Johnny Simmons: Little Miss Sunshine

Showing posts with label Little Miss Sunshine. Show all posts

Tuesday, 10 August 2010

Decade in Review, Revisited: Filial Love

0 comments Posted by 2011 at 07:22

The Family Stone was regarded as something of a flop when it opened at the end of 2005. I have a wan appreciation for the film, even with its egregious faults (it is a bit too prosaic at times, no?). One of the things it does manage to pull off, for the most part, is the rapport between siblings. I’m still most impressed with Diane Keaton’s somewhat acerbic mother-bear, but The Family Stone is most interesting when it takes a look at the sibling pairings, even if I don’t understand them. Claire Danes and Sarah Jessica Parker must be two of the oddest cinematic sisters I can recall. Their relation, despite it’s nicety, is a bit problematic though. The film sees Parker’s Meredith being left out of her prospective fiancé’s family gathering. For some inexplicable the family however falls head over heels in love with Meredith’s sister. Even odder, despite their apparent loathing of Meredith they easily acquiesce to Meredith’s eventual dalliance with his bohemian brother. Odd indeed. But I forgive them their contrivances, because it’s all so sincerely acted. I like seeing siblings onscreen, it’s rarely seen as the A-plot, though.

BROTHER / SISTER

I’ve never been fond of Rachel McAdams – she doesn’t strike me as particularly talented. But her cantankerous Amy is just right without being exaggerated. I hate that she and Mulroney have so little screen time with each other; they do have that peculiar bit of chemistry that works as siblings. It reminds me of Keira Knightley and Patrick Kennedy in Atonement. Yes, Atonement is remembered for its sister/sister pairing, but that moment when Cecilia comes running down the stairs to hug her brother (“I’ve been going doolally here, without you.” She says.) is nicely played. Atonement finds its charm in never giving us more information than necessary, but I do wonder if Cee really did never speak to him again. It’s a bit of a find to see a brother and sister who don’t hate each other. Much of Freaky Friday encompasses Anna fostering a misguided loathing of her brother. I still don’t really understand people who loathe their siblings…but I suppose being on the same wavelength with a sibling is weird. If I could call any 2006 movie a guilty pleasure it might be Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday. One of my favourite random moments come midway through the film when an incensed Iris (Kate Winslet) realises that her brother, Graham (Jude Law), has slept with her house guest. I recent Meyers just a little for pairing Jude and Kate in a movie with hardly any contact, but the strange niceness of the conversation is a treat – in its way. It’s random, but believable. It’s a bit like the relationship of the siblings in another Meyers film – It’s Complicated – another rare treat where siblings (gasp) actually don’t hate each other. A comment on IMDB amused me, a fan said he doubted the film’s realism because the siblings were just too close. Zoe Kazan still annoys me to no end (like she did in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee), but the connection among the Hunter Parrish, Lake Bell and even Kazan is a key part of why the movie charms me, even if I still don’t love it.

Dreamgirls has an entire subplot of sorts dedicated to the brother/sister turmoil. I don’t exactly buy it, Hudson’s skill of a drama actress is…well, sparse. Effie is a bit of a bully, so I don’t exactly blame C. C. for his actions, though I would have liked if they’d kept the number “Effie, Sing My Song”. It wasn’t as authentic as other sibling pairings, but the attempt was poignant in its own way. I think of Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine and I always smile (the former of which I’d have given an Oscar or something akin). That single moment where Olive comes out of the bus to hug him on the grass erases any disbelief I would usually have at the craziness (albeit hilarity) of the film; she probably got it from her mother who's letting her brother stay with the family, despite his mental drama. Of course, when it comes to brothers and sisters no films resonate as much as You Can Count on Me and The Savages, incidentally both starring Laura Linney. I’m more in love with the former, but the profundity of sibling relationships is handled brilliantly in both. It’s not often we see such a relationship on screen, but few moments of the decade were as honestly emotional as those last few in You Can Count on Me

BROTHER/BROTHER

For some reasons, brothers don’t always have each others’ back When I think of brothers this past decade I immediately think of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – and that’s not a pleasant picture of sibling relationships. I suppose Richard Kind and Michael Stuhlberg in A Serious Man are a step up, but they're not ideal either. I’m still conflicted on the film, and even the relationship between the brothers confuses me at times, Larry’s dream seems just a little too fanciful and pat for me to take it at face value. It’s the same way I still don’t believe Wilson’s Ben and Mulroney’s Everett can really be that close of brothers when the credits role for the The Family Stone, but maybe that’s just me. Eric Bana spends the entire of Troy fighting a battle for his brother, a battle I don’t think he believes. That’s a rare bit of brotherly love right there. I like Troy, so does Heather so I’m not alone, I like Orlando Bloom in it too (I wish he’d do something more before having to resort to a life as Legolas). I’m much less wont to accept that Tommy’s good deeds in Brothers are because of his devotion to his brother, although I’m probably cynical like that. I still wish the film had examined a little more of the relationship between the two, Maguire and Gylenhaal are quite believable as brothers.

Casting is important with siblings, I believe in the siblings in Finding Neverland, even though they never really have any significant amount of interaction. I believe in Heather Ledger and Matt Damon in The Brothers’ Grimm too. It’s one of many films that suffered from a misleading ad campaign, but I like it – in its way. I don’t like Matt’s other brother/brother pairing, Stuck On You. The film leaves me with a bad taste in the mouth. I suppose brothers are better as antagonists than being joined at the hip. Who could forget William Hurt and Viggo Mortenson in A History of Violence? Not I. They meet for a few moments, but I’m damned if it isn’t the strongest portion of an already strong film. Am I the only one who’d be interested in a prequel of them back in their heyday as gangsters?

SISTER/SISTER

Antagonistic sisters are just as common, though I still wonder if Briony ever harboured any hate towards her sister. Those few minutes at the beginning of Atonement where Keira and Saoirse lounge on the grass are so well played. I suppose, in her way, Briony thought she was helping – but there’s something so disingenuous about her, especially in Ronan’s characterisation. It’s why I cling all the more to the older Briony’s meeting with her. I’m won over to easily by Romola, but still. Keira and she work well together, even though it’s mere moments. But who doesn’t Keira work well with? Pride & Prejudice is still so enjoyable simply because those five actresses make a believable quintet of sisters. Rosamund and Keira gossiping in their bedroom after the first meeting with Darcy Bingley retains all the ease of Austen’s prose, and that alone is difficult. I’m even willing to believe Elizabeth would be so strong (and hard) headed about a vicarious thrill at seeing her sister happily married. Let me revert to Romola, though. I didn’t enjoy I Capture the Castle, even though it proves that Romola is more than worthy of a leading role. I’m mixed on what I think of Rose Byrne, though. The two work but then again they don’t. It’s a bit like Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in In Her Shoes. I always find that pairing unequivocally odd every time I think of it. It just doesn’t seem logical, even though the film is sweet in its bauble like way (and Shirley MacLaine is always a plus). Sisters at odds with each other will forever pervade, though. Like Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman in The Other Boleyn – a film I despise as much as it’s horrible source. There’s something just too pedestrian about having Anne and Mary battle for the king’s affection. Natalie rules the film’s first half, and Scarlett the second – though neither of them (or a nice bit role from Kristin Scott Thomas) can salvage the film.

That sort of antagonistic love among sisters occurs in Rachel Getting Married. Sooner or later I think I’ll have to review this film, I don’t love it and I don’t love Anne Hathaway in it – but I find Rosemarie DeWitt to be simply flawless. Overall, the hate/love between the two sisters works; like it does with Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Margot at the Wedding. I only now realise the similarities with the fuckup sister turning up for the other one’s wedding, although acerbic Margot would have the sly Kym for lunch, dessert even. Gosford Park never stays on one subject too long, but the sibling rivalry among Sylvia, Lavinia and Constance is too palpable to ignore – especially when Sylvia’s husband is much too fond of her sister. Kristin Scott Thomas’ other pairing with an actress is more lucrative (sibling wise). A significant portion of I’ve Loved You So Long’s beauty comprises the relationship between the two sisters, who make a tentative start for reunion. In retrospect Elsa Zylberstein is every bit as good as Kristin in her role, though sadly neither woman was really remembered that year. Speaking of ignored, Le Divorce harbours another beautiful sister/sister pairing – Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson – that went by ignored. Kate and Naomi are brilliant together; even in silly bits (a moment where the two imitate bowing swans is beautifully played). It’s the simple moments that make those filial bonds seem real, like in Bright Star Abbie Cornish’s random “I love you!” to her sister after reading one of Keats’ letter. I love that moment in the field, no less because Edie Martin is just an adorable child actor and her line reading of “Fanny wants a knife, to kill herself” never fails to amuse me. In the Upside of Anger the four sisters lay on the grass after their father has left. The four actresses look nothing like each other, and even less like their “mother” Joan Allen – but it all works because they have the believability thing going despite the obvious things working against them...and on the best of days, what more could we ask for?

I’m woefully enamoured by film that feature sibling love prominently, though it’s not all bad when they’re at each others throats. Which of the films featured stand out at you the most this past decade?

Featured Films (Alpha): Atonement (2007), Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), Bright Star, Brothers (2009), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Le Divorce (2003), Dreamgirls (2006), The Family Stone (2005), Finding Neverland (2004), Freaky Friday (2003), Gosford Park (2001), A History of Violence (2005), The Holiday (2006), I Capture the Castle (2003), In Her Shoes (2005), It’s Complicated (2009), I’ve Loved You So Long (2008), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Margot at the Wedding (2007), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Rachel Getting Married (2008), The Savages (2007), A Serious Man (2009), Stuck On You (2003), Troy (2004), The Upside of Anger (2005), You Can Count On Me (2000)

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Decade in Review: Prodigious Children

0 comments Posted by 2011 at 09:45

Monday, 28 September 2009

Encore Awards 2006

0 comments Posted by 2011 at 14:11

Well here they are. The top six categories of the year and where my votes would have gone. Take a gander...Continued from here...

NOTE: Letters From Iwo Jima - I did not watch this out, so it's not on the list. An Inconvenient Truth...oversight that it's not here. I give a B+, Venus - I did not see this one. A big O'Toole fan...but [gasp] it's not in this country. And yes, it does suck here. The Lives of Others - did not see this either. Hence no inclusion here.

Best Supporting Actress

Adriana Barraza in Babel

Cate Blanchett in Notes on A Scandal

Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada

Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine

Angelina Jolie in The Good Shepherd

Frances McDormand in Friends With Money

Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls

Sharon Stone in Bobby

Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada

Emma Thompson in Stranger in Fiction

This was a tough category to break down. So many women gave good performances in middling films, some tried their best to elevate their trite material, but at the end of the day these ten women were at the top. McDormand’s nomination is somewhat representative of her, Joan Cusack and Catherine Keener who did superb work in the horrible Friends With Money. It was such a wasted effort. Three great actors wasted. At the end of the day Adriana Barraza came out on top for her illegal immigrant. Those few solitary moments in the desert and positively haunting, she plays her role well. Cate Blanchett and Sharon Stone come next. Cate’s Sheba is a pathetic woman who is consumed with narcissism but yet she is able to find the [fine] light within, and we don’t end up hating the character. I always feel bad for Sharon Stone. She gives probably my favourite performance of hers, and few saw it and the other just didn’t care. And it wasn’t as if the film was bad. Meryl Streep and Anika Noni Rose both give best in show performances, and both play for comedy albeit in different ways. They round out the top 5.

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine
Steve Carrell in Little Miss Sunshine
Paul Dano in Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
Djimon Honsou in Blood Diamond
Gael Garcia Bernal in Babel
Jack Nicholson in The Departed
Brad Pitt in Babel
Martin Sheen in The Departed
Mark Wahlberg in The Departed

Oddly, this turned out to be the hardest category to compile. In addition to many of the films having a host of supporting actors present, there was also no clear winner. All the men were more or less equal. Finally, I decided on Paul Dano. An unlikely choice, no? Why didn’t anyone take notice of this performance? What is wrong with Hollywood? Those young untalented idiots from Transformers, Twilight, GI Joe get all the attention and Dano gets nothing. Even Michael Cera gets notice, so it’s not like it’s an aesthetic thing. I really can’t stress how much this performance impressed me. That scene where he finally speaks it’s just all really good. This was the best performance in the ensemble. Steve Carrell is close behind him, though. All I can say is genius. Jackie Earle Haley comes third for his haunting paedophile. Scary stuff. On a recent post I wrote that Brad Pitt is underrated. And he is…as an actor. We hear Brad Pitt and we think celebrity…we never think good actor. And he is. There are some scenes in Babel, aided by the aging makeup that are just chilling. And then there’s Gael Garcia in Babel. Pitt or he could have round up this category at the Oscars and I wouldn’t have minded. Are you going WTF at Martin Sheen. The scene leading up to Queenan’s death in The Departed are some of the most tense moments in recent cinema…Martin Sheen doesn’t have any big moments but he completely sells it as Queenan.

Best Actress
Annette Bening in Running With Scissors
Toni Collette in Little Miss Sunshine
Penelope Cruz in Volver
Judi Dench in Notes on A Scandal
Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette
Beyonce Knowles in Dreamgirls
Helen Mirren in The Queen
Julianne Moore in Children of Men
Julianne Moore in Freedomland
Kate Winslet in Little Children

What a good year it was for women…even if all the precursors only noticed five of them. I find it incredibly hard to single out one of them as best...and I try my best to avoid ties. In the end it goes to Judi Dench with Annette Bening nipping at their heels. Both women have tough characters to break into and they do it great alacrity. I bemoan the fact that Annette couldn’t even get a friggin’ nomination. But I’m over that. Really, I am. But we all know it’s because the film was clunky. But yet Streep gets nominated for the equally clunky The Devil Wears Prada in a supporting role. It’s a harsh world. Moving on…Kate Winslet gets the bronze medal for Sarah. She’s always great. So no surprise. Then there’s Ms. Collette who is so wonderful in Little Miss Sunshine. Words cannot describe. Ms. Cruz is fifth, but that doesn’t lessen her performance. I hate Spanish, but she made me want to learn it. The film gets a bit silly sometimes…but she plays it well. You’re probably saying…Where is Helen Mirren!!!! She’s in sixth place. I was glad she won…after that unwarranted snub for Gosford Park. Those bitches. But I just wasn’t as enthralled by The Queen. Kirsten Dunst is somewhere in the pack…I wish someone would give her a proper role – she has so much potential. Beyonce is somewhere towards the bottom of the pack …but I’d just like to note that I thought her performance was fine…and she deserved her Golden Globe nod. And yeah, Freedomland kind of sucked…a lot…but Julianne was not bad.

Best Actor
Matt Damon in The Departed
Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd
Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
Aaron Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking
Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction
Greg Kinnear in Little Miss Sunshine
Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
James McAvoy in The Last King of Scotland
Forrest Whittaker in The Last King of Scotland

My race comes down to Leo’s tortured gangster and Kinnear’s bathetic husband and father. Leo wins it fairly easily, but Kinnear wasn’t bad at all. Picking three to round out the top five is harder to do though. I’m going to go with Damon in The Good Shepherd, Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking and Gosling in Half Nelson. It surprises me that of these three only Gosling gained any traction and Damon got virtually no response from the awards. And Eckhart couldn’t even win the Globe. I cringed when Sacha Baron Cohen won that Golden Globe. Kinnear wasn’t nominated…but at least they could give it to Eckhart or even Ferrell. Sigh. I can't fault Whitaker's win though.

Best Director
Del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth
Condon for Dreamgirls
Innaturu for Babel
Marber Notes on a Scandal
Scorsese for The Departed

Once again The Departed has it. The others are just basically in a tie…okay, maybe Innaturu edges out in front for those scenes in Arabic…but they’re all pretty good. Todd Field was a runner up for Little Children…but I preferred the honesty of the direction in Notes on a Scandal even if it was the weaker of the two. But for some reason I think the two pieces complement each other.

Best Picture – chronological order
The Departed [A+]
Babel [A-]
Dreamgirls [A-]
Little Miss Sunshine [B+]
Little Children [B+]
Bobby [B]
Stranger than Fiction [B]
Thank You For Smoking [B]
Notes On A Scandal [B]
Pan’s Labyrinth [B]
Children of Men [B]
Happy Feet [B]
The Good Shepherd [B]

The winner by a long shot was The Departed. Perfect combination of crime, foul language, tension, murder and even a little sex. I was screaming at my TV as Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson opened that envelope. Good times. It was the clear winner in my book and no other film came close that year. Babel was in second place. For some reason people don’t like this one. But I was a fan. It’s not one that you necessarily want to see again, what’s that phrase…once is enough. And Dreamgirls is third. This has suffered some extreme backlash and it is not a perfect film…but it is enjoyable and Condon’s direction though spasmodic was inspired in quite a few scenes. Little Miss Sunshine is close behind. I never really saw this winning Best Picture…but this was a good ride, and although I would have liked if Dreamgirls had replaced it…it deserved its nomination…and then we have Little Children…it’s an almost tie Bobby and Stranger Than Fiction…but Todd Field edges out. Thank You For Smoking is my favourite Reiteman. It’s a flawed film, but I found it entertaining. The other films in the top thirteen are all good.

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

NINE FAVOURITE SCREENPLAYS OF THIS CENTURY

0 comments Posted by 2011 at 06:41

These are what I think to be the best screenplays of the last 9-10 years. I think I need to put a qualifier here. I mean, these may not be the best screenplay of the past ten years. But I just think they’re some of – nine of – the most prolific. Although, those words may be too big. I don’t know… there may be what some may call obvious omissions – Almost Famous, In the Bedroom, The Pianist, Mystic River, Sideways and about a hundred more. These are just nine of the screenplays that I think about most when I think about the last few years in writing. Special mention goes to Pedro Alvodomar’s Talk to Her.
You're probably wondering... why nine? Well being a hopeless addict to Nicole Kidman, a devout follower of Judi Dench and a big fan of Daniel Day Lewis I probably don't need to explain further. So Nine is my favourite number this year...for the while at least.

9. Little Miss Sunshine
This Oscar winning screenplay was one of the freshest screenplays of recent years. There is only one screenplay that I think is more creative (see number 1). What makes it so good is that reading it you think you could have done that. It’s real dialogue, it’s funny but it’s not over the top – even though the directors would have us think so. It veers towards situational comedy, but right before it comes in for the big laugh it goes towards some intense level of poignancy. Genius.

Favourite Lines

Frank - Oh my God, I'm getting pulled over. Everyone, just... pretend to be normal.

Grandpa Are you kidding me? It was a fucking paradise. They got pool... They got golf... Now I'm stuck with Mr. Happy here, sleeping on a fucking sofa. Look, I know you are a homo and all, but maybe you can appreciate this. You go to one of those places, there's four women for every guy. Can you imagine what that's like?

8. The Departed
I guess most people would say this is ineligible, since for the most part it’s just a translation. But this was one of my favourite scripts of 2006. William Monahan did a great job of combining the three original films and adding an… an American flair to it. The script reads like a novel, there isn’t too much description – but it’s not just dialogue either. It’s just right… and this is only number eight.
Favourite Line – Mr. French “That’s not quite a guy you can’t hit, but it’s almost a guy you can’t hit, so I’m fucking ruling on it right now that you don’t hit him, understand.”

Costello “Tell Bruce Lee and the karate kids none of us are carrying automatic weapons because here, in this country, it don’t add inches to your dick. You get a life sentence for it.

7. Chicago
In some ways this was actually an original screenplay. Bill Condon’s (now legendary) idea of having the songs of the musical done through Roxie’s imagination was a smart idea and was a large part of the reason why Chicago worked so well as a film. From those flashes where she imagines herself singing All that Jazz to her imagining the death of the Hunyak. Condon shows us that he’s a hundred times better as a writer than a director – and he’s actually a really good director, so imagine that.

6. Babel
Most peoples hate this film, and its screenplays. In retrospect I suppose that the comparisons to Crash are permissible, but I think this film is way better and way more profound than Crash. It’s hard to talk about this screenplay without turning to the spiritual or the moralistic, but what’s really so good about this screenplay, is how the idea of fate and chance are so tied in with it. It really is not the most pleasant film (or screenplay), but that doesn’t make it any worse. It’s excellent.

Favourite Line –Yussef - I killed the American, I was the only one who shot at you. They did nothing... nothing. Kill me, but save my brother, he did nothing... nothing. Save my brother... he did nothing.

It doesn’t have a lot of quotable quotes to be honest…

5. Brokeback Mountain
I think short stories are great source materials for films. You can stick to the original, but still make way for your ideas. Brokeback Mountain is the epitome of this. It gained a deserving win for best screenplay. This is actually another sombre tale.

Favourite Line – Jack can't make it on a coupla high-altitude fucks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, you sonofawhoreson bitch! I wish I knew how to quit you.

4. Gosford Park
Julian Fellowes did a great job with this screenplay. Any film that deals with murder and secrets needs to have a good screenplay. Almost every

Favourite Line – Aunt Constance “I don’t have a snobbish bone in my body.”

Mrs. Wilson “I’m the perfect servant. I have no life.”

3. Atonement
I am in love with every Christopher Hampton screenplay (I still think Dangerous Liaisons is one of the best screenplays ever). Most people thought that Atonement was one of the most inadaptable novels, but he showed that it was not.

Favourite Line – Robbie - Dearest Cecilia, the story can resume. The one I had been planning on that evening walk. I can become again the man who once crossed the surrey park at dusk, in my best suit, swaggering on the promise of life. The man who, with the clarity of passion, made love to you in the library. The story can resume. I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame.

2. The Hours
This is another inadaptable novel that was a great screenplay. I really liked this movie and one of the real reasons it worked was because of the screenplay.

Favourite Lines
Virginia - If I were thinking clearly, Leonard, I would tell you that I wrestle alone in the dark, in the deep dark, and that only I can know. Only I can understand my condition. You live with the threat, you tell me you live with the threat of my extinction. Leonard, I live with it too.

Richard - But I still have to face the hours, don't I? I mean, the hours after the party, and the hours after that...

Laura - It would be wonderful to say you regretted it. It would be easy. But what does it mean? What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? It's what you can bear. There it is. No one's going to forgive me. It was death. I chose life.

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Yes, this is my favourite screenplay of the last ten years. It was actually a bit of a no-brainer. There was no competition that year at the Oscars, I wonder if any one even voted against this. It’s a love story, but it’s not particularly romantic – it’s witty, it’s funny, it’s realistic but it’s also fantastical. It’s just really great.

Favourite Lines – Joel - Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.

Joel - Why do I fall in love with every woman I see who shows me the least bit of attention?

PS I couldn't think about any one line for Chicago... forgive me.

Johnny Simmons