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KarinaCinerina
Reviews
Macbeth in Manhattan (1999)
It's smart and funny and of course, funnier if you know
Macbeth in Manhattan
Matinee with snacks
What is more fun than a Hollywood adaptation of a Shakespeare play? A Hollywood interpretation of the process of a stage production of a Shakespeare play! In the spirit of the extremely entertaining A Midwinter's Tale comes Macbeth in Manhattan. I myself, despite my high movie-going quotient, actually do manage to work in theatre now and again, and I am often highly critical of the depictions of such goings-on. My love for Waiting for Guffman is only quelled by what an utterly unrealistic production Red, White, and Blaine is, particularly in the center of such a clever mockumentary. A Midwinter's Tale is shot filmically, i.e. not pretending to be a documentary, and such it is with Macbeth in Manhattan. A New York theatre group is doing the famous 400 year old tragedy, and naturally, mayhem ensues. As Philip Henslowe so wisely says in Shakespeare in Love, theatre is a lot of "insurmountable obstacles" all heading toward "imminent disaster." Macbeth does both Henslowe and its own infamous legacy proud. A surprising ignorance of the stigma attached to Macbeth prevails among the characters cast in it - they speak the dreaded name of the Scottish play with reckless abandon. For those unfamiliar with the cursed name, it is covered well for you "real people." The best and cleverest part about the screenplay is how the production storyline ultimately mirrors the classic storyline of the play. A brilliant (and sexy) character known only as the Chorus fills in the Bard's plot for us in a prosaic "meanwhile back at the ranch" sort of delivery, while serving as the backstage crew and wise eye that sees all (like all good crew should be doing anyway). He runs the character gamut subtly as his various backstage tasks require him to be different designers and workers. The leads are all excellent - ER's Gloria Reuben is the girlfriend of David Lansbury, and they are up for the Macbeths - but a terrible, awful soap actor intervenes in the form of Nick Gregory - Gregory's performance as William is as brilliant as William's performance of Macbeth is awful. It's really very excellent. Anyone (especially us ladies) who have worked on a play have known a William like him, probably even fallen for his line once or twice - but it's a clever intertwining of inspired theatrical acting and witty screenwriting that makes Macbeth in Manhattan an utter hoot. Bringing all these folks together is the perfect incarnation of a director who is...not very good, John Glover. Let me just say that the moment he turns away from the rehearsal of the sword fight between Macduff and Macbeth is pure genius. My brief literature which I am consulting to make sure I have everyone's names right mentions that this movie was shot on a "shockingly small budget - " I don't know what it was but it has got to have been less than a million dollars (cheaper than an episode of ER and a full 97 minutes too). If a major studio didn't catch this at SXSW and see this as a clever way to ride the Shakespeare craze (10 Things I Hate About You, O, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and oh, yeah, what's that movie that won Best Picture?) for zero down and zero payments for 6 months, well, they are stupid. It's smart and funny and of course, funnier if you know the source material but I didn't really and I still had a great time.
Pin Gods (1996)
A lovely little documentary you should see
The Pin Gods
Matinee Price Only
Pin Gods is a tiny little documentary about three guys, Bob, Tony, and Sonny, going on the Pro Bowlers Association tour in 1993 (or it may be 1994). It was shot on video by various sources and then transferred to film, but by and large (except for the very old footage) the picture quality is very consistent.
They are all inspired by the reigning champion, Walter Ray Williams, who will be on the tour as well. We meet them prior to the tour, watch them bowl, compare their standings, and see them advance and drop out, their families reactions, etc. It's got a lot of great footage that was carefully assembled all over the country, and some great title screens that push the story along well. Interspersed within their stories is 60 yr old champion Carmen Sa... (his name was long and Italian and in script on the back of his shirt so I never got the whole thing) who preaches the gospel of the excitement and the science of bowling.
Our three bowlers are pretty good at ignoring the cameras, and their personalities are so...well, I mean, they are young, ambitious (one describes himself as cocky) wanna-be pro bowlers with a dream, and they are very competitive. But not necessarily born to the sport. The film does seem a lot longer than it actually is, but that may be because I can only watch so much bowling footage before I get sleepy. The conversations and interviews are interesting, and the turn of events on the 14th stop of their tour is interesting also. It's not a wacky comedy, unless you want to laugh at middle class east coast Italians dreaming of the bowling circuit. At first it seems so kitschy and ludicrous you want to laugh, or think it's a fake documentary, but once you see how really committed these boys are, you can't mock them.
The music was written for the movie, and it's kinda swingy loungy 50's beat stuff but it emphasizes those great shirts perfectly, and our old pro Carmen. It's a look at a world few people, even few sports enthusiasts, even think of, but the people involved in it are completely into it. Only in the US, I say.
If it's playing in your town (it is in Austin at the Dobie) try and catch it, but I would recommend a matinee only because it doesn't splice together as smoothly as I would like for six and a half bucks.