With Taking Woodstock, Director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) takes us back to August of 1969, for a behind the scenes look at the infamous concert known as Woodstock, where thirty-two of the biggest acts of the time performed to an audience of over 500,000.
This isn't a film about the concert itself, rather than events leading up to the infamous three days.
It follows Elliot Teichberg (Demitri Martin) as he attempts to help his parents save their family business, as well as help get a local theatre troupe off the ground.
Teichberg holds his own small scale music festival every year, so when he gets word that a large outdoor concert that was scheduled not far away has been cancelled, he recognizes a business opportunity, contacts the promoters and the seeds for Woodstock are planted.
A word of warning though: if you're hoping to see footage of Joplin, Hendricks, and The Who, you'll be sadly disappointed.
Lee slides past some of the biggest names on the bill, to hit all the right chords with his awesome soundtrack that includes Richie Havens, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Ultimate Spinach, Arlo Guthrie, and a host of others that give the film a truly original feel.
Lee attempts a fresh take on a very old subject, and the result is lovely.
Avy Kaufman does an amazing job with the casting.
Imelda Staunton delivers an exceptional performance as the intensely hilarious Sonia Teichberg, Leiv Schreiber strikes the perfect balance with his character Vilma, and Eugene Levy as Max Yasgur, right on! Jonathan Groff (Michael Lang) and Paul Dano (guy in VWvan) deliver smaller yet poignant performances. We'll be sure see a whole lot more of them in the future.
Huge kudos to the production design, set decoration, and costume design teams. Not an easy job by any stretch, but they captured this era down to the last fringe, giving the film that extra credibility.
Taking Woodstock may not be the rock and roll film the title suggests, but it's an entertaining, uplifting film that satisfies on so many other accounts.
moot or hooey?
Jonathan Groff has never acted before but he's written a multitude of stuff for the TV industry.
Quentin Tarantino has done it again.
At least that's what many have been saying.
Tarantino is known for his edgy, gloriously gory revenge fantasies, and his latest work, Inglourious Basterds, delivers on all accounts.
What it doesn't deliver however, is a great film, and for someone who's a big Tarantino fan, this is extremely disappointing.
Christoph Waltz is uncanny. He absolutely steals the entire film with his take on the brilliant and chillingly sinister Col. Hans Landa. Melanie Laurent (Shosanna) and Diane Kruger (Bridget) are both awesome and believable. And we don't see nearly enough of the amazing Til Schweiger as the brooding Sgt. Hugo Stiglits.
However, Eli Roth should never have been cast in this film, the talented Mike Myers was wasted entirely, and Brad Pitt, though I didn't mind his acting, sounded like he'd stepped out of a Three Stooges film.
It's like Tarantino couldn't quite figure out what he wanted to do. Like he had three different films he wanted to make, couldn't decide which one to focus on, so threw them all together.
Having said that, the biggest beef lay with the platform he chose.
Who was he making this film for?
Does he expect his audience and cheer at the slaughter of the Nazis?
Wouldn't that parallel them to the nauseating Nazi audience watching the “hero's” film?
Tarantino missed the mark this time around. His films are generally enjoyable for what they are, and yes, it's a well written revenge fantasy, but this one blended in a very real piece of history that doesn't work at all with his genre of film.
It was presumptuous and sad. And at 2hrs and 33 minutes, much much too long.
moot or hooey?
Christoph Waltz won best actor at Cannes, and is short listed for an Academy Award.
what would you do if someone handed you 30 million dollars and said “here, make a movie, and do whatever you want”?
Peter Jackson did just that for lucky up and coming director Neill Blomkamp, and boy did he deliver.
Blomkamp's highly anticipated action film, is a captivating 151 minutes of onscreen magic.
Co-written by Blomkamp and writing partner Terri Tatchell, District 9 is a compelling original story that will keep you at the edge of your seat.
28 years ago a space ship settles over Johannesburg. Three months later, humans find a way to penetrate the ship and discover close to a million starving aliens. Not knowing what to do, the government cloisters them in an area they name District 9.
Almost three decades later, the area has become a slum filled with violence and corruption.
The film opens as a documentary following our protagonist Wikus (Sharlto Copely) on the first day of his newly appointed assignment of heading the government's resettlement of the aliens 200 kilometers outside, and out of sight, of the city.
Part of the “resettlment” includes the searching for and collecting of weapons.
Things go horribly wrong for Wikus when he discovers a mysterious vial of fluid. He accidentally sprays himself with what turns out to be DNA altering liquid.
Now everyone wants a piece of him and the film turns into a massive manhunt.
There are definitely a lot of things to keep us talking about this film for a very long time.
Most notably Sharlto Copely. He glides in and steals the film completely. Not bad for someone who never aspired to be an actor.
The story does take it's liberties with a few borrowed ideas:
-Pairing an alien with a human to make a commentary on racism (Alien Nation).
-Wikus pulling off his fingernails (The Fly)
-The larger than life exoskeleton (Aliens)
And it's not without its flaws and plot holes:
-Where were the female aliens?
-Why didn't he just tell the gangster how he got the arm?
-Inter galaxy prostitution? You saw that guy pee, right?
-Wikus thought he'd hop in the space ship and figure out how to fly it as he went along?
This is an ambitious film, to say the least. The topics it touches on are innumerable and difficult, and certainly unsolvable in 151 minutes, regardless of the amount of CGI.
Take it for what it is, and go see District 9!
You're going to want to have seen it on the big screen. Especially once the sequel comes out. And there will be a sequel. In about three years.
moot or hooey?
Sharlto Copely was a film producer who Blomkamp roped into playing the lead after he used Copely a couple of times as a stand in.
