New Releases
MOVING MIDWAY / FAMILY NAME How coincidental that these two documentaries – both about North Carolinians grappling with their lineage – are hitting town at roughly the same time, one in theaters (Oct. 3), the other on DVD (Sept. 23). The new release Moving Midway, by film critic and Raleigh native Godfrey Cheshire, centers around Midway Plantation, his family's ancestral home. After his cousin informs him that he plans to physically uproot the mansion and move it to an isolated area far away from the rapidly spreading big-city sprawl, Cheshire reflects on his own happy memories of the place yet also finds himself disturbed by the fact that it was established on the backs of his ancestors' slaves. The details behind the actual move are the least interesting part of the film; far more compelling are both the "history" of slavery as presented through a polished Hollywood veneer (naturally, clips from Gone With the Wind and The Birth of a Nation are shown) and the introduction of Robert Hinton, a black New York professor who, thanks to a long-ago dalliance between master and slave, shares familial blood with Cheshire's clan and provides a bracing counterpoint to his white kinfolk's Southern airs. Meanwhile, the new-to-DVD Family Name, which first played film festivals (including Sundance and the Charlotte Film & Video Festival) back in 1997, centers on the efforts of Durham native Macky Alston to learn more about his lineage – specifically, how as a white man named Alston he's related to all the black Alstons whose ancestors served as slaves under his forefathers. What initially makes Family Name such a fascinating endeavor is the fact that Macky Alston is a wretched interviewer, asking embarrassing questions that often place his subjects in uncomfortable positions. But as the film progresses, we come to admire his perseverance in uncovering the truth, and the finale – a concert in which Alstons of all stripes come together – is so emotionally satisfying that not even an ironic postscript, one which proves that truth is stranger than fiction, can compete with its overwhelming power. Moving Midway: *** / Family Name: ***1/2
Current Releases
BURN AFTER READING As is the case with most great filmmakers, Joel and Ethan Coen produce only two classifications of pictures. There's Major Coen, like No Country for Old Men and Fargo, and there's Minor Coen, such as Intolerable Cruelty and The Big Lebowski. (And then there's the strange case of Raising Arizona, which looks Minor but is Major every step of the way.) Burn After Reading is decidedly Minor Coen, which means that it's still more enjoyable than a lot of the product out there. With George Clooney and Brad Pitt in full-on clown mode, the film feels as much of an insignificant riff as those Ocean heist flicks, but with the Coens at the helm, it features a pitch-black comic sensibility that will either attract or repel moviegoers. The memoirs of a recently fired CIA wonk (John Malkovich) accidentally fall into the hands of a pair of idiotic gym employees (Pitt and Frances McDormand). Their awkward attempts at blackmail produce a vortex of misunderstandings that also ensnares the ex-CIA suit's aloof wife (Tilda Swinton) and her lover (Clooney), a bundle of energy who enjoys jogging, womanizing and building stuff in his basement (his creation yields one of the film's biggest laughs and will be at the top of most women's Christmas wish lists). The three guys are more fun to watch than the two gals, although the film is stolen by J.K. Simmons (Juno's dad) as a thoroughly confused CIA bigwig. Still, while the picture offers strikingly off-kilter characterizations and a number of huge guffaws, it won't remain in the memory like most of the siblings' output. See Burn After Reading, but then expect to Forget After Seeing. ***
ELEGY Eloquent and understated, Elegy is an adaptation of Philip Roth's The Dying Animal, and it shares some similarities to 2003's fine filmization of Roth's The Human Stain. Both movies focus on the relationship between a worldly college professor and a beautiful younger woman, but Elegy is even more memorable than its woefully underrated predecessor. Its central character is David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), an English professor who avoids emotional attachments by partaking in one-night stands with nubile students. David becomes involved with Cuban-American student Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz), but this time, there's a difference: There appears to exist a real affinity between this aged instructor and this woman who's three decades his junior. But David, incapable of dealing with his feelings, almost sabotages the relationship from the start. The character of the aging intellectual becoming involved with a younger woman is hardly an original one, but between the sensitive direction by Isabel Coixet – and how interesting to see a female ably tackling material by an author who's repeatedly had to fight charges of misogyny – the smart screenplay by ace scripter Nicholas Meyer (who also adapted The Human Stain), and the terrific performance by Kingsley, David Kepesh emerges as one of the most complex and fully realized screen characters of the season. As for Cruz, she's a revelation in this role. It's a given that she's always been wonderful in Spanish-language films and wooden in English-language ones, but on the heels of her scene-stealing work in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, she seems to have finally broken through the language barrier. ***1/2
GHOST TOWN Given the dearth of quality romantic comedies produced by the major studios – these days, it's up to the independent outfits to provide them – it's a pleasant surprise to discover that Ghost Town manages to buck the odds. Certainly, the high-concept storyline makes it sound rather dreary: Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais), a dour dentist who avoids interacting with people at all costs, suddenly finds himself surrounded by dead people. That's because he himself died for seven minutes while undergoing a routine colonoscopy, and this established an open line of communication with restless ghosts still hovering around Manhattan. Chief among them is Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who demands that Bertram prevent his widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) from marrying a human rights lawyer (Billy Campbell). Ghost Town is given a significant boost by the presence of Gervais, whose caustic wit and no-nonsense demeanor provide the picture with more of an edge than it would have received with a more conventional leading man at the helm. But the picture surprises in other ways as well, thanks to unexpected tweaks in the script co-written by John Kamps and director David Koepp. Kinnear's ethereal hubby isn't exactly the dashing nice guy he initially seems, while the emotionally torn widow played by Leoni (who really needs to appear in more movies) isn't just a pawn to be moved around by the three men in her life but instead takes control of the situations presented before her. Charming and unassuming, Ghost Town offers enough in the way of laughs to raise anyone's spirits. ***
THE HOUSE BUNNY According to the Internet Movie Database, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has appeared as himself in over 150 movies, TV shows and video productions, including episodes of Laverne & Shirley and Sex and the City. Personally, I don't think he'll ever top his cameo in the Roman Empire segment of Mel Brooks' History of the World: Part I, but he does enjoys more screen time in The House Bunny. The 82-year-old Hef serves as a father figure of sorts to Shelley Darlingson (Anna Faris), a Playboy Bunny who lives at his legendary mansion. But right after her 27th birthday (59 in Bunny years, she's told), she's kicked out of the house, although it's not long before she finds herself with a new gig: serving as a house mother to the socially awkward girls from the Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority. Soon, she's instructing them on how to attract boys while they're teaching her how to depend on more than just her looks. This was co-written by the same women (Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith) who penned Legally Blonde, and their roots are clearly showing. This is basically an inferior version of that Reese Witherspoon hit, and it isn't even up to the standards of Amanda Bynes' similarly plotted Sydney White. But Faris, a talented comedienne, strikes the proper airhead notes, and Lutz and Smith take care to feed her some funny lines now and then. Incidentally, Hefner was 27 – the same age as Shelley in the movie – when the first issue of Playboy (featuring Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold) hit the streets. Apparently, 27 is 59 in Bunny years, but, considering the man's still-swinging ways, 82 is 27 in Hef years. **
IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS It's a great feeling, isn't it, falling in love with a movie about falling in love? That's the case with this smart, perceptive and slightly cynical film which upends the traditional romantic comedy by marinating it in the realities of the modern world. It starts off shortly before New Year's Eve, when people are desperate to find someone at the last minute so they don't have to welcome the new year alone. For failed L.A. screenwriter Wilson (Scoot McNairy), that means posting a self-deprecating singles ad on Craigslist; to his surprise, he receives a reply from a woman named Vivian (Sara Simmonds). Vivian turns out to be a real piece of work: abrasive, rude, callow, and promising to dump Wilson before sunset if he doesn't keep her entertained. But as the hours pass, both of them let down their guard and start to make a real connection. The situations and dialogue created by writer-director Alex Holdridge come across as honest rather than scripted, and his interest in fleshing out his characters extends past Wilson and Vivian and also touches Wilson's best friends (Brian Matthew McGuire and Katy Luong). All four actors do an exemplary job of making their characters sympathetic – a real challenge, in the case of Simmonds – and the movie is filmed in crisp black and white by Robert Murphy. And while we've come to expect our indie-flick soundtracks to be suitable for the occasion, the one here is a real treat, highlighted by Sybil's remake of Scorpions' power ballad "Wind of Change." Tactfully employed in the final scene as well as the end credits, it truly allows audiences to head home with a song in their heart. ***1/2
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS Pop quiz, hotshot. Which line of dialogue does not appear in a Star Wars movie? A) "May the Force be with you." B) "Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son." C) "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause." D) "Does sweet'um want some num-nums?" I wish I could say that the correct answer is D), but all four lines appear in one installment or another, with that atrocious final snippet appearing in this animated eyesore. The early word was that only Star Wars fanatics would enjoy this addition to the franchise, but that's grossly inaccurate: As someone who was 11 years old when the original film hit theaters back in 1977 and thus has always considered it a rite-of-passage milestone, I was nauseated upon stumbling out of George Lucas' latest sorry attempt to squeeze every last penny out of this franchise. Set in the period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, this focuses on the war that helped the evil Empire take over the galaxy. The plot concerns the efforts of Anakin Skywalker and his sassy apprentice, a teen named Ahsoka Tano (Lucasfilm, meet the Disney Channel), to rescue Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped baby boy (nicknamed "Stinky") from Count Dooku and his posse. What sort of nonsense is this? The CGI animation, which director Dave Filoni states was inspired by both Japanese anime and Thunderbirds' puppets, is harsh on the eyes and proves to be aesthetically unpleasing. A couple of action sequences manage to elevate this out of the realm of utter despair, but for the most part, this is curdled cinema that even the fans will upchuck. *1/2
TOWELHEAD As Towelhead opens, a 13-year-old Arab-American girl named Jasira (played by Summer Bishil, 19 at the time of shooting) is living with a dim-bulb mom (Maria Bello) who ends up shipping her off to live with her humorless Lebanese dad (Peter Macdissi) in a tidy Texas suburb. As if dealing with his strict rules isn't bad enough, she also has to contend with the lecherous advances of one of the neighbors (Aaron Eckhart), a bigoted army reservist who finds himself drawn to this jailbait. A string of incidents – the reservist's hands-on actions, her first period, the erotic charge from looking through adult magazines, romance (and more) with a schoolmate (Eugene Jones) – leaves poor Jasira in a confused and vulnerable state, and the only neighbors who seem concerned for her welfare are a pregnant woman (Toni Collette) and her husband (Matt Letscher). Needless to say, any movie that explores the sexual awakening of a teenage girl in such depth is going to be subject to microscopic scrutiny and potential charges of exploitation, but Towelhead, based on the novel by Alicia Erian, deftly sidesteps the muckraking and instead serves up an affecting drama about a lovely child who can't seem to catch a break from most of the adults surrounding her. Yes, it's unremittingly downbeat for stretches at a time, but the movie is made palpable by the understated direction by Alan Ball (creator of TV's Six Feet Under) and the central performance by Bishil, a relative newcomer who seems to have shed the Nickelodeon/Disney Channel spots that until now have served as her bread and butter. ***
TRAITOR Tackling terrorism on screen is a dicey proposition, often resulting in a push-pull dynamic of trying to make an entertaining crowd-pleaser that nevertheless can't forget its civic duty to present its ugly subject matter in an honest and illuminating light. Traitor tries for that line drive right down the middle and, consequently, ends up as a middle-of-the-road movie. Don Cheadle (who also co-produced) stars as Samir Horn, born of an American mother and a Sudanese father. Understandably haunted by the childhood memory of watching Pop blown up by a car bomb, the Muslim-American Samir is now an international arms dealer who becomes mixed up with a fanatical Middle Eastern outfit plotting the usual death and destruction against American civilians. With his quick-tempered partner Max Archer (Neal McDonough) in tow, FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) chases Samir across the globe with all the zeal of Inspector Javert hoofing it after Jean Valjean, not realizing there's more to his quarry than he initially believes. Operating from a story he co-wrote with Steve Martin, director Jeffrey Nachmanoff works hard to present Samir Horn as what most Americans will consider that most outrageous of characters: a sympathetic terrorist. It's a risky approach aided by Cheadle's understated performance, but it's rendered null and void by a twist that largely turns this into a standard thriller. Still, the film is overall more thoughtful than jingoistic, even if it does little to advance audience understanding of the War on Terror and its multi-tentacled morality plays. **1/2
THE WOMEN The 1939 screen version of The Women, based on Clare Booth Luce's play and helmed by "woman's director" George Cukor, has been refashioned as a Sex and the City wanna-be, in the process losing the smoldering conflicts and zesty subplots of its classic predecessor. In that version, Norma Shearer's angelic society woman had to decide whether to stay married to a husband who dared to dally with Joan Crawford's skanky shopgirl. With nary a male in sight but an all-female-cast to die for (Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine were also part of the ensemble), the picture examined females as complicated beings forced to simultaneously respond to social duties, duplicitous acquaintances, and the demands of their own independent hearts. Predictably, this new version opens with a nod toward modern materialism and then proceeds to offer contemporary stereotypes rather than memorable individuals. Here, everything has been smoothed out to the point of tepidity: Eva Mendes (as the hubby-swiper) is merely naughty where Crawford was lethal, and Russell's role as a backstabbing "frenemy" has been transformed into Annette Bening's tough-yet-tender magazine editor. Meanwhile, Meg Ryan (as the jilted spouse) doesn't stray too far from her established screen persona, while Jada Pinkett Smith's casting in a worthless role (cut it, and the film doesn't change) demonstrates that writer-director Diane English was more interested in covering all demographics (black and lesbian, in the case of Smith and her character) than in making any salient points about 21st-century girl power. **
OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3:
APPALOOSA: Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris.
BATTLE IN SEATTLE: Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron.
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA: Drew Barrymore, Salma Hayek.
BLINDNESS: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo.
FLASH OF GENIUS: Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham.
HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst.
MOVING MIDWAY: Documentary; Godfrey Cheshire, Robert Hinton.
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings.
RELIGULOUS: Documentary; Bill Maher.
