The Big Lebowski is exactly what the brothers Coen do best – a quirky film about morons. And what is The Dude if not a loveable moron? Set during the Golf War, The Big Lebowski is started by a tale of mistaken identity, that leads our main character into the role of armature gumshoe when the “big” Lebowski’s wife disappears and all The Dude wants is to get paid and bowl.
Robert Altman may have made movies that were about nothing in the sense that they were a slice of his characters life, but the it’s the Coen’s that have truly mastered the art of making films about nothing and The Big Lebowski is a classic example of this. A great many things occur in The Big Lebowski and yet a traditional, filmic plot never appears; in fact, evey event that should be a ground breaking plot point simply fizzles out and turns out to be less than important to the film as a whole. It’s beautiful, brilliant, hilarious and surprisingly hard to do well.
In a career or brilliant films and characters, Jeff Bridges fits The Dude perfectly. He is a joy to watch and after seeing him at awards shows for Crazy Heart I am pretty sure that one of the reasons The Dude seems so authentic is because Bridges is really that laid back and relaxed.
As amazing as The Dude is, for me Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) stole the show. Walter is The Dude’s best friend and a Vietnam War vet who wants to relate everything back to his time in Nam. He is loud, bostrious, angry and everything that you want a crazy Coen character to be. The only reason Goodman doesn’t steal Bridges’s scenes is because the Coen’s manage to raise the two consistently to the level of the other, playing off each other beautifully to create part of the magic of the world of The Big Lebowski.
Along with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, The Big Lebowski might hold some of my favorite narration in a film – ever. For no apparent reason the film is narrated by a cowboy patron of the bar at the bowling alley in the film, and he’s a narrator that looses his train of thought and admires The Dude for no other reason than he admires his style. It’s a fantastic way to open and close the film, rivaling the FBI officials in Burn After Reading.
The Big Lebowski is a cult classic for a reason. If like me, you’re a Coen fan that hasn’t seen it I highly recommend changing that. I did.
Directed & Written By: Joel & Ethan Coen
Jeffrey Lebowski/The Dude: Jeff Bridges
Walter Sobchak: John Goodman
Maude Lebowski: Julianne Moore
Donny: Steve Buscemi
Jeffrey Lebowski/The Big LEbowski: David Huddleston
Brandt: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Bunny Lebowski: Tara Reid
The Dude: And, you know, he's got emotional problems, man.
Walter Sobchak: You mean... beyond pacifism?
Showing posts with label john goodman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john goodman. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Princess and the Frog
Tiana is not a princess. She’s just a New Orleans girl who works hard for everything she has, and what she wants more than anything is to fulfill the dream she started with her father and open her very own restaurant in New Orleans. Just when it seems like Tiana will get her restaurant visiting Prince Naveen is turned into a frog and in a desperate hope of financial reward Tiana agrees to kiss him and turn him back into a human. However, the kiss does the opposite and when Tiana kisses Naveen she turns into a frog as well and together the two get lost in the bayou trying to outwit that Shadow Man and find a way to turn human again.
The Princess and the Frog is the first hand drawn Disney animation film in years and I personally was thrilled to see the beautiful images on screen. I think that Disney is hoping this film will do for their animation division what The Little Mermaid did for it years before, but even though The Princess & the Frog is stunning, I don’t think it’s the caliber of the Disney films from my childhood.
Besides the animation, what makes The Princess and the Frog unique is that it is a Disney film entirely affected by feminism. Tiana is a strong woman, independent and not looking for love – she’s a career woman. She works hard to get her restaurant and doesn’t like that Naveen hasn’t had to work for a thing and would rather kick back than put effort into something. What really works about Tianna is that she has to realize, like the modern feminist, that she needs to work hard, but she also needs to find time for the rest of the life she’s been ignoring. This is a feminist character that’s post-yuppie yet somehow ended up as an animated character in New Orleans in the early part of the twentieth century.
I have to say that my favorite character has to be Charlotte. She’s a spoiled little rich girl, but she is hysterical and as if her spunky yet spoiled attitude weren’t enough, her father is voiced by John Goodman and he is a fabulous doting father. I feel like I should be offended for white southerners because of Charlotte, but I just find her too adorable.
It was nice to see Disney return to hand drawn animation again and the visuals and music in The Princess & the Frog are stunning, but I don’t see Pixar or Dreamworks as being threatened. Those films are an entirely different form of animation from hand-drawn and just like stop-motion still exists, there will always be room for hand-drawn along with computer animation.
Directors: Ron Clements & John Musker
Writers: Ron Clements, John Musker & Rob Edwards
Tiana: Anika Noni Rose
Prince Naceen: Bruno Campos
Dr. Facilier: Keith David
Eudora: Oprah Winfrey
James: Terrence Howard
Big Daddy La Bouff: John Goodman
The Princess and the Frog is the first hand drawn Disney animation film in years and I personally was thrilled to see the beautiful images on screen. I think that Disney is hoping this film will do for their animation division what The Little Mermaid did for it years before, but even though The Princess & the Frog is stunning, I don’t think it’s the caliber of the Disney films from my childhood.
Besides the animation, what makes The Princess and the Frog unique is that it is a Disney film entirely affected by feminism. Tiana is a strong woman, independent and not looking for love – she’s a career woman. She works hard to get her restaurant and doesn’t like that Naveen hasn’t had to work for a thing and would rather kick back than put effort into something. What really works about Tianna is that she has to realize, like the modern feminist, that she needs to work hard, but she also needs to find time for the rest of the life she’s been ignoring. This is a feminist character that’s post-yuppie yet somehow ended up as an animated character in New Orleans in the early part of the twentieth century.
I have to say that my favorite character has to be Charlotte. She’s a spoiled little rich girl, but she is hysterical and as if her spunky yet spoiled attitude weren’t enough, her father is voiced by John Goodman and he is a fabulous doting father. I feel like I should be offended for white southerners because of Charlotte, but I just find her too adorable.
It was nice to see Disney return to hand drawn animation again and the visuals and music in The Princess & the Frog are stunning, but I don’t see Pixar or Dreamworks as being threatened. Those films are an entirely different form of animation from hand-drawn and just like stop-motion still exists, there will always be room for hand-drawn along with computer animation.
Directors: Ron Clements & John Musker
Writers: Ron Clements, John Musker & Rob Edwards
Tiana: Anika Noni Rose
Prince Naceen: Bruno Campos
Dr. Facilier: Keith David
Eudora: Oprah Winfrey
James: Terrence Howard
Big Daddy La Bouff: John Goodman
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Confessions of a Shopaholic
I’ve read the first three Shopaholic books and I love them. So when I found out Becky Bloomwood was coming to the big screen I was excited. However, while I was disappointed that the take of Becky Bloomwood from Sophie Kinsella’s books was not on the big screen the version of Becky Bloomwood that did arrive was an enjoyable romp.
Central to Kinsella’s books and the Bruckheimer version of Confessions of a Shopaholic is the relationship between Becky and Luke Brandon an American, London-raised playboy who somehow develops eyes for Becky even with her flaws on display. While I enjoyed the chemistry and cuteness on screen between Luke and Becky I do have to say that like so many other romantic films Shopaholic committed the cardinal sin of putting the lead characters in a relationship without proper motivation – there was simply the motivation of the writers/director to move the story to the next plot point so the characters have one moment then they kiss and badda-bing – relationship!
I loved Isla Fisher as Shopaholic’s Becky Bloomwood. She was cute, fashionable, bubbly and clicked with the Americanized version of the story. Isla’s personality helped the jokes to flow and provided the emotional crux of the movie.
While I was disappointed that the film wasn’t what I read in the books I still think that the movie was absolutely adorable. Confessions of a Shopaholic is Shopaholic for a American audience that wants to see a bubbly version of Sex & the City.
Director: P.J. Hogan
Writers: Tracey Jackson, Tim Firth & Kayla Alpert
Rebecca Bloomwood: Isla Fisher
Luke Brandon: Hugh Dancy
Suze: Krysten Ritter
Jane Bloomwood: Joan Cusack
Graham Bloomwood: John Goodman
Edgar West: John Lithgow
Alicia: Leslie Bibb
Central to Kinsella’s books and the Bruckheimer version of Confessions of a Shopaholic is the relationship between Becky and Luke Brandon an American, London-raised playboy who somehow develops eyes for Becky even with her flaws on display. While I enjoyed the chemistry and cuteness on screen between Luke and Becky I do have to say that like so many other romantic films Shopaholic committed the cardinal sin of putting the lead characters in a relationship without proper motivation – there was simply the motivation of the writers/director to move the story to the next plot point so the characters have one moment then they kiss and badda-bing – relationship!
I loved Isla Fisher as Shopaholic’s Becky Bloomwood. She was cute, fashionable, bubbly and clicked with the Americanized version of the story. Isla’s personality helped the jokes to flow and provided the emotional crux of the movie.
While I was disappointed that the film wasn’t what I read in the books I still think that the movie was absolutely adorable. Confessions of a Shopaholic is Shopaholic for a American audience that wants to see a bubbly version of Sex & the City.
Director: P.J. Hogan
Writers: Tracey Jackson, Tim Firth & Kayla Alpert
Rebecca Bloomwood: Isla Fisher
Luke Brandon: Hugh Dancy
Suze: Krysten Ritter
Jane Bloomwood: Joan Cusack
Graham Bloomwood: John Goodman
Edgar West: John Lithgow
Alicia: Leslie Bibb
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