Writer, director and actress Rebecca Miller discusses a few of her favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)
The Ballad Of Jack And Rose (2005)
The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee (2009)
Maggie’s Plan (2015)
Explorers (1985)
The Way We Were (1973)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Annie Hall (1977)
Repulsion (1965)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Knife In The Water (1962)
The Tenant (1976)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Persona (1966)
The Magician (1958)
Hour Of The Wolf (1968)
The Virgin Spring (1960)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Shining (1980)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Regarding Henry (1991)
Angela (1995)
Badlands (1973)
Casino (1995)
On The Waterfront (1954)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Jules and Jim (1962)
The Bitter Tears Of Petra von Kant (1972)
Wings Of Desire (1987)
The Killer Inside Me (1976)
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Married To The Mob (1988)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Dune (1984)
Imitation Of Life (1934)
Imitation Of Life (1959)
Written On The Wind (1956)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
All That Heaven Allows...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)
The Ballad Of Jack And Rose (2005)
The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee (2009)
Maggie’s Plan (2015)
Explorers (1985)
The Way We Were (1973)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Annie Hall (1977)
Repulsion (1965)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Knife In The Water (1962)
The Tenant (1976)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Persona (1966)
The Magician (1958)
Hour Of The Wolf (1968)
The Virgin Spring (1960)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Shining (1980)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Regarding Henry (1991)
Angela (1995)
Badlands (1973)
Casino (1995)
On The Waterfront (1954)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Jules and Jim (1962)
The Bitter Tears Of Petra von Kant (1972)
Wings Of Desire (1987)
The Killer Inside Me (1976)
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Married To The Mob (1988)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Dune (1984)
Imitation Of Life (1934)
Imitation Of Life (1959)
Written On The Wind (1956)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
All That Heaven Allows...
- 5/11/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Adapted from a German art-house film, adorned with a noir-ish title, swathed in a '30s romantic comedy plot line and outfitted with two certifiable Hollywood stars (Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan), "City of Angels" is a lot of things, and it shows.
Playing up the romance rather than the haunted angst of Wim Wenders' 1988 film "Wings of Desire", this Warner Bros. release is a lusciously lensed yet erratically patched work that scrapes off "Wings'" philosophical subject matter in favor of an opposites-attract love story.
In athletics, there's a type of athlete who is too big and slow to play one position but too small and quick to play another -- that is, someone who doesn't quite fit in. Similarly, "City of Angels" is too abstract and clinical for mainstream audiences but too bland and unbelievable for select-site sophisticates. It's a tweener, not likely to please anyone completely. Boxoffice will be decidedly earthbound, rather than heavenly, clipped by lackluster word-of-mouth after a promising, star-propelled first weekend.
As one may recall, Wenders' film centered around an angel distraught by the nature of his existence. Resigned to roam the earth viewing human behavior but never experiencing human emotion, the angel yearned to be alive, to feel emotion, joy as well as pain. The film was, above all, a celluloid treatise on the nature of being, what it means to be alive. The angel ultimately fell in love with a circus performer and traded his immortality for pleasures of the "flesh," both spiritual and carnal.
The haunting lyricism of Wenders' film has been superseded here by gimmickry: The filmmakers have molded Wenders' plot line around a standard, Hollywood-ish love story of mismatched lovers and sacrificial longing. Wenders' film was never about plot, but that's about all that remains in this homogenous reincarnation: Dewy-eyed angel Seth (Cage) in his earthly wanderings, mainly through libraries and on top of high rises, spots a blonde cardiovascular surgeon, Maggie Ryan), and falls in love. Even by angelic standards, Seth is a tad on the ethereal side and, well, Maggie is definitely from Mars, as in "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus." She's aggressive, driven, cold, analytical and aloof; kindly put, she is people-skills impaired and has a chilly bedside manner rivaled only by the Eric La Salle character on "E.R". Put an umlaut over "yukk" and you'd have a good German description of Ryan's character. In short, the only thing appealing about the pert doctor is that she, well, looks like Meg Ryan.
Fine lead performances from Cage and Ryan are, alas, adrift in the film's ill-defined nature. As love-longing Seth, Cage's portrayal is ripe with frustration and unfulfilled desire; ultimately, it is rendered just plain woozy by director Brad Silberling's unsteady grip on what exactly the film wants to be. As the crisp cardiovascular surgeon, Ryan exudes the proper competitive arrogance associated with that branch of practice; admittedly, one is confounded by an angel falling for this sort of being.
Seth's essential void of being has been narrowed from a philosophical/psychological/romantic angst to the mere scope of a generic Hollywood movie plot line. Admittedly, there's nothing wrong with that, but unlike the classic Hollywood romantic comedies, such as the "Topper" series with its fun, ectoplasmic angels, this formulaic, dewy romance has been outfitted in the austere, Teutonic aesthetics of Wenders' film. In essence, screenwriter Dana Stevens' adaptation, which consists mainly of moving the romance to the forefront, dilutes the rich excellence of the story's promising scope.
Similarly, Silberling's literal rendering of the cold, expressionistic aspects of Wenders' film imbues this work with a conflicted, dual personality; it's neither a satisfying romance nor a substantive philosophical piece, akin to delivering a wedding cake in a grim paper bag.
As such, one is reduced to savoring good spots, found mainly in the supporting performances of Andre Braugher as a beatific angel and Dennis Franz, a burly cardiac patient who knows Seth's real nature and identity. In isolation, and certainly not in relation to Silberling's atonal creation, the technical contributions are superb. John Seale's gloriously luminous, expressionistic framings are dense and packed with implication, while Gabriel Yared's spare, astringent score evokes depths of meaning not only skirted but avoided in this uneven, romantic abstraction. Technically, the film is truly with the angels, but neither the scripting nor the directing gives it any wings.
"City of Angels" is dedicated to the late Dawn Steel, one of its producers.
CITY OF ANGELS
Warner Bros.
in association with Regency Pictures
An Atlas Entertainment production
A Brad Silberling film
Producers:Dawn Steel, Charles Roven
Director:Brad Silberling
Screenwriter:Dana Stevens
Based on the film "Wings of Desire", directed by Wim Wenders, written by Wim Wenders, Richard Reitinger, Peter Handke
Executive producers:Arnon Milchan, Charles Newirth, Robert Cavallo
Director of photography:John Seale
Production designer:Lilly Kilvert
Editor:Lynzee Klingman
Co-producers:Douglas Segal, Kelley Smith-Wait
Music:Gabriel Yared
Music supervisor:Danny Bramson
Costume designer:Shay Cunliffe
Casting:David Rubin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Seth:Nicolas Cage
Maggie:Meg Ryan
Cassiel:Andre Braugher
Messinger:Dennis Franz
Jordan:Colm Feore
Anne:Robin Bartlett
Teresa:Joanna Merlin
Susan:Sarah Dampf
Running time -- 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Playing up the romance rather than the haunted angst of Wim Wenders' 1988 film "Wings of Desire", this Warner Bros. release is a lusciously lensed yet erratically patched work that scrapes off "Wings'" philosophical subject matter in favor of an opposites-attract love story.
In athletics, there's a type of athlete who is too big and slow to play one position but too small and quick to play another -- that is, someone who doesn't quite fit in. Similarly, "City of Angels" is too abstract and clinical for mainstream audiences but too bland and unbelievable for select-site sophisticates. It's a tweener, not likely to please anyone completely. Boxoffice will be decidedly earthbound, rather than heavenly, clipped by lackluster word-of-mouth after a promising, star-propelled first weekend.
As one may recall, Wenders' film centered around an angel distraught by the nature of his existence. Resigned to roam the earth viewing human behavior but never experiencing human emotion, the angel yearned to be alive, to feel emotion, joy as well as pain. The film was, above all, a celluloid treatise on the nature of being, what it means to be alive. The angel ultimately fell in love with a circus performer and traded his immortality for pleasures of the "flesh," both spiritual and carnal.
The haunting lyricism of Wenders' film has been superseded here by gimmickry: The filmmakers have molded Wenders' plot line around a standard, Hollywood-ish love story of mismatched lovers and sacrificial longing. Wenders' film was never about plot, but that's about all that remains in this homogenous reincarnation: Dewy-eyed angel Seth (Cage) in his earthly wanderings, mainly through libraries and on top of high rises, spots a blonde cardiovascular surgeon, Maggie Ryan), and falls in love. Even by angelic standards, Seth is a tad on the ethereal side and, well, Maggie is definitely from Mars, as in "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus." She's aggressive, driven, cold, analytical and aloof; kindly put, she is people-skills impaired and has a chilly bedside manner rivaled only by the Eric La Salle character on "E.R". Put an umlaut over "yukk" and you'd have a good German description of Ryan's character. In short, the only thing appealing about the pert doctor is that she, well, looks like Meg Ryan.
Fine lead performances from Cage and Ryan are, alas, adrift in the film's ill-defined nature. As love-longing Seth, Cage's portrayal is ripe with frustration and unfulfilled desire; ultimately, it is rendered just plain woozy by director Brad Silberling's unsteady grip on what exactly the film wants to be. As the crisp cardiovascular surgeon, Ryan exudes the proper competitive arrogance associated with that branch of practice; admittedly, one is confounded by an angel falling for this sort of being.
Seth's essential void of being has been narrowed from a philosophical/psychological/romantic angst to the mere scope of a generic Hollywood movie plot line. Admittedly, there's nothing wrong with that, but unlike the classic Hollywood romantic comedies, such as the "Topper" series with its fun, ectoplasmic angels, this formulaic, dewy romance has been outfitted in the austere, Teutonic aesthetics of Wenders' film. In essence, screenwriter Dana Stevens' adaptation, which consists mainly of moving the romance to the forefront, dilutes the rich excellence of the story's promising scope.
Similarly, Silberling's literal rendering of the cold, expressionistic aspects of Wenders' film imbues this work with a conflicted, dual personality; it's neither a satisfying romance nor a substantive philosophical piece, akin to delivering a wedding cake in a grim paper bag.
As such, one is reduced to savoring good spots, found mainly in the supporting performances of Andre Braugher as a beatific angel and Dennis Franz, a burly cardiac patient who knows Seth's real nature and identity. In isolation, and certainly not in relation to Silberling's atonal creation, the technical contributions are superb. John Seale's gloriously luminous, expressionistic framings are dense and packed with implication, while Gabriel Yared's spare, astringent score evokes depths of meaning not only skirted but avoided in this uneven, romantic abstraction. Technically, the film is truly with the angels, but neither the scripting nor the directing gives it any wings.
"City of Angels" is dedicated to the late Dawn Steel, one of its producers.
CITY OF ANGELS
Warner Bros.
in association with Regency Pictures
An Atlas Entertainment production
A Brad Silberling film
Producers:Dawn Steel, Charles Roven
Director:Brad Silberling
Screenwriter:Dana Stevens
Based on the film "Wings of Desire", directed by Wim Wenders, written by Wim Wenders, Richard Reitinger, Peter Handke
Executive producers:Arnon Milchan, Charles Newirth, Robert Cavallo
Director of photography:John Seale
Production designer:Lilly Kilvert
Editor:Lynzee Klingman
Co-producers:Douglas Segal, Kelley Smith-Wait
Music:Gabriel Yared
Music supervisor:Danny Bramson
Costume designer:Shay Cunliffe
Casting:David Rubin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Seth:Nicolas Cage
Maggie:Meg Ryan
Cassiel:Andre Braugher
Messinger:Dennis Franz
Jordan:Colm Feore
Anne:Robin Bartlett
Teresa:Joanna Merlin
Susan:Sarah Dampf
Running time -- 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
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