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Girl Walks Into a Bar (2011)
Hope for aspiring filmmakers, but nothing more
Plot: Francine Driver (Carla Gugino) is an undercover cop whom, posing as an assassin meets with a potential client, Nick (Zachary Quinto), in a Los Angeles bar late one night. After mild ambivalence, Nick confesses to her that he wishes his wife dead. She agrees to the arrangement if she is met with twenty thousand dollars. Nick admits he does not have the money on him currently, but promises by the end of the night he will. After his eventual departure, Francine is acquainted with a young man, Henry (Aaron Tveit), whom after certain particular charms, steals her wallet, leaving her there in the bar alone as he leaves unnoticed. Francine's wallet contains the recorded evidence that will incriminate Nick and put him behind bars.
It is then that Francine's night truly begins as she attempts to hunt down Henry and locate her missing wallet. Her search takes her through a series of local bars in Los Angeles and not one is without an introduced character whom in some fashion, as part of the ensemble cast, is connected to another character throughout—aforementioned or no. Each character as well has their own, unique, story to tell and of course, life in which they live.
Part of a Whole: While it cannot be argued that Francine is essentially the film's catalyst guised as a major character, she does in all actuality, share almost equivalent time on screen with the rest of the cast (Danny DeVito, Josh Hartnett, Zachary Quinto, Aaron Tveit, Rosario Dawson, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Robert Forster, etcetera). As Francine's night unfolds the viewer discovers the life of each individual is linked to that of another and not one is any more or less relevant than the other.
However, not each character is entirely interesting. In fact, each is nearly forgettable. The performances themselves however are well-rounded, though again, nothing too spectacular. Gugino and Quinto hold the most notoriety here.
Pen and no Sword: Writer and director Sebastian Gutierrez has a script here that is void of any real climatics or action in any degree. Instead the film is progressed through exchanges of dialogue encompassing a colorful variety of topics. These passings are often sharp, quick, full of wit, and allegedly carry some purpose or message.
While the lines are delivered with expertly dry candor, the point of these encounters isn't quite explained with any real clarity. There are exceptions in which such story-telling is acceptable, and most often successful, but here these characters are faulted, one by one, from their enigmatic origins. Nor is it with any great care that these characters either individually or together develop. So separate from compassion is the viewer that he or she is merely a spectator to the lives of these individuals rather than a partaking guest.
That said, the dialogue is as fun as one might expect from a film so heavily cast in it. There are as well, sequences which are as memorable as they are well-directed. Again, this is perhaps, alone, ten to twenty minutes of this hour and twenty minute feature.
Hope for the Little Guy – A Picture in 7D: It is immediately apparent that the film is shot on a SLR camera and this is undoubtedly the most admirable, if not hopeful, aspect of the film itself. Shot for the purpose of free distribution via internet streaming service, YouTube, the use of Canon's 7D SLR camera is a light for all aspiring filmmakers no matter the level of education received or field of preference.
Girl Walks Into A Bar has an abundance of Hollywood names attached to its likeness all standing under the lovely iridescence of bar-light, affront a piece of equipment any hard working artist can so willingly afford. One's own fantasy of shooting a feature film with the prominent actors of Hollywood, on say one's very own T2i, appears all the more livable.
The cinematography is an agreeable mix of color and perspective angles. It as well displays with triumphant circulation the power of SLR cameras and too their endless capability.
One Sentence Summary: Shot on Canon's 7D over the course of an eleven day period, the sharp witted Girl Walks Into A Bar is by no standards consistent with an amateur production and while it certainly gives hope to young, penniless, filmmakers, it does suffer from lack of a purposeful identity.
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Charming!
Plot: Perhaps the least appreciated of Allen's great films, The Purple Rose of Cairo, is arguably his most playful, albeit direct, outing. Set in New Jersey during the great depression of the 1930's, Mia Farrow plays Cecilia, a film aficionado and broken housewife. Recently, her marriage has since turned into a considerable disaster and she finds herself in frequent disagreement with her out-of-work, abusive, and even womanizing husband, Monk (Danny Aiello).
Too afraid to be on her own, she naturally finds escape at the local cinema where she sits upon hours in admiration of the actors on screen and the lives in which their characters live. When the theater first features the film entitled The Purple Rose of Cario, Cecilia finds herself enamored by the film and its subsequent character, Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels). The following day while at work as a waitress, she finds herself distracted from the mere memory of the feature and due to the nature of her reverie is there upon fired for her demeanor. She later frequents the film over and again and it is not until the happening of one her later viewings, perhaps the sixth time over, that her presence attracts the attention of Tom Baxter, causing him to come off-screen and appear before her and all others in the theater.
As he confesses his attraction toward her, together the two run off as the audience and too the characters on screen (as if suddenly viable actors taking part in play) remain caught in panic and awe. Word soon spreads that a character in a feature film has walked off screen, discovering the real-world. Not unexpectedly the news spreads quickly to ears of the film's producer, Raoul Hirsch, and the actor who portrays Tom Baxter, Gil Shepherd (Jeff Daniels). Mr. Hirsch's objective here is to stop the mass running of his picture to cease any further occurrences that share semblance and potential lawsuits. Gil Shepherd finds himself frightened at the thought of losing his growing popularity due to what crimes he believes the character he created, his essential double for all intensive purposes, may be out committing.
Cecelia You're Breaking My Heart: Mia Farrow's interpretation of Cecilia is simply charming. It is with such perfection that she plays the role of this lonely, naïve romantic in search of change. Her lamenting disposition and reserved attitude, together, truly make her irresistible to any viewer and impossible for one not to feel sympathetic toward her plight.
Jeff Daniels does as well a marvelous job as both Tom Baxter and Gil Shepherd. He very well may be amongst Hollywood's underrated.
Film as a World of its Own: The Purple Rose of Cairo presents yet another interesting aspect in the sense that Allen depicts the world on the theater screen as a world entirely of its own; and it is! Cecelia mentions over and again her desire for a world similar to the depictions on screen and it is with a high degree of craft that Allen creates that so sought after world. The scene in the picture itself, when Tom Baxter leaves, can no longer move forward or backward, but must remain in place. The characters however are free to move about, discuss at will topics of interest, as well as see outwardly, beyond the screen, into the theater. These characters on screen are alive, disturbed even. Their world of routine has since been interrupted and they are left in a state of restlessness and wait for there is nothing more they desire than to continue their life of pattern. One character even mentions excitedly how he is a "dramatic character" and needs "forward motion" while another mentions the fear he has of the screen going "black". In their impatience others pass time arbitrarily by poking jokes at the audience. As a whole these sequences make for brilliant satire that only Allen could write.
Tom Baxter leaves the picture and enters the real-world where he remains no longer a victim of repetitiveness. Moviegoers, however enthusiastic, wish to enter the very world of a Hollywood picture in the hope of escaping theirs.
The two worlds do exist and perhaps are separate equals, but after all, what is a life without the movies? What is a life without wanting to or even having an escape, even if only for a little while? Love, Actually: What else Purple Rose so genuinely explores is the unrequited love one may share for a fictional character; be that of literature, film, or even our very own imaginative perception of those so in which living life surrounds us with to a great abundance. Cecilia found herself enthralled by the character Tom Baxter even before he took his first steps off-screen. His charm, his romanticism, looks and perfections that captivated her so, all of course translated to the real-world. However, his limited knowledge of the living-world, what is past and now, as well as being only capable of what has been written into his character, hinders Tom Baxter from certain human emotions. Also, as aforementioned, he, Tom Baxter, is in practical sense, fictional.
One has to wonder if it is the artist whom they love or his creation. It is here in Allen's piece that Cecilia falls too in deep affection toward the actor who portrays Tom Baxter. He is certainly a man of a great many faults no doubt, but an artist no less and more importantly, the man who gave life to Tom Baxter. It is such that Cecilia finds herself amidst the grand decision of choosing reality or fantasy for her ultimate happiness.
One Sentence Summary: The Purple Rose of Cairo is a fantastic, probing piece of cinema in which, through comedic, romantic tones, great acting and of course music, leaves the viewer appreciating cinema that much more than what was once before.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
If Tim Burton would have made this film eight to ten years ago, it would have been a masterpiece, instead it's another trite film based on a delightful and well-read novel.
This is probably one of the most disappointing movies I have seen in a few years. Alice in Wonderland should have been something up Tim Burton's alley, and instead he turned it into something it wasn't. He should have taken over the screenplay from Linda Woolverton (whoever that is) and created darker, more dimensional characters; instead, what we get is Tim Burton for kids. I would have preferred his take on Lewis Carroll's novel rather than a rehash of every Hollywood fantasy film. I thought the younger Alice in the film looked the part of the original illustrations and would have been perfect for the role. Depp ruined the Mad Hatter with his accent and incoherent speech, Burton ruined the Mad Hatter with his ugly costume design. I was disappointed to not hear Hatter shout "Change places!" I understand he is saddened by resent events, but even a mumbled, sad, "Change places" would have been nice to hear and keep his character intact through a simple and effective effort.
The charm behind Carroll's novel is that there really isn't much of a story, but rather a series of random and always bizarre events that are colorful and imaginative. You start to gain the sense that Alice really is in a peculiar land and at times you even often pity her. With her return to Wonderland the life behind everything the novel created almost evaporated. I say almost because the Cheshire Cat steals the show and truly did save the the film. Regardless, I would have much preferred a stop-motion attempt (The Nightmare Before Christmas) from Tim Burton rather than the use of actors and actresses to portray Carroll's characters. What we're left with because of this is unnecessary, though beautiful, CGI and a lot of it. At the very least the mood atmosphere of Edward Scissorhands would have been a delightful treat.