June 2010 posts
Road Trip Full of Misfits…The Yellow Handkerchief
William Hurt and Kristen Stewart in The Yellow Handkerchief
THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF (2008/ IN THEATERS — RE-RELEASE) I had meant to see this movie when it was originally released back in February 2010, but luckily it is turning up on a few screens again. To like this movie, it helps if you are a fan of William Hurt since he is at the center of the piece. It also helps if you like road movies—who doesn’t? This is a classic, featuring three misfits all rolling down the road towards New Orleans in an old blue convertible, the Louisiana bayou scenery running along. Hurt plays Bret, a loner, just out from serving six years in prison—the reasons and his background are revealed in flashbacks throughout the movie and through his own narrative later as we move toward the conclusion. His companions are Martine (well played by Kristen Stewart), a very familiar teen-age small town girl looking for love, or frankly, just for some attention, and Gordy (played by British actor Eddie Redmayne in a strong performance) who owns the car and is so awkward it is hard to look at him at times. The fourth main character of the film’s quartet is May (Maria Bello), Bret’s ex-wife/wife, lover and friend, shown primarily in flashback but whose role provides the glue for the film’s “plot” if that is a word that can be applied–because this really is a character study movie and a very good one at that. The set-up is so familiar and yet it works so well, thanks to uniformly strong and mostly quiet performances from all four actors. IMDB reports that the film was shot in Morgan City, LA and also in New Orleans. Cinematographer Chris Menges brings a lush, overgrown look to the scenery—complete with mold, old school buses and other real-life touches. Director Udayan Prasad (My Son the Fanatic) takes his time with the film as Bret’s back-story comes alive, all the while giving us glimpses into the lonely lives of Martine and Gordy. And don’t be put off by the ending…it may be somewhat contrived, but it feels just fine. Sorry…no date yet for DVD release.
Grade: B+
Great movie for those who love actors and acting. It’s wonderful to see William Hurt again showing his range—and I have to say, I love his voice—as usual, he gets this accent dead on. I am also a fan of Kristen Stewart, which I realize puts me in a small-ish crowd. I think she is seriously talented. And thank heavens that Maria Bello finally has a meaty role worthy of her “hard-worn” looks. Plus kudos to Redmayne for a spot-on performance (all despite his Eton-educated background).
BTW: Terry Gross interviewed William Hurt when this movie first appeared in the spring. The first 10 minutes offer some background on his prep for the movie. If you have the time (40 minutes), it’s worth listening to all of the interview, particularly if you, like me, are a big fan of this actor.
Intelligent Creatures and Mindless Monsters
The Taiji Dolphin Slaughter Begins Every September...
THE COVE (2009/DVD) Don’t miss this thrilling and horrific adventure (and 2010 Best Documentary Feature Oscar winner) about a hero for compassionate humans everywhere, TV’s “Flipper” dolphin trainer turned free-the-dolphins activist Richard “Ric” O’Barry, and his noble ongoing quest to expose and ultimately stop government-sanctioned dolphin drive hunting at the titular blood-soaked cove in a Taiji, Japan, national park where 23,000+ dolphins are brutally slaughtered annually.
Unless we stop it.
What drives O’Barry is guilt—feeling responsible for the Dolphinarium craze spawned by his work on “Flipper,” he’s spent the last thirty years working incessantly to free dolphins from captivity. What first disturbed him as a trainer was when he noticed that, when “Flipper” aired and O’Barry pulled his TV out to the dock to let the dolphins watch their work, the dolphins seemed to recognize themselves onscreen, squeaking and making a happy ruckus when they saw/heard themselves, leading the trainer to one conclusion: these creatures are far more intelligent and self aware than he’d previously thought. But what finally turned him into an activist was when one of his “Flipper” dolphins, Cathy, “commited suicide in [his] arms,” just closing her blowhole and choosing to not reopen it. O’Barry decided then that dolphins simply aren’t meant to be confined in pens—out on the open sea it’s common for a dolphin to travel 40 or more miles within a few hours. The close confinement, in conjunction with the crowd noise and loudspeakers of most modern dolphin pools, was simply too much stress for these creatures to bear. A changed man, O’Barry was arrested for attempting to free a dolphin from a sea pen near the island of Bimini later that week. Read more »
R.I.P. Dennis Hopper
ON LOCATION FROM TAOS, NM, JUNE 2, 2010. A beautiful summer day here in Taos welcomed the remains of Dennis Hopper along with many friends and family, some flying in from Los Angeles in the morning and other locals who have known him a long time. The memorial gathering was low-key and casual, the setting perfect; San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos, a world heritage church, is one of the most photographed churches in the U.S. Among the celebrities in attendance were Jack Nicholson, Val Kilmer, Dean Stockton and Peter Fonda. The memorial service was advertised as private, but a good number of reporters and photographers were present. Standing next to me were two British photogs from Splash News—their fabulous photos can be seen here.
Joseph Lynch
Also filming for Albuquerque’s Channel 4 News was Joseph Lynch who actually appeared with Hopper in one scene in Hoosiers—walking behind the bench during the first tense time-out of the big final game! He’s also in many of the crowd shots from the shoot in Indianapolis. I love Hoosiers and Turner Classic Movies was running it just last night (June 1). What better tribute to Dennis Hopper than to watch him on screen—a truly charismatic actor/director/artist and one we will remember forever. Farewell, Dennis; may you rest in peace in Taos.
P.S. Hopper first discovered Taos in 1969 when scouting for locations for Easy Rider. Many scenes from the film were shot in and around Taos; Hopper lived here for many years and kept a house in Ranchos. 
Just last year, he appeared in person to kick off the Taos Summer of Love at the Harwood Museum with “Hopper at the Harwood. LA to Taos: 40 Years of Friendship” featuring works by Larry Bell, Ron Cooper, Ronald Davis, Dennis Hopper, Ken Price and Robert Dean Stockwell. He visited the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, his residence in the wild days, just recently to say good-bye.
Wasted Weekend: Long Weekend, Short Post Edition
Sarah and Kimberly (at left; the Rest of the World, at right) are nothing if not “gals on the go.” They barely have time to honor each other via Luna bar and pick up a new pair of jeggings, let alone finish watching Center Stage for the tenth time. They are dancing as fast as they can! Wasted Weekend is a weekly discussion of the films they watched, half-watched, or turned off in disgust during the previous few days. We hope you still respect them after reading this.
Sarah: Welcome back from the holiday weekend, Kimberly! While honoring our nation’s veterans by sitting around and sweating mostly, I caught a couple of movies worth mentioning. First, I watched Fantastic Mr. Fox on DVD. So much fun! This adaptation is perfectly suited to Wes Anderson’s sensibilities. It’s quirky and smart, and so great to look at. You know I am a big fan of Pixar movies (not counting Cars. Boo, Cars!), but the insanely detailed stop-motion animation Anderson chose for this movie is a welcome respite from CGI. It gives the movie an old-school feel, but with really pretty digital clarity. It’s fun to listen for voice work by all of Anderson’s usual suspects, too. Again I say to you: Bill Murray, delightful in everything. I look forward to watching this movie many more times. What did you watch?
Bill Murray sleeping on the set of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Literally.
Kimberly: Sigh. I went to Sex and the City 2, OK? There, I said it. The healing begins now. What can I say about this that hasn’t already been said in some of the most hilariously angry (and yet, still dismissive) collection of reviews I’ve enjoyed since Gerard Butler released his last movie? Not being a fan of shallow, boring drama queens (ie, most women), I was never a big SATC watcher. But I felt sorry for fans of the show as this movie trudged on. No one should have to watch characters they have grown to love over the years do things as culturally insensitive as sing “I Am Woman” to a karaoke crowd in Abu Dhabi—thereby EMPOWERING ladies to dance/thrust in public, despite the glares of their male oppressors—and say things like, “He’s Lawrence of My Labia.” When the ladies gawked at and joked about women wearing burqas and rode around Abu Dhabi in four separate cars it struck me that there was an ugly, very conservative message buried not too deeply in the script that was a little too Hannity-esque for my liking.
Defeating centuries of female subjugation…with sass!
The only scene that didn’t ring false was between two characters who had a drunken bonding session about how hard motherhood is, and how much harder it would be without nannies. See how even that is offensive and gross? 146 minutes of that shit. In the front row, far right. In front of a bunch of men who hooted and gasped every time a baby or new outfit appeared on screen. They also got up to go to the bathroom like 100 times! So how did you spend the rest of your holiday weekend?
