Ed Wood
I rewatched this wonderful film recently and it continues to hold up as one of Tim Burton's best movies and probably Johnny Depp's best performance...especially before he got all gross and weird.
Ed Wood tells the story of Edward D. Wood Jr., considered to be one of the worst directors of all time. His best known movie is Plan 9 From Outer Space. He is responsible for a number of Z-level sci-fi/horror movies and also some nudie movies as well.
The film Ed Wood is about the power of having a vision. Even though Wood is a complete hack, he really believes in himself and will stop at nothing to get his visions onto the silver screen. It's also a movie about being your true, whole self. Wood was a cross-dresser in real life, and the film really explores that aspect of his life in depth. Other viewers may disagree, but I personally always saw Ed Wood as being sensitive and supportive of gender non-conforming and sexually non-conforming people. There is a suggestion that such people are "weirdos", as Wood's (ex) girlfriend, Dolores Fuller (Sarah Jessica Parker), asserts...but Burton is a friend of so-called weirdos and he treats the weirdos in his movies with love and respect, goddamnit!
Ed Wood encourages us to embrace our true selves and surround ourselves with people who love and accept us just as we are. There's a lovely scene where Wood confesses to his new girlfriend--who would go on to marry him--about his love of wearing women's underwear. And she thinks about it for a moment and then says "ok" and smiles. It's just a very sweet scene of accepting someone you love.
And I didn't even mention all the other amazing characters/actors in this film. Martin Landau playing the aging, heroin-addicted Bela Lugosi will make you cry, full stop. It's just an amazing performance. Vincent D'Onofrio has a cameo as Orson Welles in which he tells Wood "Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?" which is a line (and just...a sentiment!) I think about all the damn time.
I've seen Ed Wood a lot of times and it never fails to be a delightful, odd, charming, hilarious movie. I highly recommend it.
Grade: A+
***
Dick
Here's another movie I've seen a million times (especially when I was a teenager) and still love to this day. Dick dares to ask the question: what if Deep Throat, the informant who blew (heh) the Watergate scandal wide open, was actually a pair of ditzy 15 year old girls?
Michelle Willams and Kirsten Dunst play Betsy and Arlene, two high schoolers who accidentally stumble upon incriminating evidence against Richard Nixon (Dan Hedaya). Nixon doesn't believe these young ladies have much going on upstairs, but all the same wants to keep an eye on them. So he appoints them "Official White House Dog Walkers" and lets them come and walk the First Dog, Checkers, every day. Hijinks ensue that lead the president to resign.
Betsy and Arlene find out that Nixon not only uses swear words and hates Jewish people, he's also mean to Checkers! Horrified, they decide to call The Washington Post and tell Bob Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Carl Bernstein (Bruce McCulloch) about a list of "creeps" they found during a White House tour (the infamous "CREEP list"). They give their name as "Deep Throat" because Betsy's brother just got caught seeing the movie and they're delighted and squealy about it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Dick is a really fun movie that reminds us of a time where political corruption meant that you might lose your job--what a quaint notion! The movie sports an excellent soundtrack of all the mid-1970s hits, a cast filled with Saturday Night Live and Kids in the Hall alum and lots of "Dick" jokes. It's a good movie to watch if you're feeling down.
Grade: A
***
Passing
This delicate, black and white film, directed by Rebecca Hall, is based on Nella Larsen's 1929 novel. It follows Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Bellew (Ruth Negga), two light-skinned Black women living in New York City in the 1920s. Though both women are able to "pass" for white, Irene chooses not to do so. She lives in Harlem with her husband, Brian (Andre Holland), and their two sons. Clare, however, passes for white full time. She is married to a white bigot, John (Alexander Skarsgard) and is able to freely live as a white person with all the benefits that entails.
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But Clare misses being around Black people, so she begins to spend a lot of time in the company of Irene, whom she knew in high school, Brian, and their friends. Passing is less about Clare, though, and much more about Irene's mixed feelings about Clare and how she chooses to live her life. Irene struggles to fully accept the reality of racism in America. When her sons want to talk about a lynching that happened in another state, Brian is willing to share the details and entire truth with them, but Irene gets upset and shuts down the conversation. Brian wants to move the family to another country, but Irene doesn't want to leave. The Redfields are a comfortably wealthy Black family (Brian is a doctor) and so they are slightly protected from the brutality of racism...but not entirely. And Irene would rather pretend that all is well as long as they stay safe within their community than to face the fact that in a country that hates Black people, they will never be truly safe. Not the way white people are.
I think Irene's internal struggle both as a mother who wants to protect her sons from the harsh realities of the world, and as a Black woman who doesn't want to fully face those realities herself is the most heartbreaking aspect of this movie. Irene shouldn't have to worry, at least not about her skin color. In a just world, there would still be plenty to worry about. But Irene lives, as we all do, in an unjust world which doubles her worries. Life is hard enough, but white people make it so much harder for Black people and it's not fair. In Clare, Irene sees a hint of possibility...but that possibility is an illusion, since Clare could be found out at any time, and would suffer dearly for trying to pass.
Passing is a very lovely, very sad film. Like I said above, it's delicate, both in its cinematography, and how it approaches racism. But just because it's delicate doesn't mean it's falsely optimistic. Like a rose with thorns, Passing pierces even as one admires its grace.
Grade: B+
***
A History of Violence
This was another rewatch for me, although it's been years since I've seen it and it didn't leave much of an impression on me. Directed by David Cronenberg, A History of Violence is about a mild-mannered family man, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen), who owns a diner in a small, midwestern town. When two criminals try to hold up the diner and threaten the lives of Tom's employees, Tom springs into action, killing both men. He is hailed as a local hero. But no one stops to wonder why Tom is so good at fighting.
And then a man named Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) shows up one day in Tom's diner, calling Tom "Joey" and referencing Philadelphia. Though Tom pretends to not know what Carl is talking about, it becomes clear that Tom is running from a dark past that his wife (Maria Bello) and kids know nothing about.
Tom is eventually forced to return to Philadelphia, where his brother, Richie (William Hurt), reigns as a crime boss. He has to face down Richie and his goons if he ever wants to go back to how things were with his nice little sweet life in nowheresville, Indiana. Which is exactly what Tom--aka "Joey"--does.
David Cronenberg is a great director, but A History of Violence feels a bit thin and insubstantial. It's entertaining for sure, but not anything too memorable. Viggo Mortensen is really great in it--he fully captures both of Tom's sides: the sweet, dorky dad and the mindless killing machine. It's pretty sexy actually, even though I'm annoyed I find it sexy. So I guess I would recommend this movie if you like tight thrillers that are enjoyable to watch but won't stick with you for very long.
Grade: B
***
Dumb & Dumber
Yup, another rewatch for me! Of course I've seen Dumb & Dumber! This Farrelly Brothers movie was a staple of my childhood--a pretty naughty staple, to be honest. Rewatching it now was...interesting. I mean, the whole premise is about a guy stalking a woman. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) meets Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) while driving her to the airport. He becomes smitten with her, and when he sees her put down a briefcase and leave it behind in the airport, he goes on a cross-country road trip with his buddy, Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels), to return it to her. But, uh, the briefcase contained ransom money...so Harry and Lloyd are being tracked by a couple of goons who think the two men are masterminds.
They aren't. Masterminds, that is.
Dumb & Dumber is a pretty fucking dumb movie. And very politically incorrect. But if you don't laugh when Jim Carrey says "So you're telling me there's a chance?!", then you're just empty inside. I will say the movie didn't age as poorly as The Wedding Singer, which I rewatched a month or so ago. Even with all the 1990s references and humor, there's something pretty essential, basic, and timeless about Dumb & Dumber. Probably the fart jokes.
Grade: B
***
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