LAWN DOGS

LAWN DOGS (1997) Here’s a little undiscovered gem, a bone for you’all to chew on while we wait for Dakota Fanning to make up her mind—Let’s rewind fourteen years to 1997 and imagine the O.C.'s Mischa Barton as cute a ten-year-old.
    Newly arrived in an up-scale housing development, quiet ten-year-old Devon  Stockard (Barton) doesn't quite fit in. Ignoring the urgings of her social-climbing father, Devon chooses the company of Trent (Sam Rockwell), a young man who makes his living mowing lawns, rather than  the "camp fire" girls her own age. The friendship between Devon and Trent continues  to blossom until  one night she unexpected  visits his trailer home.  Although their relationship is a completely innocent, it is obvious that such a relationship between an adult man and a little girl is open for misinterpretation.  
     Lawn Dogs is one of the best treatises on innocence and platonic relationships ever filmed. Trent is an honest hardworking noble fellow, he likes Devon but only in the purest “little sister” platonic way. Devon likes Trent, it remains clear from the onset that she is the instigator, but it’s a innocent little girl crush and nothing in the way of anything sexual ever develops between them. Yet appearances are everything, and appearances threaten to tear the relationship apart. This is a sad tale of unrequited platonic love.
 

     There is a genuine friendship here between an adult man and this little girl. Even when the girl takes off her shirt and shows Trent her scar from open heart surgery, he is uncomfortable; he has great hesitation even looking at her, and when he finally does touch her, its clear that its a loving compassionate touch. Devon for her part isn’t baiting him or tempting him by flouting her naked chest.  She's honest and sincere and her motives are pure. She never tries to kiss him or be romantic with him. Devon sees Trent as a real friend, someone she can trust. She shows him her scar, to prove that she has "scars" too.  Its a tender moment, there is only friendship between them.

     This movie is full of uncompromising images. There is the scene where young Devon climbs onto the roof, tosses her nightgown into the wind and stands naked on the roof top, she howls like a wolf. One could draw all kinds of Freudian symbolism from this scene. I just found it a visceral experience, an act of rebellion; a protest against her parent’s skewed values and the confines of life in a gated-community. Devon’s naked roof top spectacle was meant as a public exhibition of her own “imperfections.” Meaning, that Devon was to all outward appearances is a perfect little girl, yet she was scared, damaged goods from her heart surgery, an imperfection her parents want to desperately conceal, yet Devon felt was an intrinsic part of who she was, not something to be shuttered away, but literally shouted from the roof tops.

LAWN DOGS (1997) *** 

HANNA, first look

Dakota Fanning  has signed with prestigious  IMG modeling agency, you can view her portfolio here  IMG Agency, DAKOTA F. In other Dakota news it appears our favorite actress has dropped out of the supernatural drama "If I Stay."  Sources close to the actress said Fanning has opted not make that movie, which leaves Fanning without a major leading role. Representative for the star confirmed actress’ desire to finish her senior year of high school and enroll in NYU in the fall. Fanning is still on track to shoot the two The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn films (in which she plays Jane, a role that brings a decidedly less demanding workload). It appears Fanning is following the Jodie Foster, education first model. Fanning’s stock remains high with producers who say they are attracted to her mix of vulnerability and maturity, qualities she aptly demonstrated in last years biopic The Runaways.   What all this means is, that with the exception of a few magazine covers, some token two-minute appearances in Twilight, and maybe the promise of an indie quickie, that pretty much leaves this blog without a leading lady.

     We will have to look elsewhere, which brings us to the subject of this post, the action espionage thriller Hanna. I saw the trailer in the theater and was immediately impressed.  If it could be said that  Dakota Fanning has anything resembling a rival—the only actress out there who can hold a candle to Dakota would have to be Irish born Saorise Ronan (The Lovely Bones).  This girl is so talented, so natural it’s almost scary!  So I’m sitting in the movie theater and this trailer begins, it’s obviously a young girl lost in a frozen arctic wasteland, all dressed in animal skins like some kind of white-girl Inuit.  This piqued my interest, but it just kept getting better, turns out this girl kicks ass!  Saorise is such a chameleon actress that I didn’t even recognize her at first.
 

     THE PLOT: Hanna (Ronan) is a fourteen-year-old girl, who possesses the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a solider; these qualities come from being raised by her father (Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Living a life unlike any other teenager, her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

     Sounds cool! I love a story about a self-assured young girl who can kick-ass, and with the capable Ronan as the girl, this one promises to be significantly less cartoony than Chloe Moretz’s Hit girl. This is one movie we will defiantly be keeping our eye on. Hanna has an announced April release date.

      

JACKIE EVANCHO, voice of an angel

Friday
December 10, 2010

Jackie Evancho is a star.  All I can say is WOW! When I saw her for the first time, this little girl she absolutely blew me away—if you close your eyes, you might be fooled into thinking you were listening to voice of an adult woman, not even close, Jackie is all of ten-years-old and has poise and talent to spare.
     After Tatum O’Neal and Jodie Foster, lit up the screen in the seventies, I waited patiently for twenty-five years for Dakota Fanning to come on to the scene. The precocious little girl with the wispy blond hair and gravely sing-song southern voice, appeared first in I AM SAM and later in TAKEN.  I was not disappointed.  Since then, we've enjoyed a renaissance of sorts,  a mini-brat-pack if you will, consisting of Abigail Breslin, Anna Sophia Robb and Alison Stoner. All are very talented charming young women but none replaced Dakota. Alas, ever since Dakota Fanning hit sixteen, I’ve been in sort of a maudlin mood, watching and waiting for the next big thing. While I certainly don’t mean to imply that we are prepared to “jump ship” and hastily rename this blog Jackie Evancho: Viewpoint.  It's safe to say, Jackie has caught our interest.

     Little girls are by nature ephemeral creatures, it seems now we have Jackie as heir apparent, and I couldn’t be more pleased. This young lady is destined to become the next Charlotte Church or Sarah Brightman. Let me rephrase that, because I really hate comparisons, the way Dakota was always being compared to Jodie Foster, I found this annoying.  Jackie is a huge talent in her own right, she’s Jackie Evancho, and no comparisons are necessary. I am confident Jackie will develop her own style and bring her own uniqueness to the “classical crossover” of which she is already well on her way to mastering.

     Okay, let’s get this out of the way first and upfront. It goes without saying that Jackie didn’t win America’s Got Talent. This is a lame show with lame performers and looser judges who think themselves clever but if the truth be told don’t know their ass from a hole-in-the-ground. The proof is in the pudding, the one contestant who comes on the show that REALLY does have talent and what happens?  She looses, to whom? Michael Grimm, well the joke is on Mr. Grimm and the millions of people who voted for him. Grimm, isn't worth the powder to blow him up, and is destined for the dusbin of history. Michael Grimm who?  I’m sure in the moment young Jackie was disappointed, crushed, in hindsight; this represents not a loss but a blessing in disguise. Jackie is free to pursue her career unfettered by the constraints of any manipulative AGT contract. Her career is sure to soar!     
     Our Jackie on the onther hand gets to enjoy the last  laugh, her debut album O HOLY NIGHT has already gone platinum! Jackie performed for President Obama at Lincoln center for the lighting of the National Christmas tree. Let's listen to this wonderfully talented young girl. Yeah, Jackie!

PAPER MOON, a retrospective

Sunday
December 5, 2010

PAPER MOON (1973)—As P.T. Barnum put it, "There's a sucker born every minute."
     Paper Moon Directed by Peter Bogdonovich, from a screen play by Alvin Sargent  adapted from the novel, “Addie Pray” by Joe David Brown.  Paper Moon is the story of Moses Pray and eleven-year-old Addie Loggins, who may or may not be his daughter. Together the pair grift the back country of Missouri and Kansas under the guise of the “Kansas Bible Company”—selling bibles to unsuspecting widows, and short-changing dim witted five-and-dime clerks.
     Paper Moon is without a doubt one of the finest pieces of American cinema to grace the 70’s. Lazlo Kovacs' stunning black and white photography  gives the film a nostalgic beauty that perfectly complements the Depression-era it attempts to recreate. The film’s sound track only reinforces the movie’s charm, with the wonderful opening title track; It’s only a Paper Moon setting the stage for the drama . . . Peter Bogdonovich once consulted with no less than Orson Wells, as to whether to call the movie Addie Pray or Paper Moon. To which Wells replied, “That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture, you should just release the title!”
     The soundtrack is a marvelous nostalgic cavalcade of vintage recordings like, "Keep your Sunnyside up" and "Let's have another cup of coffee." Madeline Kahn is hysterically funny as Miss Trixie Delight, and Ryan O’Neal gives one of the best performances of his career.

    And her name is Tatum O’Neal; Tatum is just cool.  Tatum so completely steals this movie and I’m not just talking about the quality of her acting, there's just something about her, when she's sitting in bed, clad in a white cotton singlet smoking a cigarette, the camera is in love with her.  We are in love with her. From the second Tatum comes on screen, this little girl who swears and smokes and runs cons with a man who may or may not be her daddy made a powerful impression on me. I think it is safe to say that Tatum O’Neal, for better or worse changed me.  The year was 1973, at fifteen years-old, I was young and impressionable. I was smitten.

     It’s Tatum who gets the best lines (and best close-ups), in one of the film’s classic sequences, Addie confronts Moze at the county fair . . .

ADDIE

I had my photo took Moze!

MOZE

You did, huh? Ain’t that fine.

ADDIE

Moze, can you come have your photo took with me?

MOZE

Can’t right now sweetheart.

ADDIE

Only take a minute.

MOZE

Not now, you hear me? And stop standing around here checking on me . . . you don’t have to worry. I ain’t about to leave some poor little child stranded in the middle of nowhere. I got scruples you know. You know what that is, “scruples?”

ADDIE

No, I don’t know what it is, but if you got them, I sure bet they belong to somebody else.

Paper Moon (1973) ****