Close circuit to The Edina Theatre employees, after months of waiting Elsa and Fred is finally getting released, on DVD. Which makes the fact a print has been lying around waiting to be shown for over three months now even funnier.
As for other other DVD new releases this week there isn’t much to look at. Henry Poole is Here looks passably interesting, but nothing more, and Igor might be ok at best. Really the only thing worth your time and possibly your money is City of Ember, a solid, if unspectacular, steampunk film that is fun for the whole family. While not a great film by any means, Anna and I both enjoyed it when we saw it in the theatre.
As for theatrical releases this is the second week in a row an Oscar hopeful is being re-released to try and garner votes. This week’s entry? Vicky Christina Barcelona, a wholly unremarkable film except for two great performances by Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. While Cruz stands a good chance of garnering a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Vicky Chistina Barcelon’s Golden Globe win for Best Comedy means they think the film might actually get a Best Picture nomination. Which is funny, whereas the actual film is not.
As for true new releases the big release is Defiance, which in the words of a great critic is “Sentimental tacky crap.” Please don’t go see that steaming pile. My Bloody Valentine looks even worse, relying on the cheap gimmick of being in 3-D to try and boost ticket sales. No, the one film that people should try and get out to this weekend in the Twin Cities is playing exclusively at The Uptown Theatre, Che. For one week only you get to see both Part One and Two for a single admission price, so be sure to head over to the theatre to watch the film, and make sure to tell the staff The Star Tribune blows for taking cheap shots at The Uptown and its staff this past weekend.
Does anyone really like the holidays? I mean, really? Don’t get me wrong I love my family and all, and as far as dysfunction goes I think we are at a perfectly tolerable level, but the travel requirements just make me shudder.
You see my grandparents live in a small town in Ohio, a short 11 hour car trip away. But you see Anna will be spending the holidays with her family this year, so instead of driving that absurd distance all by my lonesome, I have decided to bus to Madison and stowaway in my parents Lexus, a Lexus with heated seats I might add. Of course the last time this happened I got stuck driving the last half of the trip in a raging blizzard in what was then my parent’s brand new Lexus. By the way, if you think driving in a zero visibility snow storm is hard try doing it for four hours with my father shouting “Matt you are scaring the shit out of me!” from the back seat the entire time. So you can forgive me if I’m not jumping with excitement at the possibility of going through that particular torture again. If only a friend could have some sort of a personal crisis that would give me ample reason to break off my travel plans.
Luckily for Patrick Donovan (Paul Hungerford), that is exactly what happens. With one late night call, Patrick is able to come to the emotional aid of his childhood friend Alden (John Crye) who is struggling with a pre-Christmas breakup with his girlfriend. Foregoing family to instead wallow in self-pity, Patrick and Alden find a co-conspirator in Kirby (Thomas Roads), another former childhood friend who is struggling with the recent death of his father, when they decide to dig up a time capsule they buried at their High School graduation where they hope to discover there is more to their lives then what they simply remember.
Happy Holidays is not your standard Christmas film, primarily in that it isn’t constantly reminding you it is a Christmas film. Sure the fact Patrick bailed on traveling with his partner Kevin for Christmas is an important plot point, but the focus of Happy Holidays is on Patrick, Alden and Kirby, and their own unique interactions with each other and how ineffective they are at helping one another cope with their own personal miseries.
Unlike your standard holiday feel good film, Happy Holidays brings its fare share of bitterness and resentfulness to the screen, but rather then rely on ridiculous sight gags and prat falls to heal the divides, writer/director James Ferguson instead laces the dialogue with acerbic wit and real pathos. But don’t let the bigotry, death and ever present break ups fool you, this is a darkly comic film that skillfully mines these potentially off-putting subjects with relative grace and surprising wit.
For those of you like me who work in an environment positively saturated with Christmas songs during this festive season, Happy Holidays adds another welcome respite with its score. Composer Zachary Hexum has chosen to use non-traditional music and the occasional unconventional style to deliver the soothing score. Sure he slips in the odd Christmas jingle but it is reserved enough that you won’t be craving for December 26th to arrive post haste.
At its heart I think that is what I enjoyed most about Happy Holidays. It pleases without pandering and it never overstays its welcome. And with its low key approach it is a Christmas film that can be watched and enjoyed any time of the year.
Happy Holidays will screen on Sat Dec 20 at 8pm at Lake Pepin Art & Design Center. The screening will be preceded by a screening of Red Balloon and White Mane at 4pm. All screenings are free.
When I was growing up in Wisconsin I would often times kill time at my local video store. I would roam through the aisles, looking at the VHS boxes, searching for something interesting to watch. I was fascinated with genre mash-ups and Ralph Bakshi’s films and quickly immersed myself in them. But Waukesha wasn’t exactly stationed along the cutting edge of pop culture, so I had some rather sizable gaps in both my film knowledge and exposure.
It wasn’t until college that I began meeting people who were giving enough to introduce me to German Expressionism, Italian neorealism, and Turner Classic Movies. From then on I always have had great respect for people who introduce me to new and exciting things, especially when it comes to films.
Which brings me to my girlfriend, Anna. I found my first excuse to talk to her when she was reading Watership Down, which was one of my favorite books (as well as animated films) as a child. Much to my delight she had never read it before so it afforded me the perfect opportunity to lay down some serious knowledge, and from there we soon began introducing each other to all sorts of of new experiences. One interesting thing to note is she was far more open to trying out my recommendations early on then I was with hers. This is quite simply explained. She likes Bjork, Dogville, and Ayn Rand. I like cool crap.
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