Margaret, Dir. Kenneth Lonergan
Now Playing at SIFF Cinema

You Can Count on Me, the Oscar-nominated 2000 directorial debut of playwright Kenneth Lonergan, was a marvel in miniature:  a brilliantly acted, acutely rendered character study that displayed a firm grasp of what to leave unsaid. Margaret, Lonergan’s follow-up, unfortunately accrued some legendarily bad mojo on its way to the screen. Originally shot in 2006, the footage collected dust on the shelf as the director and producer waged a legal war over the length of the final cut, with various running times reportedly ranging from 90 minutes to over four hours. Now finally granted release in 150 minute form (Martin Scorsese apparently lent an uncredited editorial hand), the resulting film is a truly odd experience: a sweepingly expansive post 9-11 reflection that is beautiful and frustrating and insightful and unfocused, sometimes all in the very same scene. I can’t stop thinking about it.

The story follows the wobbly trajectory of Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin), a privileged Upper West Side teenager whose combination of calculated disdain and vulnerability serve to flummox both her mother (J. Smith Cameron, Lonergan’s real-life wife) and teachers (including a still-dewy Matt Damon).  After she inadvertently contributes to a horrific traffic accident, Lisa finds her carefully constructed universe imploding, with her guilt leading her on a self-serving crusade against the bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) involved in the crash. Any capsule plot description, though, is really only scratching the surface of the filmmaker’s ambition, which combines pungent observations about education and art and performing and racism and the absurdities of the legal system into a heady, sometimes baffling stew. (The title of the film, taken from a Gerard Manly Hopkins poem, should serve as an indicator that the movie is aiming for the intellectual upper decks.)

Great movies are rarely perfect movies, to steal a line from Pauline Kael, and Margaret certainly qualifies for at least the latter category. Not to sympathize too much with the studio folks, but there are some notable flaws present here — most notably some shaky staging, and the relative unlikeability of the majority of the characters — that would rankle regardless of the film’s length. For all of its problems, however, Lonergan’s crazily overstuffed vision contains so many moments that feel just so perfectly, dead-solid right that it makes virtually everything else out there seem safe and toothless in comparison.  Grand folly, or unjustly truncated masterpiece? Both, maybe.

Also opening this week: Liam Neeson dukes it out with wolves in the existential action movie The Grey (Check out my review for the Portland Mercury), and the dopey but fun thriller Man on a Ledge, which I wrote up for Amazon.com.

Questions? Comments? Gerard Manly Hopkins knock knock jokes? Let me know at alwright@gmail.com

Director Steven Soderbergh has long made a habit of polishing up some pretty dusty genres, with results as varied as the glitzy heist movie (Ocean’s 11), the weepily inspirational true story (Erin Brockovich), and the all-star disaster flick (Contagion). Although a certain ironic humor pulses through all of his projects, the director crucially never looks down at his material, rather finding ways to bring what once connected with audiences back up to code.

The beauty of Haywire, Soderbergh’s astonished ode to the physical prowess of former American Gladiator Gina Carano, is how it genuinely feels like the type of movie you’d see at 3am starring Brian Bosworth, only, you know, good. Sporting a ridiculously overqualified cast and with all the non-essential elements jazzed into abstraction, it’s a pleasure without the slightest bit of guilt attached. If Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy brought back the joy of movies that respect and test the intelligence of the audience, then Soderbergh and Co. here rekindle the basic visceral pleasure of watching good-looking people duke it out, without a million disorienting cuts. This is not a small thing.

Soderbergh and writer Lem Dobbs, who previously collaborated on the brilliant The Limey, bring the same fractured (yet easily followed) style into play here, telling the story of Mallory Kane (Carano), a gloweringly lethal covert agent who gets left out to dry after a mission involving a fellow spy (Michael Fassbender) goes wrong. As she hunts down her weasel of an ex-boss (Ewan McGregor), actors such as Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas, and Antonio Banderas all frantically try to stay out of range of her fists and feet. That’s all there is to it, really, but the intentional narrative simplicity is more than balanced by the deliciously straight-faced performances, some implausible-not-impossible action sequences (particularly a terrifically staged rooftop chase where the roving camera just always manages to be at exactly the right spot), and the way the music drops out during the brutally efficient fight scenes, all the better to appreciate the various thwacks, grunts, and thuds of the actors. Still, all of the filmmaking razzle-dazzle wouldn’t amount to much if the center didn’t hold, and Carano handily gets the job done. If her lack of experience makes her register more as a presence than an actor at this point, she brings a determination and no-fooling physicality to the movie that a more seasoned star would be lucky to muster. In a time of incomprehensible editing and waif-models beating up entire CGI armies , an extended shot of her determinedly hoofing it down an alleyway is the visual effect of the season.

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Also playing this week is SIFF Cinema’s terrific lineup of some of 2010’s best documentaries, featuring such worthy contenders as the heart wrenching man and monkey story Project Nim, Werner Herzog’s probing and brilliantly pointed death row saga Into the Abyss, and the fantastic musical reunion Thunder Soul, which manages to be feel-good without leaving any cloying aftertaste. (Click on the links for my reviews elsewhere.) Go to them all, or just wander into the theater at random; you can’t go wrong, really.

Questions? Comments? Pictures of the Boz? Let me have ‘em at alwright@gmail.com

Next Week: The long, long, long delayed Margaret (Note: don’t Google it unless you have some free time.)

Premieres Fri., Jan. 20, at 8 p.m.

Check it out at www.seattlechannel.org/artZone

Premieres Jan. 19 at 11 p.m

Watch episodes of An Evening With at: www.seattlechannel.org/AnEveningWith

The closest thing Hollywood has to a literal definition of Oscar Bait, the biopic genre has long held to a strict blueprint: Find an actor with a slight resemblance to a historical figure, focus on a plot element that reductively informs all of that subject’s accomplishments and stumbles (Johnny Cash’s older brother, J. Edgar Hoover’s taste in clothing, etc.), and sit back and start writing your awards speech. While an engaging anomaly does occasionally make it through the system (personal favorite: Michael Mann’s expressionistic Ali), the prefab nature of the majority of these films makes their viewing seem more dutiful than entertaining: walking out of the theater, it’s hard to feel like history has been properly served.

Taken strictly as an example of the genre, the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady feels clunkier than most: an examination of a fascinatingly divisive figure that never really settles on its own point of view. The thing is, however, is that it also has Meryl Streep, who delivers a performance that somehow manages to rise above her own estimable watermark. Whatever the failings of the film, she strides through, fantastic and untouched.

Told in a jumbled, hopscotchy fashion, the script by Abi Morgan (Shame) begins with the former British Prime Minister in her later years, facing both public obscurity and some worrying signs of mental instability. (The symptoms of which include the continued presence of her deceased husband, played by the always welcome Jim Broadbent.) As she reflects on her life, the flashbacks start flying. Director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) displays a nice touch for period detail (many valiant cans of Aquanet gave their lives for this film), but stumbles badly when it comes to capturing the tonal shifts that made her subject both a hero and villain of the people. Whether dealing with the Falkland Islands or showing Thatcher giving her daughter a driving lesson, the film trodges along at the same unvaried, strangely incurious pace.

Man alive, though, does Streep ever bring it. While her impersonations have always been technically flawless (her capturing of her subject’s flutey upper vocal register is a marvel to behold) , the actress’s particular genius lies in understanding and evoking what’s going on inside the familiar mannerisms, with seemingly every small gesture and inflection working to evoke a complete 3D portrait. Although the filmmakers behind The Iron Lady never really show a grasp of how their central character can be both beloved and reviled, Streep brilliantly captures how strength can become weakness, and back again.

Also at local theaters: Roman Polanski’s fantastically nasty Carnage, based on the Tony-award winning play. (My review for Amazon.com can be found here.)

Even among such strong showings from Streep and Polanski, though, the theatrical event of the week undoubtedly comes courtesy of the folks at SIFF Cinema, who have put together a seven-day dip into the mind of one of cinema’s most brilliant and idiosyncratic artists. In Dreams: The Films of David Lynch serves as a comprehensive primer into the filmmaker’s funny and terrifying exercises in dream logic, with results ranging from the early undiluted weirdness of Eraserhead, the fascinatingly odd would-be blockbuster Dune, Blue Velvet’s demonic Hardy Boys antics, and finishing up with what may be his finest achievement, the savage and tender Hollywood nightmare Mulholland Dr. (Lynch’s most recent film, the hallucinatory-even-for-him Inland Empire, is noticeably absent from the lineup, most likely because SIFF doesn’t want to be held liable for people dazedly walking into trees and striking up conversations with squirrels after a viewing.) Highly recommended for die-hard fans, newbies, and anyone looking to take up insomnia. (Click here for my earlier appreciation of Lynch’s short films for The Stranger.)

Thoughts? Comments? Favorite Frank Booth lines? Let me know at alwright@gmail.com, and thanks for stopping by.

Coming up next week: Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; and some of the past year’s best documentaries. Note: One of them stars a monkey.

Watch episodes of An Evening With at: www.seattlechannel.org/AnEveningWith.

Premieres Thurs., Dec. 29 at 9 p.m

Seattle City Council 2009: A Year in Review
Hosted by C. R. Douglas
Plays Thursday, December 31, 6:30 p.m.
Join SEATTLE CHANNEL’s C.R. Douglas as he sits down for one-on-one interviews with all nine Seattle City Council Members: Council President Richard Conlin and Councilmembers Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, Jan Drago, Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, Nick Licata, Richard McIver and Tom Rasmussen. Find out what they think were the Council’s biggest accomplishments and what, if any, were the lost opportunities of 2009. Plus, hear their thoughts on what the political and policy climate will be like at City Hall with new Mayor Mike McGinn and two new Council Members, Mike O’Brien and Sally Bagshaw. They also share their concerns about the City and their hopes for 2010.

TownSquare: CityClub’s Annual Year in Review
Plays Thursday, December 31, 10:00 a.m.
CityClub’s 2009 Year in Review panel includes four of our region’s top leaders: Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna, Senior Counselor Jack Schneiderman, Chair of the Association of Washington Business Jack McRae, and President of Washington State University Dr. Elson Floyd. The four panelists are experts in the areas of education, politics, healthcare and journalism. They will analyze the current state of our region and make predictions about the region’s future.

An Evening With: The Year in Film
Premieres Thursday, December 31, 11:00 p.m.
Waiting for the new year? What better way to pass the final hour of 2009 than figuring out the best and worst films of the year! The Everett Herald‘ s and Art Zone‘s Robert Horton moderates a panel discussion with local film critics about the year in film. Joining Horton are MSN.com‘s Kathleen Murphy, The Stranger‘s Andrew Wright, and Chicago Sun-Times ‘ blogger Jim Emerson.

City Inside/Out with C.R. Douglas: The Year in Politics
Plays Saturday, January 2, 6:00 p.m.
Tune in for our one-hour special, where we take stock of 2009. We’ll sit down with the newsmaker of the year–Seattle Mayor-elect Mike McGinn–, hear from past three past Seattle mayors–Norm Rice, Charles Royer and Wes Uhlman–about lessons learned, and convene a journalist roundtable on the year’s headlines. In-studio guests are Seattle Post-Intelligencer‘s Joel Connelly, The Seattle Times‘ Lynne Varner and The Puget Sound Business Journal‘s Deirdre Gregg and Publicola‘s Josh Feit.

Need I mention that the annual engagement of Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is just about upon us? But then you knew that already, because—c’mon—it’s annual. The Grand Illusion Cinema is bringing the 1946 classic back, starting Dec. 11 and going on through New Year’s Eve.

DVD Picks: The latest film noir package to come down the pike is Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics, Vol. 1, a five-spot containing one bona fide classic (Fritz Lang’s violent The Big Heat, starring Glenn Ford with indelible noir performances by Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame) and four lesser-profile titles. But all are interesting and well worth seeing if you’re of a noirish bent. I just rented The Lineup, which I hadn’t seen in 25 years, and had a great time with it: the movie’s part police procedural (based on a TV series of the era—1958), part eccentric hit-man character study. Eli Wallach plays the hit man, attended by his weirdly literate sidekick/slave (Robert Keith), who collects dying people’s last words. The crisp direction is by Don Siegel.

And the Seattle Art Museum gears up for its winter film series, a ten-week primer on “King of Cool: The Films of Steve McQueen,” which kicks off with The Great Escape on Thursday, January 7 and continues explore coolness with titles such as Bullitt and Junior Bonner (the sleeper of McQueen’s career) thereafter.

Isn’t Seattle the best place ever when it’s nice?! Ahhhh… love it. I’m keeping my eye out for fun and interesting art events, so, here are a few more possible outings to add to your summer art calendar:

Rawstock

Get ready for Rawstock 2009! This raw and irreverent film event, hosted by The Central Heating Lab at ACT, hits the screen for one night only on July 24th, with all sorts of great independent movies, including the Seattle premieres of David Lowery’s “St. Nick”, Calvin Reeder’s “Snake Mountain Colada”. The schmoozing starts in the Raw Lounge at 8:15. Get tickets from ACT.

Check out the Seattle Art Dealers Association upcoming event, “SADA Introductions 2009”, happening on Saturday, July 18th from 11-5. This self-guided tour features art works that are chosen by art gallery owners– who pick artists from other galleries, not their own—and is meant to represent the best of the new century. This unique mid-day art walk is your chance to check out, and meet, the hot up & comers! For a list of participating galleries, and tour map, go to www.seattleartdealers.com

Batteries Not Included

Here’s a fun art freebie you can enjoy from the comfort of your computer! Local filmmaker Jon Behrens, who normally makes experimental arty films, has made something a little different. “Batteries Not Included” features vintage toy commercials from Mattel, Ideal, Hasbro, Marx, Aurora, and many others. If you were born in the 1950’s, 1960’s or 1970’s, this will spark many pleasant memories. If you’re of the younger set, this might give you a new appreciation for your square, out-of-date parents. Watch the streaming video or download a copy

Artist Allie Jones, who represents herself as Allie Jones Art “The Art of Giving Back”, has a new show of original work opening at Café Flora, the fabulous vegetarian joint in Madison Valley, opening on August 3rd. Proceeds from the show will be donated to Cancer Care Alliance, where Allie’s father is currently in treatment. Stop by and see how philanthropy, art, and delicious food, can come together!

Enjoy these beautiful days, and make sure to add a daily dose of art to your outdoor activities.

xo, nancy g.

Revivals for the summer: The Seattle Art Museum kicks off a six-film tribute to Carole Lombard, that elegant yet silly princess of the screwball comedy era. The set begins July 9 with Howard Hawks’s classic Twentieth Century (1934) and closes on August 13 with William Wellman’s perverse Nothing Sacred (1937). Lombard was one of those forever-young stars (she died in a 1942 plane crash while on tour promoting War Bonds), and this is a chance to delight in some of her classics and rarities.

Silent Movie Mondays continue at the Paramount theater this month, with Henry King’s Romola (1924) starring Lillian Gish on June 15; Cecil B. DeMille’s The Godless Girl (1929) on June 22; and Frank Borzage’s Seventh Heaven (1927) on June 29. The latter helped snag Janet Gaynor the first Best Actress Oscar.

The Northwest Film Forum continues their year-long survey of 1969 films at various times during the summer. For a Sixties spy-picture marathon, look at the double bill for the week of July 31-August 6: Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz, which is a frosty and magisterial look at Cold War doings (it’s not fun the way most Hitchcock is, but it is impressive), and Peter Hunt’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which might just be the best of all James Bond movies despite having the worst James Bond (one-hit wonder George Lazenby).

And still on the 1969 score, on July 31 the Varsity theater brings a new print of Costa-Gavras’s Z, an Oscar-winning political thriller that was a huge arthouse hit when it was released in the U.S. I went to see this movie as an adolescent (at the Varsity, if memory serves) and still remember how exciting it was to see a movie with subtitles, even if I didn’t entirely follow the plot. Schedule

Robert Horton’s blog