Much Ado About Whedon

Movies: Much Ado About Nothing

Joss Whedon's adaptation of Shakespeare's classic comedy is the stuff of minor Hollywood legend. Shot in 12 days at Whedon's own home in Santa Monica, and starring a bunch of Whedon regulars, the film is absolute candy for Whedonites and Shakespeare lovers alike.

Set in modern day, filmed in clean, beautiful black and white, Much Ado About Nothing is the perfect opposite of Baz Luhrmann's frenetic take on Romeo and Juliet. Although the two films are modern adaptation of Shakespeare, Much Ado is dreamy and smooth where R&J is grungy and aggressive.

Both films are great for someone like me--a person who never studied Shakespeare beyond the few plays I was required to read in high school, yet feels an intellectual obligation to be at least somewhat familiar with his oeuvre. It is difficult for me to follow along with any Shakespeare play, especially if I haven't read it or seen an adaptation before. I find these modern film adaptations easier to understand than theatrical productions, if only because I'm able to see the actors' body language and facial expressions up close. So I might miss the meaning of some witty banter--but I still know when to laugh.

Briefly, the plot centers on two couples: the older Beatrice and Benedick, who boldly proclaim their disdain for love and marriage while engaging in a constant (outrageously flirtatious) "merry war" of banter and dismissive insults with one another. The other couple are the young Claudio and Hero, who fall so madly in love with each other they plan to marry immediately. There are multiple conspiracies to bring the couples together and to tear them apart. Leonato, Beatrice's uncle, conspires to bring Benedick and and Beatrice into a "mountain of affection" through some well-placed false gossip. Despite the trickery, it's clear that B & B's love for each other was always there inside them, it just needed a little push to come to surface.

Claudio and Hero, on the other hand, are the victims of the villainous Don John, who puts into place a scenario that fools Claudio into thinking Hero is unfaithful and thus rejecting and humiliating her at the altar. I have to admit that I was severely creeped out by people dressed in modern clothing basically telling Hero she was better off dead than alive and without her virginity. Her own father included! But I liked how things played out in the end, with Hero pretending to die and then "coming back to life" and, like a merciful goddess, giving that dumb fuck Claudio another chance.

By far the best performance in a film filled with excellent acting was Amy Acker's turn as the sharp, irreverent Beatrice. She appears like a fully modern woman, disdainful of love, yet brimming with affection for her cousin Hero and uncle Leonato. Although Benedick accuses her of being a "harpy", she seems anything but: a sly, sarcastic intelligent woman whose only major flaw is her own pride.

Despite the Shakespearean slut-shaming (my friend chided "It was written 600 years ago. I think it he gets a pass"), I found Much Ado About Nothing a charming delight with a few sincerely deep pangs of emotion ("A miracle! Here's our own hands against our hearts." ...le sigh) within a frothy and gorgerously filmed comedy.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Playing with Dolls

Movies: Marwencol

Marwencol might be the most unique documentary I've ever seen. It follows Mark Hogancamp, a middle-aged man who is recovering from an extremely violent attack that took place about five years before this documentary was made. The night of the attack, Hogancamp left a bar and five teenagers who were harassing him followed him, jumped him, and beat him so severely he was in a coma for nine days. Hogancamp lost many of his motor skills and had to relearn how to walk, eat, etc. He also lost many of his memories--including the fact that he used to be a severe alcoholic (after the attack, Mark had no interest in booze).

In the aftermath of the attack, Mark found that since he had limited health coverage and couldn't attend therapy indefinitely, he had to create his own therapies. Before the beating, he was a very skilled artist, but afterward his hands shook too much to draw. Still drawn to art in general, Mark began to collect GI Joes, Barbies, and other dolls and create an alternate world--a Belgian town called "Marwencol"--in his own backyard. He came up with story lines, created very realistic scenes, and photographed them. Marwencol allowed Mark to process the anger and fear the attack left him with. In one story line, Mark's alter-ego, an America GI, is captured by Germans and tortured for information before the female dolls of the town rescue him. He points out that this story line allows him to relive the beating and even "get revenge" in a safe way.

One day, as Mark is taking one of his little jeeps for a walk (to create realistic wear and tear on the tires), he is discovered by a man who offers to do a show of his work in Greenwich Village. Mark, who never thought of himself as an artist, has to decide if he's ready to enter back into the wider community in order to attend the show.

What's fascinating about Marwencol is that it illustrates how our assumptions about people can be upended when we get to know them. To outsiders, Mark Hogancamp might come off as creepy: he flirts with a married neighbor, sleeps with Barbie dolls beside him, takes the dolls for "walks", etc. But when you hear his story, you realize that Mark is remarkably articulate and in-tune with who he is and what he needs in order to recover from his brutal attack. Mark is both a pitiful and an inspiring man. He complains about being lonely and not having a girlfriend for nine years--which is very sad because you completely understand his loneliness. Yet, he also points out that being able to do this kind of art is wonderful since it proves that his attackers didn't take away his imagination. Mark Hogancamp's story reminded me a lot of Harvey Pekar's story in American Splendor. Pekar, another strange, lonely man, also lived an inspiring life through his comic art. Pekar suffered through cancer and used comics as a way to transcend a very painful, scary experience. In the film, he (well, Paul Giamatti, playing him) says "Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff". Indeed, Mark Hogancamp lives a simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary life just as Pekar did.

I love that we get to see all sides of Mark Hogancamp in this film: his anger at the men who attacked him, his vulnerability and anxiety, his creativity, and his happiness in his work and art. I also liked that the film was inspiring, but not sappy or melodramatic. Mark Hogancamp shows how even someone with limited means can use art to find meaning in the absurd and often painful realities of life.

4 out of 5 stars






Mark's alter-ego 

Growing Girl

Movies: Frances Ha

Director Noah Baumbach is the king of movies about adults who can't or won't grow up. From the over-educated, under-motivated group of college friends in Kicking and Screaming to Jeff Daniels' pompous ass of a professor in The Squid and the Whale to Ben Stiller's caustic turn as an immature misanthrope in Greenberg, Baumbach has sharp ear and eye for man-children who think they're better than everyone else even though they can barely feed themselves or make polite conversation.

In his latest project, Frances Ha, Baumbach turns his attention to a women-child this time. However, he seems to have more sympathy for a female Peter Pan than the male ones who typically inhabit his movies. Greta Gerwig's turn as the titular Frances is all at once irritating, embarrassingly awkward, sympathetic, and charming. Frances is 27 (my age!) and is trying to break into a dance company in New York City even though she's not very good at her craft. But she loves life and she loves her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner, daughter of Sting), whom she lives with, spends entire days with, and even sleeps in the same bed with. Sophie and Frances have a true romance between them that one would think nothing could tear asunder.

That is, until Sophie moves out and starts dating "Patch". Frances is understandably chagrined. Sophie is paving her way towards adulthood while Frances is homeless, boyfriendless, and on the verge of being jobless. Worst of all, she's in denial about her situation and seems unable to make any changes. So she passive-aggressively lashes out at Sophie, mocking Patch and criticizing Sophie's choices. The world is about to get a whole lot darker for Frances before she sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

But despite Frances' awkward ways (a scene of her dominating the conversation with petty anecdotes and unfunny jokes at a dinner party with older, chicer friends is absolutely excruciating), we can't help but feel affection for Frances, who often acts like a character on the TV show Girls, but a few years older. Her love for Sophie is so pure and so relatable, that it's very understandable that she feels the world spinning out of control as Sophie and Patch get more serious about each other. And to be fair, Sophie does start ignoring Frances in favor of newer, shinier friends.

But what really redeems Frances in comparison to Baumbach's previous parade of man-children is that she really doesn't think she's better than anyone else. She isn't self-loathing either. She's just un-self-aware, which can be both cute and annoying. But she's not a mean person and she's not arrogant or entitled. Frances is happy with the simple things in life: dancing, cookies, and friendship.

Frances' predicament gets almost hilariously bleak near the end of the movie, but she also gets a couple well-deserved breaks. As in Baumbach's other films, Frances Ha ends on a note of redemption and hope. Perhaps more hope than his previous films. It's a *little* too tied up in a nice bow for my tastes, but it also feels real and sweet. Frances doesn't get everything she wants, but you know that she is slowly making her way to adulthood...if a bit more slowly than her friends.

Frances Ha is a movie that reminds us of that old adage: growing older is required, growing up is optional. And as Frances runs through the streets to David Bowie's "Modern Love", it reminds us that sometimes it's ok to be a little young at heart.

4 out of 5 stars