Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Take A Great Trip...
..and I don't mean ex-Yugoslavia... Go see 'Taking Woodstock,' the Ang Lee film based on the memoirs of Elliot Tiber (far left), the long-suffering, closeted Jewish gay man who made Woodstock happen while trying to rescue his eccentric parents' failing Catskills motel..This lively trailer doesn't show the whole movie and is but a foretaste of the great fun this film offers...
The film offers a take on the landmark festival that is hilarious, sweet, perhaps rose-colored and decidedly personal and peripheral. Don't walk in expecting to hear music, for there's barely a note... Director Ang Lee's daring decision to cast stand-up comedian Demetri Martin as Elliot pays off in spades, as Martin inhabits Elliot with a mix of subtlety, wistfulness, and nervous, creative energy. Here's a snippet of Martin's live act...
The supporting cast is terrific! Elliot's cantankerous Mom is an unrecognizable Imelda Staunton (of Vera Drake!), Emile Hirsch plays a Vietnam vet misfit, Liev Schreiber is a transvestite security guard, Eugene Levy is an enterprising chocolate milk producer, and Paul Dano appears briefly as a bi-curious stoner from the West Coast... Liev Schreiber is particularly brilliant. Watch him discuss the film...
It's another bulls-eye for Ang Lee, an all-time favorite director, who gave us 'Brokeback Mountain,' 'The Ice Storm,' 'Crouching Tiger,' and many other memorable movie experiences... For a Taiwanese immigrant and a low-key, straight, family man, he has an uncanny feel for our collective memory and he understands gay concerns and passions - besides 'Brokeback' and 'Woodstock,' Lee invited us to 'The Wedding Banquet.'
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