Furious on Film 07.19.07: Issue 98

Posted by Arnold Furious on 07.19.2007

Steven Soderbergh’s ruined reputation, Eddie Murphy’s Oscar push, lost Jack Nicholson movie re-surfaces, John Hughes nostalgia love, drinking with Ron Weasley’s Dad and Jet Li says farewell to his beloved martial arts!

Furious on Film 07.19.07: Issue 98

Steven Soderbergh's ruined reputation, Eddie Murphy's Oscar push, lost Jack Nicholson movie re-surfaces, John Hughes nostalgia love, drinking with Ron Weasley's Dad and Jet Li says farewell to his beloved martial arts!

You know what I'm about by now. With just 2 weeks to go until the epic release of Furious on Film #100, already in the writing stage, this week will see a preview of the format via the medium of the honourable mention. A contender for the top 100 who came up a little short. Let me know your thoughts via the usual email address; [e-mail]. Bit worried about getting it done now as I've presently written 100-76. The rest remains unwritten. Bugger.

Warning – could well contain minor spoilers throughout. Films are rated on a ***** scale. This week we have…

Dreamgirls, The Passenger, Sixteen Candles, Fearless

The Furious 100: Directors

Honourable mention #9

STEVEN SODERBERGH (USA)

HONOURS – Won the Oscar for best director in 2001 for Traffic. Had the pleasure of being nominated the same year for Erin Brokovich. Eleven years earlier he was Oscar nominated for writing Sex, Lies and Videotape. That film won him the Palm D'Or at Cannes and the audience prize at Sundance. The same three films also gave him Golden Globe nominations.

TOP FILMS – Oceans Eleven, Traffic, Erin Brokovich, Out of Sight, Sex Lies and Videotape.

OPINION – Making both Traffic and Erin Brokovich in the same year is a hell of a way to introduce yourself to the world. Bagging the huge critical acclaim with one film and the popular vote with the other. Erin Brokovich, while the second best film, is perhaps the biggest achievement as it actually made Julia Roberts entertaining again. That's something I thought was impossible. She's appeared in an absolute string of shit since Pretty Woman made her into a star. It almost felt like she was seeing just how a film she could make and still continue to get work. And yet it seems I was totally alone in my contempt for her films. I threw up in my mouth a little during I Love Trouble. Countless chick flicks followed including the hideous cash in on the Richard Gere history with Runaway Bride. And yet Erin Brokovich proved to be her salvation in my eyes. She dragged herself up out of the gutter of cinema to make her second big impact. She's been living off it ever since. I really don't get what people see in her but those two films are an exception to the rule (Erin & Pretty Woman). Soderbergh had actually been working just outside the Hollywood system for quite some time. It was actually his first big budget FLOP that won people over. While 1998's Out of Sight lost money it gained Soderbergh a great deal of attention for his work with George Clooney. It seemed that Clooney wanted to bring Soderbergh with him on his way to the top and in the process Soderbergh happened to make the two best films of his career and then teamed up with George again for the huge blockbuster Oceans Eleven. Of course he's since ruined his reputation with the snoozer Solaris, a terrible Oceans sequel and the arthouse disaster the Good German. He presently has four films in production. Chances are one of them will be decent and he'll avoid the hack reputation he's quickly on his way to getting. Oceans Thirteen? Do me a favour. I believe it's actually Oceans Twelve that lost him a spot on the top 100.

Dreamgirls (2006)



EXPECTATIONS – Written and directed by up and comer (although, I say up and comer, the guy is 52 years old) Bill Condon who previously had success with Gods and Monsters and then Kinsey. Before Gods and Monsters his third project back was Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. I guess the guy's got to eat, right? He also wrote the screenplay to the hugely over rated musical Chicago, which is probably how he landed this gig. Dreamgirls also features an all star cast boasting an Oscar winning performance from newcomer Jennifer Hudson and a nomination for Eddie Murphy in another one of his comeback roles. I know at least a few people who wish he'd stop coming back. It irks me that Murphy has made so many bad films littered with lazy performances when you see what he's truly capable of sometimes. Look at Coming to America, 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Life or even the Nutty Professor and it's clear that Eddie Murphy is a great talent. But he keeps making the easy movies. The quick pay check as soon as he's a bankable commodity again. Another 48 Hours, Vampire in Brooklyn, Best Defence, Metro, Dr Dolittle, Pluto Nash, I Spy and the Haunted Mansion. His career is loaded with these parallel opposite films. He drifts from great to crap in the bat of an eyelash. And his attitude is up there with some of Hollywood's worst. Like dumping the Spice Girl Mel B claiming the child, that was later proved to be his, could have been anyone's. Or walking out of the Oscars after he didn't win and thus missing cast-mate Hudson pick up her award. He strikes me as a bit of a jerk. But sometimes you need that one guy to be a jerk because it makes other people seem more sympathetic but does he have to play out that role in the real world? I rest my case. I've also become rather sidetracked.

TRAILER –



PLOT – Curtis Taylor Jr (Jamie Foxx) is a used car salesman but he sees big money in music production and starts promoting singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). His drive combined with Early's performances drive the singer up the chart. But his backing group the Dreamettes (Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce Knowles, Anika Noni Rose) outstrip Early in terms of popularity. Taylor is in a relationship with Hudson's Effie but promotes the group around Deena Jones (Beyonce) because she's the most photogenic. He ends up switching from one to the other in the bedroom as well. As the Dreams go out on the road the relationship between Effie and everyone else becomes increasingly strained.

OPINION – Dreamgirls is a really weird musical. It starts out as a regular movie with a lot of singing because most of the scenes take place onstage where there are performances from the lead characters and several other groups. But then part way through the film suddenly becomes a musical with the characters singing at each other in the real world. Which I've always hated. The one exception being during the Blues Brothers when Aretha Franklin just bursts into song. In Dreamgirls it comes off as particularly forced and especially during the scene where Effie is confronted by the group over her selfishness it just comes off as lame. Worse still for a film that lives by its music the music in Dreamgirls is remarkably flat and uninteresting. There's only one performance that really feels great and that's Beyonce Knowles recording "Listen" and just singing her heart out at Jamie Foxx. Although it doesn't work at all as a music video because they try to promote the film with it. And that's wrong. It only worked so well in the film because of where it happens and the way she's directing the song at someone. The other big song is Jennifer Hudson's when she's forced out. But she pretty much ruins it for me by going over the top. As for the acting there are a few decent turns. Danny Glover is very good in support and Hudson is very capable considering it's her first movie. Certainly not Oscar worthy but decent. Eddie Murphy is by far a highlight. It's so noticeable that Murphy's character is the most entertaining that the film suffers when he's not onscreen. And his is very much a supporting role. Although it feels like everyone has a supporting role because there are too many characters and not enough time to work on them all thanks to an obsession with squeezing as many musical numbers as possible into the film. And most of them are pretty weak. Unlike the majority of critics I didn't find Dreamgirls to be moving at all. I merely found it to be irritating. Even worse is the idea that Dreamgirls is based loosely on the Supremes and yet it probably would have played better as a direct biography of Florence Ballard (the former front woman of the Supremes, who was replaced by backing singer Diana Ross). There's something about realism that gives a film more substance when it's really lacking. Dreamgirls lacks substance.

BEST BIT – Eddie Murphy rapping his way through the concert for Rainbow Records where he drops his trousers on NBC.

RATING - *3/4. Another shallow over rated musical in a long string of them from Hollywood. Dreamgirls pretends to be something quite different until slipping into full on chick flick in the second half. The girl power scenes are quite sickening and none of the characters are believable or sympathetic. Glossy trash at best. At worst it's irritating and nauseating.

The Passenger (1975) aka Professione: reporter



EXPECTATIONS – I caught a trailer on another DVD release. This was a long lost film recently re-released on DVD. It was directed by Blowup helmsman Michelangelo Antonioni. This follows on from his success with that film. It stars three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson coming off the back of Roman Polanski's Chinatown and came out the same year as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when Nicholson was hot property.

TRAILER –



PLOT – David Locke (Jack Nicholson) is a reporter investigating post colonial Africa when his neighbour in a ramshackle hotel dies of a heart attack. The man, Robertson, is around the same age as Locke and even looks similar. Locke, desperate to escape his own life, trades places with the dead man and assumes Robertson's identity as an International arms trader. He goes on the run across Europe with a girl he runs into by accident (Maria Schneider).

OPINION – The Passenger is very long and rather tedious and wastes no time in boring the hell out of the viewer with long lingering shots of nothing. The idea at play behind this being that Nicholson's Locke is entirely isolated. Firstly in his profession, then again in Africa and then again as he goes on the run. To be fair to Antonioni some of his shots are nothing short of beautiful and cinematic art. The shot of Nicholson appearing to fly from a cable car for example. Or the Lawrence of Arabia style shots of the sweeping African desert. There's no doubting the visual style of Antonioni's work but sadly in the process he loses his best asset in Jack Nicholson. His star works best when having a lot to do. Nicholson is one of the consummate stars in film capable of serious work and a range of emotions. There's one scene in The Passenger where Jack gets to cut loose. His jeep gets buried in the sand and he goes after it with a spade. That shows the level of desperation the character is feeling but the rest of the film sees Locke as a distant almost absent minded guy following someone else's routine for no good reason. His acquisition of Maria Schneider makes little sense. She seems immediately interested in following him around Europe. But oddly enough he's seen her before in London. Why is that? Was there more to her character than the director was telling us? There's certainly a world of stuff going on that's unspoken as the film reaches its conclusion. Luckily the 7-minute tracking shot that finishes the film is available on You Tube. You may want to avoid watching it if you don't want the ending ruined. Ultimately you need patience to sit through The Passenger. It isn't clear what his journey is for much of the film and the only distraction is Antonioni's beautiful use of the camera. The final shot, up there with Hitchcock's in Notorious and Scorsese's in Goodfellas, is one of the best moving camera shots…ever. It's well worth waiting for and a seven minute demonstration of the director's skill. Unfortunately he really didn't use Jack Nicholson to his strengths to get the film this could have been, which is perhaps why it lay forgotten for so very long.

BEST BIT – the ending. Just a gorgeous shot that in seven minutes brings together the entire storyline without resorting to drama beyond that necessary.

RATING - ***1/4. Drawn out but beautiful. The real fun lies in trying to figure out who Maria Schneider's character actually is and why she acts like she does. Recommended you watch it rather than skip ahead to the ending because it probably won't make sense on its own especially not without details on the figures that are seen.

Sixteen Candles (1984)



EXPECTATIONS – Quite how I've never seen Sixteen Candles remains a mystery. After all I've watched other John Hughes movies from the same era many, many times. Weird Science, Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are all staples of film watching when I was growing up. There was just something about John Hughes. His teen comedies set the bar and it's never been reached since. They had just the right amount of filth combined with the right amount of innocence. It's really hard to get that combination. For an example of failure see the Porkys franchise. Hughes' movies were far better written and had more believable dialogue. I guess my main reason for avoiding Sixteen Candles, and Pretty in Pink, is that the central character is female. Immediately I'm thinking it's a chick flick. I know there are films where the lead character is female that aren't chick flicks (Kill Bill, Fargo, Million Dollar Baby etc) but for some reason my mind wasn't accepting Molly Ringwald as a lead character. As part of an ensemble, sure no worries, but as the lead? Well, I figured it was about time I got over that and actually watched the movie seeing as I dig John Hughes movies generally. Not the later stuff obviously. Uncle Buck is pretty bad and Curly Sue is just abysmal. Pretty much She's Having a Baby onwards is a waste of time. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is his only good grown up movie. Meanwhile Molly Ringwald's attempt at branching out from high school movies didn't exactly work out for her. I guess her lack of popularity since the late 80's hasn't got me rushing to check out films she starred in.

TRAILER –



PLOT – The day before her sister's big wedding Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) turns sweet sixteen. But her family doesn't notice. The day gets progressively worse as she's stalked by uber-geek Farmer Ted (Anthony Michael Hall) whilst lusting over the entirely unattainable Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling).

OPINION – Sixteen Candles was Hughes' first film as a director and I think that shows. A lot of the high school movie ideas he later used for such great end product are present in Sixteen Candles but just not used to maximum effect. Compare this to the Breakfast Club and the later film flows much better. Sixteen Candles frequently gets caught up with unimportant characters and trying to give everyone in the film at least two personality quirks. Meanwhile the narrative suffers. It also wraps itself up nicely a colourful package with a nice bright bow. A little like Weird Science does only without the explanation. We don't really find out enough about Jake to find out why he's changed so much. His little speech about love is pretty weak and out of place. Generally his character doesn't get developed much because it's so boring. The film tends to rest more with Anthony Michael Hall's goofy display, which is about on a par with his other work with Hughes and Ringwald's quirky teen lead. Some of the little side jokes work quite well. The Asian exchange student Long Duk Dong (Gedde Wattanabe) is the centre of attention whenever he gets the chance to do something. Then there's some of Samantha's family…who don't work out so well. Her brother Mike (played by child star Justin Henry) is just annoying and almost without purpose. He only adds to an already crowded atmosphere at the house where Sam was already struggling being in the shadow of her sister Ginny (Blanche Baker). Their story worked fine on its own and with the house filled with grandparents it had a great dynamic without an irritating kid. Basically John Hughes was very new to the whole film making business and while Sixteen Candles is a strong debut, albeit with a sappy ending, it's never on a par with his later work. Especially the far superior Breakfast Club. This almost feels like a template for the later work. It certainly has a lot of the basis for Breakfast Club. The characters talk to each other and really talk and understand each other. That's one of the hardest things to achieve dialogue wise. Especially in a teenage comedy. Especially when it's dialogue between a boy and a girl that aren't involved with each other. Hughes gets the sense of awkwardness down perfectly when Farmer Ted and Samantha talk.

BEST BIT – Ginny prepares to walk the aisle on her big day out of her head on muscle relaxants. It's a great little set piece that has nothing to do with the rest of the film but works superbly well.

RATING - ***. I much prefer the Breakfast Club in terms of set up and delivery and I'd probably have to rate it as my 5th favourite Hughes movie after Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Still a decent 80's teenage comedy that's aged surprisingly well and, like any good John Hughes movie, is eminently quotable.

Fearless (2006)



EXPECTATIONS – I've always been a fan of Jet Li. His high speed martial arts movies usually contain a few decent fight scenes at the very least. Since coming to America with Lethal Weapon 4 and exposing himself to a larger market he's had a mixture of fortunes. Romeo Must Die was a good start but then he had the misfortune to make The One, which is a truly awful film. Bad premise, terrible acting, dodgy CGI. Then came Hero although it didn't get mass audience release until a few years later. Brilliant film. I've never been a big fan of wirework but when it's done right (Crouching Tiger) then it's great. It was great in Hero. The film is also exquisite. It has a balletic beauty to it. Next up was the somewhat uneven Cradle 2 the Grave. It had its moments and towards the end when it let everything hang out it was one hell of a ride. After that was Unleashed, also known as Danny the Dog, which is a film I really didn't take too well to. Generally Jet Li's North American movies haven't realised his potential. Unlike some of Jackie Chan's North American work where they've managed to combine his skills with a comedy foil. Jet Li has the advantage of being a far superior actor to Chan. Eventually you'd think he'd get his break and the right script. For Fearless, his final martial arts film, Li went back to his native tongue and filmed in Shanghai. The director is an interesting choice as its Ronny Yu whose last three films were Freddy Vs Jason, 51st State and Bride of Chucky. But he also came from Hong Kong cinema so it's nice to see him return to his roots along with Jet Li. It seems both of them have some unfinished business.

TRAILER –



PLOT – Based on a true story it follows the career of legendary Chinese fighter Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li) who defended the name of China when foreign powers belittled the nation calling China the "weak man of the East". Huo went from being a local hero to a national hero overnight. The film covers much of Huo Yuanjia's life going back to his childhood and covering his career as a fighter and his worst mistakes and greatest victories.

OPINION – Fearless is at times absolutely breathtaking. I'm not the biggest martial arts fan but sometimes there are martial arts films that are above the genre. Fearless is one of those films. The fight sequences in Fearless are superb. Not only during the tournament that bookends the movie but throughout as Yuanjia faces an assortment of challenges. His voyage of self discovery and personal redemption is the only thing to slow up the near relentless pacing. It also provides Li some time to show off his acting chops, which he does with considerable aplomb. If Li's intention was to show the world what he can do and end his reign over martial arts films in spectacular fashion then; mission accomplished. Let's see how Tony Jaa betters this! The fight sequences benefit from Li's array of talents with props and weapons as well as just his body. But the film isn't just limited to the martial arts scenes but rather the discipline, self control and honour those skills represent. The script goes a long way to explaining what kind of a world these characters lived in and how much change occurred just during Yuanjia's absence from his home town. And how his system of belief's and code of honour helped get China back on the map. Huo Yuanjia is credited with helping to restore China's moral after a series of humiliating defeats both to Europeans and to the Japanese. For the film this is represented by a challenge fight where Yuanjia battles four competitors from the nations that have hurt China. While there is a degree of exaggeration this is essentially what happened. It's already a grand story Li just added in some swank fight scenes. Oh, and what fight scenes. One amazing CG assisted duel on an elevated platform seems to go on forever. While another battle against a hated fellow master destroys an entire restaurant. Upstairs, downstairs and into the cellar. Just when you think he can't outdo himself anymore it's revealed that Li has left the best till last with an epic three round fight against Japanese competitor Tanaka (Shido Nakamura – Letters from Iwo Jima). In particular there's one round where Li arms himself with three chain linked metal poles against Tanaka's sword. The ensuing battle is nothing short of awe inspiring and caps the film off nicely. It's a love letter to martial arts movies penned by Jet Li himself. Almost a throwback to Drunken Master at times Li's love letter is enduring and powerful.

BEST BIT – the sticks v sword fight when they swap weapons in the middle of fighting. Awesome stuff.

RATING - ****. Li's best film since Hero. Now I feel inclined to watch some of his older stuff. Any suggestions folks? I'm relying on you to steer me in the right direction.

ELSEWHERE –

Ben Moser has the Doctor in the Hallway News. I think he could probably go with the Moser in the Hallway News. Sure people would sit there in front of their PC out in the intranets thinking "what the heck is a Moser?" but I think they'd still click it. Maybe to find out, you never know.

Chad Webb has the Big News Bulletin and a lot of arguing about Sicko. I'm a fan of Michael Moore but I can see why people don't like him. He does tend to push arguments really far in one direction just to make his point that much more valid. One fine example of this being his book; Stupid White Men, which I've read. His generalisations are often as broad as those he criticises. But he's still a good film maker and I'll keep watching.

Leonard Hayhurst is nearly 200! Or rather the Ask 411 Movies column is. And there was me getting all excited about 100 columns.

Will Helm presents the latest Misunderstood Masterpiece; Monkeybone. I wasn't sure if he was talking about that last week or the Looney Tunes movie that Brendan Fraser made. He sure has done a lot of crossover stuff with cartoons, huh?

Tony Farinella grabs a word with Penelope Ann Miller. Great interview. She really opens up and talks about all kinds of crap including a cool Marlon Brando story. Those crazy Hollywood folk and their ways!

Finally this week check out George Sirois as he continues to check out the Harry Potter films. I can't say I've ever been a big fan of the Potter films. They have some cool scenes going for them but I wouldn't go crying if any of the central characters died. I do on occasion drink in the same pub as Ron Weasley's Dad though.

NEXT –

Christopher Nolan's newest The Prestige, the highly anticipated Babel, war classic Where Eagles Dare and Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will. In seven days. And in fourteen days what looks like it'll be part one of the Top 100 Directors column. The chances of me fitting it all into one week are looking slim. Damn me and my ambitious projects!