One of my favorite filmmakers, Bruce Conner, died the other day. His work won him "avant-garde" classification, and while that seems right, since he was experimenting on his own movie island, it keeps - and has always kept - his films at a misleading distance from ready access. Stock footage and original and found film were the raw materials for his collages, and they probably kept him from getting his due as a seminal artist. His bewitching blend of archival material (what did Conner film; what did he find?) is used, most famously in 1958's "A Movie," not simply to tell stories but to critique culture while worrying your conscience.

Like Andy Warhol, Conner was a pop-art polymath, having, for example, made his own deconstruction of Marilyn Monroe (1974's "Marilyn Times Five") and sculpted, sketched, and inkblotted, too. His early pieces were kaleidoscopic assemblages of found material that put him closer to Robert Rauschenberg's combines and straddled the line between chic and junk. Seeing them was like visiting some decomposing thrift shop, and his self-photograms were surreal phantasmagorias. One of the happiest things he ever did was filming Toni Basil dancing to her song "Breakaway" in 1966.

But Conner was probably never ambitious enough to become a brand, an industry, or an icon. He didn't have Warhol's star quality. He didn't want it. He gathered his creative strength during the atomic age at the early height of the Cold War and during the early apex of television advertising, and he was active in 1960s countercultural San Francisco. So on the one hand his films were playful (cool: found footage!) but his mood often headed into an exhilarating combustion of awfulness: they erupted with these apocalyptic orgies. Even by the time he was working with David Byrne and Terry Riley and making films out of Devo songs, he was still giving us nuclear TV nightmares.

Conner was using the movies not as a medium of entertainment or escape but a tool for kaleidoscopic critique, and being ahead of his time it took forever for the culture to catch up with his perceptions, his suspicions, his fears, and, even then, it never truly did. He died still ahead of his time.

Meandering through a Dallas suburb, Richard Linklater’s characters are vaguely connected by circumstance rather than plot. As the title suggests, they are slackers. None seem to work or have anything of particular importance to be doing as the film simply runs along like a slow motion relay where the focus of attention baton is passed along. What motivates you to care enough to sit through all 97 minutes is that these slackers are quirky, amusing and interesting.
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The Boston French Film Festival begins at the MFA -- your chance to see all the fine, frisky, provocative French films our few remaining arthouses don't have room or inclination to show. Wesley breaks down the offerings; do yourself a favor and go to a few.

Otherwise, what to see this weekend? The hordes will be watching Eddie Murphy employ his sizable physical-comedy talents to no discernible purpose in "Meet Dave" or they'll be donning the 3D specs for "Journey to the Center of the Earth,"a formulaic Saturday matinee adventure with or without the T. Rex drool in your face.

You, engaged and informed pop moviegoer that you are, will spend your ducats on "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (photo above), knowing that director Guillermo del Toro is a visionary who's not afraid to be a geeky comics fanboy. The movie's funnier than "Meet Dave," more 3D than "Journey," and it whips "Hancock"'s butt.

A delicate art-house movie it ain't, though. Come to think of it, neither is "My Winnipeg," Guy Maddin's tour through the subterranean Freudian underchambers of his Manitoba home town. It's another black-and-white camp horror-comedy fantasia from the director of "The Saddest Music in the World." but more personal than before. Film noir fanatics need to check out Ann Savage (photos from then and now, below) as the hero's mother: 63 years ago, the lady played one of the great anti-heroines in the movies in the pulpy B-flick classic "Detour." Welcome back, Ann -- you haven't mellowed a bit.

If you're up for a good if familiar coming-of-age-in-the-city story, or you miss 1994 in a big way, or you want to see Josh from Nickelodeon's "Drake and Josh" have sex with the best friend from "Juno," or you just want to revel in another grand, off-kilter Ben Kingsley performance, I'm here to tell you The Wackness" is your film.

Speaking of surprisingly twisted old movies, "Leave Her to Heaven" (1946) is at the Harvard Film Archive tonight at 7 pm. Gorgeous Technicolor, beautiful homes, and spooky Gene Tierney (in photo below) letting her crippled brother-in-law drown so she won't have to share him with husband Cornel Wilde. And that's just the half of it. Did Glenn Close study this movie before making "Fatal Attraction"? Like the dialogue says, there's only one thing wrong with Ellen -- she just loves too much. The Archive's Joseph Losey series starts on Saturday.

And speaking of demented classic noirs, "Gun Crazy" plays the Brattle Saturday morning as part of the "Elements of Cinema" series, and I do believe my Pulitzer-winning colleague Mark Feeney will be on hand to dissect the film in his usual calm but freakishly lucid manner.

Filed under: Animation, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Family Films, Movie Marketing

Quick! Who played the title role in WALL-E? If you answered "Ben Burtt," chances are you're either a hard-core geek or someone who stayed for the credits and thought, "Who the heck is Ben Burtt?" Burtt, well known to Star Wars and Spielberg fans for his superb work as a sound designer -- he's won two Oscars and received two Special Achievement Awards from the Academy -- picked up his first credit as an actor for providing WALL-E with a voice. And he drives home the point that cartoons, or "animated films" if you prefer, don't need celebrity voices anymore.

Once upon a time, Robin Williams agreed to voice the part of Genie in Disney's Aladdin. Disney decided to capitalize on his stardom and advertised his supporting role heavily, probably the first time a celebrity voice was used to sell an animated film. Aladdin became the biggest hit of the year. This was the tipping point. Millions of adults, notably those without children who hadn't been convinced by the previous year's Beauty and the Beast, decided that cartoons were not just for kids anymore.

The rest is history. Celebrity voices became the norm, and if one celebrity helped bring in the box office bucks, three or five or seven must be even better, and voice casts soon became filled with celebs both major and minor. Celebs had another advantage: they could give interviews and go on talk shows to promote the movie. Inevitably they'd say, "I wanted to do something my kids could see."

Continue reading Fan Rant: Cartoons Don't Need Celebrity Voices Anymore

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Filed under: Deals, Celebrities and Controversy

You remember that Jan De Bont flick John Cusack signed on for ages ago? The one that was going to give us a 51-minute chase scene? It was appropriately named Stopping Power, and it had so much flipping power that it stopped its own production back in October. Co-star Melissa George then swore it was still in the works, but that never went anywhere, and now Cusack is pissed. TMZ reports that he's filed a lawsuit against Intermedia Film Equities USA (you can see the documents on the site).

According to the actor, the company convinced him to star in the ill-fated film, guaranteed that he would be paid $4.5 million, even if the movie didn't get made, and finally, that all of his expenses would be paid, which includes $50k to cover the cost of having his staff on location. Cusack's lawyer, Marty Singer, says that John got his butt to Germany, started production, and then was told that the company couldn't afford the guarantee. So, they're claiming the company fraudulently made these promises, and then wanted to renegotiate for a lower amount after ensnaring him. Johnny is looking for $5,600,000 plus punitives.

Will John win? Or, will Film Equities have the final stopping power?

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Filed under: Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Celebrities and Controversy, Fan Rant

With his notoriously prickly behavior and a streak of lowbrow, artistically bankrupt movies, Eddie Murphy isn't exactly the most beloved man in Hollywood these days. And you know what doesn't help? Not showing up to the premiere of your own damn movie.

Meet Dave, in which Murphy plays the tiny alien captain of a human-sized, Murphy-shaped spaceship, had its gala opening in Hollywood on Tuesday, and Murphy was a no-show. That's right: Murphy, who plays two characters, whose face is plastered everywhere, who is the single reason anyone would want to see the movie, didn't attend his own premiere.

One of the producers told the press that it's because he was busy shooting his next film, A Thousand Words. The only problem with that explanation is that A Thousand Words is being directed by Brian Robbins ... and Brian Robbins spent Tuesday evening at -- you guessed it -- the Meet Dave premiere. (He directed it, too.) Don't you hate when your alibi was at the same place you were supposed to be?

Maybe Murphy was off doing some extra credit homework on A Thousand Words, without the director. Or maybe that producer got it mixed up and Murphy was working on something else equally important.

Or maybe the simplest explanation is the correct one: Maybe he's an inconsiderate jerk.

Continue reading Fan Rant: Apparently Not Even Eddie Murphy Can Sit Through 'Meet Dave'

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Filed under: Action, Deals, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

Ultimately, this news probably comes as a surprise to no one -- but it certainly brings joy to many. Nikki Finke is reporting that Jon Favreau and Marvel have come to a deal, that he's signed for Iron Man 2, and that it's still on track for a 2010 release. It's still unofficial at this point, but given the enormous kerfluffle that arose at the very idea that he wasn't, I'd say Finke is probably spot on. (CHUD's Devin Faraci agrees, as he suspects Finke is a secret Marvel spokesperson.)

And speaking of kerfluffle, it's amazing how much Internet bile has been spewed as a result of the negotiations. Finke threw a choice epithet Favreau's way for rushing to the Internet to "rile up the movie's many fans" when Marvel didn't make an offer fast enough. Now, I realize we're all on the outside looking in, but everyone thought Marvel was dragging their feet when it came to the director. I wouldn't accuse Favreau of whipping fanboys and girls into a frenzy. His MySpace post on the subject was calm and matter-of-fact -- we aren't talking Kanye West level of hysteria here. He remained professional, and didn't descend into name-calling. Way to rise above the fray, Ms. Finke.
(And to add to the drama, IESB is angrily pointing out that they had this story weeks ago, straight from the mouth of Favreau at the Hellboy II premiere.)

Can't we all just get along, applaud the news, and ponder where the sequel will go? I want to do that. That's way more fun. Let's save the anguish for wondering if they're really going to have Iron Man 2 done by 2010, and if so, whether or not it will feel like a rushed mess?

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Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Fan Rant

After rumors bubbled up about a possible end to Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan, her rep told People: "the production of all three films is moving forward with Rose to star." I'd question that since all the double R seems to be doing lately is acquiring projects that don't seem to go anywhere. Yes, there's a chance that they might be on hold while he films Shorts, but that production is where the new hub-ub is coming from (via Defamer).

I highly doubt there's any truth to the matter, but it's worth a glance into the rumor that Rodriguez is now canoodling his new young star, Kat Dennings. She's the girl who got her start on Sex and the City as the "f**king fabulous" rich girl having a bat mitzvah, and has since got a stepdad in a 40-year-old Virgin, and impressed audiences with her time with Charlie Bartlett.

Continue reading Fan Rant: Robert Rodriguez, McGowan, Dennings, and Gossip

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Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy

That wiley tax evader otherwise known as Wesley Snipes will get a few last hurrahs!

You might have heard the actor was pushing to be allowed to leave the country so that he could complete work on a few different features. E!Online/Yahoo recently reported that the guy is getting his wish. A federal judge approved Snipes' request, and the actor will be allowed to go to London this month to finish post-work on the horror flick Gallowwalker, and then he'll hit Bangkok in September to shoot Chasing the Dragon. (Any bets on whether the chase will turn on him if they try to bring him back?) Not surprisingly, prosecutors weren't too happy to hear that the actor was given permission with an open-ended return date.

Talk about luck. The guy might have been sentenced to three years in prison this April, but now he gets to travel the world while his lawyers appeal. Do you think he'll ever get put behind bars?

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Filed under: RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking

Citing an unnamed source -- you know, one of those reliable anonymous types -- Showbiz Spy is reporting that Michelle Williams plans to make a movie about her late ex, Heath Ledger, in order to provide a record of him for the former couple's toddler, Matilda. No details have been released yet, which leaves a lot of questions up in the air. Is it going to be a straightforward documentary? A biopic? Some mixture of both? If this source is to be trusted, it seems unlikely that Williams simply wants to assemble family footage to screen privately for her daughter when she gets older. A Ledger film made for general audiences would probably reveal his unrealized career intentions and help solidify his posthumous James Dean-like reputation, but it's hard to say what approach Williams would want to take, since we don't even know what role she'll have in the production (producer? director? consultant?).

Based on the skimpy information provided by Showbiz Spy, Williams' idea sounds somewhat similar to a recent documentary project that's been riding the festival to great acclaim in recent months: Kurt Kuenne's devastating Dear Zachary: A Letter to his Son About His Father, which begins with the documentarian planning to collect the memories of his murdered friend for the departed man's young child (the story takes a shocking turn after the first hour or so). Whatever the final product, surely Williams wants to avoid letting E! True Hollywood Story have the final say on Ledger's myth. Who can blame her?

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