marcusharwell.net » film

That’s a Wrap

Marcus — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:10:45 +0000

I didn’t get much chance to blog the film while it was in progress, since we were shooting 15 or so pages a day and I was a wreck when I got home every day. But we had a blast, and the cast and crew were all terrific human beings who took their work seriously and tried to make the best movie they could.

There are pictures, of course.

Craft services was a good spread, but since I was in a swimsuit for the whole film, I stayed away from Doritos and cookies.

A few cast members let me snap them in candid moments.

More to come…

I Trust You to Kill Me

Marcus — Sun, 10 May 2009 07:02:53 +0000

I just saw this documentary, which has a killer soundtrack by Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, and is a record of that band’s first European tour, managed by the unlikely head of their label, Kiefer Sutherland. It’s a terrific doco, the sound editing and mixing alone is reason to see it. The music is powerful and raw, but has such a clean production I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that studio tracks were used for some of it. Yet, there were quirks that wouldn’t be overlooked for the album, so I have to hand it to Florian Ammon for his recording prowess. The band is earnest, generally good-natured, and funny. They know how unlikely it is they’ll skyrocket to fame, and take it in stride when their first show’s audience barely responds.

But if you have any interest in Kiefer Sutherland, he comes across in the film as a down-to-earth and forthright person, who loves and believes in the band he’s shepherding and desires only to see them appreciated. He’s also clearly a goofball and more than a little disorganized.

In reading about Sutherland’s latest legal woes, it seems important to keep perspective on what little has been reported. The truth is not often fully explored, and rumors persist long after the details of an event become public. But of course, there’s always the possibility that Kiefer is, indeed, a pirate.

Parry Gripp, Humping on John Stamos’ Leg

Marcus — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:21:27 +0000

Because who wouldn’t?

[video from Free Radio on VH1]

Three New Songs About Lions

Marcus — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:26:49 +0000

Well, they have the word “Lion” in the title, anyway.

Bishop Allen – The Lion & the Teacup

Animal Collective – Lion in a Coma

Sam Roberts – Lions of the Kalahari

Academy Awards: Live Blogging the Mess, er, the Excess

Marcus — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:29:51 +0000

5:20pm Yay! Jack Black plays it humble and goofy.
ME: Hahaha! Isn’t he great?
MORGAN: He looks terrible.

5:31pm. Hugh Jackman, stop it. You can’t get any hotter. Cripes.

5:40 Is Angelina Jolie wearing one of those giant candy rings?

5:44 JAMES: Whoopi looks terrible.

5:48 Penelope Cruz = Best Supporting for Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I need to see. You still have that screener, right Dennis?

5:57 Milk=Best Original Screenplay. Score one for the gays. Dustin Lance Black, I heart you.

Real time screenplay overlay = genius.

6:10 Kunio Kato: Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.
Nice one. “Sank you, ahnimahtion”

6:23 In retrospect, will Sarah Jessica Parker think the writers insulted her (via Daniel Craig) with that “We don’t have to tell you what the makeup artist does,” “Just look at us,” crack?

6:32 Yow. Academy Awards says, “suck it, Joaquin Phoenix.”

6:38 Uh, Jessica Biel’s dress puked itself up. Is there a seamstress in the house?!

6:56 Hey, Zefron. Kind of a token appearance, though, what’s the deal? Beyonce was better than I thought she’d be. But with two high profile musicals, I’m not sure Hugh can honestly claim “the musical is back.”

7:08 yup, Heath Ledger for Best Supporting. It was a lock, but still a great performance.

7:15 Best Documentary = Man on Wire. Told ya it was great.

7:17 Hah, coin vanish was silly, but Philippe balancing ~~his~~ James Marsh’s Oscar on his chin was brill.

7:25 The Hives get a nice centerpiece. Good.

7:28 Haha, “Boom goes the dynamite.” Will Smith = internet nerd.

7:54 not feelin’ it: 1) any of the Original Scores (but congrats, A.R. Rahman FTW)
2) Zefron’s hair. WTF?

8:15 Forgot Cyd Charisse died. Sadface. Where’s Heath Ledger in the obit clips? Did I miss him? He’s nominated, so they don’t have to put him on the list?

8:20 JAMES (re Ron Howard): He looks terrible without his hat on.

Danny Boyle = Best Director. I think he deserves it just for the fantastic performances of the kids. Bravo Slumdog.

8:32 yup, Jolie’s ring is definitely candy. Earrings too, looks like.

8:40 Adrien Brody, shave, dude.

8:43 Wow, score another for the gays, Sean Penn = Best Actor

8:46 Thanks for the anti-Prop-8 slam, Sean.

8:53 Slumdog Millionaire = Best Picture. The entire city of Mumbai is on stage accepting.

9:00 note to self: blog next year’s Oscars from a laptop, not the iPhone.

Man on Wire

Marcus — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:06:00 +0000

Just finished watching this extraordinary film. When I was a little kid, I saw Philippe Petit perform at the circus. Just a simple act of crossing a wire at the top of the tent captured everyone’s attention and provoked total silence from us all. A slight Frenchman dressed in black is the singular image I can still recall vividly from that visit. What an amazing human being. See this.

“… to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge, and then you are going to live your life on the tightrope.”

High School Musical: Not Bad at All

Marcus — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:30:44 +0000

I was fully prepared to cringe my way through. I’m not the target audience for this movie, but as musicals-for-tweens go, it was watchable (geez, damn with faint praise much?). I’ve only seen bits at a time, channel surfing over Disney on my way from Comedy Central to the Cartoon Network. But HSM 3 is out, and South Park did a parody of the series, so I thought it was high time to see the thing.

First, I don’t like to trash directors, but I really think Kenny Ortega fell down on the job. He’s plenty experienced, so there’s no excuse, but I disliked a lot of his choices in this film. Part of it was casting, and possibly out of his hands; few of the young actors were good. They were, of course, hired primarily for their singing and dancing skills, so I understand. But there’s no excuse for sloppy acting on the part of the adults. Only Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus really nailed the cartoonish teacher thing, and she was excellent. The worst sequence was an exchange between Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens when they discover they’re in the same class. A stilted trading-off of sentence fragments (“I don’t” “Believe it” “Well, me” “Either!”) was the standout lame moment and should have been reworked. Tisdale and Grabeel were decent, but not many others were.

The surprise, for me, was how good Zac Efron is. He’s got great timing, and piles of natural ability. He really was the best thing about HSM, and despite the general level of mediocrity surrounding him, he was believable and charming almost the entire film.

Zac was cute in HSM, but I think I prefer to think of him like this

and also

But I respect you, Zac, and will be watching out for your next dramatic role.

Premonition: No Psychic Ability Necessary

Marcus — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:52:28 +0000

It sucked. Giant holes throughout. I like Sandra Bullock, she’s charming, and I’ll give her a shot in most anything, even if it looks like it’ll be awful (I’m looking at you, Miss Congeniality), but she sleepwalked (what is the past tense of “sleepwalk”?) through this dog.

I think I’ll spoil it for you. Bullock discovers she’s living a week out of order. Her relationship is tepid and distant. She wakes up on Thursday to find her husband, played by Julian McMahon, has been killed the day before. She goes through the day and wakes up to find it’s Monday. Then it’s Saturday, then Tuesday, Friday, Sunday, then Wednesday, the day her husband dies. Bullock tries to find a way to stop McMahon’s death, but ultimately ends up causing it. In context, this makes no sense, whatsoever.

Either you can change the future with foreknowledge of it, or it’s predestined. It’s as much a paradox to have it both ways as to have neither. Bullock apparently wasn’t involved in the accident at the beginning of these leaps through her week, or the policeman wouldn’t be showing up at her door to tell her about the accident. At the end, she has McMahon pull over to the side of the road, then make a u-turn rather than just getting out or backing the car up to where she is. He stalls, a truck comes, he dies, boom, Sandra weeps. Is this the futility of trying to change the future? Leaving aside whether she changes her relationship for the better before McMahon leaves on Wednesday morning, if all this angst is futile, why are we watching this film? Guys, it’s not a twist ending if we know the outcome and nothing can prevent it.

If you’re just having terrible things happen to the main characters, I need them to be likable. Otherwise, as in this case, I just think about all the things a normal person would do in Bullock’s situation, and think, “what a bunch of idiots,” as the credits roll. A normal person who knows her husband is about to be killed and has him on the phone precious seconds before he reaches the scene shouts, “please, please, you need to pull over, NOW! I’m right behind you, you’re in danger, I’ll explain when I get there! Are you pulling over, damn it?” No, Bullock’s depressed ditz spends the whole time exchanging niceties with McMahon as they barrel down the highway.

The director should have had Bullock run McMahon down at the end. That would have been a twist I’d have applauded.