The Second (Third? Fourth?) Time Around.

Posted: October 13, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Celebrities, Movies, Videos | Leave a comment
Bird Brains

Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson in "The Big Year."

Three new movies open wide tomorrow, and I’m using the term “new” loosely. The Big Year, a male-midlife-crisis yarn directed by David Frankel (now best known for The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me, but for me he’ll always be the guy who made Miami Rhapsody), stars Owen Wilson, Jack Black and, sadly, Steve Martin. Why “sadly”? Because Martin, once a kind of gold standard for movie comedy, now saves his intellectual A-game for his books and his plays and his art collection and his website, while seemingly picking his film roles based on their ability to make his fans wince. I mean, two Pink Panther remakes. Two Cheaper by the Dozen remakes. Sigh.

I want The Big Year — a movie about competitive birdwatching, a pastime that seemed more pure before the big endorsement money came in and tainted it — to be good. Early reviews have not been kind.

And speaking of remakes: two seminal ’80s films are being revisited this week. People are very upset about this. They should let it go.

First, a little heresy: the original Footloose was not all that good. Sure, Kevin Bacon. But also Lori Singer, one of the least exciting “stars” of the 1980s. And while the whole the-old-folks-won’t-let-us-dance plot was good for generating some generational friction, it always seemed to me like a straw-man construct: too ludicrous to be taken seriously. Ironically, our socially polarized country today makes a new look at a town outlawing music and dancing potentially interesting. We’ll see.

And then there’s The Thing, ostensibly a prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 cult classic but, reportedly, a functional remake. (The film takes place at the Norwegian camp in the Arctic Circle referenced by the Americans at the beginning of Carpenter’s movie; but really, a shape-shifting alien picking off one member of your team at a time is still a shape-shifting alien picking off one member of your team at a time, regardless of whether your name is Mac or Sven.) Fans of the original are all over the Internets, complaining that Hollywood is once again raping their childhood.

The thing is (see what I did there?), Carpenter’s Thing was a remake too — of The Thing From Another World, a sturdy 1951 thriller that has fans of its own. (Disclaimer: I liked both films.) It seems a bit churlish to rail on about the desecration of a great 30-year-old movie that did its own desecrating of another 30-year-old movie.

There are many good reasons to yell at Hollywood filmmakers these days, but complaining about their love of doing things over again is a pretty old song. Older than this song, even:

Small World Dept.: Footloose also starred Sarah Jessica Parker, who would later star in Miami Rhapsody, the directorial debut of The Big Year Director David Frankel. (She was also in L.A. Story with Steve Martin, back when Steve Martin movies were something to get excited about.) And Dianne Wiest, who played Lori Singer’s mom in Footloose (and Steve Martin’s sister in Parenthood, come to think of it), appears in The Big Year in the role of … Jack Black’s mom. Was Dianne Wiest born a mom? Discuss.

Just One Of Those “Thing”s.

Posted: October 12, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Movies, Videos | Leave a comment

Not everyone is pleased about the upcoming remake (prequel?) of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), but as the new film is days away from opening it’s much too late to pool your money and buy NBC Universal; pour sugar in the gas tanks of the vehicles delivering the prints to area theaters; or make your own version that puts this new as-yet-unseen iteration to shame.

But what if it wasn’t too late for that last option? What if someone who sounds an awful lot like Frank Sinatra (well, OK, Steve Lawrence, but let’s not be choosy) whipped up a kooky, crazy, Vegas-y salute to the original* Thing we all loved to hate? It might look a little like this…

So crazy, it just might work.

*Yes, Carpenter’s Thing was a remake too, not original at all. Which makes people who get cranky about this one about 30 years late for the bus. But that’s another story.

TIFF Diary: Ten Years Gone.

Posted: September 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Celebrities, Film Festivals, Movies | Leave a comment

Ten years ago tonight I had dinner in Toronto with my good friend Jim Anderson (who used to come north with me for TIFF, before he fell in love and headed to the west coast, and what’s up with that, anyway?). We ate creole food on the patio of a restaurant across King Street from the Roy Thomson Theater, watching the red carpet action from a respectable distance; then we went across the street to stand in a ridiculous rush line before watching the world premiere of Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders.

You may never have heard of that film — it didn’t make much of a splash. But it starred Helen Mirren, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone and Michael Caine and concerned a group of old friends reuniting to dispose of the remains of one of their own. It’s a somber movie of death and life and reflection, which makes it oddly relevant to this particular anecdote. (It’s also a really good movie — I watched it again with my dad last year about this time, and it held up remarkably well.)

I passed that bistro tonight on my way back to my hotel, with Viggo Mortensen being interviewed across the street for A Dangerous Method. It’s not the path I have found myself taking so far on this trip, but for some reason I opted for the road less traveled tonight.

So little has changed, and so much. On my way up to TIFF this week I chatted with my 360|365 colleague about the 9/11 anniversary, and I wondered if there would be any overt remembrance of the event up here. So far nothing has popped onto my radar screen, which doesn’t mean nothing is happening — once again, I’m here watching movies, and the rest of the world is reduced to headlines on newspapers on cafe tables.

One of the first things I did after hearing about the towers on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, was try to call my friend who had been working in the financial district. I didn’t get him until the following day, but when I asked him what he thought would happen to the WTC complex, his response (and mind you, this was 30 hours after it happened) was that they should just be rebuilt, so New Yorkers could get back to work and the world could see how we couldn’t be stopped. (Rich, I’m sorry if I’m misquoting you; it’s been a while.)

TIFF, perhaps understandably, has embraced that idea more easily than New York City. The festival is bigger and better (OK, bigger) than ever, with a shiny new headquarters, a longer schedule, and more glitz than I knew existed. It will always seem weird that I’m here each year for the dark anniversary of that singularly American event. But in its own way, it helps serve as just another reminder of something we had a harder time appreciating in the immediate days following 9/11/01: that life goes on.

TIFF Diary: Technical Difficulties.

Posted: September 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Technical difficulties” kept The Killer Elite from screening on time yesterday morning at the enormous Scotibank theater; which didn’t bother me per se (The Killer Elite doesn’t belong at TIFF, and anyway, it opens wide in a few weeks), except that the film following it on the same screen — a promising family film called The Flying Machine — was subsequently delayed as well. That worked out OK for me only insofar as it gave me an excuse to fit Drive into my TIFF schedule. I was very excited to see Drive, the US debut of Danish action director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher), but like Killer Elite, it’s going to open nationally later in September, so why waste valuable TIFF time on it?

But I watched Drive, and loved it. Then I got out and promptly went down the hall to queue up for Michael, a dark Austrian thriller … only to wait, and wait, and wait, until TD reared its ugly head again. Grr. The Sarah Palin doc I replaced it with was terrible.

This morning I had made peace with the idea that I would “cheat” on my 360|365 mission long enough to watch The Descendants, the first film in seven years from my favorite American director, Alexander Payne. But I waited, and I waited, and I waited, until the TD specter again emerged: it will start late. They’re not sure how long. So instead I gave up and am now in a comparatively intimate theatre waiting (in a seat this time) for 388 Arletta Avenue, a Canadian indie with allegedly interesting cinematography techniques.

You’ve got to be flexible here at TIFF.

Next up: a full-length review — my first in a couple of years! — of Lucky, a brilliant South African drama that is my first fave fest film. But now, the house lights are going down…

Life Goes On (Without Me).

Posted: September 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Film Festivals, Movies, Rochester NY | Leave a comment

Americans have no manners. Even with the biggest film festival in North America about to start only three hours away, we still can’t resist making everything about us. So rather than close down Rochester’s cultural offerings for 10 days – which would really be the decent thing to do – I’m going to miss a whole bunch of amazing Rochester stuff while in the Great White North. Here are the top seven:

  1. The Clothesline Art Festival at the Memorial Art Gallery. If you’ve never gone, check out Clothesline – you’ll be hooked. (Get it?)
  2. The opening of Contagion by Steven Soderbergh (also opening in an IMAX version, which bothers me a little bit) and Warrior, with gonna-be-a-big-star-any-minute-now Tom Hardy. (You’d be surprised how invisible new releases become during TIFF.)
  3. The Image/OUT Festival Fair, an event at the Planetarium that presages Rochester’s upcoming gay & lesbian film festival.
  4. The brilliant zombie satire Shaun of the Dead and Tex Avery shorts at the Dryden Theatre this weekend.
  5. The RIT Big Shot: Painting with Light, an original documentary about an amazing photo project, premiering at 8pm Thursday on WXXI. Yeah, it’ll be on again. But still.
  6. The intriguing doc Gasland over at the Little Theatre for one night only on Thursday, Sept. 8; and Miranda July’s The Future, opening for a regular run the following day.
  7. Terry and Jones. (What? It’s my blog, and I’ll miss them. What of it?)

Forget The Host. Worry About The Parasite.

Posted: September 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Celebrities, Movies | Leave a comment

I’m not sure why Eddie Murphy is seen as such a controversial pick to host the 2012 Academy Awards. In many ways he fits the mold perfectly — established comic actor, gone slightly to seed, proven stand-up skills: check, check, and check. Granted, his stand-up resume is rooted in the 1980s, but are people afraid he’s going to make AIDS jokes or something?

To me, the news is less disturbing for Murphy than for the guy who got him the job: Who decided it was a good idea to let Brett Ratner produce the Oscar telecast? (If his awful resume doesn’t explain what I mean, read that interview. He’s not — what’s the word? Oh yes — smart.) I know the ratings for the show have waned, but if all they’re looking for is viewers at any expense, why not just hire Michael Bay and be done with it?

I’m going to be sorry I wrote that some day.

Things Are Looking Up.

Posted: September 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Movies | Leave a comment

It was a crap summer at the movies. Oh sure, Friends With Benefits and Crazy Stupid Love offered a surprising zing of romcom polish, and The Help got folks worked up, and … you know, I can’t remember any other movies from the last three months off the top of my head? Either Summer 2011 tanked, or I’m getting old. (Let’s not rule out either of those.)

Anyway, autumn rocks. Check out New York Magazine’s breakdown of 50 fall releases worth getting excited about. I wouldn’t say I’m equally pumped about all of them, but come on: Ryan Gosling at the wheel for Nicolas Winding Refn in Drive? Cronenberg and Mortenson reunited for A Dangerous Method? Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin?

Eat your heart out, Summer. See you at the movies.

Run For The Border.

Posted: September 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Film Festivals, Movies | Leave a comment

September, I’m told, kicks off the unofficial scouting season for new and compelling entries in the annual 360|365 Film Festival, held each May (as if you didn’t know). And so tomorrow my esteemed 360|365 colleague Linda Moroney and I will brave the QEW and head to Toronto for a week at the Toronto International Film Festival — my 14th TIFF (and the 20th anniversary of my first time), but my first without a press pass and without my traditional seat-of-the-pants approach to seeing whatever I want.

A programmer’s agenda is different at one of these things than a critic’s. As a reviewer, it was my job (or so I saw it) to find the movies that people were going to be excited about, watch them, and be ready with a critical take when those films made their way to Rochester. That usually meant fighting crowds of press for good seats at the biggest screening rooms to watch films jockeying for position on the Best Picture Oscar ballot. (Each year, Toronto is widely considered the starting gun for Oscar season.)

As a programmer, though, it’s my job to find movies that people aren’t necessarily expecting — the offbeat, the underappreciated, the little guys — and help put a spotlight on them. I’ll be seeing more foreign films, more docs, and more true independent and experimental movies that haven’t necessarily found their way yet. And while film festivals should arguably have something for everyone, I have to say I’m more than a little excited at the prospect of going to TIFF for the first time with a mission of true discovery.

Oh, and The Descendants. I’m going to have to find a way to see that. It opens wide in December, so it won’t be at 360|365, but what can I do? I love Alexander Payne.

Take Two.

Posted: August 30, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Film Festivals, Movies, Rochester NY | Leave a comment

Why Rochester Film Journal?

Because Rochester is my home, and probably always will be. Because this city and its surroundings deserve to be specifically lauded as the birthplace (literal or otherwise) of film; and because movies – as modern society’s still reigning form of popular art – can endure another collection of unsolicited opinions from the digital peanut gallery.

And, uh … because I bought the name two years ago, and it still works.

*   *   *

You can read more about me elsewhere on this site, if that’s your idea of a good time, but in a nutshell: My name is Erich Van Dussen. I’ve lived in and around Rochester, NY, for most of my life. I love movies and I love writing, and for most of my adult life I’ve been lucky to have opportunities to combine those two passions in one form or another. Along the way, I began to figure out how to really do what I’d been trying to do all along – take all those wonky ruminations about film that were filling my skull, and make sense of them with words on a page.

Volume 1 of this enterprise began two years ago, after I lost my dependable weekly column (after over a decade) with a local newspaper chain. In response, I tried too hard, came up with an online magazine format that was simply unsustainable for one person with an unrelated full-time job and a home life, and watched that format collapse within a year.

This will be different. For one thing, I don’t have time to pretend to be a magazine editor, so I’m going to concentrate on writing, not format. When something occurs to me – about a new release, or an old movie, or a trend that bears mentioning – I’m going to post it. I’m not going to hold reviews until their yeasty goodness has allowed them to expand in my mind to some arbitrary vision of what a “full-length” column should be. (Besides: movies are supposed to be fun. Blogs about movies should be, too.)

For another, I have more things to write about now than ever. Earlier this month I was invited to join the team of 360|365 – Rochester’s premier annual film festival – as a programmer. This is an incredible honor, not least because my name was offered to the festival organizers by Jack Garner, the dean of Rochester’s film community and the fest’s last programmer. I have big shoes to fill. (Seriously; Jack is a giant of a man.) I’ve covered film festivals before, but I’ve never helped program one, and I intend to share that new experience here.

I won’t commit to a regular posting schedule; but I’m going to stick with this, and I hope you’ll stick with me. Thanks for reading.