Tag: 2001 films

Reel 86: The Magnificent Andersons

And this, children, is what happens when you don’t hit the “Publish” button. Enormous apologies and thanks for your patience. I’ll make up for it by publishing another episode tonight, since that was the plan anyway.

While I’m at it, I also apologize for the cover art. I couldn’t come up with anything good.

This episode looks at a pair of films by two (unrelated) directors whose last name is Anderson.

We open up with MAGNOLIA (1999), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. This is a story that doesn’t so much have a plot as it has several plots, each bumping into one another from time to time (think of Altman’s SHORT CUTS, which we talked about back in Episode 34). It’s a fun ride, even if you sit there wondering what one thing has to do with the other. And the answer is: sometimes, not much. But P.T. Anderson sets you up for that early in the film, so you have nothing to complain about. And it’s a long film, so we have a lot to talk about, so don’t complain about that either.

In Part Two we move on to Wes Anderson and his 2001 film THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, starring Gene Hackman (RIP), Anjelica Huston and a small company of actors as their children and other relatives. The family is in bad shape, until a lie brings them all together. Then it splits them up. Then…well, we presume that if you’re reading this you already knows what happens. But if you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Go see it! Come back and let us know what you thought!

 

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In Episode 87 we’re keeping our focus (heh) on directors, with two films that are semi-autobiographical in nature. We’ll begin with MEAN STREETS (1973), directed by Martin Scorsese, and finish with DINER (1982), directed by Barry Levenson. Join us, won’t you? 

 

Reel 66: The Remake Was Better 2

As noted in the previous episode, once in awhile a film  gets remade that actually manages to eclipse its predecessor for one reason or another. This is the second of two episodes wherein we look at two films that stand as a good example.

We begin with The Thomas Crown Affair, from 1999. It was directed by John McTiernan and stars Pierce Brosnan and René Russo, along with Denis Leary and Frankie Faison. It’s the story of a billionaire art collector who’s suspected of stealing a valuable painting, and an insurance investigator’s efforts to catch him. And, what happens when the sparks begin to fly between them. In fact, what happens is probably the thing that makes this the better version of the film. You’d think you can’t go wrong with 1968-era Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway,  and in general you can’t. But Brosnan and Russo really light the place up. That’s not the only reason it’s better, but it’s a pretty good one.

From there we move to 2001 and Ocean’s Eleven, a remake of Ocean’s 11  (see what they did there?), from 1960. This film, directed by Steven Soderbergh, follows Danny Ocean and his crew, as played by George Clooney  and many other superstars as they plot a huge heist in Las Vegas. In both versions, the actors are clearly having fun with what they’re doing, but the latter version has them doing it in service to the film, not just to hang with each other, and the whole thing just generally works better.

That’s our opinion, though. Feel free to disagree in the comments.


COMING  ATTRACTIONS: 

In our next episode, we look at a couple of modern-day fairy tales. We start with Ball of Fire, from 1941 and directed by Howard Hawks. From there it’s onto 1986 and Mona Lisa, directed by Neil Jordan. They’re both a bit of odd drama with endings you may not anticipate. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 57: Wedding Blues

To quote from a certain Very Impressive Clergyman, “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder today.”

Weddings are kind of weird. You get a lot of friends and family together, and it’s a multi-day thing leading up to a relatively small amount of time for the ceremony and subsequent reception. (It reminds me of the Super Bowl in that respect.) And as we learn during this stop in our Twenty Films Around the World series, there’s a certain commonality to them. It doesn’t matter what the specific ritual is regarding the wedding itself. Lots of people come. Some are related, some aren’t. People get stressed. Tempers flare. Emotions run high and truths are revealed. And often, the wedding/reception leads to a couple of people becoming couples themselves.

And we see all of these things and more in today’s episode. First on the projector is 2001’s Monsoon Wedding, a comedy directed by Mira Nair. It’s a little bit Hollywood, a little bit Bollywood, and does a wonderful job of bringing multiple cultures together in one place. And there are a couple of subplots which start in one place but end in a very different one.

From there we jump to another Indian neighborhood, but only briefly, as the story for After the Wedding makes a jump to Denmark. Suzanne Bier’s 2006 film takes its main character to Copenhagen for what’s ostensibly a business deal, but it turns out that there’s a lot more than meets the eye. And, as I said earlier, truths are revealed.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Our journey Around the World in Twenty Films continues with visits to Japan and Spain. First up is When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, from 1960. Then it’s 1988’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a slightly misleading translation of the original title. Go watch them! Then come back here!