Are films political? Do they fall into left-wing and right-wing camps? I would imagine that not all films have an agenda. Some films can be considered "great uniters," in that they bring together agreeing audiences from all over, films like the $200 million hits I Am Legend (264 screens) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (177 screens) or a critical favorite like There Will Be Blood (339 screens) that has pleased nearly everyone who has seen it. Of course, There Will Be Blood is about a snaky, sinister, blustery oil baron willing to sacrifice his family, country and humanity for the allure of black gold, which may or may not have a little something to do with current events. (Not to mention that director Paul Thomas Anderson dropped the word "Oil" from the title of the source novel and replaced it with the word "Blood.")

In recent years it has been determined that film critics are a liberal bunch, educated, well-read men and women of letters, who can see and comprehend the human condition in films from different cultures all over the world. Or, they're sometimes known as pompous, ponderous, pretentious, conceited, snooty know-it-alls, lacking in good old-fashioned horse sense. "Why can't you just enjoy the movie," is a question very often asked of critics. Rambo (201 screens) is a fascinating case. It's impressively violent, but very grim and not much fun. Rambo debuted and reigned during the Reagan era (Rambo: First Blood Part II grossed three times the amount of the new film, even with 1985 ticket prices). Bringing him back in a decidedly different political atmosphere didn't seem to work, though the film was screened for the press and earned a few good reviews. It's now starting a downslide, and it's still shy of breaking even on its $50 million budget.

Have you ever liked an actor that no one else seems to like? You almost want to keep your adoration to yourself, for fear that you'll be laughed out of a party or a gathering when you say how much you like Josh Hartnett. I actually do like Josh Hartnett, quite a lot. For a pretty boy, he has a very warm screen personality, and though he can appear perfectly comfortable playing a boxer or a cop, he also has a wonderful sense of humor. In short, he's not a brooder or a poser like most of his other pretty boy contemporaries. And yes, he was in Pearl Harbor, but he made up for that with excellent performances in The Virgin Suicides, O, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Hollywood Homicide and The Black Dahlia. Incidentally, these are all under-appreciated or misunderstood movies, just like Josh himself.

There. I've gone on record. Looking down the list of movies currently playing on 400 screens or less, I came up with several other actors I like that have not really received the love they deserve. First up, we have Amy Adams, who I just caught in the new Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. As far as I'm concerned, Amy walks on water. She's like a Carole Lombard for the 21st century. That means that she's not particularly suited for low-key "realistic" roles, such as the one she plays in Charlie Wilson's War (97 screens); in that, she basically trails Tom Hanks and occasionally reads some complicated dialogue to him. (I thought Mike Nichols was supposed to be good with actors.) But in Enchanted (329 screens), Amy is perfectly cast as a slightly cartoonish, screwball kook. She can move her eyes and her entire body in very precise ways for outlandish results, but she still retains a strain of humanity; she never spirals off into anything untouchable or unknowable. I thought she deserved an Oscar nomination for this one, but I'm afraid she'll need to put on a lot of "ugly" makeup before she wins anything.

Director Brett Morgen doesn't make conventional, talking-head, "impartial" non-fiction films; he himself notes "I'm certainly more interested in creating modern-day mythologies than historical documentaries." After co-directing On the Ropes and The Kid Stays in the Picture, he next, ambitiously, decided to use state-of-the-art techniques to bring a 40-year old event to life in Chicago 10. Combining computer-animated footage and dramatic interpretations of court transcripts with footage and audio from 1968 -- some of it previously undiscovered -- Morgen's film audaciously animates and recreates the trial of activists Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale and others that followed in the wake of the protests they organized outside the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968. Speaking with Cinematical from New York, Morgen talked about the level of digging required to unearth the unseen archival material he found, the differences he encountered between his actors who had done animation before and those who hadn't, what he learned about the '60s from making the films and much more: "This is a timeless story, that I think is relevant at any time -- and more relevant during wartime."


This interview, like all of Cinematical's podcast offerings, is now available through iTunes; if you'd like, you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



For Cinematical's reviews of Chicago 10, you can find Christopher Campbell's take here and my review from Sundance 2007 here.

2008 is not this generation's 1968. Let's get that matter straight, right away. Even if we can draw some parallels or see some similarities between now and then, the truth is that it was a very tragic year, and despite our penchant to fetishize the period and wish that our time could be so important and powerful, we need to pray no politicians are assassinated this year (the fact that one particular candidate has been compared to both MLK and RFK is especially upsetting) and we need to be thankful that there is no draft. But mostly we need to just move on from the '60s already and stop attempting to appropriate its events in order to heighten the relevance of the 2000s. 2008 is indeed a significant year on its own, or it could be if we let it exist as such.

That said, Chicago 10, the latest documentary from Oscar-nominee Brett Morgen (On the Ropes) is literally about events of forty years ago, though the filmmaker claims it is a film about now. Okay, sure, there may be some relevant themes, but imprisoning your film with such definite statements of purpose makes it possibly less enjoyable to the people who are tired of these weak and easy-minded juxtapositions. Without acknowledging the obviously apparent intent, Chicago 10 is actually appreciable as one of the most creative and entertaining documentary films in years. And it could indeed be viewed as significant on its own, if we let it exist as such.

I guess that collectively we are not finished raking over the coals of the story of Kurt Cobain. Collider recently spoke with Chicago 10 director, Brett Morgen, and found out that up next will be a 'mixed-media' doc about the reluctant rock star. Morgen is best known for the Robert Evans doc, The Kid Stays in the Picture. His follow up was the counter-culture flick, Chicago 10, which premiered at Sundance in 2007 to some decidedly mixed reviews. Still, Morgen hasn't been swayed from his trademark style, and the Cobain film will make use of animation, video, and film. Morgen told Collider that the Cobain film would make use of Cobain's personal artifacts and archival footage of the band. More importantly for fans, the film will also include some rarely seen stop-motion animation that Cobain had created.

Morgen is planning on starting the film in the next few months, and has apparently gotten the 'all-clear' from Cobain's widow, the infamous Courtney Love. Morgen's film will mark the third documentary about Cobain in 10 years (1998's Kurt and Courtney, and 2006's Kurt Cobain: About a Son). It makes you wonder what could possibly be left to say about the 'Martyr of Grunge'? As Morgen sees it, "The reason Kurt still resonates all over the world-you go anywhere all over this planet and you'll find kids who have Kurt tattooed on their arms. It's because he spoke-he was able to articulate his experiences as an alienated, disenfranchised kid and that's why I think his music is still relevant today and resonates all over the world and I think we have to make the film that's in every one of those kid's heads that represents them." I can't help but think that maybe it's about time we let Cobain rest in peace, don't you?

[via First Showing]

There are two reasons I find this (as yet unconfirmed) story interesting. One is that I'll soon be writing my review of Brett Morgen's new documentary Chicago 10, which comes out next week. The other is that I've been thinking about the 2009 Oscars (I like to jump ahead), which I presumed would include a number of nominations for Steven Spielberg's next film. For a few months now, we've believed that film would be, like Morgen's, about the trial of the "Chicago 7" and would be fittingly titled The Trial of the Chicago 7. First we heard the director was interested in the script, written by Charlie Wilson's War scribe Aaron Sorkin. Then we got that crazy news that Sacha Baron Cohen would play Abbie Hoffman. Finally we heard more people, specifically Colin Hanks, Jeff Daniels and Philip Seymour Hoffman, were joining the cast. However, now we have word from Collider that Spielberg "has decided to move on and will not be making the movie."

Note: It has since come out that the film has been delayed, not completely dumped.

While Steven Spielberg's name gets tossed around with regards to several different projects (most recently Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), it appears the director is moving full steam ahead on The Trial of the Chicago 7. CHUD tells us that, according to their inside scoopers, both Colin Hanks and Jeff Daniels are now being considered for roles. If brought on, Daniels would play "Dave Dellinger, one of the oldest defendants in the case." Hanks "would be Rennie Davis, an SDS activist who was interested in political change rather than wholesale social change." Another interesting tidbit is that Sacha Baron Cohen (who we thought had accepted the role of Abbie Hoffman) has not officially joined this cast yet. CHUD doesn't know why the actor is not on board (they speculate that it might have to do with scheduling or money issues), but they do know that his is not a done deal.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 will be based on the very real trial of seven defendants who were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Lots of names have been floating around this project as of late; not long ago Vanity Fair interviewed Spielberg and noticed several headshots on his desk of actors they're considering for Chicago 7. Among them were Phillip Seymour Hoffman (for William Kunstler, the attorney who defended the 7), as well as Will Smith, Taye Diggs, Adam Arkin and Kevin Spacey. Aaron Sorkin wrote the script, which may or may not be somewhat based on the recent documentary, Chicago 10, and most expect this to be Spielberg's next film after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Well, Sacha Baron Cohen has already made sure that he won't be haunted by Borat jokes for the rest of his life, so it was only a matter of time before he started to branch out. First was his foray into musicals, and now it's time for something just a little more 'serious'. Once again Cohen has gotten lucky and he's caught the eye of another great director. The Times Online has reported that Cohen signed to play 60's counter-culture icon Abbie Hoffman for Steven Spielberg. Cohen is the perfect choice to play the self-described "Jewish Road Warrior, communo-anarchist". They both seemed to appreciate a good prank, and hey -- the two even look alike.

The film will be called The Trial of the Chicago Seven and was written by Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson's War) with presumably Spielberg directing. The story will center on the infamous trial of seven men for riots at the 1968 Democratic convention. Hoffman was an activist and author who, along with Bobby Seale and Jerry Rubin, were put on trial for conspiracy and inciting to riot. He was eventually cleared of the charges and was still a celebrity at the time of his death in 1989.

According to the Times, Cohen is set to receive five million dollars for the role that he had to be "talked into" by Spielberg. It was probably wise for Cohen to say yes, since apparently some have lived to regret turning down the directing legend. Cohen already has Brüno lined up as his next film. It will be another 'character' comedy; about a gay, Austrian fashion correspondent. As for Spielberg, he has already started wrapping up work on Indy 4 and there is still the Lincoln biopic with Liam Neeson. Plus, he has already lined up the sci-fi film, Interstellar. So it could be some time before The Trial of the Chicago Seven makes it's way to production. If you can't wait to get your fix of civil disobedience though, you can always check out the animated documentary Chicago 10 when it opens in March 2008.

[via The View From Here]

It does strike me a little funny that after watching the trailer for the documentary Chicago 10, it managed to make me just a little less interested in watching the flick (not the best start for a movie trailer, IMO). Written and directed by Brett Morgan, the doc is a re-enactment of the infamous trial of the Chicago Seven in 1969. For those of you out there who aren't up on your counter-culture history: In 1968, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale organized a large scale protest at the 1968 Democratic convention. After an unfair conviction of inciting violence and numerous appeals, five of the eight members finally had their convictions overturned and were able to walk away free men in 1972.

This is Morgan's second animated documentary, and uses the same style as Morgan's acclaimed Robert Evans flick, The Kid Stays in the Picture. Last November, a NYT piece had profiled the doc as a brand new approach to making documentary films. Instead of a bunch of talking heads, Morgan decided to use actual court transcripts to re-enact the trial with actors providing the voices on the infamous seven (well, eight if you count Seale, and in my opinion you really should). The cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Hank Azaria and Nick Nolte. Initial buzz surrounding the film was good, and there was even talk of a bidding war for the property. But after reading James' review back in January, as well as getting my first good look at the motion capture, I have to admit my enthusiasm has been dulled ever so slightly. Luckily, I'm a big enough documentary nerd that I can probably overlook it. Chicago 10 is scheduled for release in February.

Animated movies still haven't fully made the transition from family oriented fare to a more "adult" state of mind. The New York Times profiled Brett Morgan's (The Kid Stays in The Picture) Chicago 10, an animated documentary that tells the story of the infamous 1969 trial of the Chicago Seven as possibly the next step in animated films.

In 1968, eight student protest leaders and counter-culture figures were charged with conspiracy to incite violence at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Originally, the group was comprised of eight defendants including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Black Panther Party activist Bobby Seale -- Seale's case was later separated from the group. It took two years and a series of appeals for the seven defendants to finally be found not guilty of the charges. Morgan's film uses motion capture animation to re-create the events of the trial. He says, "I didn't want the film to be a valentine to the '60s. I didn't want to see a bunch of old men talking about how vibrant they were in their youth -- they'd be looking at their grandfathers." Morgan worked with original trial transcripts for the film with voices provided by Mark Ruffalo, Hank Azaria, and Nick Nolte

The news is good for Morgan, because there is already speculation of a bidding war when the film opens up the Sundance Film Festival. Set for a 2007 release, we'll have to see if Morgen can successfully blend his style of flashy animation with political commentary.