One of the most well-made documentaries I've seen in a long time, perhaps even surpassing "Fahrenheit 9/11." It is a scathing review of the history and methology of Corporate America, and how the corporations of the world have literally taken ahold of the Earth in a pathological manner. Indeed, they take apart the attitudes and "bottom line" mentality of corporations and actually compare it to an FBI's checklist of what medically constitutes a psychopath. It will have you looking twice at food labels, television commercials, and any number of other aspects of the corporate world. It also goes into the disheartening true history of the first 1/2 of the 20th century and how American corporations still did business with Nazi's and other enemies of the world while we were still at war. IBM and number tattoo's anyone? Go see this to have your eyes opened up to some of the most underhanded business practices ever.
posted by Sierra Rein 10:54 AM
Sierra's Latest Recommendation
Sunday, May 09, 2004
SUPERSIZE ME
As a documentary, it is more an adventure in one man's physical and emotional journey through the McDonald's menu. For 30 days, Morgan Spurlock ("producer/director/guinea pig") eats only those items on the golden arches diet, from salads that have as many calories as a BigMac to the McGriddle monstrosity. His body goes through a transformation, externally and internally, that should make anyone think twice about eating at any fast food restaurant more than once a month. His gastrointestinal and cholesterol charts alone after just 10 days of McEating are enought to make me glad I enjoy cooking for myself.
This movie was a great companion to the book "Fast Food Nation," one which goes into the more gruesome details regarding the meat packing business. Both should be read as a reminder to ourselves that it is OUR CHOICE in what we put into our bodies. They are also a reminder that we are all up against a huge "conspiracy" of sorts for our emotional connection with food. The money and time that is spent by the fast food companies to capture our loyalty, taste buds, and literal addiction to fast food is astounding.
Just watching this guy eat mouthful after mouthful was painful and funny, grotesque and amusing. Sympathyzing with his Vegan cook girlfriend, who stood by his side with rolled eyes through this ordeal, was also very funny.
Tonight, a local Boba drink owner gave Pete and I the gift of a pass to see a preview screening of "The Cooler," starring William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin, at the Westside Pavilion. It looked interesting, had a unique "Macy in neon" poster, and a unique premise regarding the "cooler" of a local Las Vegas casino. A "cooler" is a gentleman or lady who travels from one "hot" table to another, causing bad luck or a bad vibe to occur, saving the casino money in the long run.
Beyond that, I didn't have any real knowledge of the movie. To put it simply, I loved this movie. It was solidly written, beautifully acted by all involved, and artfully directed. A realistic fable, it deals with the theme of luck, acting and believing you are a loser, and the ability to change your own attitude, and therefore your own luck in the end. There was not a scene out of place, and all of the action culminated to tell a full story, full of character, plot, humor, violence, love, and pathos.
And Macy knew it. Finally, after a lot of "loser" characters ("Fargo," "Magnolia," "Boogie Nights"), he took on the role of Bernie Lootz with the satisfaction that his character "gets the girl," as he put it in a recent interview. His simple but heartfelt character is a work of art, and you really rooted for him throughout the movie, even when things look pretty bleak.
The supporting cast was wonderful as well. It was great to see my personal favorites Ellen Greene (Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors" and Ron Livingston from "Office Space") mixed in with such greats as Paul Sorvino and Alec Baldwin. Baldwin shed every good-guy image in his role as the owner of the Golden Shangri-La Casino, but added touches of humanity that showed real human flaws beneath his violent exterior. Sorvino, in only a few scenes, knocked me on my butt as an aging Vegas singer, full of emotion.
Maria Bello was also fantastic, matching Macy with humanity, humor, sex and extreme emotional range. I had recognized her only from the "Coyote Ugly" posters, so she has certainly raised her acting chops by becoming a part of "The Cooler."
The only actor I cringed somewhat at was Joey Fatone, previous N'Synch singer, who (appropriately) played loungy and flashy singer Johnny Cappella (get it, Cappella from "a cappella," meaning "singing without instruments"?). It took me a while to "get over" seeing him on the screen, and because he played the role well I gave him full marks. He's slowly becoming more of an actor/singer than an N'Synch icon, anyway.
But, like I said, there were no scenes that did not make sense, and everything tracked and moved incredibly well. Small visual cues, lighting, and wonderful tongue-in-cheek moments added a fantasy flair to the mood, creating a fine line between realism and a fairytale/morality play (for example, notice the neon sign reflected as Macy pulls up his car up close to the camera in one shot). This kept it interesting, and consistently pulled me in to the story and the characters.
My acting class, and many others as well, will look at this movie and want to immediately start performing scenes for class. It's that infectious, and as soon as I got home I started searching for the script (to no avail). As a small indie film, it probably will become a sleeper hit, drawing intelligent crouds away from the huge monstrosities of "Matrix: Revolutions" and "The Cat in the Hat."
posted by Sierra Rein 1:28 PM
Sierra's Latest Recommendation
Monday, October 27, 2003
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
My friend Paul was cool enough to get us in to see this unique movie for free at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood. I had only seen a few trailers for it, but it seemed to look very interesting. Weird movie for free? I'm there!
Directed by Shari Springer Berman, and featuring the acting talents of Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis as the odd couple of comic book writers, Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner. What makes this movie unique is it's narrative devices. It's half dramatic retelling, half documentary, and half a mix of both. There is 1 1/2 of movie in this one movie, I can do the math.
Giamatti and Davis are fantastic actors, especially when the movie takes an interesting turn and features interviews with the real Pekar and Brabner, heightening the audience's understanding that these are truly real people we are talking to. Combine that with narration by Pekar himself, sometimes commenting on the fact that Giamatti doesn't really look like him, and you have a wonderful mix of metatheatricallity that really hit my funny bone. That, with surreal shots of the actors hanging around with the real people, and you've got a winning narrative combination.
The movie also features the original artwork, and neatly designed scenes that combine reality and the comic book worlds together. One monologue by Giamatti, as Pekar, does this brilliantly, and may turn up in comedic auditions across Los Angeles soon. Most material has been directly extracted from his original comics, making the movie very personal and true to life.
The movie is so true to life that the actor who played "Genuine Nerd" Toby Radloff caused a bit of a surprise. My fiance, Pete, sat and wondered to himself "where do I know this person from?!?!" We almost thought the acting was over the top until the real Toby Radloff came onto the screen, sitting next to the real Pekar. Judah Friedlander, playing Radloff, did such a great job that Pete slapped his knee, remembering how the "Genuine Nerd" did MTV spots about his Cleveland Indian fan and nerd existence. He was spot on.
Go see this movie to learn the story of a difficult but very troubled, outspoken, intelligent, and unique man. I loved the fact that original David Letterman footage was used, and not recreated except for one final sequence. You got to see Harvey Pekar in true action.
I laughed wholeheartedly at this movie, and got as close an understanding as I'll ever have for Pekar's personality, barring reading his material and shaking his hand in person. It made me want to pick up an "American Splendor" compilation book, and if that's not a huge compliment to the movie, then I don't know what is.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Susan Boulanger is directing a production of "The Laramie Project" playing October 10, 11, 17, 18 in the Clarke Theatre at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut (I can hear most of you musing "Where????").
“The Laramie Project” is a docu-drama about the 1998 hate-crime murder of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten by two young men, tied to a fence, and left to die because he was gay. Matthew’s murder generated an unprecedented national outcry against hate and violence.
This show has been an amazing journey, and Susan is very proud to announce that, in association with “The Laramie Project,” Wednesday, October 15 will be a day of special events with a Tolerance/Hate-Crime Panel Discussion and a Candlelight Vigil Against Violence to remember Matthew and all victims of hate and violence - everyone is welcome to attend.
For those of you who are teachers, if you would like Susan to visit your classroom in relation to this project, just let her know and email her at sboulanger7@earthlink.net. She's hoping you will bring a group of your students (this play is appropriate for high school and up).
posted by Sierra Rein 12:40 AM
