on this blog. Now that I have my own internet, I will.