Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>Horrible Bosses</em> Vs. A Tribe Called Quest
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<p>Say what you will about the whole auteur theoryâfilm in general is a communal art. Bad directors can ruin a great script, great performances can save an awful one, and sometimes the cast and crew are toiling away brilliantly on a piece of shit screenplay that'll never work. When a movie like <em>Horrible Bosses</em> comes out, we approach it with caution. Directed by Seth Gordon, who made the excellent <em>King of Kong</em>, and starring <em>Arrested Development</em>'s Jason Bateman, and <em>It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia</em>'s Charlie Day, the movie on paper sounds great, but we're not holding our breath. The film follows three friends who get drunk and decide, with some help from an ex-con, to kill off their bosses. Basically your last Friday night carried out to what you said you had wanted to do.<br/><br/>Reviews have been pretty good, with A.O. Scott from <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/movies/horrible-bosses-with-jason-bateman-review.html?ref=movies">The Times</a> saying: "<em>Horrible Bosses</em> is also frequently very funny. One reason is that it does not bother to cut its coarseness with a hypocritical dose of sweetness or respectability. Nor, however, does it make a big show of being provocative, of pretending that its forays into offensiveness are acts of bravery. It takes the ordinary human traits of stupidity, selfishness, lust and greed (and also stupidity), embeds them in a human condition that is confusing, unfair and also stupid, and turns the whole sorry spectacle into a carnival. The laughter is mean but also oddly pure: it expels shame and leaves you feeling dizzy, a little embarrassed and also exhilarated, kind of like the cocaine that two of the main characters consume by accident." </p>
<p>Everyone's go-to rough, urban, workingman doofus character actor Michael Rapaport has made a documentary that comes out today. <em>Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest</em> documents the tumultuous 2008 reunion tour of the seminal hip-hop group. Arguably one of the best rap groups of the '90s, they're known as much for their rocky relationships as they are for their music. For fans of Tribe, hip-hop, or music docs in general, you won't want to miss this opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at musicians and their sometimes chaotic collaboration.<br/><br/>Reviews have been very good, with Camille Dodero from <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-07-06/film/strained-vibes-excellent-scenario-in-beats-rhymes-life/">The Village Voice</a> saying: "The wrinkle in this retelling is that <em>Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest</em> is a phenomenal documentary. Making a 'love letter' to his all-time favorite musicians, Rapaport devotes the filmâs first half to deftly curated archival material, golden-age hip-hop perspectives from the likes of DJ Red Alert and Monie Love, and testimony from an impressive constellation of Tribeâs peers and pupilsâfrom the Beastie Boys to Pharrell Williams to ?uestloveâon behalf of 'the Miles Davis of hip-hop,' as the Rootsâ Black Thought remembers the bandâs initial influence. (Black Thought also hilariously calls ATCQâs early kente-cloth and dashiki wardrobe 'some real questionable-type shit.')<br/><br/>"And instead of editing his subjects into pre-ordained music biz roles, Rapaport uses his access to present the members as full dynamic characters, both letting a subway-stairs climbing scene linger long enough to catch Tip politely let an older lady walk in front of him while also portraying the rapper as a perfectionist headcaseâas former Jive Records exec Barry Weiss puts it, âI love Q-Tip, but heâs a fucking nut.â Itâs easy to see how a control-freak perfectionist would mistake such character assessment for assassination. Itâs not, and even a fanboy poseur like Michael Rapaport knows that." </p>
<p>After the horrific mauling of a woman by her friend's "trained" pet chimpanzee, an important dialogue about the relationship between animals and people was reopened. No matter how much humans want to believe they can domesticate wild animals, they can't. As anyone who has seen <em>Grizzly Man</em> can attest, we cannot necessarily afford to take the risks necessary to instill our own attributes in animals. Today, from the team behind <em>Man on Wire</em>, comes the new documentary <em>Project Nim</em>. The film follows the little chimp Nim Chimpsky (hehe), who was the subject of a radical experiment in the 1970s. The experiment aimed to raise Nim as a human by teaching him communication techniques and behavioral patterns. Needless to say, we all know where this is going, but it's great documentary material.<br/><br/>Reviews have been very positive, with Rob Nelson from <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-07-06/film/nature-nurture-and-an-awful-tale-of-animal-abuse-in-project-nim/">The Voice</a> saying: "Not every homo sapiens who sees <em>Project Nim</em> will be moved to pledge membership to PETA. Still, this documentary biopic of the â70s chimp picked to endure an âexperimentâ in simian sign language and general neglect pulls human heartstrings as wrenchingly as any creature feature in the 45 years since <em>Au hasard Balthazar</em>.<br/><br/>"Nevertheless, Marshâs film remains a deeply haunting portrait of the unbridgeable gap between kindred species. Nim learns to communicate in sign language (he particularly likes the words âplayâ and âhugâ), but declinesâheroically, perhapsâto supply scientific proof that an ape can live comfortably among people who often appear far less intelligent than he is." </p>
<p>Also coming out today is the four time Cesar Award-nominated (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor) film <em>Rapt</em>. Based on the real life kidnapping of French industrialist Edouard-Jean Empain in 1978, the film follows a playboy millionaire as he's kidnapped and held for ransom for 60 days. The centerpiece of the film seems to be the performance by the lead Yvan Attalas, who has received accolades from French critics. If you're looking for an international thriller to watch this weekend, then this is the movie for you.<br/><br/>Reviews have been pretty good, with some criticism coming from Keith Uhlich at <a href="http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/film/1653795/rapt">Time Out New York</a> who says: "Has the Dominique Strauss-Kahn situation stirred your appetite for scandal? Lucas Belvauxâs solidly made thriller about a French industrialist whose dirty laundry is aired for all to see should satiate some of your tabloid cravings. The circumstances are very different, of course: Stanislas Graff (Attal) has his fair share of paramours, as well as an extravagant gambling addiction, but his indiscretions are tolerated by those around him until he is abducted by a team of professional kidnappers.<br/><br/>"Belvauxâs tension-building setup is stellar; the follow-through, less so. As Stanislasâs ordeal drags on, <em>Rapt</em> is bogged down in procedural rigmarole: Scenes of cops plotting, the family worrying (itâs wonderful to see Eric Rohmer muse Françoise Fabian as the protagonistâs rich-bitch mother) and the paparazzi having a field day all blend monotonously together. Attal is terrific, pulling a Michael Fassbenderâin-Hunger act to show the damaging physical and psychological effects the kidnapping has on a man plucked from his glass-house comfort zone." </p>
<p>There's a particular type of existential depression that usually hits late at night. Not really a crisis, or a drawn-out ennui, but an intense ache that happens when you're watching <em>No Direction Home</em> on PBS at two in the morning (because you can't afford cable) and find out that Dylan had a record deal and an album by the age of 20. It isn't exactly jealousy that you feel, but a profound disappointment in yourself. If you like feeling this way, then you should head to <a href="http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/calendar?view=list&month=7&year=2011#showing-37551">The Anthology Film Archive</a> where they will be showing Mexico-City born wunderkind Nicolas Pereda's entire oeuvre. This is impressive because his oeuvre consists of four features: an hour-long film, an installation-style video piece, and a short film, all of which he wrote and directed between 2007 and 2010 at the age of 27. It kind of makes you want to stop writing posts for your blog for a week or so. This is huge because these films are hyper-obscure, usually only shown at festivals that you'll never get press passes to (Cannes, Venice). Obscure as in he doesn't have a Wikipedia entry and no one is even sure if he's 27 or not. Don't miss! </p>
<p>Many of you living in Brooklyn probably walk amongst Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jews on a daily basis, and chances are you know very little about them other than their supposed opposition to bike lanes and the short skirted ladies who use them. If you'd like to get to know your chosen neighbors a little better, you might want to check out the film <em>Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish</em>. Filmed in Williamsburg with an all-Jewish amateur cast, it's the first full length Yiddish-American film in almost half a century. The film is a meta-heavy look at itself being made. The teenagers are the actors in the play and also the translators, with the director herself starring as the director of the play within the movie. It sounds like it's got a lot going on and should be an interesting glimpse into the culture.<br/><br/>Reviews have been positive, with J. Hoberman from <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-07-06/film/ghetto-bards-romeo-juliet-in-yiddish-and-sholem-aleichem/">The Voice</a> saying: "A feature-length American Yiddish movie made in color on the streets of Williamsburg, as well as the first-ever to boast a (very tasteful) nude scene, Annenbergâs attitudinous Shakespeare riff is a unique blend of psychodrama, ethnographic experimentation, and high-concept hustle. The filmmaker was inspired by and cast her movie mainly with 'out' Hasidim: adventurous young people who have left their communities but retained their mameloshn (mother tongue).<br/><br/>"In a way, Annenbergâs movie is a fanciful documentary about itself: Lazer (Lazer Weiss) and his friends translate the play, which Ava has attempted to sell to them by describing its 'thuggish' atmosphere, while imagining it to suit their own circumstances. Juliet (the sultry Malky Weisz) is a pious girl resisting an arranged marriage; the warring Montagues and Capulets are visualized as Satmar and Bobover, rival Hasidic sects; Friar Laurence is transformed into a sympathetic rebbe, and Annenberg doubles as Julietâs stage-managing nurse." </p>
<p>There are some movies that, for one reason or another, defy categorization. <em>Septien</em> is one such film. The film centers on a guy named Cornelius Rawlings who returns to his family farm from which he vanished 18 years ago. His parents have long since died but his two brothers remain at the farm. One is a clean freak obsessed with Jesus while the other one is a self-taught artist who worships Satan. Cornelius proceeds to huff and drink his days away while challenging strangers to one-on-one games. Apparently the family's "high school sports demons" show up in the guise of a plumber and a pretty girl and "only a mysterious drifter can redeem their souls on 4th and goal." We're not quite sure what this all means but it's definitely one of the most interesting summaries of the day.<br/><br/>Reviews have been mixed, with Alison Willmore from <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/septien,58583/">The A.V. Club</a> saying: "Describing <em>Septien</em> as a Southern gothic satire, which is as close a categorization as can be managed for something so devotedly strange, belies what an unwinking film it actually is. The setup and storyline are absurd, but the angst underneath is as earnest as a campfire confession.<br/><br/>"<em>Septien</em> seems to fall at the intersection of <em>The Royal Tenenbaums</em>, with the stylized stunting of its adult characters, unable to escape the long shadows of their youth, and the work of Harmony Korine, the indie worldâs reigning documenter of fond grotesquerie and Southern decay. (Korineâs wife even has a role in the film.) But itâs rougher and less precise than Wes Anderson, and not as confrontational as Korine, getting mileage and dark humor instead out of a sense of bemused acceptance as the action escalates toward a confrontation with the past, with magical touches." </p>
<p>Following her first foray into retelling fairy tales with <em>Bluebeard</em>, French director Catherine Breillat returns with her interpretation of <em>The Sleeping Beauty</em>, and we have a feeling it's not going to be like the Disney version (which in its defense was pretty badass). It takes the already amazing concept of an evil witch putting a death wish on a baby because she wasn't invited to the baby's party, and runs with it. Breillat has the three fairies put Aurora into a coma for 100 years, where she has vivid dreams that develop her sense of self and her sexuality. It should be an interesting deconstruction of the fairy tale, as well as an exploration of the female condition.<br/><br/>Noel Murray at <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-sleeping-beauty,58581/">The A.V. Club</a> writes: "By adding riffs on <em>The Snow Queen</em> and other folklore to the original story, she robs <em>The Sleeping Beauty</em> of the directness of <em>Bluebeard</em>, which contrasted a simple, naturalistic retelling of Charles Perraultâs original tale with a framing device that spoke to the cruelty of stories. The new film is much looser, starting with the familiar basics of Perraultâs <em>Sleeping Beauty</em>, then heading off on odd tangents that turn the movie into a meditation on puberty, irrational romantic crushes, and the loss of virginity.<br/><br/>"Itâs clear what Breillat is trying to do here in the abstractâand <em>The Sleeping Beauty</em> is never less than gorgeous to look atâbut the movie doesnât hang together as a story, and 'stories' are what these fairy tales are meant to deliver." </p>
<p>At this point, we are all aware of how awful our dietary habits are and the system that produces the crap we intake. Documentaries like <em>Food Inc.</em> and <em>King Corn</em> scare us to the point where we realize we should probably be locavore vegans, but most of us don't actually take the leap. If you think maybe one more movie will help you out of your shit-eating ways, then you might want to check out the new food doc <em>Farmageddon</em>. Touching upon some of the points that <em>Food Inc.</em> revealed (i.e. the horrific state of farming in this country and the bureaucracy that traps farmers into working for conglomerates), the film further explores farmers' rights and the unreasonably burdensome regulations put upon them by corporations. Go watch it and feel ashamed about yourself.<br/><br/>Reviews have been all right, with Ernest Hardy from <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-07-06/film/farmageddon-what-you-are-eating-still-is-not-good/">The Voice</a> saying: "Writer-director Kristin Cantyâs <em>Farmageddon</em> joins recent documentaries like <em>Food, Inc.</em> and <em>King Corn</em> in sounding the alarm about what we eat and where it comes from. A lesser effort in the burgeoning canon, itâs still effective in its goals: illuminating how denigrated and dangerous our food supply is, while mapping out how local and federal governments, through a combination of ineptitude and corruption, work in concert to squelch consumer choice and steer us toward the foul output of industrial farms.<br/><br/>"These recountings start to blur into one another, which is both <em>Farmageddon</em>âs strength and weakness: You wish Canty had crafted the film in a way to underscore the danger in the pattern she uncovers, without getting bogged down in the repetition." </p>
<em>Flawless Victory!</em><br/><br/>Okay, so this is a random one, but tonight at <a href="http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_frameset.htm">Landmark Theater</a> Sunshine at Midnight presents <em>Mortal Kombat</em>. You young ones might not remember, but this video game was kind of a big deal in the early '90s and was pretty controversial, so they turned it into an awful movie, kind of like the <em>Resident Evil</em> films. If you're into kinda bad martial arts-type video game adaptation movies, than you might want to check it out.
<em>Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape! </em><br/><br/>Although it's being remade yet again, the original <em>Planet of the Apes</em> remains a classic and they're showing it this week at <a href="http://www.filmforum.org/films/planet.html">Film Forum</a>. Written by Rod Serling and starring a grizzly Charlton Heston, it's one of the best American Sci-Fi movies ever made and has one of the best endings ever. Go see it and than watch <em>The Simpsons</em> episode with <em>Planet of the Apes: The Musical</em>, that three minute segment is better than any remake or sequel in the franchise.