AMERICAN SPLENDOR

[The Mule]

For those of you who live in a city where this has opened (hope it does well enough to go wider), I urge you all to check out AMERICAN SPLENDOR.

As a fan of Harvey Pekar's comics over the years, I have to say that I think they brought it to the screen perfectly. Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis are fantastic and, if there's any justice, they'll get Oscar nominations.

The filmmakers--documentarians to this point in their careers--take all kinds of chances mixing dramatic narrative, documentary, animation, and comic book art. It works brilliantly.

Funny, warm, and ultimately uplifting in a way perpetual crank Pekar would no doubt approve.

[Alexander]

I can't wait to see this!

[moneyp]

Me too. Saw the trailer and it looked wonderful. Unfortunately, the only local theaters it happens to be playing in at the moment are dumps.

[BruceH]

I'm seeing this as soon as it opens in a 'theater near me.' Which is to say, in a theater within a 75-mile radius of me.

[skeith]

I agree the Mule. It's a fun movie. Did you notice all the great music in the film, including jazz of course. But what about the "original" Freddy Freeloader and Blue in Green ripoffs? Miles could sue, or maybe it should be Bill, or both?

[BruceH]

BTW, has anyone seen the documentary "Capturing the Friedmans"?

[The Mule]

I agree the Mule. It's a fun movie. Did you notice all the great music in the film, including jazz of course. But what about the "original" Freddy Freeloader and Blue in Green ripoffs? Miles could sue, or maybe it should be Bill, or both?

I started a thread in the Artists session about the Joe Maneri tune that plays over the opening credits. You should check it out.

With regard to the Davis/Bill Evans ripoff...It's VERY common for motion picture composers to include soundalike themes based on well-known tunes. They change the tune just enough to evoke the feel of that music and yet the producers don't have to license the rights! This tactic is even more common in television commercials.

[skeith]

I didn't know that The Mule.

By the way, my comments about the ripoffs are not meant to discourage anyone from seeing the film or enjoying the rest of the music, which I did immensely and I think others will too.

[BruceH]

Just saw this Friday and liked it a lot. Swinging back and forth between actors playing Harvey & co. and showing the real people worked far better than one would expect. Perhaps if you've read the comic, you've already seen Pekar drawn by different people, so having the same guy look different is no big deal. Although my wife liked it too, and she's never read any issues of the comic. I thought Giamatti was damn near brilliant; he had the body language and everything down to a T. While I haven't seen everything he's done, this has got to be one of his best performances. I'd also have to say that while having read the comic naturally helps, I don't think you NEED to have read it at all to enjoy the film. Which means it has the potential to reach a (relatively) wide audience. Be interesting to see if it does. It's been selling out here in SF, but of course that means nothing. And hey, it's got jazz, and jazz collecting in it, so all you board-members GO SEE IT!