Movie Review: ELAINE STRITCH SHOOT ME

ELAINE STRITCH SHOOT ME
Director: Chiemi Karasawa
Starring: Elaine Stritch, Rob Bowman, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, James Gandolfini, John Turturro

There she is in her white button down shirt with black tights with no pants singing, "I'm Still Here" from Follies. It seems like the perfect song for her. Like every song Elaine Stritch sings, she makes it fit for her and where she is at in this moment of her life. Her rendition of "I Feel Pretty" is not like the one you grew up hearing. Legendary Broadway actress Elaine Stritch is not known for being a shy, private, or hidden person. Even at the age of 86, she puts it all out there and doesn't care what anyone else thinks. If you ever saw her one-woman show "Elaine Stritch At Liberty", you know what I mean. In this new documentary, Elaine proves she is just as busy as ever. This love of performing, the theater, and her audience is what keeps her going.

The film picks up as her run as Colleen Donaghy on "30 Rock" is ending. She is seen shooting her final scenes with Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. There is this feeling that she can be hard to work with at times, but she is always worth it. She lives at the Carlyle and is prepping for another cabaret act where she plans on singing the songs of composer Stephen Sondheim for the Cafe Carlyle and then taking the show out on a mini tour. Her diabetes slows her down, but she never feels completely defeated. At the same time, she knows how far to push herself, when to stop, and makes no apologies about it. Why should she? She's 86-years-old and can do whatever she wants. I admire her frank openness to her health and what she allows to be shown on camera. She is someone that definitely puts it all out there regardless of her age or how she looks.

At one point during the film, she is being honored with a rehearsal hall being named after her at the Stella Adler studio. She is tasked with picking out old photos and show posters for decoration. It provides for a wonderful trip down memory lane as she looks back at her career on stage and on the silver screen. It is quite astonishing when you think about the career she has had and how far back it dates. There is footage of her with Bela Lugosi, Rock Hudson, Ben Gazarra, and James Gandolfini. The film isn't just a career highlights reel as she is quite open about her struggles with alcoholism and diabetes and provides a peak into her loving marriage to her late husband John Bay. I had no idea that he was part of the family that began Bay's English Muffins. There is something sweet and endearing as she still has this love of those muffins and makes them part of her daily routine.

As a performer, I find her tenacity and love of the art so admirable and inspirational. I am fascinated with hearing about old Hollywood and the golden days of Broadway. Many actors of her age have long since retired and are living private lives. She easily could have retired years ago, but she continues to keep working and refuses to let her health stop her.

Is it worth your trip to the movies? Absolutely. Even if you are not as familiar with her work, Stritch provides some lessons on living life that are inspirational.

RATING: 4 out of 5 Ticket Stubs

Movie Review: BLUE JASMINE

BLUE JASMINE
Writer/Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Andrew Dice Clay, Louis C.K., Bobby Cannavale, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg

Cate Blanchett. Cate Blanchett. Cate Blanchett. She has portrayed Elizabeth I, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Dylan, Galadriel the Elf, and was the object of Judi Dench's affection. All fantastic performances, yet one of the most riveting portrayals comes in Woody Allen's latest, Blue Jasmine. Jasmine (Blanchett) is trying to start a new life. She leaves New York and moves to San Francisco to live with her sister, Ginger (Hawkins). They are both adopted and could not be any more different. Ginger believes Jasmine was always the favorite daughter as she was the pretty one.

Jasmine's life has been turned upside down. Her husband Hal (Baldwin) was a wealthy businessman who was caught in embezzlement and fraud. Hal and Jasmine had more money than they knew what to do with, but it was dirty money that was not really theirs in the first place. Jasmine, of course, was oblivious to what was really going on. She was a socialite that had all of the designer clothes, numerous houses, and had all the time in the world for dinner parties, yoga, and pilates classes. It all came crashing down leaving Hal in jail and Jasmine left with “nothing” so she claims. Ginger quickly points out the fact that she still has her collection of Louis Vitton luggage and somehow flew first class to get to San Francisco.

Ginger lives a much simpler and cheaper life. She bags groceries for a living and has two sons from her ex-husband Augie (Dice Clay). Always one to be dating and flirting, she is now dating a younger brutish guy named Chili (Cannavale). It doesn't take long for Chili to come to Ginger's defense and question Jasmine's motives. She had practically ignored her sister and now that she is broke she swoops in to live with her and ask for her help. Jasmine needs all the help she can get as she has suffered a nervous breakdown and has begun talking to herself due to the fall of her marriage and lifestyle.

I would like to think of myself as a pretty big Woody Allen fan. I own a majority of his work and Annie Hall sits at #7 on my Top 10 list. Not many writer/directors, outside of say Tyler Perry, pop out a new film every year. I do admit that he does have his faults and some of his movies are not great. That’s what happens after fifty years in the business. Not all of them can be cinematic masterpieces. When you meet a Woody Allen fan, they will have their favorite decade or set of themes. I am more likely to pop in one of his more physical comedies of the ‘70s any day of the week before the majority of the ones that came in the 2000s era. Some love his more existential films of the ‘80s. Lately when his movies work, they really work like Midnight in Paris. If they flop, they really flop. Blue Jasmine really works on so many levels.

Allen’s script is one of the most well-rounded, dimensional, thought-proving pieces he has written in quite some time. There is no denying that there are parallels between this and “A Streetcar Named Desire” and the fall of Bernie Madoff. Many of his films lately have only seen the characters as they are in the short time frame of that story. We see the characters of Blue Jasmine throughout an extended period of time as the film shifts between Jasmine’s current life in San Francisco and the extravagant life she led in New York. It reminded me of Annie Hall in its non-linear approach. We get inside the turmoil and frustration that the fall of Hal had on all of our characters, not just Jasmine. How long can you stay happy in a delusional world? What happens when the truth is exposed and it all comes crashing down on you?

Allen has created some fantastic characters over the years leading to great material for many of his actors. Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Mira Sorvino, Diane Keaton, and Penelope Cruz have all won Oscars playing some of Woody's characters. Blue Jasmine is no exception. The whole cast is fantastic. I have heard that his direction is simple with very few takes, but he gets such rich performances out of his actors. Is that the writing, directing, or the actors giving it all their own on their own doing? I guess it is a mix of each. There is not one phoned in performance with each actor giving their A-game. Allen has given each one of them moments to shine. Andrew Dice Clay is known more for his stand-up routine, but I hope he is given more acting opportunities after this. He gives a very real and honest performance that is completely reigned in and far different than you would expect from his comedic persona. I am slightly embarrassed to say that I have not seen enough of Sally Hawkins' work before. Cate Blanchett may be getting all of the attention for her performance, but Hawkins is just as heartbreaking, genuine, and flawed. Can we start mentioning how great Hawkins is at the same time we talk about how great Blanchett is?

I would be highly surprised if Blanchett is not nominated for an Oscar for her work here. I've been throwing around the "O" word quite a bit lately in my reviews. I guess we are getting into that season. Every moment Blanchett is on screen, she is captivating. I could not stop watching every little move or vocal choice she made. I was enamored whenever Jasmine would talk out loud to herself or carry on conversations with full strangers. I have witnessed many people doing this throughout my years of working downtown. She makes so many specific and intricate choices to showcase the wide range of Jasmine between high socialite to post nervous breakdown to her trying to get better and make better choices. The film has another "A Streetcar Named Desire" connection as Blanchett has played Blanche DuBois on stage. You know how they always show a scene from a movie when they announce each nominee? There are plenty of scenes to choose from as the "Oscar telecast" scene to show off her brilliant performance.

There are plenty of people who have written off Woody Allen saying he is past his prime or they cannot put aside his personal life. I think the naysayers would be surprised and pleased with his latest. It is one of his strongest films in quite some time. It is not a straight up comedy with the typically Woody Allen neurotic banter, but the film is still funny at times at how shockingly delusional these characters can be. The humor is mixed in to off-set the sadness and uncomfortable moments that come with Jasmine's pain. Blue Jasmine has the depth that many Allen films of late have been missing.

RATING: **** 1/2 (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Movie Review: ROCK OF AGES

ROCK OF AGES
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise, Malin Ackerman, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Mary J. Blige, Paul Giamatti, Bryan Cranston, Catherine Zeta-Jones



When you see Rock of Ages, you don't go in expecting your mind will be blown away with some existential thoughts and questions. It is not that kind of movie. You go in for fun music that will have you dancing in your seat. Sherrie Christian (Hough) is a young, broke, up and coming singer that leaves her Oklahoma life behind as she buses out to Los Angeles in hopes to make it big. The night she arrives in LA, she is mugged of her sole possessions which are mostly records. She just so happens to meet Drew (Boneta) who is also an up and coming singer and works as a bar back at The Bourbon Room. The Bourbon Room is the hottest concert venue that brings in the best rocks bands. Drew gets Sherrie a job as a waitress and they become smitten with each other.



Dennis (Baldwin) and Lonny (Brand) run The Bourbon Room. They are eagerly anticipating the greatest night yet with Stacee Jaxx (Cruise) playing his final concert with his band Arsenal. Everything is riding on this night with Stacee Jax. A Rolling Stone reporter (Ackerman) desperately tries to interview him before the show only to find that his drunken, lazy, care free attitude does not provide for a good sit down chat. On top of that, Dennis and Lonny are being hounded by the mayor (Cranston) and his church going, bible thumping wife (Zeta-Jones). She is desperately trying to get The Bourbon Room shut done as rock and roll is pure filth that promotes sex and drugs. What she doesn't know is that the mayor is cheating on her behind her back. The opening band for Arsenal quits the day of the show and Drew is given the opportunity to open for them. The big night does not quite go as planned and leaves a lasting impact on everyone involved.



There is a huge trend lately of turning Broadway musicals into movies. Some are phenomenal like Chicago and some are dreadful like The Producers. There are a few that fall right in the middle like Mamma Mia and Hairspray. I would say that Rock of Ages falls in the middle of the pack. Director Adam Shankman seems to be all about getting a huge cast full of big name actors and leaves the production aspect of it to the waste side. One of my biggest beefs with the production value is the poor sound mixing. There were so many times during the numbers where the band or background vocals seemed far louder than the main singer. I wanted to hear Mary J. Blige wail on some of the numbers but she just got drowned out. Sometimes if it is done well, you can believe that the actors are singing live. The lip synching was so bad that it was not even close to believable that they were bursting into song. The camera work and editing during the bigger numbers was sloppy at times. "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" had awesome choreography but it was difficult to fully appreciate it as they kept cutting to the mayor's affair. I may be getting too picky, but I wanted more care given to each of the musical numbers. Too often they were sloppy and there was too much going on with each one.



Even though the production values left me wanting more, the movie is full of so many great actors who are willing to let their egos go a little bit by having fun singing awesome '80s tunes. Catherine Zeta-Jones returns to her musical theater roots. She won an Oscar for her work in Chicago and she shines here as well. Her role was written for the movie, so unfortunately it is not as big as the other roles that were in the staged production. Tom Cruise is one devoted actor. He consistently devotes 100% of himself in each role. His commitment to Stacee Jaxx is no different than Ethan Hunt or Frank T.J.Mackey. His swagger and demeanor is perfect for the troubled rocker. Malin Ackerman holds her own next to Cruise in each of their scenes. Their duet is one of my favorite numbers in the movie. Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta are cute and decent as the two lovers, but they didn't blow me away. While I typically like Alec Baldwin, I felt like he and Russell Brand were basically playing exaggerated versions of themselves instead of making Dennis and Lonny different characters than we typically see them do.

Yes, the movie is made with sloppy production values and a weak script. However, if you go into it and allow yourself to have a campy good time with the fun '80s music, you will enjoy it. You may even find yourself tapping your foot along or have the songs stuck in your head later that evening.

RATING: *** 1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)