Ceremony

Directed by Max Winkler (2010)

Starring: Michael Angarano, Reece Thompson,  Uma Thurman, Lee Pace

Ceremony feels like an adult Rushmore.  It tries so hard to be like a Wes Anderson film or to follow the tradition of Quirky Independent American dramedies, and it makes for a pretty enjoyable movie.   Sam Davis (Angarano), a picture book author, drags his friend Marshall (Thompson) out of the city for a vacation.  What they’re really doing is crashing the wedding of Sam’s pen pal Zoe (Thurman), who he’s in love with.

It seems like Ceremony scratches an itch I needed: moving from the city of New York to a New England mansion, where every wedding guest hangs around to drink and wander around the beach.  Every main character has a serious personality flaw, from Marshall’s acknowledged anxiety disorder to the narcissism of Zoe’s fiance, Whit (Pace).

(And can we talk about Lee Pace in this movie for a second?  After Pushing Daisies I would have thought that he’d be stuck in the Nice Guy type, but that guy is proving he’s got range.  Especially the range of an asshole, which Whit is, but in a quasi-likable kind of way.  He’s just so handsome!  and clueless.  I can’t hate the clueless.)

It’s a surprisingly tight story, despite the languid nature of the wedding guests.  The wedding stretches out over a weekend, filled with parties and drinking and awkward sleeping arrangements.

Actually, what I really like about this movie is the ending.  It’s perfectly emotionally resonant, which might have to do with its choice of music, but I also just like how non-formulaic the characters’ actions are.  What Sam gets from the experience of crashing the wedding and trying to steal the bride is that he’s more similar to Whit than he could have imagined.  The character who shows the most growth is Marshall, even when he spends most of the second half looking for his missing pair of shoes.

The fact is, even later in life than we’d like to admit, Max Fischer and the other ghosts of high school still remain.  Sam and Marshall are in their early twenties, but it doesn’t make them any more mature.  Sam wants to have an adventurous life, but he pursues that goal without consideration for the people he involves and it’s fun to watch him realize that.

Costume Envy: The Fall

My friend Lucy suggested that I do a Costume Envy post on the Black Bandit from The Fall.

Costumes for The Fall where designed by Eiko Ishioka, who is known for her Oscar award-winning designs in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Cell, and the upcoming Immortals.

So technically speaking, I don’t really understand the choices made with the Black Bandit’s costume design.  It’s a pretty basic black get up, at once a military uniform and a cowboy’s gear, with a bright red Zorro mask thrown in.  But the hat?  The armless top?

Probably, if I had been Tarsem I would have vetoed it, but I’m also a complete idiot.  Ishioka has created a costume that is extraordinarily iconic, even while grabbing from different sources.  It works really well, considering the story that Roy Walker (Pace) is creating comes from a billion different regions.  At times, he seems to be grasping at straws, but the Bandit’s costume fits in wherever, even though it is entirely outlandish.  Who is he supposed to be, anyway?  The French soldat, who left for sunnier climes in the American West?  Only he got turned around and wound up in Mexico, where he got his wide-brimmed hat and the red mask idea?  And where did the shaved head and eyeliner come from?

But the Bandit is recognizable: You see him, and he’s a bandit.  He’s the man in the black, seemingly like Zorro, only American (or French or Spanish) and it makes him mysterious.  Highly suspicious, as all good bandits are, but intriguing. 

Visual Films: The Fall

The Fall

(2006)

Directed by Tarsem

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Directed by Bharat Nalluri (2008) Starring: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Ciaran Hinds, Shirley Henderson, Mark Strong, Lee Pace, Tom Payne

After watching Pushing Daisies, I got in a mood for Lee Pace.  (That man is adorable– Stick him in more pictures, Hollywood!  C’mon now!)  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day seemed like just the ticket.

Guinevere Pettigrew (McDormand) is a capable governess who loses her job for being too harsh.  She’s rejected from her employment agency, but before she leaves, she overhears that a Miss Lafosse needs some help.  When she heads to her apartment, Pettigrew is stunned to realize that a governess wasn’t wanted, but a social secretary for the flighty Delysia (Amy Adams), who is busy juggling three men while furthering her career as a singer.

The three men being: Phil Goldman (Payne), young son who is launching a new musical that needs a star; Nick Cordorelli (Strong), rich nightclub owner; and Michael Pardue (Pace), her pianist, best friend, and would-be fiance.  Would be, if he hadn’t gotten drunk and tried to steal the crown jewels for Delysia.

While at a underwear fashion show, Guinevere becomes involved in the affairs of Edythe Dubarry (Henderson) and Joe Bloomfield (Hinds), who have recently split up.  Dubarry is conniving to marry Bloomfield for his fashion connections, while he is sick of her.  He compliments Guinevere and they hit it off, though she shies away, due to her frumpy outfit and unemployed state.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is cute, but doesn’t have too much that makes it unique.  Possibly my favorite part of the plot was the constantly circling around the impending war–with everyone from the younger generation ignoring it.  The only time it ever becomes apparent to Delysia & Co. was when they had a siren go off while at the night club.

Other than that, it’s a pretty sweet, rather formulaic romance comedy.  I liked that Guinevere went back and forth between being rather shy, but then very commanding when the scene needed it.  I have a feeling I would have hated the Delysia character, if it wasn’t for Amy Adams.

And just as I wanted it: Lee Pace is wonderful.