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July 10th, 2007
Perhaps you missed this bit of amazement. But last week toward the end of Wimbledon, several alarming things happened, a few of them during the same match. The second ladies semi-final featured Justine Henin, the number one player in the world, against Marion Bartoli, a 22-year-old Frenchwoman who was seeded 18th and had never advanced to the second week of a grand slam event.
Henin had been coasting through the tournament and was widely expected to reach the final, having overcome, in the quarterfinals, a hampered Serena Williams (bum wrist = weak slice backhand). And coast she did. Henin won the first set easily, and she was also ahead in the second, playing confidently and intimidating her opponent with the variety of her shot-making and the size of her reputation.
Then according to Bartoli, the magic happened: She looked up into the grandstands on Centre Court and saw him. "I was focusing on Pierce Brosnan because he is so beautiful. I was just watching him. He was the only one - I said to myself, it's not possible I play so badly in front of him." From there, she turned the match around. The action on her groundstrokes didn't simply bewilder Henin, they shocked her off the court. The score of the final set was 6-1, and Bartoli, who's fitter than she looks (her father's wacko training regiment includes having her walk around with tennis balls taped to her heels), became a hero. Brosnan became something new for sports: an optical energy drink.
A wedding kept Brosnan from the final the following day, which is too bad since Bartoli was outplayed by Venus Williams. He sent Bartoli flowers as a sort of apology and congratulations. But as a gentleman he should consider planting himself at all her future matches.
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July 10th, 2007
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Celebrities and Controversy, The Weinstein Co., Michael Moore, Cinematical Indie Oh, boy. This is the best thing I've woken up to in a long time. For the first time in three years, Michael Moore appeared on CNN, ostensibly to talk about his film SICKO. Unfortunately for Blitzer, someone at CNN decided to precede Blitzer's interview with a little piece titled " SICKO Reality Check" by Dr. Sanjay Gupta (who is, I expect, now at the top of Moore's "People I Hate" list), which didn't exactly get things off on a good note. After Gupta's "analysis" of Moore's facts, somebody took the leash off Moore, who was on standby -- and then, as they say, the deluge. Poor Blitzer, he never stood a chance. Continue reading Michael Moore Smacks Wolf Blitzer Around on 'SICKO,' the War, and Why CNN Sucks Permalink | Email this | Comments
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July 10th, 2007
Despite fame and fortune, John Elway is ever so lonely. Runtime: 32 sec
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July 10th, 2007
Tussling women's hair, lifting skirts, and behaving generally annoying is all in a day's work for the wind. Runtime: 2 min 3 sec
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July 10th, 2007
Filed under: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Celebrities and Controversy, Family Films, Harry Potter, Remakes and Sequels  Over at Hollywood Elsewhere, there's been an interesting game of cat-and-mouse going on between Jeff Wells and Warner Brothers around Wells' early review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. A couple days ago, Wells posted a "somewhat negative" review, which is not, in and of itself, a shocking development. A rep from Warner Brothers delivered a smackdown from on high to Wells, slapping him with the dreaded "your invitation to the screening clearly stated NO REVIEWS before opening day blah blah blah take it down or you'll never see another WB press screening until you're too old and decrepit to write negative crap about films." Wells complied with WB's request and took the review down, but noted that the concept of an embargo was a little moot at that point anyhow, given that last Friday -- a full five days before the hotly anticipated Opening Day -- early reviews of the film were run by Variety's Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt, Time's Richard Corliss, Rolling Stone's Peter Travers, New York Magazine's David Edelstein and Patrick Z. McGavin on Emmanual Levy's site. But who's counting? Apparently Wells is, at least, because just seven hours later, his own review was back up, with Wells noting in the comments in response to a reader that, while the embargo had not been lifted, with all these other reviews already out (42 pre-release date reviews as of now on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 74% "fresh" rating), he didn't feel the need to comply with WB and "hold his water." Continue reading Early Harry Potter Reviews: Good, Bad or Indifferent? Permalink | Email this | Comments
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July 9th, 2007
Factoring in late-night screenings last Monday, "Transformers" had amassed $153 million by Sunday night, one of the best starts for a non-sequel property in recent memory. You know what that means, don't you? No, not sequels, although there'll assuredly be a "Transformers 2: Mission to Darfur" (if only). It means every toy you ever entertained squishy feelings of nostalgia for has now been green-lighted for production as of Monday morning. "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots"? It's doubtless on its way, with The Rock and Tony Jaa getting first look at the script. "Operation"? It'll be a torture-porn horror movie a la "Hostel". "Bratz"? Oh, wait, that one's opening in August.
This also means that Michael Bay has newfound respect in Hollywood, and I say that with the heaviest of hearts.
"Transformers" played on 7,600 screens in 4,011 theaters, and the doubling-up accounted for the film's high $16K per-theater-average. "Ratatouille" was in almost as many theaters but not on as many screens, so it's PTA was a comparatively lower $7,000. The rat-tale held up fairly well its second weekend out, with $29 million bringing the total gross over the $100 million mark, but it's looking to be less of a box-office monster than other Pixar movies. (Who cares? It's still great.)
"License to Wed"? $10 mill, about average for a bad Robin Williams comedy these days. "RV" made $16 million when it opened last year, but in a lot more theaters.
Two smaller entries to keep an eye on: "Rescue Dawn" (Werner Herzog directing Christian Bale) made a very strong $17K per theater at six houses, and creepy-kid chiller "Joshua," a Sundance hit, had an $8,000 PTA in the same number of venues. Both open in the Boston area this week ("Rescue" is terrific, and a lot of people like "Joshua," too, even if I'm not one of them.)
Here's the Box Office Mojo chart, and Leonard Klady's column.
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July 9th, 2007
(Note: This article comes from February 2002. I’m including it as part of my summer reruns, and crossing my fingers it doesn’t become timely.)
Finding inspiration
and motivation to write is hard enough on an average day, but ever since the
September 11th attacks and the chaos which has followed, I feel especially
useless.
As I am not a professional writer, there are no demands
or deadlines forcing me to stretch those muscles with any regularity. The
state of the world we
live in makes me sad, angry, and afraid. While those emotions may drive others
to create an expression of their feelings, I simply say to myself, "Why
should I bother? Movies don’t really matter."
How have you been dealing with the recent events and if you don’t mind, should
I bother? Thank you for taking the time.
–Russ
Screenwriting is a pretty trivial profession even on the most sun-dappled
days. In the context of human tragedy and international strife, it’s even harder
to justify the ninth revision of your hockey-playing chimpanzee comedy. (For
the record, there is already a hockey-playing
chimpanzee comedy.)
Much like every single person in North America, I went through the same stages
of bewilderment, frustration, grief and fear after the September attacks. But
after about a week, I got back on the saddle and started writing again.
Why? I think the answer is that I had to do something, and I’m better at writing
than anything else I’ve found. I’m a pretty good cook, and know my way around
a Macintosh in terms of graphic design, but pretty much the only hope I have
of keeping a roof over my head is to continue to write. I don’t always enjoy
it, and sometimes it makes me miserable. But in the sense that anyone truly
has a calling, this is probably mine.
Now, since I’m a screenwriter and not a psychologist or counsellor, I’m completely
unqualified to judge whether the sadness, anger and fear you’re feeling five
months after the attacks is healthy. Obviously, it’s unproductive in the most
literal sense, since you wish to be writing but find you can’t. So my advice
to you would be my advice to any friend in your situation: find somebody who
can help you out.
For what it’s worth, my friends and family who’ve sought help invariably say
they wasted months making up their minds to see someone. Once they finally
did, things improved much faster than they expected, and the world seemed much
less onerous.
As far as should you bother writing, I’d argue it’s absolutely worth the trouble.
Because while it’s true that some things did change on September 11th, 99.9%
of things are exactly the same as they were on September 10th. What did change
is your perception of them, and that’s a much easier problem to address.
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July 9th, 2007
Cookies are used to create stop motion animation in this tasty spot for Dare Foods. Runtime: 1 min
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July 8th, 2007
 At first I wasn’t exactly sure why it took four screenwriters to nail down the inspiring story of Jim Ellis, who started an inner city swimming program in the early 1970’s. Based on a true story, a sports theme, and in general, a formula picture. After some checking, sure enough, one of major criticisms of this film is that, well, quoted from Ellis himself, “Some of the liberties is the way that they portrayed it (the swimming program’s start)”. In other words, the main conflicts and/or story points in the film never took place. Now that explains a lot. Let me explain this, however: so what? (more…)
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July 8th, 2007
The Page Turner has a Patricia Highsmith-esque quality about it that makes what is a remarkably banal plot into a devious, delicious French thriller. Take the nature of the slight that results in the ensuing revenge story. A preteen girl, Melanie, fails a major musical examination when one of the judges, a professional pianist, signs an autograph in the middle of the girl’s session. The intrusion distracts the girl, making her lose her place, and ending her young career as a pianist.
Flash forward some eight years later. Melanie (Déborah François), now a young woman, takes an internship with a prestigious Parisian law firm. One of the lawyers is married to Ariane (Catherine Frot), the pianist who meet with a fan during Melanie’s audition. Melanie’s internship ends with the law firm, but she volunteers to watch the lawyer’s child while he is away and while Ariane prepares for a comeback concert. When Melanie gains Ariane’s trust and becomes her page turner, she holds Ariane’s career and life in her hands.
Gaining trust is one thing, but having Ariane believe in a love affair is another. The seduction is where Melanie’s truly conniving nature comes out and also where François truly shines. Her controlled meticulous performance gives the plot the measured suspense of the slow motion dropping of a guillotine.
The Page Tuner has the added bonus of being a mere 81 minutes in length, meaning the tangents, regressions and plot twists we’re so used to with Hollywood thrillers are absent. Though the film still doesn’t pack a punch to the gut like a Talented Mr. Ripley or Ripley’s Game, it does make me believe that Melanie has the quality to become a Tom Ripley.
I would love to see how she develops as a character beyond The Page Turner, though the likelihood of that happening is very small. Director Denis Dercourt proves with his calm, determined direction that he may have bigger fish to fry than making a sequel to his debut thriller. Regardless of if we see a second film, The Page Turner as a stand alone psychological thriller is worth delving into.
DVD Special Features:
- English and Spanish Subtitles
- Making of Featurette
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Daniel J. Stasiewski is the webmaster and editor of The Film Chair and Erie Film. He has an unhealthy obsession with movies and popular culture, for which his therapist suggested joining Blogcritics.
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