bitdepth — comedy

Andy Jones: To The Wall

About a year and half ago I was at a conference in New Brunswick that featured a showcase with a great lineup of Atlantic Canadian talent. The highlight of the show was the performance by Andy Jones of the Prologue of his one man show, “To The Wall” which was originally developed for the One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre and directed by Charlie Tomlinson. I quickly Googled Andy Jones and maybe I should make it clear that I’m talking about Andy Jones the Newfoundland actor / performer and not the English postman, the American Mazda Isuzu dealer, the Andy Jones who takes improv classes in Chicago, the BMX racer, PC Party candidate or the animation director.

The Prologue that I saw in person was amazing and I wanted to see the show, but wasn’t able to make it to any of the other live performances. But then when I saw the lineup for the film festival this year I saw the show, which is part of the CBC’s performing arts series, Opening Night and I was excited because I knew that I could see it and also see Mike Jones (who, according to legend, saved my marriage and now may break it up, but that’s another story). It’s co-directed by Mike Jones (Andy’s brother) and Moya Walsh. They manage to capture a stage show that doesn’t seem forced or too showy. I was expecting something like Jonathan Demme‘s Swimming to Cambodia, but it’s not as showy, which can be distracting. A testament to the power of the performance (which won Andy the Best Actor award at the Atlantic Film Festival) and the production is that the audience in the movie theatre actually applauded at points during the film…you don’t see that happening too often.

The show deals with issues of God, religion and Newfoundland… and science! Andy has an amazing ability to hold your attention and take you on a journey through topics that fit together and create a wonderful and entertaining tapestry. It will be broadcast on CBC TV on November 13.

September 20, 2003 aff2003, andyjones, comedy, film, michaeljones, play, review, tothewall

The Saddest Music in the World

Guy Maddin makes the most beautiful films that can sometimes be quite challenging to watch. If you haven’t seen his work, imagine that Eisenstein had moved to Winnipeg in the 20s and started making films…that’s a good way to start to think about what he does. The Saddest Music in the World is a remarkable, perfect film. It’s perfect in the sense that I can’t think of anything that would need to be changed. It’s completely unique and works within an amazing cinematic space that seems to be 70 years old, but also comments in elliptical ways on contemporary events. The film ranges from melodramatic to hilarious with an improbable plot that works.

The beautiful Isabella Rossellini stars as a brewery magnate, Lady Port-Huntley, who decides to sponsor a radio contest to find the saddest music in the world in order to increase the consumption of beer. That’s just the jumping off point and the film moves through a wonderful world that could only exist on film. The visuals and the soundtrack are amazing with loving attention to every detail. A great film makes you look at the world in a different way, but this film makes you look at cinema in a different way.

September 20, 2003 aff2003, comedy, film, guymaddin, isabellarossellini, review

The Guru

I took a chance and bought the DVD of “The Guru” last night and I wasn’t disappointed. I’d seen the trailer for the film and it looked like a neat cross-cultural story with a sense of humour and some neat musical numbers. It’s a wonderful, hard-to-categorize film that probably caused the American distributor to barely release it in theatres (it was in limited release this past January) and put the DVD out without much marketing or a lot of extra special features. It’s not exactly what I expected and had a surpising depth and range that managed to hit all sorts of notes from Bollywood to Hollywood to slapstick to drama. Heather Graham and Jimi Mistry have a great chemistry and Marissa Tomei is great as well. A great supporting performance by Michael McKean as a porn producer adds a neat little subplot. It helps when there is a great cast to pull off a story that is very difficult to categorize or describe. One of the things that I loved about the film is that it shows the cross-cultural globalization that is a reality in the world. Much more of a European film, it somehow manages to keep it all together. The deleted scenes on the DVD reveal that the film could have gone a bit more toward melodrama or broader comedy, but the balance was struck just right by director Daisy von Scherler Mayer. The official guru site has some goofy games, but the British site reveals that it’s more of a British film (as star Jimi Mistry was on “Eastenders” and the songs from British pop groups).

June 28, 2003 comedy, daisyvonscherlermayer, dvd, film, heathergraham, jimimistry, marissatomei, michaelmckean, review

Comedian

I watched the documentary “Comedian” last night. It’s about Jerry Seinfeld putting together a new act. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the creative process. I’ve always liked Seinfeld’s standup and I’ve watched “Seinfeld” for years and still catch episodes almost every day. The documentary was directed by Christian Charles, who seems to be a first-time director (at least according to IMDb) who also shot the film with Gary Streiner (who was Producer) and Mark Plumber. A great soundtrack links the film together and it features a smooth editing style (by Chris Franklin) that weaves together Seinfeld building a new act with up-and-coming comedian Orny Adams.

It’s a rare look at how comedians are like musicians, practicing and honing jokes until they work and then expanding their set with more and more solid material. Seinfeld thinks a lot about this stuff and it’s interesting how he put himself through the way it used to be to assure himself that he still “has it.”

Carolyn summed it up in an odd way in that the film is kind of like “Heart of Darkness” with Bill Cosby as Kurtz… maybe it could be called “Heart of Lightness”…

May 14, 2003 billcosby, chrisfranklin, christiancharles, comedian, comedy, documentary, garystreiner, markplumber, ornyadams, seinfeld

Human Nature

I saw the 2001 film “Human Nature” on the weekend and I liked it. I didn’t know really what to expect, but I wanted to see it since the script was written by Charlie Kaufman whose “Being John Malkovich” and “Adaptation” are well-loved by me. It definitely has Kaufman’s multithreaded plot structure with an elaborate, but simple tale of a man (Tim Robbins) who teaches a feral man (Rhys Ifans) to become mannered. Oh…and there is a very hairy nature writer played by Patricia Arquette (with a musical number)… but that’s a lot about the film… in an odd way it reminded me a bit of “A Life Less Ordinary”… but that probably only makes sense if you’ve seen both films. “Human Nature” is directed by Michel Gondry, who has previously directed some great music videos for Björk and Daft Punk along with television commercials. Although the film is in English, it has a somewhat French structure and pacing (like Truffaut’s lighter works or “My Wife is an Actress”) which I liked as well. His next film is also written by Charlie Kaufman and is called “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” which stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.

March 5, 2003 adaptation, being john malkovich, bjork, charliekaufman, comedy, daft punk, eternalsunshineofthespotlessmind, film, human nature, jim carrey, kate winslet, michelgondry, my wife is an actress, patricia arquette, review, rhys ifans, tim robbins, truffaut