SIFF’s Opening Night Gala landed at McCaw Hall last night, and its customary mini-sprinkling of glitz and glamour was rendered a little glitzier and glammier by the presence of Joss Whedon and several cast members from Whedon’s SIFF-debuting adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Guess what? The movie, which sees formal release June 21, is pretty damned swell, even for folks who aren’t regular visitors to the Whedonverse. Shot in clean black-and-white and executed with a light touch for much of its run time (no surprise to Whedon fans), there’s an offhanded, almost European quality to its look–California imbued with a pinch of La Dolce Vita–and it proves that the considerable charm of the Whedon actors that make up the cast isn’t just reserved to the cult TV shows and films they’re associated with.
But you’re not hear to read me yakking on about Much Ado About Nothing. You want pictures of movie people, and I’m happy to deliver.
There weren’t quite as many different celebrity red-carpet walkers last night as there were at last year’s SIFF Opening Night Gala, but those that were there, as Spencer Tracy once said, were cherse. Enjoy.
With crowds predictably crowding The Avengers, I thought I’d take a look at Samuel L. Jackson’s other film for this season. The Samaritan, playing without much fanfare at the University District’s Grand Illusion Cinema through June 7th, takes all the tropes, all the bright ribbons of the suspense-grifter-thriller and gives them room to breathe. Unfortunately for its protagonist and several people around him, some breaths hurt to take.
Yes, it seems simple enough in synopsis: The con, Foley (Jackson, also listed as a co-executive producer). His release, after 25 years, for putting a bullet in the head of a man we see on his knees, in front of the gun, in the film’s first shot–a man who turns out to be Foley’s old partner. Foley trying to go straight and check in with his parole officer. The devil in Foley’s ear, Ethan (Luke Kirby), son of Foley’s old dead dome-shot partner: Slick, flamboyant, not a hair out of place (just like his father before the bullet), dancing around what he actually wants until he steps up to Foley’s chin and demands it. The woman, Iris (Ruth Negga), young and beautiful but certainly too learned in the streets to be called a girl, majestic in her cheekbones and soft but skeptical eyes. The mark, Tom Wilkinson, who can play an upper-class saint or a refrigerated-heart monster with only minute variations of facial muscle between them. Here, of course, he can’t be the good guy. Jackson’s big enough, in all ways, for a movie full of them.
Director David Weaver uses Jackson’s classic facets–the wide eyes, the stilted, proclaiming diction when driven to passion–but lets them have their moments, rather than cattle-prodding action along. The Big Con plays second fiddle to Foley’s struggle for, if not redemption (from a negative number to a positive number), at least absolution (from a negative number to zero).
Other directors, even talented and subtle ones such as Neil LaBute with Lakeview Terrace, end up using Jackson as a symbolized prop manipulated patently by external forces–complete with Jackson’s character lying lifeless in the Jesus Christ Pose at the end of that one. For The Samaritan, Foley wields a big gun for the money shots but his circumstances, and his struggles, end up in other onscreen characters’ hands even as he tries to pull them back to his bosom. And no matter how convoluted and unlikely the plot (especially the last half hour), the people keep acting like real people. I’m only sorry how nobody real’s buying.
Expect similar fashion choices around theaters all weekend: Avengers fans at the Cinerama. (photo by Tony Kay)
By now, throngs of the geek faithful (yours truly most emphatically included) are rolling in the unbridled joy of multiple nerd orgasms at the premiere midnight screenings of the eagerly-anticipated Avengers movie. And in the interest of finally justifying all of the hits our sole previous Avengers entry’s received over the last several months, here’s an attempt at a spoiler-free, nerd’s-eye-view rundown.
Like another obscure action-fantasy film made by nerds for nerds (The Empire Strikes Back), The Avengers ain’t a stand-alone feature. It helps to have most of the current crop of Marvel superhero features under your belt if you’re just getting caught up on this particular mythic universe. Should you need help with a checklist, include the two Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man movies, Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, and 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger–then add the amiable B-movie shenanigans of the Edward Norton IncredibleHulk redux for extra credit (steer well afield of the Ang Lee-directed Hulk feature, in which the familiar battle cry, “HULK SMASH!” is replaced by “HULK HAVE DADDY ISSUES!”).
Most of the backstory and extraneous exposition have already been taken care of, so The Avengers can revel in the freedom of pretty much hitting the ground running (and driving, and flying, and exploding). Loki (Tom Hiddleston), evil foster-brother of thunder god Thor (Chris Hemsworth), has popped free from the outer cosmos to engineer a plot to use a shiny dimensional-energy-cube-thingy to unleash an armada of mechanical demonic-alien monsters on an unsuspecting Earth. The only thing that could possibly stand in his way? The Avengers, a team of superheroes led by badass secret agent Nick Fury (badass Samuel L. Jackson) and consisting of Thor, Iron Man Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), and Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)–who turns Hulking green and super-strong when he gets ticked off.
That’s as much synopsis as you’ll get from this end, partly to deflect dreaded spoilers and partly because, well, that pretty much is the synopsis. Within that framework, however, The Avengers could hardly be better. It translates onto the big screen in grand fashion, and elegantly gives its iconic superhero characters a chance to shine in ways that’ll thoroughly satisfy fans of each one. The action setpieces raise the bar for special effects wizardry anew (especially in eye-popping 3D), delivering requisite Wow Moments that would’ve been impossible to reproduce outside of a comic-book panel just a few years previous.
Like the best of its predecessors, though, The Avengers stands a good chance of holding up long after the initial nerd euphoria dissipates, largely because it never loses sight of the character groundwork that’s been laid down. Jackson’s Shaft-ian cool, Hemsworth’s hunky pop-Shakespearian lead with a heart, Downey’s raffish and camouflaging wit, Evans’ Norman Rockwell-wholesome earnestness, Renner’s outsider toughness, and Ruffalo’s wonderfully gawky comic presence embody their respective heroes to a T. And while Johansson’s a little out of her league alongside these big guns, she’s still a winningly-appealing onscreen presence (independent of the fact that she looks like, um, several million bucks in that black catsuit).
The actors are inestimably served by director Joss Whedon, who balances conflict and well-earned, knowing humor like the Geek Jedi Master he is. His and Zak Penn’s story (Whedon gets sole credit for the final script) strikes a perfect balance of acknowledging the goofiness of what’s onscreen, yet still remembering the core of sincerity that sparks the superhero myth in the first place. Without the semi-high-brow literary cache (and let’s be blunt, the substance) built into the Lord of the Rings films, The Avengers likely won’t get the kind of gold-plated Academy recognition Peter Jackson did, but Whedon’s done a similarly bang-up job of keeping several larger-than-life characters vital, alive, clearly-delineated, and seriously fun.
Expect a requisite cameo by Marvel Comics Godfather Stan Lee; and also rest assured that the grand tradition of a post-credits scene will require sitting out the credits to the very end. Don’t get up to take a bathroom break in the middle of ‘em, though, as that scamp Whedon’s thrown in another secret toy surprise halfway through.
That’s that, True Believers. Stake out yer spot in line at the local multiplex this weekend: Don’t make me say I told you so…or “Excelsior!”
Seattle Soundfest is turning out to be a really fun music fest! Day Two found me mostly at The Funhouse (where VIP pass holders are treated to free beer during happy hour) for Prima Donna, Neon Nights, The Riffs, The Avengers and Roxy Epoxy. Added to this was a quick trip over to El Corazon to catch The Vandals.
Seattle Soundfest Day 1 is in the books. It was a whirlwind evening of music and I can’t believe there are still two more days to go! It is far too much for just one person to cover, but I did catch performances by Cunt Sparrer, James Hunnicutt, Reagan Youth, The Avengers, Jesse Malin, Drag The River, Hollowpoints, and US Bombs. Thankfully the fest has a shuttle service, so getting between The Funhouse to Neumos and then Highline wasn’t much of a problem.
