Something 4 The Weekend by
Welcome ladies, gentlemen and film
fans everywhere to entertainment manchester's weekly
feature 'Something for the Weekend'. Every Friday, we
deliver to you the best (and, in the interest of balance,
worst) of this week's new cinematic releases. If, as
Forrest Gump once might have said were he a film fan,
cinema really is like a box of chocolates, then think
of us as your mini-menu, steering you away from the
coffee creams and towards the Turkish delights of the
movie world.
George Clooney's at it again this weekend, stirring up political tensions like a little socially aware pixie, as a whole vat of movies are unleashed for our viewing pleasure starring the likes of Ewan McGregor, Nicolas Cage, Pierce Brosnan and, uhm, Queen Latifah.
First up Gorgeous George follows up his reds under the bed drama Good Night and Good Luck with another incendiary political thriller, Syriana. Directed by Traffic writer Stephen Gaghan, it's a fuming diatribe against America's many dubious dealings in Middle Eastern oil producing countries which finds Clooney starring as Bob Barnes, a veteran CIA agent nearing the end of his career, whose final assignment is the assassination of the young, reform minded Prince Nasir. However, when the assignment goes awry he is made a scapegoat by his fellow agents and realises that he has been lied to throughout the years and attempts to find the truth.
However, this is just one of the many stories in this multi-layered narrative which also features Matt Damon as energy analyst Bryan Woodman, Jeffrey Wright as ambitious Washington attorney Bennett Holiday (GREAT NAME!) and Christopher Plummer as Dean Whiting, Bennett's boss, who seems to be pulling the strings in his own favour.
It's certainly ambitious of Gaghan in only his second film (the first being 2002's Abandon), to take on not only such a controversial topic, but also such a delicate narrative. But if reviews from the US are anything to go by, it's every bit as good as Good Night and Good Luck. Plus the official website is giving away a Segway! What more do you need?
Sadly there are no such tempting offers on the Manderlay website, although it does feature Spider-Man's new love interest Bryce Dallas Howard who takes over from Nicole Kidman (who starred in the first instalment Dogville) in this the second of Lars von Trier's scathing Young Americans trilogy. It's 1933 and Grace (Howard) and her father have left Dogville behind and moved to Manderlay (hey, someone should write a song about the roads they had to take to get there). However, once there what she finds is just as bad as what she witnessed in Dogville, a place swarming with racism and violence.
Von Trier's films certainly aren't an easy watch. Rigidly following the rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto, they eschew the artifice of cinema and strive for a stark sense of naturalism, so much so that this trilogy is filmed on a soundstage with only chalk outlines where buildings would be to focus the attention less on the surroundings but on the characters and plot, a plot which, nonetheless has been accused of being anti-America. But what does Lars himself think of it? "Yet another fable from the U.S.A.?” he writes. “Historical or not? Film or only theatre? Or just Anti-American?....so many questions and so few answers!". Thanks for clearling that up mate.
Even more fun than experimental film-making is Stay, the new film from Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland director Marc Forster. Sounds like a soppy romantic drama; is actually a hard-hitter in which Ewan McGregor stars as a psychiatrist who must try to prevent one of his patients (Ryan Gosling) from committing suicide all whilst attempting to keep himself sane. If that sounds just a teeny tiny bit pretentious, you should check out the website which asks you to a) listen to the official Stay podcast and b) rumbles on about something called the Collaborative Subconscious Experiment. Quick, someone phone Derek Acorah!
Now, onto lighter fare in the shape of three comedies. First up, Last Holiday, starring Queen Latifah. Whether Latifah was born or married into aristocracy remains unknown, but either way it hasn't done her movie career much good as after starring in the 2004 remake of Taxi and the so-bad-I-actually-fell-asleep-in-it Chicago, she's moved onto this, an atrocious-looking comedy which seems like a rip off of Along Came Polly with Latifah starring as a meek church going woman who decides the time has come to take risks and...find love.
But wait, come back. The film sounds absolutely appalling but it's directed by a legendary name. No, no, the director himself isn't a legend. Hell, he also helmed Maid in Manhattan. But his name! His name is truly legendary. Ladies and Gentlemen, I urge you this weekend to see Last Weekend directed by WAYNE WANG!
Gore Verbinski also has an amusing name and the Pirates of the Caribbean helmer is back this weekend with The Weather Man, one of those infernal comedy dramas which seem to pop up every now and then much to the disgust of anyone with taste. Starring Nicolas Cage, it's the story of Dave Spritza, a weatherman (who’da thunk it) who is not only facing troubles at work, but also at home after separating from his wife and struggling to keep track of his troublesome son, disapproving father and over-eating daughter. Cue some drama, some comedy, maybe even a dash of dramady as, presumably, everything turns out ok in the end. Ahhhhhh.
Finally, life without Bond commences for Pierce Brosnan in The Matador, as he sheds the tux, puts on a few pounds and dons a tatoo saying ‘mother’ for the role of Julian Noble, a freelance hitman (they have freelance, hitmen? C’Mon, if anyone needs a decent union it’s hitmen!) who is way past his best but finds his life rejuvenated when he meets travelling salesman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear). From that description, it could be an assassins’ version of Brokeback Mountain, instead it looks like a solid comedy which presumably doesn’t feature Brosnan surfing. Already better than Die Another Day then…
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