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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Film / Film Reviews / News A Serious Man: Seriously great
Rating: ****
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 2:30 PM
A SERIOUS MAN
****
DIRECTED BY Joel & Ethan Coen
STARS Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind
Unpredictability is a constant in the Coen Brothers canon, but after the heavy lifting involved with the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, it wasn't too surprising to see them tackle lighter fare with the quirky Burn After Reading. A Serious Man, however, defies all expectations. In many ways, it feels like a minor effort from Joel and Ethan (a sensation massaged by its modest production values and no-name cast), yet its subject matter is nothing less than man's relationship with God. It's a comedy through and through, yet it frequently carries the weight of a Biblical tragedy. In short, it's unclassifiable — and also one of the best movies of the year.
It audaciously begins with a Yiddish folk tale set in the far past before switching to the more recent past (1967) via the audible strains of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love." Its protagonist is Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Jewish teacher whose life start to unravel for no apparent rhyme or reason. His shot at tenure might get compromised by derogatory (and anonymous) letters sent to the school board, he has to contend with a failing student (David Kang) offering him a bribe, his socially inept brother (Richard Kind) is a nuisance and a leech, and his wife (Sari Lennick) has decided to leave him for "a serious man" (Fred Melamed). A weak-willed individual, Larry seeks answers for his Job-like predicament, but will he ultimately embrace his faith or reject it?
The mysteries faced by the picture's audiences are no more clear than the mysteries faced by Larry — small wonder, then, that the film's best (or at least most quotable) line is "Embrace the mystery" — but then the Coens have never been one to do all the thinking for their fans. A dense, ambiguous work that doubtless rewards repeat viewings, A Serious Man examines the place that religion occupies in this stained world and (much like The Box) wonders how far greater forces should take cause-and-effect when fundamentally decent people are involved. Regardless of how one interprets the results, it's clear that A Serious Man is a celluloid godsend.
Film / Film Reviews The Box worth opening
Rating: ***
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 2:30 PM
THE BOX
***
DIRECTED BY Richard Kelly
STARS Cameron Diaz, James Marsden
The Box is the latest picture from writer-director Richard Kelly, who with the cult fave Donnie Darko proved that he's one filmmaker able to think outside the box (ouch).
Adapting Richard Matheson's short story "Button, Button," Kelly has fashioned a complex tale out of a simple premise: A solemn stranger (Frank Langella) hands a married couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) a box and informs them that if they press the button on top, someone they don't know will die but they'll be rewarded with one million dollars for their action. It's not spoiling anything to reveal that the button does indeed get pushed (otherwise, it would be one helluva short flick), but no viewer can be expected to predict the myriad directions in which the movie travels. At its heart a fable about the moral choices we make and accepting the consequences of our actions, the film remains an original even as it touches upon other literary and cinematic sources to enhance its appeal: Sartre's No Exit plays a part, as does the writing of Arthur C. Clarke (the latter in turn leading to a visual sequence worthy of 2001: A Space Odyssey, itself based on Clarke's story "The Sentinel").
Admittedly, The Box doesn't hold up as a morning-after title, since reflecting on its events will reveal a fair share of plotholes. But both its imagination and its ambition sprint far beyond anything offered in the creatively neutered likes of Disney's A Christmas Carol or Law Abiding Citizen, and Kelly doesn't cheat in the final reels in a grasping effort to placate timid moviegoers. Conscientious in its actions yet radical in its approach, The Box demonstrates that, in this instance anyway, it's hip to be square.
Boomer with Attitude / News Lied about smoking? You need to be spanked
Posted By John Grooms on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 2:23 PM
OK, first the state told employees who are part of the State Health Plan (SHP) they’d have to pay higher prices unless they quit smoking. Apparently not satisfied with minding their employees’ personal business, the SHP has now thought up ways to punish employees who lied about their smoking habits. The SHP is contracting with a company to, as NC Policy Watch puts it, “travel around the state shoving swabs in the mouths of workers.” If you fail the test, or refuse to take it, you’ll be moved from the 80/20 plan to the 70/30 plan for at least one year; and not only you, but also other family members who are covered, whether they smoke or not. Sometimes it seems this country's puritanical background, and our fellow citizens' busybody habits, will never let go.
News / Biz Coal group misrepresents veterans
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 1:45 PM
When will they stop lying?
The coal front group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity has been in hot water lately for employing an astroturf group that forged letters to Congress opposing the House climate bill—and then for possibly lying under oath about their position. Now ACCCE is in trouble again—for misrepresenting the views of two major veterans groups in an email hyping coal's role in energy security.The email, sent in anticipation of Veterans' Day, argues that coal can play a vital role in reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and cites two groups—VoteVets and Operation Free. The problem: both of those groups are strong supporters of climate legislation—in part because of the national security threats posed by global warming—while ACCCE has been working energetically to undermine a bill.
Read more, including the e-mail in question, from Mother Jones here.
In related news, check out the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs' Web site to learn more about Veteran's Day, which is today.
Operation Free visits Washington:
Boomer with Attitude / News How about fewer wounded vets?
Posted By John Grooms on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Today is Veterans Day, and the nation is having its annual festival of hurrahs and heart-tugging nods toward the flag. And then, if the past is any indication, the country will go back to giving veterans about 2 seconds’ worth of thought each day.
Hopefully, though, the past won’t be a guide this year — not with the recent massacre at Ft. Hood still fresh in our minds. Nor with reminders from VA Secretary Shinseki that veterans “lead the nation in homelessness, depression, substance abuse and suicides.” Nor with a new study revealing that more than 2,200 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance. The Obama administration deserves credit for its array of efforts to improve the lot of veterans, but there’s still much more to be done.
One important thing the President can do is establish policies that would drastically cut the number of wounded vets coming home from some Third World hellhole, starting with getting American soldiers out of the hopeless, never-ending mess that is Afghanistan.
Film / Film News / News Asheville film fest starts this week
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 12:41 PM
By Matt Brunson
The seventh annual Asheville Film Festival will be held November 12-15, meaning that it's time once again for Charlotteans not averse to road trips to get excited about seeing a wide range of potentially interesting movies. Over 90 features, documentaries, shorts and student films will be screened over a four-day stretch at various downtown venues.
A trio of possible award-season contenders will be shown out of competition: An Education, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan; Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, with Mo'Nique and newcomer Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe; and That Evening Sun, featuring Hal Holbrook.
News / Biz N.C.'s Blackwater busted for bribes?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Why in the hell do these crazy fools still work for our government?
In the aftermath of the 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad by operatives working for Blackwater, top company officials including then-president Gary Jackson "authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support," according to the New York Times. Seventeen Iraqis were killed and more than twenty others wounded in the shooting, prompting the Iraqi government to announce it would ban the company from Iraq with officials vowing to prosecute the shooters. Blackwater, however, remains in Iraq to this day.According to the Times, "Four former Blackwater executives said in interviews that Gary Jackson, who was then the company president, had approved the bribes, and the money was sent from Amman, Jordan, where Blackwater maintains an operations hub, to a top manager in Iraq. The executives, though, said they did not know whether the cash was delivered to Iraqi officials or the identities of the potential recipients." The Times notes that the bribes "would have been illegal":
[A] federal grand jury in North Carolina, where Blackwater has its headquarters, has been conducting a lengthy investigation into the company. One of the former executives said that he has told federal prosecutors there about the plan to pay Iraqi officials to drop their inquiries into the Nisour Square incident. If Blackwater followed through, the company or its officials could face charges of obstruction of justice, and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans bribes to foreign officials.
Ten days after the Nisour shootings an FBI team arrived in Baghdad to begin a criminal investigation. If Blackwater officials bribed or attempted to bribe Iraqi officials that would have amounted to tampering with the investigation. Blackwater and its owner, Erik Prince, are also being sued by the Iraqi victims of that shooting in civil court in the United States. On Tuesday, a settlement in that case fell through and its future course remains unclear.
Read the rest of this article, from The Nation, here.
Further reading: GOP Rep Sue Myrick Won't Denounce Call For Backlash Against American Muslims
"Essentially a renegade force on the battlefield, something that was beyond the military's control."
Arts / News Theater review: South Pacific
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Theater review: South Pacific
Belk Theater
Nov. 10, 2009
The Deal: NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Broadway Lights Series continues with performances of The Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, which opened last night to a crowd at Belk Theater.
The Good: Sweeping the stage with theatrical talent, the cast of South Pacific shined last night. Two of the main stars of the musical David Pittsinger cast as the dreamy French man, Emilie, and Carmen Cusack cast as his "hick" love interest, a nurse named Nellie, were delightful throughout. Stretching their vocal chords out on tunes like “Some Enchanted Evening,” they hit each note to a tee, whether together or apart. Other cast members also charmed the crowd, including tragic lovebirds Lt. Joseph Cable (played by those who acted as crafty sailors aka “Seabees,” playful nurses, and charmingly strange island natives, like Bloody Mary (played by Keala Settle) who paraded around with oddities, like shrunken heads.
Arts / News VIDEO: Katt Williams talks about his arrest
Posted By Carlton Hargro on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Nov. 11, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Alice In Wonderland at Davidson College
• The Flatlanders at McGlohon Theatre
• Karaoke/Jokearoke Wednesdays at Alive
• Southern Christmas Show at The Park
• Veterans Day Dedication Service at Frazier Park
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Question the Queen City: Hugh McManaway, the man behind the statue
It pays homage to a traffic director, friendly neighbor and one of Charlotte's most beloved local characters
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Longtime dancer to leave NC Dance Theatre 3
Mia Cunningham, a dancer who has spent 18 seasons performing with the North Carolina Dance Theatre, is set to retire.
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The Hangover Part II: Buzz kill 7
No use crying over spilt sequel.
