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Check out these three great new (or new-ish) films opening in November at Circle Cinema.
Now comes that month boasting not just Thanksgiving and its subsequent Black Friday shopping bonanza but also the arrival of the “holiday season” as it pertains to movie fans. This is when we start seeing the sort of schlocky Hollywood fare that gets tagged in trailers with — watch out — “Just in time for the holidays ... ”
Yet it’s also, of course, when many of the year’s top Oscar contenders get released, one after another, often in rapid succession throughout the weeks between Turkey Day and New Year’s — so that there’s always, in any year-end reckoning, at least a couple of big-time, major-studio blockbusters to look forward to.
And if that’s as far as your movie-going takes you at this time of year, so be it. And enjoy.
But amid the myriad of bright and shiny “holiday openings” occurring nowadays at your friendly neighborhood multiplex, don’t overlook the following three films — all of them quite good and all of them opening this month at Circle Cinema, 12 S. Lewis Ave. (For more information, including ticket availability and showtimes, visit www.circlecinema.com or call 592-FILM.)
“Coco Before Chanel” (opening Nov. 6)
Here’s a refreshingly non-biopic-like biopic concerning the hardscrabble early life and rise to fame of the legendry fashion designer. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and her sister Adrienne, left at an orphanage as children, eventually gain some celebrity by singing in a French provincial music hall. Gabrielle, as played by the delightful Audrey Tautou (of “Amélie” fame), is actually less than delightful for much of the narrative — in fact, as a character, she’s often downright unlikable — and the film is all the better (and more interesting) for it. Not just a singer but a seamstress as well, Gabrielle is impulsive, scheming, ambitious, conflicted — and, of course, brilliant and ever original when it comes to clothing. (Her hats are what first gain her the attention of those with money and influence.) It’s a gorgeous film to look at, as you’d expect, if only for the costumes — and, as it has done in many other parts of the country already, it’s expected to draw crowds. As one Circle staffer told me: “It will probably be the biggest film we get this year.”
“Art & Copy” (opening Nov. 20)
The title of this documentary refers to the two defining elements (or, if you like, two essential ingredients) that comprise any advertisement: the art and the copy, the visual imagery and the written text of the ad itself. As we learn here, when we’re talking about advertising in America, art directors and copywriters have really only been working together closely, and collaborating seriously, since the late 1960s or early ’70s. Before that, you basically had the world of TV’s “Mad Men” — things were not just more buttoned-down at the office; they were more compartmentalized, and the ads of the time reveal as much. But then … ka-pow! The ‘60s were in full swing, and along came these free-thinking creative-types who were also especially driven businesspeople — individuals such as Lee Clow, Mary Wells, George Lois and Hal Riney, all of whom are ad-industry legends by now, and all of whom appear in this film as (usually insightful, never dull) talking heads. If you’re keen to hear about both the creativity and the consumer-savvy behind such indelible campaigns and slogans as “Clairol Lets Me Be Me,” “I Want My MTV” and Nike’s “Just Do It,” then this compelling doc (much like “this Bud”) is for you.
“Paris” (opening Nov. 27)
The city as muse; the city as movie. One great city’s people, streets, buildings and landmarks serve as choreographed components of a larger whole that’s been captured in a film of breezy beauty and comic charm. People are the main elements being captured — and choreographed — here, and, indeed, the protagonist of “Paris” is a dancer (played by Romain Duris) who, upon learning that he has a serious ailment and must therefore passively await surgery, watches the city go by, day after day, from the window of his apartment. And what a spectacle — it’s the City of Light, after all. “Paris” is a movie of multiple characters and various plotlines, some major and others minor, some overlapping and others not. In this regard, the work of Robert Altman is echoed, and the performance of Juliette Binoche in this movie, as the caring, maternal, generous yet lonely older sister of the aforesaid dancer, reminded me at times of Lily Tomlin’s performance (and role) in Altman’s “Nashville.” Beauty, as everyone knows, can exist on the outside and the inside. And, speaking of beauty, the music of French Impressionist composer Erik Satie is employed in “Paris” to great effect.
Scott Gregory hosts “All This Jazz” on Public Radio 89.5 KWGS, where he also serves as the producer and editor of “Studio Tulsa.”
