ANGELA

Friday
22 October 2010

ANGELA (1997)—A haunting tale of a young girl driven by her religious obsessions into a frightening world of childhood fantasy and superstitious delusion.

     The story begins by introducing us to ten-year-old Angela (Miranda Stuart Rhyne), her six-year-old sister, Ellie (Charlotte Blythe), and their parents Mae (Anna Levine) and Andrew (John Ventimiglia) as the family moves into a new house in up state New York. Andrew and Mae are washed-up performers looking for a better life and a new start. The family's fortunes or misfortunes are rooted in Mae's increasing mental illness. Andrew is a loving father and devoted husband and he desperately tries to make ends meet and keep the family together and happy.

     A dark and compelling Indie film, Angela is carried by the two principal child actresses, Miranda Stuart Rhyne and Charlotte Blythe who both deliver touching and poignant performances. Rhyne, in particular, is engaging as the young protagonist caught in a heavenly struggle between good and evil in a misguided effort to save her mentally ill mother. Precocious, to say the least, Angela has visions of Lucifer coming to take her and her sister away, Angela compels her six-year-old sister, Ellie to endure numerous regimens of “purification” in an attempt to rid themselves of evil, which she believes to be the cause of their mother's mental illness. One of her extreme remedies is for her sister to remain within a circle of dolls and toys until they see a vision of the Virgin Mary come to them.

     Written and directed Rebecca Miller, Miller is a bold courageous story teller who takes many chances in Angela; there is a decidedly unsettling scene in a carnival where the two girls are befriended by a man whose intentions are creepy to say the least. It’s unclear as to the man's true intentions until he lures the girls away to a secluded location and kisses Angela and promises to “make her happy.” Angela, naive as to the man’s true motives, mistakes him for a sign from heaven and scares him off with her religious delusions.

     The viewer should be warned there is a considerable amount of child nudity in Angela; I don’t understand why people get all exercised when there is a naked child in a film. Quite frankly I’ve secretly always found many of Shirley Temple’s films of the 1930’s to be more suspect, coy, and salacious, than what amounts to basically two kids skinny dipping . . . In reality, kids are naked all the time. Children possess a natural inhibition to being naked. To their way of thinking there’s nothing wrong, wicked or immoral about being naked; it’s a natural state of being—Being naked is a normal part of life. So, why not on film? Rebecca Miller dares to ask this question. I just don’t get it. Okay, so I do get it, but I’m being deliberately dense for the sake of argument. Main stream filmmakers steer away from child nudity like the plague because of the controversy over Brooke Shield’s relatively chaste nude scenes in Pretty Baby. Please, don’t get me started on the unfounded, scurrilous uproar caused by Dakota Fanning in Hounddog. I think the biggest misconception in the public mind is that it is somehow illegal to depict a child naked on American film. That child nudity, even full frontal nudity is somehow analogous to child porn. This is unequivocally and for the record patently untrue! As long as the child is not depicted in a salacious or overtly sexualized situation, child nudity is perfectly legal and is protected by the First Amendment.

     Young Charlotte Blythe does most of the heavy lifting as far as getting naked on film. She’s the one depicted in full frontal covered in mud, in the hauntingly beautiful water nymph scene. Miranda Rhyne, not to be out done, takes her turn, staring whimsically in the mirror at her flat little-boy-chest, while she traces the outline of her hoped-for-boobies-to-be in magic marker. A poignant moment made all the more sad because it is never to be.

     Angela will never grow up to be a woman. Angela’s death scene is one of the saddest, most powerful scenes I’ve ever watch on film in recent memory. Almost as powerful and memorable as the death of Bambi’s mother, well, maybe not quite, but you get the idea. As Angela’s mother continues to spiral downhill into the depth of madness. Angela seems even more obsesses with finding a spiritual cure. She goes down to the river to baptize herself and her sister. Angela figures if one good dunking washes away your sins, another and another must do even more. What she doesn’t figure on is the river’s rushing current and her own inability to swim. Well, let’s just say John the Baptist is not a lifeguard. Ellie plaintively calls and calls to her sister, “Angela, come back!” But it’s too late . . . it’s forever too late, Angela is never coming back. Ellie now for the first time in her life is free from her sister's delusions has an epiphany of sorts and is free to “fly” and take charge of her own destiny.








Angela (1997) ***

KICK-ASS

Chloe Moretz is HIT GIRL

KICK-ASS (2010)—Blame my brother for recommending this movie, unusual, yes, as our mutual taste in entertainment seldom converge. I was initially skeptical about the prospect of watching yet another superhero spoof movie, as the most recent attempts at the genre have been decidedly disappointing to say the least. Kick-Ass some how manages to break that cycle, completely transcending its predecessors through the use of an intelligent script that combines a montage of stylized über-violence with hilarious comedy, an eclectic if clichéd music score and snappy direction by Mathew Vaughn. Kick-Ass, as it turns out is every bit as campy tongue-in-cheek as its profane title implies.

Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), your average teenage nerd, whose obsession with comic books inspires him to create his very own superhero, “Kick-Ass,” despite his complete lack of any discernible superpowers. Dave’s initial attempts to become a vigilante crime fighter not only confirm his complete superhero ineptitude but end in near disaster. After bumbling about a bit more his impromptu rescuing of a cat changes his luck and the publicity propels him into the public limelight and establishing him as a cult phenomena. Sudden fame does have its draw backs and our hapless Dave also manages to inadvertently run afoul of a nasty drug lord who confuses Kick-Ass with another mask avenger “Big Daddy” (Nicolas Cage), the rest of the plot you can pretty much figure out for yourself.

Which then brings us to the film’s most outrageous, over-the-top side-kick ever, “Hit-girl,” as played by Chloe Moretz, everyone’s newest favorite pint-sized superhero, complete with purple wig, mask and black spandex. the eleven-year-old assassin with a penchant for naughty language. Girls with guns, you gotta love ‘em, and I do love them! Not since Natalie Portman teamed up with Léon in the “Professional,” have we been treated with a spectacle of a pre-teen girl who goes about the merry art of blood-letting with such wanton abandonment. Moretz’s outrageous homicidal spaghetti-Western character shoots, maims and decapitates her opponents with such infectious glee that she easily steals the show.

Matthew Vaughn’s directing is top-notch from a screenplay based on the Marvel comic’s graphic novel of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita. An essential part of the film is its eclectic soundtrack, with choice tracks taken from excellent films such as “28 Days Later,” and “For a few dollars more.” I think my favorite use of music was the over-the-top spectacle of Hit Girl slaughtering villains to the tunes of “The Banana Splits theme.”

You might be taken aback a little bit by the prospects of an 11-year-old girl going around killing people and using explicit language. Kick-Ass is the right vehicle and Chloe Moretz has just the right combination chutzpah  acting chops, and a tempestuous gap-toothed grin to make a success. While I don't mean to assert I think she’s the “next” Dakota Fanning, I feel confident in my prediction that this girl has sufficient talent to go far. I’ll be watching for her . . .

Kick-Ass (2010) ***



THE BAD NEWS BEARS, a retrospective

THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976)—TCM is celebrating the work of Walter Matthau for Summer under the Stars; one of the featured films  was THE BAD NEWS BEARS. What a great movie! Where were you in 1976? When I think back, for me, 1976 represents a seminal year, I was eighteen, I had just finished high-school, and I was preparing to enroll in Michigan State Technical School. 1976 was also the year Jodie Foster received her Best Supporting Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a twelve-year-old prostitute in Taxi Driver. Jodie didn’t win that year, she lost to Beatrice Strait. POP QUIZ, what was the name of the movie? * 1976 was also the year of Rocky, All the Presidents Men, A  Star is Born and Network.

The Bad News Bears, directed by Michael Richie tells the story of an aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) a beer swilling, cigar chomping pool cleaner who agrees to coach a bunch of eclectic pre-teen misfits whose penchant for elementary school high jinks is only exceeded by their seemingly boundless maladroit lack of baseball ability. All the usual archetypes are brilliantly portrayed by the then unknown cast. There is your clichéd fat kid with the loud mouth, the shrimp with a hot temper, Alfred Lutter, from Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, as the know-it-all smart kid, the nerdy Jewish kid (complete with glasses), the African-American kid who wants to be “Just like Hank Aaron” and then there’s Kelly Leak, (Jackie Earl-Haley) the local bad-boy who rides a motor-cycle and smokes Marlboros.

While Buttermaker may be a poor excuse for a little league baseball coach, The Bears don’t give him much to work with. I think Tanner Boyle summed it up best in one of the movie’s classic politically incorrect lines: “What do you expect? All we got on this team . . . is a bunch of Jews, spics, niggers, pansies . . . and a booger-eating moron.” The  Bears loose their first game in appalling fashion; all while Buttermaker drinks himself into oblivion he hardly even notices. After seeing the kids humiliated—and after being insulted one-too-many times himself by the arrogant Yankee coach Turner (Vic Morrow)—Buttermaker decides to pull out all the stops.  He reveals his secret weapon:  his former girlfriend’s eleven-year-old daughter Amanda Wurlitzer (Tatum O’Neal). Amanda is a pitching ace, as Buttermaker tells it, “The best pitch I ever taught her was the curve ball . . . not only a curve ball, but the most tantalizing knuckle ball you ever saw in your life.”

Tatum O’Neal . . . (my god, I had such a crush on her!) In her first screen role since winning the Oscar for Best Supporting actress for her portrayal of Addie Pray, the worldly-wise eleven-year-old shyster in Paper Moon. Tatum has the most to prove, while Amanda Wurlitzer is no Lady Macbeth, Buttermaker’s relationship with Amanda remains complex. Amanda cooly trys to win his affection, Buttermaker, adamantly refuses to admit how much he cares about her, even when she practically begs him . . .  In one particularly memorable scene Buttermaker splashes beer in her face; I’ll have to say to anyone who thinks Tatum O’Neal can’t act, this scene is required viewing.

Even with Amanda’s ninety-mile-an-hour fast ball on board, the Bear’s can’t win if they can’t score. There is one more piece of the puzzle and it’s left to Amanda to use her pre-teen feminine wiles to snare local bad boy and top athlete Kelly Leak. Now with a batting offence and competent outfield, the Bears make a serious challenge for first place and end up in the play-offs against the hated Yankees.

There are many things to like about this film, the music, the script by Bill Lancaster, but ultimately I think the most important aspect is the film’s unflinching, unapologetic look at the underbelly of little league baseball. This is no Disney movie, the film is refreshingly unsentimental. When the story starts the kids dislike Matthau and he dislikes them, he’s a bum. By the story’s end, they still aren’t wild about each other, he’s still a bum, but they’ve developed a mutual respect. In the final reel, the Bear’s loose the championship, no sad faces here, there’s beer for everyone! The arrogant Yankee’s make a pathetic attempt to rub the loss in the Bear’s face. The Bears remain undefeated. Once again it’s spunky Tanner Boyle who delivers the films classic closing line: “Hey, Yankees! You can take your apology and your trophy, and shove it straight up your ass!”

* “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

—Peter Finch, NETWORK (1976)

The Bad News Bears (1976) ****

THE RUNAWAYS

THE RUNNAWAYS (2010)—I grew up in the seventies; I was never what you might call your typical impressionable hot blooded American boy, I was never into hard-rock.  I was much more country, into Don Mc Lean, Gordon Lightfoot,  and Olivia Newton John.  But I stood up and took notice when the all-girl band THE RUNAWAYS hit the music scene. I was fifteen; I listened to their music, I bought their records and worshiped those girls. I think I always knew their was something slightly naughty or forbidden  about them. I think that’s what appealed to me most. With promotional pictures of Cherie Currie, with her shirt unbuttoned down to her fifth button . . . Currie was always proffered as the band’s sex-pot front woman. Joan Jett, she however remained my favorite. There was something about Jett, her short coifed black hair, Drano-singed raspy voice and tough girl attitude that I always found very appealing. I think it was partially her bona fied passion for rock-n-roll that made Jett different from the other girls. I have been a Joan Jett fan for her entire career. So,  it was not without anticipation, high expectations, and a perhaps even a little bit of a personal vested interest that I approached this film.

      Directed by Floria Sigismondi, scripted  by Sigismondi and Cherie Currie based loosely on her book Neon Angel. The Runaways essentially  tells Joan Jett's and Cherie Currie's version of things. As a consequence, as a necessity,  much of rock history is compressed or deleted altogether, most notably, the omission of real-life base player Jackie Fox who is completely written out of the Runaways’ canon. Replaced by a  fictitious character named “Robin.” (Fox, who is a lawyer, threatened to sue, so the filmmakers didn't take any chances).

     The story focuses mostly on Cherie Currie and Joan Jett. Dakota Fanning plays Cherie Currie, a confused 15 year-old with a messed up family life. The family includes a mom, played by Tatum O’Neal (in a weird coincidence of déjà vu, Tatum was my number one crush in the seventies), who announces she is getting married and moving to Indonesia. Currie’s dad is an alcoholic, so Cherie is left alone and vulnerable and is an easy recruit for Fowley and Jett. Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of Joan Jett is phenomenal. She’s get’s the slouchy guitar, the gum chewing, the swagger and the foggy voice nailed down pat. Jett, as a girl is quite pretty, but she’s always had this tough girl, boyish manner. Stewart gets it right.

     Some may question the things that happen in this movie, and Jett in her audio commentary admitted as much that some events were stylized, fictionalized. Did they really write “Cherry bomb.” on the spot for Currie's audition? Did Fowley really teach the girls to dodge garbage thrown at them on stage? Did the Japanese really go THAT over-the-top ape-sh*t over the band? (Yes, they did).

     Both Stewart and Fanning do their own singing for the movie and Stewart sounds exactly like Jett as she belts out portions of one of Joan’s original early songs, “I Love Play’n  With Fire.” Unfortunately, the only song we get to see performed in it’s entirety is, “Cherry Bomb” (sung by Dakota), which was co-written by Fowley and Jett, specifically for Cherie and amounts to the band’s one and only true “hit.”

     Joan Jett was the heart of the band, but it took oddball music producer Kim Fowley to put the band together and get the recording deal. Fowley may be the most interesting character in this story. Here he is played with force by the very talented Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road). What the film really nailed was the relationship between the Runaways and their sleazy manager/producer Kim Fowley. Michael Shannon does a fabulous job playing this over-the-top character. His expletive-filled rants are simultaneously hilarious as they are cringe-worthy.

     Ultimately though the standout award in the film must go to Fanning, who even from an early age has always possessed this worldly-wise awareness of her sexuality. People were shocked when Fanning appeared on David Letterman in a slinky black dress that came half-way up her ass. I was not. Fanning is Hot and she knows it, and she’s not afraid to flaunt it. So it’s probably no accident that Fanning elects to spend a large part of the film dressed only in corset and  underwear. Dakota’s depiction of Currie amounts to a full onslaught assault of jail bait sex appeal. Fanning acquits herself quite well with her vocal duties and while she doesn't quite make it her own, Fanning does a credible job belting out a lusty version of “Cherry bomb.”

The Runaways (2010) ***

Dawning of Dakota

Saturday

July 17, 2010

I don’t care who you are—Now that thar is a pretty girl!  People doubt me, but I knew even when Dakota was eight-years-old, she was going to be a very pretty girl. All I can say is, ta, da!  

ORPHAN

ORPHAN (2009)─The movies have a long history of plumbing the depths of the child/psycho-killer genre; indeed wicked murderous children abound. From the archetypal Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed (1956) to demon possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist (1973). In other examples of cinematic murderous children we find some are purely evil of the likes of Macaulay Caulkin in The Good Son (1993) and others kids have more sympathetic motives for the reason why they kill such as Jodie Foster in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976).

ORPHAN a film written by David Johnson and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and staring Isabelle Fuhrman in a startling fresh performance as Esther the homicidal nine-year-old Russian orphan. I’ll confess I’m not a big fan of the conventional Hollywood slasher/horror genre so it was with some skepticism that I elected to screen this movie. Orphan had some serious steep hurtles ahead to overcome my dismissive mindset and bring something new and startling to the table. The first half of the film largely succeeds owing to its careful character development and a cleverly nuanced back-story. The second half of the film, while it still possesses a few twists and shocks does descend into a somewhat predictable cliché ending. Orphan largely delivers based on the performances of its excellent cast.

We are introduced to the Coleman family, Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) an affluent yuppie couple who are experiencing strains in their marriage after Kate’s third child was stillborn. The loss is particularly hard on Kate, who is a recovering alcoholic who lost her job because of her drinking. The couple decides to adopt Esther a precocious Russian girl, from the local orphanage. Kate and John have two other children a deaf-mute daughter Max (Aryana Engineer) and a son Daniel (Jimmy Bennet). As the tag-line suggest, there is indeed Something wrong with Esther. Daniel wounds a bird with his paintball gun, Esther reveals her cool cold vicious nature by dispatching the fowl with a rock. When Esther blunders into the kitchen during a late night impromptu love-making session, Kate is shocked when not only is Esther unfazed, the girl expresses far more knowledge of sex than would be expected for a child her age. Kate tries to have a talk, explaining that sometimes grown-ups do things that children shouldn't know about  . . . “They F**k.” Esther deadpans,  then nonchalantly returns to her painting.

Kate is further alarmed when Sister Abigail (C.C.H. Pounder), the head of the orphanage, warns her and John about Esther’s proclivity to be around when tragedy strikes.  Esther eavesdrops and fearing that she will be taken away, viciously bludgeons the nun to death with a hammer. She ensnares inocent Max to help her get rid of the body. They hide the bloody weapon in the tree house, which Daniel witnesses. Later, Esther threatens Daniel with a box cutter if he tells anyone what he saw. “I’ll cut off your hairless little prick before you even know what it’s used for.”

The situation rapidly spirals out of control, after a minor scuffle with Kate, Esther in what is perhaps the most chilling act of psychotic nihilism,  breaks her own arm in an effort to illicit sympathy from John and cast Kate as the villain. Daniel decides to retrieve the hammer from the tree house and go to the police. Esther sets the tree house on fire, but Daniel escapes. Esther again tries unsuccessfully to kill Daniel at the hospital by smothering him with a pillow.

Later that night, like some kind of homunculus shape-shifter, in what amounts to the movie's biggest shocker. Esther transforms herself  into a miniature adult, now dressed in a skimpy black negligee, Esther tries desperately to seduce John. “I love you daddy . . . I really love you. Let me take care of you.” Angry and hurt at being spurned, Esther viciously murders John.

It’s here unfortunately in the final reel that Orphan starts to unravel and descends into hack and cliché. Complete with the classic “Kick scene” from Star Trek. The climatic struggle ensues at the edge of an icey pond. “Mommy please don’t let me die!” . . . “I’m not your mommy!” Not a very satisfying ending to what was overall a very scary and enjoyable movie.


Orphan (2009) ** ½

Roger Ebert loves THE RUNAWAYS

Monday February 1, 2010

SUNDANCE 01.30.10 "The Runaways" A somewhat fictionalized version of the life and times of the 1975-77 teenage girl rock band best known for Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning). No members were over 16 when they were packaged as "jailbait rock" by snaky producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon). They dressed like hookers and dominatrixes, they idolized the Sex Pistols, but they were also insecure and immature young girls. Currie almost went down in flames, and the movie is based on her autobiography, Neon Angel.

Joan Jett still tours today, and is an intact survivor. The movie reproduces the Runaways' actual music, which is no better that you might expect, but the acting is very convincing. Kristen Stewart proves once again that she's a rising star, and Dakota Fanning is such a fine actress that I, for one, almost believed I'd always heard her using the f-word. As for Michael Shannon, is he the most unheralded force in acting today, or what?

—Roger Ebert

Viva Dakota

Saturday January 30, 2010 Dakota Fanning appears on the cover of V magazine looking mighty scary with her "big hair."

FRAGMENTS

Friday 14 August '09

FRAGMENTS aka WINGED CREATURES (2008)―On an ordinary day, in ordinary suburbia, in an ordinary diner, tragedy strikes with the same awful inexplicable suddenness of real-life. Five ordinary people, their lives forever changed when an ordinary man walks into the diner. An exiting customer unwittingly holds the door for him―pleasantries are exchanged—but this man is anything but ordinary, he is a deranged gunman, without motive, without warning he randomly opens fire on the patrons. In an instant, the perfectly ordinary day is transformed into something extraordinary. This is the story of five people, five different lives inexplicably intertwined, forever changed by the slimmest of margins, by the cruelest twist of fate. Although the story is held together loosely by the initial central event, the film is quite literally fragmented, too little story; unequal screen time is devoted to each character. There is negligible character introduction, apart from a brief shot of Anne Hagen riding in a car; this makes it difficult for the audience to connect with the characters. Out of all the tragic stories, I found young Anne’s (Dakota Fanning) the most dramatic. Losing her father in a random act of violence, the teenager has an epiphany as she turns her suffering over to god; Anne speaks to god, she proselytized with an evangelical religious zeal of her father’s heroic bravery. The truth however is far more tragic and lies bottled up inside of her. Dakota Fanning’s transition from child to young adult actress is well under way, with no foreseeable stumbles in the road. Dakota continues to demonstrate her mastery of her craft in the way she handles this particularly tricky performance. The waitress, (Kate Beckinsale) reaction is the most realistic; Carla is a single mother who waits tables, who is too young and too pretty to be tied down by a constantly crying baby. Carla has various sexual liaisons with men as she neglects her baby. Esurient Carla eventually uses the baby as a flimsy excuse to make romantic overtures to Doctor Bruce. Unfortunately, for Carla, the doctor has troubles of his own and he is disinterested. On performance, Beckinsale's role is so commonplace that on the surface it offers little challenge. This makes her portrayal of the stressed-out mother even more convincing. Poor Jimmy (Josh Hutcherson), Anne’s friend is consumed by his own domestic problems. Introverted and timid, he has a brother in a coma from action in the Iran War and his parents simply don’t understand him. He suffers probably the worse trauma as he has a gun pointed at his head as he and Anne cower under the table. What’s most poignant is when he desperately reaches out to Anne for friendship, whereas Anne in the grips of a religious fervor rebuffs him and instead calls upon him to witness her father’s heroic bravery. Jimmy alone knows the truth . . . The true hero in this drama is Charlie, an unassuming driving school instructor (Forest Whitaker) who stands up and distracts the gunman, by all accounts he should have been fatally shot, but he escapes with just a scratch. Believing that luck is on his side, he launches into a desperate stint of compulsive gambling, falls in with loan sharks, and descends into a death spiral of yet even more frantic gambling. All the while, his daughter (Jennifer Hudson) is frantically searching for him. While Charlie’s story is not intended to provide comical relief or balance, it is comparatively lighter, and comes with a twist. Doctor Bruce’s (Guy Pearce) situation is the most complex. By sheer happenstance, he exits the diner after buying a cup of coffee seconds before the shooting occurs. He even holds the door for the murderer, offering a pleasant “good morning.” His subsequent failure to save one of the victims sent to his hospital devastates him. Dr. Bruce finds himself troubled by his inability to save lives even though his colleague tells him that they are mere doctors not God. To compensate for his feeling of insecurity, he launches into a quixotic questionable treatment regiment for his wife’s migraines that causes more problems than it solves. These are the questions acclaimed Australian director Rowan Woods attempts to answer in this engaging but ultimately unsatisfied Crash-style ensemble drama FRAGMENTS. “Winged Creatures” is indeed a bird that fails to fly―not quite a turkey, however, considering the prodigious talent involved this unfortunate movie never manages to soar above your average Lifetime drama.

FRAGMENTS (2008) ** ½

Dakota at Santa Monica Pier

Friday 07 August '09

Dakota Fanning enjoys a fun day with friends at Santa Monica Pier. Doesn't she look absolutely casual and radiant? I have a special conection with Santa Monica Pier because I've been there.

HOUNDDOG

Tuesday May 12, 2009

HOUNDDOG (2007) A Southern Gothic tale set in 1961 Alabama about a troubled girl who finds solace and ultimate redemption in the words and music of Elvis. The film is written and directed by Deborah Kampmeier and stars Dakota Fanning along with Robin Wright Penn, and David Morse. From the opening scene of a fetid, steamy southern swamp slithering with snakes, to its stoic end credits, Hounddog is a movie that is burdened with inscrutable symbolism over wrought characters and a maudlin undeveloped story that is sabotaged by the director’s own self-incriminating retro-editing. This gives the film a hurdy-gurdy jerky unfinished appearance, as if the most salient bits of film lay in huge tatters on the cutting room floor. Hounddog is a movie that is at times difficult to watch, impossible to ignore and ultimately dissatisfying. They say too many cooks spoil the soup, and HD has more producers than you can shake a stick at. The real problem is, after the disastrous reception at Sundance, it’s painfully obvious that director Kampmeier panicked. Like a naughty schoolboy sent to the principal’s office, Kampmeier sought to dispose of the evidence went back in with her scissors and cut out all the offending parts. The result of this reactionary retro-editing is that Kampmeier largely squanders Dakota's last great performance as a child. Going from the fresh face pig-tailed Fern in the family, friendly Charlotte's Web (2006) to a movie featuring child rape is a whiplash-inducing change of pace. Dakota, with her lilting singsong southern voice is such a natural performer she often finds herself in the unenviable position of being better than the material in which she appears. Hounddog is only the most recent example; Dakota easily rises above the vapid script and overwrought performances of David Morse and Piper Laurie.

Llewellyn is a girl in possession of waif-like child innocents, yet she engages in playtime activities that would have caused our poor Fern to blush. Llewellyn spends a great deal of time cavorting about in her underwear. When she isn’t busy flashing her alabaster white legs and skivvy clad tush, Llewellyn plays naughty games like “doctor” with the neighbor boy plying a kiss for a quick look at his willie. Her god-fearing over bearing Granny does her best to keep her on the straight and narrow. "Turn down that devil music!" All to no avail, Llewellyn remains defiant, a white girl who likes black music, she gyrates her hips to the refrains of “Hounddog.” Llewellyn remains seemingly oblivious to her awakening sexuality; like some objectified Bratz doll, we watch her languish in bed, moaning “Hounddog” for the pleasure of the milkman. “What? Lil’ ole me?”
 

Llewellyn is a girl who loves the blues and is obsessed with Elvis. She will sing “Hounddog” into a living room lamp stand at a moment’s notice. While Charlotte Church can rest assured her status as a diva is in no danger of being usurped anytime soon. Dakota does a surprisingly credible job with her singing duties. Dakota is no singer, but at least she doesn’t embarrass herself. When Elvis comes to town, so desperate is Llewellyn to secure a ticket she agrees to dance naked for a much older boy. All this leads to her ultimate downfall. The underlying problem with Hounddog is that’s it’s not a very good movie. Deborah Kampmeier’s fateful decision to cast Dakota Fanning as Llewellyn as apposed to an unknown had far-reaching and unforeseen consequences. While Dakota’s considerable gravitas undoubtedly contributed greatly to getting the project “green-lit.” Her established public persona as cherubic Lucy Dawson proved to be the movies ultimate undoing. Anjelica Huston got away with it because in Bastard out of Carolina (1996) she cast an unknown and she managed to imbue her film with a quiet sense of dignity that HD seems to lack. Note to self: If one decides to make a movie depicting the rape of a child, one doggone well better make sure you are on firm critical, creative and moral ground. Because no one, absolutely no one, wants to watch a movie where sweet innocent pig-tailed Fern is raped.

Hounddog (2007) ** ½

MOST BEAUTIFUL DAKOTA

Saturday May 2, 2009 DAKOTA FANNING (NEW MOON), age fifteen, was named by PEOPLE MAGAZINE, along with Dev Patel, Emma Watson, and Shawn Johnson as one of the most beautiful people in Hollywood under twenty-one.

Whoo-hoo Dakota! Well, its not as if we needed People Magazine to confirm what we already knew. Dakota, ever since we were first smitten with you at age-8, we always knew you were destined to be beautiful.

Now tell me, honestly, that isn't absolutely jest the cutest little girl you ever did see?

WALK FIT with Dakota Fanning

Tuesday April 7, 2009

DAKOTA FANNING—Here is a young woman in possession of an extraordinary social conscience, who really understands the power of her celebrity. No flash, no publicity; she just quietly goes about her business giving of her time and talent to charitable causes which are important to her. Dakota is such a kind and caring person, she reminds us once again why we admire her so much. On Sunday April 5th, Actress Dakota Fanning once again hosted the 10th annual Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA 5k Run/Walk Fit. Registration is open for the tenth annual 5K Run/Walk to benefit Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA. Runners can get started as early as 6 a.m. on Sunday at Wilson Plaza, located at 308 Westwood Plaza on the UCLA campus. For registration details and further information visit. http://www.runwalk.ucla.edu/

"CORALINE" Still draws crowds

Friday March 19, 2009

CORALINE (2009)—The first ever stop-motion animated film to be shot entirely in 3-D, continues to attract moviegoers after more than a month in theatres. With voice-work by Dakota Fanning, CORALINE has earned $70 million to date, enough to lift the Neil Gainman/Henry Selick's dark re-telling of a young girl's "down-the-rabbit-hole" fantasy to No. 6 among the most popular 3-D films of all time.

Dakota Fanning fronts 'Runaways'

Saturday March 7, 2009

VARIETY (03.04.09)—Dakota Fanning is negotiating to play lead singer Cherie Currie in "The Runaways," the biopic of the '70s all-girl rock band that already has TWILIGHT star Kristen Stewart playing Joan Jett. Scripted and directed by Floria Sigismondi, the film begins production in late spring.

At 15, Fanning is the same age Currie was when she made her debut with the Runaways as the lead singer who belted out hard-edged tunes like "Cherry Bomb." Currie became caught up in drugs and a hard-partying lifestyle.

John and Art Linson are producing with River Road Entertainment's Bill Pohland, with Joan Jett serving as executive producer.

Fanning, who most recently starred in THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES and PUSH, and voice-work on CORALINE, is also slated to play a vampire in the "Twilight" sequel NEW MOON.

PUSH

Friday February 13, 2009

PUSH (2009) Directed by Paul Mc Guigan (Lucky Number Slevin), is loud, choppy; the plot is confusing as it is convoluted and ultimately silly. The storyline involves a group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities who are hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency “The Division.” They must utilize their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever. These clairvoyants and psychokinetic powers are a product of a shadowy past linked to the end days of WWII. Born and bred as the ultimate surveillance weapons these second and third generation psychic empowered humans rebel and are no longer willing to serve their government masters. “They live among us.” So, Dakota Fanning, warns us, once again employed as the consummate archetypal innocent narrator. Fanning plays a “watcher” a thirteen-year-old worldly-wise girl named Cassie Holmes, a clairvoyant who can see the future. With her blond hair streaked with pink, short, short “skorts” and knee-high boots, Fanning resembled a Bratz doll; she’s gone rouge, across the globe. On the run from the shadowy Division, in search of Nick (Chris Evans) and a mysterious suitcase that the Division, represented by the ever-nefarious Djimon Hounsou also seeks. (See, I told you this plot was convoluted, it gets worse) . . . Along the way, the gang picks up Kira, (Camilla Belle) who can plant naughty thoughts in people’s head. All this and there are other psychics with names like “movers,” “shadows,” and “sniffs,” and a whole family of assassins who can shatter glass and do the “scanner” thing on your brain by screaming. If all this wasn’t disconcerting enough we are treated to the spectacle of sweet-innocent Dakota Fanning of fresh faced pig-tailed Fern fame, swear, get drunk and pack heat—in both fist no less. As far as the intoxication scene goes, (the director was careful not to show underage Fanning actually drinking). I thought it was one of Dak’s best scenes; she actually does a convincing job. The scene is especially funny, since after she appeared on the TONIGHT SHOW, Dak assured Leno that, “Absolutely no research went in to doing that scene.” Unfortunately, PUSH will do nothing for Dakota’s career. The film opened to extremely poor reviews and in sixth place . . . not very promising. However, I expect that with Dakota's talent, she will persevere. I do not think I would have enjoyed PUSH at all except for the presents of Dakota. Hong Kong certainly is a beautiful city I liked that part. Overall, PUSH will never rank as one of my favorite Dakota movies.

PUSH (2009) * ½

CORALINE

Sunday February 7, 2009

CORALINE (2009) is a high-definition stop-motion animated feature, the first to be originally filmed in 3-D, with spectacular CG effects, directed by Henry Selick ("The Nightmare before Christmas"), based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling masterful children's horror fantasy. CORALINE is a film that is both visually stunning and wondrously entertaining. Ever since Lewis Carroll first imagined Alice tumbling down a rabbit hole, stories have abound of lonely, imaginative little girls passing through dark, narrow portals into crazy—upside-down often menacing other worlds—but never so fully envisioned in stereoscopic 3-D stop-motion animation.

There is a real need of more films with smart, mischievous young girls. Coraline is a smart, savvy and clever eleven-year-old girl, without being sappy or sickly sweet. She’s the girl next door that we actually might like having living next door. Especially since she’s brave, resourceful and not afraid to confront her darkest fears.

Coraline, (Dakota Fanning) discovers a key and walks through a secret door from her boring new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life—only much better. However, when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (Other Mother voiced by Teri Hatcher) tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home—and save her family.

Perhaps a bit dark and gothic to be regarded as a mainstream family film. CORALINE is not for young children, (there are some scary disturbing images), but ultimately CORALINE proves a brilliantly enhance gothic comedy that mingles horror and whimsy into a "family-friendly" version of Gaiman's dark story.

CORALINE (2009) ***½

KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL

KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL (2008) a movie based on a doll? My skepticism meter was off the scale, as I investigated further I realized with the production of each doll, AMERICAN GIRL has carefully authorized an entire back-story to go along with each doll. Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin) is indeed a viable story, a story worth telling, and in these uncertain economic times a story with a resonance and priceless timeless quality. Growing up in America's heartland in the 1934 Cincinnati, Kit is an eleven-year-old aspiring newspaper reporter; Kit spends her days in her room, tapping out her stories on an old typewriter. Her father (Chris O'Donnell) owns a car dealership and her mother (Julia Ormond) is the perfect mom, she takes care of the Kittredge home where she often hosts garden teas. However, world events in the form of the Great Depression are about to descend up Kit and her idyllic life. Mr. Kittredge finds himself thrown out of work and with the family destitute and with no prospects, is off to Chicago to look for a new job. Meanwhile, Mrs. Kittredge in a desperate attempt to make ends meet decides to take in boarders, including a magician (Stanley Tucci), a mobile librarian (Joan Cusack), an uptight mother (Glenne Headley) and her young son. Also arriving on the Kittredge's doorstep are two young hobos, teenager Will (Max Thieriot) and little County (Willow Smith). These latter two youngsters will do any odd jobs in exchange for food and Mrs. K. welcomes them over the objections of neighbors. But, will the Kittredge family save their home? Also, will Kit see her fondest wish and get published, all the while solving the mystery of who took her family's safety box of money and other valuable possessions. This is a wholesome film for American families about a brave headstrong girl who is both smart and self-sufficient and a good role model for young girls. Blond-haired Abigail Breslin is one of our foremost young movie actress is forever enchanting in the title role of ambitious headstrong Kit. As an aspiring writer myself, I'll admit a little affinity for Kit's character. The supporting cast is likewise up to the task, with O'Donnell as the sensitive father and Ormond, doing a terrific turn as the beautiful, courageous mother. All of the other supporting cast members previously mentioned, along with Wallace Shawn as a stuffy newspaper editor, fulfill their roles handily, too, with special mention extended to young Willow Smith for her nice interpretation of the part of a young drifter with a big secret. Directed by Patrica Rozema with a screen play by Valerie Trip (author of the original Kit Kittredge stories). The film looks sensational from the Kittredge's gorgeous home to the costumes to the wonderful cinematography, including the musical score and a surprising rendition of “It’s only a Paper Moon” not heard in movies, since, well, PAPER MOON. As to the script, KIT Kittredge is a nice combination of history-lite, intrigue, and the triumph of the human spirit, especially the hope and new possibilities that children bring into the world. In short, KIT is a lovely family friendly film for young girls and everyone else, with abundant laughs, lessons, and love. Do make time for Kit and company.

DAKOTA IN THE DESERT

Thursday

October 16, 2008

USA TODAY—Dakota Fanning, 14, will receive the Rising Star Award at the 20th Palm Springs International Film Festival's annual awards gala January 6 in California. Fanning stars in the movie THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, which opens on Friday.

DAKOTA IS A CHEERLEADER!

Saturday October 4, 2008

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT? When the rumor first surfaced, as to Dakota being a cheerleader I'll admit, I was among the chief skeptics. It's TRUE! Home schooled through the eighth-grade, Dakota made the decision this year to attend the private UC Santa Barbara High-school, the school was willing to accommodate Dakota's special needs involving filming and promotions. Indeed, Dakota had to cut short a promotional stint of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES on Thursday at the opening night of the 31st annual Mill Valley Film Festival. She had to catch a flight back to Los Angeles so that she could be back in class on Friday as she had a game on Friday night. Where Dakota is a member of the Varsity cheer leading squad where she is a "flyer." I think it’s fantastic that Dakota has the opportunity to pursue a normal life. Three cheers for Dakota for the humility, unpretentiousness, déclassé, to just want to be an ordinary kid . . . To go to high-School, to do what every other kid in America does in high-school. Be a cheerleader, join the drama club, hot lunch, homecoming, run track. Go Vikings! As always, I am forever indebted to my friend Marcela at LOVELY DAKOTA.