Wonder Boys

I first saw Wonder Boys my senior year of high school; I hadn’t realized that movies were my future yet, I just thought they were an amazing way to pass time and the video store was a great way to earn my first pay check. Yet, when I saw Wonder Boys it was the first film that really affected me on an artistic level. The film is a rich story full of flawed characters that was somehow the most exaggerated and most real film I had ever seen.

Grady Tripp teaches graduate students how to write the next great American novel; he’s qualified for his because eight years ago he wrote the great American novel…and he hasn’t finished a novel since. Grady doesn’t know what to do to get out of his funk and he finally has to confront it in one weekend when His university is having it’s writers gala, his editor Crabtree is flying in to check on his novel, his wife leaves him, his girlfriend tells him she’s pregnant and two of his students test his limits. Finally, the past eight years come flying into Grady’s present and he has to decide for his life and his novel – where does it go?

The saddest thing about Wonder Boys is not the sorted tales of Grady Tripp, but the serious lack of Oscar attention it received. This film should have garnered nominations for most of the actors, Curtis Hanson and basically the main awards; instead, the film was only nominated for editing, adapted screenplay and won the Oscar for best original song. This film was one of the best of 2000, and though the critics loved it the film went wholly unrewarded.

I have to say that the most spectacular aspect of Wonder Boys has got to be the writing. If you want to see a movie that has a brilliant yet subtlety intricate plot and dialogue that will make you laugh at the witty awkwardness of the characters Wonder Boys is the movie for you. This film is a unique slice of life and every character and situation, twist, and turn serves to move the characters further down their character arch into the plots stunning conclusion. This movie is a must-see for any perspective director or writer, as it can be studied as a nearly perfect film.

Director: Curtis Hanson
Writer: Steve Kloves
Grady Tripp: Michael Douglas
James Leer: Tobey Maguire
Sara Gaskell: Frances McDormand
Terry Crabtree: Robert Downey Jr.
Hannah Green: Katie Holmes

Vernon Hardapple: Why did you keep writing this book if you didn't even know what it was about?
Grady Tripp: I couldn't stop.

The Singing Detective

Dan Dark is a novelist trapped in a clinic treating his severe case of psoriasis which leave shim unable to move almost any part of his body without severe pain. The disease has made Dan true to his name; he is mad at the world, thinks his wife is cheating on him and trying to take him for his money, and suffers from intense paranoia. In an effort to escape the prison of his body Dan’s imagination has taken over and he see’s the fantasy of what he thinks is going on in his life with his wife and doctors, and in his imagination he is the fictional persona from his book, the singing detective.

One of my favorite things about The Singing Detective is the visual style of the film. There are three separate worlds in the movie and Keith Gordon creates a distinct style for each yet somehow manages to stitch them all into one cohesive whole. The colors and lighting in The Singing Detective are a thing of beauty.

I must also complement Robert Downey Jr. Keith Gordon came to my class in college and spoke about working with Downey in this movie; The Singing Detective was Downey’s first starring role in a film since his jail sentence and producer Mel Gibson and Gordon had to fight to get Downey cast as the lead. However, their insistence paid off and Downey gives a memorable and moving performance as the paranoid Dan Dark.

The Singing Detective is a multi-layered movie, and is very different. Keith Gordon made a quirky film about a man trying to figure himself out and it is quite the experience to watch.

Director: Keith Gordon
Writer: Dennis Potter
Dan Dark: Robert Downey Jr.
Nicola: Robin Wright Penn
Dr. Gibbon: Mel Gibson
Mark Binney: Jeremy Northam
Nurse Mills: Katie Holmes
First Hood: Adrien Brody
Second Hood: Jon Polito
Betty Dark: Carla Gugino

Dan Dark: Are you pretending to be an oddball or are you actually nuts?

Batman Begins

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Originally uploaded by El Seguidor Del Metodo

I’ve been anticipating The Dark Knight for months and finally couldn’t take it anymore; since I don’t get The Dark Knight for two more weeks I watched Batman Begins. It is a testament to the skills of everyone involved in that film that it is just as enjoyable on the first viewing as it is the tenth viewing (though I am probably far past the 10th viewing as I saw it four times in the theatre alone).

As I know that her character has been recast, I inadvertently paid the most attention to the performance of Katie Holmes as Rachel. While I do like Katie Holmes, and don’t mind her performance in the film, I am genuinely excited that Maggie Gyllenhaal has stepped in to take on Rachel Dawes. Perhaps it is only that Katie Holmes “private” life has overshadowed the character, but in the whole film the only thing that seems to pull me out is Katie Holmes. I look at her and I see Tom Cruise jumping on a couch, or the happy couple toting baby Suri around, or Katie on Jay Leno saying she hopes War of the Worlds beats Batman Begins opening weekend. Katie Holmes just seems a little too light in such a dark world.

What also stood out to me was Gary Oldman. For years in the film franchise starting with the Tim Burton Batman, Jim Gordon was never right. They portrayed him as fat, sloppy and the cheesiest/stereotypical police officer ever who managed to become chief of police. The Commissioner Gordon that I knew in the comic books was lean, mean and would kick the ass of anyone who put a toe out of line; he was constantly thankful for what Batman could do and afraid of what Batman might be capable of. Gary Oldman embodies this in every way. He is how Gordon should be.

I could go on boring you all with my thoughts on the geek perfect storm that is Batman Begins for quite awhile; however, as The Dark Knight is just around the corner, I’ll wait for that one.

Bruce Wayne: Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.