Med City Movie Guy

"Taking Woodstock"

In Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, we flashback to the genesis of the most iconic moment in music history; a better time for us all when peace and love ruled the day and government intervention in the health care industry was unnecessary because everyone shared their pharmaceuticals.

     Elliot Teichberg (Demetri Martin) moved back from Brooklyn to help manage his parent’s dilapidated Catskills resort, the El Monaco Motel. When he hears of a music festival unceremoniously booted from its original location in the nearby town of Woodstock, the young president of the White Lake chamber of commerce invites them to his hamlet.
     Unfortunately, the sleepy town isn’t very excited about hosting the half-million hippies that eventually descend on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm. Neither are Teichberg’s parents, until the money starts rolling in.
     Taking Woodstock is inspired (only “inspired,” probably no one actually remembers anything that happened weekend) by real events and is based on Teichberg’s book of the same title. It tells the story of the generation-defining fete, its 40th anniversary this month, from an alternate perspective, that of the hosts; something we didn’t see in the 1970 movie, Woodstock, which took home the Oscar for Best Documentary.
     Ang Lee director of an eclectic assortment of films that includes Brokeback Mountain, The Hulk, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon adeptly captures the moment while never actually showcasing any of the music that was heretofore the vortex of Woodstock. His split-screen shots, either reminiscent of the original film or symbolic of a “counter” culture, are sometimes distracting but what is remarkable is the absence of concert footage. Only rarely do we even hear the performers, when we do, they are always faint and in the background. That not only works, but it’s appropriate. The townspeople didn’t actually attended the festival and Teichberg, himself, never made it to the stage. It’s a perfect complement to the 1970 film.
     The Daily Show’s Demetri Martin, as Teichberg, turns-in a fine performance as a young man with a great burden, and a confusing proclivity, thrust upon him. Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton, as Teichberg’s Jewish parents Jake and Sonia, add dimension and some humor (says Imelda to some naked dancing hippies at one point, “cover your parts, we have company!”). But it is Eugene Levy (The American Pie dad) who is probably best cast. As Max Yasgur, he is ever-tolerant, even-keeled, and so square that he is cool. And he is forever “pushing” chocolate milk.
     Far out.

3 Honks
MPAA Rating: R for graphic nudity, some sexual content, drug use and language.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810039590/trailer

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"Post Grad"

In Post Grad, the new “recession comedy” starring Alexis Bledel, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants star plays a recent college grad who, after her dream job proves elusive, moves back home with her wacky family. I, for one, find it hard to believe there are so few opportunities for Poetry majors when I’m five-people deep in line at Culver’s.

     Ryden Malby (Bledel) had it all figured out. Ace high school, rock college, land a job at a prestige publishing house and lease an amazing loft. But life has a way of throwing curve-balls, her father (Michael Keaton) says when things don’t go according to the plan, so she moves back home with him, her mother (Jane Lynch), goofy little-brother (Bobby Coleman), and slightly unhinged grandmother (Carol Burnett).
     With unflinching optimism she plods ahead, though it is clear she is in need of a mate at least as much as a career. In that department, she has two leads: best friend Adam (Zach Gilford), who has been there for her along and her new neighbor David Santiago (Rodrigo Santoro). Now the young grad must manage both a career and a relationship while still unsure how the two can coexist.
     The good news is that the Post Grad premise is fresh even if Marlo Thomas defined the effervescent ever-optimistic archetypal character forty-four years ago. Unfortunately, the execution is a train wreck.
     Alexis Bledel is only adequate and that’s the best that can be said of any of the acting. The little brother, exotic neighbor, loyal friend, catty nemesis, they’re all tragically hackneyed. Jane Lynch (The Rocker, Role Models) is dangerously close to being overexposed and veteran actors Michael Keaton and Carol Burnett, well, they each deserve a sentence of their own. Keaton, who acted masterfully in dramas like Clean & Sober and Jackie Brown and charming in pop classic like Mr. Mom and Night Shift, is so underwhelming that you’re actually embarrassed for him. Carol Burnett, a national comedic treasure, merely channels another national comedic treasure -- Imogene Coca’s Aunt Edna, from National Lampoon’s Vacation; her, you feel sorry for.
     There is some evidence Post Grad could have been a much better film. The comedy, for instance, is quirky and reminiscent of the Academy Award winning Little Miss Sunshine. Pulling-up to a stop light with a “you break it, you bought it” pink casket strapped to the roof, Keaton looks to a car along side where a cholo gives a nod before pouring some beer onto the street in a solemn gesture of respect. Later, after Keaton backs over the neighbor’s cat, the family participates in a dignified backyard ceremony that concludes with Keaton burying a pizza box. Those and Fred Armisen’s Guacanator 3000 infomercial earn Post Grad a LOL, but not a recommendation..

 
1 Honk
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual situations and brief strong language.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809965690/trailer

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"Bandslam"

In Bandslam, the new teen film starring Vanessa Hudgens, a high school outcast moves to New Jersey where he finds himself about as popular as a Tea Bag Patriot at a Tim Walz town hall meeting.

      To start anew, Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) and his mom (Friends’ Lisa Kudrow) move to New Jersey where he is content to simply blend into the background. A happenstance comment, though, reveals his musical prowess and he is invited to manage a band headed by Charlotte Banks (Alyson Michalka), the most popular girl in school, who ostensibly wants to win the area “Bandslam” to exact revenge on her old boyfriend who is the competition’s frontrunner.
     As the pair work together, Will finds himself pulling further from his mother and closer to Charlotte … but even closer to Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens), his Human Studies project partner.
     Sa5m (the “5” is silent) and Will’s relation is moving forward as is Charlotte’s band, when suddenly the singer drops out revealing her true motive. Will has a secret, too. And so does Sa5m. Can they pull it all together in time for Bandslam?
     Films generally put their best material in the trailer. Bandslam took a riskier approach: its trailer was awful. The plot looked lame, the music, fetid. But if the producers wanted to turn away traditional filmgoers and create a cult favorite, they may have succeeded. 
     Bandslam is much deeper and more clever than first blush. Most important, the music is crisp and authentic. Excepting Aly Michalka’s massacred Cheap Trick classic "I Want You to Want Me," it earns musical street cred from the opening riffs of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” and Peter Tosh’s “Walk and Don’t Look Back” to Hudgens’ ska-infused cover of the 1972 Bread cure for insomnia “Everything I Own” and the righteous nod to CBGBs. This is no HSM4.
     Beyond the music, the plot takes few risks, but the characters are not, as they say, “straight out of central casting.” Most teen movies feature cardboard stereotypes like the broody dark-haired girl, the peppy popular blond, the jock, the curly-haired dufus you root for, and the goofy husky kid who’s just there for comic relief. Those are here too, but they have dimension. They develop and unfold. They arc, and you care about them. Actually, it’s refreshing.
     Bandslam is not perfect. There are some things that, musically, are too “inside” and some of the characters (the outcast band members, for instance) are shoehorned in. Still, it’s a much better film than you might expect. Then again, it would almost have to be.

3 Honks
MPAA Rating: PG for some thematic elements and mild language.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809995373/trailer

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A well-seasoned tale of two cooks

In the new Meryl Streep film, Julie & Julia, the fifteen-time Academy Award nominated actress plays famed chef Julia Child who introduced us to “intercontinental” cuisine which we learn must first sit for a few moments … as opposed to the “Continental” version that sits for six hours.

     Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is a frustrated government worker looking for a niche. After noodling-around a few writing projects she finds a way to leverage her culinary passion and sets-out to cook every one of the 524 recipes in Child's canonical book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” documenting her year-long odyssey on a BLOG. The popularity Powell gains along the way is not without a personal cost.
     Folded-in to the Powell story is a biopic of the renowned chef, herself. Julia Child (Meryl Streep) moved to France, we’re told, with her diplomat husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) where she discovered the region’s marvelous cuisine. To keep herself occupied, Child enrolled in the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and, of course, was told that she would never amount to anything. She established a few contacts, two of which were in need of a collaborator for their French cookbook. The rest, as they say, is history.
     Writer and director Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle) combines equal parts of Child's autobiography, “My Life in France,” and Powell’s memoirs to give us this well-seasoned tale of two lives that intertwine, albeit some sixty years apart. Both lament their government jobs (Child joining the OSS after the Pearl Harbor bombing, Powell working for the post 9/11 Lower Manhattan Development Corporation). Both take a personal journey. Both love butter. They really love butter.
     Meryl Streep’s impersonation of Julia Child is spot-on (even if Dan Aykroyd upstages her in the SNL parody clip that Powell watches) and Any Adams is wonderfully charming. (The two also worked together in last year’s Oscar-nominated Doubt.) Though the characters never actually meet on screen, their performances deliciously accent each other.
    However, one ingredient is overpowering: the dash of political commentary. At one point, for instance, Powell’s boss warns the blogger that her outside interests have interfered with her job saying, “a Republican would have fired you.” Which is ironic because it was the Left that vilified salt and outlawed trans fat. But that’s the worst that can be said of Julie & Julia … that and the fact that afterwards your palate will be so spoiled, movie-theater nachos just won’t do it for you ever again.

3 1/2 Honks
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810006886/trailer

 

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Ignore noises coming from this 'Attic'

In the new sci-fi comedy, Aliens in the Attic, a family vacation turns into an epic battle to save the planet from uninvited visitors who, as it turns out, are here for something more than free health care after all.
 
     Stuart Pearson (SNL alum Kevin Nealon) is concerned that his brainiac son Tom has been doing poorly in school. The solution? A family vacation in Michigan with some much needed bonding. There, they rendezvous with Stuart’s mother (‘Everybody Loves Raymond’s’ Doris Roberts), his brother Nathan (‘Conan’ sidekick Andy Richter) and nephews Jake, Art and Lee. Tom’s sister Bethany (Ashley Tisdale) and her boyfriend Ricky, whose who’s car just conveniently broke down nearby and has to stay for the night, make for a full, if not contentious, house.
     Great weather. New fishing reels. A dream cottage. So far, so good.
     Uh-oh, what’s that noise upstairs that only the kids seem to hear? Aliens, of course, only no one believes them when they report the sightings. Now, the younger Pearsons must battle on all fronts -- the attic, the basement, the backyard and the heating ducts (heating ducts tend to see an inordinate amount of action in the movies) -- to wrest control of the house, indeed, the fate of humanity, from the extra terrestrials. All of this goes on, naturally, under the clueless noses of the Pearson elders.
     The good news is that if you’re a ten-year-old boy, Aliens in the Attic is probably the coolest movie you’ll ever see. Unfortunately, everyone else will find it painful to watch.
     The film modulates between lame and goofy and, while there are a few pleasant moments, it rarely rises about “silly.” 
     The acting is adequate, though fans familiar with the better days of Nealon, fellow SNLer Tim Meadows, Richter and Roberts will find their talents squandered here and leave the theater all the more disappointed. Tisdale has a large fan base, but that doesn’t help her. With the exception of Cousin Jake (Austin Butler) the characters are generic and unremarkable. Even the aliens are uninspiring: less mischievous than Gremlins, far less charming than Alf.
     There’s some clever parody of The Shooter and Jaws (“we’re gonna need a bigger potato”), with the whole thing having a Lost Boys feel, but it’s not enough. Mentos bombs, false teeth, a Kung Fu Nana operated by a videogame controller ... these are all very cool things to a young audience but a thoughtful crowd will find the banality and hokey dialog (“turns out there are advantages to being smart”) ridiculous.

 
1 Honk
MPAA Rating: PG for action violence, some suggestive humor and language.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809991672/trailer

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