Raising Arizona v. Fargo

Joel and Ethan Coen, recent winners of four Academy Awards for No Country for Old Men, have established themselves as today's directing/producing powerhouse.  Recently, I've begun watching their work and will provide commentary for some of their first works: Raising Arizona and Fargo.

Set in the wilderness of Arizona, Edwina "Ed" (Holly Hunter) and H.I. "Hi" McDonnough (Nicholas Cage) meet at a local jail.  Ed is a police woman in charge of fingerprinting Hi after he is arrested for convenience store robbery.  The two fall in love and marry, only to discover that Ed is unable to conceive.  Ed and Hi embark on a journey that begins with kidnapping and ends with a bounty hunter.  Will the couple survive parenthood or die trying? 

My Commentary:  I'm probably not the first to question Nicholas Cage's acting abilities, but my goodness, get this guy a dialect coach!  His accent was extremely distracting throughout the film.  Holly Hunter is the redeeming character in Raising Arizona.  In one of my favorite scenes, she abandons Hi at the convenience store after watching him in mid-robbery garb (complete with hosiery and pistol).  Hi is forced to outrun the authorities by foot - with a pack of stray dogs on his tail - all for a package of Huggies.  

Rating:  ***** (5 out of 10)

An event not based on true events, Fargo is set in winter-laden Minneapolis tundra.  The film revolves around the events set in motion by Jerry, played by William H. Macy.  Money problems bring out the worst in people and Jerry is the prime example of that notion come to life.  He employs two men to kidnap his wife, demand a lump sum, and divvy up the cash accordingly.  Of course, nothing goes to plan and people are brutally murdered by woodchippers, axes, and hand guns.  

My Commentary:  Like Drop Dead Gorgeous, this film was emerged in Minnesotan culture and dialect.  France McDormand performed the best faux Minnesotan accent I've heard.  My favorite scene went like this:

Rating:  ********* (9 out of 10)

Bomb of the Week: Romeo + Juliet

I don't know what compelled me to watch this. I watched it sometime in late junior high or early high school and I remember thinking: "This is kind of a crappy movie." But for some reason, as I was looking for movies to watch, it seemed to jump out at me today and I thought, "It couldn't possibly be as bad as it seemed in junior high could it?" It was worse.

I assume that everyone knows the basic Romeo and Juliet plot, so I'll just dive straight into the premiss of this version. Romeo + Juliet is an attempt to update the Shakespeare's play for a modern audience, with Leonardo DiCapro and Claire Danes as the title characters. The movie is set in a Verona modeled after Venice Beach, CA, and rather than fighting with swords, the characters wield guns from fictional brands like "Dagger" or "Longsword". The dialogue remains the original Elizabethan.

My Commentary: The idea of updating Romeo and Juliet re-emerges every few years to alternately dismal and successful results. Attempts range from the famous (West Side Story) to the forgettable (The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns). This movie falls more in the "waste of time" category. The premise is a potentially good one, but trying to pair Shakespeare's Elizabethan with sunny California just doesn't gel right and the movie falls flat. Perhaps with an updated interpretation of the text the movie would be better, but I wouldn't count on it - while Danes and DiCapro manage to bring off decent performances, the rest of the characters seem clownish and heavy-handed.

Rating: **** (4 1/2 out of 10)

There Will Be Blood... And Boy, Was There...

Oh. My. Gosh. 

Our heads are exploding and imploding simultaneously.  Thank goodness we don't believe in spontaneous combustion.

The film began with Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) mining for silver.  After striking oil, Plainview becomes obsessed with the power and control it brings.  An unfortunate accident (with a bucket and wooden post) brings Plainview unexpected parenthood - along with unexpected success.  He uses his adopted son to play on the sympathies of landowners.  Plainview is approached by Paul Sunday (played by Paul Dano) with an intriguing offer of "oil that seeps from the land." With the help of his son, Plainview investigates Paul's claims and gives Eli Sunday and his family an offer too good to refuse.  Eli, a charismatic preacher (imagine a younger John Lithgow in Footloose), requests to give a blessing at the oil drilling ceremony.  Daniel Plainview gives Eli the brush-off and begins a journey of destruction and insanity.  

There Will Be Blood was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 2 for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Cinematography (Robert Elswit).  Critics seem to have a love/hate relationship with this film and now we understand why.  The story, loosely based upon Upton Sinclair's novel Oil!, is incredibly depressing with traces of humor and sarcasm.  We note the humor is somewhat forced and mostly out of desperation on the part of the audience.  Day-Lewis and Dano interacted with epic intensity that, in our opinion, cannot be replicated.  

April's Favorite Scene:  After his son is injured at the drilling site, Daniel Plainview is talking business with some of his associates, when Eli approaches with the intention of asking for the money owed him.  The two end up scuffling in the muddy oil.  Although the scenario is absurd, the intensity of the actors carries the moment without a single laugh from the audience.  

Tiffany's Favorite Scene:  H.W. Plainview, Daniel's adopted son, is injured from an explosion at the drilling site.  Daniel rushes to the scene, scoops the boy up into his arms, and brings him to safety.  The audience is placed in H.W.'s shoes when the film goes silent.  Daniel yells to his son and we hear nothing.  This scene is the catalyst that changes the film's tone from that moment on.

Final Thoughts:  Overall, There Will Be Blood would not qualify for our Top Ten of 2008 list.  We acknowledge the Oscar wins were very much deserved. Day-Lewis gave a spectacularly intense performance and pushed the acting standards to new levels.  Elswit set up jaw-dropping visuals and placed us smack-dab in the grimy dirt of Southern California.  While there aren't nearly as many casualties as a horror flick, There Will Be Blood contains brutal violence.  It is not for the faint of heart.  

Rating:  ******* (7 out of 10)

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