Post by klep on Apr 2, 2018 6:44:41 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/2: Ishtar
BOONDOGGLE WEEK!
Ishtar is not a bad movie. Now don't get me wrong, it's not great or even really good, but it's not bad. At its core is a fun satire of American interventionism and Cold War spycraft which leads to some great humor.
Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman star as Rogers and Clarke, a terrible song-writing duo that get booked for 10 weeks in Morocco. As they get there, they're immediately drawn into a web of intrigue as a result of their haplessness and the ease with which they can be manipulated by the local powers that be (including Charles Grodin as a CIA agent who manages to be both composed and completely exasperated at the same time).
So what went wrong? You had a good director in Elaine May, a fantastic cast, Paul Williams writing the terrible songs, legendary cameraman Vitorio Storaro, and the ability to shoot on location in the actual Sahara.
Well, Elaine May was used to small dramas rather than big action films and hated the desert. Vitorio Storaro wasn't used to shooting comedies and frequently argued with May over camera placement. Paul Williams was asked to write the entire songs, which Hoffman and Beatty learned - an expensive and time consuming process. And no one was prepared to shoot in Morocco, least of all the Moroccans who had no experience dealing with film crews. To top it off, the unrest that is at the center of the film was a real thing, making the entire production a dangerous venture.
The result is a film that went dramatically over time and over budget and never got the re-write it needed to get around the difficulties the production was facing. Instead everyone just plowed ahead, no matter the obstacles or interpersonal disputes.
There are a lot of good qualities about the film. Rogers and Clarke are fun characters, and Grodin is characteristically excellent. Paul Williams' songs are hilariously terrible (e.g., "I'm Leaving Some Love In My Will"), and there's a bunch of great gags throughout. My favorite moment is a brief sequence of Clarke trailing Rogers and both of them being oblivious to the half-dozen white men and two cars trailing them.
But the story still does feel a little shaggy, and once they get out into the desert it really bogs down. The weapons auction they stumble upon does serve a purpose, but it drags on way too long. The end of the desert sequence ends up feeling kind of perfunctory and abrupt - as if everyone just wanted it to all be over (which is probably the case).
Ishtar a reminder of how hard it is to make a movie, let alone a good movie. It seemed like Ishtar had everything lined up - a great cast, great crew, and plenty of financing. But the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry, and the world just didn't come together in the right way for it to work out. In a slightly different parallel universe, Ishtar was one of the best movies of the year and remains a comedy classic. But in this one, it's a likeable mess.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/9: Man With A Movie Camera
1920s WEEK!
Our Movie of the Week for 1920s week is one of the earliest and still best documentaries of all time, Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera. Join us next week for our discussion of #8 on the Sight & Sound poll! Man With A Movie Camera is available on Filmstruck and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/3: Tron
With Ready Player One entering theaters, the podcast crew are pairing it up with an 80s cultural touchstone it bears resemblence to in Tron, the Jeff Bridges-starring sci-fi classic also about a man entering a virtual world. Join us for our discussion on Wednesday; Tron is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
BOONDOGGLE WEEK!
Ishtar is not a bad movie. Now don't get me wrong, it's not great or even really good, but it's not bad. At its core is a fun satire of American interventionism and Cold War spycraft which leads to some great humor.
Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman star as Rogers and Clarke, a terrible song-writing duo that get booked for 10 weeks in Morocco. As they get there, they're immediately drawn into a web of intrigue as a result of their haplessness and the ease with which they can be manipulated by the local powers that be (including Charles Grodin as a CIA agent who manages to be both composed and completely exasperated at the same time).
So what went wrong? You had a good director in Elaine May, a fantastic cast, Paul Williams writing the terrible songs, legendary cameraman Vitorio Storaro, and the ability to shoot on location in the actual Sahara.
Well, Elaine May was used to small dramas rather than big action films and hated the desert. Vitorio Storaro wasn't used to shooting comedies and frequently argued with May over camera placement. Paul Williams was asked to write the entire songs, which Hoffman and Beatty learned - an expensive and time consuming process. And no one was prepared to shoot in Morocco, least of all the Moroccans who had no experience dealing with film crews. To top it off, the unrest that is at the center of the film was a real thing, making the entire production a dangerous venture.
The result is a film that went dramatically over time and over budget and never got the re-write it needed to get around the difficulties the production was facing. Instead everyone just plowed ahead, no matter the obstacles or interpersonal disputes.
There are a lot of good qualities about the film. Rogers and Clarke are fun characters, and Grodin is characteristically excellent. Paul Williams' songs are hilariously terrible (e.g., "I'm Leaving Some Love In My Will"), and there's a bunch of great gags throughout. My favorite moment is a brief sequence of Clarke trailing Rogers and both of them being oblivious to the half-dozen white men and two cars trailing them.
But the story still does feel a little shaggy, and once they get out into the desert it really bogs down. The weapons auction they stumble upon does serve a purpose, but it drags on way too long. The end of the desert sequence ends up feeling kind of perfunctory and abrupt - as if everyone just wanted it to all be over (which is probably the case).
Ishtar a reminder of how hard it is to make a movie, let alone a good movie. It seemed like Ishtar had everything lined up - a great cast, great crew, and plenty of financing. But the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry, and the world just didn't come together in the right way for it to work out. In a slightly different parallel universe, Ishtar was one of the best movies of the year and remains a comedy classic. But in this one, it's a likeable mess.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/9: Man With A Movie Camera
1920s WEEK!
Our Movie of the Week for 1920s week is one of the earliest and still best documentaries of all time, Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera. Join us next week for our discussion of #8 on the Sight & Sound poll! Man With A Movie Camera is available on Filmstruck and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/3: Tron
With Ready Player One entering theaters, the podcast crew are pairing it up with an 80s cultural touchstone it bears resemblence to in Tron, the Jeff Bridges-starring sci-fi classic also about a man entering a virtual world. Join us for our discussion on Wednesday; Tron is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.