Out and Back

Gone too soon...

I got home from work this afternoon and checked out Perez Hilton (one of my guilty internet pleasures) and was very shocked to see the news that actor Heath Ledger had passed away. He was just 28 years old.

While I'll admit to enjoying the occasional supermarket tabloid and to checking out Perez Hilton regularly to chuckle at the latest celebrity gossip, I also profess a great love for movies and the actors and actresses that help bring them to life. And that love is sincere and reverent and, I think, transcends the baser instinct that drives me to read about Britney Spears' latest antics and shake my head in disbelief.

Like a lot of people, I first saw Heath Ledger in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, a modern update of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. He played the Petruchio character (Patrick) opposite Julia Stiles' Katerina (Kat in the film.) It was a movie squarely aimed at teenagers, but it was more intelligent than most. I liked it so well that I actually bought a copy when it was released on video. It was funny, cute, and smart, and the two leads definitely left an impression on me. I still giggle at Patrick's impromptu serenade -- singing "You're Just Too Good To Be True (Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You)" to Kat from the bleachers during soccer practice.

Of course, most people (myself included) would argue that Ledger's greatest success came with his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain. It's still difficult for me to find adequate words to explain the emotional impact that movie had on me in general, let alone to describe how deeply I was moved by Ledger's performance (and that of his co-star, Jake Gyllenhaal.) All I can do is tell you to rent that movie and watch it -- of all the films Heath Ledger made, I think it's the one that shows most clearly what a powerful and gifted artist he was. It's hard to describe such talent in the past tense.   

Wow.... just wow.

I watched The Departed tonight... normally I am not such a slowpoke when it comes to watching the Best Picture nominees, but 2006 was sort of an odd year for me and I never did get around to seeing them all.  At any rate, I finally had some time this evening to check it out and I really enjoyed it.  If I had to describe the experience in one word, that word would be visceral.  This movie does not shy away from violence and utter depravity, but the story is so damn good that watching someone (SPOILER ALERT!) get thrown off the roof of a building (and hit the ground) didn't bother me as much as I imagine something like that ordinarily would.

I have a weird attitude toward violence -- I abhor it in real life, and yet some of my favorite movies (True Romance, Halloween, Se7en) and television shows (The Sopranos) are violent to an extreme.  I can't be the only one who is of two minds in this regard.

Getting back to The Departed, though... while the acting was strong across the board, I was particularly knocked out by Mark Wahlberg's performance.  Watching him in that role, I could understand why he received an Oscar nomination.  He made the character larger than life but at the same time so intense and real that I never doubted for a moment the guy's authenticity.  Performances like his are few and far between these days.

For your consideration...

My husband and I collaborated on this short film this afternoon.  I shot the footage, and then he edited it and added the music on his Mac.

Somehow, I don't think the Academy will be knocking on our door anytime soon, but it was still pretty fun:

I loved Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, but...

...Ms. Abigail Breslin was something else, too.

If you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine, run, don't walk, to the video store.  It's delightful.

Here's a preview (although it might ruin the ending for you, so watch at your discretion):

Coney Island on film

I realize that Coney Island isn't easily accessible for everyone, so I thought I would share a few of my favorite movies that feature the real happiest place on earth.  In no particular order....

The Warriors (1979) - I hate the term "cult classic," but it's appropriate in this movie's case.  It's an urban adventure story of a Coney Island street gang trying to make it back to their home turf from a gang-summit-gone-bad up in the Bronx.  The fight choreography is spectacular and the fact that it's loosely based on Greek mythology is a cool bonus.  In addition, it stars a young James Remar (Richard Wright for you Sex and the City fans) and the shots of Coney Island at the end of the movie are impressive.  "Warriors..... come out to plaaaaayay!"

He Got Game (1998) - Hands down one of my favorite Spike Lee "joints," and not just because the bulk of the movie takes place in Coney Island.  Distilled down to its most basic essence, this is a movie about fathers and sons, something anyone can relate to.  Denzel Washington is phenomenal, and the scene where he and Ray Allen (portraying his son) play a high-stakes game of one-on-one is especially powerful.

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God...  Be Back By Five (1998) - A low budget, independent film that is hard to come by on DVD or even VHS, but if you have a chance to see it, it's well worth it.  Jon Cryer and Rick Stear play two friends who go to Coney Island to find out what has become of a third friend of theirs from childhood -- he is reportedly mentally ill and living under the boardwalk.  It's a great story that explores friendship, mental illness, loyalty, second chances, and redemption.  Frank Whaley has a great cameo as a Coney Island "skeeball weasel," and Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior from The Sporanos) appears as a photographer.

Requiem for a Dream (2000) - This movie is a masterpiece but I've never been able to get the courage to watch it all the way through.  Its subject matter (drug addiction) and graphic, no-holds-barred depictions are upsetting to me.  It is set in Coney Island and captures the urban decay of the place beautifully.

The Wiz (1978) - Kind of cheesy (Diana Ross as Dorothy?  Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow?) but a fun retelling of The Wizard of Oz, set entirely in New York City.  The Coney Island Cyclone features prominently in one of the scenes.  Also, I love the music.

My favorite Val Kilmer story

I know I've mentioned that I love actor Val Kilmer.  I just watched Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and I laughed so hard I had an asthma attack.  I fell in love with his Batman, I think his Doc Holliday rocked, and I was moved by his performance in At First Sight.  The guy is a genius (and the fact that he's easy on the eyes doesn't hurt either!)

Val's been on my mind since my viewing of KKBB this weekend, so I thought I would share my favorite Val Kilmer movie-viewing story.  First, a preface:

I majored in art history in college.  I wrote my thesis on Leonardo da Vinci and The Last Supper (this was before Dan Brown's novel came out and all the hoopla started, incidentally.)  I studied abroad in Milan and to say that I steeped myself in Italian Renaissance art would be an understatement.

In addition to my obsession with the Italians, I found time to study and fall deeply in love with 20th Century American art.  A Mark Rothko painting can reduce me to tears, I think Andy Warhol was a genius, and I could spend hours looking at Hopper's The Nighthawks, for instance.  But there was one movement, and in particular one painter, whose appeal I could never fully understand: Jackson Pollock and the abstract expressionists.

Abstract expressionism -- particularly Jackson Pollock's work -- never appealed to me.  I found it to be sloppy, indulgent, and tacky.  Could I appreciate its importance to art history? Yes.  (It did, after all make the USA the center of the art world for a time, which was a big deal.)  Did I want that crap hanging in my house? No way.  (There are exceptions -- the astute among you will note that Mark Rothko, who is a favorite of mine, was also considered a part of this group.  But when my advisor put up a slide of Pollock's One during my comprehensive exam, I said, "Why are you showing me this crap?")

So, when the movie Pollock came out in late 2000, of course my husband asked me, the art historian, if I wanted to see it.  My response was, "Eh, let's wait for the video," which isn't surprising considering how I feel about Jackson Pollock's work and the movement he was a part of.

So what in Sam Hill does this have to do with Val Kilmer, you ask?

Well, not long after thumbing my nose at the movie (at least until it came to Blockbuster) I was reading an article about it which mentioned that Willem de Kooning, another abstract expressionist (whose work I do find marginally more interesting than Pollock's) was being played in the film by..... my man Val.

Finding that out completely changed my mind about seeing the movie, so we went to the nearby multiplex to check it out.  Val's role could generously be called a cameo, but he was just brilliant.  It was worth the price of admission just to watch him be de Kooning for a few minutes.

In addition, seeing Pollock actually gave me a greater appreciation for Jackson Pollock, his life, and his work.  So, in the end, Val Kilmer did what no art history professor of mine could.  And for that, I salute him!

Oh, Truman

I watched Capote on DVD tonight.  It was better than I remembered.  I am still working my way through In Cold Blood, too.  It is such an intense book and I have so little time to read anything other than the pile of self-help books my therapist has recommended that I only seem to be able to get through a few pages a night.  I know if I had limitless reading time that I wouldn't be able to put it down; it's just that life and the need for sleep intervene and force me to put it aside for the night.

Philip Seymour Hoffman deserved every inch of that Oscar.  His performance in Capote was right up there with Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, and Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird.  I think that role is the kind of role that every actor dreams of playing at some point in his or her career... and what blows me away is that Truman Capote was a real person.  A lesser actor could have made him a caricature, since Capote himself was so flamboyant and "outside the lines" in so many ways.  But PSH just nailed him.  I never believed for a second that I was watching anyone other than Mr. Capote himself.  I was simultaneously sympathetic to him and repelled by him... I related to his struggle with the writing process and yet I was horrified by the lengths he went to to get his book finished.  Truman Capote put it best himself when he wrote "More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones."

Hey, STELLAAAAA!

On Sunday morning, I parked on the sofa with a cup of coffee and watched A Streetcar Named Desire on DVD.  I had rented it on Saturday night, and as I watched it I asked myself yet again why -- when I love this film so much and watch it whenever I happen to run across it on television and go out of my way to rent it periodically -- I don't yet own my own copy.  Note to self: BUY THIS MOVIE!

My first exposure to Streetcar was in 1991, when I saw a production of the play at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle.  I was just 15 years old and probably a little naive for some of the mature themes addressed by Tennessee Williams in this seminal work, but that production absolutely took my breath away.  My mom and I watched Elia Kazan's film version a few years later.  Marlon Brando's and Viven Leigh's performances were the stuff of dreams for me... some of the first exposures I have to what film and theatre aficionados refer to as "groundbreaking performances" or, more simply, "good acting."

Having just watched the film again this weekend, though, I have to say that I prefer Williams' original play.  (If you've not seen either, I'd recommend not reading further unless you want me to wreck the story for you.)

The changes to the story that Kazan was forced to make as a result of the sensibilities of the day (most notably, the ending -- Stella leaves Stanley after learning he has raped Blanche) don't sit well with me.  In the play, Stella chooses to stand by her husband, and while the feminist in me gets a little riled at that thought, seeing her leave him in the movie version doesn't work for me, either.

I have always loved Stella Kowalski.  Having taken a few acting classes and spent some time around the theatre world, I can say with certainty that it is the role of Stella's fragile, unbalanced sister, Blanche DuBois, that actresses of a certain age and "type" aspire to play.  Not me.  I always wanted to be Stella, to explore her ferocious attraction to the brutish Stanley and hover on the edge of that precipiece... to find Stella's buried strength and bravery, to inhabit her and harness her power.  I believe her wholeheartedly when she says:

...there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark -- that sort of make everything else seem -- unimportant.

That line was excised from the movie, too... and it is Stella's unstoppable desire for her husband (coupled with a healthy dose of fear and denial, I might add) that drives her back to him, even after his seemingly unforgivable act of violence toward her sister.  I know that attraction, that desperate, all-consuming need.  And I admire Stella's fearlessness in giving in to it.  In a perfect world, she would walk away from him in the end, as she does in the movie... but it will always ring truer to me to have her remain with him.  She's a little bit trapped, but she's a little bit deliberate, too.  And I don't think it's fair to underestimate her power... because now she's got the goods on Stanley.

Yes, I will always love her.  I made the decision a long time ago to name my daughter Stella, if I'm ever fortunate enough to have one.  And when she's old enough, I'll introduce her to the play, the movie, and the character that inspired her name.

Stella for star...

More thoughts on Brokeback Mountain

I saw Brokeback Mountain for the second time over the weekend.  My husband came along with me this time, and we both enjoyed the experience a great deal.  This movie has struck a chord deep within me, for I know the longing and frustration and heartache that the characters experience all too well.  (No, I don't have a secret gay lover!  I don't even have a secret straight lover!)

I asked my husband after the movie, "Have you ever loved anyone like that?  Someone you couldn't be with but loved more than anything?"  He replied, "No... because I married the one I love," and he took my hand and it was very sweet.  I thought about how lucky we are, to be able to be open with our affection and have nothing stand in the way of our togetherness, and how sad it is that there are still people who can't be with the one they love because of circumstance or societal pressures.

On a more humorous note, my husband remarked, "I don't see why Jack and Ennis couldn't make it work.  They could have moved to San Francisco and one of them could've flipped burgers and the other one could've sold used cars!"  That's my husband... he sees a problem and he wants to figure out a way to fix it.

It's been a long time since a movie has stayed with me the way this one has.  What movies have changed your life?

"The gay cowboy movie"

Some co-workers and I went out to dinner and to see Brokeback Mountain tonight.  I am experiencing a delayed reaction to this devastating film... I hopped in the car to drive the eleven blocks home from the theatre and by about three or four blocks into the drive I was sobbing uncontrollably.

I know I'm echoing the sentiments of others when I say this, but this film is so much more than the convenient label that the popular culture machine has slapped onto it.  It's a love story.  If you've ever loved and lost, this film will resonate with you.  As I drove home, memories that hadn't surfaced in years started to bubble up, leaving me shaken by thoughts of what (and who) I've left behind.

The line that burned my heart the most was this:

Sometimes I miss you so bad I can hardly stand it.

Simple words, but loaded with history and heartache and almost collapsing under the weight of sadness and depletion in their delivery.

See this movie.