A Halloween week surprisingly light on horror sees instead some romantic dust-ups, courtroom showdowns and an epic battle of egos waged across the vast cosmic expanse of time and space.
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"Aladin"
While much of Bollywood's output has a touch of the fantastical, this contemporary adaptation of the classic fairytale cranks things up to a whole new level. The latest from Indian director Sujoy Ghosh, this romantic fable finds Ritesh Deshmukh as the eponymous hero, a ne'er-do-well bullied by local thugs whose life transforms when his childhood crush gives him a magic lamp containing a genie (Amitabh Bachchan). Eager to be released from his teapot-shaped prison for good, the fast-talking trickster pressures our befuddled hero to make wishes until things turn ugly when the lamp's former occupant (Sanjay Dutt) shows up. In Hindi with subtitles.
Download this in audio form (MP3: 14:23 minutes, 13.2 Mb)
Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]
"Aladin"
While much of Bollywood's output has a touch of the fantastical, this contemporary adaptation of the classic fairytale cranks things up to a whole new level. The latest from Indian director Sujoy Ghosh, this romantic fable finds Ritesh Deshmukh as the eponymous hero, a ne'er-do-well bullied by local thugs whose life transforms when his childhood crush gives him a magic lamp containing a genie (Amitabh Bachchan). Eager to be released from his teapot-shaped prison for good, the fast-talking trickster pressures our befuddled hero to make wishes until things turn ugly when the lamp's former occupant (Sanjay Dutt) shows up. In Hindi with subtitles.
- 10/26/2009
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
Dummy
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Ventriloquists and their wooden colleagues have provided some truly creepy screen moments over the years -- from the Michael Redgrave sequence in the classic British thriller "Dead of Night" to a 1962 "Twilight Zone" episode featuring Cliff Robertson -- but seldom has that relationship been played for (intentional) laughs.
Enter "Dummy", a fresh, delightful, perfectly cast romantic comedy by promising writer-director Greg Pritikin that had Santa Barbara International Film Festival audiences giggling appreciatively. It went on to take home a special jury prize from the fest.
Given that the voice-thrower in question happens to be played by Adrien Brody, the Oscar-nominated star of "The Pianist", this crowd-tickler would look to be a no-brainer for the kind of distributor who -- knock on wood -- could maximize the picture's sleeper potential.
Brody's Steven Schoichet is exactly the kind of socially backward, pushing-30 guy who would be still living at home with his controlling parents, Lou and Fern (played by real-life couple Ron Leibman and Jessica Walter), and his unlucky-in-love wedding-planner sister, Heidi (Illeana Douglas).
One day, after deciding to pursue a dream nurtured by flickering black-and-white TV imagesof ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his wisecracking sidekick, Jerry Mahoney, he acquires a dummy from a magic shop and starts going about the business of not moving his lips.
While Steven's model-ship-making dad and sandwich-making mom seem too busy to notice, he gets support from his best friend, Fangora (Milla Jovovich like you've never seen her), a tough grrrl punk rocker whose band is going nowhere.
Ultimately, Steven's growing rapport with his still-nameless dummy brings him sufficiently out of his shell to charm his unemployment counselor (the beguiling Vera Farmiga) after a very bad start that led to a restraining order.
Meanwhile, as the result of another misunderstanding, Fangora finds herself having to take a crash course in the joys of Yiddish after Heidi hires her band to play at a traditional Jewish wedding.
With all the kooky elements in place, filmmaker Pritikin, who previously collaborated on a romantic sex comedy called "Totally Confused", allows things to unfold with a crisp wit and some gently placed parody that seldom makes fun at the expense of the amiable characters.
Although some of the picture's more dramatic passages aren't handled with the same amount of dexterity, Pritikin's cast is so good that it's tough to quibble.
It's no surprise that Brody, Douglas, Walter and Leibman make for one highly entertaining, if messed up, family unit, but the big revelation here is Jovovich, who finally gets a chance to really cut loose, showing some serious comedic chops as the raging-against-the-machine, ratty-haired, camouflage-wearing Fangora.
Also pitch-perfect is Farmiga as Brody's intrigued but understandably cautious love interest, while busy indie actor Jared Harris rounds out the ensemble as Douglas' mildly psychotic ex-boyfriend -- a former accountant-turned-amateur theater actor who's determined to win her back.
The spirited camaraderie also extends behind the scenes with some particularly colorful contributions by costume designer Marie Abma, while the assembled musicians make some major advances in the relatively unknown field of punk klezmer performance.
DUMMY
Brainstorm Media
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Greg Pritikin
Producers: Richard Temtchine & Bob Fagan
Director of photography: Horacio Marquinez
Production designer: Charlotte Bourke
Editor: Michael Palmerio
Costume designer: Marie Abma
Music: Paul Wallfisch
Songs: Mike Ruekberg
Casting: Mackey/Sandrich
Cast:
Steven: Adrien Brody
Fangora: Milla Jovovich
Heidi: Illeana Douglas
Lorena: Vera Farmiga
Michael: Jared Harris
Fern: Jessica Walter
Lou: Ron Leibman
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Ventriloquists and their wooden colleagues have provided some truly creepy screen moments over the years -- from the Michael Redgrave sequence in the classic British thriller "Dead of Night" to a 1962 "Twilight Zone" episode featuring Cliff Robertson -- but seldom has that relationship been played for (intentional) laughs.
Enter "Dummy", a fresh, delightful, perfectly cast romantic comedy by promising writer-director Greg Pritikin that had Santa Barbara International Film Festival audiences giggling appreciatively. It went on to take home a special jury prize from the fest.
Given that the voice-thrower in question happens to be played by Adrien Brody, the Oscar-nominated star of "The Pianist", this crowd-tickler would look to be a no-brainer for the kind of distributor who -- knock on wood -- could maximize the picture's sleeper potential.
Brody's Steven Schoichet is exactly the kind of socially backward, pushing-30 guy who would be still living at home with his controlling parents, Lou and Fern (played by real-life couple Ron Leibman and Jessica Walter), and his unlucky-in-love wedding-planner sister, Heidi (Illeana Douglas).
One day, after deciding to pursue a dream nurtured by flickering black-and-white TV imagesof ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his wisecracking sidekick, Jerry Mahoney, he acquires a dummy from a magic shop and starts going about the business of not moving his lips.
While Steven's model-ship-making dad and sandwich-making mom seem too busy to notice, he gets support from his best friend, Fangora (Milla Jovovich like you've never seen her), a tough grrrl punk rocker whose band is going nowhere.
Ultimately, Steven's growing rapport with his still-nameless dummy brings him sufficiently out of his shell to charm his unemployment counselor (the beguiling Vera Farmiga) after a very bad start that led to a restraining order.
Meanwhile, as the result of another misunderstanding, Fangora finds herself having to take a crash course in the joys of Yiddish after Heidi hires her band to play at a traditional Jewish wedding.
With all the kooky elements in place, filmmaker Pritikin, who previously collaborated on a romantic sex comedy called "Totally Confused", allows things to unfold with a crisp wit and some gently placed parody that seldom makes fun at the expense of the amiable characters.
Although some of the picture's more dramatic passages aren't handled with the same amount of dexterity, Pritikin's cast is so good that it's tough to quibble.
It's no surprise that Brody, Douglas, Walter and Leibman make for one highly entertaining, if messed up, family unit, but the big revelation here is Jovovich, who finally gets a chance to really cut loose, showing some serious comedic chops as the raging-against-the-machine, ratty-haired, camouflage-wearing Fangora.
Also pitch-perfect is Farmiga as Brody's intrigued but understandably cautious love interest, while busy indie actor Jared Harris rounds out the ensemble as Douglas' mildly psychotic ex-boyfriend -- a former accountant-turned-amateur theater actor who's determined to win her back.
The spirited camaraderie also extends behind the scenes with some particularly colorful contributions by costume designer Marie Abma, while the assembled musicians make some major advances in the relatively unknown field of punk klezmer performance.
DUMMY
Brainstorm Media
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Greg Pritikin
Producers: Richard Temtchine & Bob Fagan
Director of photography: Horacio Marquinez
Production designer: Charlotte Bourke
Editor: Michael Palmerio
Costume designer: Marie Abma
Music: Paul Wallfisch
Songs: Mike Ruekberg
Casting: Mackey/Sandrich
Cast:
Steven: Adrien Brody
Fangora: Milla Jovovich
Heidi: Illeana Douglas
Lorena: Vera Farmiga
Michael: Jared Harris
Fern: Jessica Walter
Lou: Ron Leibman
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/12/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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