UNION SQUARE: WHAT'S SHE BEEN UP TO?

Way back in the early 90s, Nancy Savoca was making a name for herself as one of the rising directors in the indie film world.  Thanks to critical hits like Household Saints and Dogfight, a lot of attention was coming her way and then...well, not much happened.  Since then, Savoca has worked sporadically in television, producing only a few under the radar films (of which I've only seen the not so great Rosie Perez vehicle, The 24 Hour Woman).  Now nearly a decade and a half past her initial success, Savoca's got a brand new flick hitting screens this week.

Union Square pairs Savoca with fellow "what's she been up to" girl Mira Sorvino (okay, to be fair, Sorvino's IMDb page reveals that's she's been working a lot, just not in many high profile pics) for a tale of longstanding strife between sisters.  Sorvino plays Lucy, a chronically anxious and self-obsessed extrovert who arrives in Union Square with the misguided intention of spending some unscheduled time with her lover.  He shuts down her plans before they can even meet up, generating a outsized dose of public phone rage from Lucy.  Quickly formulating a backup plan, Lucy lands unannounced at the doorstep of her estranged sister Jenny (Tammy Blanchard) who lives with her fiance Bill (Mike Doyle).  Jenny's got her own issues, hiding her Bronx origins from Bill and swallowing her anger like it's going out of style.

Sadly, the script is severely myopic about how the audience should view these characters.  Instead of allowing us to observe their flaws honestly via their behaviors and interactions, the tone of the piece constantly modulates forcing the actors, especially Sorvino, to go from funny to sad and quiet to overblown repeatedly and without warning, dulling the overall impact of what actually works here.

In its favor, the first third of Union Square is incredibly funny and tense.  Sorvino delivers a great performance, close to her best ever, and cinematographer Lisa Leone's handheld camerawork offers a perfect balance of looseness and intimacy.  Ultimately, though, it is the writing that proves too histrionic, leaving me wishing that the same improvisational feel present within the look of the film had bled into the telling of its story.

Union Square begins its run at Living Room Theaters on Friday, August 17th.  More info available here.


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FILMUSIK ORGAN GRINDERS presents METROPOLIS w/ BENT KNEE

Portland's own Filmusik is reaching outside our town's borders to enlist Boston's Bent Knee ensemble for a live music presentation of their score for Fritz Lang's Metropolis at the Hollywood Theatre this Friday.

I don't really have much to add to what I said about the film when it last played in PDX, except that when a Fritz Lang film, especially Metropolis, plays on a big screen in your town, you'd better get your ass in a seat for it.  A world class filmmaker's (arguably) greatest work matched with a live original score is an occasion worth leaving the house for, friends.

Here's the trailer:

And, as a bonus, a fascinating, 50 minute-long interview with Lang conducted by director William Friedkin:

Filmusik Organ Grinders presents Metropolis with Bent Knee at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, August 17th at 8pm.  More info available here.
 

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TOP DOWN presents PETER JACKSON'S DEAD ALIVE (aka BRAINDEAD)

Long before Peter Jackson's involvement in all things Tolkien made him a household name along the lines of Lucas or Spielberg, the man cut his teeth practicing the art of b-grade horror and cult cinema.  Early salvos such as Bad Taste and the uniquely wicked Meet the Feebles might have prepared the few that saw them for Dead Alive (released as Braindead in Jackson's homeland of New Zealand), but let's be honest here, most fans in the U.S. were directed to the early works after seeing Dead Alive for the first time.

What to say of Dead Alive twenty years after its release?  Time has shown it to be among the very best of a particularly humorous breed of splattercore cinema, the equal of (or possibly even better than) Sam Raimi's 1987 classic Evil Dead II and far above other pretenders to the throne such as Cemetary Man or even (and I know I'm gonna get some flack for this) the quite excellent Re-Animator. 

The film has plenty of guffaw-inducing moments on hand, from the crazy monkey-rat creature to the famous use of a lawnmower as a weapon, but it's also among the bloodiest of horror films.  Jackson gleefully doles out the gore like someone who just got a deep discount at the fake blood shop, enough so that it still retains the power to shock the uninitiated even as it simultaneously inspires convulsive laughter.  Oddly, the newly released, meta-rom-com Ruby Sparks (from the directors of Little Miss Sunshine) features a few choice moments from Dead Alive and, sure enough, the audience for that film recoiled when those bloody images filled the screen.

Combining the supernatural, a love story, and one hell of a Freudian obstacle (you thought Norman Bates' mother was overbearing) to its protagonist's happiness, Dead Alive has it all.  And whether you've heard it once or a thousand times, "I kick ass for the lord," remains one of cinema's funniest battle cries.  Dead Alive is a film that deserves to be seen again and again.  Don't miss the chance to see it with a packed audience at Top Down.

The NW Film Center's Top Down Rooftop Cinema series presents Dead Alive (aka Braindead) on Thursday, August 16th at 8pm.  More info available here.

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FAT, BALD, SHORT MAN: LOOKING OUTSIDE THE SAFETY OF ROUTINE

Carlos Osuna's Fat, Bald, Short Man occupies a rare space in animated, feature-length cinema.  Much like similarly-pitched works such as Mary and Max, Persepolis, and Fantastic Planet, it's a cartoon with adults in mind, one that seeks to grab viewers with an emotional maturity beyond what is normally forwarded within the medium.  But what distinguishes the film from those mentioned above is how easily its screenplay could have been filmed using live actors, such is the quiet, observational quality of the writing and the reality explored within the piece.  Basically, Osuna's made an animated film steeped in the cinema of the social outcast, somewhere along the lines of Punch Drunk Love or James Mangold's excellent 1995 film Heavy.

The story here revolves around Antonio Farfan (Álvaro Bayona), a lonely, middle-aged man working in a notary's office.  He lives by himself, has little connection with his co-workers, and only hears from his verbally-abusive brother when he wants to borrow money.  Out of the blue, there's a regime change at his workplace.  The new boss, who bears a strong resemblance to Antonio, befriends him.  At the same time, Antonio comes to the aid of an elderly neighbor in need.  These changes, along with being talked into joining a small group for shy folks at a local self-help center, slowly begin opening him up to new avenues of being.

Fat, Bald, Short Man is a film that understands that the safety of routine is often what keeps us from moving forward.  Antonio's plight isn't so much that he is incapable of living a full life; it's that he believes himself to be no more than what he is in the present, cringing against the possibility of rejection to the point of rejecting possibilities.  What we have here is a simple and universal tale rendered in a medium most often associated with telling fart jokes to kids (see most modern Disney works for further reference).  Hopefully, audiences will be able to look past their preconceptions about what animated features can be and end up embracing it for the nuanced and mature work that it is.

Highly recommended.

Fat, Bald, Short Man screens at the NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium (in the Portland Art Museum) on Wednesday, August 15th at 7pm.  More info available here.


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GET SCHOOLED IN ALL THINGS JIM HENSON @ THE HOLLYWOOD THEATRE

Ahhh...Portland, she certainly loves her some Jim Henson.  While far from a scientific survey, I've wasted away enough nights working at a local video shop to have gleaned that, along with copious viewings of The Goonies and Breaking Away, the fair citizens of this burg enjoy pairing a heaping helping of Henson with their craft brews.  There's probably no other town in the world hosting late night, 21 and over screenings of Labyrinth, The Muppet Movie,  and The Dark Crystal, something I've noticed occurring perennially since moving to town eight years ago.

Well...get ready PDX, 'cause The Hollywood Theatre's got an extreme Henson hookup coming your way.  Organized into several discrete presentations, there's a wealth of Muppet-themed programing on the horizon, ranging from Henson's timeless work on Sesame Street to lesser seen early forays involving puppets and advertising.

You just wanna see Muppets singing?  Head on out to the showcases entitled "Sing! The Music of Sesame Street" (with guest stars Johnny Cash, R.E.M., etc.) or "Muppet Music Moments (featuring Harry Belafonte, Elton John, and many more)."  Are you looking for a little insight into Henson's creative process?  Check out "Muppet History 101."  Or, if you're an über-fan, the fun starts tonight and runs through Tuesday.  All in all, there's seven different programs on offer.  Are you happy now, Portland?

Muppet History 101 screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, August 10th at 7:30pm and 9:30pm.  More info available here.

Jim Henson Commercials & Experiments screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Saturday, August 11th at 7:30pm and 9:30pm.  More info available here. 

Sesame Street at 40 screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Saturday, August 11th at 3:30pm and Sunday, August 12th at 3:30pm.  More info available here. 

Muppet Fairytales screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Sunday, August 12th at 7:30pm and 9:30pm.  More info available here. 

Muppet Music Moments screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Monday, August 13th at 7:30pm and 9:30pm.  More info available here. 

Jim Henson & Friends: Inside the Sesame Street Vault screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Saturday, August 11th at 5:30pm and Tuesday, August 14th at 7:30pm.  More info available here. 

Sing! The Music of Sesame Street screens at the Hollywood Theatre on Sunday, August 12th at 5:30pm and Tuesday, August 14th at 9:30pm.  More info available here. 
 

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RUBY SPARKS: WRITING AWAY THE ROUGH EDGES

Sometimes the problem is you.  It's not always a comfortable realization to arrive at but it's an observation that drives Ruby Sparks, the latest work by directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine).  The film peers into the life of Calvin (Paul Dano), a former wunderkind author whose single great novel still has him on the speaking circuit, labeled a genius by adoring fans and academics.  Fast forward about ten years and, other than a few short stories, Calvin's been unable to follow up on that initial success.  In fact, he's fallen into a long dry spell with no writing at all.  Adding insult to injury, his last girlfriend left him shortly after the death of his father.

Out of nowhere, Calvin begins dreaming of a mysterious and beautiful woman.  The vision triggers something in him, kicking him out of his rut and, after being pushed by his therapist (Elliott Gould), he begins to write about the woman of his dreams.  And then things get weird.  The girl, Ruby (Zoe Kazan, doing double duty here as screenwriter), appears in his apartment, seamlessly picking up the role that he's written for her; she's his girlfriend.  It's a bit of a shock at first (Calvin tells his brother that it's like Harvey, except "she's not an eight-foot rabbit").  Before long, though, he relaxes into the idea, quickly becoming comfortable living with and loving a woman who is essentially the product of a first draft.

Ruby's transformation from a simple fantasy into something far more complex--gasp, a real woman with actual emotional baggage--throws a wrench into Calvin's initial joy over her appearance.  But, since Calvin wrote Ruby into existence, he assumes (correctly) that he can change her behaviors via a few rewrites.  Whether or not he uses or abuses that power and what it says about his own ability to connect with others soon becomes the central conflict that haunts Ruby Sparks.  When we finally get the opportunity to meet Calvin's ex, her insight on their failed relationship, paired with Calvin's choices regarding Ruby, lay his flaws bare for us to see.

This impulse to tinker with the basic ingredients of others has been explored before in films like S1mOne, Stranger Than Fiction, and, even Vertigo.  Ruby Sparks is far better than those first two films but, of course, has nothing on Hitchcock's masterpiece (recently declared the best film of all-time by Sight & Sound).  Outside of such comparisons, it's a fine diversion with good performances all around, even if it often feels episodic and can't quite figure out how to effectively resolve the tension of its third act as it heads towards the still satisfying conclusion.

Ruby Sparks opens at the Regal Fox Tower on Friday, August 3rd.  More info available here.

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TOP DOWN presents THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN

One can be forgiven for labeling The Ghost and Mr. Chicken as nothing more than a live-action take on the animated Scooby Doo, Where Are You? mystery adventures.  There are certainly plenty of reasons to compare the two, since both favor cowards, ghosts, and dark mansions filled with cobwebs as storytelling devices.  And, yeah, I could point out that The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) precedes the Hanna-Barbera series ('69, dude) by a few years.  But the real reason to care about The G. & Mr. C. (as all the cool kids call it nowadays) is the presence of Mr. Don Knotts.  The dude is pretty much a genre unto himself, a b-grade Brando if Brando were all twitches, bug-eyed mugging for the camera, and a family friendly persona that steered clear of any project resembling reality in the slightest.

All jokes aside, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken may not be what you'd automatically toss on at home (unless you're looking for something for the kids to watch--it's great for that) but it is a film that seems perfect for an event like Top Down.  It's filled to the brim with small town humor, some of which has aged in mysteriously off-color ways.  And I can't imagine a more ridiculous sight than watching a 42-year-old Don Knotts trying to woo a 26-year-old Joan Staley, both of them acting as if they're blushing, virginal teens gone a courtin'. 

Bottom line: this film's ridiculous and so very right for a campy night of outdoor film viewing.  Add a few drinks to the experience and you're in for some fun.  And it doesn't hurt if you're already down with Mr. Knotts, either.

The NW Film Center's Top Down Rooftop Cinema series presents The Ghost and Mr. Chicken on Thursday, August 2nd at 8pm.  More info available here.


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