Navigation

Archive | Categories

February’s ‘Wild Tales’ & ‘Accidental Love’

February 20, 2015 in Film Matters, Reviews

February may be the weirdest time of the year for film. Sure, ’tis the season for the Hollywood romance; witness the box-office success of “Fifty Shades of Grey” and the terrific musical love story “The Last Five Years.” But this is also the season for movies that distributors have written off as unmarketable. And while “unmarketable” can be Hollywood speak for “innovative,” it also is a synonym for “unfathomably awful.”

Case in point: “Accidental Love.” Released this month on VOD, David O’Russell’s buried comedy about Alice (Jessica Biel), an uninsured waitress unhinged by a brain injury, is as bad as was rumored. O’Russell himself hated this film so much that he demanded his name be removed from the credits. (The pseudonym “Stephen Greene” was used.) Filmed in 2008 in the wake of the badly received “I Heart Huckabees,” the production was so riddled with financial problems that it was shut down at least eight times. Though he never finished it – he refused to shoot a key scene in order to block its release – post-production was eventually completed without O’Russell’s participation. (A pivotal moment is glaringly lacking.) Continue Reading →

Neil Gaiman & Daniel Handler: Of Magic and Racist Jokes

February 19, 2015 in Book Matters, City Matters, Film Matters

They promised swordfights in their conversation but what we got was almost as good. At Tuesday night’s “En Garde! Gaiman and Handler,” authors, screenwriters, and general bon vivants Neil Gaiman and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) convened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House for a ninety-minute dialogue covering everything from the existence of magic to writing advice. Most notably, the friends and occasional collaborators also addressed Handler’s racist joke at last fall’s National Book Awards. It was a lively evening.

Perhaps to head off any unpleasant confrontations, the question-and-answer portion of the evening veered from BAM’s usual format: Audience members were encouraged to jot their questions on index cards upon their arrival rather than querying the authors from a microphone stand. Throughout the evening, the writers then answered the submissions of their choosing. Both men are terrific wits, and for a while it seemed Handler would circumvent the controversy entirely. Continue Reading →

All We Ever Wish For

February 18, 2015 in Age Matters, Cat Lady Matters, City Matters, Feminist Matters, Past Matters, Sabboytical

It was one of those days that just kept going and going, and the whole time I had to be on in a very public, TV lady sort of way. By the time I headed home, it was late, and my sense of humor–already eroded by the Winter That Will Not End–had evaporated. Still, when a woman on the subway platform pointed out she had the same hat, I couldn’t help but smile. It’s rare to find another adult who’ll wear the blue-dyed rabbit fur I refer to as my Muppet bonnet. The two of us struck up a chat while her boyfriend–tall, broad-shouldered, with a knitted brow–stood by, clearly not thrilled that his companion’s attention had been diverted. I knew his type well, had made the mistake of dating men like him when I’d been naive enough to conflate size with stability. After a bit it came out we all had been at the same event, and she and I compared notes while he continued to glower. Talking to her while he steamed reminded me of the conversations my mother used to have with female neighbors in the 1970s, all of them talking in lowered voices while glancing over their shoulders lest their husbands catch them lollygagging.

Finally he burst out: “I don’t judge.”

If I’d hadn’t been so fried, I would’ve let his comment go. I saw the quick hunch of her shoulders. Instead, I said, “You can have an opinion without judging.” Continue Reading →

"All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love."
― Leo Tolstoy