There is a tenderness to Ang Lee’s direction in his latest film- the sort of tenderness you felt in Lust, Caution but leaning toward the Brokeback Mountain sort of tenderness. Yuh it’s all tender in ‘69 alright.
Elliot, a closeted Jewish interior designer decides to help out with his parents’ failing motel by calling up the producers of the Woodstock music festival in hopes of reinvigorating business. And that’s basically all you need to know about Taking Woodstock.
Despite my lack of knowledge for anything about this movie, I enjoyed Taking Woodstock immensely (seeing Liev Schreiber in drag wasn’t half bad either haha). It’s the kind of movie I wish that wouldn’t end; which falls into whole new movie category I can say that I encounter only once in every five years.
Taking Woodstock had all the potential of being laden with teen angst and rebellion but Lee was clever enough to tread these matters lightly while keeping the mood essentially vibrant. He plays it somber when called for, and does it with class. There is a scene between Elliot, the lead character and his father in which he asks him “How do you do it? How can you stay married to mom (an amazing Imelda Staunton, btw) for 40 years?” In the same uninterrupted take and in the same neutral-looking long shot (without any unecessary close-ups and lingering dramatic silences) he turns around and says “I love her,” and walks out the door leaving Elliot in the dark.
Right then and there you’ll know that ‘Taking Woodstock’ isn’t about the concert- hell, it isn’t even about the music. I won’t say what it’s about but I will tell you this- go see it for that necessary dose of film nourishment.
This is a movie that’s been on my ‘must watch’ list for years and years and years (ever since it came out in 2001, I think). and I should’ve listened to my gut instinct to give it a couple of more years. After two consecutive nights of ending the day with bad movies, I can safely say that there are indeed lotsa things you have to learn the hard way. For instance, if you’re Adrien Brody, it’s picking the right roles and ditching the snakeskin jacket. For Claire, it’s learning to learn about life and love – the hard way. Geez that was corny. But with lines like “I don’t deserve your tears,” it isn’t so much of a drama anymore when that cheese turn into tackiness- and not even the good kind of tacky,. as in it’s not even fun 
Wake up. Laugh-laugh. Not the time to sleep. It’s an epic movie production that seems to reiterate “Budget? What budget?” as The Fall was shot in 15+ countries all on real locations (so claims the Indian director who calls himself Tarsem). This extremely expensive fantasy movie unfolds to a story pattern similar to that of The Princess Bride except in this case, the setting is in a California hospital in the ’20s and the narrator is an paralyzed movie stuntman who tells the story to a 5-year-old with broken english and a broken arm. Watch this movie with an open mind and open eyes please. Wake up. Laugh-laugh. Not the time to sleep. A lot of film critics may have labeled The Fall as staggeringly beautiful albeit lacking content- if you look too deep into the movie you might realise just that. But in this crazy cinematic world, no one seems to appreciate what’s on the surface anymore, and that’s the bulk of what really matters.
I guess it’s the same reason people are drawn to egotism; with a movie seemingly so absorbed in itself, it’s hard not to fall in love with it. But taking this movie apart, assessing and reassessing every technique used is now futile and irrelevant as it is far less important than seeing it whole. A Tenenbaum-esque frame of mind has come over me, with hints of Margot, a subtle Chas rage, and a whole lotta Richie to top it all off.
I read this essay on film where the author talks about the fun of movies, particularly the trashy ones. She says that trash doesnt belong to the academic tradition and that’s part of the fun of trash- that you know (or should know) that you don’t have to take it seriously; that it was never meant to be any more than frivolous and trifling and entertaining.
In the same vein as the hipster-est movie of 2007
Dya reckon the same guys who made the newest movie poster for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li had tips from the people who made the poster for How She Move (I feel very uneasy saying that out loud) ?