Especially because there are some good movies out there. Even though Hollywood hasn't tempted me with much so far this year (I'll make it to Inside Man soon) the festival circuit has provided some interesting, and unusually entertaining, options.
Friends with Money (which premiered at Sundance) is like the opposite of the aforementioned Big Dumb Hollywood Comedy. You could split this one four ways and I'd be just as happy. That's because we get Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand as the quartet of principal characters for writer/director Nicole Holofcener, who previously made smart, talky, small indies Walking and Talking and Lovely & Amazing. Other than deciding not to title it "Friends and Money" Holofcener hasn't altered her style much: this is smart, talky and very small.So small it risks being called slight. And it is. But it's also so well acted and written, with genuinely witty dialogue, that it's silly to dismiss (or miss). All four of the leading ladies are great: Aniston is clearly most comfortable in indie films, Cusack is less wacky than usual (to good effect), Keener is a Holofcener-vet for good reason and McDormand pretty much steals the show. There are some guys in the movie too, providing solid support for the women, most notably: Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs, Greg Germann, Bob Stephenson and Ty Burrell (and, a little less notably, Scott Caan). But you can tell by the lack of marquee names in that group where the focus is.
Yeah Friends with Money is primarily about four female friends. And relationships. And sex. And money. But, although Holofcener directed some episodes, this isn't really Sex and the City. It's an indie film. If you need to, think of it less as a girly movie and more as a funny movie. That's its strength and that's enough.
Also small, indie and directed by a woman (which is still rare enough to be worth pointing out) is The Notorious Bettie Page from HBO Films and director Mary Harron. Some viewers will be frustrated that this biopic about a 1950s pin-up queen, known for both colorful nude shots and naughty underground light bondage photos, doesn't go further in exploring its subject. But I think it's a refreshing change from standard serious bios.Bettie Page is simply fun and a big part of that is due to its star, Gretchen Mol. Mol was always easy enough to write off as an actress but she delivers a truly exceptional performance here, she's so endearing it's actually impossible to imagine the movie without her. Utilizing a slight Southern accent and a perfect mix of innocence and self-assurance, Mol is in Reese Witherspoon territory. There's not a false moment. It's the breakthrough performance she's been working towards her whole rocky career. Who knew?
I love it when actors defy preconceived notions, but that's not the only pleasure of Bettie Page. As a filmmaker Harron has a lot of fun with both style and subject matter, creating a love letter to movies of the period. The bulk of the film is in black and white but there are some gorgeous "Technicolor" interludes later on and visual tribute is paid to everything from high school dramas to "instructional" shorts to lush melodramas to film noir.
And even though the film doesn't probe very deeply into the real Bettie Page there's something wonderful about a movie that centers around a lead character who poses nude and is deeply Christian, and she isn't judged for either one.
It's also worth mentioning some of the very entertaining supporting performances, especially from Chris Bauer, Lili Taylor and Jared Harris as a close-knit "family" of pornographers (1950s-style). Above all this movie is a portrait of a bygone era when it was truly possible to be naughty and nice at the same time. In other words, it's the sweetest movie involving light bondage ever made.
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