Flick of The Day: George Harrison Living in the Material World

The Beatles are one of the cultural touchstones of the 20th Century and their story has been told many times across numerous formats. It is refreshing then for director Martin Scorsese to look at this in a different light by examining the life and times of perhaps the most interesting member of the group, George Harrison in his new documentary Living in the Material World, which is today's flick of the day.

Living in the Material World

Music, and particularly that which he enjoyed in the 60's and 70's has long been an important part of the work of Martin Scorsese. There is an obvious love there for his favourite artists which comes through in his use of music. This passion is put to good use in this enjoyable and in depth look at George Harrison's life. It opens with his youth in Liverpool, a warm and loving family upon which he built his life. Moving on to his life with the Beatles, we see in depth how it shaped him as a man. Each of The Beatles look impossibly young at the beginning and haggard by the end, perhaps a metaphor for their time together. It becomes apparent that it was but a small part of Harrison's life. For his part, he set out to live his life in a spiritual manner and his life after The Beatles was at the heart of this. Scorsese is at pains to emphasise this aspect of his life and it shines through as the strongest aspect of the film. 

If Harrison had a credo, it was to live life to the fullest and just the once. He would probably have no time at all for people sitting around dissecting his every decision. However, this is the level of depth the documentary goes into without really giving us great insight. There is a wealth of footage, and any fan will find much to enjoy as each major event is well documented and ultimately what you are left with is a portrait of a man who lived life to the full, made the best of his gifts and was rich in friends. The number of people who speak of their love for George is an incredible cross section of talented individuals. From Eric Clapton to The Pythons to Jackie Stewart, he seemed to attract people from all walks of life.

All in all, this is a worthy look at an interesting man and if the picture has a flaw, it is that despite all of the footage and the interviews and an obvious attempt to examine his spirituality, you aren't left with a complete portrait. Yet it comes in at over 3 hours and 20 minutes running time, leaving you with a feeling that focusing on less in more detail might have created a fuller portrait of the man. That said, there is much here to enjoy and Scorsese seems to really care about Harrison, rarely is their a negative word about the man. We never really examine his heavy drug use post The Beatles and rarely are events stitched together with the kind of cogency required of great documentaries. However, it is fascinating all the same and well worth a look.

Flick of The Day: Man on the Moon

It is 27 years since celebrated American comedian and performer Andy Kaufman passed away aged 35. By an conventional measures, Kaufman was an oddity. Not really a comedian, indeed it was a tag Kaufman himself shunned, his often bizarre performances combined music and outlandish complex practical jokes that only he was in on. His life story was made into a film starring Jim Carrey, Man on the Moon, which is today's flick of the day.

Man on the Moon

It would be hard to find an actor more suited to portraying somebody as wilfully different as Kaufman than Jim Carrey. Carrey long known for his rubber faced comedic roles, gives his best performance in a serious role by becoming fully immersed in the all too brief life and times of this American icon. The film skirts all the major incidents in Kaufman's life, from his beginning as an improvisational stand up that didn't do jokes to his elevation to Saturday Night Live and the incredibly popular sitcom Taxi, a role incidentally which Kaufman detested. It is a classic tale of rise and fall, Kaufman was the kind of performer whose style boggled the minds of your average audience in the late 70's and early 80's and as his performances became more outlandish, his star waned. Perhaps best remembered for his wrestling matches and feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler, the film reveals that it was another one of Andy's in-jokes and that he and Lawler were firm friends. For a man so in love with life, it was a tragic end when he succumbed to cancer.

While Carrey's is a justly lauded performance, this is a fine cast all round. Courtney Love continues on from her fine work in The People Vs Larry Flynt as Kaufman's devoted partner, reminding us all that once upon a time she was more than the perpetually addled widow of Kurt Cobain. Kaufman's former Taxi colleague Danny DeVito is equally strong as the manager who made him a star while Paul Giamatti shines as his comrade in arms.

Andy Kaufman: You don't know the real me. 

Lynne Margulies: There isn't a real you. 

Andy Kaufman: Oh yeah, I forgot

The film eschews any attempt to get to the bottom of why Kaufman was man he was in favour of a run through of his life. This lack of insight lets down the hard work put in by Jim Carrey, though it is hard to critique too much given that he never wrote about himself or revealed very much during his life. 

Perhaps the most poignant moment of the film is the night when Saturday Night Live hold a phone poll to decide whether Andy would be allowed to return to the who and he loses. The film-makers play around with history, with the implication being that his fellow cast members did not want him back though as Eddie Murphy put it on the night:

"Now Andy Kaufman is a friend of mine. Keep that in mind when you call. I don't want to have to punch nobody in America in the face"

Ultimately this is a tale of regret, of a life cut short in the prime. Those who burn brightest, burn the shortest. That said, the film is genuinely funny and at times I felt baffled by the audiences who would stare agog at Kaufman's antics and not see the joke in front of them. Perhaps he would have found a deeper and longer lasting fame in the modern world where increasingly bizarre is the new normal.

A worthy film about the life of an extraordinary man, this is definitely worthy of your time for the performances alone. Of the man himself, perhaps comedian Richard Lewis summed him up best:

"No one has ever done what Andy did, and did it as well, and no one will ever. Because he did it first. So did Buster Keaton, so did Andy"

Flick of The Day: Barney's Version

Last week we reviewed Sideways starring Paul Giamatti, which was an adaptation of a 2004 novel by Rex Pickett. Today's flick of the day is another Giamatti film and another literary adaptation, Barney's Version. Based on the celebrated work by Canadian author Mordechai Richler, it is a story of some breadth and humour.

Barney's Version

Giamatti is Barney Panofsky, a Canadian Jew who is recounting his life story to us in flashbacks as his mind falters in old age. It begins as a young man in Rome in the '70s where he hangs out with a loose group of arty intellectual friends while he works as a salesman. We see his doomed first marriage to the mentally unstable Clara, his return to Montreal to become a low rent TV producer and his equally unstable second marriage to the bitchy princess referred to only as The Second Wife and played ably by Minnie Driver. He has the misfortune of meeting and falling for the love of his life Miriam at his marriage ceremony. As he extricates himself and pursues Miriam, he is accused of the murder of his best friend who goes missing though there is no evidence of this. Throughout all this his endearing working class father Izzy, played by Dustin Hoffman stands by him and is always there to offer sound advice. As we see Barney in old age, his good humour and a life well lived carry the film through.

The dry humour of Richler's novel really shines through as the film takes a satirical look at Montreal's Jewish community. In Giamatti, they have the perfect actor to play Barney. With anyone else, Barney could come across as a bit of a depressive and Giamatti really drags the life of the character to the fore, something important in a biographical tale. Barney is passionate in his pursuit of Miriam and loves her to the very end, he enjoys a fine cigar and a drop of whiskey and is religious about the ups and downs of his favourite ice hockey team.

Barney Panofsky: ...and I'm just gonna keep talking here, 'cause I'm afraid that if I stop there's gonna be a pause or a break and you're gonna say 'It's getting late' or 'I should get going', and I'm not ready for that to happen. I don't want that to happen. Ever.  
 [they pause]  
 Miriam: There it was. The pause. 
 Barney Panofsky: Yeah.  
 Miriam: I'm still here.

The film is a love story and a life story and as Barney moves from the vitality of his youth to the complacency of middle age and ultimately his mental decline, the film becomes less humorous and more sentimental. This is not meant as a criticism however as it never wallows in it and yes when Barney's end comes, it is sad and a downbeat ending but ultimately the message comes through that Barney gave life his all and enjoyed himself.. This is a powerful lesson and a satisfying ending.

Miriam: We can be friends now, can't we?  

 Barney Panofsky: No. We can't.  

 Miriam: I'm here for you if you'll let me. We had a beautiful marriage, but it's over. I want you to be at peace with that.  

 Barney Panofsky: Have I ever given up when it comes to you?  

 Miriam: Never.  

 Barney Panofsky: So what makes you think I would start now?

In the end, this is a very good film and a worthy adaptation. Giamatti dominates the picture and quite rightly won a Golden Globe for his performance. Dustin Hoffman deserves plaudits for his down to earth portrayal of Izzy. Funny, poignant and true, this is as good a story as you will see all year. Giamatti's performance is such that you can't but fall for him and care about the decisions he makes, genuinely hoping for the best. That is film-making.

Flick of The Day: Akira

When I began writing the Daily Flick almost a year ago, I had two main aims. Firstly, I would attempt to review and recommend a film a day and as anyone who has read the blog will attest, I have been less than successful. Today's film is number 139 if you are interested. My second aim was to try and include as diverse a range of cinema as possible. This has been more successful as I have touched on innumerable genres and style of film making and included as much foreign language cinema as I felt necessary. However, there is one area in which I have been remiss for it is not a genre I am overly familiar with, Japanese Anime. Today's flick of the day is Akira.

Akira

A touchstone for the genre and perhaps the most influential example of its breadth, Akira is based on the manga series of the same name by Katsuhiro Otomo. In a post apocalyptic Neo Tokyo in the year 2019, a group of young bikers stumble across a government research project. Tetsuo, a disgruntled and oddly independent member of the gang becomes imbued with strange telekinetic powers of an insidious nature. These powers are linked to the government project centred on a being called Akira. As the military pursue Tetsuo and the energy source begins to take him over, we learn the dark secret at the heart of it and of the reconstruction of Japan after the last war.

Darkly atmospheric and highly stylised, Akira is a joy to watch with the stunningly rendered skyline of Neo Tokyo dominating many scenes and a level of detail in the animation not normally seen in anime of this time. The storyline is at times overly complex and perhaps too overwrought for an adult audience to truly engage with it. This not the point however, let the story flow over you and indulge yourself in the bright colours and textures of the animation. The first fully realised anime picture with long drawn out scenes and lip synced dialogue in the original Japanese version, for anyone with even a passing interest in the genre, it is a real must see. For those with little or no knowledge of the subject, it is a fine jumping off point. 

One of the main critiques of the film would be its attempt to condense a six volume comic with over 2,000 pages into a two hour film. This is perhaps the reason for the dense plotting which can be difficult to follow. Perhaps the film deserves credit for attempting to tell such a lengthy story but it doesn't quite manage it. It is perhaps telling that the long rumoured and always obligatory Pointless American Live Action Remake or P.A.L.A.R for short is to be split into two films.

All in all, this is an excellent example of Japanese anime and  many Western fans initiation to the genre.Its success upon release in 1988 created a market for anime in the West that has only grown since then. The works of artists like Miyazaki and Otomo has gradually become more well known since with Miyazaki's Spirited Away winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2002. Even for those with little or no knowledge of anime like myself, there is much to enjoy. 

Flick of The Day: Mystery, Alaska

Sport is one of those subjects which is perfectly suited to the big screen, full of natural drama and high and lows which lend themselves to the cinematic arts. Some sports are of course more suited then others with Boxing being the most overly mined since the days of silent cinema. As noted in our review of When Saturday Comes, a good rule of thumb is that the less sporting action on screen, the better the film works as a piece of drama or comedy. The most successful sporting dramas have been those which dealt with more obscure sports or aspects of sport such as Chariots of Fire, Field of Dreams and This Sporting Life. In this vein then, is this obscure enough ice hockey drama, Mystery Alaska, which never received a cinematic release on this side of the bond and yet is strangely compelling and today's flick of the day.

Mystery Alaska

Starring Russell Crowe, as a Sheriff in a small town in Alaska devoted to its ice hockey team above all other considerations. Every Saturday, they play off against each other in their "Saturday Game". After 13 years on the team, Crowe's John Biebe is dropped in favour of a younger player however after a magazine article highlights their prowess and leads to a challenge match against the much vaunted New York Rangers, John is called back to coach the team and defend the town's honour. John's fellow townsfolk are rounded out by a fine supporting cast including the always entertaining Colm Meaney as the Mayor and a remarkably restrained Burt Reynolds as the Judge. 

While by no means a classic, there is much to enjoy here with some fine turns from the ensemble cast. This is perhaps the real flaw of the film, there are so many characters and treads to the storyline that we never really get to see anyone in much detail. There is a brief interlude about Meaney's philandering wife, another section with a player on trial, Crowe's worries about his wife's wandering eye, all too brief. However the film is held together by the classic tale of the underdog. It's David v  Goliath on a frozen pond.

Donna Biebe: Every ex-player turned coach says that they prefer coaching over playing. Why would they all say that?
John Biebe: Because they can't play.

All in all, the film makes the best of what it has going for it. A fine cast make the best of a limited script with Crowe being his reliable action man self and Meaney batting it straight as the Mayor. Shot on location in Alaska, there is some fine scenery on show and while the film is guilty of the usual Hollywood portrayal of small towns, it is at least a flattering one rather than some Deliverance parody. And yes that is Mike Myers in a blink and you will miss it cameo role and yes Little Richard does sing the national anthem. Draw your own conclusions.

Flick of The Day: Sideways

Paul Giamatti is perhaps my favourite actor working in American cinema today. From small roles in blockbusters to the quirky star of independent films like American Splendor, he has built a reputation as talented actor with a no nonsense attitude to work. This has seen him work with some of the best and the worst of Hollywood, from George Clooney to Martin Lawrence, Today's flick of the day is one of his best performances, Alexander Payne's Sideways.

Sideways

Failed novelist Miles, played by Giamatti, is a long suffering friend of Jack, played by Thomas Haden Church an equally failed TV actor. Jack is getting married on Saturday and for his final week as a batchelor, Miles is taking him on a trip around Californian wine country. Both have different motivations for going on the trip with a depressed Miles looking to relax and Jack more concerned with sowing those last few oats. Before long they meet two interesting new women, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh. As the week progresses, they have to reassess their own relationship and their lives as they look toward the oncoming train of middle age.

For a film about something generally considered as a downer topic, dealing with growing up and old, this is a very funny film at times. This is largely because of the fine chemistry between the leads. Giamatti brings a dark manic streak to Miles, and you can sense that a breakdown is only ever just below the surface. Haden Church is the perfect foil as the unbelievably crass and conniving Jack. 

Jack: If they want to drink Merlot, we're drinking Merlot. 

Miles Raymond: No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!

There is something about sad sack characters that brings out the best in Giamatti as an actor. Who could forget his equally entertaining portrayal of cartoonist Harvey Pekar in American Splendor?

Like so many of Alexander Payne's films, it is held together by some great dialogue which draws such performances from the cast. Madsen and Oh are no less interesting for being out of the films spotlight, in a particularly fine scene they each explain their love of wine and how it has shaped their life.

" I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline."

The rise and fall of a good wine is surely a metaphor for life itself with its peaks and troughs. If there is another important character in the film, it is the Californian countryside. The vineyard lined roads and the sun dappled fields are at the heart of the story as these people enjoy one last week of fun in this modern Eden.

A really lovely film, it is a fine portrayal of male friendship and of the perils of growing old or in Jack's case of never growing up in the first place. It is worth the price of admission for the early morning burglary scene alone. It is moving at times and you would have to have a hard heart not to fall for the characters. Each actor went on to bigger things and it was very much a stepping stone movie. Haden Church and Madsen were both nominated for Oscars and Sandra Oh became a TV star with Greys Anatomy. All in all, a film you just have to see.

Flick of The Day: Midnight In Paris

The Daily Flick is a big fan of Woody Allen having previously reviewed three of his classics Hannah & Her Sisters, Radio Days and Manhattan. It would be fair to say that the 70's and 80's were Allen's creative heyday before he entered a largely barren period in the 90's. Thankfully, the last few years have seen a return to form with 2005's London set Match Point being followed by a string of successes like Vicky Christina Barcelona, Whatever Works, and today's flick of the day and his biggest hit ever, Midnight in Paris.

Midnight in Paris

Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams are a young couple tagging along on a business trip in Paris with McAdams parents. Wilson is Gil, a bored Hollywood screenwriter who dreams of moving to Paris to be a novelist and McAdams is his vacuous fiancée Inez. Inez has no time for Gil's fantasy of living in Paris in the 1920's, an era he feels is Paris at its best. Her parents are equally disapproving, a fine waspish turn from Mimi Kennedy as her Mother and a hilariously right wing Kurt Fuller as her father. While sightseeing they bump into some of Inez friends including Michael Sheen as a boorish and pedantic academic who delights in taking pot-shots at Gil while talking at length. Gil manages to extricate himself from this group and walk the streets of Paris as night falls. As the clock strikes midnight, a 1920's car pulls up and he is beckoned inside by the revellers. Much to his surprise it is F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda and they take him on a tour of the bohemian nightspots of 1920's Paris. Along the way he meets Hemingway and Cole Porter and before the night is out has a promise from Hemingway to have Gertrude Stein played by the always watchable Kathy Bates read his novel. Gil begins to spend each night wandering Paris until at midnight he is dragged off to his fantasy much to the displeasure of Inez. He soon meets Picasso and Salvador Dali and his quirky friends, while the music plays and the night is young. He meets and gradually falls for a beautiful young woman played by Marion Cotillard. Soon he is faced with the choice of staying in his fantasy or coming back to reality.

The really enjoyable part of this film is, apart from the many fine performances, is the nostalgia for Paris in the 1920's. The city of light is lit up by the stars of the jazz age like Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Cole Porter. They are as witty and charming as you had hoped and Owen Wilson's fumbling naturalness carries him along. You can just sit there and let this wash over you and yet if anything the heart of the story is a warning about the perils of too much nostalgia. As Wilson's Gil gets dragged into his favourite period at the expense of his present, it becomes apparent that people are always harking back to a golden age. Marion Cotillard's Adriana longs for the Paris of the 1890's, La Belle Epoque while Gauguin and Degas long for the Renaissance. The lesson is that people long for the past to escape their present.

There is much to admire here and it is surely one of Allen's funniest comedies in years with a number of knowing references to his homeland of today,

Gil: I would like you to read my novel and get your opinion. 

Ernest Hemingway: I hate it. 

Gil: You haven't even read it yet. 

Ernest Hemingway: If it's bad, I'll hate it. If it's good, then I'll be envious and hate it even more. You don't want the opinion of another writer.

Overall, it is the film's feel good atmosphere that carries it along,the historical figures welcome Gil with open arms. It is always a pleasure to see Paris on screen and even the message of the film is told subtly and gently.

In conclusion then, its a fine film, perhaps Woody Allen's best in many a year. A bright and funny script leads you into the romance of Paris and there are some fine turns from Wilson, Cotillard and Kathy Bates. Well worth a look.