There's a blizzard in New York. It got me thinking about my favorite movies to stay in and watch during a snowstorm. What are yours?
Love Story - Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal frolicking in snowy Central Park. Cool clothes.
The Shining & Misery - These Stephen King chillers tap into snowed-in claustrophobia.
Frozen River - The cold setting of upstate New York becomes its own character in this study of a desperate woman and a Native American who dangerously engage in smuggling people across a frozen river.
Doctor Zhivago - David Lean's epic always seems better when it's snowing outside.
The Ice Storm - Ang Lee's beautiful filming of adultery and other bad behavior in 1973 suburbia.
Citizen Kane - Arresting photography and cinema's most renowned sled and snow globe.
The Cider House Rules - Sentimental, glossy version of John Irving's sprawling novel. There's something very comforting about the Maine settings. And the score is pretty.
Snow Falling on Cedars - I find this film very underrated. A murder mystery unravels in the post-War anti-Japanese environment of Washington state . The cinematography is incredible.
The Wild One is dated and unpolished but remains a joy for Marlon Brando's iconic performance. The thin plot revolves around a boisterous Black Rebels Motorcycle Club who invade a small town, causing a ruckus. The desultory leader Johnny (Brando) becomes intrigued by the attractive yet "square" sheriff's daughter named Kathie who works at the local bar. Most of the conflict arises from rival gang, The Beatles (led by Lee Marvin in a striped T shirt) and what ensues from the locals as Johnny falls for Kathie.
Any Stanley Kramer production strives for social significance. The Wild One reflects the shifting generational change of postwar teens, who yearn to be rebels but are unsure about staking out their own unique identities. This would be typified in the following year with Nicholas Ray's far superior and much more moving Rebel Without A Cause.
This film relies heavily on Brando's appealing image and the looseness of his performance: that swagger and those shifty-eyed glances. Unlike many actors, Brando's sex-appeal is less dependent upon psychical attributes (as gorgeous as he was) and more on the inherent--the intense commitment to character. The Wild Onebreezes by in a brisk 78 minutes, but Brando's Johnny is forever.
After the high-volume shrillness of the Grammy Awards ceremony, it was refreshing to catch a screening of the new documentary about singer songwriter Bill Withers. Famed for two of the greatest American hits of all time, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me," Withers remains straightforward and laid-back. Born and raised in West Virginia, Withers enlisted in the Navy and became an aircraft assembler. He began writing songs, doing demo tapes, and club performances. The popularity of "Ain't No Sunshine" led to a record deal. Recording for much of the 1970s and somewhat into the early 80s, Withers established himself as a premier rhythm and blues artist. The film Still Bill is less an exploitative, VH-1 -"Behind the Music"- back-story and more about a glimpse of his current state at age 70, over twenty years into his professional and commercial hiatus.
It's a joy to see Withers still thriving with his even-keeled, funny and level-headed, no-nonsense sense of humor. Filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack have made a truly elegant, indelible documentary. Unlike many documentaries of the famous, Baker and Vlack never exploit their subject, instead offering us a loving tribute. By simply showing a photograph, Withers's already poetic "Grandma's Hands" takes on a deep visual subtext on racial history and familial bonds (later in the film, he unexpectedly performs the song at a tribute concert). The charm of Withers undercuts the doc's weaknesses (if there are any). Even in the somewhat stagy conversations between Withers, Dr. Cornel West, and Tavis Smiley, Withers brings up some illuminating points.
Fortunately, Withers is remarkably candid. Like his songs, Withers opens up in a warm but unsentimental and unfussy, understated way. In two of the film's most captivating sequences, we watch Withers go back to his rural Slab Creek where he grew up as a teased stutterer and then later to his home recording studio to listen to his beautiful daughter Kori work on her own song, to which upon listening to, despite his previous criticisms, he is unable to fight back the tears. And in a scene where he collaborates on a song with Raul Midon inspired by a Cuban friend, the film becomes a testimony to the power of creativity and music: it doesn't necessarily have to be solely about commerce or dependent on whether we can understand the lyric but on the emotion and the personal joy and satisfaction of the artist.
-Jeffery Berg
Still Bill is highly recommended. You can find more information on seeing the film on B-Side's site.
Read Robert Rosenthal's wonderful write-up and interview with the filmmakers on Huffington Post.
I think many agree that this year's Grammy Awards were a misfire. Instead of highlighting the achievements of actual musicians, they went for a noisy, hip, VMA-approach.
Here were my favorite looks. Who were your favorites?
Lady Gaga needs her own section. Unfortunately, the producers chose not to televise her dance recording wins. She was shafted.
Miley Cyrus, in Herve Leger. OK, I struggled putting her on my faves list. I find her annoying but I have to admit, I love this dress and for once I think she dressed her age and perfectly for the event at hand.
Mary J. Blige, in Gucci. Love this color on her!
Carrie Underwood, in Edition by Georges Chakra
Beyonce, in Stephane Rolland. I love the Aztec shapes on it.
Sheryl Crow, in Bottega Veneta. Kind of plain, but I thought it was pretty. Not sure if she can pull of those earrings.
