This Hell I'm Living

Les Misérables (Hooper, 2012)

The musical has kind of been on life support for a while. Yeah, I hear it is thriving in Bollywood to an extent, but even Disney has strayed from full on musicals in favor of more 'traditional' narratives in recent years. Sure every so often one may pop up (though it does kind of feel like forever since Nine hit the scene as the last major musical), but none seem to have come with the same type of fanfare or excitement attached to Tom Hooper's adaptation of Les Misérables. As one of the most beloved musicals of all time (or so I'm told), the Academy Award winning best director attempts to bring a bombastic sense of this sprawling tale of injustice and revolution to the big screen. Yet, following up the middling The Damned United and the irritating The King's Speech with such revered material leaves me wondering if Hooper has bitten off more than he can chew.

I've Been Wandering The Desert For A Thousand Days

Singin' in the Rain (Donen and Kelly, 1952)

Over the course of history the affection built up for certain ‘genre films’ has proven to be an incredibly fascinating phenomenon. In many cases the perceived notions are incredibly warranted, capably withstanding the test of time while still retaining the magic that originally marked a film as great. Dr. Strangelove is the epitome of the black comedy, Men in Black defines the summer popcorn movie, and Toy Story captures all the strengths of the ‘family film.’ All of these films take genre convention and present plots that are unique and engaging while also delivering memorable characters and experiences for the viewer to make the films memorable; however, for every Annie Hall there is a Sideways, a film that does enough to make it look unique while doing little to actually elevate the genre, yet it still ends up being heralded as a triumph. This confusion of style for quality brings us perfectly to one of the greatest offenders, Singin’ in the Rain.

Escape Is A Paradox, Because The Childhood Is Locked In That Music Box

Lemonade Mouth (Riggen, 2011)

I have had a long standing love/hate relationship with many of the Disney Channel Original Movies; however, with the release of The Suite Life Movie earlier in the year and the recent release of the newest in the long line of High School Musical~esque films, Lemonade Mouth, I am finding fewer things to complain about in regard to the movies that the company is making for the small screen. Anchored by a startling strong cast of Disney's newer stars (Bridgit Mendler and Adam Hicks) and some new comers (Blake Michael and Naomi Scott) who make up the rag-tag titular band, the movie has a solid foundation to build some momentum. So does the latest Disney Channel Original Movie ever elevate beyond the strong foundations and become a film worth the time of the many people who would readily dismiss it? That question is, unfortunately, a bit difficult to answer.

The premise of Lemonade Mouth is fairly simply: a group of high school kids form a band to speak out against an overly oppressive principal. They are led by for Wizards of Waverly Place guest star Hayley Kiyoko in the role of Stella. We'll probably learn some sort of life afirming lesson by the end of the film too. You know where this plot is going. However, the way it gets there is notably more mature than many of the other Disney films that have preceded it. There are illusions to jailed fathers, broken homes, and fathers wedding girls half their age or something. Most of these are only touched on briefly, and I fault the film for that, but that they would even be brought up without being there simply to manufacture emotion, but rather to add to the characters and their relationships, is encouraging from a film that could very easily be a mash up of Camp Rock and High School Musical.

And as you might expect from a mashup of those two franchises, the true pull of the film should be the music. Here's the thing, I have watched all of the HSM movies and both of the Camp Rock movies. It is tough to compete with a combination of Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, and the high points of the Camp Rock soundtracks are better than the best of the songs from Lemonade Mouth, but this film probably has the most consistently enjoyable collection of songs from any of the other films. And actually, what I love about Lemonade Mouth is how the songs reveal themselves during the film. They are able to be showcased naturally, as organic parts of the plot. There are not the bombastic, jarring breaks of a High School Musical, nor is there the artificially manufactured superstar led camp of a Camp Rock. Much like Camp Rock or Once, Lemonade Mouth is a musical, but the music happens in a believable context, and unlike Camp Rocke high school environment is much more (Baudrillard be damned!) believable. And the film benefits because of that, the immediacy of the relationships between the band mates is felt more strongly. These years are fleeting, there is no time to let this dream slip away.

Lemonade Mouth is not an in depth look at the high school experience, and despite some solid camera work and a striking color palliate used visually in the film the movie is not a technical wonder either. But the five actors that hold the band together do turn in incredibly solid, and usually more so, performances that showcase a natural chemistry between all of them. Combined with a well rounded and incredibly enjoyable soundtrack, Lemonade Mouth is a movie with more than enough charm, and even some deeper topics, to stand on its own as a quality diversion from the more serious elements of cinema.

Netflix Rating: ***/*****

Rich

Comments are welcome and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

Also I am on the old Twitter thing so I guess you can follow me at twitter.com/FLYmeatwad.

Photograph My Mind And Whatever Else You'd Like To Shoot, You Decide

Been a while since I have posted anything, let alone a film review, but I am currently, and slowly, engaging in a process where I examine the career of the world's best actor, Daniel Day Lewis. In no particular order I hope to watch all the films he has been featured in, with the exception of the ones I have already seen (just There Will Be Blood). So Last of the Mohicans, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, My Left Foot, Gangs of New York. All of those films. So, since I am still apparently not finished with 2009 yet, let's start with Daniel Day Lewis' latest film

Nine (Marshall, 2009)

So this is how you follow up the second best film ever crafted, huh Daniel? You're an interesting character, and boy damn is that aspect on display throughout the film, especially since the original actor to play the Guido character in Fellini's classic 8 1/2 was so spectacular that I thought displaying an equally great performance to be near impossible. The Italian accent is not always perfect, but Daniel Day Lewis is a force on the screen throughout this film. Each and every movement is so perfect, so accentuated, so completely realized. Hell, there's a scene towards the end where he says nothing, absolutely nothing, and his face speaks more than anyone else in the film. Now that is not to say that the cast is bad in the least, Hudson, Cruz, Marion, and Dench are all almost equally spectacular in their roles, and even the other minor characters are never weak in the parts they play. The cast truly is one of the films strongest points.

Also strong, as one would imagine, are mostly all of the musical numbers. Generally when the film goes for 'big' numbers they all succeed, and sadly the mostly reserved numbers, with the notable exception of "Guido's Song," are not as memorable. But between "Be Italian," "Cinema Italiano," "Take it All," and a number of the other tracks we have one Hell of a collection of tracks that really help keep the narrative focused and the themes mostly apparent, which is incredibly important in a film of this variety. I want to be Christ, Mohammad, and Buddha, but not have to believe in God!

Nine attempts to walk a very delicate line, existing as an adaptation of Fellini's 8 1/2 but also existing as a stand alone effort. For the most part much of the narrative structure of the film is similar, and even during the "Be Italian" sequence it seems as if the black and white footage is directly lifted from 8 1/2, but the film definitely explores different themes than the original film, which culminates in a radically different ending, but it certainly works in the context of the film and, despite initially disappointing me, is an incredibly fulfilling and suitable stopping point. However, had the film had a couple of more hours to add in a few more tracks and flesh out more of the plot lines the film would likely have been closer to a truly fantastic film.

When it comes down to it, Nine delivers as a truly enjoyable and never slow ride through a fairly fascinating musical. The film is paced excellently, looks great early on, though a good deal of that director's specific vision is lost in the second half, and tells an engaging narrative that really does bleed a style that seems lost in the modern age. What Rob Marshall does with the film is truly impressive and I do wish we had more time to spend in this world because, just like the original, Nine is a layered and complex film, one that would not initially appear so given its genre. Oh yeah, and it helps that Penelope Cruz is not only the best female actor working today, but also the prettiest. And Daniel Day Lewis. What a damn powerhouse. Without a doubt the best actor still starring in films. He has a natural talent and presence, one I was not sure I would be able to find since my only exposure to him thus far has come in the form of There Will Be Blood, a performance I feared would be inseparable from the actor, that is comparable to the once in a lifetime greats. There's Paul Thomas Anderson making movies, John Darnielle writing songs, and Daniel Day Lewis acting. I can't wait to continue with this marathon.


B+ or 4.0189243y782146213789462378

Comments are welcome and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

Also I am on the old Twitter thing so I guess you can follow me at twitter.com/FLYmeatwad.