Yearly Archives: 2012

THIS IS NOT A FILM (IN FILM NIST)

Even house arrest and potential imprisonment cannot stop Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi from telling cinematic stories

THIS IS NOT A FILM (Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, 2011)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
February 29 – March 13
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org

“You call this a film?” Jafar Panahi asks rhetorically about halfway through the revealing documentary This Is Not a Film. After several arrests beginning in July 2009 for supporting the opposition party, the highly influential and respected Iranian filmmaker (Crimson Gold, Offside) was convicted in December 2010 for “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” Although facing a six-year prison sentence and twenty-year ban on making or writing any kind of movie, Panahi is a born storyteller, so he can’t stop himself, no matter the risks. Under house arrest, Panahi has his friend, fellow director Mojtaba Mirtahmasb (Lady of the Roses), film him with a handheld DV camera over ten days as Panahi plans out his next movie, speaks with his lawyer, lets his pet iguana climb over him, and is asked to watch a neighbor’s dog, taking viewers “behind the scenes of Iranian filmmakers not making films.” Panahi even pulls out his iPhone to take additional video, photographing New Year’s fireworks that sound suspiciously like a military attack. Panahi is calm throughout, never panicking (although he clearly does not want to take care of the barking dog) and not complaining about his situation, which becomes especially poignant as he watches news reports on the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. “But you can’t make a film now anyhow, can you?” Mirtahmasb — who will later be arrested and imprisoned as well — asks at one point. “So what I can’t make a film?” Panahi responds. “That means I ask you to take a film of me? Do you think it will turn into some major work of art?” This Is Not a Film, which was smuggled out of Iran in a USB drive hidden in a birthday cake so it could be shown at Cannes, is indeed a major work of art, an important document of government repression of free speech as well as a fascinating examination of one man’s intense dedication to his art and the creative process.

MASCULINE/FEMININE: REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER ROLES IN FIGURE SKATING

David Parsons’s TWIST will be part of free program at the Rink at Rockefeller Center on Wednesday afternoon

City Skate Concert Series
The Rink at Rockefeller Center
Fifth Ave. between 49th & 50th Sts.
Wednesday, February 29, free, 1:00
212-929-5811
www.icetheatre.org
www.therinkatrockcenter.com

The Ice Theatre of New York’s free City Skate Concert Series continues February 29 at 1:00 with “Masculine/Feminine,” a program of works that examine gender roles in figure skating. One of the highlights is “Masculine/Feminine,” a restaging of David Parsons’s 2003 duet “Twist,” choreographed by Parsons specifically for ITNY, which has been integrating contemporary dance, music, and art into its repertoire since 1984; it will be performed by Eve Chalom and Jonathon Hunt. Also on the bill will be “Inner Eye” by Jim May of the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble in addition to pieces by Douglas Webster of ITNY and Young Artist Showcase winner Tommy Steenberg. And as a bonus, free hot chocolate will be served. ITNY will be back at the rink on March 14 with “Energy Flow” and April 4 with “Angel Part I.” They will also present the seventeenth New Works & Young Artists series at Riverbank State Park on Thursday mornings at 10:30 in March and at the World Ice Arena in Flushing on Tuesday, March 27.

SHATNER’S WORLD: WE JUST LIVE IN IT…

William Shatner welcomes audiences into his world in Broadway one-man show

Music Box Theatre
239 West 45th St. between Broadway & Eighth Aves.
Through March 4, $61.50 – $126.50 (VIP $251.50 with meet & greet)
www.shatnersworld.com

Canadian actor and pitchman extraordinaire William Shatner, who has been entertaining audiences for more than sixty years in his own rather unique style, discusses his life and nearly inexplicable career in the fun one-man show Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It . . . The stout octogenarian, who turns eighty-one on March 22, ambles about the stage at the Music Box Theatre for nearly two hours showing vintage clips and photographs and telling anecdotes from his glorious past, from understudying for Christopher Plummer in Tyrone Guthrie’s production of Henry V at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada to doing live television with Lon Chaney Jr. in the 1950s to starring on Broadway in 1959 in The World of Suzie Wong with France Nuyen. He also talks about this sci-fi thing called Star Trek, playing Denny Crane on Boston Legal, and his unexpected golden-throated recording career. (The night we went, he was joined onstage for a special encore with Brad Paisley, who wrote the song “Real” for Shatner’s 2007 album, Has Been.) He shares tales of his mother and father, drops in mentions of his wives and daughter, and tears up when discussing his beloved stallion. Just as Shatner roams around the stage, his tales roam as well, going back and forth through time, often with only the thinnest of threads linking them together. While there are many touching and revealing moments, especially if you haven’t read any of his books, there are also plenty that fall flat and feel forced. Curiously, the Playbill includes no credit for the writing of the show, which is not surprising. Shatner also can’t seem to make up his mind whether he wants to sit down on the rolling chair at the center of the stage, continually sitting and standing in a sometimes awkward manner. But hey, those are just minor tribbles, er, quibbles, for indeed, this is Shatner’s world, and we just live in it. There has never been a performer quite like William Shatner, and likely never will be another; throughout his robust career, his signature pauses, intoxicating smile, sheer confidence, and innate ability to laugh at himself have made us forget about his shortcomings. A must-see for Shatner fans, Shatner’s World continues at the Music Box through March 4 before heading out on a U.S. tour.

MOLLY LIEBER + ELEANOR SMITH: BEAUTIFUL BONE

Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith team up for BEAUTIFUL BONE at the Chocolate Factory

The Chocolate Factory
5-49 49th Ave., Long Island City
February 29 – March 3, $15, 8:00
718-482-7069
www.chocolatefactorytheater.org

Pittsburgh native Molly Lieber and Eleanor Smith, who hails from North Carolina, have been teaming up to present their own works since 2006 while also dancing for many other companies. Their latest collaboration, Beautiful Bone, which premieres at the Chocolate Factory in Long Island City this week, examines shame and love through imagination and feeling. The evening-length piece features sound design by James Lo, costume design and construction by Shelley Smith, and lighting by Madeline Best, who performed with Smith in a reprise of Juliana F. May / MAYDANCE’s Gutter Gate at New York Live Arts in January as part of APAP/NYC. Smith will also be presenting a Studio Series work at NYLA in June that will include an In Process Talk with May.

STRANGER THAN FICTION — THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (Thom Zimny, 2010)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at West Third St.
Tuesday, February 28, $16, 8:00
212-924-7771
www.stfdocs.com
www.brucespringsteen.net

After the breakout success of Born to Run in 1975, Bruce Springsteen became embroiled in a lawsuit over control of his music that prevented him from going into the studio to make the highly anticipated follow-up. Springsteen found himself at a crossroads; “You didn’t know if this would be the last record you’d ever make,” he says in the revealing behind-the-scenes documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Combining archival footage of the Darkness sessions shot by Barry Rebo with new interviews with all the members of the E Street Band in addition to producers Jimmy Iovine, Jon Landau, and others, editor and director Thom Zimny melds Bruce’s past with the present, delving deep into Springsteen’s complex, infuriating, and fiercely dedicated creative process. “I had to disregard my own mutation,” Springsteen says at one point, regarding his battle to avoid getting caught up in the hype that came with Born to Run, so he decided that his next album would be “a meditation on where are you going to stand.” Rebo captures Springsteen and the E Street Band — from a bare-chested Bruce to a bandanna-less Steve Van Zandt — rehearsing and recording alternate takes of familiar songs as well as tunes that would later wind up on such albums as The River and Tracks, opening up Bruce’s famous notebooks and examining his intense creative process, which included throwing away dozens and dozens of songs that he believed just didn’t fit within his vision of what Darkness should be. Two of the most fascinating parts of the The Promise involve Patti Smith discussing “Because the Night,” explaining that the lyrics she added are about her waiting for her boyfriend at the time (and later husband), Fred “Sonic” Smith, to call her, and Toby Scott talking about mixing the Darkness record to get the sound pictures in Bruce’s head onto vinyl. The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town is screening as part of the IFC Center’s Stranger Than Fiction series and will be followed by a Q&A with Zimny, Springsteen’s longtime director who just made the music video for Bruce’s latest single, “We Take Care of Our Own.”

MONEYBALL

Oscar nominees Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill take a different approach with the Oakland A’s in MONEYBALL

MONEYBALL (Bennett Miller, 2011)
www.moneyball-movie.com

After winning 102 games during the 2001 season but then falling to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series in five tough games, the cash-poor Oakland A’s also lost three of their most prominent players, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen, to free agency. To rebuild the team with limited funds, general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) turns to an unexpected source: Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young stat geek who believes that on-base percentage is the key to the game. The A’s scouts find it hard to believe that Beane is looking at has-been catcher Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt), aging outfielder David Justice (Stephen Bishop), and underperforming submariner Chad Bradford (Casey Bond) to get the A’s to the World Series, as does manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who refuses to use the new players the way Beane insists. But when the A’s indeed start winning after a few more questionable deals pulled off by Beane and Brand, the entire sport world starts taking a much closer look at what is soon known as “moneyball.” Based on the 2003 bestseller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, Moneyball is an exciting film even though the vast majority of it occurs off the field. Pitt is wonderfully understated as Beane, a former five-tool prospect for the Mets and divorced father of a twelve-year-old girl (Kerris Dorsey). Pitt earned an Oscar nod for Best Actor for his portrayal of the real-life Beane, a confident but nervous man who may or may not have a big chip on his shoulder. Hill was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as wiz-kid Brand, a fictional character inspired by Paul DePodesta, who refused to let his name and likeness be used in the film; Brand instead is an amalgamation of several of the people who work for Beane. Director Bennett Miller (The Cruise, Capote) takes the viewer into a number of fascinating back-room dealings, including a revealing scene in which Beane tries to acquire Ricardo Rincon from the Cleveland Indians, furiously working the phones to pull off the deal. Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Adapted Screenplay, Moneyball firmly belongs in the playoff pantheon of great baseball movies, with the added bonus that you don’t have to be a fan or know a lot about the game to get sucked into its intoxicating tale.

THE HELP

Oscar nominees Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer are looking for a better-told story in THE HELP

THE HELP (Tate Taylor, 2011)
www.thehelpmovie.com

Based on Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling 2009 debut novel, The Help is an overly melodramatic, emotionally manipulative film about the relationship between the white homeowners of Jackson, Mississippi, and their black maids. Set in the 1960s just as the civil rights movement was beginning to gain ground, the plot centers on a recent white college graduate named Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone) who decides that something must be done about the way the whites treat the blacks in her town. An aspiring writer, Skeeter tries to convince black maids Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) to share their stories for a book that a New York publisher (Mary Steenburgen) might be interested in, but the women are terrified that speaking out could cost them their livelihood as well as jeopardize their physical safety. But as things get worse in Jackson, led by such snooty rich women as Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O’Reilly), and even Skeeter’s mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), the truth starts becoming more and more difficult to suppress. Adapted and directed by Tate Taylor, The Help undercuts what it is trying to accomplish by making the conflict, well, as black and white as possible, overplaying the sympathy card and laying on the white liberal guilt. While the white men in the film are all powerless cardboard cutouts, there are virtually no black men at all, save for the local preacher (David Oyelowo ) and a counterman (Nelsan Ellis). The only white Jackson housewife who doesn’t treat her maid like a slave, Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), is a ditzy blonde who can’t take care of herself. Taylor (Pretty Ugly People), who was born and raised in Jackson and is a close friend of Stockett’s, offers the same scenes repeated over and over, going on for nearly two and a half hours. Nominated for four Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Actress (Davis), and two Best Supporting Actress nods (Spencer and Chastain) — The Help, though well acted, is a major disappointment, a simplistic and condescending movie about an extremely important subject that deserved better treatment.