Movies

Yoga Hosers

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Yoga Hosers poster

I like Kevin Smith. I’ve always liked him ever since he unleashed “Clerks” on audiences worldwide. “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma” were wonderful movies as they delved into personal matters in both intelligent and hilarious ways. “Red State,” his best movie to date, showed him breaking out of his comfort zone and giving us something we could not have seen coming. I’m also a big fan of his various podcasts, especially “Hollywood Babble-On” which has him and Ralph Garman laughing at the expense of celebrities of all kinds (especially Justin Bieber). I even have good things to say about “Tusk” which most people hated.

But when it comes to “Yoga Hosers,” I’m afraid I can’t give it a positive review, darn it. The movie has some inspired moments and appealing performances, and there were scenes which had me laughing quite loudly. Still, this motion picture is nowhere as inspired as Smith thinks it is. It’s not as bad as his misbegotten “Cop Out,” but it does run out of gas long before it arrives at the end credits.

“Yoga Hosers” is the second film in Smith’s “True North” trilogy, and it has the two teenage female clerks from “Tusk,” Colleen Collette (Lily-Rose Depp) and Colleen McKenzie (Harley Quinn Smith), returning to the silver screen. The two still work at the Manitoba convenience store Eh-2-Zed, but they occasionally use excuses like having a urinary tract infection to escape the register and go to the backroom where they sing songs like Anthrax’s “I’m The Man.” Being teenagers, they obsess over cute boys almost as much as they do over their cell phones and texting. When one of the hottest looking boys at school, Hunter Calloway (Austin Butler), invites them to a senior party, they couldn’t be more excited if they tried.

But of course, something gets in the way of their well-laid party plans, and it’s not just their parents. The Colleens soon discover an ancient evil rising from beneath Canada’s crust, one which proves to be a product of Canadian Nazis. Soon, an army of Bratzis (little Nazis made out of bratwursts) are unleashed, and it is up to these two clerks who are not even supposed to be here today to save the world from destruction and salvage their social standing at school in the process.

Knowing that Smith has quite the love for weed, I can’t help but describe “Yoga Hosers” as half baked. There are some wonderfully creative ideas on display in the movie, but they are never fully realized. The Bratzis are at best one joke characters, and Smith (who plays the Bratzis) can’t wring much in the way of laughs out of them. The whole Canadian Nazi flashback is beautifully filmed, but it is also rushed to where only so much of it stays with you. And when the movie ended, I came out it saying, “That’s it?” I hate, hate, hate, hate coming out of any movie like that.

The special effects are incredibly cheesy, but then again this movie only had a budget of $5 million dollars so it’s pointless to expect “Avatar” visual effects here.

On the upside, the cast is very good. Harley and Lily are of course best known for being the children of famous people, but enough of that already. Both are best friends in real life, and they share a great chemistry together onscreen. Even when the material fails them, they are very appealing throughout and make you want to keep watching “Yoga Hosers” in the hopes it might improve. Harley herself has one of the movie’s best moments when she utters a famous line from “Clerks,” and you will definitely know it when you hear it.

Johnny Depp returns as legendary man-hunter Guy LaPointe, the same character he portrayed in “Tusk.” Depp must have relished the opportunity to be in a movie, any movie, which wasn’t bankrolled by a studio for millions and millions of dollar to where the weight of the world was weighing on him to the tune of another box office bomb. While Guy seemed like a bit of an unnecessary addition to “Tusk,” the character is a more welcome presence here as he teams up with the Colleens to bring an end to the Canadian Nazis promise of domination.

Justin Long also has some hilarious scenes as the Colleens’ yoga guru and mentor, Yogi Bayer. This character is so far removed from the one he played in “Tusk” as Long revels in playing an over the top character whose teaching methods in the way of yoga, while not exactly sound, do come to aid these ladies when danger looms large.

But the one man who steals every scene he has in “Yoga Hosers” is Ralph Garman who plays Andronicus Arcane, a resurrected Canadian Nazi who is also very good with celebrity impressions. Garman has a blast doing his various impressions, some of which are excellent, and it generated a lot of laughter and near applause at the screening I attended.

Still, despite all the fun everyone seems to have had making “Yoga Hosers,” not enough of it translates over to the audience. More jokes miss than hit, and the movie never works as a comedy, fantasy or horror movie. Looking back, I wonder what Smith was hoping to accomplish with it other than to make the kind of teen movie he wished he saw as a kid. At times the story feels like it is all over the place, and the humor after a while becomes too broad for its own good.

All the same, I do have hope for Smith as I’m confident he can recover from this missed opportunity. The writer/director plans to conclude his “True North” trilogy in the future with “Moose Jaws,” and the title already has me excited. While he looks to be making amends to all those movie critics who bashed “Tusk” and “Cop Out” without an ounce of remorse, they will still be coming after him on this one. Here’s hoping we get “Clerks III” sooner rather than later.

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Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

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No, I Haven’t Seen It Until Now: The Birds

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The Birds movie poster

I spent a large portion of my youth growing up in Northern California, and we were always reminded of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” when we saw a flock of them fly by. I’ve been to a number of the locations in San Francisco and Bodega Bay where this classic movie was made, but I have never actually seen it all the way through until recently. Still, it was one of those films we felt we all had seen as we are aware of its story and are constantly reminded of its existence when we see birds in the sky or in a park feeding on leftover crumbs.

It took a 50th anniversary screening of “The Birds” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to finally give me a reason to actually see it. Seeing the movie at the world famous theater made it all the more entertaining as this Hitchcock classic probably hasn’t looked this good in years. But I was especially impressed with the movie’s sound design which proved to be of an assault on our eardrums. It made you wonder if the birds were going to kill the humans by pecking them to death, or if their insane chirping and screeching would be the end of us instead.

Tippi Hedren is absolutely sublime as Melanie Daniels, a socialite who strikes up a conversation with Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), a lawyer who “mistakes” her for a salesperson at a bird shop. When it turns out Mitch was just teasing Melanie as he knew all along she wasn’t an employee but instead someone he remembered from a court case, she gets all pissed and looks to one up him. So she drives out to Bodega Bay, a small coastal town in Northern California where Mitch spends the weekends with his mother Lydia (Jessica Tandy) and his sister Cathy (a very young Veronica Cartwright). And that’s when the birds start to attack…

Bodega Bay is really a perfect location for a horror movie; a small seaside town which looks so peaceful and isolated from the rest of the world. But it’s this isolation which dooms the humans in “The Birds” as many of them can’t see outside their little town for any possible escape. Many people come to these small towns to get away from big city life, but if it’s bad in Bodega Bay when these birds attack, imagine how bad it must be in San Francisco with them all perched over the Golden Gate Bridge, just waiting to launch another bloodthirsty assault.

The first bird attack actually doesn’t happen until about a half hour or so, and I don’t imagine any filmmaker, even Hitchcock, getting away with this today except Steven Spielberg. Studio executives would probably be saying, “Can you introduce the bird attacks any sooner?” But this is okay because Hitchcock is clearly having fun with Melanie and Mitch as they play cat and mouse games with each other. The scene where Melanie sneaks into Mitch’s home so she can secretly give him a present is very suspenseful as I kept expecting Mitch to pop up in the doorway at any second. His reaction to what Melanie has gotten away with is priceless.

When a seagull attacks Melanie while she is on a boat, it completely catches us off guard as we have become so wrapped up in the chemistry between her and Mitch. Indeed, it’s the human characters I wondered more about than the birds themselves. Each person Melanie comes into contact with appears to have some sort of hidden agenda you are itching to figure out before the movie ends. With the birds, it’s not hard to figure out what their agenda is.

Hitchcock made “The Birds” a few years after “Psycho,” and it shows him still having a thing for overbearing mothers. Tandy is wonderful in portraying her deep-seated suspicions about Melanie without words, and I kept thinking she had some evil plan going on behind those eyes of hers. Like Mrs. Bates, she’s a little too overprotective of who her son goes out with.

Then there’s the local schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (the alluring Suzanne Pleshette) who was once in a relationship with Mitch, and she keeps eyeing Melanie ever so seductively when talking about him. Annie tells Melanie she and Mitch remain the best of friends as she smokes a cigarette (which, like it or not, still looks glamorous onscreen), but what does Annie really mean? Pleshette makes Annie a very enigmatic character, and it’s like she’s daring you to look deeper into those beautiful eyes of hers.

Granted, the special effects in “The Birds” these days look a bit campy and haven’t aged well. Then again, they still look better than anything in “Birdemic: Shock and Terror.” Hitchcock shoots the bird attacks in the same way he shot the shower scene in “Psycho;” with a lot of quick cuts which gives you the illusion you’re seeing more than what’s onscreen. This is especially the case when Melanie ventures upstairs to the room which the birds have broken into. The editing is all over the place, and it makes the attack seem all the more painfully brutal as a result.

I loved how Hitchcock just strings the audience along throughout and manages to stay one step ahead of them. M. Night Shyamalan has been desperately trying to do this with many of his movies, but Hitchcock remains the master when it comes to generating suspense. He’s careful not to give too much away, and he always keeps you wondering what will happen next. At the movie’s end, many questions are left unanswered and the fates of certain characters remain up in the air, but this makes the experience all the more terrifying even after the lights come up in the theatre. Hitchcock is not interested in giving the audience an easy way out, and “The Birds” stays with you long after it has ended.

One image which will forever stay with me is the scene at the school where Melanie waits outside as the children sing “Wee Cooper O’Fife,” and she doesn’t notice the dozens of birds which are perched on the jungle gym behind her. You want to yell at her and say “look behind you,” and when it is revealed just how many birds are there, you feel her sheer terror as she sees for herself the danger everyone is in. Keep in mind, this movie was made long before CGI effects were even a tiny thought in somebody’s head, and this makes Hitchcock’s work with the birds all the more impressive.

Actually, looking back at the scene makes me wonder what would be more horrifying. Could it be that those birds are ready to fly up and attack the children at any given moment, or that someone is going to have clean up all the bird shit that you know will be covering the jungle gym after they fly away? With so many birds, that piece of equipment is never going to get fully cleaned. Once the kids find out what happened, you will be lucky to get any of them playing on it again!

I loved the movie’s last half where Melanie and Mitch are hiding in his family’s home which has been completely boarded up to keep the birds from getting inside. It’s at this point the film becomes a master class in sound design as the birds’ screeching (much of it created with an electroacoustic Trautonium) becomes far more unnerving than seeing them attack humans. We don’t see many birds, but we hear them and see all sorts of holes being poked in the doors as they fight their way inside. It’s one of the many brilliantly staged scenes Hitchcock has ever put together as he sticks us right inside the house with the characters to where we feel their isolation and terror over what will happen if the birds find a way inside.

I also loved how cool Hedren is as Melanie Daniels. She gives this icy blonde a seductive confidence which makes you want to follow her to ends of the earth, and it’s easy to see how this type of character came to inform many of Paul Verhoeven’s movies (“Basic Instinct” in particular). It’s a tragedy Hitchcock ruined Hedren’s career out of his unhealthy obsession with her, and his treatment of her casts a dark shadow over the legacy of “The Birds.” Needless to say, Hedren still walks through life with her head held high which says a lot about her.

It’s also a kick to see Veronica Cartwright here as it helps to certify her status as one of the great scream queens in horror movies. These days we know her best from her terrifying turns as Lambert in “Alien” and in Philip Kaufman’s remake of “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” but this was the first horror movie which she appeared in, and she was only 12 years old at the time (she turned 13 during its making). After all these years, Cartwright remains a fascinating actress to watch.

Perhaps “The Birds” would have had a stronger effect on me had I watched it on its 25th anniversary instead. But the fact it holds up so well after half a century says a lot about Hitchcock’s brilliance behind the camera, a brilliance many filmmakers still pray to have in their own careers. Still, more than thirty years after his death, there is still no topping Hitchcock as the master of suspense. To those who wish to try, all I can say is good luck. You’re gonna need it.

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Tom Hiddleston Discusses ‘I Saw The Light’ and Singing Like Hank Williams

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

I Saw the Light movie poster

We all know him as the villainous Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but now British actor Tom Hiddleston takes on his most challenging role yet as iconic country singer Hank Williams in “I Saw the Light.” Written and directed by Marc Abraham, the movie starts with Hank getting married to the lovely and business savvy Audrey Williams (Elizabeth Olsen), and it follows him from there as he works his way from singing on the radio to becoming a big time star at the Grand Ole Opry. The movie also shows the pain, challenges and addictions he suffered through which led to him creating some of the most memorable country music and his premature death at age 29.

In preparing to play Hank Williams, Hiddleston had to learn his songs and sing them himself. Working extensively with musical coach and veteran country singer and songwriter Rodney Crowell, Hiddleston immersed himself in Hank’s music and worked tirelessly to match his vocals to Hank’s as much as he could. There’s no doubt it was a difficult process for the actor, but watching him in “I Saw the Light” makes you see the tremendous effort he put into his performance.

I attended the movie’s press conference at the London Hotel in West Hollywood, California where Hiddleston was joined by Abraham and Olsen. I was very interested in how Hiddleston managed to get past all the technical aspects of the singing to where he could put all the rehearsal behind him and just sing his heart out. Izumi Hasegawa, a reporter for What’s Up Hollywood and Hollywood News Wire asked him which of Hank’s songs was the hardest to sing, and this would later lead in to my question for him.

Tom Hiddleston: The most challenging song was probably “Lovesick Blues.” “Lovesick Blues” is, I think, of all the songs Hank sang, the hardest, and he probably sang that the most. It was a huge hit for him. He once went up on stage somewhere, it’s on an album called “The Lost Concerts,” and he’s about to introduce it. He says, “I’m going to play a little song for you. I sang this 13,000,001 and a half times and it’s earned us quite a few beans and biscuits.” It was obviously this real hit maker for him and he sang with such control and such authority that he must have done it in his sleep, and I had to accelerate that process because it’s a very technically difficult song. You are yodeling and you are jumping octaves, and so to be on pitch in every note of that song was really challenging. I had days where I felt like I was bashing my head against a brick wall because Rodney Crowell and I would do take after take after take because if I was rhythmically precise the pitch was off, but if the pitch and the rhythm were right Rodney would say, “Well, you weren’t really feeling it. I kind of lost your sincerity, I lost the twinkle, so could you put that back?” And then I’d have the twinkle and I’d go off rhythm again. So yeah, that was probably the most challenging.

Ben Kenber: Clearly you did a lot of vocal work in preparing to sing like Hank Williams. When do you think you got to the point where you stopped worrying about the singing technicality and started to feel the songs instinctually?

TH: It goes back to what I was saying about “Lovesick Blues.” We had to pre-record certain tracks because of the way we were going to shoot them. If Marc was covering a concert performance, it meant he was going to be cutting from wide shots to close-ups to handheld which meant that we had to be very technically precise about the musical track and therefore couldn’t play it live in order for it to cut in. So we had to pre-record the tracks which I would then play and sing along to myself. They each had to have different atmosphere because some of them are radio station tracks, some of them are studio tracks, some of them are live concert performances, and there were some that came very quickly and very easily to me and some that didn’t. I had recorded “Why Don’t You Love Me” in about an hour. It took me about 10 days to record “Lovesick Blues” and I can’t explain why (laughs). Rodney and I used to say that it was like swimming through the ocean, and that I would have to swim for miles and miles through seaweed in order to get to clear water. And that’s how it felt vocally; there would be cracks and strains in my voice. Singing is a physical thing, and once your body and your resonance and your lungs are sufficiently warm, you can actually get to a place where it feels like you’re up at altitude where you are finally in control of the airplane if that makes sense. It’s a fascinating experience for me because I still believe singing is the most naked form of emotional expression. Actors can hide behind characters, writers can hide behind their writing, painters can hide behind paintings, but singers are purely open. The reason we revere the greatest singers is because we feel a raw power to the transmission of their emotions whether it’s Johnny Cash or Amy Winehouse or Nina Simone or Hank Williams or whoever it may be for you. That was challenging because even though there was a technical discipline to it in manipulating my baritone voice to sound like Hank’s tenor, there was still a commitment to emotional sincerity which was really new for me.

Following Hiddleston’s response, Abraham spoke up about what he specifically wanted for this movie.

Marc Abraham: I just want to add something to that because it was a big deal when we decided how we were going to do the music. From the very moment I wrote the script and decided to make the movie, I was intent that we would not have any lip-synching and that whoever played the part was going to have to sing it. I didn’t know they would be able to do it as well as Tom did. I was hoping that would happen, but what’s important to understand and that Tom understood and Elizabeth to some extent when she was even pretending to sing badly even though she gets mad at me for saying she can sing well (she can). Tom and I both knew from the very beginning that he would never sound exactly like Hank Williams. I know Hank Williams like my mother knows her kitchen. There are people who can imitate Hank Williams better than Tom Hiddleston can imitate Hank Williams because he is a natural baritone and Hank’s a tenor, and that’s just reality. What Tom was able to do was to create the feeling not just in his voice and replicate the sounds and the modulations and to get close enough for us, but to inhabit the character. So in the end it didn’t matter that he didn’t sound exactly like Hank Williams. What we wanted was for you to feel that he was Hank Williams, and that was magic. The magic was that he got so close to the music and put so much energy and time and devoted himself so deeply to becoming that character and bring his vocal representation that close, knowing from the very beginning he couldn’t be exactly like Hank. It’s not possible. That was what was really important, and that’s why we didn’t lip-synch it because then you are watching it and you may think you know what it sounds like, but in the end you feel it and you see that character at play and you see Hank singing “Your Cheating Heart” which is done live. That’s Hank Williams.

I want to thank Tom Hiddleston and Marc Abrahams for sharing their thoughts on the making of “I Saw the Light.” The movie is now available to own and rent on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital.

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

Blazing Saddles

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Blazing Saddles poster version 2

“Blazing Saddles” is one of Mel Brooks’ funniest comedies and one which invites repeat viewings as there are always jokes still waiting to be discovered. It acts as a satire of the western genre as well as the racism which was obscured by Hollywood’s creation of myths regarding the American West. But as funny as it is, it also offers the viewer a moving story about a black sheriff who manages to win over a town on the verge of being taken over by murderers and thieves. It also gleefully breaks the rules to where places and people are added that were never really part of the American West in the first place.

The wonderful Harvey Korman plays Hedley Lamarr, the State Attorney General who wants to get his hands on the town of Rock Ridge where the land is worth millions. His attempts to frighten the people out of their town includes getting cowboys to ride in and shoot their guns, creating a havoc which makes everyone living there fearful and anxious. But when that doesn’t work, Lamarr comes up with what he believes is an ingenious idea; he hires a black man to become the new Sheriff of Rock Ridge with the belief his “mere presence” will scare everyone out of there. Of course, things do not go as planned.

Looking back at “Blazing Saddles” all these years later, it still stands up mainly because Brooks is not out to make the actors simply go for the joke. Instead they play many scenes straight instead of trying to be funny, and this makes the humor work even more than it already does. With a satire like this, it helps to have characters you care about regardless of how ridiculous their actions may be. Most movie satires and spoofs these days keep forgetting this as they are more persistent in selling the joke to the audience instead of giving the story any real substance.

The late Cleavon Little portrays Bart who becomes the Sheriff and immediately meets resistance to his presence because of the color of his skin. Regardless of how infinitely intelligent and cool he is compared to the idiotic residents of Rock Ridge, he has to work real hard to win them over. Little has so many inspired moments in the movie like when he sings a Cole Porter song instead of the “Camptown Races” which the racist cowboys assume blacks sing all the time.

Many may accuse “Blazing Saddles” of playing up black stereotypes in order to get easy laughs, but they completely miss the point. Brooks and his team of writers, which included Richard Pryor, turn those stereotypes upside down and expose them for the falsehoods they have always been. Seeing the residents of Rock Ridge overzealous reactions to Bart’s behavior, such as him saying “excuse me while I whip this out” when he takes out his written speech, are indicative of their overt racism more than anything else. Seeing them act so stupidly out of fear and sheer ignorance gives the movie some of its most side-splitting moments.

Another memorable performance comes from the great Gene Wilder who plays Jim, a.k.a. The Waco Kid, the fastest gun in the world. While Wilder is best remembered at times for playing neurotic characters, he is as cool as can be in this film. Seeing him play it so cool in moments where his precision with a pistol is stupidly questioned by others who don’t know him is so much fun to take in. His character is a riff on the one Dean Martin played in “Rio Bravo,” and Wilder is such a blast to watch throughout.

“Blazing Saddles” also provided the late Madeline Khan with one of her most famous roles, the German singer Lili von Shtupp whose name is inexplicably censored on the movie’s television version. She is endlessly brilliant in her rendition of the song “I’m Tired,” and it makes for one of the most unforgettable comic performances ever captured on film.

There are many unforgettably hysterical scenes throughout “Blazing Saddles” which stand up to repeat viewings. The campfire scene is as obscene as it is gut-bustlingly hilarious, and you may find yourself laughing harder than you ever have before. Brooks himself plays a couple of parts like the severely lacking in intelligence Gov. William J. Le Petomane and an Indian Chief who, for some bizarre reason, speaks Yiddish. Other actors like the great Slim Pickens and Burton Gilliam have us gasping with laughter just by looking at the befuddled expressions on their faces.

Along with a great music score by John Morris and beautiful cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc, “Blazing Saddles” has more than earned its place on the list of greatest comedies ever made. There is tremendous delight in watching Brooks throw caution and logic to the wind as he throws in the unexpected like Count Basie and his orchestra performing in the desert while Bart rides by, or having Nazis sign up for Lamar’s final battle at Rock Ridge. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or because you just want the laughs to keep on coming (and they do). With a comedy like this, you can never be sure what will happen next!

By the way, be sure to watch “Blazing Saddles” in the widescreen version. Brooks shot the movie in Panavision scope, and it has never ever translated well to the realm of pan-and-scan.

Blazing Saddles poster version 1

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

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Molly Shannon revisits Mary Katherine Gallagher and ‘Superstar’ in Los Angeles

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Superstar poster

Molly Shannon had quite the run on “Saturday Night Live,” giving us such hilarious characters like the 50-year-old Sally O’Malley, self-proclaimed “Joyologist” Helen Madden, “Goth Talk” co-host Circe Nightshade and “Delicious Dish” co-host Terri Rialto. But her best character by far was the social outcast Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher whose severe mood swings and love of TV movies she would always do monologues from still have us in hysterics to this day. Mary’s popularity became so huge to where she eventually got her own movie called “Superstar” in which she attempts to live out her dream of getting a kiss from the most popular guy at school, Sky Corrigan (Will Ferrell). Despite a middling reception upon its release in 1999, the movie has since earned a cult following.

Shannon got to revisit Mary Katherine Gallagher and “Superstar” when American Cinematheque, in partnership with Alamo Drafthouse, screened the movie at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Joining her was the movie’s director Bruce McCulloch and its screenwriter Steve Koren. Shannon, who hasn’t aged much since her “SNL” days, was all smiles and showed no hesitation in doing Mary’s signature “Superstar” pose to the delight of the audience.

The first question on everybody’s mind was how Shannon came up with Mary Katherine Gallagher, and she replied the character was originally a version of herself, albeit a very exaggerated one. Like Mary, Shannon attended Catholic school, was never really comfortable there and got very nervous when going to confession. She also said the idea for Mary putting her fingers into her armpits came from a friend of hers she used to go on vacation with in Palm Springs. They were at the age where body odors began emanating from their bodies, and Shannon’s friend got her to smell her armpits and vice versa. Shannon also added she is no longer a practicing Catholic.

McCulloch, best known for being on “The Kids in the Hall,” originally turned down the opportunity to direct “Superstar.” Shannon at the time was co-starring opposite Drew Barrymore in “Never Been Kissed,” and Barrymore begged her to go after him and stop the airplane he was on from taking off. McCulloch said his reason for turning down this movie was because he was scared he wouldn’t be able to deliver the goods. He was also concerned he would be taking on another person’s project as well as their life and a significant part of that person’s career. Still, Shannon managed to track McCulloch down and he agreed to direct.

Koren had worked with Shannon on “SNL” and had written the Mary Katherine Gallagher sketches, so it seemed appropriate that the two of them wrote the screenplay for “Superstar.” Actually, it was Lorne Michaels who was “really into the movies,” as Koren put it, who wanted to see Mary get her own film. Koren said when writing the screenplay, it came down to thinking about the history of Mary and where she came from. After that, it was about giving the screenplay a three-act structure and going through a number of rewrites to where they had too much material. In the end, McCulloch said they managed to simplify things by making “Superstar” into a girl movie about finding yourself and of Mary getting her first real kiss.

McCulloch remarked how Shannon never wanted to stop even after shooting 11 takes of the same scene due to the ferocious energy she brought to Mary. He found this to be refreshing as other actors he worked with were not like that. In fact, he even recalled when he finished a third take with an actor and wanted to do another, and the actor looked at him and asked, “Don’t you have it yet?”

One of the many things we love about Shannon’s portrayal of Mary is how fearlessly she threw herself into the physical comedy and crashes into any and every object in her path. Shannon said she grew up watching John Ritter on “Three’s Company” which became a huge inspiration for her. She also added she always made sure to stretch out beforehand and that physical comedy can be very dangerous when doing it with another person.

Shannon also confirmed that when it came to making out with the tree, it was never sterilized beforehand. McCulloch even added he “had to pull her off that goddamn tree” more often than not.

As for her favorite moments in “Superstar,” Shannon said one of them was when Mary was watching the television movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” starring John Travolta as it proved to be her escape from sadness. She also loved the scene where Mary was in her bedroom talking about her breasts as it reminded her of when she was a little girl and thought about “bras” and “big boobs” most of the time.

When “Superstar” was released in 1999, Shannon admitted to seeing it in the theater “so many times.” She kept thanking God for the opportunities given to her, and she reveled in the audience’s reaction to the movie. At one particular showing, she remembered a little boy who saw her and then quickly looked at the screen and then back at her. He leaned over to his mom and said, “Mom, I think that’s the girl in the movie.”

Each of the night’s guests had worked on “SNL,” and an audience member asked how hard it was for them to leave the show. McCulloch recollected that after a season or two he wasn’t sure if he wanted to come back, and he later moved on “The Kids in the Hall.” Koren replied he left when he was hired to be a writer for “Seinfeld,” and it was very tough on him emotionally to move on from “SNL.” As for Shannon, she said she loved the show and wanted to leave while still in love with it. She had nothing planned when she left, and her reasons for leaving were more personal as her father was dying from cancer. Quitting the show allowed her to spend more time with him before he passed away.

It was great to see such an enthusiastic audience come out to see “Superstar” at the Egyptian Theatre. Shannon proved to be a delight as she has lost none of her enthusiasm for Mary Katherine Gallagher or acting. It was also a lot of fun to see McCulloch and Koren share their insights about the movie’s making as it proved to be better than its reputation suggests. As for where Mary would be today, Shannon is convinced she would be in a lot of therapy, but she also hoped Mary would have found love. Regardless, there’s no denying that after all these years, Mary is still a superstar.

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

 

 

 

The Choice

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The Choice movie poster

Okay, I’ll admit I got choked up at some scenes in the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, “The Choice,” and the story took turns I didn’t expect it to. But saying “The Choice” is a better cinematic version of Sparks’ work than “Safe Haven” is the equivalent of saying “Cannonball Run” is better than “Cannonball Run II.” In the end that is faint praise of the very, very faint kind. While the Sparks faithful may find much to enjoy about “The Choice,” it is the usual romantic nonsense which will have you scratching your head more often than not.

The movie stars Benjamin Walker of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer” fame as Travis Parker, a perennial ladies’ man who works at his dad’s veterinarian office and yet has all the time in the world to travel around the North Carolina shore on his boat. How this guy makes a living is beyond me as the 40-hour work week doesn’t seem to apply to him. While all his friends have a significant other in their lives, Travis believes having one will seriously cramp his lifestyle for no good reason. But even his sister is quick to inform him how he is in real trouble when a new girl arrives in town.

Next thing you know, we get introduced to medical student Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) who has just moved into a small house right next to Travis’, and she becomes incensed when he is sitting outside and blasting Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” on his stereo. These two do not get off to a great start, and Gabby finds herself repelled by Travis’ presence whenever she ends up in the same place as him. But in truth they are having a Han Solo/Princess Leia relationship in which they look like they can’t stand each other, but underneath they are fighting a strong attraction which cannot be denied. Plus, it reminds me of a great dialogue exchange between Iris and Gilbert in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes:”

“You’re the most contemptible person I’ve ever met in all my life!”

“Confidentially, I think you’re a bit of a stinker, too.”

Please note: those two characters ended up falling for each other.

While their eventual coming together is no surprise, it is a stunner to see just how quickly Gabby forgets about her long term boyfriend. He’s a doctor named Ryan McCarthy (played by former Superman Tom Welling) who’s a genuinely good man with a great future ahead of him, and Gabby knows he is someone she can depend on. But when Travis enters her life, she finds an excitement unlike any she has previously experienced. Still, it is astonishing how one person can easily forget their significant other in what seems like a heartbeat. Then again, anything’s possible.

From there, “The Choice” goes on a journey which is not as predictable as its poster might suggest, and it reaches a point where you realize why the movie has the title it does. It’s a look at some of the hardest choices one has to make in a relationship, but it ends up being assigned to one character in particular. Travis has to consider his options while Gabby doesn’t have much of a say, and the reasons for this will become clear to you if you decide to subject yourself to what is yet another emotionally manipulative romantic movie.

Somehow it seems ridiculous the choice this movie’s title refers to is up to one person and not others. If more characters were involved, then “The Choice” might have been more interesting than it ended up being, but this is a romantic movie done by the numbers and which serves to play with your emotions rather than be honest with you about the human condition.

The movie’s ending is one which undoubtedly please audiences, but it is also a largely unrealistic one and bound to have many rolling their eyes in severe disbelief. I won’t spoil it for you here, but I found it impossible to see this as anything other than an overblown fantasy. Romantic movies work best when they deal with real people in situations we can relate to, but this one does not.

If there is one thing “The Choice” has going for it, it’s how it makes North Carolina look like the most beautiful place to take a summer vacation at. North Carolina is to Nicholas Sparks as Maine is to Stephen King, and it’s hard to think of many other movies where this state looks as beautiful as it does here. Perhaps Sparks can write a novel about the history of North Carolina and someone can make a movie out of it worth watching. Like I said, anything is possible.

Walker and Palmer do have a palpable chemistry and Palmer, who is Australian, does pull off a very impressive American accent, but this is just another romantic movie which reminds me why I tend to avoid them on a regular basis. Some directors love to play their audiences like a piano, but they should be forbidden to do so when it comes to motion pictures like these.

You want a romantic movie worth watching? Try “When Harry Met Sally,” Say Anything,” “Obvious Child” or “What If” instead because those at least engage the viewer in an honest way. “The Choice” is just another one that plays by a rulebook which should have been obliterated a long time ago. Like many Sparks adaptations before it, this one can’t hold a candle to “The Notebook.”

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016

* * out of * * * *

 

The Other Side Of The Door

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The Other Side of the Door movie poster

“The Other Side of the Door” is a lot like last year’s “The Lazarus Effect,” another movie dealing with the resurrection of the dead. Both movies have up and coming directors at the helm and a cast of talented actors eager to dig deep into the material. But while each movie gets off to a solid start to where we are utterly enthralled, they get weighed down by clichés and an inescapable familiarity which turns them into utter disappointments. What starts off as promising eventually becomes something stale and unoriginal, and “The Other Side of the Door” quickly becomes the kind of movie we have seen one too many times.

We are introduced to Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Michael (Jeremy Sisto), a loving American couple who decide to set up roots in India. But their joy of living in a foreign country is forever destroyed when their son Oliver (Logan Creran) is killed in a tragic car accident, and Maria cannot find a way to ease the pain of such a devastating loss. Their housekeeper Piki (Suchitra Pillai-Malik), however, tells Maria of a way she can say a last farewell to Oliver, and it involves spreading his ashes on the stairs of an ancient temple which is said to be close to the underworld, and she has to close the temple’s door and spend the night there. Eventually, Maria hears Oliver’s voice on the other side of the door and gets to talk to him one last time.

There’s a little catch to this plan though; Piki tells Maria that she cannot under any circumstances open the door during this conversation. You don’t even need to guess what happens next. Maria does indeed open the door, and in the process creates an unbalance between the worlds of the living and the dead. As a result, Oliver is brought back to the living as a ghost, and a horrific god gets unleashed who will soon wreak havoc on Maria and her family.

Like I said, this movie gets off to a promising start as it takes the themes of death and resurrection and applies mystical powers to them in a way I haven’t seen before. Usually in this genre the dead are buried in a sacred Indian ground or brought back to life with some amazing potion, but “The Other Side of the Door” takes a slightly different approach as it deals with mysticism. This helps to make it stand out from other movies of its type, but unfortunately it becomes bogged down by a familiarity which renders it average at best. In these movies the dead come back, and they are never the same as when they were alive. You know the drill.

It’s a shame because the actors cast here do terrific work in creating a believable couple trying to get through the worst thing any parent could ever live through. The real standout here is Sarah Wayne Callies who plays Maria as she makes her character’s pain and vulnerabilities all the more palpable. Best known for her work on “Prison Break” and “The Walking Dead,” she gives a really strong performance which is emotionally raw to where you cannot help but feel for her even as she makes big mistakes. Callies makes this movie worth watching as she almost makes you forget about what’s wrong with it.

“The Other Side of the Door” also benefits from the presence of Jeremy Sisto who plays Maria’s husband, Michael, as he makes him the kind of loving spouse anyone would be lucky to have. Like Callies, he brings a strong human presence to this movie as Michael does what he can to rescue Maria from her infinitely deep depression. Whereas most movies would have had this character acting like an ineffectual buffoon, Sisto makes Michael a believably decent human being who is trying to do the best he can.

But after the movie’s first act which has Oliver’s ghost begging for his mother to read him Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book,” it descends into “Pet Sematary” and “The Lazarus Effect” territory as the resurrected dead end up terrorizing those who loved them the most. Director Johannes Roberts, who previously directed the critically acclaimed thriller “F” and the sci-fi horror film “Storage 24,” does give us a number of undeniably creepy moments, but even he is unable to transcend this material which is all too familiar to horror movie fans.

When “The Other Side of the Door” reaches its conclusion, it ends on an ambiguous note like many horror movies do, but it just makes the whole movie feel more routine than it already is. All these movies about bringing the dead back to life always have the most innocent characters coming back as something purely evil, and they are filled with others who constantly stare at the protagonists as if to say, “You really screwed up and we’re not going to let you forget it.” It’s a shame because the movie had a lot of promise and some terrific performances, but in the end it just feels like the same old thing and becomes much less frightening as a result. Better luck next time.

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016

* * out of * * * *

Please feel free to check out the interviews I did with the cast and director of this film down below. These interviews were done for the website We Got This Covered.

Finding Dory

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Finding Dory poster 6

“Finding Dory” is a movie which put a big smile on my face as I watched it. In some ways this shouldn’t be a surprise as Pixar made it, and they continue to wow us time and time again, but this one really hits hard on an emotional level as well. This sequel to “Finding Nemo” allows a supporting character to take center stage this time around, and it is a character with a disability we find ourselves laughing and sympathizing with as she struggles to reconnect with a part of her past she tragically lost a long time ago.

A year has passed since clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) swam all the way to Australia to rescue his son Nemo (Alexander Gould in the original, Hayden Rolence here) and befriended Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a Pacific regal blue tang with short-term memory loss, in the process. All three are back at the Great Barrier Reef leading a non-adventurous life, but Dory starts to remember things about her parents and how she was accidentally separated from them. When she suddenly remembers the place she came from, the Jewel of Morro Bay, California, she becomes infinitely determined to travel there and hopefully reunite with her parents.

While “Finding Nemo” was a long day’s journey into Australia, it doesn’t take long for Dory, Marlin and Nemo to arrive in California. However, Dory’s mission gets derailed when she is “rescued” by volunteers from the nearby Marine Life Institute. She is placed in the Quarantine section, and it is up to Marlin and Nemo to rescue her from the institute before it’s too late.

Now the story for “Finding Dory” isn’t much different from “Finding Nemo,” and as a result the freshness of the original is missing here. But this sequel is in many ways as good as the original as director Andrew Stanton, along with co-director Angus MacLane, gives as much focus to the story and characters as he does to the visual spectacle. And with Pixar, you can always count on them to outdo what they gave us before visually. The Marine Life Institute is displayed in such an amazing way to where you feel like you are looking at a real aquarium, and the main centerpiece is just incredibly rendered.

But seriously, what makes “Finding Dory” work so well above all else is the voice acting. This cast makes you root and care for these characters in a way the filmmakers could never have accomplished on their own. This is especially the case with Ellen DeGeneres who makes Dory such an endearingly lovable character, and she makes us feel for her to the point of tears. DeGeneres really deserved an Oscar for her work on the first movie, and the same goes with the sequel. Dory’s short-term memory loss was a joke of sorts, but now it’s a mental impairment she is desperate to overcome so she can find her parents. It’s a heartrending journey you can’t help but be sucked into, and one which feels genuine in its emotions and never manipulative.

And there’s no forgetting Albert Brooks who combines his comedic genius with a strong dose of vulnerability in his portrayal of Marlin. While this lovable clownfish looks like he hasn’t changed much from the last time we saw him, he is still full of heart and somehow rises to the challenges thrown at him when a dear friend is abducted. Brooks has always been a kick in every movie he appears in, and this one is no exception.

Many new characters are introduced in “Finding Dory” such as the near-sighted whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), California sea lions Fluke (Idris Elba) and Rudder (Dominic West) who are very territorial about the rock they hang out on, and the beluga whale Bailey (Ty Burrell). But the one who stands out most is Hank, an ill-tempered East Pacific red octopus voiced by Ed O’Neill. The “Married with Children” and “Modern Family” actor makes Hank a lovably gruff and infinitely clever character who would rather stay in the aquarium than go back into the ocean, and O’Neill leaves no trace of Al Bundy in his performance. There’s also a wonderful and genuinely emotional scene where Hank lets his guard down as he says goodbye to Dory, and O’Neill gives Hank a wonderful vulnerability which makes that moment stay with you long after the movie is over.

“Finding Dory” doesn’t reach the cinematic heights that “Inside Out” did, but it is still a wonderfully entertaining adventure you would be foolish to miss on the big screen. Pixar once again enthralls us with their mastery of animation, story and characters, and they are also blessed with another beautiful film score by Thomas Newman. While part of me wants to see Pixar do more original movies and less sequels, it was great fun to see these characters just keep swimming from one side of the ocean to the next. And in a time where blockbuster movies come at us from all directions, it’s nice to see one that really leaves a smile on your face.

As always, be sure to stay through the end credits.

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

The Hollars

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

The Hollars poster

“The Hollars” is a movie I really wanted to like. It is a very earnest story featuring a family meant to mirror our own, but the movie doesn’t take long to become painfully earnest as it veers from sitcom-like humor to somber drama with real uneasiness. John Krasinski not only stars in “The Hollars,” he also directed it, and while he is aiming for the heights of “Terms of Endearment,” he instead gives us a film which is very uneven and not as satisfying as he wants it to be.

It’s another day in the Hollar household as Jason (Sharlto Copley) finds the bathrooms occupied by his mother Sally (Margo Martindale) and his dad Don (Richard Jenkins) to where he literally has to find a pot to piss in. But Sally suddenly falls down and (yes, I’m going to say it) can’t get up, and both men realize she is not suffering from the common cold. When Sally is diagnosed with a brain tumor, her other son, John (John Krasinski), comes straight from New York City to be by her bedside. Of course, John has problems of his own as he struggles to get his career as a graphic artist off the ground while working a job he is not at all enthused about, and his longtime girlfriend, Rebecca (Anna Kendrick), is expecting their first child. Suffice to say, the Hollar family has a number of problems to deal with, and those problems are only going to get worse before they can possibly get better.

Now “The Hollars” gets off to a good start with a scene which is both comical and dramatic as Don and Jason discover Sally lying immobile on the bathroom floor, and what at first looks like a joke turns into something very serious. The look on Jenkins’ face is unforgettable as Don slowly realizes he may be on the verge of losing his beloved wife. Till death us do part is always part of those marriage vows, but we are never prepared to deal with death when it comes knocking at the door.

But when John arrives at the hospital and reunites with his family, everything suddenly descends into what feels like a sitcom, and the laughs feel as forced as Don’s crying. Jenkins has been and always been a great character actor, but seeing him essentially emote here feels criminal. No one should ever make Jenkins emote, ever!

From there, “The Hollars” introduces characters who appear to come from different universes, and when they collide everything feels off. Their acting styles don’t mesh well with one another, and it feels like they belong in different movies. Charlie Day co-stars as Jason, a hospital nurse married to John’s ex-girlfriend, Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, completely wasted in a frivolous role), and his performance is so broad to where I couldn’t wait for him to get off the screen. Even more disappointing is Sharlto Copley whose crazed energy which served him so well in “District 9,” “Elysium” and “The A-Team” movie is misplaced here as his character comes off as a stubborn jerk. His character should be empathetic, but Copley is unable to render him as such.

“The Hollars” works best when it grounds its characters in a reality we understand. As an actor, Krasinski has some nice moments, especially when he relives a childhood memory of swinging on a tire by the river. Singer Josh Groban is surprisingly good as a local preacher and succeeds in making him the most level-headed character to be found in this movie. And Anna Kendrick shows up in a few scenes and proves to be as delightful a presence as always.

But if there is anything which makes “The Hollars” worth the price of admission, it is Margo Martindale. She has long since proven herself to be one of the best actors working today as she can take the smallest moment in a play, television show or movie and make it completely unforgettable. Throughout this movie she works wonders as Sally faces an end no one is ever fully prepared for, and her performance is piercing in its emotional honesty. Just watch her as she talks about the time she visited the Fox Theater; she renders this moment so vividly that it’s as if she is painting with words instead of brushes.

Coming out of “The Hollars,” I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Krasinski. This is clearly a project he put his heart and soul into, but he is unable to balance out the comedic and dramatic elements in the story. Making a movie like this is very tricky because all the characters need to be on the same plain of existence, and he’s unable to accomplish that. More often than not, the movie veers over to the comedic side but the laughs don’t come when you want them to. When it veers to the dramatic, scenes end up feeling emotionally forced which just torpedoes the impact Krasinski hoped it would have.

Still, “The Hollars” is not a complete loss as there are things audiences will be drawn to, and those who have been in situations like this family are more than likely to be moved by what they see. And for all its flaws, this movie does have something in it which is truly great: Margo Martindale’s performance.

Seriously, better luck next time Krasinski. I’ll be rooting for you.

* * ½ out of * * * *

Copyright Ben Kenber 2016.

 

Sarah Hyland and Graham Phillips Discuss EDM and ‘XOXO’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

XOXO Sarah Hyland and Graham Phillips

The Netflix drama and music film “XOXO” follows six strangers whose lives collide at a most vibrant EDM festival. Among those strangers are Krystal (Sarah Hyland) who is hoping to find true romance in a place she expects to find it, and Ethan (Graham Phillips) who is about to make his DJ-ing debut at the biggest EDM festival of them all, XOXO. During their time there, Krystal and Ethan come to find now what they wanted, but what they need most as will the other characters around them.

“XOXO” offers a cinematic glimpse into the world of EDM which has gone from being played in illegal underground rave parties to becoming a major part of musical festivals around the country. We see all the characters get dressed up in exotic costumes as if they are headed to another planet, and drugs of all kinds are in heavy supply to where some innocent fans don’t realize right away when they have just been given some. Either way, they are all there to experience the glorious emotions EDM gives off, and none of them can wait for the bass to drop.

Both Graham Phillips and Sarah Hyland recently dropped by the London Hotel in West Hollywood, California to talk about their experience making “XOXO.” Courtney Fairhurst Howard from Sassy Mama in LA asked them both if they had knowledge of EDM music and if they had attended any EDM festivals before shooting began. This would soon lead into my question about the preparation Graham underwent to become a truly talented DJ.

Sarah Hyland: I have been a fan of EDM music for a while. I had never been to a rave so to speak, but I have been to places like Coachella where there’s always rave tents. So I kind of experienced something like that before, but it was really cool to just indulge myself in this culture. It was great. I learned a lot from it, and it was a lot of fun.

Graham Phillips: I too have enjoyed EDM for a really long time. I’ve sort of been drawn to more of the sweeping symphonic vibe of EDM like Above & Beyond or Madeon. Whenever they can integrate some organic sounds as well into all the electric sounds, I tend to really like that. I came from a musical theatre background as did Sarah, so maybe that’s why. I actually started DJ-ing my freshman year in college just to meet the social chairs of the eating clubs at Princeton and just because as a freshman male you’re the bottom of the social ladder and you can’t really get access to any of these clubs until you’re in a fraternity. And so I learned to DJ and they needed DJ’s so I was like okay, I will learn to DJ. I like the music anyways. I did start liking it more and more, and I started to throw some parties in Orange County with some of my friends who actually liked the music even more than I did. They were the people who were finding these new tunes as they were coming out. I loved hosting parties and still do, and that’s sort of what it grew from. I guess sophomore year it kind of petered out, but when I got this script at the end of my sophomore year I found it so funny because this was just what I experienced but on a much smaller level. Actually Chris, the director, didn’t even know that I had any DJ-ing experience when he cast me, so that was kind of a fun surprise for him. He didn’t have to teach me everything.

Ben Kenber: Was there any specific research you had to do in terms of understanding the equipment your character uses?

GP: I actually used almost all my own equipment for this. I just brought it to the set and asked if I could please use this instead of something completely foreign (to me), and they were like yeah, sure. It didn’t require a lot of research for me which was really nice because a lot of the shots we grabbed at real festivals where we had a five-minute slot onstage in front of 80,000 people. So when you have just a small amount of time to get the shot, the last thing you want to be doing is fumbling around with the knobs. It was nice that I had some background in it.

It was great to learn how Phillips had plenty of experience in DJ-ing before filming “XOXO,” and his expertise with it certainly shows when you watch the movie. “XOXO” is set to debut on Netflix on Friday, August 26. Please be sure to check out the poster and the trailer below.

XOXO movie poster