FILM 2009: THE BEST

Erie Entertainment’s Top 12 Movies of 2009

By: John C. Lyons

#1 THE HURT LOCKER

Rated R – 131 minutes – In Theater

Still after some distance and repeat viewings this movie stands as the most intense experience I’ve had at the theater in some time.  Nail-bitingly well shot and edited.  If director Kathryn Bigelow doesn’t win the Oscar I’ll be seriously pissed.

#2 INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Rated R – 153 minutes – In Theater

This movie continues to slowly slide up my scale as favorite movie of the year after repeat viewings.  The perfect Quentin Tarantino film.  It’s a lot of fun and the way it’s allowed to trickle out gradually until the final scenes is just brilliant.

#3 WATCHMEN

Rated R – 162 minutes/215 minutes – In Theater and Blu-ray

This stylish and faithful adaptation has inexplicably been ignored on most Best of 2009 lists but it shot up mine.  Solidifying it’s position after the even better 215 minute (!) Ultimate Cut.  Well worth the 25 year wait.  The most grown-up film of this genre we’re likely to ever get.

#4 UP

Rated PG – 96 minutes – In Theater

Animated perfection.  The first scenes, a montage of Carl and his wife Ellie growing old together, easily pull you in emotionally and the film hasn’t even started spinning it’s beautifully-rendered wheels yet!  Pixar has it figured out.  This would make a great double feature night with WALL-E for the whole family.

#5 MOON

Rated R – 97 minutes – In Theater

Sam Rockwell is amazing here, and he has to be, he’s pretty much the only person in the entire movie.  I don’t want to spoil anything, but I had no idea where this one was going ahead of time and I’m glad I didn’t.  Director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) is one to watch.  Best Sci-Fi movie of the year and Sam deserved some official recognition – don’t miss it!

#6 THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX

Rated R – 150 minutes – Blu-ray

Oscar nominated for Best Foreign film this movie really shed light on events I knew very little about: Germany’s terrorist group, The Red Army Faction, who vowed fascism would never rule their world again.  Great performances across the board.  An amazing film and my top pick for Best Foreign Language of the year.

#7 DISTRICT 9

Rated R – 112 minutes – In Theater

Another stand-out first time feature filmmaker from 2009.  Sure it helps to have Peter Jackson in your corner, but Neill Blomkamp did an amazing job with this unique tale of immigration and rascism.  Watching this one later on BD I have even more love for it.

#8 CORALINE

Rated PG – 100 minutes – In 3D Theater

The first film I saw last year on the new digital projector at Tinseltown and my first 2009 3D experience as well.  A beautiful, dark little pic that deserved much more recognition.

#9 FOOD INC.

Rated PG – 94 minutes – Blu-ray

Much like Super-Size Me had a strong effect on the way I looked at fast food (and pretty much dropped it entirely afterwards), Food Inc. has made me re-think everything else I eat.  Americans are lazy and naive and we need to really understand what it is we’re putting into our systems and how it gets there.

#10 GOMORRAH

Rated R – 137 minutes – Blu-ray

Another fantastic foreign language film from last year.  Gomorrah takes an honest look at crime and the gangster lifestyle in modern day Italy.  It’s shot rough, gritty, and realistic and the whole package works perfectly.  There’s a reason Criterion picked this one up for their Collection.

#11 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Rated PG – 101 minutes – In Theater

There are moments of brilliance peppered throughout Where The Wild Things Are.  Jonze’s vision for this film was a big gamble but ultimately a success that was well worth the wait.  And aside from a couple dull moments in the middle I highly recommend this movie, especially to those who haven’t lost touch with their inner child.  As the movie’s tagline says: “there’s one in all of us.”

#12 AVATAR

Rated PG-13 – 162 minutes – In 3D Theater

What’s left to say about Avatar.  It’s the highest grossing film of all time, but beyond that it provided the first truly immersive 3D in-theater experience without being a distraction in any way.  But am I interested in seeing the movie in 2D?  No.  And that is why I’ve dropped this one down to my last slot.  As an experience it’s a 10.  As a film, I’m not so sure.

Just Missed the List: The Road, The Hangover, State of Play, and The Invention of Lying.

The Ones I (sadly) Missed: Antichrist, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, Precious, An Education, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassuss, The White Ribbon, The Messenger, We Live in Public, Zombieland, Capitalism: A Love Story, Red Cliff, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

FILM: THE WOLFMAN

THE WOLFMAN (2010)

A beautiful, gritty take on the classic monster that just misses the mark.

By: John C. Lyons

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self

Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins, and Hugo Weaving

Our Rating: 7/10

After all the stories of behind-the-scenes troubles it’s a miracle “The Wolfman” isn’t a complete disaster let alone a pretty good monster movie as it stands.  My concerns going in were forgotten instantly as the stage is set with brisk action, tight editing, solid performances, and gorgeous cinematography.  From a technical perspective the film is a truly perfect monster movie.  There are however some jumps in the plot that nearly distract from everything this film does right, but because of its fast pace you barely notice.

One minute into the film a man is slaughtered by a beast and his brother Lawrence (Del Toro) is beckoned to return home to aid in the search for the body.  His slain brother’s fiancée Gwen (Blunt) and father (Hopkins) welcome him and out he goes to investigate the brutal murder.  As the story quickly unfolds a Scotland Yard inspector (Weaving) enters the fray, strangely going right after Lawrence, and a lot of bloody carnage ensues.  Speaking of which, gore fans will be happy to know director Joe Johnston (of “The Rocketeer” and the upcoming “Captain America”) does not shy away from decapitation and gooey entrails.  This Wolfman will rip your face off in a flash and the transformations are a nice blend of practical makeup effects, CGI, and sound and they look great.  When Del Toro turns his first couple times it’s a thing of disturbing beauty.

The story keeps moving very quickly, perhaps too quickly, and because of this I got the feeling a lot was left on the cutting room floor.  Emily Blunt is a great actress but she pops in and out of the movie, becoming the love interest unbelievably quickly.  A slower build would have been more natural.  Her fiancée is killed off so quickly we don’t learn much about him, but there appears to be more to his past relating to the gypsy’s who moved into town just before the killings started.  There’s also the bit of origin story, a beastly boy in the cave, that’s only given a moment of mention.  There are rumors that a longer cut will be released on home video.  I hope this is true.  This theatrical version is far from bad, but it just missed the mark of something potentially great.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theatres on Peach Street in Erie, PA.Click for showtimes.

Related links:
The Wolfman – official site

MPAA rating: Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore.

Length: 102 minutes

FOOD+DRINK: THE LUTHER BURGER

THE LUTHER BURGER

How I learned to stop worrying and love trans fat.

By Randall McCaslin

Photos by Heidi Allyn

Foody shows are my favorite. I watch Bourdain religiously.  And Andrew Zimmern.  Yes, and even Adam Richman defeating food like George Patton defeated Germans.  Gimme a food show that talks about regional delicacies and I’m on it like bees on a flower.  I watch repeats over and over – trying to bang home dishes that I can try in MY kitchen.  Lately I was watching the Travel Channel and caught the “Top Places to Chowdown”.  A countdown show revealing the most decadent and grease intensive foods and food purveyors in all the land.  One particular sandwich piqued a naughty interest.  Apparently some minor league baseball team in the midwest caught on that Luther Vandross, a popular soul singer from the 80’s, invented a hamburger using Krispy Kreme doughnuts as buns.  I found this to be Pavlovian.  I soon was off to the doughnut shop for the main ingredient.  Here is how I did it.

Slice the doughnuts in half.

Grill the hamburger as you like – pan – broil- char-etc.

Fry 2-3 strips of bacon.

Slice 3 slices of cheddar cheese for each burger.

Create a chipoltle mayo with canned chipoltle peppers and your favorite mayonnaise.  Blend in blender or food processor.

Lightly butter the inner side of the sliced doughnut and grill gently.  Use low heat as they caramelize very fast.

To Assemble place the melted cheese burger on the grilled doughnut topped with bacon and the chipoltle mayo.  Serve with French Fries fried in rendered duck fat for that special touch.  As a side note Luther Vandross was a diabetic that died of a heart attack in his 40’s.  One should be careful with this recipe. Perhaps for desert a nice angioplasty or shunt???

MUSIC: CLAUDIA SCHMIDT HOUSE CONCERT

Claudia Schmidt House Concert

(Waterford Pa. 1/31/10)

“If it doesn’t kill you it will make you wish you were dead”

By: Randall McCaslin
Photos: Heidi Allyn

House concerts are a really neat way of supporting your local or not so local musician. In an era of digital assault and so many genres of music, so many artists, there aren’t always enough venues to showcase all the musicians you want to see even in large cities. Granted most folks don’t have 500 seat auditoriums in their rec rooms but there are minstrels that are more than willing to show up at your home with a guitar or fiddle and for a modest fee put on a show for you and your friends for a few bucks donation at the door, case in point, Claudia Schmidt.

I met Claudia Schmidt in Bradford, Pa.  at the Heart of the Allegheny’s Music Festival last summer – put on by impresario Howard Blumenthal – a wonderful little music festival tucked neatly away in the Pa. countryside. Unfortunately due to lack of  funding and staff it will not take place this year which is really sad because it was filled with an array of folk music workshops, performances, dancing, singing, and other assorted activities. Claudia taught a songwriting workshop and was the “headline” performing artist. Almost four decades as a touring professional have found Michigan native Claudia Schmidt traversing North America as well as European venues ranging from intimate clubs to 4,000 seat theatres, and festival stages in front of 25,000 rapt listeners. She has recorded fourteen albums of mostly original songs, exploring folk, blues, and jazz idioms featuring her acclaimed 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer playing. She is probably most noted for her performances with Garrison Keilor on public radio’s “ A Prarie Home Companion”.  She also appears in the Les Blank Film “Gap Tooth Women”. I received an invitation to attend by good friends Don and Jean Wisniewski. We are all members of an informal group of “Old Time” music players that gather informally, usually on a weekly basis, to play tunes for our own amusement.

Claudia performed 2 nearly hour long sets of her songs about  nature, friendships, sorrow, happiness, love – you know life. She recently returned from a trip to Africa where she was able to write some wonderful songs with a distinct African flavor.  To capsulate her approach to music I will quote her website “From lying on sandy beaches under an endless barrage of northern lights, to the expected anguish and frustration of spinning tires on cars stuck deep in snow, from the age-old struggle of change between adolescence and adulthood to the observation of sheer idiocy, she leaves it to the imagination of her audience to conjure their own images of her storytelling and song. No interpretation of a Claudia Schmidt song or story is wrong-she invites audiences to tie their associations to her style. Schmidt weaves her way through her concert in much the same manner as a jester. Interwoven anecdotes, revealing her past and present, bring people to expect a relationship between themselves and memories driven deep with the passage of time. The concert is an endless display of self-realization through humor and longing, leaving audience members yearning to become an integral part of her world.”

A wonderful addition to the show was the warbling of her canine companion and personal trainer “Emma”. The duet of howl and blues harp was a wonderful addition to an incredible musical evening.

House concerts are sort of the way music should be shared, in an intimate small location, with good friends,  and people that are willing to share their talents personally. No trap, no hype – just music. Information about Claudia and her music and be found at http://www.claudiaschmidt.com/. There are many clips on YouTube if you search her name as well.