Movie of the Week – Adaptation.

This week’s movie: Adaptation. (2002)

Acclaimed screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is hired to adapt the novel The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. The trouble is – he is having a very difficult time finding the story he wants to tell. He begins to snoop into the life of the book’s author for clues only to find himself pulled into a whole ordeal. And, the make matters worse, his nincompoop brother, Donald, has decided to write a terrible screenplay on a whim, but seems to be receiving praise from everyone around him, making Charlie’s stress and frustration with his own failings all the more unbearable.

The director-writer team of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman earned a ton of praise for their film Being John Malkovich, leading expectations to be incredibly high for Adaptation. Jonze brings his group of collaborators back with him again, including: composer Carter Burwell, cinematographer Lance Acord, and production designer K.K. Barrett.

The cast is fantastic, starring Nicolas Cage as Charlie and Donald Kaufman (giving maybe his best performance of his career – perfectly tapping into his own madness in a very positive and beneficial way). Tilda Swinton, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper (who won an Oscar for his work), Jim Beaver, Cara Seymour, Judy Greer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ron Livingston, and Brian Cox feature in support.

The film is insane. Being John Malkovich is very ambitious and different (as are Kaufman’s other projects Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Synecdoche, New York), but Adaptation. is insane. Just watch the film – but continue reading if you do not mind some spoilers. Kaufman sets out to actually adapt Orlean’s book about orchids, but ends up writing himself into the story along with his fictional brother (a brother that the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences also nominated for best writing). Kaufman also turns the film into some kind of crazy thriller, filled with sex and drugs. It is a book about flowers that becomes an over the top Hollywood action film (of sorts) – utter madness. Jonze delivers fantastic directing and gets brilliant performances from his cast. This is one of the best and most interesting films of the last decade.

Trailer: Here

Available on: Blu-ray and Video On-Demand

TV Series of the Month - Band of Brothers

This month’s series is Band of Brothers.

The HBO miniseries is about the story of Easy Company (part of the US Army’s 101^st Airborne Division) and their exploits during WWII in Europe from Operation Overlord through V-J Day. The show is by creators Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg based on the novel by Stephen Ambrose.  The whole cast is fantastic (the casting director(s) did an amazingly good job finding these guys). The stand outs are Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Scott Grimes, Shane Taylor, and Frank John Hughes. There are also a few guest/cameo appearances from better known actors throughout. The aesthetics of the show are also incredible. The score, cinematography, production design, special effects, writing, everything is superb and the best of anything on TV. Every episode (though there are only 10) is great, my favorites being Day of Days, Bastogne and The Breaking Point. The show succeeds not just because of the historical implications or the very well done action sequences, it is my favorite show of all-time (making it a great series to kick off this new monthly article series) because the story is done in such a way (with tons of characters and little time) that you really get to know, like and care about every principal character, which gets you very invested in the show, characters and lives of these men. The show is a must for WWII fans and those that like outstanding television, as this is the best. Check out the series trailer.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD and to Rent