Movie – Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

As I promised in my last post, here is my review of Joss Whedon’s film Much Ado About Nothing.  (And if you like movies at all but haven’t seen my last post you should really check it out.)  I’ve done reviews of most everything Whedon has had a hand in, so if you want to reference those you can find my parent post for them here.

Back in late 2011 or early 2012 there was a surprise announcement that Joss Whedon had adapted and already completed filming Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing – all while in the midst of post-production on the biggest film in Hollywood: The Avengers (2012). Reactions ran the gamut from “are you serious?” to “that’s Joss Whedon”.  The film was held back for a while, making its debut at some festivals, and was finally released to the public in the summer of 2013.  Despite his success with The Avengers, movie theaters wanted nothing to do with a Shakespeare adaptation that had no big name stars in it.  It played the arthouse circuit then was released to DVD/BD where I finally got a chance to see it.  I enjoyed myself.  I had also seen the 1993 Branagh version way back in the day and comparisons between the two are impossible to ignore.  I will include some of those thoughts in this review.

Video – A Very Impressive Performance of Famous Movie Themes and Re-creations of Images from the Films by the Ohio State Marching Band

I was going to be posting my review of the Joss Whedon film Much Ado About Nothing today, but I ran across this video and it’s just too good not to share with folks who like movies.  I will review Whedon’s film in my next post.

In this video the Ohio State marching band performs the themes of, and re-creates images from, both old and new Superman, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and The Pirates of the Caribbean – and all in less than nine minutes.

For those folks unfamiliar with American college football here are a few things you should know to understand why this performance is happening:

1. Like soccer (football to you) there is a halftime break for the athletes.
2. For college football that halftime usually includes performances by the marching bands from the two colleges that are competing.
3. Marching bands are orchestras composed of horns, woodwinds, drums, cymbals – basically all the instruments you do not sit down to play – and they are conducted by someone standing on the sideline on a platform so that he/she can see and be seen.
4. These halftime shows for the larger colleges are basically major competitions between the marching bands for bragging rights.
5. Ohio State’s main rival is Michigan and you see the two colleges’ banners during the Pirates of the Caribbean re-creation.

Enjoy.

Video – Two Videos of the Castle Cast at the Paley Center

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.

The first video is a twelve minute clip from the longer March 9, 2012 session.  It concerns the instant classic film noir episode The Blue Butterfly from Season 4.  They have the cast talk about it then recreate some of the lines in the accents they used in the show.

The second video is the entire one hour session that was just held September 30, 2013.  Please note that the first episode of Season 6, and by extension the cliffhanger from the end of Season 5, are discussed in this video, so if you have not seen them then this will contain spoilers.  This was captured from a web stream so the video is pretty choppy in places.  The audio is fine through the entire thing, though.

Book – Storm Front

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.

This is the sixth novel to be published under the author’s name of Richard Castle – the fictional character on the TV show Castle.  When the show opened Richard Castle was the popular author of a series of thrillers that all had the main character of Derrick Storm.  He was just publishing his final Storm book, though.  He had killed off the character since he was bored with him.  He soon got an inspiration for a new character of Nikki Heat, an NYPD detective based on the Detective Beckett character he was working with on the TV show.  During the course of the show we have seen the Castle character write five Nikki Heat novels. 

This fall a new Derrick Storm book was also published.  It is not a graphic novel “adaptation” like the ones done for the first three non-existent Derrick Storm novels.  This is a new story that picks up four years after Richard Castle killed off the character.  The first thing he’s got to do is explain how Storm is still alive.  It turns out that the CIA faked his death because things were just too hot for Storm and he needed to lie low for a long time.  He’s now been tapped to once again help the CIA because there has been a reappearance of Storm’s old adversary Gregor Volkov.

Book – Richard Castle’s A Calm Before Storm

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here. 

To date there have been six novels published under the author’s name of Richard Castle – the fictional character on the TV show Castle.  When the show opened Richard Castle was the popular author of a series of thrillers that all had the main character of Derrick Storm.  During the course of the show we have seen the Castle character write the five Nikki Heat novels, which are based on the Detective Beckett character, and a new Derrick Storm novel.  What about all those old Derrick Storm novels that are supposed to already exist?  The people involved with the show decided to do “adaptations” of these books in the graphic novel format.

Book – Deadly Heat

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.

Deadly Heat is the fifth book by “Richard Castle”, the fictional writer on the TV show Castle.  The actual author of these books is speculated to be one of the real authors who have appeared on the show (i.e. Michael Connelly, James Patterson) or one of the show’s creators (i.e. Andrew Marlowe).  Like the first four books, this one has events or plot points similar to things that have happened on the Castle TV show in the prior season.  This book addresses the revelations and open plotlines from the fourth book.

TV – Castle Season 5

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.  In the coming days I will post reviews of the three newest books.

Note 2: There are spoilers for Season 4 in this post, especially the final episode of that season since it directly relates to the events of Season 5.

This season picks up the morning after Season 4 ended.  Beckett had finally admitted her desire for Castle and had shown up at his apartment.  As the season opens Castle wakes up alone in bed.  Was it all a dream?  Nope.  Beckett comes in with a couple cups of coffee.  Castle quizzes her.  Does she regret it?  Was it a one time thing caused by the trauma of almost dying and then quitting the police force?  Nope and nope. 

Movie – Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins is the well known live action Disney film that stars Julie Andrews.  It was not only the biggest box office hit of the year when it was released, but it was nominated for an astounding 13 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.  Only the films All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997) ever received more – both with 14.  Mary Poppins won five Oscars, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews in her big screen debut.  She was only the second woman to achieve this (after Shirley Booth for 1952’s Come Back, Little Sheba.)  So what made this film so popular with both audiences and filmmakers?  For the former it was simple: this is a heartwarming family film that presents a happy message for kids.  For the latter it can be summed up in two words: Julie Andrews.

Movie – The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982)

If you have never heard of this film before today, I can completely understand.  I never heard of it myself before it was added to the most recent edition of the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.  It is from writer/director Peter Greenaway (The Pillow Book, Drowning by Numbers) and might be the most normal of the four films of his that I have seen.  Of course, “normal” is a relative term.  For instance, this film has a naked man who is some sort of moving statue that most people cannot see.  He might represent the Green Man from Anglo mythology.  And if you have a penis aversion (would that be “phallophobia”?) then you should know that you see everything.  This is just a small touch of Greenaway’s typical strangeness, though.  The main part of the film involves a slow realization that what we think is going on may be completely wrong.  And it all involves a murder.

Movie – The Exterminating Angel (1962)

Writer/director Luis Bunuel’s film The Exterminating Angel (not to be confused with the 2006 film The Exterminating Angels which actually has angels in it) has a title that really doesn’t have much to do with the movie.  That has not stopped people from generating wild theories on what it really means.  The simple answer is that Bunuel had a colleague who was going to write a play with that name and Bunuel liked the title because he felt people would see “The Exterminating Angel” on a sign and buy a ticket.  It was all about commercial success, not artistic pretensions.  That’s not to say that this film doesn’t contain any number of patented Bunuel surreal moments, like a bear and some sheep being kept inside the house in which the film takes place.  I liked this film, but it will not be for everybody.  I will explain.

Movie – The Great White Silence (1924)

One of the things that older movies do is give us a window into the past.  Sure, we may not think of that while we are watching them, but on some level we appreciate them because they have forever captured something that no longer exists.  It may be the youth and vitality of a performer, how the social mores of the time impacted the stories, or in the case of the documentary The Great White Silence, the real life 1911-1912 Robert Scott expedition to attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.  While watching this it was impossible for me not to marvel over the fact that I was seeing things that happened more than 100 years ago on Antarctica.  Combine that with an absolutely pristine restoration and I enjoyed this film quite a bit.

Movie – The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

I first became aware of the film The Adventures of Prince Achmed after I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on DVD in 2011.  One of the best parts of the latter film was a three minute long animated sequence that tells the tale of three brothers who encountered Death, and the three items (the Hallows) that they received from him.  The style of the animation was quite unique to me and I looked into it some after I had watched the film.  Even though it was done via cgi, I learned that the silhouette style of it was heavily inspired by the oldest surviving full length animated film – the aforementioned Prince Achmed.  I made a mental note to track it down sometime, but when the latest edition of the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die included The Adventures of Prince Achmed I bumped it up to the top.  I’m very happy that I watched the film.  It’s far more than just a historical curiosity; it actually manages to convey emotions and to generate a feeling of adventure, peril, and wonder in the viewer.

Movie – F for Fake (1973)

Orson Welles made many different kinds of films over his career.  Citizen Kane (1941) is the acknowledged best of the bunch.  After that opinions differ, but Touch of Evil (1958) is probably the one I see most often mentioned next.  I would agree with those two rankings.  After seeing F for Fake, though, I have to say that I would put it very close to, and possibly even with, Touch of Evil in terms of how good it is.  It’s a puzzle box of a movie that may or may not be a documentary, may or may not be Welles stroking his ego, and may or may not be Welles having a tremendous joke on everyone.  I feel it’s quite possibly all three.

Movie – Toy Story 2 (1999)

The tale of how Toy Story 2 came to be is a curious one.  It was only the third film to come from Pixar – Toy Story (1995) and A Bug’s Life (1998) being the first two – and they were already doing a sequel?  What happened is this little animation company got taught a lesson in real life business from the massive Disney Studios.  Pixar had signed a deal with Disney to produce five animated films.  After the success of the original Toy Story, Disney started prepping a cheap, knockoff, direct to video sequel of it.  This horrified Pixar, who offered to do the sequel themselves.  They also figured it would get them one film closer to not having to deal with Disney anymore.  After they released Toy Story 2 Disney said “not so fast, the deal calls for five original films; sequels don’t count.”  This meant that Pixar had to not only get back to Monsters, Inc., which they had set aside to work on Toy Story 2, but they also had to deliver Finding Nemo and The Incredibles to Disney.  After that Disney just bought Pixar outright.

The amazing thing is that despite all of this Toy Story 2 is a fantastic film.  In fact, I considered it the best film that Pixar had ever done until Toy Story 3 eclipsed it eleven years later. 

Three Common Plot Points That Are Just Plain Wrong

There are any number of clichéd plot points that we’ve seen over and over in movies and TV episodes.  Maybe it’s the person who gets shot, sits up, and always rips open their shirt to show the viewer that they have a bullet-proof vest on – who does that in real life?  Maybe it’s the criminal who takes One Last Job or the cop who is One Week from Retirement – either way we know it’s not going to turn out well.  Maybe it’s the random object or person that shows up early on for no reason and then plays a critical role during the climax.

While all of these have been done to death, they are not wrong.  (Note: by “wrong” I mean factually, not morally or ethically.)  Bulletproof vests do stop some kinds of bullets.  Sometimes big cases do come up just as a cop is going to retire.  No, what I mean are plot points that have appeared tons of times, but every time they do they are flat out wrong, and it requires them to be wrong for the plot point to work.

I will count these down to the most common, most incorrect plot point.  Here they are:

September Movie Status

I saw 41 new movies in the month of September, plus 2 TV show seasons, plus 2 shorts, plus 2 re-watches.  The majority of those were for the 1,001 Movies list, which just got 49 more films added to it this month.  I had seen 21, so that left 28 to watch to once again complete the list.  I did that.  I also ranked all 49 additions in this post.

I only saw one Oscar Best Picture nominee.  That was Hold Back the Dawn (1941).  I had never been able to locate it, but Adolytsi of Adol’s CinematoBlogoWebboScreed tracked down a copy for me.  Big thanks to him for this.

Here are the 44 new movies, shorts, and TV show seasons I saw in September.  Highlighted movies are ones to which I would give at least three stars out of five.  I will single out the four and five star films, as well as the worst films, in the paragraphs below the lists.

1,001 Movies (28): Diva (1981), The Eagle (1925), The Devils (1971), Limite (1931), The Goddess (1934), Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979), Some Came Running (1958), The Consequences of Love (2004), The Exterminating Angel (1962), The Exiles (1961), The Great White Silence (1924), Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), Peter Ibbetson (1935), Fireworks (1997), F for Fake (1973), Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), The Hired Hand (1971), A Throw of Dice (1929), Moolaade (2004), Elephant (2003), Osama (2003), Sleeping Dogs (1977), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Wake in Fright (1971), Summer with Monika (1953)

Oscar Nominees (1): Hold Back the Dawn (1941)

Other Movies (14): Now You See Me (2013), Oblivion (2013), The Wolverine (2013), Elysium (2013), The World’s End (2013), Sound of My Voice (2011), Delicacy (2011), An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Lotte Reineger: Homage to the Inventor of the Silhouette Film (2001), The Secret of the Marquise (1922) - short, Design for Living (1933), Full Circle (2008) – short, Castaway on the Moon (2009), Chasing Ice (2012)

Re-watches (2): The Man from Earth (2007), Iron Man 3 (2013)

TV Series (2):  The Big Bang Theory Season 6, The Big Bang Theory Season 1 (re-watch)

I had no five star movies in September.  Here are the four star films I saw:

The Great White Silence (1924) – Quite possible the single clearest and cleanest silent film I have ever seen.  And to think that the footage was shot in 1911 and 1912 in Antarctica.  This was a very good addition to the list.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) – Another great addition to the list as this is the oldest surviving animated film.  It’s not just a curiosity, though, but a movie that gives a sense of adventure, peril, and triumph.

F for Fake (1973) – Another “why wasn’t this on the list in the first place” addition to the 1,001 Movies.  I really liked the whole question of how much, if anything, we are seeing is real.  It was meta before anyone had coined the term.

Now You See Me (2013) – This is a heist film and I like that genre.  It also has several good questions on just who is working with whom.  I was able to figure out who was behind it all, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment.  This was a fun movie.

Delicacy (2011) – Audrey Tautou shines as a woman whose perfect husband dies, so she throws herself into her work for three years.  Suddenly she inexplicably starts to romance not only a subordinate, but a man who is at best only average looking.  All the people around her wonder what is going on with her.  The man is featured almost as much and he imbues his character with a full three dimensions, too.

Castaway on the Moon (2009) – A little bit Castaway with Tom Hanks, a little bit Amelie, and quite charming throughout, this is the kind of film that will put a smile on your face (unless you are dead inside and don't like it when a movie makes you feel good.)  It’s not science fiction; it’s a light contemporary drama from South Korea.  While it has several funny moments in it I would not call it a comedy/drama.

And it wouldn’t be a real month of watching entries from the 1,001 Movies list without a one star film.  That is Limite (1931).  It’s both pretentious and boring.  It’s what Un Chien Andalou would be if it were two hours long instead of 30 minutes.  It’s the only film the director ever made.  After seeing this, I am NOT surprised.

Change of Plans for Today, and Change for This Website Going Forward

I was planning to do my first of several movie reviews of the 2013 additions to the 1,001 Movies list today.  Instead, I got blindsided by Amazon late last night.  Here is the key paragraph from an email I received from them:

“We're writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account will be closed and your Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Operating Agreement will be terminated effective October 6, 2013. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional Maine state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor LePage on June 5, 2013, with an effective date of October 9, 2013. As a result, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for customers referred to an Amazon Site after October 6, nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Maine residents.”

What Amazon is referring to is that Maine (the state I live in) passed a law requiring online retailers to collect sales tax if purchases are made by Maine residents.  (That’s much simplified, but it gets to the gist of it.)  Many years ago a federal law was passed that online retailers had to collect sales tax for those states where they had a physical presence, even if it was only a distribution center or a support center.  Amazon has no such presence in Maine.

Of course, they do not get to decide what is and is not constitutional.  That’s the job of the U.S. Supreme Court.  I’m sure that since this state law is related to interstate commerce, and since the Constitution says that interstate commerce is under the control of the federal government, not the states, that that is what Amazon will argue.  In the meantime, though, Amazon has apparently decided to exact retribution on the people who live in my state for the actions of the government – 99% of whom I didn’t vote into office.

I Completed the Entire 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List…Again

Hopefully you read that title in your head with Bill Murray’s delivery of “It’s Groundhog Day…again”.  If not, go back and try it now.  I’ll wait.

(dum dum de dum do dum do DUMMM do du-)

Oh hey, you’re back.  It’s better with that delivery, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’ve now seen the 49 films that the 2013 edition added to the 1,001 Movies list.  I had already seen 21 of them, which meant I had 28 to track down.  And since I had completed the entire list in July of this year, I just had to knock off these 28 new additions and I would once more be done with it.

Don’t worry; I’m not going to rehash everything I wrote back in July.  If you missed that post, though, you can read it here.

Instead, I am going to rank the 49 films that got added, and then over the coming days and weeks I’m going to review many of the ones I would recommend.  Some I have already reviewed since I either included them in other movie categories, or they were Oscar-nominated films.  Every year I do as many of the Oscar nominees as I would recommend between the time the nominations are announced and the time the awards are handed out. 

Hike – Skyline Trail, Benjies Lake Trail, and Bog Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia

View of Skyline Ridge from the Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia is a 185 mile driving loop that is famous for its views, especially the northern third that traverses Canada’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  For those people who are familiar with the Kancamagus Highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park in Maine, the Cabot Trail is a combination of the two – many curves, scenic turnouts, and fantastic views of both mountains and ocean.

Book – William Shakespeare’s Star Wars

In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) a Klingon Chancellor said, “You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.”  I’m going to paraphrase/parallel that and say that you have not experienced Star Wars until you have read the original Shakespearean version.  What’s that?  You didn’t realize Star Wars was originally written by Shakespeare?  Well, neither did I until I recently picked up this book – thoughtfully presented by Ian Doescher.  It has everything you would expect from Shakespeare and even some things, like Banthas and Jawas, that you might not.