theprovinces-1 Reviews

Paul Williams: Still Alive (2011)

Amazing Subject, Beyond Annoying "Filmmaker"

[4/10 · 28 January 2013]

Whether realized or not, Paul Williams has had a tremendous musical impact on my generation. Easily the redeeming factor of this film are the juxtapositions of Williams in his heyday and Williams today.

The documentary is populated with gasp-inducing ("I remember that!" "I saw that when it aired!") moments, terrific vintage clips, and good interviews, especially with his long-time band leader.

Williams comes off completely accessible and a very self-aware guy. The tragedy of this entire project is the fact that the person at the film's helm is Stephen Kessler, who is intrusive, obnoxious, paranoid, xenophobic, and, most of all, so self-absorbed that every action Williams makes (a tour of Vegas, to the Philippines, etc.) is about him. Not 30 flippin' seconds go by in this documentary, where Kessler isn't self-referential.

Williams is shockingly gracious despite Kessler's repeated attempts at "gotcha" moments. Kessler is so arrogant that he actually interrupts Williams' poignant childhood memory. He's the kind of "reporter" (term used very loosely) who isn't listening to his subject. Kessler has an agenda, and no matter how many times he refers to Williams as his "idol," that agenda is a despicable one. Kessler's "fame" (Oscar for a short film) wasn't even a blip on the entertainment scene and he is determined to make this film about him.

If only Kessler had used this amazing opportunity to showcase Williams -- who is certainly as interesting and engaging as he'd been at the height of his fame -- this could have been a very remarkable film portrait. It wouldn't even have had to be a tribute; Williams shows moments of curmudgeonly behavior (and really, who wouldn't be, in Kessler's presence), but Williams' humor and undeniable talent deserve a showcase.

Kessler repeatedly (and cringing-ly) keeps asking questions that are the equivalent of "how does it feel to have been so famous and to become so irrelevant?" The truly horrible moment is when Kessler (who clearly has been chomping at the bit, stalking Williams for two years for this opportunity) makes Williams awkwardly and uncomfortably sit through a late 70s-vintage television clip of a clearly high, Williams hosting the "Mike Douglas Show."

Kessler wants to make a film about himself, and frame it with a compelling subject like Williams. For Williams -- who generously consented to Kessler's cameras AND provided him with boxes of videos for the documentary (without these contributions there would be absolutely no film) -- this film provides a reminder of Williams. But he deserves so much better.

Mansfield Park (1983)

Faithful to novel, Le Trouzel embodies Fanny

[8/10 · 9 January 2013]

Indeed, this 1983 version is "dated" as are other BBC/ITV productions of the time -- this is especially notable when compared to, for example, the Keira Knightley-version of "Pride & Prejudice," which is lush and beautifully shot.

However, this mini-series has the luxury of time (as it is episodic) and is able to convey the finer points of the novel missed in director Patricia Rozema's 1999's "deconstructed" version and the lively (but far less faithful) 2007 Billie Piper version (in which very pretty and likable, but inconceivably blonde-haired and dark-browed, Piper is constantly running and giggling throughout the Bertram estate).

Three sisters have married. Mrs. Price married for love, to an uneducated and poor naval fellow, and has borne him eight children, and they live in squalor, in Portsmouth. Her sister, Mrs. Norris, married a clergyman and they live on or near the estate of yet another sister, Lady Bertram, who, in turn, has married very well, and has four children, two boys, Tom and Edmund and two girls, Maria and Julia with her husband, a baronet, Lord Bertram.

Mrs. Norris -- for reasons not entirely clear, although likely to give the appearance of having a charitable nature -- has convinced her wealthy brother-in-law and sister to take in their unfortunate sister's oldest daughter, Fanny. Fanny grows up at Mansfield Park, always aware she's the family's "poor relation." Her affection for her cousin Edmund is at the core of Austen's love story.

The acting in the mini-series is really excellent and Sylvestra LeTouzel is really Fanny, as Austen describes her in the original novel. LeTouzel is actually quite beautiful, fragile and yet resilient.

Anna Massey's Mrs. Norris, too, embodies Austen's Mrs. Norris, without being so overtly hostile, from start to finish, as Maggie O'Neill's, in the 2007 version. Massey's role is much more substantial than future Mrs. Norris's are given and she is well up to the task. Villainy is much more credible when it is more cloying and subtle as Massey plays her.

There's a good deal of hostility towards Anna Pleasence's performance as Lady Bertram, and, unfortunately, I must jump on that bandwagon, too.

I love Jemma Redgrave's Lady Bertram in the 2007 version, although Redgrave's Lady Bertram is probably a good deal more observant and present than Austen's Lady Bertram.

Pleasence's performance, whether a personal acting choice, or one dictated by the director, is a challenge to watch, as it pulls the viewer out of story. It's simply odd. Her delivery consists of an extremely affected high-pitched voice and thumb-sucking (yes, really!). Some have mentioned her Lady Bertram seems medicated, but she actually comes across as touched/special/mentally deficient, and it defies credulity that Lord Bertram would marry her and that she would subsequently be running an estate like Mansfield Park (although the argument might be that Mrs. Norris does a good deal of the "running," with Lady Bertram as merely a figure head.

Pleasence's vocal stylings are reminiscent of Shirley Henderson's as "Moaning Myrtle" in "Harry Potter," but without Myrtle's wit and passion.

Christopher Villiers and Jackie Smith-Wood, as Tom Bertram and Mary Crawford, are very, very good, and, like Massey's Mrs. Norris and LeTouzel's Fanny, offer up performances that are clearly what Austen intended for the characters.

Samantha Bond, as Maria Bertram Rushworth, is very pretty and excellent and does offer up a hint of what she'll bring 30 years later to "Downton Abbey."

This is probably not a story for everyone, but essential for an Austen fan.

Caffeine (2006)

Be Caffeine Free

[3/10 · 16 May 2008]

If screenwriter Dean Craig was a friend of yours you'd be quite hard pressed to find something nice to say (because of course, you could never tell him the truth, which is that Caffeine is a pretty awful movie.

There is a reason why nearly everyone who's commented on the film makes reference to the bad British accents put on by the American actors, most notably Mena Suvari and Mark Pellegrino. What's truly frightening is that the IMDb references the latter as an acting teacher and his performance is the most over-the-top in a film full of forced situations and performances. And this includes Callum Blue who, while adorable, is playing his Mason from "Dead Like Me," which probably would've fine if he'd been given better lines (and situations).

Surprisingly, the most spot-on accent is done by one of the lesser-known actors, actor Mike Vogel (who Dean on "Grounded for Life"). Katherine Heigl's accent is actually not bad (and certainly far superior to Suvari's and Pellegrino's). Roz Witt's, too, is terrible. It was quite smart of Breckin Meyer to just be American.

It's the film's weakest element -- the idea of insisting it be set in a London restaurant, when it could be set anywhere, especially where the weaker American actors could focus on their performances rather than a wobbly accent. Repeatedly throwing in a "bloody," "shag," "knickers," "shat," or "fancy," just isn't enough to effectively establish this as London.

From the opening scene, it's obvious that this was filmed in Los Angeles. Every outdoor shot has the same two old-school Brit Taxi and Double Decker bus passing back and forth. All three vehicles are preserved like they've been borrowed from the Petersen (Car) Museum.

Ah, here's what you could say to Craig -- his actors are very attractive.