Monthly Archives: December 2009

MBH086-MicheBelz Hollywood

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Happy Holidays to everyone. Castledoor with “Leave It on the Sleigh.” On being a groupie. The third annual SweaterFest. Castledoor’s O Holy Night. Dancing in a wheelchair. Letters Burning with “I’m Here, You’re There,” available on Music Alley (http://music.mevio.com). The Best Picture of 2009: Avatar. Matthew Ebel with “Wasting My Time,” available on Music Alley (http://music.mevio.com). Tiger Woods and his magazine cover deal with American Media. Beatrice Ericsson with “Starting All Over,” available on Music Alley (http://music.mevio.com). Miche predicts who is going to win the four acting Oscars. The Up and Down meter on Oscar predicting. The Brian Setzer Orchestra with “One More Night with You,” available on Music Alley (http://music.mevio.com). Top Ten Entertainment Stories of 2009. Castledoor with “Skipping Stepping Stones.” Check them out on iTunes. Some interesting Golden Globes tidbits: Go Sandy! Go Meryl! Californication vs. Entourage. SAG Ensemble? Inglorious Basterds, baby. Houndstooth Radio’s wonderful Christmas music.

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Best Picture 2009? Avatar

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I have seen this year’s Best Picture, and it is Avatar.

Prior to viewing this film, I was scouring this one and that. Could it be this one perhaps? Or maybe this one? I fell into the world of Pandora, and I had no more doubts. This movie is as transporting and visual and stunning as Titanic, and all other contenders can just sit down now.

“Avatar,” in case you haven’t heard, is James Cameron’s $400M movie, filmed and shown in 3D. And it’s a 3D that makes you forget any 3D you’ve ever experienced before. Even the glasses you receive are different, heavy and all encompassing, equipped with computer chips for special viewing (I saw it in the Cineramadome in Los Angeles).

So, the world that our hero is transported to comes at you in stunning color and texture, almost jumping out at you. Beautiful and transforming and ethereal. Like things you have never seen before. It’s amazing.

I thought that Cameron (who wrote and directed the movie) had borrowed a lot of ideas from experimenting in Second Life once or twice. Certainly the concept where you are your whole self in First Life and your full body avatar in Second Life for me came from there. But someone online schooled me that it’s an ancient concept, actually. The sources they cited were Ayeurvedic principles and a book series called Summer Tree trilogy, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Suffice to say, Cameron didn’t come up with the Avatar concept, though he certainly made it acceptable for the mainstream.

Like Titanic, this 3-hour movie is one you’re going to want to revisit. It’s like walking around in a magical world. And unlike Titanic, this one has a good story, with bad guys and good guys and big splashy fights. I loved Avatar in a big way. Loved the story and the new world and the hero, everything.

If you see one movie in a theatre this year, this is the one. And make sure it’s real 3D. It’s well worth it if you have to pay a few extra dollars for it, too. This groundbreaking film is where movies are going. How lucky we are to see it.

Nine Is No Chicago

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The movie version of the stage musical “Nine” is much heralded. Lots of money is being spent to bring this movie to the attention of awards voters at this time. To which I say: Rob Marshall, this movie is no “Chicago.”

There is a reason that stage musicals take a long time to get to the screen: they are often difficult to translate. Nine is no exception. Nine first appeared on a Broadway stage when the sexual revolution was still hot on everyone’s breath, with promiscuity celebrated. We are now living in an AIDS-scarred world, where sex addiction is a common Oprah topic, and fidelity is celebrated.

So it’s hard to root for this world-weary hero who is supposed to be Federico Fellini. Oh, poor man. He has all these beautiful (if air-headed and emotionally unstable) actresses throwing themselves at him. He really has it rough.

And, really, he loves his wife. Yeah. OK.

To say nothing of the fact that modern audiences probably barely remember most of Fellini’s classics, though there are touches that harken back to his films throughout (and Marion Cotillard has the same eyes as his wife and muse, Giulietta Masina). Daniel Day-Lewis, the Felliniesque lead also looks starkly like Fellini’s stand-in hero, Marcello Mastroianni. There is a scene with Nicole Kidman that looks beautifully like the fountain scene from 8 1/2. Those touches are nice, as is the scenery of Italy.

Visually, the film is a treat. It alternates between black and white and color for really no apparent reason, though it is interesting to watch. The dance numbers, as expected from someone who directed the Academy Award-winning Chicago, are spectacular and lush.

We have Fergie as Fellini/Guido Contini’s first seductress doing a passionate song with the dancers using dirt for emphasis. Wonderfully staged, visually stunning. We have Kate Hudson playing a Vogue editor, doing a go-go 60s dance, and reminding all the world of her illustrious mother (Goldie Hawn, of course). We have Penelope Cruz, writhing around doing a sexy dance (which I’ve got to believe Jane Krakowski did much more with onstage). And (dear God, help us) we have Judi Dench SINGING.

Sophia Loren lusciously plays Contini’s mother, and makes you wish there were more actual Italians in the production.

But the story is thin and hard to get into. The music really isn’t as good or memorable or toe-tapping as Chicago was. Marion Cotillard was quite wonderful, but I find the rest of this production hard to recommend.

MBH085-MicheBelz Hollywood

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Sunny and wonderful in Los Angeles. Happy Hollows with “Big Bad Wolf.” Happy Hollows wraps up its Spaceland residency. The poster contest, winner gets a guitar. Sweater Fest is actually Saturday, Dec. 19 at the El Rey. Castledoor with “Burn the Maps.” Castledoor and The Shys at the Echo. Red Cortez with “Poete Maudite.” Oscar movies. Abuse vs. abuse: Precious vs. The Stoning of Soraya M. Helping the black woman vs. helping the black man: Precious vs. The Blind Side. Hand ‘Em the Oscar Now! selections for Actor, Actress, Supp. Actor and Supp. Actress. The Happy Hollows with “We Will Find You.” Miche doesn’t think “It’s Complicated” is complicated at all. Miche doesn’t find Steve Martin sexy. Deadly Syndrome with “Animals Wearing Clothes,” available on Music Alley (http://music.mevio.com). Don’t forget the Sweater Fest on DECEMBER 19. Miche really digs The Men Who Stare at Goats. Miche’s top ten movies of the year for Oscar choices. This week, at least.

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It’s Not Complicated: “Complicated” uncomplex, boring

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Of all the movies floating around this Oscar season, “It’s Complicated” is one of the least complex. Here’s the plot: Meryl Streep’s character spends the movie deciding whether or not she’s still in love with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin). She may or may not end up with him in the end.

That’s pretty much it. Oh, sure there are a few wrinkles. He’s married to a younger woman. She’s seeing an architect. There is the extent of the “complications.”

Her sounding board/Greek chorus comes in threes: a couple of times it’s her three children, a couple of times it’s her three women friends. Neither is a device that works effectively.

This is due, in part, to the fact that the writer of the movie, Nancy Meyers, is also the director. In her defense, we do get lavish shots of the California landscape and chocolate cake.

But, as a movie, it’s really slow going. John Krasinski is practically wasted in a lame bit of comedy.

The real downfall, other than the insipid script that goes nowhere, is the casting of Steve Martin, who is like a wet fish opposite Meryl Streep’s luminosity. Mind you, I’d just about pay to see Meryl Streep read the phone book. She is gorgeous and stunning in nearly every scene (and is in nearly every scene).

But like the pastries that they consume after smoking a joint, it leaves you hungry for more afterwards. Plenty of other great movies around right now. Give this one a pass.