Kung fu & Cash
(The title of this post just made me think of Tango & Cash. Ewww. Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone. Two of the biggest grossies ever.)
The other night Michael and I watched Kung Fu Hustle, and I have to say, it's really fucking good! I'd heard it was good, but I think I was expecting more of a Jackie Chan-style kung fu movie (but one that didn't suck as much). Instead, it's this crazy gangster-western-kung fu-comedy fairytale (with a dance number thrown in). The characters are wonderfully bizarre, violent, sometimes gross, and hilarious. And the movie is violent, but not in a pointless way, and not in a completely comedic way either. What's impressive is the visual style, the amazingly skilled blending of genres, and the wonderfully creative story, which is surprisingly sweet at the end -- sweet in a good way.
The night before that, we watched Walk the Line, and while I haven't seen Capote (and I love Philip Seymour Hoffman), I can't believe Joaquin Phoenix didn't get the best actor Oscar, really. Ever since To Die For (one of my favoritest movies ever) -- or maybe ever since Parenthood with that sad, shy, porn-watching, pre-teen Joaquin -- I have definitely had a thing for him. Gotta love those tortured souls.
Anyway, I usually don't like biopics, and I was a bit nervous when Walk the Line opened with the "here's Johnny's childhood tragedy/life lesson" scene, but the childhood scenes were pretty good, considering the genre (see Ray for example of really bad opening scenes of childhood in a biopic). Instead of Johnny's brother's death becoming the central tragedy or motivating factor in his life, we see him dealing with multiple complex relationships (and drug addiction) at different points -- and to me, the obstacles in his life didn't all seem to simplistically stem from the guilt of being the "son who lived."
The music alone makes Walk the Line worth seeing. BTW, I didn't know that June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire" -- great scene when she's sitting in her kitchen working on it. Reese Witherspoon's voice doesn't really sound like June Carter's, but she can sing, and she can act (I didn't once think of Elle Woods). I remember seeing The Man in the Moon a long time ago, which Witherspoon starred in as a kid, and she blew me away, and of course she's great in Election, but since then, she seems to have been doing a few too many romantic comedies, so it's good to know that her earlier stuff wasn't just a fluke. And Joaquin's voice, to me, sounds a lot like Johnny Cash's. As the frightenedmonkey astutely observed, you can actually hear the maturation/deepening/weathering of Joaquin's/Cash's voice as his career develops in the film.
The Folsom Prison performance is probably my favorite scene. The first frame of the film is Cash waiting to go on stage at Folsom (you can hear the prisoners cheering for him) -- and then a big long flashback begins and takes up most of the film. Opening the film at Folsom certainly emphasizes the importance of this moment, and I'm glad the filmmakers chose to do that, as it was such an amazingly compassionate gesture on Cash's part. They were prisoners, and no one really cares about prisoners. And one more thing: the Carter family. I love them, as far as pretend movie families go, and I want them to adopt me.
The other night Michael and I watched Kung Fu Hustle, and I have to say, it's really fucking good! I'd heard it was good, but I think I was expecting more of a Jackie Chan-style kung fu movie (but one that didn't suck as much). Instead, it's this crazy gangster-western-kung fu-comedy fairytale (with a dance number thrown in). The characters are wonderfully bizarre, violent, sometimes gross, and hilarious. And the movie is violent, but not in a pointless way, and not in a completely comedic way either. What's impressive is the visual style, the amazingly skilled blending of genres, and the wonderfully creative story, which is surprisingly sweet at the end -- sweet in a good way.
The night before that, we watched Walk the Line, and while I haven't seen Capote (and I love Philip Seymour Hoffman), I can't believe Joaquin Phoenix didn't get the best actor Oscar, really. Ever since To Die For (one of my favoritest movies ever) -- or maybe ever since Parenthood with that sad, shy, porn-watching, pre-teen Joaquin -- I have definitely had a thing for him. Gotta love those tortured souls.
Anyway, I usually don't like biopics, and I was a bit nervous when Walk the Line opened with the "here's Johnny's childhood tragedy/life lesson" scene, but the childhood scenes were pretty good, considering the genre (see Ray for example of really bad opening scenes of childhood in a biopic). Instead of Johnny's brother's death becoming the central tragedy or motivating factor in his life, we see him dealing with multiple complex relationships (and drug addiction) at different points -- and to me, the obstacles in his life didn't all seem to simplistically stem from the guilt of being the "son who lived."
The music alone makes Walk the Line worth seeing. BTW, I didn't know that June Carter wrote "Ring of Fire" -- great scene when she's sitting in her kitchen working on it. Reese Witherspoon's voice doesn't really sound like June Carter's, but she can sing, and she can act (I didn't once think of Elle Woods). I remember seeing The Man in the Moon a long time ago, which Witherspoon starred in as a kid, and she blew me away, and of course she's great in Election, but since then, she seems to have been doing a few too many romantic comedies, so it's good to know that her earlier stuff wasn't just a fluke. And Joaquin's voice, to me, sounds a lot like Johnny Cash's. As the frightenedmonkey astutely observed, you can actually hear the maturation/deepening/weathering of Joaquin's/Cash's voice as his career develops in the film.
The Folsom Prison performance is probably my favorite scene. The first frame of the film is Cash waiting to go on stage at Folsom (you can hear the prisoners cheering for him) -- and then a big long flashback begins and takes up most of the film. Opening the film at Folsom certainly emphasizes the importance of this moment, and I'm glad the filmmakers chose to do that, as it was such an amazingly compassionate gesture on Cash's part. They were prisoners, and no one really cares about prisoners. And one more thing: the Carter family. I love them, as far as pretend movie families go, and I want them to adopt me.
posted by stephie @ Wednesday, March 08, 2006
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