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Wunderhund and The Garnisher have an engaging evening with Cameron Crowe's UNTITLED (aka STILLWATER)
Hey folks, Harry here with a rather shocked Penthouse-style "I never thought I'd ever have anything to write in about..." review of the new Cameron Crowe movie... that is still like a bazillion years from coming out. Depending who you talk to this film is titled STILLWATER or CAMERON CROWE'S UNTITLED. Many, including Moriarty, the despicable John Robie and the absurd Seque Zagnut all feel that it should remain UNTITLED. We'll see. Those that I've talked to having seen it in the Los Angeles metropolitan area... liked it quite a bit, but ya know... How will it play in Albuquerque, New Mexico? Well, that's what Dreamworks wanted to know, so now we can tell em. There are minor spoilers, but suffice to say... the author calls the film "great". We've got a long ways to go till we can say that too.
On my way to a second viewing of Gladiator at the local 24-plex here in
Albuquerque, NM, on Saturday (since the sneak preview of Shanghai Noon was
sold out by the time I got there), I was accosted by a stranger who stated
that his purpose was to invite me to a move screening on Monday. Once I was
assured there were no costs involved, I was eager to accept. Once I found
out it was Stillwater, my first thought was, "I get to write in to AICN about
something!"
Gathering up the usual movie-going gang proved more difficult than usual,
as most of them were not as excited about the film, and as it was Monday
night, and so what group we could gather assembled and headed off to the
theatre. After a typical process of filling out little cards that asked for
our names, addresses, and places of businesses, we were shown in to wait for
an hour before the movie started.
The movie was long, about two hours and ten minutes by my probably
inaccurate estimate. There were a lot of scenes that could be taken out -
the scene at the beginning in the high school boys' locker room comes to mind
- I thought that they were all consistent in adding flavor and depth to the
characters. The acting was excellent; everyone knew his or her parts.
Cameron Crowe's direction worked with the characters well enough that I
didn't find myself thinking about it - there was no exceptional
cinematography, but it let the focus stay on the characters. This is a movie
about people, and it is told that way.
The film is at heart a somewhat unique coming-of-age story. That may
sound like an oxymoron, but unlike most coming-of-age stories, there was no
easy to spot "message". No Wonder Yearsish voice-over saying, "and this is
what I learned," or a Mufasaesque lecture to tell William (Patrick Fugit)
what the right thing to do is. Instead it takes a realistic approach;
William has to figure most things out for himself as he goes, having only a
little sensible advice from a engagingly wonderful performance by Philip
Seymour Hoffman.
What really makes this film great is that all of the supporting
characters have their own lives, their own quirks and personalities. There
were no purely static or cardboard characters - everyone had the sense of
having their own story. Frances McDormand as the mom was particularly good,
delivering both the sorrow of a mother whose children are ready to leave the
nest in a chaotic world of "promiscuous sex and drugs" as well as some
humorous, old-fashioned "motherly lecture" lines.
. . .which is one of the best things about this film: its humor. Without
it, this could have been a horribly depressing, "life is pointless" type
movie. In the first few minutes it almost seemed like it could be setting up
a comedy - but once we are comfortable with the characters, know them well
enough to care about them, it shifts into dramatic gear, but keeps a laugh or
two here and there to bring out when the movie just might be getting a little
too heavy.
So overall, a thumbs-up from me, although this isn't really my kind of
movie - movies too close to real life don't usually help me escape well
enough.. Even so, I enjoyed Stillwater, and will have to see it in October
when they'll have probably cut out half of it. Hopefully they'll put all of
the scenes they take out of the final print onto the DVD though, as I thought
it was all good material. Worth the $8, possibly a good date movie. 'Til
next time a cool preview happens to land 'round these parts (likely to be
awhile, since if there's a bright center to the world, this is the city its
farthest from). . .
Call me Wunderhund
Hey folks, here's another... more critical.... look at Cameron Crowe's UNTITLED. I sure as hell want to see this film!
A test screening of Cameron Crowe's latest film "Untitled" was held tonight (5-22-00), in New Mexico. Here's my brief non-spoiler thoughts.
Plot: The story involves a 15 year old aspiring writer/journalist (William) in the early 70's who grabs the attention of Rolling Stone Magazine (who hires him without seeing that he's only 15) and is put on assignment to follow an up and coming fictional band called "Stillwater". The main plot involves William's coming of age in the face of older rock stars who act younger and more immature than he does.
The film stars Patrick Fugit as the writer, Billy Crudup as the lead guitarist of Stillwater, Jason Lee as the lead singer, and includes many great actors in supporting roles including Frances Mc Dormand and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kate Hudson.
Before I get into my assesment of the film, we were told it was still in rough form, no color correction... music and sound only partially complete.. blah blah blah....
Overall, this film was very solid. I think it's main problem is in the area of focus. On the one hand, you have the story of the young aspiring journalist, and I liked his story. On the other hand you have the band itself "Stillwater".. The film spends an awful lot of time on these guys and it felt like the Crowe hadn't quite decided which story he liked better so he covered both equally. The result is a good but somewhat muddled film which is too long. Also, a subplot involving a groupie named "penny lane" (Kate Hudson) takes up a little too much screentime and never really pays off that well.
The other thing I noticed was that for a film about Rock and Roll... it seemed to be very "clean" the film I saw tonight had enough in it to make it "R" rated and yet they never showed much drug use, or any sex, or any of the other indulgences that rock musicians are famous for. This rang a little untrue to me.
On the positive side, there are some very funny moments in the film, (most of them thanks to Frances Mc Dormand) and the story of the young writer coming of age (while somewhate derivative) still had enough emotional resonance to keep me interested.
I think when they go back to the editing room, they need to tighten it up and decide what this movie is about... but that there is indeed enough there to make a really good film. I would reccommend it...
The Garnisher
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+ Expand All
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But I'd see this film. The story doesn't tickle my fancy, but Crowe's a good director.
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STILLWATER SOUNDS GOOD BUT MY BOY GUNNAR IS FAR MORE INTERESTING, I COULD JUST IMAGINE HIM TOURING WITH A BAND ALTHOUGH HE SEEMS MORE INCLINED TO ENJOY SAWYER BROWN.YOU ALL SHOULD THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS A KID LIKE GUNNAR IS IN THIS WORLD.EVEN THOUGH HE WAS BORN TO AN EX STRIPPER HE STILL HAS A HEART -
Hello her name is ACE Houston, her film Showgirls 2 will put Camerons film to shame and just about every other peice of trash that was at the oscars.She envision many PTA jump cuts, a behind the scenes look at booty shaking, and a Sublime song that will add so much tension to her film that I will be destined to win the Oscar. Ace may be a tramp but hey she's ACE, she is charming and cute and she calls just about everyone sweetie. Oh by the way
Gunnar is her little boy, I just love my little mongoloid. -
sorry, but you guys missed the point on this one....i too have seen this film. too many subplots? huh? this movie is about a kid who tours with a emerging heavywight rock band and all that goes along with it. ugh, you guys missed the mark bad...it seems like you were looking to pick apart this movie. and find anything wrong with it you could. read ROBIE, SAMSA, and ZAGNUT's reviews if you want a valid formed opinion which delves a little deeper into the actual meaning and scope of the film.
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May 23, 2000 2:56:24 AM CDT
In between the last time we played and this time we managed to g
by reni
This film wont be about subplots, it's about the life and times of people involved with the most rock n roll decade ever. Don't nitpick - Let's rock...
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Sept 22. is a ridiculous date. Have some screenings outside of California, for chrissakes!
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I would agree with someone called HollowAss, but he and Mr. Twig make an excellent point. Harry has so many literate reviewers, that do regulars for him, that I have gotten used to intelligent reviews that have some sense of history and cinematic knowledge. I love the democratic idea that anyone can review a film here, but these generally don't affect me - or my decision to see this movie. After the first round of reviews, I decided this was a MUST SEE FILM, and my mind has not been changed. Give me great, memorable characters in American films or give me fuckin' death.
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perhaps the world's greatest living cinematographer, john toll (the thin red line, braveheart, legends of the fall), photographed untitled, so i'm sure the first reviewer was mistaken when he described the cinematography as unremarkable. yes, there may be no sweeping landscape exteriors in this film, but that makes the cinematography of untitled no less amazing (as janusz kaminsky had done on jerry maguire, who btw, is a second-rate hack compared to john toll).
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May 24, 2000 4:53:20 AM CDT
Way premature to criticize the cinematography, don't you think??
by seaweed
I've been to a bunch of test screenings, and the visual quality is shaky at best. I think you can be sure that Toll will do a great job. These test screenings make the picture watchable. They don't test the audience for visual quality. I once saw a test that was a video output from the Avid editing machine. Other than that, the review was a bad attempt to sound like a hollywood insider, talking about focus. Did you like it, or not? Cameron Crowe doesn't need "notes" from you...
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