In Memoriam:

Barbara Bel Geddes

(Oct. 31st, 1922 - August 8th, 2005)

While Geddes made a name for herself on stage starring as Maggie in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and even played the disgruntled housewife in "Lamb to the Slaughter" on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, she will always be Midge to me.

Double Take: Geddes as best gal pal of Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) in Vertigo

"You know, it's wonderful how they've got it all taped now, John. They've got music for melancholiacs, and music for dipsomaniacs, and music for nymphomaniacs... I wonder what would happen if somebody mixed up their files?"

5...4...3...2...1: Happy Birthday, Julia!

Julia Roberts at the 73rd Academy Awards

“I love it up here! I love the world; I am so happy, thank you!”

In honor of her 42nd Birthday today, I've compiled my 5 favorite performances of Miss Roberts to date. Her scenery-chewing, Oscar-baiting performance in Erin Brokovich just makes the cut.

Steel Magnolias (1989)

As "blush and bashful" bride, Shelby Eatenton Latcherie

"I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful

than a lifetime of nothing special."

Pretty Woman (1990)

As Vivian Ward, the "hooker with the heart of gold"

with her ever-dapper co-star Richard Gere

"Oops... slippery little suckers."

My Best Friend's Wedding (1998)

As Julianne Potter, the "two-faced, big-haired food critic,"

with co-star Cameron Diaz

"No, no, no. I'm a busy girl. I've got exactly four

days to break up a wedding, steal the bride's fella,

and I haven't one clue how to do it."

Erin Brokovich (2000)

As the eponymous lawyer and ball-buster

"Not personal! That is my work, my sweat, and my time away from my

kids! If that is not personal, I don't know what is!"

Closer (2004)

As conflicted American photographer, Anna, with co-star Jude Law

"You seem more like the cat that got the cream,

you can stop licking yourself."

Bright Star & Edge of Love

Poetry in Motion

“They make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true…”

Shakespeare, Beckett, Ibsen — these proverbial poets inspire new theatrical incarnations and interpretations year after year on Broadway and in the West End. If poetry thrives on stage, why do we seldom see it on screen? And when we do, why is it usually such a rocky transition? Film simply resists language with screenwriters constantly encouraged to slice and dice dialogue and mince monologues in favor of larger-than-life action sequences and superimposed montages to distract from the scope of soliloquies. Take Kenneth Branagh’s hopelessly over-the-top Hamlet (1996) or Baz Luhrmann's spastic, acid-laced reimagining of Romeo and Juliet (1996), both of which strip the bard's text of all apparent subtlety.

Often in films, poetry is lovingly alluded to like Whitman's 'O Captain! My Captain!' in The Dead Poet’s Society (1989) and Pope's 'Eloisa to Abelard' in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Or it can fit within the greater context of a poet’s life like in Sylvia (2003) and Shakespeare in Love (1998). Yet these film's fates typically remain the same. They either soar on the strength of the poet's words and filmmaker's instincts or crash and burn if the director doesn't sidestep the saccharine pitfalls. There’s hardly any middle ground.

I saw this firsthand after viewing John Maybury’s Edge of Love (2008) centered on the turbulent life of poet Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) and Jane Campion’s Bright Star starring Ben Whishaw as Keats, an artist receptive to the senses with every fiber of his being, and Abbie Cornish as his headstrong love, Fanny Brawne. Now why did the poetry feel so cumbersome and heavy-handed in Edge of Love but so seamlessly woven into the celluloid fabric of Bright Star?

Can the beauty of poetry truly be captured on film? Surely, the angst can. Poets’ tumultuous lives naturally lend themselves to drama. Think Thomas (alcoholic), Keats (consumptive), and Plath (downright suicidal). It is simple to show the catalysts - the drinking, the coughing, the depression - compared to incorporating the elusive poetry itself. Poets often live in their own head space which can make for increasingly tricky adaptations from page to screen. How are filmmakers to visually conceptualize flights of fancy? How are they to bottle the imagination and release this ephemeral magic on the world?

As Dame Judi Dench professes as Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love, “They make it pretty, they make it comical, or they make it lust, but they cannot make it true.” While she was talking of capturing poetic love specifically on stage, I think that, had film existed at the time, she would have dismissed the transmittance of true love across the board. Surely, she would have been right if only biopics like Edge of Love existed. Thomas spends Love torn between his volatile wife, Caitlin (Sienna Miller), and his alluring childhood sweetheart, Vera (Kiera Knightley). But his disarming poetics soon fade into the background as Maybury stoops to make Sapphic insinuations regarding Caitlin and Vera’s friendship.

While Maybury neglects poetry in favor of more obvious scopophiliac pleasures in Love, Campion reaches for the firmament in Bright Star and if she does not reach the heavens, she comes miraculously close. Mixed with lush visuals, the poet’s epistolary verse blooms in Fanny’s consciousness even though it was long before it would take root with the rest of the world. The film throbs in time to the two lovers’ heartbeats, punctuated by every poetic beat and emboldened, not diminished, with Keats' distance from Fanny. Joining the ranks of Romeo and Juliet and Pyramus and Thisbe (the first of many to be foiled by that exasperating wall), Keats and Fanny bask in the dizzying effects of first love. Every trembling of butterflies’ wings and rustle of the wind signifies how in tune they are with each other as well as the natural order around them. Campion never condescends to the first time lover’s overwhelming sense of wonder but builds a fitting tribute with each tentative touch, furtive glance, and precious moment stolen away together. First love is amplified, not belittled.

While some writers like Indiewire’s Eric Kohn seem to think that Bright Star is in need of a sex scene, not only would it be historically inaccurate, it would also feel emotionally false and cheapened. Although Fanny does offer herself to Keats, he senses, perhaps from the start, that he’s not long for this world and realizes that their love transcends their worldly trappings. What they cannot consummate physically, they consummate through poetry. As Keats explains to Fanny, “The point of diving in a lake is not immediately to swim to the shore; it's to be in the lake, to luxuriate in the sensation of water.”

Though Keats used this to explain poetry, Campion also applies this lesson to love. Fanny sidesteps status and fortune, clear end-goals for women her age, for love. Is it a fool’s errand or a masochistic streak to risk one’s heart on a penniless poet? Why love a dying man? Perhaps the act of loving is worth the inevitable heartache in the end. While poetry seems foreign and intangible to Fanny in the beginning, her final recitation of ‘Bright Star’ as she trudges across the moor mourning lost love marks her loyalty to Keats and his craft. By doing so, she fulfills the prophesy that “a thing of beauty is a joy forever. It’s loveliness increases. It will never pass into nothingness.”

Can film really capture poetry? And can poetry get to the very truth and nature of love? With Bright Star, that’s one bet worth wagering. Yet see the film not to judge what comes to fruition. Revel in the sensation of surrounding yourself with it.

REVIEW: Crude (2009)

If the Amazon is the "lungs of the world," the exhausted natural resources and indigenous people who have lived there for centuries are in need of some serious oxygen. Crude, a candid, even-keeled documentary by Joe Berlinger (1996's Paradise Lost; 2004's Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) examines the class-action lawsuit filed by 30,000 Ecuadorians who charge that Chevron, who bought out Texaco in 2001, is responsible for dumping 18 billion gallons of toxinogens into the Amazon between 1972 to 1990. However, the oil conglomerate counters that state-owned PetroEcuador, which has since taken over, truly ravaged the countryside, polluted streams, and killed off inhabitants and livestock. Although the film's opening — in which the lead prosecutor, Pablo Fajardo, accepts the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco — suggests closure, Berlinger realizes that this battle is far more complicated than your average David vs. Goliath story. A study in perseverance and public perception (Trudie Styler and Sting make cameos to drum up support), Crude delves into political strategy, American entitlement (on both sides), and the frustrating bureaucracy that has plagued this ongoing case. (Liesl Swanbeck)

REVIEW: Amreeka (2009)

Dreaming of freedom and white picket fences in the US, West Bank transplants, Muna (Nisreen Faour), and her son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem), instead get racist slurs and White Castle. Despite being overqualified with previous experience as a banker, Muna must work at the restaurant chain to make ends meet while Fadi struggles with bigotry and culture shock in school. Set in the days following September 11^th, Amreeka (the Arabic word for “America”) details the backlash against innocent, unsuspecting minorities who many labeled as terrorists. Cherien Dabis’ feature film debut is smart and enticing (a sign outside White Castle meant to spell “Support Our Troops” drops the “tr” to display a clever preternatural clairvoyance) and creates a lively debate on immigration and discrimination. Ending with a symbolic dance between two nationalities, Dabis recognizes that while people may be bombarded with the empty promises of the Internet age, the real American Dream exists in small pockets of a community where a Palestinian and a Polish Jew can dance side by side. (Liesl Swanbeck)

REVIEW: Motherland (2009)

Six young adults who perish prematurely leaving a gaping void in their families are the silent stars of Jennifer Steinman’s riveting documentary, Motherland. Out of sight but never out of mind, they unite their American mothers through a shared grief that eventually leads these courageous women on a pilgrimage to South Africa to begin healing together. Assisting at elementary schools and partaking in grief counseling with students (many of whom have lost parents to AIDS), they each relive their individual story of how their loved one passed away. Particularly painful are the stories of Anne Magill who lost her daughter, Grace, to suicide and Mary Helena who lost her son, Aaron, in a shooting and suffered a debilitating stroke herself, all within a 14-month period. Along the way, Steinman explores how Americans often isolate themselves in times of mourning while Africans, who live in a perpetual state of grieving surrounded by poverty and AIDS, unite as a community. Witnessing this therapeutic journey, you ultimately come to realize that the motherland in question is not only the physical change of scenery but also the mental and emotional landscape that these women hope to reclaim. (Liesl Swanbeck)

REVIEW: Fuel (2009)

Josh Tickell’s addendum on his well-received Field of Fuel (2008) rides high on the courage of its’ convictions in spreading news of alternative, clean energy resources. Back from storming the country in his veggie van, Tickell’s latest documentary includes a wealth of new information on wind, solar and biomass and tackles issues ranging from his upbringing in New Orleans amidst oil refineries to national dependency on foreign oil. Well-intentioned though tonally uneven, Fuel flits rather abruptly from ironic, fast-paced montages to grave footage of national disasters, including 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Never managing to strike a true balance between informing and entertaining, Tickell unfortunately mixes genuine interviews with force-fed, gung-ho Americana music of the John Mellencamp variety. Clichéd footage of him walking on the beach in slow motion as he struggles with a crisis of conscience doesn’t help matters either. Nonetheless, Fuel still emerges as an interesting array of interviews with academics, green collar laborers, and celebrities, like Sheryl Crowe and Richard Branson, who all unite under a common banner to reduce our carbon footprint. (Liesl Swanbeck)

REVIEW: La Belle Personne (2009)

In this wistful reimagining of Madame de Lafayette’s La Princesse de Clèves, director Christophe Honoré’s La Belle Personne transplants forbidden love and courtly intrigue from 17^th century France to a modern, high school setting. After her mother dies, Junie (Léa Seydoux) transfers schools and captures the hearts of the introverted Otto (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) and the fickle lothario, Professor Nemours (Louis Garrel). When an anonymous love letter rumored to have been written by Nemours surfaces, scandal ensues leading to unexpectedly dire consequences. Like his acclaimed Les Chansons d’Amour (2007) starring Garrel and Ludvine Sagnier, Honoré excels at using music and poetry to capture the existential malaise of young adulthood. However, once Nemours enters the scene, the focus unfortunately shifts to his unrequited, overblown passion for Junie as the promising interplay between the close-knit circle of friends takes a backseat. While Honoré’s romantic film eventually becomes mired in melodrama, the enigmatic Seydoux — a Anna Karina for the 21^st century set — stands out as a refreshingly thoughtful French heroine whose mother’s death inadvertently causes ripples in her life. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Friday, September 4th.

REVIEW: Extract (2009)

As Cindy (Mila Kunis), a charming con artist, pilfers a guitar out from under two love-struck chumps in a music store in the opening of Extract, you may hope that this charged momentum will last throughout Mike Judge’s latest. Unfortunately, the film lags as he shifts the perspective from Kunis’ wild child to Joel (Jason Bateman), a sexually frustrated factory owner. When an idiotic employee gets into a debilitating accident, sticky-fingered Cindy sees a hefty settlement deal in her future and joins the factory as a temp, catching the eye of Joel. Struggling with feuding employees and his new workplace crush, Joel turns to his friend, Dean ­­­­(Ben Affleck), who doles out pills as quick as he does advice on how to pimp out Joel’s wife, Suzie (Kristen Wiig), so that he can score with Cindy. While Extract might make you crack a smile with its goofball supporting cast, including Dustin Milligan as Brad, the dimwitted gigolo, the film never reaches its full potential and the impressive pool of comedic talent is ultimately left high and dry. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens Nationwide Friday, September 4th.

REVIEW: Somer's Town (2008)

Black and white photography born out of technical necessity transforms Somers Town into a stark and poignant portrait of the drudgery and displacement of two wayward youths in modern-day England. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose), a cheeky runaway who perhaps in a past life was a Dickensian street urchin, flees Nottingham and hops aboard a train bound for London, seeking refuge from the banality of life in the Midlands. Cornered in an alleyway, robbed, and beaten, Tomo finally finds a reluctant and unlikely friend in Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant who just moved to the U.K.

Unbeknownst to his father, Marek begins hiding his homeless friend in his flat. Joining forces, the two boys bond by working odd jobs for their cockney landlord, stealing clothes from a local launderette, and fighting for the affections of a charming French waitress. Director Shane Meadows (2006's This is England) instills Somers Town with humanity and humor mined from class and culture shock, with his subtle comedic stylings springing from simple interchanges like when Marek's landlord insists that he remove his Manchester United jersey to avoid getting roughed up by soccer hooligans.

Despite these comedic moments, Meadows does not shy away from the pain of feeling adrift in a new city or country and beautifully captures the melting pot mentality that is London. From their low-rent apartment overlooking a train station that holds the promise of Paris and love and friendship, Tomo and Marek slowly but surely build a brotherly camaraderie, awakening a dreamlike, limitless world that, in the end, is a little less black and white. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Landmark Theatres Friday, August 28th.

REVIEW: Daytime Drinking (2008)

Hyuk-jin (Sam-dong Song), the lead of Daytime Drinking, must have a liver made of steel. During the first of many late-night drinking binges, complete with soju, the traditional Korean alcohol of choice, Hyuk-jin’s buddies persuade him to take a trip with them to Jeongseong to help him recover from his recent break up. Once out of Seoul, Hyuk-jin discovers that his friends, all nursing hangovers, have forgotten him and left him to contend with the harsh climate, his loneliness, and a slew of eccentric travelers along the way. Veering into a heightened reality in the same vein as Jim Jarmusch, Daytime Drinking finds its leading man toyed with by a temperamental girl, force-fed drinks, drugged, robbed, hit on by a trucker, and verbally abused by a plethora of tourists. Despite this exercise in emotional sadism, director Young-Seok Noh (who also wrote, edited, and produced) has clearly invested a lot even if his contrived film’s initial jolt of energy inevitably peters out, drained like the myriad bottles of soju. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Four Star on Friday, August 21st.

REVIEW: CoCo Avant Chanel (2009)

Like her designs, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was elegant, très chic, and utterly original. Director Anne Fontaine’s French biopic traces Coco (Audrey Tautou) from her childhood as a struggling orphan to one of the most influential designers of the 20^th century. You’ll be disappointed if you expect a fashionista’s up close and personal look at the House of Chanel as Fontaine keeps her story firmly rooted in Coco’s past, including her destructive relationship with French playboy, Etienne Balsar (Benoît Poelvoorde) and her ill-fated love affair with the dashing Englishman, Arthur “Boy” Capel (Alessandro Nivola).

The film functions best in scenes that display Coco’s imagination and aesthetic magnetism like when she dances with Capel in her now famous “little black dress” amidst a sea of stiff, white meringues. Tautou imparts a quiet courage and quick wit as the trailblazing designer, and Nivola is unmistakably charming and compassionate as Boy. Nevertheless, Fontaine rushes the ending and never truly seizes the opportunity to explore how Coco’s personal life seeped into her timeless designs that were, in the end, an extension of herself. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Landmark Theatres on Friday, August 21st

REVIEW: Flammen & Citronen (2008)

They were celebrated members of the Danish Occupation Resistance. But were "the Flame" (Thure Lindhardt) and "Citron" (Mads Mikkelsen) — who conducted an underground campaign to execute Nazi sympathizers and traitors — terrorists or freedom fighters? This moral ambiguity drives Ole Christian Madsen's based-on-true-events film in which something is rotten in the state of Denmark, where informants and the innocent mingle side by side. As the fatalistic Citron says, "There is no justice or injustice. Just war." The pair's clandestine lifestyle begins to take a toll on both men's personal lives — Citron struggles to support his family while the Flame strives to trust Ketty (Stine Stengade), a beguilingly beautiful courier. As the duo close in on Hoffman (Christian Berkel), the head of the Gestapo, self-doubt looms over them as the Nazi plays on their greatest fear of being used as pawns. Though the film's voice-over narration borders on heavy-handed, Lindhardt and Mikkelsen's vulnerable and intensely visceral performances set Flame and Citron apart from some of the more gratuitous and emotionally exploitative Nazi films released this year. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at Landmark Theatres on Wednesday, August 19th

REVIEW: Ponyo (2009)

Drawing on classical fairytales like Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid, Hayao Miyazaki’s latest Japanimated creation follows the adventures of Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), the girl-faced goldfish daughter of Guranmamare (Cate Blanchett), a sea goddess, and Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), a human-hating, embittered wizard who resembles an androgynous eighties glam rocker. Tired of life under the sea and under the watchful eye of her father, Ponyo escapes and befriends a young boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas). After she transforms into a human using Fujimoto’s magical potions, she reunites with her new friend, inadvertently causing a flood incited by her father’s wrath. Not nearly as multi-faceted as Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997) or Spirited Away (2001), Ponyo still manages to enchant with its rich color palette, painstakingly hand-drawn animation, and beautiful original score by Joe Hisaishi. Nevertheless, despite the imaginative world where goldfish-turned-girls can run on the crests of waves and toy boats transform into real-life seafaring vessels, some of the magic is inevitably lost in translation due to the talented yet overwhelmingly Westernized cast. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens Nationwide Friday, August 14th

REVIEW: Kassim the Dream (2008)

How does a former child soldier from Uganda end up a world-class boxer? Snatched from his school at six years old, Kassim “the Dream” Ouma was drafted into the National Resistance Army and forced to commit many atrocities. After joining the boxing team and defecting to the U.S., Kassim quickly rose through the ranks to win the junior middleweight boxing championship, adopting a hip-hop lifestyle and many supporters along the way. However, he still raises controversy due to his violent past and his shockingly apolitical attitude toward Museveni, the Ugandan president and NRA leader, who eventually grants him a pardon. When Kassim returns home, you finally catch a glimpse of his humanity and begin to fathom the reservoir of grief beneath his cocky boxer exterior. As he reunites with his grandmother and visits his father’s grave, you suddenly understand that boxing has provided a two-fold outlet — allowing him to release his pent-up anger and absorb others’, dulling the pain, blow by crushing blow. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at The Roxie Monday, August 10th

REVIEW: Lorna's Silence (2008)

The Dardenne brothers have done it again. This smart and exquisite film launches you into the middle of a manic world fueled by drugs, desperation, and lies in which Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) contrives a marriage with a junkie named Claudy (Jérémie Rénier) to become a Belgian citizen. The diabolical plan consists not only of Lorna receiving her papers, but also of snagging a quickie divorce and marrying a Russian Mafioso, also in need of citizenship. In exchange, the mobster agrees to compensate Lorna so she and her boyfriend can open up a shop together. But their seemingly meticulous plan gets muddled when the Russian resorts to violence after the divorce takes too long to process and Claudy unexpectedly kicks his habit. Delivering a powerhouse performance, Dobroshi is a revelation, exuding equal parts cruelty and compassion in this transformative role. Meanwhile, the Dardennes refuse to condescend to their audience, plumbing the depths of human betrayal, psychosomatic trauma, and the dangers of silence. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at The Landmark Theatres Friday, August 7th.

REVIEW: Julie and Julia (2009)

As Julie Powell, disillusioned secretary by day and culinary novice by night, Amy Adams stars as a woman who decides to cook and blog her way through 524 of Julia Child’s recipes in 365 days. Director Nora Ephron oscillates between Julie’s drab existence in modern-day New York and the exciting life of culinary icon and expatriate, Julia Child (Meryl Streep), in 1950s Paris. As Julia gains confidence in the kitchen by besting all the men at the Cordon Bleu, Julie follows suit, despite strains on both her marriage and job. While Streep’s Julia borders on caricature at first, her performance eventually becomes more nuanced as the character’s insecurities about cooking, conceiving, and getting published slowly emerge. Although a feast for the eyes and a rare portrait of a female over 40, Ephron’s cinematic concoction leaves you longing for less Julie with her predictable empowerment storyline and more of Julia and Streep’s exuberance and infectious joie de vivre. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens Nationwide on Friday, August 7th.

REVIEW: Funny People (2009)

Judd Apatow hopes to dive into the deep end with Funny People (2009), a semi-autobiographical tale set around the stand-up comedy circuit and about Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), a bumbling amateur, and George Simmons (Adam Sandler), a famous comedian who suddenly discovers he’s terminal. Faced with his own mortality — one problem he can’t joke his way out of, George takes Ira under his wing, mentoring and helping him cultivate his routine. He also tracks down Laura (Leslie Mann), a lost love, and tries to repair their relationship. Although Funny People offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the pressures and price of stand-up and a diverting slew of celebrity cameos, it ultimately falls flat because Sandler doesn’t possess the dramatic traction needed to convincingly pull off his character's evolution, and he and Apatow have trouble balancing cancer with comedy. Nevertheless, it is still an ambitious effort, especially since Apatow’s specific brand of humor makes it difficult for him to venture into darker waters. He might alienate his frat boy fans by leaving the kiddie pool. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens Nationwide on Friday, July 31st.

INTERVIEW: One Serious Comic - Judd Apatow discusses his return to stand-up in 'Funny People' (2009)

Judd Apatow has never been one to play it safe. After cutting his teeth in the competitive world of stand-up comedy and blending male hijinks, self-deprecating humor, and an unexpected sweetness in The 40-Year Old Virgin (2005) andKnocked Up (2007), Apatow returns to his old stomping grounds while branching out in Funny People. Marking a somber departure, the film stars friend and former roommate, Adam Sandler, as George Simmons, a successful, self-involved comedian, who learns he has a rare and possibly incurable blood disease. While George starts mentoring fledgling comedian, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), he also makes amends with Laura, a lost love (Leslie Mann) who is now a mother and married to an intimidating Aussie (Eric Bana). Amping up the stakes even more, George’s health suddenly improves. Now that he has all the time in the world, will he still feel compelled to fix his fragile relationships or will he relapse into a meaningless malaise of partying and acting in mediocre movies? Suspended between tragedy and comedy, Apatow walks a fine line, acknowledging the inevitable pull of mortality as well as the importance of laughter in the face of death. I sat down with the funnyman on his recent press tour to talk about his latest film.

San Francisco Bay Guardian: Funny People blurs the line between fiction and reality a lot, especially at the beginning when you use personal footage from 20-odd years ago of you filming Adam Sandler making prank phone calls.

Judd Apatow: Yeah, it just seemed like a great opportunity [to include real-life footage] to create these characters because Adam Sandler never had a stand-up special, and he never put out a comedy album where he did stand-up, so no one really knows that he was a stand-up comedian. It seemed like a fun way to create the history for [Sandler's character] George Simmons, and it actually makes you care more about the characters because you believe that they’re real.

SFBG: How was it returning to your stand-up comedy roots?

JA: It was fun because we had to start doing stand-up again to prepare for the movie. So I started doing stand-up first so that I could write jokes. And then Adam had to start doing stand-up again, and he hadn’t performed in ten years and neither had Seth.

Then we did these roundtables with people like Patton Oswald and Brian Posehn to generate material, and we just wrote hundreds and hundreds of jokes. We also shot with real crowds and tried to make it look documentary-style. That was important to me because in most movies about stand-up, the scenes where they do stand-up always seem very fake.

SFBG: First Seth Rogen does Superbad (2007) based on his adolescence, and now you’ve completed Funny People based on your experience in stand-up. Did Seth inspire you with his semiautobiographical turn?

JA: Well, no matter how broad the material, I think on some level it’s always autobiographical. The best moments, even if they’re not verbatim, [seem to be] inspired by an event or just a feeling that you have about something. We didn’t know a guy like George because most of the old comedians were nice to us. But we certainly knew plenty of people who were very unhappy at times even when things were working well in their careers.

SFBG: And then they have to go out on stage and be funny regardless.

JA: Exactly. Sometimes all the approval you get by being a comedian allows you to never address what’s actually wrong with your personality or what’s actually bothering you.

SFBG: Who were your comedic influences growing up?

JA: There was [Jay] Leno and Jerry Seinfeld and Charles Fleischer. And for filmmakers, I loved all the Hal Ashby movies and Cameron Crowe and James Brooks. I like movies that make me laugh and cry or make me really feel something and it’s difficult to pull that off. That’s something I’m trying to find more courage [to do] — to put more weight on the story and the emotions and at the same time try really hard to make these movies just as funny as a balls-out comedy.

Leslie Mann, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Eric Bana in Funny People.

SFBG: This film is a departure for you with a terminal illness thrown into the mix. What was your inspiration?

JA: Well, I just wanted to write something that I cared about. I’ve seen too many people struggle with being seriously ill and a lot of the times people get better, and it’s not easy to take the wisdom that you suddenly have when you’re sick and use it when you get a second chance. And that was the idea that interested me. The movie is all about how George hits bottom when he gets sick, and then he needs to hit bottom again to figure out how he wants to live the rest of his life.

SFBG: The primary relationship didn’t seem to be between George and Leslie Mann's character, Laura, but rather between George and Seth Rogen's character, Ira. Did you consider their dynamic a bit of a bromance, and what do you think about the recent surge of bromances at the box office?

JA: I looked at this movie more like it had a father/son aspect to it where you have this comedian who never had kids, and he would never admit it, but he is feeling fatherly to this young guy. But at the same time he’s more immature than Seth’s character, so the tables turned a little bit when [Ira] starts standing up to him.

Male friendship is also just a funny area. Guys are such goofballs, and I think the reason why we’re doing a lot of movies about that is because it’s just funny to watch how men relate to each other. That’s why I like Martin and Lewis movies, and that’s why people like Laurel and Hardy.

SFBG: You’re known for using a lot of improvisation in your films. What was that experience like on set?

JA: Well, we knew exactly what we wanted to do because we rehearsed for about six to eight months before we started shooting. So a lot of times when we’re on set, we’re remembering things we have played around with in the past.

And then there are certain scenes that are just more interesting after a few takes. You can take the handcuffs off and just see where [the actors] go. So if Seth and Jonah Hill have a terrible argument on the phone, I’ll just roll film for 20 minutes and let them go crazy on each other because the things they say are not things that I would think of in my underwear at two in the morning.

George Simmons (Sandler) and Ira Wright (Rogen).

SFBG: A lot of the comedy seemed to come from in-jokes like with Seth losing a bunch of weight [for The Green Hornet, due out in 2010].

JA: Yes, I always like to reflect reality. So if Seth in real life lost weight then we basically have to make jokes about it. I also like the fact that Jonah would [be the one to] make fun of him for being skinny. There is an odd pressure on funny guys not to be in good shape. [Laughing] This great comedian, Kevin Rooney, used to say, “If he’s working on his body, he’s not working on his act.”

SFBG: What was it like working with Eric Bana? How did that come about?

JA: I had seen a lot of clips on Youtube of this sketch show he used to do in Australia, and he did stand-up for a long time. I thought it would be fun to have [Bana] do something that you don’t normally see him do, because he is as funny as anybody, but, for whatever reason, he prefers, you know, to fight Spock [as the villainous Nero in J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek]. And he’s one of the great action stars. We mentioned him in Knocked Up (2007) because we love him in Munich (2005), but the fact that he’s hilarious too is great to exploit. He was also really nice, and it was just fun to have someone handsome on the set. [Laughs]

SFBG: Your film boasts a pretty impressive list of comedians and celebrity cameos, including Eminem, Sarah Silverman, Ray Romano, and Norm MacDonald.

JA: Yeah, I was trying to establish that when you’re a celebrity, there’s this strange group of people you hang out with. So when you get sick, you have no one to talk about it with except…Norm MacDonald. [Laughs] In some ways it’s meant to show how isolated George is from everyday people. In the movie he doesn’t seem to have any friends, but when he finally has friends, it’s all of these eclectic celebrities. [Laughs] It also explains why he doesn’t leave the house that much.

SFBG: The one cameo that surprised me was James Taylor. How did that happen?

JA: I love James Taylor, and I was trying to figure out a way to get him to do the movie and my friend, David Merkin, who produces The Simpsons is friends with him and reached out. We wound up shooting about a dozen different songs, and the crew was crying and it was emotional. It was actually one of the best few days I’ve ever had in show business — being able to force James Taylor to play any song I wanted him to play. [Laughs]

SFBG: I think your wife, Leslie Mann, is one of the most underrated comedians out there, and I know you’ve worked with other amazing female comedians — Amy Poehler in Undeclared, Jane Lynch in The 40-Year Old Virgin (2005), Kristin Wiig inKnocked Up. But your films tend to focus on guys. Is it just that you find it easier to write dialogue for them and capture their voice?

JA: Well, The 40-Year Old Virgin becomes a romance between Steve [Carell] and Catherine Keener, and I always saw Knocked Up as about Katherine Heigl and Seth [Rogen] and Leslie [Mann] and Paul [Rudd]. So in my head, they’re not super male-driven, but there are always a lot of [male] friends who are big and obnoxious that you seem to remember.

That’s just something I know. I don’t really know what women are like when they’re hanging out and getting stoned. I need to hang out and get stoned with more women! See, if more women hung out with me in college, I would have known more about their routines. [Laughs]

It would take a lot of courage for me to do the full-on Vicky Cristina Barcelona(2008) movie, but I will try it. I will try it, but afterwards don’t be mad at me if I mess it up and when the women all seem to still talk like Seth Rogen. [Laughs]

SFBG: Looking at the trajectory of your career so far, you’ve gone through high school with Freaks and Geeks, college with Undeclared, losing your virginity and getting pregnant with 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up and now a near-death experience with Funny People. Where do you go from here?

JA: [Laughing] I think in the next one, I do have to kill somebody. Someone’s got to die. That’s all there is…I have few phases left.

REVIEW: Shrink (2009)

Not exactly shooting for psychiatrist of the year, A-list shrink to the stars Dr. Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) can often be found chain-smoking, curled into a fetal position, or nursing a bottle of booze. Witnessing his downward spiral, family and friends stage an unsuccessful intervention during which Carter reveals the truth behind his crippling depression. Numb to the world, he fills his days with sessions counseling the Hollywood elite, ranging from an aging actress (Saffron Burrows) to a neurotic and vindictive agent (Dallas Roberts) who could give Ari Gold a run for his money. Spurred on by his father, Carter reluctantly agrees to a pro bono case with patient Jemma (Keke Palmer), a withdrawn girl whose painful past may incidentally coincide with his own. Insightful, well-written, and witty, Shrink captivates with an uncharacteristically restrained performance by Spacey, a stand-out ensemble (including Jesse Plemons as a hilarious cannabis connoisseur), and a wasteland full of wayward Angelenos who gladly accept the smoke and the escape that both men offer. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at Landmark Theatres on Friday, July 31st.

REVIEW: Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008)

If Senegalese singer and Sufi Muslim, Youssou N’Dour, thought that the holy month of Ramadan might prove an impediment to the release of Egypt, his new album in praise of Islam, he never expected the hurdles he would face after 9/11. Delaying the album for 3 years out of respect, N’Dour finally released it in 2004 to controversy in Senegal but critical acclaim abroad. Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi this intriguing documentary delves into N’Dour’s family’s roots up through his stirring performances to sold-out crowds at the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour, Live 8 concerts, and Carnegie Hall. Hailed as one of Africa’s most important musical and political icons, N’Dour candidly expresses his struggles as a singer and human right’s advocate and how he believes that singing and religion are far from mutually exclusive. Though prolonged by indulging in too many concerts and close-ups of impressionable youth, Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008) is still a rich tapestry of inspiring music, political and social activism, and, moreover, a much-needed affirmative presence in support of Islam. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at The Roxie Friday, July 28th.

REVIEW: Lion's Den (2008)

Stumbling out of bed in a stupor, Julia Zarate (Martina Gusman) doesn’t recognize or perhaps refuses to recognize her bloodstained hands and the lifeless body in the next room over. That is the genius behind Pablo Trapero’s stark, unflinching Lion’s Den (2008) — he forgoes Hollywood transparency in favor of delicious ambiguity, never truly revealing whether Julia murdered her boyfriend or is simply a scapegoat. Regardless, she is convicted of the crime and transported to a maximum-security prison where she gives birth to Tomas (Tomás Plotinsky), and strikes up a relationship with fellow prisoner, Marta (Laura García). Caught between the beginning of her son’s life and her own dwindling future, Julia is devastated when her mother (Elli Medeiros) takes Tomas away. It’s a dilemma of Brechtian proportions — should Julia keep her son or let him leave out of love? You may never know whether Julia’s a murderer, but with Gusman’s volatile, spellbinding performance, you’ll definitely recognize her as a lioness, especially when she explodes after losing Tomas and rages on into the night, clawing at the ties that bind. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Friday, July 31st.

REVIEW: Lake Tahoe (2008)

I’ve long championed indie undertakings with subtler, more measured, true-to-life progressions, but there’s slow and then there’s glacial. Unfortunately, Fernando Eimbcke’s sophomore effort, Lake Tahoe, a dry attempt at slice-of-life cinema, belongs to the latter. The narrative follows Juan (Diego Cataño), a teenage boy who crashes his car into a telephone pole at the onset of the film and spends the rest of the movie intermingling with eccentric locals — a feisty old mechanic (Hector Herrera), a young mother preoccupied with punk-rock (Daniela Valentine), and a kung-fu obsessed young man (Juan Carlos Lara). With a lackluster plot, tedious pacing, and a tacked-on ending to justify the title, Lake Tahoe never gains momentum or manages to tackle the tragedy that has left Juan’s family in shambles. At one point while watching Juan’s indifferent reaction to his martial arts moves, the kung-fu fanatic repeats over and over “We need some emotional content!” My thoughts exactly. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Friday, July 24th

REVIEW: Irene in Time (2009)

With a scheduled limited release following Father’s Day, Irene in Time (2009) no doubt hoped to capitalize on its father/daughter sob stories of altruism and abandonment alike. Set in modern-day L.A., the film opens with Irene (Tanna Frederick), a neurotic, self-absorbed singer, listening eagerly to recollections of her late father, a compulsive gambler and philanderer whom she nonetheless idealizes. Plagued by “daddy issues,” Irene believes that her father’s inconsistent presence has left her unable to form a mature and lasting relationship. When not strung along by a procession of two-timing suitors, she is scaring them away with her manic bravado. Additionally, her fundamental need to recapture her father in the form of a lover (can you say “Electra complex”?) comes across as creepy and borderline incestuous. This self-indulgent endeavor of epic proportions finally descends into soap-opera kitsch when a family secret surfaces (explaining Irene’s pipes but not her grating personality) and sinks further still with a slow-mo musical montage using old footage of Irene and her father frolicking in the surf. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Landmark Theatres Monday, July 20th

REVIEW: Burma VJ (2008)

History repeats itself in Anders Østergaard’s riveting documentary, Burma VJ (2008). Mirroring a strike in 1988 in which the Burmese military junta mowed down 3,000 peaceful demonstrators, the 2007 protests exposed in this harrowing documentary are a searing indictment of totalitarianism and resonate especially with the current conflict in Iran. The discord began in Burma over doubled fuel prices and escalated from minor scuffles in the marketplace to bloodshed in the streets. Østergaard uncovers the clandestine video journalists belonging to the Democratic Voice of Burma who risk their lives to record the flagrant violation of civil liberties and smuggle the footage out of the country. Wielding their cameras as weapons of social justice, the Burma VJs combat propaganda with the power of technology and truth on their side. In the end, this exhilarating and inspiring film does not dwell on defeat, but rather champions an underground movement of resistance and resilience. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at Landmark Theatres Friday, July 17th

REVIEW: Julia (2008)

Swaying to and fro in drunken ecstasy, Tilda Swinton’s alcoholic Julia performs a hypnotic dance of destruction from the moment she careens into frame. After aimless one-night stands, fruitless AA meetings, and crushing unemployment, Julia ultimately agrees to help her unstable neighbor, Elena (Kate del Castillo), kidnap her son, Tom (Aidan Gould), from his wealthy grandfather for a hefty ransom. Director Erick Zonca pays homage to John Cassavetes, Gloria (1980), in this tale of kidnapping gone awry that sees Julia strike up a symbiotic companionship with her young captive. However, suddenly the tables turn in Mexico when extorters capture Tom, sending Julia scrambling to his rescue. In this candid tour de force, Swinton’s chameleonic qualities are uncanny and her wide, alabaster face makes for an incredible canvas to run the emotional gamut from Machiavellian to maternal. Behold Julia, goddess of destruction, who unwittingly pulls off the biggest con of her life – convincing the thieves that she’s Tom’s mother — which comes as a surprise to no one more than herself. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Friday, July 10th

REVIEW: Blood: The Last Vampire (2009)

In Blood: The Last Vampire Onigen (Koyuki), the world’s most powerful bloodsucker, stares down at Saya (Gianna Jun), the film’s half-human/half-vampire heroine as if to say, “Silly girl, katanas aren’t for kids.” Though Saya may look like your average, angst-ridden teenager, she’s actually a 400-year old demon hunter. Transferring to an American military base in Tokyo where she senses evil’s abrewin’, Saya befriends Alice (Allison Miller), a general’s daughter, while she searches for Onigen who murdered her father. Ultimately, the paper-thin plot, cartoonish CGI, and mediocre dialogue drag this film down. Vampire lore has an interesting history of exploring traditionally taboo subjects, and die-hard anime and manga fans may insist that Blood is a veiled indictment of American imperialism in post-world war II Japan or a commentary on traditional Asian and gender roles with Saya, a modern warrior, fighting Onigen, a throwback to feudal females in her full-on geisha garb. But don’t be deluded. The filmmakers only substitute one stereotype for another, that of the fetishized schoolgirl beneath the glossy samurai façade. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at the Landmark Theatres Friday, July 10th

REVIEW: Eldorado (2008)

In Bouli Lanners’ understated Eldorado (2008) Yvan (Lanners), a car salesman, arrives home after a long day at work to discover that a young thief named Didier (Fabrice Adde) has infiltrated his house and set up shop beneath his bed. Feeling begrudgingly sympathetic for this wayward soul, Yvan offers Didier a ride to his parent’s place. During this road trip run amok, Yvan transforms into a fatherly figure by encouraging Didier to help his elderly parents who he’s estranged from, while Didier provides youthful companionship for Yvan whose younger brother has recently past away. Along the way, they also spot a severely wounded dog which Yvan feels compelled to try to save. It seems he has a habit of picking up strays. Slow moving and thoughtful, Eldorado is a minimalist meditation on how once in a long while a rapport, even by two perfect strangers, can help fill a cavernous void. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Friday, July 3rd

REVIEW: Three Monkeys (2008)

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. The title of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Turkish film, Three Monkeys (2008), evokes the proverbial three wise monkeys by focusing on the dangers of a dysfunctional family that fails to communicate and, instead, avoids, represses, and internalizes the evil right in front of them. One fateful night Servet, an ambitious politician, kills a pedestrian with his car and enlists a destitute employee, Eyüp, to serve his time in exchange for a hefty bounty. During his sentence, his wife, Hacer, becomes embroiled in an affair with Servet, and Eyüp and his son, Ismael, are wracked with guilt and betrayal to discover her infidelity. When Servet winds up dead, they must decide whether to confront the truth or perpetuate this cycle of treachery and exploitation. Winner of the best director prize at Cannes and a master of ambience, Ceylan proves himself an auteur reminiscent of Antonioni who has crafted a stark, minimalist, and nuanced portrait of sexual and class conflict in modern-day Turkey. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Friday, June 26th

REVIEW: My Sister's Keeper (2009)

Emotional manipulation runs rampant in Nick Cassavetes’ unabashedly maudlin, My Sister’s Keeper, about the Fitzgerald family’s struggle with their daughter Kate’s leukemia. To save her life, Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric) Fitzgerald genetically engineer another daughter, Anna (the ever-precocious Abigail Breslin), to serve as a donor for Kate (Sofia Vassilieva). However, Anna throws a wrench into their carefully laid plans when she sues for medical emancipation. While this sets the stage for a complicated and intriguing ethical debate, Cassavetes, director of 2004’s schmaltz-fest, The Notebook, seems to prefer all things saccharine to anything remotely cerebral or sincere. Rather than tackle this moral minefield, he relies heavily on extended voiceovers and music montages to try to tug our heartstrings. While much of the cast, including Diaz, Breslin, and Alec Baldwin (as Anna’s lawyer), lacks credibility, Vassilieva, as the remarkably resilient Kate, embodies the perfect blend of sweet and sardonic, tempering the over-sentimentalizing and moralizing with humor and grace. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens Nationwide Friday, June 26th

REVIEW: The Proposal (2009)

Striding onto the scene as boss-from-hell, Margaret Tate, in The Proposal, Sandra Bullock looks as though she would like nothing better than to take that suffocating America’s Sweetheart label and crush it beneath her sky-high stilettos. Alas, if only Disney would let her. As fate would have it, or, rather, as mandated by romcom conventions, this shrew must be tamed. Facing the prospect of deportation to Canada after some paperwork falls through, Margaret blackmails her weak-willed assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), into marrying her. Forced to travel to Andrew’s home in Alaska with an immigration officer hot on their trail, they must maintain the charade in front of his friends and family despite their disdain for each other.

Rounding out the cast are the usual suspects — Mary Steenburgen as Andrew’s sweet and supportive mom, Craig T. Nelson as his demanding dad, and Betty White as his kooky Grandma Annie. Newcomers include Malin Akerman as Andrew’s former childhood sweetheart in a thankless, lackluster role and Oscar Nuñez as one of those ever-present, small town fixtures (read: comic relief) who moonlights as an exotic dancer for Margaret’s impromptu bachelorette party.

Of course, it’s only a matter of time before Bullock’s ice queen, more affectionately known as “Satan’s Mistress,” melts and Reynold’s pushover inevitably grows a spine. Predictable premise aside, The Proposal knows its target audience and makes the most of its stars’ knack for screwball comedy. While Bullock is definitely the bigger box office draw, Reynolds gives as good as he gets. He’s been floundering in frat-boy movie purgatory for much of his career, but with last year’s underrated Definitely, Maybe (2008), and now The Proposal, he proves that he has more to offer as that rare star who isn’t intimidated to play second fiddle to some of Hollywood’s funniest leading ladies.

Bullock and Reynolds are certainly no Tracy and Hepburn, but they’re a winsome pair with lively banter, endearing chemistry, and uncanny comedic timing. Now if only they had a vehicle worthy of their talents, one with a little subtlety that wouldn’t have to literally throw them together (in a naked collision no less) to manufacture a happily-ever-after. (Liesl Swanbeck)

Opens Nationwide on Friday, June 19th