Blu-ray Review: “Betty Blue (37°2 le matin)”
Rating: 88
Now a 25-year-old exponent of cinema du look, the artful renegade film movement that also spawned Luc Besson’s “La Femme Nikita,” Jean-Jacques Beineix’s “Betty Blue (37°2 le matin)” was Beineix’s follow-up to “Diva” and an intensely beautiful tragic romance. It is almost impossible to imagine any other actress as the luscious but unhinged Betty: With her bee-stung lips and transfixing range of expression, Beatrice Dalle seemed born to play Betty — perhaps too much so.
Betty lives with Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade), a handyman in charge of painting beach shacks along the French coast. Zorg is also a frustrated writer, and when Betty discovers his spiral-bound novel, her manic side takes over. “Betty Blue” is all about the dark side of what film critic Nathan Rabin calls the “manic pixie dream girl” — Betty is disarmingly beautiful and brings a kind of dangerous excitement to Zorg’s life, but the same things in Betty’s brain chemistry that make her wonderful will also betray her.
Here is Dalle’s audition reel intercut with a recent interview. Francophone abilities might be helpful, but really it’s the visuals that show why Dalle won the role.
In 1986, Dalle was the toast of French cinema, but her own eccentricities and brushes with the law undid a promising career. After Jim Jarmusch’s “Night on Earth,” the next 20 years of freak roles and drug busts were more than a little dispiriting for “Betty Blue” fans. This Blu-ray edition offers a beautiful digital restoration of the film’s original theatrical cut and look back at Beineix’s glory days, but on the downside, this is the 115 minute theatrical version. True fans of the film will want the full three-hour director’s cut, which is still available on DVD, but there is no timetable for such a Blu-ray release. Considering how difficult it was to find a U.S. release of any kind for much of the past decade, this “Betty Blue” will do until then.
Welcome to StaticBlog’s Live Coverage of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards
Huzzah! Thank you for joining StaticBlog for our annual live coverage of the Oscars. This is always the cross-country death slog of live-blogging exercises, but I always come back for the scintillating back-and-forth in the comments section and the opportunity to type until the blood spurts coming out of my fingertips are happening in time with those coming from my eyes. For the love of all things holy, let’s get this cheesefest running!
And we’re off…
7:04 p.m. So, why is it that everything about this show online indicates that the ceremony starts at 7 p.m. CST, but it’s actually starting at 7:30? Weasels.
(Editor’s note: Had some technical difficulties but we are firing up again.)
James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting the Oscars.
7:48 p.m. Already wasting time with a montage? Gah!
7:49 p.m. Tom Hanks is looking haggard, which means we are all getting a little bit older and a little bit slower.
7: 50 p.m. Hanks awards cinematography. Wally Pfister beats Roger Deakins because his name is funnier to read on the dais.
7:57 p.m. They showcase Amy Adams in the outro for Best Supporting Actress. Does it mean something? Stop trying to ascribe meaning to this.
8: 01 p.m. Kirk Douglas — “She’s gorgeous? Where were you when I was making pictures.” Saying something, given his era.
8:02 p.m. Douglas awards Best Supporting Actress, eventually… Melissa Leo — lost my first prediction of the evening. Well done, though.
8:03 p.m. Melissa Leo: “Wow — mine? For me?”
Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis present at the Oscars.
8:04 p.m. Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake … uh, I’m sorry, losing consciousness. Slowly… blurrgh…. Damn you, Mila.
Mila Kunis arrives at the Academy Awards.
8:07 p.m. When Pixar’s in the running, it’s kind of astounding when someone else beats them. “The Lost Thing” wins!
8:11 p.m. Mila announces Best Animated Feature, about the biggest fait accompli of the evening. The Oscar goes to Toy Story 3, because the sun rises.
8:17 p.m. These odd little paths to yesteryear are deflating this show.
8:18 p.m. Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem announce adapted screenplay. Call it, friendo: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network.”
Aaron Sorkin
8: 19 p.m. Sorkin references Chayefsky in acceptance speech. Good grace note. Stop playing him off — he knows how to string sentences!
8:21 p.m. Brolin and Bardem announce Best Original Screenplay: “The Kings Speech.” Once for each. No way to handicap Best Picture based on this.
Anne Hathaway in a tux and James Franco in a dress at the 83rd annual Academy Awards.
8:32 p.m. Reese Witherspoon announces Best Supporting Actor. Great field,especially Hawkes, but this was always going to Christian Bale for “Fighter.”
Christian Bale
Hugh Jackman arrives at the Academy Awards.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Marisa Tomei arrives at the Academy Awards.
Cate Blanchett arrives at the Academy Awards.
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law present at the Oscars.
9:56 p.m. Oh yeah, they showed Dennis Hopper after hitting the nitrous in “Blue Velvet.” Finally, something that didn’t make me gassy.
10:02 p.m. Hathaway must be wearing a battery pack for that blue dress.
10:05 p.m. Bigelow announces Best Director. Goes to Tom Hooper. “King’s Speech” great and all, but not on board at all. Fincher was robbed. Robbed!
10:06 p.m. Hooper gave a great speech, but “The Damned United” was better.
10:09 p.m. Lifetime Achievements introduced by Annette Bening. Godard didn’t show, of course. Hateth Oscar. As am I, if things keep going this way.
10:12 p.m. Hathaway praises Franco for “doing fabulous job.” Where? He’s hardly been there?
10:13 p.m. Jeff Lebowski gives the testimonial for Annette Bening. Wasn’t Julianne Moore just as good?
10:15 p.m. Glad they gave up the whole “Star Chamber” conferring greatness on nominees. Way too Reality TV, that was.
10:16 p.m. Love the dude, but he’s not really tying the room together.
Natalie Portman arrives at the Academy Awards.
10:17 p.m. Dude announces Best Actress: Natalie Portman wins. Was a little fearful that this was going to go elsewhere. Relief sets in. Richly deserved.
10:20 p.m. Now Sandra Bullock says nice things about five men. This takes too long. Make it stop.
10:21 p.m. Too bad Bardem was about 10 times better than the rest of “Biutiful.”
10:25 p.m. Best Actor would be considered competitive if Firth hadn’t stitched this up like a Tom Ford tux.
Colin Firth arrives at the Academy Awards.
10:27 p.m. Was there any doubt here? Firth was a bigger fait accompli than Toy Story 3 for Best Animated. Deserved, but all nominees did.
10:30 p.m. Firth: “I have impulses I have to attend to backstage”? How deliciously ambiguous! “Awww…” or “Ewwww.”
10:33 p.m. Spielberg is here to end it all by announcing Best Picture. This is where my “Should Win” gets trounced by my “Will Win.”
10:35 p.m. When the entire Best Picture montage is voiced over by King George VI, you know where it’s going.
10:37 p.m. Timpani roll! “The King’s Speech.” And StaticBlog slinks away, slightly dejected, Tweeting in vain in support of the Facebook movie.
10:39 p.m. Thanks to all for enduring a slightly different, Twitter-fueled live blog. And thank you to @nerdage for enabling this simulcast. Cheers!
– George Lang
www.twitter.com/georgedlang
Movie Review: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1″
Rating: 90
Imagine how unlikely it is that the seventh film in any series could be the best — most franchises plotz on the third outing. But as any longtime Harry Potter fan knows, the movies based on J.K. Rowling’s wizarding series were just getting going on round three, and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1” is the knockout.
In a wrenching set of opening sequences, director David Yates sets the tone for the world Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley inherit in “Deathly Hallows.” It is a foreboding place where Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour (Bill Nighy) warns that the forces of good have faced “no greater threat” than the incursion of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and the Death Eaters. This is an environment where even the Dursleys, those most unsympathetic of all Muggles, can tug at emotions, and Hermione must make a tragic choice that leaves her, for all practical purposes, an orphan.
The plot structure for “Deathly Hallows” involves the search for six “horcruxes,” the talismans that hold parts of Voldemort’s soul. Just carrying one can elevate the holder’s anxiety to dangerous levels, a key source of mounting irritation for Ron (Rupert Grint), who is forced to confront the inevitable feelings of inferiority one must feel when Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is the omnipresent hero. Hermione (Emma Watson) is stuck in the middle of all this, a source of strength for the trio but also the focal point for irrational tension as the three collect the horcruxes in preparation for the inevitable war with Voldemort.
This gives Watson an opportunity to display nine years’ worth of accumulated acting skill. The nonstop production of “Harry Potter” films has had a hothouse effect on all three of the principal actors’ emotive abilities, but Watson is the clear breakout. It’s all in her subtle responses to the ramped up conflict around them. Watson always played Hermione as written, with all the precocity required, but the sighing and eye-rolling of the first two films is long gone, replaced with genuine nuance. The “Harry Potter” series, strong as it has been thus far, will probably not be the high point of this 20-year-old’s career.
But Watson does not exactly leave Radcliffe and Grint in the dust. Both prove immensely capable of the emotional heavy lifting required in “Deathly Hallows, Part 1” and are surrounded by some of the finest talent in British cinema. Nighy, Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter (as the demonic Bellatrix Lestrange), Rhys Ifans and David Thewlis all distinguish themselves.
Still, the star of “Deathly Hallows, Part 1” is director Yates, who does far more than establish tension: He allows these characters to breathe. Unlike the earlier films, “Deathly Hallows” is mostly shot on location in the English countryside, creating the illusion that this magical realm truly exists in tandem with the real world. Yates’ sense of dynamics serves him well. Magic is not on constant display in “Deathly Hallows, Part 1,” so the results often look like a pastoral British independent film, but then when magic is required, it comes on with startling fury.
As for how the final book in Rowling’s series has been split, that is one bit of magic that should not be revealed. What keeps “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1” from being a perfect film is the serialized story curse, which means that no one who has ignored the previous films or novels should bother parachuting into “Deathly Hallows” without the basic understanding needed to enjoy it. So, it does not stand alone. But as the beginning of the end for one of the most beloved stories in young fiction, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1” is a piece of beautiful cinematic sorcery.
— Lang
Video of the Day: Tommy Wiseau, “The Room” (dubstep remix)
Oh, hi Mark. You ah tearin me apawt, Lisa!
– Lang
Blu-ray Review: “The Exorcist”
Rating: 92
Some horror films lose their power to chill over time, a consequence of outdated effects or formerly scary ideas becoming quaint or commonplace. But after nearly four decades, William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” is still nothing short of terrifying. Since its original run in 1973, audiences made do with increasingly washed-out prints and home video editions, although a 2000 restoration returned some of the vivid color of pea soup to the proceedings. But little will prepare longtime fans for this new Blu-ray version, which includes the original edit and Friedkin’s cut.
Styles of clothes and cars notwithstanding, this “Exorcist” looks like it could have been shot last year. The digital remaster means viewers can see every crack in the walls of the Iraqi ruins where Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) first encounters the ancient devil statue. Regan’s desiccated lips and self-inflicted wounds still shock, and the special effects hold up beautifully on the digital transfer — as Regan (Linda Blair) sends all her belongings flying across the bedroom and later levitates over her mattress, the effect is still just as seamless and horrific.
In addition to Friedkin’s fine director’s cut, which adds 10 minutes and slightly improves the film’s continuity, the Blu-ray offers great commentary tracks from Friedkin and the book’s author, William Peter Blatty, along with the feature-length documentary “Fear of God: The Making of ‘The Exorcist’” and a 40-page booklet. Comprehensive and generous as the extras might be, the star attraction is still the shockingly sharp restoration of the film itself. If anything, eliminating many of the signs of age makes “The Exorcist” even more immediately frightening — the distance of time can no longer protect you.
– Lang
New film starts production in Oklahoma
This story ran on the front page of The Oklahoman today.
Filming for the motion picture “Bringing Up Bobby” began this week in Oklahoma.
Milla Jovovich, Marcia Cross and Bill Pullman star in the film written and directed by Famke Janssen.
Newcomer Spencer List, 12, plays Bobby.
“Bringing Up Bobby” follows a European con-artist named Olive (Jovovich) and her son, Bobby (List), who find themselves in Oklahoma after an escape effort. Cross plays the role of Bobby’s foster mother.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jovovich wrote about her participation on Twitter, “Hey guys! Been crazy! Came home 4 a day 2 get ready 2 go 2 oklahoma tonite 2 start my new film ‘bringing up bobby’! will keep u updated!”
First-time executive producers are Edmond native David Johndrow, 42, and his wife, Maryann Johndrow, of Johndrow Vineyards in Napa Valley. The couple join several executive producers. David Johndrow said the entire movie will be filmed throughout Oklahoma City and metro areas such as Edmond, Guthrie and Luther.
David Johndrow said the budget for the independent film hasn’t been finalized. He estimated the movie will create roughly 60 jobs for Oklahomans.
“The one thing about bringing a film to Oklahoma is that Oklahomans are so gracious to the arts,” David Johndrow said. “It’s a fun, interesting proposition.”
List’s publicist Kelly-Marie Smith said in an e-mail that Monday is List’s first day on “Bringing Up Bobby.”
The film is the first directing role for Janssen. She is best known for her performances as the psychic mutant Jean Grey in the “X-Men” trilogy.
David Johndrow said filming in Oklahoma is to conclude in late August.
Watch: Daft Punk-scored Tron: Legacy trailer
French robots Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo -better known as Daft Punk- went into the studio after 2005′s Human After All, not to record a new album but rather to score the sequel to Disney’s 1982 sci-fi action flick.
The soundtrack will be available for purchase November 23, via Walt Disney Records, according to Consequence of Sound. CoS also says that the release date for the film is expected December 17.
Watch the trailer below.
--Carney
Video: ‘Arrested Development’ with 80 percent more action
Getting tired wondering when (if) the “Arrested Development” movie will come to fruition? Even ff they have to turn it into a 3-D action extravaganza to get this thing made, I’ll still be there on opening day.
— Dusty
Trailer: ‘Let Me In’
2008′s hauntingly beautiful “Let the Right One In” was a sparse masterwork from Swedish director Tomas Alfredson. Well, the inevitable American remake is on its way, now known as “Let Me In,” and as the trailer makes abundantly clear, it’s directed by the same guy who made “Cloverfield.”
Alfredson made a vampire film that was striking more for its emotional vulnerability than its gory thrills; here’s betting that Matt Reeves won’t have the same deft touch.
“Let Me In” opens in October.
— Dusty
Woody Allen feels he’s squandered his career
In a typically self-deprecating interview with The Times in London, Woody Allen reveals that he feels he’s pretty much wasted his career despite having total artistic freedom.
Out of 40 films I should have 30 masterpieces, eight noble failures and two embarrassments, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
Allen says he’s no Bergman, Fellini or Buñuel — and he’s right — but he seems to have forgotten some of the things he’s accomplished. Picking his favorite six of his films, Allen lists “Purple Rose of Cairo,” “Match Point,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “Zelig,” “Husbands and Wives” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
That’s right. No “Manhattan.” No “Annie Hall.” No mid-career masterpieces “Hannah and Her Sisters” or “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” of which “Match Point” is merely an inferior shadow. And “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”? Come on, even Woody’s attempt at a musical, “Everyone Says I Love You,” is better.
Incidentally, my six favorite Woody Allen films are:
1. “Annie Hall”
2. “Hannah and Her Sisters”
3. “Radio Days”
4. “Manhattan”
5. “Zelig”
6. “Crimes and Misdemeanors”
— Dusty
