Month: January 2014

An Interview with Molly Bernstein, Director of ‘Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay’

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Molly Bernstein, Alan Edelstein, Ricky Jay, and Scott Foundas at The New York Film Festival world premiere of Deceptive Practice. Photo by Joe Holmes.

I’ve been a fan of Ricky Jay’s since I was a kid, when I saw his TV special, Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants. I remember being taken by how different he was from anyone I’d ever seen perform magic—stern, with no bombast. He made magic this manly, intimidating thing, like a cigar or something. I’ve been scared and mesmerized by him ever since.

As I grew older, he and his inimitable voice turned up in some of my favorite movies, such as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Homicide, and Things Change—and of course, my favorite TV show of all time, Deadwood. And now he’s the subject of one of my favorite documentaries of last year—Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Molly Bernstein, the director of this wonderful film:
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Jenna Ipcar’s 2013 in Film

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I watched 71 films this year! More impressively, 29 of those films actually came out this year! That might be a record for me, seeing as I mostly seek out movies that are over thirty years old. Man, 29! I’m not going to even think about how much money that was.

That said, 2013 was a year of ‘meh’ for me, as far as new releases were concerned.  I felt let down by a lot of the big buzz movies: 12 Years a Slave was superbly acted, but felt disjointed; Gravity managed to not excite me visually or emotionally; Frances Ha just felt like Baumbach’s version of Girls; Elysium was a snooze fest where I found myself rooting for the bad guys because they at least had more character. I was also excited for both Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and while neither particularly disappointed me (well, the whole Star Trek reboot I’ve always had issues with, but whatever) they didn’t excite me either.

I was, however, surprised by a couple of movies I saw on a lark: The Bling Ring was surprisingly watchable, Saving Mr. Banks was genuinely well done, Blue is the Warmest Color wasn’t entirely French junk, and The World’s End was a ton of fun. I also would include Wolf of Wall Street in this category, but I’ll be expounding on that one at a later date. [Update: Here you go.]

So, here’s my list of the best and the worst, aka, the movies that, at the very least, made me say something other than “Meh.”
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The Cosmic Circle: Outside ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

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Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Written and Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
104 min.

Some spoilers ahead.

Inside Llewyn Davis is a frustrating movie. It’s difficult to know how to approach it. Going in, you either know something about the folk music scene of NYC in the early 1960’s, or you don’t—and either way seems to handicap a viewer looking to make sense out of the film. Those who have a familiarity with the subject will be running through their head for facts, looking for characters who correspond to real people, wondering ‘Will Dylan be in this?’ They will be distracted, and in the end, it will not be a very rewarding experience. On the other hand, those who go in blind will probably get lazy and blame their misunderstanding of the film on their ignorance of the subject, thinking it to be full of inside jokes.

If you can somehow make it past that built-in obstacle course, you’ll be able to view the film for what it is—another Coen Brothers film about a cosmic circle. A man, standing still (a la Ray from Blood Simple, H.I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona, Jerry Lundegaard from Fargo, Barton Fink, The Dude) while at the same time, going on an adventure (a la Tom Regan from Miller’s Crossing, Rooster Cogburn from True Grit, Llewelyn Moss—practically sharing the first name of our main character—from No Country For Old Men, Ulysses Everett McGill from O Brother, Where Art Thou?—literally sharing the first name as our other main character, a cat).
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Anchorman 2: The Pursuit of Stupidity

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Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
Directed by Adam McKay
Written by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay
119 min.

There’s a certain kind of joke that makes you groan.  Airplane! is built out of these jokes—every moment in Airplane! is a joke so cheesy, obvious, and bizarre in its construction that the only apt response is a groan and an eye roll.  This is a joyous, appreciative response.  The jokes work.  “Let’s get some pictures!”—and then all the reporters take pictures off the wall.  It’s so fucking stupid and obvious—yet something you’d never expect.  It’s playful and silly and not the least bit offensive.  And these jokes may appear simplistic, but they aren’t.

Invisibility is the best friend of style.  The more ‘obvious’ a joke may seem, often times, the more creativity there is underneath its surface.  The jokes in Airplane! are not ‘stupid’—they’re clever and advanced.  They are meta, esoteric, and the epitome of auteurism.

Anchorman, Wet Hot American Summer, Freddy Got Fingered, Spaceballs, and Airplane! are not only are they some of the greatest comedies of all time, they are some of the most interesting meta-artistic achievements of all time.
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The Man Who Built R2D2 and Brought us ‘Battlefield Earth’: An Interview with Roger Christian (Part 2)

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Editor’s Note: If you haven’t read Part 1 of this interview, do so before reading on.
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