Unmatched by any four-week stretch ever (ever!) before, I’ve been heading to
the movie theaters over and over in recent weeks. At the unprecedented and
steady pace of one per weekend, I have taken in four picture shows in as many
weeks: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Rent; The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe; and Walk the Line.
If you’ve got $8.50 to spare and an impulse to take in a show, I’ll stand by
recommendations in this order:
1. Walk the Line.
Sure, this story of Johnny Cash and June Carter leaves out big hunks of their
lives–several of Cash’s songs, for example, are absent, and the film glosses
right over monumental events, such as their co-starring in an (just one?)
episode of Little House on the Prairie in 1976. Despite these
inevitable gaps, I felt moved by this movie and comparably unaffected by the
other movies. Why? Because I like some of Cash’s music (reminds me
of my country childhood, when 94 Country was the only station detected by the
radios in the house, and Cash meant they couldn’t play Barbara Mandrell, Eddie
Rabbit, and the Oak Ridge Boys forever). Because the movie does a decent
job of presenting tensions Cash struggled against. Because there was a
lady sitting directly in front of me with a single Santa Claus face stitched
onto the back of her festive sweater. And so on. Downright moved, I
swear. Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon. Go on.
Tied for no. 2. Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire and
The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe. These are a toss-up, a coin flip. Go see
one, the other or both if you’re into the fantastic, amazing digital effects,
and the magical realms of Hogwarts and Narnia. What Harry Potter lacks in
acting/performance, particularly of the young stars, it makes up for in striking
underwater and in-air scenes. H.P. competes in a series of challenges
against older students; each portrayed scenario is really amazing (okay,
actually the first two were better than the third, I’d say). And, when we
left the theater, Ph. reported that the book was much better, much more
elaborate. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe works with better
children-actors, I’d say, and the effects are almost on par with Harry Potter.
TLTWTW features believable centaurs, for example; toward the end, the
battles were wonder-ful (boulder-dropping hawks, etc.), albeit predictable.
I came away from both of these movies with a similar feeling–with lasting
impressions of the effects and an indifference toward the performances and the
choices involved in adapting the novels for the screen.
3. Rent.
How to put this? Well, five minutes into this three-hour musical, a
moviegoer and her friends slid into the seats immediately next to us. Then
she started to sing. With the movie. While crinkling the wax paper
holding a greasy pretzel. Gnaw on the pretzel; sing a few lines. She sang
(as if into D.’s ear) until we changed seats. So that’s how the movie
opened. After that, more singing. And then: singsingsinging
(right…it’s a musical…but can anything be said without singing?).
Mixed in, there was a small thread of plot development. In other words, I
got it that the renter-artists were clinging desperately to their livelihoods,
torn between the inevitability of workaday futures and the unrestrained pursuit
of their arts. I struggled, however, to get into the odd bounce-back of the
dancer who one minute was near death and the next minute was fully rejuvenated
and belting out a duet. It wouldn’t be fair to dwell on the negatives,
though. I got caught up in the heavily referential scene/song about
bohemia (La Vie Boheme), and I confess to being caught up in the crossovers
between the documentary filmmaker (in the movie) and the use of film clips that
appeared to be from sometime earlier, perhaps from Jonathan Larson’s stuff in
the early-mid 90’s. Was this actual footage or imposter clips brought in to
create the appearance of earlier footage? I couldn’t land a clear answer to this
question in my two lazy Google searches.