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My thanks to Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts…
Because the dynamic duo own the remake rights to The Women, Francois Ozun was forced to find another play to turn into a brilliantly twisted homage to women’s films and musicals of the 50s. The result is 8 Women, which may not be the best film I’ve seen in this month of Toronto prep, but is certainly the most joyous movie experience I’ve had in a long while.
What can one say about a film in which Isabelle Huppert is the ugly girl? Where else might one find a movie with more secrets than an Agatha Christie whodunit, but with twisted twists that make it all the more fun. And how could any man ask for more estrogen-laden excitement than a couple of hours with Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart and Viginie Ledoyen… add to that, the mature charms of Danielle Darrieux and Firmine Richard… and the young wonder that is Ludivine Sagnier. (And keep an eye out for an unusual cameo by Maria Schneider.)
Ozon’s charms have pretty much evaded me so far. But this film was an absolute delight. The parade of actresses - every one iconic, every one different – becomes one of those great gimmicks that works because it gets you anticipating the next moments. Who will break out in song next? Who will expose the next secret? Who will be the murderess?
Instead of finding eight great singers and/or dancers, Ozon brought together eight special actresses and tuned their numbers to fit their abilities. Sometimes the singing is weak. Sometimes the movements are really iffy. But these actresses exude so much charm and they are trying so hard that you can’t help but to love them and their efforts. The only mistake is that Sagnier steals the show in the very first number and it is almost impossible for the musical side of this film to reach that level again. (To my delight, I realized when looking up info on 8 Women that Sagnier is the French actress who won the role of TinkerBell in Columbia’s new remake of Peter Pan.)
Beyond the music, this is a movie and women who are completely atypical and completely typical… the way real life makes people. The film couldn’t be more stylized. Ozon shoots the movie, with the exception of about 12 shots, on a stage set, lit as often as not by classic stage lighting. The women don’t work to the audience and Ozon shoots the film like you would any other feature, but the artifice of the set, including a grand staircase right out of The Little Foxes, is a very clever conceit.
Besides Sagnier’s number, it is Huppert who gets to steal the movie, frumping around as the angry, bitter, drunk, heart-broken (literally), 40-something virgin whose sister, Deneuve, gets all the attention. One rarely thinks of Huppert as a comedienne, but after this turn, she may have a whole new career. She hasn’t made an America movie since Hal Hartley’s 1994 film, Amateur. Some smart American will snap her up to do something funny and snap her up soon.
Ozon did all kinds of tricks in making the film. He recreated the look of Technicolor, for instance. Reading the production notes is like taking on a small novel. But it seemed to me he took some of the inspiration for the musical segments from Bollywood more than any old-time Hollywood musical. The dance and movement is pure Hollywood. But the nature of the music cues and placement in the narrative… pure Bollywood.
The film has been playing across the globe since January. And it will arrive here, care of Focus Features, on September 20. It’s not for everyone. Some will definitely be resistant, though I can’t imagine anyone resisting the biggest laugh I’ve heard in a theater since Neil Patrick Harris went Mortal Combat on some guy in Undercover Brother. But if you have any sweet memories of musicals or old fashioned women’s films – of the bitchy, not weepie variety – you will have a great time with 8 Women. I can promise you this… I will see it again and again and again.
DVD WINNER: We don’t have a name, but we do have an e-mail address. The pick was To Kill A Mockingbird and the 22-word comment was “40 years since it was released and this film still has the power to quietly humble me with its grace and integrity.” manickles@msn.com, come on down!!!
TELLURIDE: I am missing the best film festival of them all this year… next year, I’ll be back. In the streets of the tiny town will be Peter O’Toole, celebrating his 70th birthday. Paul Schrader, Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe are in Auto Focus, Comden and Green hit the slopes with a 50th anniversary tribute to Singin’ In The Rain, the greatest musical ever. DA Pennebaker will be feted and shows his new Motown doc. David Cronenberg makes his first trip to the mountain with Spider. Bernard Tavernier presents Safe Passage. Ed Lachman will be there with Ken Park, which he co-directed with Larry Clark. Almodovar will show Talk to Her, his terrific new film, which I haven’t yet reviewed for some reason. (I’ll have to correct that on Monday.) And Phillip Noyce will not only bring Rabbit-Proof Fence to Telluride, but he’ll be bringing along his very shy first-time star, Everlyn Sampi.
Bill Pence, who co-directs the festival with Tom Luddy, is predicting that a film called Cuckoo will be the festival’s breakthrough film this year. The film looks at the pain of Easter Europe in the new millennium with humor and humanity, bringing a Lapp woman, a Russian and a Finn together to try to make sense of it all. Previously unknown director Alexander Rogozhkin will be in town and there is hope that the film can be an Oscar nominee.
And all of that just touches the surface…
DISNEY CURVE BALL: Just a couple weeks after being falsely accused by Nikki Finke of being a Disney apologist, Bruce Orwall does his usual thorough job on a Disney story, this time accompanied by Stefan Fatsis. The story is about the problems Disney has had with their sports franchises, The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Anaheim Angels. As usual, you need a WSJ subscription to read the work, but the link is here. Interestingly, a section away, on the cover of Marketplace, Sam Walker covers the financial problems running all through baseball, not just Disney’s team. That story is here.
JOHN RIDLEY: You may have read about John Ridley’s Conversations With The Mann in this column back in early June. Ridley also wrote Undercover Brother and I enjoyed his book so much that I devoured it in less than 24 hours. The New York Times Book Review just got around to reviewing it… I’d say that it is a reserved rave. You can read the review here.
READ YOUR SARRIS: You know it’s good for you…and fun too!!! He’s here.
READ YOUR WHITE: You know he’ll use words you have to look up… and he’s irritating too. But you should take a look, here.
WEEKEND PREVIEW: As it turns out, FeatDotCom is the only major release of this weekend. And the word “major” is used advisedly.
Last year, two new releases over Labor Day Weekend grossed almost $23 million. Even taking the four-day figures into account, except for the films that were heading into weekend two, the worst drop over the weekend was 37 percent… in other words, it’s a good weekend for aging films.
My Big Fat Best Friend’s Greek Wedding is adding yet another 290 screens after adding 265 screens and 27 percent at the box office last weekend. It’s reasonable to expect the film to climb the charts once again, landing in third place this weekend. And if my guess is right, the film will pass the $75 million mark this weekend.
Goldmember will pass $200 million this weekend, Men in Black 2 will pass $190 million and Pluto Nash will close in on $4.5 million.
There are four new arthouse releases: Screen Gems’ Love and a Bullet on 14 screens, Sony Classics’ Mad Love on 3 screens, Cinebella’s Agni Varsha on 3 screens and a re-issue of The Seven Samurai from Cowboy Booking on just one screen.
FOUR-DAY WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES
Signs – 3437 venues – up 4 percent – $14.9 million
XXX – 3536 venues – off 12 percent – $11.7 million
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - 1619 venues – up 45 percent - $10.5 million
Spy Kids 2 – 3250 venues – off 3 percent - $7.3 million
Fear Dot Com – 2550 venues – new - $6.2 million
Blue Crush – 2825 venues – off 10 percent - $5.9 million
Goldmember – 2506 venues – off 8 percent - $5.1 million
Serving Sara - 2174 venues – off 13 percent - $5 million
Undisputed - 1117 venues – off 20 percent - $3.6 million
Simone – 1920 venues – off 19 percent - $3.1 million
Road to Perdition - 1763 venues – up 5 percent - $2.9 million
READER OF THE DAY: NOT THE BALLPLAYER writes: “Actually, the American Idol guy would be Sam Jackson's wife's second cousin, not first cousin once removed. For some reason people get this wrong all the time.
Reference:
http://www.ayrshireroots.com/Genealogy/Reference/
What%20is%20a%20Second%20Cousin%20z.htm”And THE FORMER KRILLIAN responds to an earlier ROTD letter: “I went to David Wong's website. He was completely wrong on over 40 of his 50 points. It's not just a difference of opinion; it's blatant propaganda against a great film.
Top Ten Reasons Why David Wong Sucks
1. He said no movie should be over two hours long. So by this logic, The Godfather trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy, the Star Wars trilogy, 2001, Spartacus, Schindler's List, Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Braveheart and Pulp Fiction, to name a few, all must suck too.
This is enough to completely dismiss this guy as a demagogue or an ignoramus, or it's all satire because LOTR: FOTR is one of the best movies of the decade. Either way, no need to continue.”
And TRL’S COUSIN is also on old ROTD duty: “It is hard to figure out exactly where this Debate Starter person is coming from. What I gather is this person believes Pulp Fiction has aged poorly due to the influence the movie had on cinema? Which makes no sense to me.
So it changed the way some movies and tv shows are made. Big deal. It seems to me that if you see it that way, you are holding something against a movie. Pulp Fiction is like nothing else that has come out. It is original. It might have influences that are far reaching and those influences are represented in the film. But to knock it for that, I cannot understand. Then, the Matrix is brought up in a manner that cannot be good for this person. Mainly, because if you are going to blame the Matrix for being innovative and that innovation being ripped off in movie after movie after. Then you are missing the point. Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions could possibly be two of the most groundbreaking visual films that you or me will ever see. Not to give these two films a chance to kick your ass in a theatre is something else, I simply cannot understand.
E ME: Have a lovely weekend. Write if you like. Any festival insights will be appreciated. See you on Tuesday.
