Friday, August 22, 2003
Happy Texas
Directed by Mark Illsley
Happy Texas is a comedy about two convicts who escaped from jail and ends up being mistaken for a gay couple in a small Texas Town called Happy; after they robbed their RV.
These two escaped prisoners - Wayne Wayne Wayne Junior (Steve Zahn) and Harry Sawyer (Jeremy Northam), soon finds out that they are supposedly employed to act as pageant consultants to help the little girls of Happy win the annual "Little Miss Fresh Squeezed" talent contest. They decide to play along while at the same time, plans to rob the local bank.
Happy Texas is those sort of movies with a bit of everything. When Wayne who apparently hates little kids at first is forced to teach, he composed a wall of silence caught in between trying to be nice but filled with intense irritation. When he was asked to play the piano, his awkwardness at trying to sing country is hilarious. William H. Macy as Chappy the local sherrif steals the most limelight away from the duo with his crush on Sawyer who in turn is enamoured with Ally Walker (Josephine McClintock), the lady who owns the bank. He gets emotional and weepy revealing another side of the impassive policeman that we had seen earlier. Then, there are gunfights towards the end.
Happy Texas is the kind of goofy feel good movie which is instantly forgettable. It is a Sundance popular and favourite which was quickly bought and distributed by Miramax.
Singin' in the Rain
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Considered one of Hollywood’s greatest musical, Singin’ in the Rain is the story of how talkies revolutionized the silent film era.
Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a famous star who is perceived as a couple with Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) though in reality, they had nothing in between them (except “air” as the man himself claims). When Warner Brothers made the first talking film, Jazz Singer and it became a success, the studio director, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) stopped their filming of the silent The Dueling Cavalier and wanted to them to make a sound movie instead.
This is unfortunately a disaster because they lack the experience in writing good scripts as well as technical expertise in making one. To add to the difficulty of the situation, Lina sounds nasal in real life and they need someone who has a better voice. Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds) who has a budding romance with Gene comes to the rescue by agreeing to use her voice for Lina.
Singin’ in the Rain has a wide range of lively Broadway soundtrack from love ballads to feel good songs. Gene Kelly’s choreography is equally fascinating to watch.
Playtime
Directed by Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati is Monsieur Hulot, seen previously in M. Hulot’s Holiday and Mon Oncle. Lacking a central narrative, the movie is more of a series of scenes purportedly about modern Paris – tall buildings, glass walls, numerous quirky inventions, and tourists who are fascinated by what they can find in this city.
Playtime is all middle to long shots which further creates uneasiness for the average audience more used to different and varying scenes. It is difficult to understand why Tati would want to do that but one probable reason could be he was using distance as a tool to constantly keep the audience alert to minor details during the scenes since it lacks a narrative. Film theory also states that the larger the space, the greater the scope for more open interpretation. For Playtime, this openness acts as spaces for minor characters to appear, not taking centrestage but merely having a presence – less than 15 minutes of fame. Seen in this manner, the film lacks an attention span which totally disregards convention.
Some critics view it as a statement against modernization through the architecture: The see through glass in homes and offices confuses and mocks the idea of need for individual privacy; the cubicles which becomes labyrinths and the crumbling restaurant nightclub patronized by the upper class socialites.
Playtime is however more than just style. Unlike other critics, I disagree. It would be too simplistic to say Tati was trying to make Playtime an anti-contemporary inventions piece. The vehicles moving around a roundabout has music of a merry go round playing to highlight frivolousness. In another scene where the female tourists on a bus go gawking, the mirror of the deli moves up and down as if they were on a rollercoaster. Then, the nighclub scenes where jazz flows freely while its patrons dances throughout the night despite the falling ceiling; is a statement of the follies of human passion and euphoria. The nightclub sequence coincidentally is one of the most memorable not just because it seems the longest, or has a more upbeat soundtrack; but also being the most “action – oriented” . Things happen so fast that no one seems to care.
Playtime is a difficult piece as it is hard to pin point. You can almost derive anything about the scenes even with repeated viewings. I would compare Playtime as a “jazz” piece in which actions flows and improvise abruptly but feels jointed. Playtime is the depiction of vagueness about modern life; in the sense, that focus changes, and no one is always too important than others; where actions speaks louder than words. It’s hard to describe.
Directed by Mark Illsley
Happy Texas is a comedy about two convicts who escaped from jail and ends up being mistaken for a gay couple in a small Texas Town called Happy; after they robbed their RV.
These two escaped prisoners - Wayne Wayne Wayne Junior (Steve Zahn) and Harry Sawyer (Jeremy Northam), soon finds out that they are supposedly employed to act as pageant consultants to help the little girls of Happy win the annual "Little Miss Fresh Squeezed" talent contest. They decide to play along while at the same time, plans to rob the local bank.
Happy Texas is those sort of movies with a bit of everything. When Wayne who apparently hates little kids at first is forced to teach, he composed a wall of silence caught in between trying to be nice but filled with intense irritation. When he was asked to play the piano, his awkwardness at trying to sing country is hilarious. William H. Macy as Chappy the local sherrif steals the most limelight away from the duo with his crush on Sawyer who in turn is enamoured with Ally Walker (Josephine McClintock), the lady who owns the bank. He gets emotional and weepy revealing another side of the impassive policeman that we had seen earlier. Then, there are gunfights towards the end.
Happy Texas is the kind of goofy feel good movie which is instantly forgettable. It is a Sundance popular and favourite which was quickly bought and distributed by Miramax.
Singin' in the Rain
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Considered one of Hollywood’s greatest musical, Singin’ in the Rain is the story of how talkies revolutionized the silent film era.
Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a famous star who is perceived as a couple with Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) though in reality, they had nothing in between them (except “air” as the man himself claims). When Warner Brothers made the first talking film, Jazz Singer and it became a success, the studio director, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) stopped their filming of the silent The Dueling Cavalier and wanted to them to make a sound movie instead.
This is unfortunately a disaster because they lack the experience in writing good scripts as well as technical expertise in making one. To add to the difficulty of the situation, Lina sounds nasal in real life and they need someone who has a better voice. Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds) who has a budding romance with Gene comes to the rescue by agreeing to use her voice for Lina.
Singin’ in the Rain has a wide range of lively Broadway soundtrack from love ballads to feel good songs. Gene Kelly’s choreography is equally fascinating to watch.
Playtime
Directed by Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati is Monsieur Hulot, seen previously in M. Hulot’s Holiday and Mon Oncle. Lacking a central narrative, the movie is more of a series of scenes purportedly about modern Paris – tall buildings, glass walls, numerous quirky inventions, and tourists who are fascinated by what they can find in this city.
Playtime is all middle to long shots which further creates uneasiness for the average audience more used to different and varying scenes. It is difficult to understand why Tati would want to do that but one probable reason could be he was using distance as a tool to constantly keep the audience alert to minor details during the scenes since it lacks a narrative. Film theory also states that the larger the space, the greater the scope for more open interpretation. For Playtime, this openness acts as spaces for minor characters to appear, not taking centrestage but merely having a presence – less than 15 minutes of fame. Seen in this manner, the film lacks an attention span which totally disregards convention.
Some critics view it as a statement against modernization through the architecture: The see through glass in homes and offices confuses and mocks the idea of need for individual privacy; the cubicles which becomes labyrinths and the crumbling restaurant nightclub patronized by the upper class socialites.
Playtime is however more than just style. Unlike other critics, I disagree. It would be too simplistic to say Tati was trying to make Playtime an anti-contemporary inventions piece. The vehicles moving around a roundabout has music of a merry go round playing to highlight frivolousness. In another scene where the female tourists on a bus go gawking, the mirror of the deli moves up and down as if they were on a rollercoaster. Then, the nighclub scenes where jazz flows freely while its patrons dances throughout the night despite the falling ceiling; is a statement of the follies of human passion and euphoria. The nightclub sequence coincidentally is one of the most memorable not just because it seems the longest, or has a more upbeat soundtrack; but also being the most “action – oriented” . Things happen so fast that no one seems to care.
Playtime is a difficult piece as it is hard to pin point. You can almost derive anything about the scenes even with repeated viewings. I would compare Playtime as a “jazz” piece in which actions flows and improvise abruptly but feels jointed. Playtime is the depiction of vagueness about modern life; in the sense, that focus changes, and no one is always too important than others; where actions speaks louder than words. It’s hard to describe.
