#bethgrant

If you haven’t seen The Artist, you’re missing out. While some of the numerous awards it won may be tied to its veneration of old Hollywood, this could easily be your new favorite. Yes it’s in black-and-white, yes it’s silent and features artists you probably haven’t heard of, but this is no vanity project and neither is it artsy for art’s sake. This picture is a glowing example of the way limitations breed creativity. When it comes to its visuals, storyline, acting, and writing, it stuns.

Beginning in 1927, the story follows silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and his faithful dog Jack. George is on top of the world when suddenly, a new innovation in technology threatens his stardom: sound. As he struggles to adjust to a changing world, a young actress, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) rises through the Hollywood ranks.

I have tremendous admiration for this film. Not only because it’s gutsy to make a silent, black-and-white picture. I respect it for the clever way it shapes its story, how it takes what should be a handicap and makes it a strength. What better way to immerse you in the setting than to make a film that looks and feels authentic to the period?

Director Michel Hazanavicius (who also wrote the film) makes The Artist so much more than the sum of its parts. The picture’s intertitles (the cards that appear with the dialogue being spoken) are a great example. Modern cinematic techniques mean there are very few but what's happening is unmissable due to the performances, uses of music, zooms, the way the shots are framed. What percentage of conversation do experts say is non-verbal again? So it makes sense that you don't really need to hear or read the words said; you just need to see how it impacts the characters. This film is about the performances and the story, not the dialogue.

When we get intertitles, they're cleverly used. Think about any mystery novel. How often does the author deliberately leave information out to enhance the story? You’ll read something akin to “Through the ventilation grate, he heard a voice say ‘Your day has come now Johnny’ and then, a gunshot”. In a movie, that scene wouldn’t work. The killer's voice would give their identity away. In a silent picture, that kind of trick works. The Artist takes full advantage of its medium in a way other films wish they could.

Most importantly, this is a terrific comedy, a poignant drama, and a romance that makes you fall in love with the characters. The actors have so much charisma they don’t need to say anything. As soon as you see Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo together, you know there’s something special there. It may be in black-and-white but there’s a full color wheel of emotions to savor.

It’s a story that gets better upon repeat viewings. After the conclusion, you reconsider a slew of the other scenes before them, giving you a whole new insight into the characters. I remember working at the video store when The Artist was released on home video. I recommended it to everyone looking for a love story, a comedy, or something different. I remember my heart breaking when someone who couldn’t have been more than 10 years my senior said “it’s probably a movie my dad would like, but not me”. It breaks my heart even more, having just re-watched it. There’s not one element of The Artist that makes it for a niche audience. This is a universal film anyone can enjoy. (On Blu-ray, September 23, 2016)

Nicolas Cage has built a career out of occasionally interspersing his unique characterizations in random films with a sort of inverse approach involving an unchained Cage as the figurehead of a story so off the wall that only Cage could carry the weight of it.  That’s why it was no surprise that an immediate groundswell of buzz and anticipation occurred when Willy’s Wonderland was announced.  To the average movie-goer, any opportunity to witness a Cage-rage (as one of my coworkers refers to the Cage approach) is a welcome one, and seeing him beat down human-sized android puppets sounds too good to miss out on.  For those aware of Five Nights at Freddy’s, however, the film seemed like an attempt to steal the thunder from a film that will automatically have a built-in fanbase if (or more likely, when) the trigger is pulled on production and release.  That being said, Hulu came to the rescue and picked up the streaming rights to Willy’s Wonderland, meaning I had no excuse for not seeing this fever dream of a flick.

What we are looking at is a unique two-fisted cash grab attempt, and luckily, each fist contains the main elements worth talking about in this film, as honestly, there is not much going on here.  We’ll start with the elephant in the room before diving into the obvious realm : this is basically the Wish version of a Five Nights at Freddy’s film, with a healthy dose of R.L. Stine-inspired lore building tossed in to give the film a sense of purpose or narrative thrust.  First and foremost, there is BARELY a narrative arc to this film, and many of the story beats feel tacked on purely for the need of having the parts of the story that aren’t Willy’s-centered still feel like they’re moving forward.  With Five Nights at Freddy’s already being a dark take on the real-life Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese’s establishments that dot the nation, taking it one step deeper with Willy’s Wonderland gives the film’s creators a false sense of agency in terms of the need for backstory.  We are literally dropped into the proceedings with the barest bones of a flashback sequence before being asked to buy into no less that 4 sets of character stories, three of which consistently managing to bring the portions not involving the centerpiece of the show to a cringe-filled crawl.

Speaking of the centerpiece of the show, the other obvious attempt to bring curious viewers to Willy’s Wonderland is the lure of the most curious star in the Hollywood system : the enigma that is Nicolas Cage.  It’s no secret that Cage has built up an extremely varied career of roles that fall all over the highlight and lowlight spectrum, many of which appear to be blatant cash grabs to keep him financially in a head above water situation (allegedly, as I am not his accountant).  Willy’s Wonderland falls completely into the same realm for Cage of films like Jiu Jitsu, the upcoming The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Left Behind and so on, where the addition of Nicolas Cage is meant to lift the credibility of the content by association, and the anticipation of Cage going off the rails is implied by his connection.  With this in mind, I’ve got to give it to Cage for continuously being able to cash in on properties like this while still managing to maintain some version of star power, as trying to imagine the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Brendan Frasier, Johnny Knoxville or some other ridiculously outlandish casting immediately makes this film way less interesting.

From the outside looking in, it appears that the budget was mainly allocated to two realms : the animatronics and however much it cost to include Nicolas Cage in the cast.  The work on the animatronics is one of the few saving graces for Willy’s Wonderland, as each puppet has just enough of a unique look to have them stand out from one another.  The movement of each figure matches their personality, and the gore effects for each animatronic kill really give those highlight moments additional impact.  The visual look is otherwise a bit dry in terms of color timing... there is quite a bit of eye-catching fluorescents once we enter the Willy’s establishment, but everything in the film (including these sequences) are so washed out that it mutes the effect... my guess is that they were looking to capture a living and breathing comic book look, which is accomplished, but somewhat in odds with the tone of the film.  A nod must be given to the score and soundtrack creators for attempting to create a small bank of original jingles and in-world diegetic music rather than going for stock tunes. 

Giving Nicolas Cage top billing is an interesting choice... he gives you a textbook Cage performance full of odd choices, intense but hilarious stares and overconfident physicality, all without uttering one word (to my recollection).  Beth Grant gives her down-home, over the top best as a literal plug-in character meant to explain the existence of Liv Hawthorne (who we will get to).  David Sheftell, Ric Reitz and Chris Warner all bring in some much needed levity in the form of outrageous caricatures of standard horror character tropes.  Unfortunately, the thing that really drags the film down is the inclusion of the teenagers in the story : Emily Tosta is given very little purpose as Liv Hawthorne, as her character could have literally been one of what is implied to be scores of kids sacrificed to Willy’s Wonderland, while her counterparts (Kai Kadlec, Caylee Cowan, Christian Del Grosso, Jonathan Mercedes and Terayle Hill) are, ironically, nothing but sacrificial lambs, both symbolically in terms of the narrative and literally in terms of being characters.  Jiri Staneck, Jessica Graves, Taylor Towery, B.J. Guyer, Chris Schmidt Jr., Billy Bussey, Christopher Bradley and Duke Jackson must all be given props for their animatronic performances.

I remember one night, after band practice or a show, me and my usual group of film-loving friends sat down to hang out, and someone suggested that we watch Donnie Darko, the film they’d just rented.  Assuming it was some weird, silly teenage superhero movie, we threw it on.  About 2 hours later, we were all forever changed.  I thought that, due to it’s limited initial run and its cult status on DVD, I’d never get the chance to see Donnie Darko on the big screen, but when it comes to Alamo Drafthouse screenings, anything is possible.

Teenager Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), a young man with a history of anxiety and issues, is awakened by a mysterious voice one night.  Upon following the voice, he meets Frank (James Duval), a mysterious man in a disturbing rabbit outfit and mask who tells Donnie that the world will end soon... in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, to be exact.  Donnie immediately blacks out, and is woken up on a local golf course.  Upon returning home, Donnie is shocked to discover that a jet engine of unknown origin, according to his sister Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhall), crashed through the Darko roof, directly where Donnie would have been sleeping.  As Donnie attempts to move forward with this information, his visions become more vivid and disturbing, leading to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia by therapist Dr. Thurman (Katharine Ross).  As Donnie’s visions of Frank increase, he is given information that seemingly connects to his real life, including a discussion with Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff (Noah Wyle) about time travel and predetermination that almost crosses lines, a friendship with schoolmate Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone) that buds into a relationship, and encounters with motivational speaker Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze) that lead to news nobody could possibly prepare for.  As the countdown that Donnie was given approaches its end, the frequency, urgency and importance of events that take place pull Donnie and everyone around him into a paradoxical climax of circumstances and happenings that skew existence beyond normal understanding.

As mentioned in the opening, Donnie Darko holds court with films like Requiem for a Dream (or mother!, for that matter), Dancer in the Dark, and a handful of others as wholly immersive film experiences of the 2000s.  It is extremely hard to view Donnie Darko without some period of deep reflection or realization, sometimes one that lasts for days.  Despite having such a complex narrative, the outer framework of the film is completely engaging and accessible.  The 1980s period touches provided are subtle, but authentic, on both a visual and a soundtrack level.  Within that combination of complex narrative and period look are tons of easter eggs for viewers to find, some that will only be recognized or make sense upon repeat viewings, and many that you may not spot until providing time between viewings.

The circular nature of the narrative is extremely interesting... the combination of time travel and a countdown to the supposed ‘end of the world’ puts me in the mind of someone stuck in a time loop that resembles a prison, with certain actions having to take place in order to fulfill their role in the loop (the ‘traveling within God’s channel’ that Donnie speaks of).  With that in mind, the logical dilemma that is presented in the film’s closing moments is that much harder to piece together, as the characters now regret/reflect on a past that is technically an alternate version of their future.  You’re very much left to feel like Samantha trying to piece together where the jet engine came from, or who Donnie was talking to when she walked by the bathroom.  That deep path is also paralleled with the equally complex narratives of a love story between Donnie and Gretchen, and a coming of age story for the troubled Donnie as he goes through his own skewed version of the hero’s journey.

On a technical level, this film stands up to the immense writing and acting talent.  There are plenty of traditional camera set-ups, but for a few scenes, some expressive camerawork is employed : long tracking shots, speed ramps and rigs that raise or rotate the camera are all used to punctuate key moments.  Most of the special effects are subtle enough to feel real and blend into the world, with my only objection being the slightly cartoonish nature of Donnie’s chest spear morphing into a finger and beckoning him to follow.  The soundtrack on both the theatrical version and the Director’s cut fit quite well, a strange anomaly considering that drastically different song choices are made in a few scenes, and both choices tend to work well across the board.  As mentioned before, the film is set in the 1980s, and the pop culture references integrated into the film work quite well.  

The cast is deep, and the chemistry runs strong across the board between characters.  This was my true introduction to Jake Gyllenhaal, and his performance made me a fan for life (as well as putting Maggie on my radar, with her brief but charming appearance).  Mary McDonnell and her strain in trying to present a perfect household balances well against Holmes Osborne and his laissez faire attitude.  Katharine Ross brings genuine concern with her role, and plays with fire once or twice via hypnosis.  James Duval gives a hauntingly still performance as Frank, making his human reveal that much more heartbreaking.  Jena Malone is stellar as usual, with that trademark smirk she carries around like she knows secrets we have no clue of.  Drew Barrymore and Noah Wyle turn in memorable performances as beacons of hope in a bleak situation.  Patrick Swayze provides a character with a tremendous fall from grace, giving us the stuff we love with a depth that crushes in one of his final performances.  This cast, in all honesty, is DEEP, but performances by Beth Grant, Jolene Purdy, Patience Cleveland, Alex Greenwald, Seth Rogen and more keep this world rich and engaging. 

The Mayfair Witches Conjures a New Premiere Date

Just as AMC’s Interview with the Vampire has enjoyed a strong viewership and fanbase, the network is also adapting another of the late Anne Rice’s works. The Mayfair Witches is coming right as 2023 begins, and now AMC’s pushed the show’s premiere back a few days. Read more…