How to Watch Movies (With Alexandre Desplat)

I'll be sharing a two part interview with the three time Oscar nominated composer Alexandre Desplat soon but I thought I'd give you this off topic teaser during this week of heavy awardage. It's a handy salve.

During our conversation, I broached the topic of Desplat's time on the Cannes jury this summer and I asked a rather awkward question about how he judged the films, implying that he has a different experience than the rest of us being regular ol' moviegoers, since he's part of the production process and constantly seeing movies in unfinished form.

"Well, I've been to the movies before," he began and we both laughed suddenly at the obviousness of it.  Of course!

He went on to tell me about his teenage cinephilia. He'd go to 5 to 10 movies a week before he started writing music. He dropped several wondrous names of filmmakers he "watched and chewed" (I love the phrasing!) from Kurosawa, Ozu, Monicelli, Scola, Coppola.

"So I arrive on a jury like Cannes with only one thing in mind: wanting to be surprised and watch with a very wide open mind because each cinema is different, because each director is a different person. And whether a film comes from Asia, Europe or America, all these cultures have something different to offer. I look at the film like a child with an educated brain. I try to be surprised and happy and enjoy the moment. That's the only way to do it I think."

But he added one more perfect thing.

"And also: watch movies with benevolence. When you're a young man or a young woman -- 18 to 25 -- your judgments are always a bit tougher. You learn through the years how difficult it is to make a movie not only on the artistical level, it's a difficult task in every way. Watch movies with more respect and benevolence."

Beautifully stated don't you think? And a damn good reminder during awards season when opinions can get so heated and the politics of it all can sometimes overshadow our deep love of movies.  Let's all watch movies like children with educated brains, with respect and benevolence. Let's be ready to be surprised and happy. Let's enjoy the moment.
*
*
*

Which movie...

...most reminds you of a happy night in your life? (It doesn't even have to be a happy movie to do so.)

Old Fashioned Marquee

I never actually see them changing one, so this was a welcome sight. So much better than digital marquees where someone's just typing on a computer.

Typing on a computer is so mundane. I'm totally going to start handwriting The Film Experience! Why should posts take a few hours to write when they could take whole days?

MM@M: No Bad Seats

Mad Men @ The Movies discusses the cinematic references in television's best series.

Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) and Don (Jon Hamm) succumb to exhaustion.
Four seasons of great acting will knock the wind right out of you.

Episode 4.7 "The Suitcase"
This week's episode was a well timed Peggy & Don duet. The historic backdrop was the infamous boxing match between Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay (Clay had already changed his name to Muhammad Ali but not everyone had acclimated to the switch. Interesting that Don in particular shows resistance to it given his own name change/reinvention). Given that context and the episode's actual content it might be more appropriate to call "The Suitcase" a well timed Peggy & Don brawl. By the end of the episode they'd put each other through ten rounds, with an actual brawl (albeit with Peggy watching rather than throwing punches). We'll call it a draw. Shockingly, they both had a good cry before the hour was out, and seemed both more vulnerable to the viewing audience and to each other; it was a brutal episode but it wound down with surprising tenderness. The two characters have so often been used as imperfect parallels and generational / gender distorted reflections of each other that moments where they come head to head like this are nearly always memorable. And a whole episode of it? I can't help but say it: "The Suitcase" was a knockout.

But, for our purposes at MM@M, it was a rare episode without any movie star / movie name dropping. The closest we came was a James Bond reference and the opening shot/scene when Harry Crane (Rich Sommer) passes out tickets to see the big match... on the big screen.

Ken: Where are these exactly?
Harry: It's a movie theater -- no bad seats.

Those seats costs $15 which is quite a hefty price tag in 1965 (the hookers a few episodes ago cost $25). The SCDP team is seeing the match broadcast live at Loew's Capitol Theater in Times Square. The legendary theater once housed world premieres like Doctor Zhivago in 1965. After the last engagement in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the theater was demolished. Sadly movie theaters like that don't exist anywhere these days, really. It had over 5000 seats and a 25' by 60' screen.

As for Harry's assertion that movie theaters have no bad seats... do you agree? I'd beg to differ as I hate the front row. I'm a middle/middle man, though lately I've taken a liking to aisle/middle/right. But anything's fine really so long as it's not the front row!
*

Fall Films: Harry Potter, Anne Hathaway and More

A movie tagline from Warner Bros...


Do you promise? Because I am so ready for that particular franchise to wrap up. I didn't say nice things about the Deathly Hallows in my FALL FILM PREVIEW over at Towleroad because the corporate greed has left a bad taste in my mouth. Movie tickets are like $13ish now in NYC but 3D is like $18ish so instead of people paying $13 to see the Potter finale they're going to have to pay $36. No way does that book need 5 hours to tell itself. That's like when TV series end their seasons with those bloated 2 hour finales and it's totally obvious that they're only used to dreaming up 1 hour of drama. Prepare for FILLER at high prices.

"Movies are as addictive as dope, but they are far less injurious to health and they ought not to be as expensive."
-Quentin Crisp

Anyway, that's just a small part of the article so go read it.

Which film are you most looking forward to in the next three months? I'm getting more excited about David Fincher's The Social Network which I understand would be a classy answer to the question. I like nearly all of his movies and l-o-v-e a few of them. I haven't read the rave reviews that have been making the rounds (I don't like to read reviews before watching movies) but I did think it was absurdly hilarious that Blurb Whore Peter Travers is suddenly acting like he's a tough-to-please Slant critic or something.

If it's the first film he's given 4 stars to this year, how does he explain all those 'Hallelujah i've seen the face of god in this masterpiece' type of quotes that are plastered all over 2010 movie posters just like they are every year?

This friend-of-a-friend style -"review" for Love and Other Drugs seems much less suspicious...


I don't necessarily think LaOD is going to be a great movie but it's probably the one I'm most looking forward to (prior to December that is. Black Swan is the ultimate "want now"!). That's entirely due to my twin devotion to Jack & Lureen Twist. I was watching The Devil Wears Prada again the other night (post forthcoming) and just stunned myself with how much I love looking at Anne Hathaway's face. I could watch her closeups in slo-mo for hours.

A loyal Film Experience reader who wishes to remain anonymous also saw a recent screening of LaOD and sent a few thoughts:

The movie is well above average in the world of romantic comedy, and rest assured, that's what it is. As you could clearly note from the trailer, it has all of the usual romcom trappings and succeeds primarily due to the strength of Jake & Anne's chemistry - which is ENORMOUS and immensely satisfying. I must admit, and then dodge anything you might throw my way, that I'm not a big fan of Rachel Getting Married, or Anne's performance in it. So, given that, I'd have to say that this is her best performance. It's really a perfect role for her, as it's mostly comedic (which is where she excels) with tinges of drama.

Jake pulls off the smarmy-but-charming almost George Clooney-esque character incredibly well, and his character's transformation as he becomes more involved with Anne is not necessarily written as well as it could have been, but he's great. And he ultimately sells one of the rather cliché romcom moments far better than anyone had any right to. It's really all about the two of them, so the supporting cast's screen time is quite limited, although Oliver Platt steals every scene he's in.

P.S. Jake & Anne spend like half the movie completely naked. This movie is sexxxxxxy

I ignored the heresy about not loving Anne in RGM. Wha...? We briefly talked Oscar. He thinks Anne is a real possibility but only if the movie itself gets good reviews but even though he loved it, he doubts that a movie that is essentially a romantic comedy will get much play.

Of course, there are a lot of factors involved in winning Oscar favor and the court of public opinion can be very persuasive for voters. I haven't seen the movie yet so I'm speaking generically about Oscar races. When movies are big hits, they often transcend feelings about their genre. And couldn't this be a big hit?

• Which fall film are you dying to see?
• Are you aching for a rom-com that isn't terrible? (There's been a famine)
• Do you mind parting with $36 to see the conclusion of Harry Potter?
• And I guess we should start discussing it. Do you see a bright Oscar future for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (either part)?
  

*

What was the last movie...

...you saw with your best friend? (Do you go together often or are you the sole movie freak in the relationship?)
*

MM@M: Deneuve & Godzilla Gamera, Cinema Giants

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

David's Birthday

Just got back from a decent Italian flick David's Birthday which is playing at NewFest. My friend thought the title made it appropriate for my special day though the movie birthday in question wasn't exactly, um, celebratory once it rolled around at the end. But it's the thought that counts.

We liked the film's attention to a weird amount of ensemble character detail considering it kept threatening to become a one and a ½ man show in the Death in Venice mode. The plot, such as it is, concerns a married Italian man Matteo (Massimo Poggio) on vacation with his wife, played by the always welcome Maria de Medeiros -- I just love her movie face -- from Henry & June and Pulp Fiction, and another couple. Matteo becomes obsessed with his friend's 18 year old son David (Thyago Alves), an underwear model from New York. It's really not as tawdry as it sounds! Most of the good stuff in the film is in the oddly realistic wandering mundane conversations between spouses and friend's spouses. I loved one tense heart-to-heart between Matteo and Francesca that never self identified as such. Instead, the conversation disguised itself as a simple list of home decorating plans. People do like to distract themselves from the heavy stuff.

Like I Am Love, another new (and much greater) Italian film about a sexual awakening, it goes from being electrified by sensuality to being punishing about sex. Movies can be so puritanical.

What movie did you see this weekend? At home or the theater?

Numbers Numbers Numbers

I can't quite share the box office obsession that most of the web indulges in. What's on any given screen is way more interesting than how many people are staring at it. But sometimes it's fun to see the info, especially a whole bunch of it at once.

Anyway. This infographic had so many details, I thought I'd share...


Via: Online MBA

I used to love the sidebars in Premiere and Entertainment Weekly that covered things like this back when they made things called magazines on something called... what's that word again... paper!

The number I find most depressing* here is the number of screens versus the number of theaters. I'd do anything to have the giant screens back. Mr. Theater Owners, Tear Down Those Walls! Bring the big screens back. The constant inflation of ticket prices is bad enough, so the screens need to be worth it. Notice in that chart how cheap it is to see movies and then compare that to other entertainments. Done? Now, notice how much more likely people are to indulge in the cheaper entertainment. This is surely why so many people actually have television as their only form of entertainment. Very cheap. It is possible to price yourself out of relevancy. Broadway did that long ago. Must the movies be next?

* I amend: The 'Michael Bay as Hollywood's top earner' factoid takes that prize.

Monty the Cat & Toothless the Dragon

My baby kitten Montgomery hasn't been a kitten in a decade. This is my favorite photo of his childhood to your left. He is 11 years old now. He's had a lot of health problems lately so I just got back from yet another expensive trip to the vet. But anything for my baby. If it's between him and the rent, I'll be looking for a comfortable cardboard box big enough for both of us to sleep in.

All of which probably made me a sucker for How to Train Your Dragon's pet-love sentiment. I finally saw the hit yesterday. (I'm not used to being so behind the curve but I got caught up in festival world for a month there.) What is Toothless other than a scaly superpowered cat and what is Hiccup other than a boy who really loves his cat/dragon?

I really responded to the story for these personal reasons but it also surprised me. I hadn't read a lot about it so I didn't really know the plot outside of the what the trailer offers.



It's surprising to find a movie -- even a cartoon --that actually champions a boy for being sensitive and smart rather than impulsive and athletic (though Hiccup has those more traditional traits, too... the movie just downplays that he does). That the movie has been such a hit with moviegoers despite being far less gender-rigid than most animated films is a bigger surprise.

But before I get carried away assuming some kinder, gentler thread in moviegoing emerging after years of increasingly extreme bloodlust, I should note that when I went to buy my ticket, the 11 year old girl in front of me in line excitedly asked for Nightmare on Elm Street. So same as it ever was. Only I suspect I got the way sweeter deal as movies go. Even though I had to buy one of those ridiculously expensive 3D tickets.

I fear that the movie industry has basically given up on increasing the moviegoing habit. They're willing to price themselves out of true relevance just like Broadway did. $17.50 was way too much to pay for the movie even though I loved it. And the fact that I'm saying that, someone who believes in the sanctity of moviegoing and finds it many times preferable to home viewing, should be worrisome to the industry. If you are even willing to alienate the people who do still go to the movies every single week... who exactly will keep going to the movies? Or will everyone eventually do like my non-movie oriented family where they'll see like 1 or max 2 movies in a theater per year and otherwise watch only television?

But back to Tame Your Dragon for two hot seconds.

One. I want to adopt Toothless. He's my new dream pet. But I can't because Monty is a jealous boy. He will straight up attack if there's a stuffed animal anywhere near me. No joke.

Two. What the hell was with the Scottish accents for Vikings? Vikings are Scandinavian! Now, I suppose there is an argument about cross-pollination and Norse control of Scotland to be made but Viking mythology belongs to Scandinavia. Just because both begin with "Sc" doesn't mean they're completely interchangeable. That's like assuming that if a bitch is from Chicago that's like being from China. Or that New Yorkers are impossible to separate from New Zealanders. I think if you drop Woody Allen into the Shire or ask Frodo to intern for Miranda Priestley, there's going to be chaos!

Hollywood's confusion about geography is just as funny as New York's. That happens to 'center of the world' places. One of my favorite New Yorker covers of all time illustrates this (lol). Maybe Hollywood needs a cheatsheet?

Lazy Marquee

Snapped with my iPhone outside one of the two big multiplexes on 42nd Street yesterday. It's quite a schedule.


Either someone is too lazy to type out full film titles or this theater is offering some pretty crazy personal services every 2 ½ hours.

[on an tangential note: this photo also neatly encapsulates my biggest pet peeve about multiplexes. If you have 12-25 screens and you're only going to show a few movies at a time, please knock down some walls and give us bigger screens again. Please and thanks.]
*

Do You Ever...?

...go the movies alone?
.......... Or do you always travel with date or in a pack?
*