In theaters: “Blades of Glory”
I’ll happily admit to being a huge “Anchorman” fan, and have seen every subsequent farcical Will Farrell movie in hopes that it will be as good or better. “Blades of Glory” comes close.
The Jon Heder and Farrell combination creates hilarious chemistry. The duo’s comedic styles are complimentary, and their differences in age and body type also add to the fun.
The two play Olympic figure skaters, Heder the girlish Jimmy MacElroy who skates precisely and artfully, and Farrell the “lone wolf” outlaw of skating, Chazz Michael Michaels, a self-proclaimed sex addict.
After the two skaters tie for the gold and end up sharing the podium, their catfight results in the mascot catching fire. The men are banned from singles skating, but later realize they can still compete in pairs skating.
So, against all odds and initially against their wishes, MacElroy and Michaels become the first ever male-male pairs skating team.
The top pairs skaters are the sister and brother team Fairchild and Stranz Van Waldenberg (Amy Poehler from “Saturday Night Live” and Will Arnett from “Arrested Development”).
The siblings decide to play dirty when their spotlight is stolen by the oddity that is the male-male team of two former rivals.
Through always-hilarious trials and tribulations the two men learn to skate together, and in the process also learn something about themselves.
The film has cameo appearances from many of the top names in U.S. figure skating. The competition commentary by former professional skater Scott Hamilton is particularly amusing.
I definitely recommend this crude, mocking, cute and laugh-out-loud comedy.
At the Byrd Theatre: “The Last King of Scotland”
It’s Academy Award-winners week at the Byrd, and to celebrate they’re showing “The Queen,” for which Helen Mirren won the best actress Oscar, and “The Last King of Scotland,” for which Forest Whitaker won best actor.
And I can definitely see why. Whitaker’s portrayal of the 1970s Ugandan president Idi Amin is chilling and perfectly developed.
The film is based on a book about true events by Giles Foden. It is the story of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a fresh-out-of-medschool Scotsman who spins the globe and decides to go wherever his finger lands – Uganda, as it turns out.
Garrigan travels to the African country to work with an English doctor and his wife in a small village. It is 1971, and a coup has just put Amin into power.
Amin and Garrigan have a chance meeting when Amin is wounded in an accident outside the village where Garrigan works. Having a bizarre affinity for Scotland, Amin instantly takes a liking to the young upstart doctor.
Amin invites Garrigan to be his personal doctor. Coming from a village where clean water is a luxury, Garrigan is easily seduced by the lavishness of the lifestyle working for the president brings him.
Ignorant of the politics and history of Uganda, and easily trusting, Garrigan quickly gets in way over his head. Garrigan is charmed by Amin’s big promises, and eats up the special attention he gives him.
As the story progresses with an expert tempo, Garrigan realizes Amin is not the good man he claims to be, and is in fact wiping out his political opposition.
Stunning performances are given by a sweaty Whitaker with an excellent accent, and Ewan Macgregor mini-me McAvoy’s bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young man whose rose-colored glasses get duly smashed.
This film is an upclose and personal look at the intense psychological hold a seemingly charming, charismatic leader can have over people, when in actuality he is a cold-blooded, murderous dictator.
On DVD: “Marie Antoinette”
I’ll call this film a beautiful disaster.
“Marie Antoinette” is Sofia Coppola’s re-imagining of the story of the young Austrian girl, who at 15 was thrown into power and into a stranger’s bed, in France. The film is based on the book about Antoinette’s personal life by Antonia Fraser.
Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman play Antoinette and Louis XVI.
It is a visually stunning film, but it seems like a montage of parties, food and cavorting around the palace at Versailles. The characters show little development and the relationships are not believable.
The bizarre casting includes Rip Torn and comedic actors Molly Shannon and Steve Coogan.
Coppola seems to have trouble with the narrative aspect of the film, but the shots are beautiful and the music, makeup, hair and costumes are amazing. The film even won an Academy Award for costumes.
In the behind-the-scenes DVD extras, Sofia Coppola explains that she loves the idea of new romantic music being woven through her film. She says the new romantic era of the ’80s really mirrored the opulence and decadence of the time of Marie Antoinette.
The DVD extras also include footage of the actors applying hair and makeup and wangling their way into corsets and massively wide hoop skirts.
If you’re into bright colors, period clothes and shots of cakes, you may want to check it out. Otherwise I’d save yourself the 123 minutes.