Getafilm Gallimaufry: Amreeka, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Road, and Anticipating Avatar

[Note: This series includes scattered thoughts on various movie-related topics. I was looking for a word that started with the letter "g" that means collection or assortment, but lest you think I'm some elitist wordsmith, know that I'd never heard of "gallimaufry" and I don't even know how to say it, but it was the only other option the thesaurus provided aside from "goulash" (too foody) and "garbage" (no).]

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Amreeka (B)  

Amreeka doesn't show you anything you haven't seen before in the immigrant/cross-cultural dramedy genre (and it is a genre, or at least a developing one). But few immigrants' stories are identical, and dismissing Amreeka as "just another one of those immigrant movies" is about as short-sighted as, for example, assuming all Spanish-speaking immigrants are Mexicans. The fact is that Amreeka, while not entirely unique, still offers memorable insights into post-9/11 immigration in America, particularly for those families coming from the Middle East (in this case, Palestinians to Illinois).

The film was written and directed by Cherien Dabis, a young Palestinian-American filmaker recently named by Variety as one of "Ten Directors to Watch". Dabis certainly presents the film with the authority of someone who has experienced the story, and her screenplay is balanced with equal amounts of tragedy and comedy. While the narrative is somewhat inconsistent in terms of character development, you find yourself genuinely rooting for Munah and Fadi Farah from the first few minutes - a sign of thoughtful writing. I have to admit I'm a little tired of seeing Hiam Abbass worked to death as apparently the only woman of her age Hollywood ever thinks to cast as "Strong-willed Middle Eastern/Persian Woman #1", but she nonetheless delivers in her role every time. 

Amreeka is a film made to evoke sympathy for the struggles of immigrants and particularly their children, but I wonder if it will reach an audience that doesn't already possess these sentiments. Either way, it's an easily digestible film and a promising sign from a director that I'll certainly be keeping an eye on going forward.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox (A)

Turns out the only thing Wes Anderson had to do to get back on my good graces was apply his sardonically hip style to a familiar story. My love for his work has been sliding steadily with each consecutive film since Rushmore, primarily because I just felt like I was watching the same movie over and over with a different soundtrack. Well actually the soundtracks were pretty much the same, too.

Anyway, while Fantastic Mr. Fox bears his mark as obviously as his other films, it proved to be a perfect fit for someone who should really be considered more of a film artist than a storyteller anyway (can anybody really defend his plots as being anything other than excuses for irony?). The combination of the stop-motion animation and, perhaps more importantly, the decision to film the action on a life-size scale - zooming and panning, wide angles and perspectives - makes it a completely absorbing experience. I'm not sure if Meryl Streep was used to her full potential here, but George Clooney was predictably foxy as Fox and Jason Schwartzman was predictably petulant as Max Fischer Ash. 

Despite my love for Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton's version be cursed), I'm still convinced that Roald Dahl stories are best experienced in book form. But if I'm going to watch an adaptation of a Dahl story I think I'd rather see an animated version like Fantastic Mr. Fox, because you just can't capture the Dahl magic as easily in live-action form.

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The Road (B)

I haven't read Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-Winning novel, "The Road" (it sounded a little too dark for me when it was published in 2006), but I'd been anticipating the film adaptation since the early part of last year. It kept getting pushed later into 2008, then into early 2009, and then not until Thanksgiving 2009. An ironic situation for a film about people on an endless journey.

Much like I presume the book does, the film paints a horrifying portrait of despair, death, and darkness after some unknown calamity strikes the earth. For really no identifiable reason at all, the Father (Viggo Mortensen) in the story remains optimistic, just, moral, and true. He attempts to instill his relatively sunny outlook on life in his baby-faced son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who conveniently looks identical to Charlize Theron (she plays his mother). The Father talks about being a "good guy" and "keeping the fire inside" as ways to comfort his son, and without giving too much away in the story, it ultimately saves the boy.

But despite the tidy ending, one question remained for me: From where does the Father derive his spirit? What keeps him going? What motivates him? And I'm not asking a rhetorical question here - I really want to know what this father is basing his faith in humanity on. Is he religious? It doesn't appear so. Is he interested in the wellbeing of others, or only the wellbeing of his son? It's unclear. Is his character a metaphor for something that I have misunderstood, or is The Road in general a metaphor? Or this just a really bleak story about the future? Questions to consider on your next long trip.

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Anticipating Avatar

A funny thing happened on the way to Avatar's release: I realized people hate James Cameron. I know the guy is difficult to work with and a bit of an egomaniac, but I don't see how that is a.) different than any other blockbuster director, and b.) relevant in any way to his ability to blow my mind. But the general response, or so it's seemed, has been that he is Michael Bay's lesser-talented cousin. I mean, really?

The way I see it, every feature film Cameron has directed in the last 30 years has been near-revolutionary (except True Lies, which I always have to exclude from that claim and always have to defend as a movie I love anyway). Aliens? Changed the outer space/science fiction genre. The Terminator? Visionary futuristic story that's actually interesting. The Abyss? I've already talked about it. T2? Liquid metal turned to human. Titanic? Already talked about it here and here. Four of those films - Aliens, T2, True Lies, and Titanic - received Oscar nominations for their visual effects; all but True Lies won (it lost to Forrest Gump, understandably, but would have swept Best Action Comedy if the category existed).

Round about last January I wrote this about Avatar: "James Cameron, please blow my mind again. The brilliant visionary...returns to the director's chair for his first major feature since Titanic. Visual effects have come a long way in the last decade so it will be interesting to see what he unveils this time around."

Having successfully avoided all trailers, advance previews, advance reviews, feature articles, behind-the-scenes clips, or even plot summaries thus far, I'm just as excited as I was a year ago.