MissPettigrewLivesForADay Tagged Articles at Cinematical

400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.

With awards season in full bore, I thought I would go back and look at some of the year's most wonderful sleepers, the films that "fell through the cracks" and are not appearing in awards lists or on top ten lists -- one reason being that they came out earlier in the year and were not issued on "for your consideration" Academy DVD screeners. I'd like to start with one of the most overlooked great films of the year, one that was virtually ignored by both the press and the public: The Dark Knight.

Just kidding. Let's start by looking at The Violin, which is very much worth tracking down. 2006 was the year of the much-publicized "Mexican New Wave," and most writers focused on three major films (Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men and Babel), while passing over of the terrific smaller ones, like Duck Season and Battle in Heaven. Directed by Francisco Vargas, The Violin was made at around the same time, but didn't surface until 2007 in film festivals, and then early in 2008 for a tiny theatrical release. At the risk of cheapening the film with a cursory plot summary, it's the story of an aged, one-handed man who -- more or less -- helps his guerrilla son by serenading a sensitive but sinister military captain (he has to strap the violin bow to the stump of his hand). Vargas shoots in gorgeous black-and-white, cannily switching between hand-held and still shots.

Suffering from the Hollywood blockbuster blues? Have I got some indies for you! All three are newly available this week on DVD.

Kim Voynar called Vadim Perelman's The Life Before Her Eyes "a lovely, nuanced film packed with imagery, and bracketed by an intriguing storyline." The story revolves around the survivor of a school shooting; Uma Thurman plays her as an adult and Evan Rachel Wood as a teenager. Kim wrote in part: "I'd expect the director's commentary on the DVD to be intriguing." The DVD does indeed feature an audio commentary by the director, joined by production designer Maia Javan. Also included are deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and several other mini-features. A Blu-ray edition is also available.

Kim also reviewed Tommy O'Haver's An American Crime when it debuted at Sundance last year. Based on the true tragedy of teenage Sylvia Likens (Ellen Page) who was "brutally beaten, burned, starved and tortured to death" in 1965 Indiana, Kim said the film was difficult to watch. "The real question ... is not just how the Sylvia Likens case could have happened, but why situations like this happen at all -- and still do." Catherine Keener and James Franco also star. The DVD doesn't appear to have any supplemental material.

On the lighter side, Bharat Nalluri's Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day "is a nearly perfect piece of entertainment for grownups," according to James Rocchi. Frances McDormand plays a down-on-her-luck British governess and Amy Adams essays her employer, an American singer / actress in late 1930s London. The DVD includes a "making of," deleted scenes, and "Miss Pettigrew's Long Trip to Hollywood."

Early in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, the title heroine played by Frances McDormand, a down-on-her luck "governess of last resort" who keeps getting dismissed by huffy high-class London employers, strolls the streets, dejected and down. On the soundtrack? A jazzy, swinging version of the Depression-era song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" And that sweet-sour mix of bright horns and sad sentiments, swinging tempos and bleak prospects, in many ways sets the tone for the film. Adapting Winifred Watson's 1939 novel, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a nearly perfect piece of entertainment for grownups, as Miss Pettigrew's desperation inspires her to fake, fib and flail her way into a job as the social secretary to American actress/singer Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a young woman in severe need of professional assistance and adult supervision. It's fairly easy to predict the rough curves of Miss Pettigrew's plot within moments of meeting the leads -- Miss Pettigrew will gain joy and confidence from her exposure to Ms. Lafosse, while Ms. Lafosse will acquire wisdom and character from Miss Pettigrew's example -- but the delights of this film are in the details, and everyone involved shapes this seemingly-featherweight entertainment with expert, steady hands.

Miss Pettigrew is not, in fact, a social secretary; however, she's prepared to do whatever is required. And so, in her way, is Delysia; the luxurious flat where she receives Miss Pettigrew is, it turns out, not hers. Delysia is staying there as the lover of nightclub owner Nick (Mark Strong), which makes it all the more necessary that Miss Pettigrew help get Delysia's overnight guest Phil (Tom Payne) -- son of the producer of a show Delysia hopes to land the lead in -- out the door as swiftly as possible before Nick returns. Miss Pettigrew is mortified, but hardly paralyzed, and she swiftly takes charge of matters. And, in the tradition of British farce, as soon as that crisis is averted, another is ready to take its place. ...

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.

A year ago, one of my favorite actresses, Frances McDormand, was cast as the lead in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day -- a film about a governess in the '30s who has to sneak her way into a new job after getting a notoriously bad reputation. In April, Amy Adams signed on to play Delysia, the American star she works for. Now that the film is less than a month away from release (March 7), Focus Features has thrown up a whole slew of clips and goodies on YouTube. Above you can see a brief featurette, and then after the jump, a bunch of short clips from the film. If these are any indication of the the feature on a whole, I can't wait to see it. Unsurprisingly, it looks like McDormand has done a wonderful job, and Amy Adams really seems to be holding her own -- and proving that Junebug wasn't a fluke.

While going through all the new trailers this week I came across an interesting handful that might seem to be humorous, but may in fact be something else. The week on Trailer Park we ask "But Is It Funny?"

Teeth
The tale of a girl with a carnivorous vagina? That must be a work of high camp, right? Apparently not judging from both the trailer and Scott Weinberg's review in which words like "witty, intelligent and darkly insightful" were bandied about. A teenage girl named Dawn, still finding out about her body and her own sexuality, discovers that she has teeth in her nether regions. In the preview we see Dawn giving her gynecologist a nasty surprise. This looks fascinating and original and it goes into limited release in February.

I doubt if Amy Adams will get another shot at Oscar anytime soon, but two years after she wowed us in the otherwise forgettable Junebug she's at least on the right track toward becoming a respectable movie star. This year alone she will be covering the important territories of a mainstream starring role (Disney's Enchanted), a supporting role opposite bankable, award-winning bigwigs (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the Mike Nichols-directed Charlie Wilson's War) and a co-starring role in a highly-marketable indie (Sunshine Cleaning, with fellow newcomer/Oscar nom Emily Blunt). Now she's got another great role lined up for 2008. She will star alongside Frances McDormand in the pre-war odd-coupling Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

Though the film will be directed by Bharat Nalluri, whose last feature was The Crow: Salvation (he also helmed the recent TV-movie Tsunami: The Aftermath), with a script by The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy and Finding Neverland's David Magee, and with two strong actresses, it will likely be a strong film. The plot centers on a dowdy governess (Dormand, as the Miss Pettigrew of the title) sent by mistake to the home of a nightclub singer (Adams) who could use a helping hand. The governess ends up helping the singer get better organized and the singer ends up helping the governess get a man -- you know, the old reciprocal back-scratching, life lesson learning, new buddy acquiring story we all love to see again and again. Hopefully it can extend to the real world and McDormand can help Adams score another Oscar nomination and Adams can help McDormand regain some wider appeal.

After being second, third or fourth string in her recent roles, the ever-wonderful Frances McDormand is finally getting some top-billed goodness. The actress is set to star in two films for Focus Features. The first comes by way of a long-forgotten book by Winifred Watson -- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Published in 1938, the book became a victim of WW2, but is now making a comeback in the UK. An adult Cinderella-like fairy tale, Pettigrew shares one day in the life of a down-trodden governess who is sent to the wrong house by her employment agency. There she meets Miss LaFosse, a cabaret singer, who gives her a taste of glamour. Adapted by Full Monty scribe Simon Beaufoy, the film will be directed by Bharat Nalluri this April in London.

After dipping her toe into old-style London elegance, McDormand will be heading to New York for her fifth cinematic collaboration with husband, Joel Coen. (Previous forays have included Raising Arizona and her Oscar-winner, Fargo.) She will star opposite ladies man, George Clooney, in the Coen brothers next film, Burn After Reading. So far, all we know is that it is a dark comedy about the CIA. Hopefully, hubbie and bro-in-law Coen have written a meaty role for McDormand, perhaps with Clooney as her love interest. While she's finally broken through to the sexy, it would be nice to see her getting juicy leading men.