12/24/13 Pocahontas, Best Original Song, Best Original Musical Score, 1995
I think this was the second time I saw Pocahontas because apparently it didn't stick the first time. Pocahontas tells something resembling the story of the Jamestown settlement in the new colony of Virginia, and the meeting of the English settlers and the Powhatan Indians. I must have been doing my best imitation of a crab-ass while watching this, but I didn't care (and I should care, I majored in American history for crying out loud and love that part of the country) about Mel Gibson prancing around the Virginia forest as John Smith (actually an animated John Smith). It's always nice to see strong female characters in film, animated or otherwise, but this movie didn't do anything for me. The requisite 'bad guy' Governor Ratcliffe (voiced by David Ogden Stiers) was so-so is greedy and has come to Virginia to find gold; John Smith comes to help fight the "savages" only to fall in love with one of them, Pocahontas (Irene Bedard). Pocahontas won for Best Original Song and Best Original Musical Score beating out Randy Newman for the Toy Story soundtrack and "You've Got a Friend in Me" and I think that was a mistake. I'd be willing to guess more people know "You've Got a Friend in Me" compared to "Colors of the Wind". There are a lot better animated films out there (I think even the animals were pretty lame) and if you want a strong female character, check out Brave or Jasmine in Aladdin (don't get me wrong, Pocahontas is great character, the vehicle doesn't do her justice).
12/25/13 Saving Mr. Banks, not yet nominated, 2013
There is pretty much universal agreement that Saving Mr. Banks will receive a few Oscar nominations, so I feel safe in reviewing it and joining the crowds in praising the movie. Saving Mr. Banks tells the story of how Walt Disney brought our beloved Mary Poppins to the screen. We learn that Disney (Tom Hanks) pursued P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) twenty years for the film rights to Mary Poppins. Hanks plays Disney with an ebullient determination, he believes in the world he has created where dreams come true. Travers is portrayed as a woman fighting to control everything that she possibly can; she is very tightly wound and doesn't break into a smile very often, so when she does, you feel like she means it. There is a whole childhood full of reasons why she must be in command and those are shown to us in flashbacks. Normally I have little patience for flashbacks because they can be used as a crutch and detract from the story, but in this case, I think they keep the viewer interested and emotionally invested in the story of Mrs. Travers (as she insists on being called, not Pam or Pamela). Travers grew up in Australia and idolized her father played by Colin Farrell; her father had a bit of a romantic spirit and shared that with his daughter; he also had a drinking problem which played havoc with his career as a banker and his marriage. Travers' view of Mary Poppins seems to differ greatly from Walt and his creative team's, they see the whimsy and potential for fun while Travers has a more serious take. This makes for some pretty funny scenes (there are real tapes made during these working sessions that were used as reference). Thompson is so restrained in her portrayal, I felt like I could see her as Travers struggling to keep a lid on her emotions and protect this woman she created. I thought she was marvelous, and one of my favorite moments of the film comes in the second half of the film and she shows her humanity showing some empathy and encouragement for her chauffeur, played by Paul Giammatti. You get the feeling she doesn't do that very often, so it probably means a lot.While I think this was a fabulous film, telling the story of one of the most beloved film characters and the making of the movie, this is not for little kids, it is not actually Mary Poppins. While there is no violence and hardly any swearing, there are some very heavy moments, including an attempted suicide. I don't know that kids need to see that. I went the my movie-viewing friends and Esteban who is 14 actually liked it a lot more than he thought he would (we usually go see super hero movies, so this was a bit of a risk). It is a fabulous movie and very eye-opening, and it made me love Mary Poppins even more.
Movie smorgasbord - American Beauty, Sophie's Choice, American Hustle
It's a good thing that movies have no caloric value or I would be in huge trouble. It has been seven days and over 15 movies so far. These weren't puff pieces, either, so I hope my reviews do them justice, especially because I liked these movies.
12/18/13 American Beauty, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, 1999
Let me start this one off this way: prior to watching American Beauty I marked it as 'not interested' on my Netflix, meaning, please do not show this movie to me ever again. After watching it, it is now rated with 4 stars (5 stars is saved for movies that make me cry). So, the list giveth and the list taketh away, and it finally giveth. When this movie came out there was nothing about it that intrigued me, and even for the first 45 minutes or so, I didn't want to like it and was writing the review in my head that was funny and sarcastic, and then damn it all, I started to like it. I think I was being too literal or something, but then Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) took a turn and then it all clicked into place. Lester Burnham is suffering through what seems to be a terrible midlife crisis or slump that is not helped by his control-freak wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening) or his distant and morose daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). Spacey plays Burnham in a way that is hard to describe, but it works and I found myself cheering for him to do something outrageous, and then I cheered when he didn't and showed humanity to some of the other characters. The disdain between Lester and Carolyn is palpable. The dynamic of the Burnhams is changed when their new neighbors move in and the son, Ricky develops an infatuation with Jane (Ricky sells pot and makes videos). Ricky's dad, played by Chris Cooper, is a retired Marine Corps colonel who is very strict, domineering and homophobic; needless to say, expect some conflict. The performances of some of the main characters verges on caricature, but not too far, and once I figured that out (sorry if I'm a little slow), that's when it started to get funny; there were moments when it seemed like a Coen brothers movie. There is a lot going on in this movie, so much that Wikipedia has sections on the symbolism, etc. and I did not quite see the end coming the way it did, and you'll just have to watch it for yourself. If you have not seen it, I definitely recommend it (if you start watching and are like, um, no, give it to at least the one hour mark, if you're not convinced, then turn it off, you're hopeless).
12/18/13 Murder on a Sunday Morning, Best Feature Documentary, 2001
Murder on a Sunday Morning follows the case of Jacksonville, Florida versus Brenton Butler for the murder of a tourist. Brenton was fifteen at the time, and his two attorneys are featured as they lay out their strategy for his defense, their counter-arguments to the evidence provided by the sheriff's department and the prosecution. The passion of his two public defenders, Ann Finnell and Patrick McGuinness, and their work to disprove the prosecution's case. It is interesting to watch them walk through their theories and then put them to the test in the examination and cross-examination of the witnesses. There is no attempt to show both sides of the story or get the prosecution's perspective, this is clearly a film that is focused on Brenton and his defense. We don't get a lot of time with Brenton himself because he is incarcerated during the filming, but we get glimpses of his family and his extended support system. There is a lot right with the way the justice system is supposed to work in this country, and Finnell and McGuinness represent that and those who may not have a voice. It's not quite two hours long and I think it's worth watching (I had apparently watched it several years ago, but didn't remember enough of it to write a review from memory, so if I can watch it twice, you can watch it once). Think of it as food for your brain during this holiday season.
12/21/13 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1975 AFI, #33
Some of you may remember that a couple of weeks ago I tried to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but was foiled by a faulty disk. But, you can't get an hour into a movie and then just give up, so I rearranged my Netflix queue and bumped it to the top of the list. Jack Nicholson (Best Actor) stars as RP McMurphy ("Mac"), a criminal who has been sent to a mental hospital for his anti-social behavior. McMurphy meets doctor and head nurse, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher who won Best Actress), and they are not all that amused by his antics and attempts to liven up the ward. The other patients are somewhat amused by McMurphy's questioning of authority, but a little nervous by his flaunting of the rules. Mac builds special bonds with two patients, Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif, who may be familiar to newer audiences from his role as the Doctor in Deadwood) who stutters and is painfully shy; and "Chief" (Will Sampson) an American Indian whom everyone believes to be deaf and mute, but Mac persists in talking with him and engaging him in his plots. The whole cast is terrific to watch, including Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd as two of the patients. We learn through one scene that most of the patients are voluntary committals, compared to Mac who has been sent for observation to determine his future sentence and location. Nurse Ratched is played so subtly and controlled by Louise Fletcher, especially in comparison to the raving and energetic performance by Nicholson. It's a great juxtaposition of two characters, and 'the establishment' versus 'the counter-culture/anti-authoritarian movement'. There are some comedic moments, but overall I would say it's a drama, and the ending is bittersweet. I have not been a Jack Nicholson fan (meaning I don't run out to movies just because Jack Nicholson is in it) and I think he sometimes plays the same character, and that could be just in later movies, but here, he is spot on. I hope Hollywood is not dumb enough to try and re-make this movie when they run out of ideas in the near future, because the actor who is unlucky enough to play Mac is setting himself up for almost sure failure. Nurse Ratched is a frequently referenced character, especially when someone is authoritarian, controlling and unfeeling, but I wonder how many people have seen the movie. Well, now I have. Not only did One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest win the five major categories at the Oscars, it is also number 33 on the American Film Institute's 100 Best Films and it is on the National Film Registry's list of films that should be preserved. If that doesn't make you run out to rent this movie, then we probably shouldn't see each other anymore.
12/22/13 Sophie's Choice, Best Actress, 1982, AFI #91
I tried to watch Sophie's Choice a long time ago and could not get into it, it wasn't what I expected and it moved too slowly for me, so I gave up. The list has a way to bring things back around and that's what happened here. I tried to have a different mindset and let the movie unfold slowly, it was hard, I have to be honest; I think what made it hard was that I knew something was going to happen, and I wanted it to happen. In this case, anticipation was not my friend. Sophie's Choice is set in 1947, just two years after the end of World War II, and Stingo (Peter MacNicol) has relocated from the South to Brooklyn where he aspires to be a writer. He moves into a room in a large Victorian house and meets his new neighbors, Sophie Zawistowski (Meryl Streep), a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz and her star-crossed lover, Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline), an American Jew with a troubled emotional and mental history. The story as it is told in 1947 is about the relationship and friendship of the trio as well as their conflicts. As Stingo learns more about Sophie, on whom he develops a crush, and her life in Poland, the story goes into flashbacks, and the truth about Sophie's past starts to reveal. Meryl Streep won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Sophie and solidified her reputation as a mistress of dialects and languages (many may not remember her role in the 1978 television miniseries Holocaust as James Woods' gentile wife - the whole series is powerful and I highly recommend it). Sophie and Nathan have a complicated and combustible relationship that is passionate one minute and then torn apart the next minute. Poor Stingo is caught in the middle and not sure exactly what is happening between his friends. The pieces start to come together over time as he learns about both Nathan and Sophie's past. It is a powerful movie and Streep is undeniably wonderful; Kline plays manic pretty well (this is a notch lower than his over-the-top performance in A Fish Called Wanda) and Peter MacNicol's character of Stingo and Jozef Sommer as the older Stingo and narrator, are sympathetic storytellers. The end of the movie was not totally unexpected and yet it kind of was.
12/22/13 American Hustle, not yet nominated, 2013
My friends and I made a date to see American Hustle when we saw the preview at Bad Grandpa (yeah, I know). Of course the clips they show were the laugh out loud moments (I mean, Bradly Cooper with his hair in curlers and Christian Bale in a bad combover). American Hustle is getting a lot of buzz for its interpretation (it's not a strict representation of the events) of the Abscam scandal of the late 1970s and early 1980s (another event I vaguely remember from the news as it happened) and for the acting of Bale, Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Bale and Adams are Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser and they are con artists. Bradley Cooper is Richie Di Maso, an FBI agent who has great career aspirations and he busts the two of them, and they kind of have to work for him. This is a little bit of The Sting mixed with Sopranos-lite. Jennifer Lawrence is Irving's wife who is a little on the wacky side. She and Amy Adams are going to be making good movies for a long time to come (probably not the prediction of the century, but I wanted it on record). Most of the story involves Di Maso's desire to make the bust of his career, which means getting politicians to fall for his scam; and that's where things get a little complicated. Jeremy Renner is Camden Mayor, Carmine Polito, the first target of the sting, and Elisabeth Rohm is his wife, Dolly (that's Elisabeth Rohm from Law and Order - I tell you this because we did not realize it until the movie was over and you should pay attention because she was really good). American Hustle was directed by David O. Russell, director of Silver Linings Playbook. The movie has some interesting twists and it behooves you to follow the bouncing ball; it is fun watching it unfold. The score is full of songs from the 1970s, some well known, others obscure, but you can't help dancing in your seat. I liked the movie a lot, but for some reason I can't say I loved it; it may have been the length, I couldn't feel my legs when it was over after 2 plus hours.
12/18/13 American Beauty, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, 1999
Let me start this one off this way: prior to watching American Beauty I marked it as 'not interested' on my Netflix, meaning, please do not show this movie to me ever again. After watching it, it is now rated with 4 stars (5 stars is saved for movies that make me cry). So, the list giveth and the list taketh away, and it finally giveth. When this movie came out there was nothing about it that intrigued me, and even for the first 45 minutes or so, I didn't want to like it and was writing the review in my head that was funny and sarcastic, and then damn it all, I started to like it. I think I was being too literal or something, but then Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) took a turn and then it all clicked into place. Lester Burnham is suffering through what seems to be a terrible midlife crisis or slump that is not helped by his control-freak wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening) or his distant and morose daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). Spacey plays Burnham in a way that is hard to describe, but it works and I found myself cheering for him to do something outrageous, and then I cheered when he didn't and showed humanity to some of the other characters. The disdain between Lester and Carolyn is palpable. The dynamic of the Burnhams is changed when their new neighbors move in and the son, Ricky develops an infatuation with Jane (Ricky sells pot and makes videos). Ricky's dad, played by Chris Cooper, is a retired Marine Corps colonel who is very strict, domineering and homophobic; needless to say, expect some conflict. The performances of some of the main characters verges on caricature, but not too far, and once I figured that out (sorry if I'm a little slow), that's when it started to get funny; there were moments when it seemed like a Coen brothers movie. There is a lot going on in this movie, so much that Wikipedia has sections on the symbolism, etc. and I did not quite see the end coming the way it did, and you'll just have to watch it for yourself. If you have not seen it, I definitely recommend it (if you start watching and are like, um, no, give it to at least the one hour mark, if you're not convinced, then turn it off, you're hopeless).
12/18/13 Murder on a Sunday Morning, Best Feature Documentary, 2001
Murder on a Sunday Morning follows the case of Jacksonville, Florida versus Brenton Butler for the murder of a tourist. Brenton was fifteen at the time, and his two attorneys are featured as they lay out their strategy for his defense, their counter-arguments to the evidence provided by the sheriff's department and the prosecution. The passion of his two public defenders, Ann Finnell and Patrick McGuinness, and their work to disprove the prosecution's case. It is interesting to watch them walk through their theories and then put them to the test in the examination and cross-examination of the witnesses. There is no attempt to show both sides of the story or get the prosecution's perspective, this is clearly a film that is focused on Brenton and his defense. We don't get a lot of time with Brenton himself because he is incarcerated during the filming, but we get glimpses of his family and his extended support system. There is a lot right with the way the justice system is supposed to work in this country, and Finnell and McGuinness represent that and those who may not have a voice. It's not quite two hours long and I think it's worth watching (I had apparently watched it several years ago, but didn't remember enough of it to write a review from memory, so if I can watch it twice, you can watch it once). Think of it as food for your brain during this holiday season.
12/21/13 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1975 AFI, #33
Some of you may remember that a couple of weeks ago I tried to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but was foiled by a faulty disk. But, you can't get an hour into a movie and then just give up, so I rearranged my Netflix queue and bumped it to the top of the list. Jack Nicholson (Best Actor) stars as RP McMurphy ("Mac"), a criminal who has been sent to a mental hospital for his anti-social behavior. McMurphy meets doctor and head nurse, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher who won Best Actress), and they are not all that amused by his antics and attempts to liven up the ward. The other patients are somewhat amused by McMurphy's questioning of authority, but a little nervous by his flaunting of the rules. Mac builds special bonds with two patients, Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif, who may be familiar to newer audiences from his role as the Doctor in Deadwood) who stutters and is painfully shy; and "Chief" (Will Sampson) an American Indian whom everyone believes to be deaf and mute, but Mac persists in talking with him and engaging him in his plots. The whole cast is terrific to watch, including Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd as two of the patients. We learn through one scene that most of the patients are voluntary committals, compared to Mac who has been sent for observation to determine his future sentence and location. Nurse Ratched is played so subtly and controlled by Louise Fletcher, especially in comparison to the raving and energetic performance by Nicholson. It's a great juxtaposition of two characters, and 'the establishment' versus 'the counter-culture/anti-authoritarian movement'. There are some comedic moments, but overall I would say it's a drama, and the ending is bittersweet. I have not been a Jack Nicholson fan (meaning I don't run out to movies just because Jack Nicholson is in it) and I think he sometimes plays the same character, and that could be just in later movies, but here, he is spot on. I hope Hollywood is not dumb enough to try and re-make this movie when they run out of ideas in the near future, because the actor who is unlucky enough to play Mac is setting himself up for almost sure failure. Nurse Ratched is a frequently referenced character, especially when someone is authoritarian, controlling and unfeeling, but I wonder how many people have seen the movie. Well, now I have. Not only did One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest win the five major categories at the Oscars, it is also number 33 on the American Film Institute's 100 Best Films and it is on the National Film Registry's list of films that should be preserved. If that doesn't make you run out to rent this movie, then we probably shouldn't see each other anymore.
12/22/13 Sophie's Choice, Best Actress, 1982, AFI #91
I tried to watch Sophie's Choice a long time ago and could not get into it, it wasn't what I expected and it moved too slowly for me, so I gave up. The list has a way to bring things back around and that's what happened here. I tried to have a different mindset and let the movie unfold slowly, it was hard, I have to be honest; I think what made it hard was that I knew something was going to happen, and I wanted it to happen. In this case, anticipation was not my friend. Sophie's Choice is set in 1947, just two years after the end of World War II, and Stingo (Peter MacNicol) has relocated from the South to Brooklyn where he aspires to be a writer. He moves into a room in a large Victorian house and meets his new neighbors, Sophie Zawistowski (Meryl Streep), a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz and her star-crossed lover, Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline), an American Jew with a troubled emotional and mental history. The story as it is told in 1947 is about the relationship and friendship of the trio as well as their conflicts. As Stingo learns more about Sophie, on whom he develops a crush, and her life in Poland, the story goes into flashbacks, and the truth about Sophie's past starts to reveal. Meryl Streep won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Sophie and solidified her reputation as a mistress of dialects and languages (many may not remember her role in the 1978 television miniseries Holocaust as James Woods' gentile wife - the whole series is powerful and I highly recommend it). Sophie and Nathan have a complicated and combustible relationship that is passionate one minute and then torn apart the next minute. Poor Stingo is caught in the middle and not sure exactly what is happening between his friends. The pieces start to come together over time as he learns about both Nathan and Sophie's past. It is a powerful movie and Streep is undeniably wonderful; Kline plays manic pretty well (this is a notch lower than his over-the-top performance in A Fish Called Wanda) and Peter MacNicol's character of Stingo and Jozef Sommer as the older Stingo and narrator, are sympathetic storytellers. The end of the movie was not totally unexpected and yet it kind of was.
12/22/13 American Hustle, not yet nominated, 2013
My friends and I made a date to see American Hustle when we saw the preview at Bad Grandpa (yeah, I know). Of course the clips they show were the laugh out loud moments (I mean, Bradly Cooper with his hair in curlers and Christian Bale in a bad combover). American Hustle is getting a lot of buzz for its interpretation (it's not a strict representation of the events) of the Abscam scandal of the late 1970s and early 1980s (another event I vaguely remember from the news as it happened) and for the acting of Bale, Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Bale and Adams are Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser and they are con artists. Bradley Cooper is Richie Di Maso, an FBI agent who has great career aspirations and he busts the two of them, and they kind of have to work for him. This is a little bit of The Sting mixed with Sopranos-lite. Jennifer Lawrence is Irving's wife who is a little on the wacky side. She and Amy Adams are going to be making good movies for a long time to come (probably not the prediction of the century, but I wanted it on record). Most of the story involves Di Maso's desire to make the bust of his career, which means getting politicians to fall for his scam; and that's where things get a little complicated. Jeremy Renner is Camden Mayor, Carmine Polito, the first target of the sting, and Elisabeth Rohm is his wife, Dolly (that's Elisabeth Rohm from Law and Order - I tell you this because we did not realize it until the movie was over and you should pay attention because she was really good). American Hustle was directed by David O. Russell, director of Silver Linings Playbook. The movie has some interesting twists and it behooves you to follow the bouncing ball; it is fun watching it unfold. The score is full of songs from the 1970s, some well known, others obscure, but you can't help dancing in your seat. I liked the movie a lot, but for some reason I can't say I loved it; it may have been the length, I couldn't feel my legs when it was over after 2 plus hours.
Movie madness, part 2: What Dreams May Come, Aliens, Animation shorts galore
Another screen legend has departed, Joan Fontaine who starred in Rebecca and won an Oscar in Suspicion, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Fontaine's older sister is Olivia de Havilland, who starred as Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind. After my two main movie selections from the last couple of days, I probably should have stuck with the classics.
12/15/13 What Dreams May Come, Best Visual Effects, 1998
I remember when this movie came out, and something about just didn't interest me or make me want to see it. This little project of mine forces me to overcome (or try to overcome) those prejudices. However, I am going to say I was right and curse my list. Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star as Chris and Annie Nielsen who suffer the accidental deaths of their children in a car accident. Annie has an incredibly hard time in moving on and falls into a very severe depression. Chris helps Annie cope, he also has a fatal accident (I don't think this is really spoiling anything, the whole movie is based on death and the hereafter). Chris goes to what may be Heaven and must address his own demons and questions. Okay, anything else may give something important away. I found the movie far too preachy and uneven. I don't mind movies that slip in a message here or there, but I appreciate subtlety; this movie wouldn't know 'subtle' if Noah Webster himself provided the definition. The movie won for Best Visual Effects, and I will say it is a visually powerful film, full of bursts of color and shadows. Other than that, I thought it was heavy-handed and kept wishing for it to end.
12/16/13 Aliens, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, 1986
Two and half hours? TWO AND A HALF HOURS? I almost filed a complaint with Amnesty International until I acknowledged that this punishment was self-inflicted. I assumed that the sequel was also directed by Ridley Scott, and I was looking forward to it after the debacle that was What Dreams May Come. But, no, James Cameron, a man who can't stop himself from cinematic excess, directed. Again, I cursed my list. I read where some of the actors were sent to military training school to prepare for their roles. I think the time and money would have been better served for acting classes. I felt bad for Sigourney Weaver, who was the only bright spot, and her young charge, Carrie Henn, who played Newt. I actually think time stopped as I watched; I looked at the little counter as the movie played, and it never seemed to progress, I was rooting for the aliens. Damn.
12/17/13 Collection of Animated Shorts from 1979 - 1990
I have VHS tape that has this great collection of animated shorts, most of them are Oscar winners and a few are nominees. I've had it for probably 20 years, and have watched it several times over the years. It's great. I saw it on Amazon.com in DVD form, and I may have to upgrade. Don't let the animation part fool you, many of these shorts are really not suitable for kids (Creature Comforts may be the exception).
Special Delivery, 1978 One of several entries from the National Film Board of Canada, and this is probably my second favorite after Creature Comforts. The story line reads like a Coen Brothers film. It revolves around a series of misunderstandings involving a husband and wife and the postman. To say much more will spoil the surprise. I like the animation style, but I'm not sure how to describe it, kind of like watercolors, maybe? It's not claymation or stop-motion.
Every Child, 1979 This was a short that was promoting UNICEF's declaration of the rights of the child and tells the story of a child being passed from home to home, unwanted, until the baby is found by two homeless people who love the child. I supposed it would sound horribly crass to say I didn't like it, but I didn't. I think the message is great and because like many animated shorts, there really isn't any discernible dialog, it can be easily understood by anyone. I found the sound track/sound effects terribly annoying, and maybe that's where it lost me, like nails on a chalkboard.
The Fly, 1980 is an animated short that follows the brief adventures of, you guessed it, a fly. The perspective is from the fly. I'm not sure there's a lot more I can tell you. It's interesting animation, black and white (does that mean flies can't see color?).
Crac, 1981 is another animated short from Canada, although this time not from the National Film Board of Canada. It also uses a technique similar to the one in Special Delivery, like watercolors, they swirl around and the transitions are very 'flowy' (I should learn some more technical terms), and the music is really wonderful. It looks like it is set in Quebec or some other part of French Canada (that's my history majoring showing, sorry, I'll put her away), and it seems like the story is following a family, but it is actually following the life of a chair that has seen and been a part of the family history (kind of like a velveteen rabbit), and then becomes part of an art installation. It's a lovely piece, and makes you look at the old family furniture in a different way.
Tango, 1982 I am honestly not sure what is going on in the film, something tells me there is a deep philosophical point to be made, but I'm too tired to figure it out. There is some Tango music being played and various characters come in and out of a room, first one, then two, then more, all doing different things. The animation is stop motion. It's kind of cool. The director is Zbigniew Rybsczynski, a Polish director, who worked with a lot of artists during the early days of MTV(when they actually showed videos).
The Great Cognito, 1982 nominee Will Vinton, the man behind the singing raisins commercial, directed and produced this claymation short. The Great Cognito is an impressionist who can change his face into other people or even things. It's a neat example of claymation, but I found it a little annoying after three minutes.
Sundae in New York, 1983 Fans of former New York mayor, Ed Koch, and of New York City, will love this. An animated Ed Koch sings and dances a variation of "New York, New York"; it's not actually Koch, but it's still pretty funny.
Charade, 1984 is probably how some games of charades go: one team can raise an eyebrow and guess the book, movie, song and another team can gesticulate and dance like the Bolshoi Ballet and the team will not guess in a million years. It is hilarious as the off-screen voices yell out their answers (I think it's sad that I actually guessed some of the clues). Of course, the British voices make it even funnier, as they politely don't guess the answers.
The Big Snit, 1985 nominee A married couple are playing Scrabble when the husband cannot think of a word; tired of waiting, the wife goes off to vacuum, and his mind starts to wander. In the midst of him watching tv and her cleaning, they miss the alert that there is an imminent doomsday type of explosion. They get into an argument because he's not playing, but he is sawing, an annoying habit, to be sure, and she shakes her eyes (shake shake shake). They reconcile and start hugging, blissfully unaware of the disaster that has occurred. I liked this one better than the winner, Anna and Bella
Anna and Bella, 1985 tells the story of two sisters, Anna and Bella who are best friends, worst enemies. The short follows them as children, through teenage years, adulthood and as elderly women. There are some significant things that happen, and I'm sure it's poignant, but I didn't care for it.
A Greek Tragedy, 1986 follows three Greek Caryatids, female figures that provide support in Greek architecture instead of columns. It's very humorous as they occasionally tire from their labor, they laugh, they dance. Nice use of mythology.
Your Face, 1987 nominee I love Bill Plympton and this is one of his great works, I think. It's got a creepy, funny song and his trademark animation, which features the morphing of the man's face.
The Cat Came Back, 1988 nominee Mr. Johnson is silly enough to open his door and bring in a stray cat (don't ever do that), only to find it is devilish and mischievous indeed. Every time Mr. Johnson tries to get rid of the cat, it comes back (but you probably figured that out, didn't you?), the funny parts are the different and politically incorrect ways he tries to get rid of it. Even in death, the cat will not go away. Careful, you may find yourself humming the song.
Technological Threat, 1988 nominee The threat of robots taking over our jobs is not a new idea in movies or books, but it is given a new look in this short.
Balance, 1989 I have seen this short at least a half-dozen times and I find it so interesting, there are so many potential interpretations, sociological, political, etc. Five figures balance on a square floating in space, they all understand what they need to do to balance and not fall off. They fish and when one figure seems to land a big one, the other figures rush to the other side to get back in balance. Of course, this paradise cannot last forever, and when one of them finds a box and brings in to the platform, the previous order begins to disintegrate. Materialism at its worst.
Creature Comforts, 1990 What can I say? I can watch this over and over and over, and I have. Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit) assembled a top notch cast of zoo animals and interviewed them on their thoughts of captivity and life in general. I love the Brazilian jaguar, who just wants more space; the family of polar bears and turtles, and all of them, really. It just makes me laugh.
12/15/13 What Dreams May Come, Best Visual Effects, 1998
I remember when this movie came out, and something about just didn't interest me or make me want to see it. This little project of mine forces me to overcome (or try to overcome) those prejudices. However, I am going to say I was right and curse my list. Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra star as Chris and Annie Nielsen who suffer the accidental deaths of their children in a car accident. Annie has an incredibly hard time in moving on and falls into a very severe depression. Chris helps Annie cope, he also has a fatal accident (I don't think this is really spoiling anything, the whole movie is based on death and the hereafter). Chris goes to what may be Heaven and must address his own demons and questions. Okay, anything else may give something important away. I found the movie far too preachy and uneven. I don't mind movies that slip in a message here or there, but I appreciate subtlety; this movie wouldn't know 'subtle' if Noah Webster himself provided the definition. The movie won for Best Visual Effects, and I will say it is a visually powerful film, full of bursts of color and shadows. Other than that, I thought it was heavy-handed and kept wishing for it to end.
12/16/13 Aliens, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, 1986
Two and half hours? TWO AND A HALF HOURS? I almost filed a complaint with Amnesty International until I acknowledged that this punishment was self-inflicted. I assumed that the sequel was also directed by Ridley Scott, and I was looking forward to it after the debacle that was What Dreams May Come. But, no, James Cameron, a man who can't stop himself from cinematic excess, directed. Again, I cursed my list. I read where some of the actors were sent to military training school to prepare for their roles. I think the time and money would have been better served for acting classes. I felt bad for Sigourney Weaver, who was the only bright spot, and her young charge, Carrie Henn, who played Newt. I actually think time stopped as I watched; I looked at the little counter as the movie played, and it never seemed to progress, I was rooting for the aliens. Damn.
12/17/13 Collection of Animated Shorts from 1979 - 1990
I have VHS tape that has this great collection of animated shorts, most of them are Oscar winners and a few are nominees. I've had it for probably 20 years, and have watched it several times over the years. It's great. I saw it on Amazon.com in DVD form, and I may have to upgrade. Don't let the animation part fool you, many of these shorts are really not suitable for kids (Creature Comforts may be the exception).
Special Delivery, 1978 One of several entries from the National Film Board of Canada, and this is probably my second favorite after Creature Comforts. The story line reads like a Coen Brothers film. It revolves around a series of misunderstandings involving a husband and wife and the postman. To say much more will spoil the surprise. I like the animation style, but I'm not sure how to describe it, kind of like watercolors, maybe? It's not claymation or stop-motion.
Every Child, 1979 This was a short that was promoting UNICEF's declaration of the rights of the child and tells the story of a child being passed from home to home, unwanted, until the baby is found by two homeless people who love the child. I supposed it would sound horribly crass to say I didn't like it, but I didn't. I think the message is great and because like many animated shorts, there really isn't any discernible dialog, it can be easily understood by anyone. I found the sound track/sound effects terribly annoying, and maybe that's where it lost me, like nails on a chalkboard.
The Fly, 1980 is an animated short that follows the brief adventures of, you guessed it, a fly. The perspective is from the fly. I'm not sure there's a lot more I can tell you. It's interesting animation, black and white (does that mean flies can't see color?).
Crac, 1981 is another animated short from Canada, although this time not from the National Film Board of Canada. It also uses a technique similar to the one in Special Delivery, like watercolors, they swirl around and the transitions are very 'flowy' (I should learn some more technical terms), and the music is really wonderful. It looks like it is set in Quebec or some other part of French Canada (that's my history majoring showing, sorry, I'll put her away), and it seems like the story is following a family, but it is actually following the life of a chair that has seen and been a part of the family history (kind of like a velveteen rabbit), and then becomes part of an art installation. It's a lovely piece, and makes you look at the old family furniture in a different way.
Tango, 1982 I am honestly not sure what is going on in the film, something tells me there is a deep philosophical point to be made, but I'm too tired to figure it out. There is some Tango music being played and various characters come in and out of a room, first one, then two, then more, all doing different things. The animation is stop motion. It's kind of cool. The director is Zbigniew Rybsczynski, a Polish director, who worked with a lot of artists during the early days of MTV(when they actually showed videos).
The Great Cognito, 1982 nominee Will Vinton, the man behind the singing raisins commercial, directed and produced this claymation short. The Great Cognito is an impressionist who can change his face into other people or even things. It's a neat example of claymation, but I found it a little annoying after three minutes.
Sundae in New York, 1983 Fans of former New York mayor, Ed Koch, and of New York City, will love this. An animated Ed Koch sings and dances a variation of "New York, New York"; it's not actually Koch, but it's still pretty funny.
Charade, 1984 is probably how some games of charades go: one team can raise an eyebrow and guess the book, movie, song and another team can gesticulate and dance like the Bolshoi Ballet and the team will not guess in a million years. It is hilarious as the off-screen voices yell out their answers (I think it's sad that I actually guessed some of the clues). Of course, the British voices make it even funnier, as they politely don't guess the answers.
The Big Snit, 1985 nominee A married couple are playing Scrabble when the husband cannot think of a word; tired of waiting, the wife goes off to vacuum, and his mind starts to wander. In the midst of him watching tv and her cleaning, they miss the alert that there is an imminent doomsday type of explosion. They get into an argument because he's not playing, but he is sawing, an annoying habit, to be sure, and she shakes her eyes (shake shake shake). They reconcile and start hugging, blissfully unaware of the disaster that has occurred. I liked this one better than the winner, Anna and Bella
Anna and Bella, 1985 tells the story of two sisters, Anna and Bella who are best friends, worst enemies. The short follows them as children, through teenage years, adulthood and as elderly women. There are some significant things that happen, and I'm sure it's poignant, but I didn't care for it.
A Greek Tragedy, 1986 follows three Greek Caryatids, female figures that provide support in Greek architecture instead of columns. It's very humorous as they occasionally tire from their labor, they laugh, they dance. Nice use of mythology.
Your Face, 1987 nominee I love Bill Plympton and this is one of his great works, I think. It's got a creepy, funny song and his trademark animation, which features the morphing of the man's face.
The Cat Came Back, 1988 nominee Mr. Johnson is silly enough to open his door and bring in a stray cat (don't ever do that), only to find it is devilish and mischievous indeed. Every time Mr. Johnson tries to get rid of the cat, it comes back (but you probably figured that out, didn't you?), the funny parts are the different and politically incorrect ways he tries to get rid of it. Even in death, the cat will not go away. Careful, you may find yourself humming the song.
Technological Threat, 1988 nominee The threat of robots taking over our jobs is not a new idea in movies or books, but it is given a new look in this short.
Balance, 1989 I have seen this short at least a half-dozen times and I find it so interesting, there are so many potential interpretations, sociological, political, etc. Five figures balance on a square floating in space, they all understand what they need to do to balance and not fall off. They fish and when one figure seems to land a big one, the other figures rush to the other side to get back in balance. Of course, this paradise cannot last forever, and when one of them finds a box and brings in to the platform, the previous order begins to disintegrate. Materialism at its worst.
Creature Comforts, 1990 What can I say? I can watch this over and over and over, and I have. Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit) assembled a top notch cast of zoo animals and interviewed them on their thoughts of captivity and life in general. I love the Brazilian jaguar, who just wants more space; the family of polar bears and turtles, and all of them, really. It just makes me laugh.
Movie madness, part 1: The Hobbit, All is Lost, Sense and Sensibility and Affliction
Lucky for all of you, I have the next three days off and plenty of movies to watch. You can thank me later. Before I launch into my astute and hilarious observations, I would like to acknowledge the passing of actor, Peter O'Toole, who starred as Henry II in The Lion in Winter (with Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins among others) and as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia which is one of the few movies that I can watch more than once. He never won a competitive Oscar, even though he was nominated several times.
It has been absolutely freezing this past week, and I know most of the country has been experiencing the same thing. The funny thing is, this is how winter is supposed to be in Minnesota, and yet, we all act like it's a huge surprise, and act so put-upon. It's funny, really. Bring it on, bring on the -20 air temp, that's what I live for, because it's a dry cold after all.
12/14/13 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 2013, not yet nominated
All year I waited for this weekend since this time lat year (the timing of my birthday and some of the biggest movie releases always seems like a personal treat just for me). I think Peter Jackson's decision to make The Hobbit into three separate films released over three years was cruel; one because it's making for three very long movies, and two, because it's too long to wait. I read that the justification for making three films instead of the original two was because he was given access to some previously unreleased archival material of J.R.R. Tolkien and he felt compelled to use it. I try not to be an absolute literalist when it comes to moving books to films, but some of the additions just seem like overkill (you really can have too many Orcs). I think this is what happens when CGI meets Peter Jackson, he just can't help himself. Having said that, and I felt obliged, I did like the film. Jackson and his team create the most incredible universe, the sets are magnificent, and New Zealand isn't too shabby. Of course, you have to give credit to the great man himself, J.R.R. Tolkien, for creating a world that is so real and so believable that you're almost sure there was such a thing as hobbits. This is a movie that is best seen on the big screen, although I'm not convinced you need 3D. I'm fairly certain will be nominated for several Oscars, including makeup, art direction, cinematography, original score and possibly best song for "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran, which was really great (stay until the end). Before you see this episode you may want to re-watch "An Unexpected Journey". Clear your bladder and plan for lunch or dinner after the show.
12/14/13 Sense and Sensibility, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1995
In all fairness, I should disclose the fact that if Emma Thompson starred in a bacon commercial, I would watch it and probably love it, even though I haven't eaten bacon in over 25 years. This is another Jane Austen fix, and Emma Thompson won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (she acts, she writes, she directs, although she did not direct here, Ang Lee did). Sense and Sensibility revolves around a recently widowed mother, Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her three daughters, Elinor (Emma Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Margaret (Emilie Francois). The women are displaced from Norland Park after Mr. Dashwood dies and is forced by inheritance laws of the time to leave the estate to his eldest son from his first marriage. The younger Mr. Dashwood is rather nondescript, kind of milquetoast, but his wife, Fanny Dashwood, is greedy, manipulative and a little too much for her husband. As with Pride and Prejudice, Austen's female characters are in search of husbands, and that is where the fun begins. Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman are eventual suitors for Elinor and Marianne. There is the usual introduction to love interest, separation from love interest, misguided affections, and peripheral characters who add levity and social commentary. The movie is beautifully filmed, with a wonderful score. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning for the Best Adapted Screenplay. Personally, I prefer the story of Pride and Prejudice and the interplay of the Bennett family and their antagonists, but this is very enjoyable, and if you like Austen, well, you've probably already seen it, but if you haven't, you will enjoy it.
12/14/13 Affliction, Best Supporting Actor, 1998
I was not very familiar with the story line for Affliction, and somewhere along the way, whatever I thought it was about, got twisted, so when I watched the movie set in a small New Hampshire town, I had no clue what was happening. What a nice surprise. Nick Nolte plays Wade Whitehouse, a part-time police officer and part-time driver who has some emotional issues tied to his father's abusive behavior throughout his whole life. His drunken father is played by James Coburn, and he was fabulous, and before I read that he won the Oscar for his role, I thought he was surely at least nominated. Nolte was also nominated, but did not win; and it makes sense, Nolte's character would not be as tortured and angry if it was not for the way he grew up under his father's iron fist and short temper. The two are perfect together. There should be some kind of award that recognizes screen chemistry like they shared. Sissy Spacek co-stars as Wade's understanding girlfriend, Margie Fogg, who unfortunately for Wade, eventually sees Wade for the troubled and violent man his father is and leaves him. There are several things happening in the movie, and I think the story-telling may be the weakest part here, I felt like something was missing. It's part mystery, part slice of life in a small-town (having friends who grew up in small-town Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa or the Dakotas, you kind of get that is what it's like when everyone knows everything), that microscope that can be a blessing and a curse. Willem Dafoe co-stars as narrator and Wade's younger brother, Rolf. You get the feeling that there may be more of a relationship story that is developed in the book by Russell Banks, but it was hard for me to make it work in my head. Nolte is so good in this role, he's vulnerable, weak, and not very successful in his attempt to outrun the legacy of his father. Perhaps an extension of his role as Wade Whitehouse is seen in Warrior, a mixed martial arts film from 2011 where he played Paddy Conlon, the alcoholic father to Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton's characters. Warrior also garnered Nolte an Oscar nod, and it's a movie worth seeing.
12/15/13 All is Lost, not yet nominated 2013
I have to say that I would not be much of a survivalist, in fact, truth be told, I'd be total crap. Mainly because I don't like getting dirty, being wet (without good reason) or eating cold food out of a tin. I like my comforts, although I don't think I'm spoiled (my car is 13 years old and has manual locks and windows, and my cell phone is 4 years old with a 1" x 1" screen, and my beloved TV is from 1996). So, watching Robert Redford fight the elements and nature all on his own is amazing to me, even if it's just a movie. There is so much buzz about this film and Redford's performance I just had to see it as soon as it was available here in flyover country. There were only four of us in the theater on this sunny Sunday morning, so in that regard it mirrored the loneliness of Redford and the Sea. The notable things about All is Lost are there is no dialogue (Redford reads some lines in the beginning of the film and he makes some spontaneous utterances, but that's it) and he is the only person in the film, so who would he talk to anyway? In some ways it reminds of The Old Man and The Sea, man versus nature for his very survival. I've always been more of a Paul Newman fan than Robert Redford, but I do like Redford as well. I wish I knew more about sailing, because I think some of the things that happen make more sense if you understand boats and how they work and what can go wrong; it's not necessary to go out and sail in America's Cup, though. The character, who is not given any name, is sailing out in the Indian Ocean when his yacht hits a container that must have fallen off of a cargo ship, and he gets a hole. He doesn't waste time pitying his luck, he goes about inspecting the situation and taking care of it. That's how he meets almost every situation, never rolling in despair for too long. Perhaps that's what it was like after The Electric Horseman came out in 1979. There is talk about Redford being nominated for Best Actor, and I would say that's an easy call, whether he will win or not, that's a bit tougher. After 'critically' watching hundreds of Oscar-winning films, I still cannot say how it works, what moves voters to vote the way they do. Here is why he might win: he is all by himself, he has no actors to play off of (like Nolte and Coburn), it's him and the sea, the elements and his yacht, which seems to be fighting him. That's amazing, and he does it with virtually no words spoken, and he's 77 years old. Here is why he might not win: 12 Years a Slave and Chiwetel Ejiorfor, an amazing true life story with a strong, yet vulnerable character in Solomon Northup, and a strong supporting cast. Also, Redford has won before, although not for acting (as Director of Ordinary People). I think All is Lost will be nominated for several Oscars including: Best Actor, Best Film, Sound Editing, Film Editing, and Best Original Soundtrack. Even though the movie does not have big action scenes and special effects like Thor, I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. You really get a sense of how big the ocean is and how little the Man is on his broken yacht, especially during the storms that roll in and conversely, when the yacht and later the lifeboat are just bobbing in the open space.
And for a little break, Silk, a BBC series that follows the chambers of a firm of barristers, the office politics, a collection of strange, sometimes violent cases. I'm still trying to decide if I love the series, I do like ther Rumpole of the Bailey series with the gruff and lovable Leo McKern, and Cavanaugh, Q.C. with John Thaw. I am also wrapping up Series 3 of Wallander; poor Wallander, unlucky in love and not always that lucky in police work. There is supposed to be a Series 4, but I have not seen that available yet. I've got several other movies to get to between now and next week, including Pocahontas, American Beauty, Sophie's Choice and What Dreams May Come. Stay tuned.
It has been absolutely freezing this past week, and I know most of the country has been experiencing the same thing. The funny thing is, this is how winter is supposed to be in Minnesota, and yet, we all act like it's a huge surprise, and act so put-upon. It's funny, really. Bring it on, bring on the -20 air temp, that's what I live for, because it's a dry cold after all.
12/14/13 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 2013, not yet nominated
All year I waited for this weekend since this time lat year (the timing of my birthday and some of the biggest movie releases always seems like a personal treat just for me). I think Peter Jackson's decision to make The Hobbit into three separate films released over three years was cruel; one because it's making for three very long movies, and two, because it's too long to wait. I read that the justification for making three films instead of the original two was because he was given access to some previously unreleased archival material of J.R.R. Tolkien and he felt compelled to use it. I try not to be an absolute literalist when it comes to moving books to films, but some of the additions just seem like overkill (you really can have too many Orcs). I think this is what happens when CGI meets Peter Jackson, he just can't help himself. Having said that, and I felt obliged, I did like the film. Jackson and his team create the most incredible universe, the sets are magnificent, and New Zealand isn't too shabby. Of course, you have to give credit to the great man himself, J.R.R. Tolkien, for creating a world that is so real and so believable that you're almost sure there was such a thing as hobbits. This is a movie that is best seen on the big screen, although I'm not convinced you need 3D. I'm fairly certain will be nominated for several Oscars, including makeup, art direction, cinematography, original score and possibly best song for "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran, which was really great (stay until the end). Before you see this episode you may want to re-watch "An Unexpected Journey". Clear your bladder and plan for lunch or dinner after the show.
12/14/13 Sense and Sensibility, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1995
In all fairness, I should disclose the fact that if Emma Thompson starred in a bacon commercial, I would watch it and probably love it, even though I haven't eaten bacon in over 25 years. This is another Jane Austen fix, and Emma Thompson won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (she acts, she writes, she directs, although she did not direct here, Ang Lee did). Sense and Sensibility revolves around a recently widowed mother, Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her three daughters, Elinor (Emma Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Margaret (Emilie Francois). The women are displaced from Norland Park after Mr. Dashwood dies and is forced by inheritance laws of the time to leave the estate to his eldest son from his first marriage. The younger Mr. Dashwood is rather nondescript, kind of milquetoast, but his wife, Fanny Dashwood, is greedy, manipulative and a little too much for her husband. As with Pride and Prejudice, Austen's female characters are in search of husbands, and that is where the fun begins. Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman are eventual suitors for Elinor and Marianne. There is the usual introduction to love interest, separation from love interest, misguided affections, and peripheral characters who add levity and social commentary. The movie is beautifully filmed, with a wonderful score. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning for the Best Adapted Screenplay. Personally, I prefer the story of Pride and Prejudice and the interplay of the Bennett family and their antagonists, but this is very enjoyable, and if you like Austen, well, you've probably already seen it, but if you haven't, you will enjoy it.
12/14/13 Affliction, Best Supporting Actor, 1998
I was not very familiar with the story line for Affliction, and somewhere along the way, whatever I thought it was about, got twisted, so when I watched the movie set in a small New Hampshire town, I had no clue what was happening. What a nice surprise. Nick Nolte plays Wade Whitehouse, a part-time police officer and part-time driver who has some emotional issues tied to his father's abusive behavior throughout his whole life. His drunken father is played by James Coburn, and he was fabulous, and before I read that he won the Oscar for his role, I thought he was surely at least nominated. Nolte was also nominated, but did not win; and it makes sense, Nolte's character would not be as tortured and angry if it was not for the way he grew up under his father's iron fist and short temper. The two are perfect together. There should be some kind of award that recognizes screen chemistry like they shared. Sissy Spacek co-stars as Wade's understanding girlfriend, Margie Fogg, who unfortunately for Wade, eventually sees Wade for the troubled and violent man his father is and leaves him. There are several things happening in the movie, and I think the story-telling may be the weakest part here, I felt like something was missing. It's part mystery, part slice of life in a small-town (having friends who grew up in small-town Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa or the Dakotas, you kind of get that is what it's like when everyone knows everything), that microscope that can be a blessing and a curse. Willem Dafoe co-stars as narrator and Wade's younger brother, Rolf. You get the feeling that there may be more of a relationship story that is developed in the book by Russell Banks, but it was hard for me to make it work in my head. Nolte is so good in this role, he's vulnerable, weak, and not very successful in his attempt to outrun the legacy of his father. Perhaps an extension of his role as Wade Whitehouse is seen in Warrior, a mixed martial arts film from 2011 where he played Paddy Conlon, the alcoholic father to Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton's characters. Warrior also garnered Nolte an Oscar nod, and it's a movie worth seeing.
12/15/13 All is Lost, not yet nominated 2013
I have to say that I would not be much of a survivalist, in fact, truth be told, I'd be total crap. Mainly because I don't like getting dirty, being wet (without good reason) or eating cold food out of a tin. I like my comforts, although I don't think I'm spoiled (my car is 13 years old and has manual locks and windows, and my cell phone is 4 years old with a 1" x 1" screen, and my beloved TV is from 1996). So, watching Robert Redford fight the elements and nature all on his own is amazing to me, even if it's just a movie. There is so much buzz about this film and Redford's performance I just had to see it as soon as it was available here in flyover country. There were only four of us in the theater on this sunny Sunday morning, so in that regard it mirrored the loneliness of Redford and the Sea. The notable things about All is Lost are there is no dialogue (Redford reads some lines in the beginning of the film and he makes some spontaneous utterances, but that's it) and he is the only person in the film, so who would he talk to anyway? In some ways it reminds of The Old Man and The Sea, man versus nature for his very survival. I've always been more of a Paul Newman fan than Robert Redford, but I do like Redford as well. I wish I knew more about sailing, because I think some of the things that happen make more sense if you understand boats and how they work and what can go wrong; it's not necessary to go out and sail in America's Cup, though. The character, who is not given any name, is sailing out in the Indian Ocean when his yacht hits a container that must have fallen off of a cargo ship, and he gets a hole. He doesn't waste time pitying his luck, he goes about inspecting the situation and taking care of it. That's how he meets almost every situation, never rolling in despair for too long. Perhaps that's what it was like after The Electric Horseman came out in 1979. There is talk about Redford being nominated for Best Actor, and I would say that's an easy call, whether he will win or not, that's a bit tougher. After 'critically' watching hundreds of Oscar-winning films, I still cannot say how it works, what moves voters to vote the way they do. Here is why he might win: he is all by himself, he has no actors to play off of (like Nolte and Coburn), it's him and the sea, the elements and his yacht, which seems to be fighting him. That's amazing, and he does it with virtually no words spoken, and he's 77 years old. Here is why he might not win: 12 Years a Slave and Chiwetel Ejiorfor, an amazing true life story with a strong, yet vulnerable character in Solomon Northup, and a strong supporting cast. Also, Redford has won before, although not for acting (as Director of Ordinary People). I think All is Lost will be nominated for several Oscars including: Best Actor, Best Film, Sound Editing, Film Editing, and Best Original Soundtrack. Even though the movie does not have big action scenes and special effects like Thor, I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. You really get a sense of how big the ocean is and how little the Man is on his broken yacht, especially during the storms that roll in and conversely, when the yacht and later the lifeboat are just bobbing in the open space.
And for a little break, Silk, a BBC series that follows the chambers of a firm of barristers, the office politics, a collection of strange, sometimes violent cases. I'm still trying to decide if I love the series, I do like ther Rumpole of the Bailey series with the gruff and lovable Leo McKern, and Cavanaugh, Q.C. with John Thaw. I am also wrapping up Series 3 of Wallander; poor Wallander, unlucky in love and not always that lucky in police work. There is supposed to be a Series 4, but I have not seen that available yet. I've got several other movies to get to between now and next week, including Pocahontas, American Beauty, Sophie's Choice and What Dreams May Come. Stay tuned.
A little of this, a little of that - Purple Rain, Finding Neverland
Dang it's cold. Jack Frost is covering most of the country this weekend, and Minnesota is no exception (Minnesotans take a sick pride in how cold it gets here, just sick I tell you; it's a strange game of one-ups manship). This translates into guilt-free movie watching, because what else can you do? I mean, besides clean and watch football. This movie-watching mission that I have been on for over a year has its ups and downs. Some movies are hard to watch, as in they are really terrible, the subject matter is difficult, or they are literally hard to watch because the DVD won't play. These are 21st century/first world problems.
This weekend was intended to be a variety of films and I was kind of excited to watch all of them (well, maybe excited is an overstatement). So, let us begin.
12/7/13 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay 1975
I really wanted to like this movie, and I was well on my way until about half-way through the DVD stopped working. I wish that would have happened with another movie, damn it. I haven't given up, but I wanted you to know that I tried.
12/7/13 Purple Rain, Best Original Song Score, 1984
Color me clueless but I have never understood the magic or mystique of Prince. I realize I may be treading on Minneapolis hometown pride, but I stand Buckeye strong. It might be easy to say that I am an old fuddy duddy, but I was 17 when Purple Rain was released and I didn't get it then. I was excited to see the First Avenue club on film, I pass it on my walk every day; and I wanted to see Minneapolis in the years between Mary Tyler Moore and when I moved here. It wasn't enough. The acting is dreadful, although to be fair, it wasn't nominated for any acting awards. The movie was terrible, and my heart would not have been broken in this DVD stopped playing. Curse my luck. The music is fine if not a little self-indulgent. In the 1980s I was much more into Progressive Rock and now my tastes have changed, but not enough. Sorry. Feel free to take my place in line the next time Prince has one of his events at Paisley park. Peace out.
12/7/13 Finding Neverland, Best Original Score, 2004
This was such a nice treat after suffering through Purple Rain. I remember when the movie came out, and didn't pay much attention, but it shows up on my list, and now I have to pay attention. Finding Neverland tells the story of J.M Barrie and his friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family and the inspiration for Peter Pan. Johnny Depp plays Barrie and Kate Winslet is Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, a recently widowed mother of four boys. Barrie and the boys forge a bond and they serve as his creative muse. One of the boys, Peter, proves to be a bit of challenge as he is still dealing with the death of his father and is far too serious for a boy fo his age. The movie is based on real events and is called 'semi-autobiographical', and I'm not really sure what the distinction is here. Depp employs a Scottish brogue, and I'm not an expert, but it sounded good to me. Winslet doesn't disappoint although I would not say the role was a huge stretch (she was awesome in The Reader and Mildred Pierce). I really did enjoy the film and if you are looking for something to watch with the family over the holidays, I totally recommend Finding Neverland, I think the kids will enjoy the fantasy scenes that may engage their imaginations. The other parts of the story may not keep their attention (especially if they're younger), but it's worth a try. The movie won for Best Original Score, beating out Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Passion of The Christ.
12/7/13 The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, nominated Best Documentary, 2009
I bumped this movie up in my queue after I finished watching Hearts and Minds the 1974 winner of Best Documentary. Ellsberg, through his role at the RAND corporation, came to possess documents that showed the American people were being lied to about the Vietnam war. The documentary has the benefit of 30 years of hindsight and more information (Nixon's resignation, Watergate, etc.) and provides insight into the evolution of Ellsberg's personal philosophy, from supporting the war to being willing to go to jail for opposing the war and releasing what came to be known as The Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg's fight to release the documents is cited as one of the most important First Amendment cases in American history. As I was watching this, I couldn't help but draw my own comparisons between what Ellsberg did and how he (and the newspapers) published the information and what Edward Snowden did. There are recorded excerpts of President Nixon calling Ellsberg a traitor and pretty much calling for his head on a silver platter. Ellsberg worked with different papers around the country to get the documents published, and when those avenues were diverted, he also worked with Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska to make them public. It was all very cloak and dagger stuff. The most striking difference between Ellsberg and his friend Tony Russo were willing to go to jail for what they did, and Snowden fled the country. That is a big difference to me, but other than that, I found it hard to separate the two actions, even though I wanted to, it seems easier for me to reconcile and even cheer what Ellsberg did, but I cannot do the same for Snowden. The Most Dangerous Man in America lost the Academy Award to Inside Job which was about the financial crisis and the corruption of people in the financial services industry, which was an incredible documentary as well.
12/8/13 Wallander, Series 2, 2010
What can I say? I just finished The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell, a Kurt Wallander mystery and was in the mood to depress the hell out of myself some more, so I watched Series 2 of Wallander, which stars Kenneth Branagh as Wallander. I don't know why I keep reading the books and watching the shows, perhaps it touches my inner Scandinavian, morose and somber. Like anything based on a book, the episodes vary greatly from the books; I understand why they make changes to the storylines, combine characters, change timeframes, but it annoyed me for The Fifth Woman episode. Mankell infuses the books with some subtle and not so subtle social commentary, changes in Sweden, immigration, the Europeanization that was beginning to come to Sweden (some of the books are set in the 1990s); Wallander is morose, serious, and surprisingly sensitive. If you want to see early Branagh, check him out in Henry V, it's almost 25 years since it was released, but he is superb.
This weekend was intended to be a variety of films and I was kind of excited to watch all of them (well, maybe excited is an overstatement). So, let us begin.
12/7/13 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay 1975
I really wanted to like this movie, and I was well on my way until about half-way through the DVD stopped working. I wish that would have happened with another movie, damn it. I haven't given up, but I wanted you to know that I tried.
12/7/13 Purple Rain, Best Original Song Score, 1984
Color me clueless but I have never understood the magic or mystique of Prince. I realize I may be treading on Minneapolis hometown pride, but I stand Buckeye strong. It might be easy to say that I am an old fuddy duddy, but I was 17 when Purple Rain was released and I didn't get it then. I was excited to see the First Avenue club on film, I pass it on my walk every day; and I wanted to see Minneapolis in the years between Mary Tyler Moore and when I moved here. It wasn't enough. The acting is dreadful, although to be fair, it wasn't nominated for any acting awards. The movie was terrible, and my heart would not have been broken in this DVD stopped playing. Curse my luck. The music is fine if not a little self-indulgent. In the 1980s I was much more into Progressive Rock and now my tastes have changed, but not enough. Sorry. Feel free to take my place in line the next time Prince has one of his events at Paisley park. Peace out.
12/7/13 Finding Neverland, Best Original Score, 2004
This was such a nice treat after suffering through Purple Rain. I remember when the movie came out, and didn't pay much attention, but it shows up on my list, and now I have to pay attention. Finding Neverland tells the story of J.M Barrie and his friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family and the inspiration for Peter Pan. Johnny Depp plays Barrie and Kate Winslet is Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, a recently widowed mother of four boys. Barrie and the boys forge a bond and they serve as his creative muse. One of the boys, Peter, proves to be a bit of challenge as he is still dealing with the death of his father and is far too serious for a boy fo his age. The movie is based on real events and is called 'semi-autobiographical', and I'm not really sure what the distinction is here. Depp employs a Scottish brogue, and I'm not an expert, but it sounded good to me. Winslet doesn't disappoint although I would not say the role was a huge stretch (she was awesome in The Reader and Mildred Pierce). I really did enjoy the film and if you are looking for something to watch with the family over the holidays, I totally recommend Finding Neverland, I think the kids will enjoy the fantasy scenes that may engage their imaginations. The other parts of the story may not keep their attention (especially if they're younger), but it's worth a try. The movie won for Best Original Score, beating out Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Passion of The Christ.
12/7/13 The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, nominated Best Documentary, 2009
I bumped this movie up in my queue after I finished watching Hearts and Minds the 1974 winner of Best Documentary. Ellsberg, through his role at the RAND corporation, came to possess documents that showed the American people were being lied to about the Vietnam war. The documentary has the benefit of 30 years of hindsight and more information (Nixon's resignation, Watergate, etc.) and provides insight into the evolution of Ellsberg's personal philosophy, from supporting the war to being willing to go to jail for opposing the war and releasing what came to be known as The Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg's fight to release the documents is cited as one of the most important First Amendment cases in American history. As I was watching this, I couldn't help but draw my own comparisons between what Ellsberg did and how he (and the newspapers) published the information and what Edward Snowden did. There are recorded excerpts of President Nixon calling Ellsberg a traitor and pretty much calling for his head on a silver platter. Ellsberg worked with different papers around the country to get the documents published, and when those avenues were diverted, he also worked with Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska to make them public. It was all very cloak and dagger stuff. The most striking difference between Ellsberg and his friend Tony Russo were willing to go to jail for what they did, and Snowden fled the country. That is a big difference to me, but other than that, I found it hard to separate the two actions, even though I wanted to, it seems easier for me to reconcile and even cheer what Ellsberg did, but I cannot do the same for Snowden. The Most Dangerous Man in America lost the Academy Award to Inside Job which was about the financial crisis and the corruption of people in the financial services industry, which was an incredible documentary as well.
12/8/13 Wallander, Series 2, 2010
What can I say? I just finished The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell, a Kurt Wallander mystery and was in the mood to depress the hell out of myself some more, so I watched Series 2 of Wallander, which stars Kenneth Branagh as Wallander. I don't know why I keep reading the books and watching the shows, perhaps it touches my inner Scandinavian, morose and somber. Like anything based on a book, the episodes vary greatly from the books; I understand why they make changes to the storylines, combine characters, change timeframes, but it annoyed me for The Fifth Woman episode. Mankell infuses the books with some subtle and not so subtle social commentary, changes in Sweden, immigration, the Europeanization that was beginning to come to Sweden (some of the books are set in the 1990s); Wallander is morose, serious, and surprisingly sensitive. If you want to see early Branagh, check him out in Henry V, it's almost 25 years since it was released, but he is superb.
Wonder Boys and Wonder Years
I should really stop trying to plan my weekends, especially my long weekends, mainly because they rarely turn out as I expect. This isn't always a bad thing, just an observation. Or maybe, this did turn out as I planned and I don't realize it. Out of the roughly 12 hours of movies I watched this weekend, only one has actually won an Oscar; one was given an honorary Oscar; one has not even officially been nominated; and the other collection has not been nominated at all. What, you may ask, was I thinking? Well, all will be clear shortly. I will start from the beginning.
11/28/13 Wonder Boys, Best Original Song, 2000
Wonder Boys stars Michael Douglas, Robert Downey, Jr., Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes and Rip Torn, and you have probably never heard of it. It takes place in a university setting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Michael Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a writing professor, who has had one very successful novel and not much else since. Robert Downey, Jr. is Terry Crabtree, Tripp's editor-in-waiting. Tobey Maguire is one of Douglas's students, James Leer, who has a very active and creative imagination, and regularly makes up stories about his existence (almost Gatsby-like, except Leer is downwardly-mobile). The movie covers a weekend at the university's creative writing event and follows Tripp as he deals with the apparent end of his marriage, his affair with the university's chancellor (Frances McDormand), his years long writer's block and James Leer's incredible creativity. There are a few running gags (the unfortunate passing of the dog, Poe; the circumstances surrounding Tripp's car) that are funny, and there are some pretty humorous scenes. It's a great opportunity to see Robert Downey, Jr. pre-Iron Man and he and Douglas have a few witty exchanges. But overall, I really didn't care. I do not know why, but there is something that really bugs me about Tobey Maguire. I cannot explain it, I just do not find him compelling to watch, or at least not long enough for a two-hour movie. Bob Dylan won the Oscar for "Things Have Changed", and it seemed to go well with the story. I've never been a huge Dylan fan, at least not of his singing, so I'll just leave it there.
11/29/13 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, honorary Academy Award, 1937, 34 on AFI 100
I am sure I have seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs before, but I don't think I have ever enjoyed it or appreciated it as much as I did this last time. This was Disney's first attempt at a full-length animated feature, it had not really been done by the other studios before either; the short-form was the norm. The animation is really good; the backgrounds are pretty static, but the moving characters or features are full of incredible detail, from water droplets to melting candles to the expressions on the animals.These were all hand-drawn. There is everything for a good story here (especially for kids): scary stuff (kids do like to be scared occasionally, especially when there is a 'happy' outcome), physical and verbal humor, dwarfs, fun songs and a happy ending. Visually the movie is colorful and easy to watch. The dwarfs are such a piece of the American consciousness and lexicon, we call people 'Dopey' or 'Sleepy' or my favorite, 'Grumpy' (I'm convinced that Thoren Oakenshield is Grumpy reincarnated). 'Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go', who doesn't sing that occasionally, in mock derision of having to work in the 'mines'? The DVD I got from the library had a special features disk and that included a 'making of' featurette that helps place Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in an historical context and animation context. We all probably watched this as kids, but I am definitely glad I watched it again as an adult. So, do yourself a favor, and watch it over the holidays, and whistle while you work.
11/29/13 Philomena 2013, not nominated (yet)
Oscar time is fast approaching and I am frightfully behind on current movies. It may be my good fortune that many potential nominees aren't released until this time of the year and I am able to 'catch up' as it were. There has been some buzz that Dame Judi Dench will be nominated for her role in Philomena, and that was reason enough to get dressed and leave the house on Friday to go sit in a theater. Philomena is based on a true story and stars Judi Dench as Philomena Lee, who as a young Irish woman who was forced to give up her young son for adoption in the 1950s. Around her what would be her son's 50th birthday, Philomena decides that she wants to look for him; her daughter, who up until this point did know she had an older brother fully supports her mother and gets journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) to help with the search. Stephen Frears (The Queen, The Grifters, Prick Up Your Ears and more) directed and Coogan co-wrote the screenplay. The circumstances that surround what happened to Philomena and girls like her have been very well-documented and I think it's very easy to think this is a cut and dried matter, but Philomena's own struggle to come to terms with what happened and move on and forgive shows that it is not that easy. Martin Sixsmith actually tries to advocate for her and gets very angry on her behalf. Dench and Coogan work so well together, and it really is the two of them on screen for the majority of the time (you could almost make this a two-person play which could be quite interesting). Dench breaks your heart and then lifts you up with her spirit. I do not want to give away too many plot points because the movie just came out in the US, and hopefully this is enough to get you to see it. It's a people film, no special effects, no big musical numbers, just a true story with likable characters.
11/29/13 Now You See Me 2013, not nominated
Now You See Me is a fun movie with a pretty decent cast (Midwest restraint keeps me from saying awesome) including Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, and Jesse Eisenberg. It's described as a 'caper film' or a 'heist film'. Four magicians/illusionists/mentalists are brought together to pull off some crazy mind-blowing tricks/stunts/illusions around the country. There is some good action, dialogue, and a few twists and turns along the way. I only mention it here because it's entirely possible it will be nominated for an Oscar for sound editing/mixing or editing. It was a nice way to wind down the evening and while the story had a lot of things going on, it didn't tax my pretty low emotional reserves. This would actually be a fun movie to watch with friends while eating pizza (I was eating turkey, and honestly, I don't think I need to see another piece of turkey for several months) and trying to figure out what's the next move or how they did this or that.
11/30/13 - 12/1/13 7 Up series through 56 Up, 1964 - 2012, not nominated
If you are interested in documentaries, either you are already familiar with the Up Series or you should you put them on your list. The Up series began following 14 kids in 1963 from different parts of England and different backgrounds. It originally started as a one-off show, as a way to compare and contrast 14 seven year olds, their thoughts, aspirations, concerns.There were fourteen children who were interviewed, but only four girls (three from the East End), and one boy who was black; the others were white boys from London, Yorkshire and Liverpool. Director Michael Apted turned it into a seven year cyclical event, kind of like the return of the cicadas. I have seen a few of the films in the past, but the library had the box set of all the films and I was compelled to watch all eight films at once (okay, over a period of two days). I was originally interested in the films (I think the first one I saw was 35 Up) was because I thought it was really cool to have this look back over twenty-eight years with different people to see how they had grown, changed, and to see living history (trust me, I wasn't always as much fun as I am today). The benefit of watching all the films so close together is that you don't have to wait seven years and there is more continuity to the stories and lives of the individuals; to be fair, though, Apted intercuts interviews from the previous films, so if you only wanted to watch 56 Up you could and still have a good idea of what happened (I wouldn't, but you could). Watching the interviews with the kids when they are seven years old is very much like talking to any seven year old (or collection of them), some are very creative and full of imagination, some are serious. The children went to a variety of schools: boarding schools, public schools, state schools, etc. As Apted points out in the interview with Roger Ebert in one of the bonus features, the initial film was very intent on showing a liberal/leftist point of view (in the 1960s, England was still a class oriented society). The later films may have a subtext of politics or class struggles, but those come more from the comments of the participants and what is happening in their lives than any 'forced' commentary. In 7 Up the children are very free with their thoughts, they don't self-edit themselves; by 14 Up and 21 Up, the now teenagers and young adults are a little more self-conscious (you can see in their body language they would rather be anywhere else) and reluctant to participate; it seems they were only 'required' to participate in the first two films, everything else was 'voluntary' (I use quotes because you definitely get the feeling that many of them feel like they can't quit the series no matter how unpleasant it is). Because this covers such a long period of time, the participants experience life (the birth of children and grandchildren), death (many lose their parents over the course of filming), marriage, re-marriage, and some show more emotion and feeling than others. One thing that caught my attention around 21 Up was the reluctance that many of the participants had at being interviewed and how they felt that the public who were watching them didn't really understand them, but felt they knew the people. These films were started before the disgusting obsession we seem to have with reality television, and people going on television for the explicit reason to be famous and on the Internet. Several interviewees (Suzy, Nick, Charles and John among a few) mention that they don't like being recognized by the public and feel very uncomfortable. I think it would be very hard to start a project like this today because it would difficult to get such a 'pure' look at the interviewees; people today are so interested in their fifteen minutes of fame, I don't think it would resonate the same way. I hope they are able to carry on with the series; the next one would be 63 Up and if everything is on schedule it would be released in the UK around 2019.
11/28/13 Wonder Boys, Best Original Song, 2000
Wonder Boys stars Michael Douglas, Robert Downey, Jr., Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Katie Holmes and Rip Torn, and you have probably never heard of it. It takes place in a university setting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Michael Douglas plays Grady Tripp, a writing professor, who has had one very successful novel and not much else since. Robert Downey, Jr. is Terry Crabtree, Tripp's editor-in-waiting. Tobey Maguire is one of Douglas's students, James Leer, who has a very active and creative imagination, and regularly makes up stories about his existence (almost Gatsby-like, except Leer is downwardly-mobile). The movie covers a weekend at the university's creative writing event and follows Tripp as he deals with the apparent end of his marriage, his affair with the university's chancellor (Frances McDormand), his years long writer's block and James Leer's incredible creativity. There are a few running gags (the unfortunate passing of the dog, Poe; the circumstances surrounding Tripp's car) that are funny, and there are some pretty humorous scenes. It's a great opportunity to see Robert Downey, Jr. pre-Iron Man and he and Douglas have a few witty exchanges. But overall, I really didn't care. I do not know why, but there is something that really bugs me about Tobey Maguire. I cannot explain it, I just do not find him compelling to watch, or at least not long enough for a two-hour movie. Bob Dylan won the Oscar for "Things Have Changed", and it seemed to go well with the story. I've never been a huge Dylan fan, at least not of his singing, so I'll just leave it there.
11/29/13 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, honorary Academy Award, 1937, 34 on AFI 100
I am sure I have seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs before, but I don't think I have ever enjoyed it or appreciated it as much as I did this last time. This was Disney's first attempt at a full-length animated feature, it had not really been done by the other studios before either; the short-form was the norm. The animation is really good; the backgrounds are pretty static, but the moving characters or features are full of incredible detail, from water droplets to melting candles to the expressions on the animals.These were all hand-drawn. There is everything for a good story here (especially for kids): scary stuff (kids do like to be scared occasionally, especially when there is a 'happy' outcome), physical and verbal humor, dwarfs, fun songs and a happy ending. Visually the movie is colorful and easy to watch. The dwarfs are such a piece of the American consciousness and lexicon, we call people 'Dopey' or 'Sleepy' or my favorite, 'Grumpy' (I'm convinced that Thoren Oakenshield is Grumpy reincarnated). 'Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go', who doesn't sing that occasionally, in mock derision of having to work in the 'mines'? The DVD I got from the library had a special features disk and that included a 'making of' featurette that helps place Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in an historical context and animation context. We all probably watched this as kids, but I am definitely glad I watched it again as an adult. So, do yourself a favor, and watch it over the holidays, and whistle while you work.
11/29/13 Philomena 2013, not nominated (yet)
Oscar time is fast approaching and I am frightfully behind on current movies. It may be my good fortune that many potential nominees aren't released until this time of the year and I am able to 'catch up' as it were. There has been some buzz that Dame Judi Dench will be nominated for her role in Philomena, and that was reason enough to get dressed and leave the house on Friday to go sit in a theater. Philomena is based on a true story and stars Judi Dench as Philomena Lee, who as a young Irish woman who was forced to give up her young son for adoption in the 1950s. Around her what would be her son's 50th birthday, Philomena decides that she wants to look for him; her daughter, who up until this point did know she had an older brother fully supports her mother and gets journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) to help with the search. Stephen Frears (The Queen, The Grifters, Prick Up Your Ears and more) directed and Coogan co-wrote the screenplay. The circumstances that surround what happened to Philomena and girls like her have been very well-documented and I think it's very easy to think this is a cut and dried matter, but Philomena's own struggle to come to terms with what happened and move on and forgive shows that it is not that easy. Martin Sixsmith actually tries to advocate for her and gets very angry on her behalf. Dench and Coogan work so well together, and it really is the two of them on screen for the majority of the time (you could almost make this a two-person play which could be quite interesting). Dench breaks your heart and then lifts you up with her spirit. I do not want to give away too many plot points because the movie just came out in the US, and hopefully this is enough to get you to see it. It's a people film, no special effects, no big musical numbers, just a true story with likable characters.
11/29/13 Now You See Me 2013, not nominated
Now You See Me is a fun movie with a pretty decent cast (Midwest restraint keeps me from saying awesome) including Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, and Jesse Eisenberg. It's described as a 'caper film' or a 'heist film'. Four magicians/illusionists/mentalists are brought together to pull off some crazy mind-blowing tricks/stunts/illusions around the country. There is some good action, dialogue, and a few twists and turns along the way. I only mention it here because it's entirely possible it will be nominated for an Oscar for sound editing/mixing or editing. It was a nice way to wind down the evening and while the story had a lot of things going on, it didn't tax my pretty low emotional reserves. This would actually be a fun movie to watch with friends while eating pizza (I was eating turkey, and honestly, I don't think I need to see another piece of turkey for several months) and trying to figure out what's the next move or how they did this or that.
11/30/13 - 12/1/13 7 Up series through 56 Up, 1964 - 2012, not nominated
If you are interested in documentaries, either you are already familiar with the Up Series or you should you put them on your list. The Up series began following 14 kids in 1963 from different parts of England and different backgrounds. It originally started as a one-off show, as a way to compare and contrast 14 seven year olds, their thoughts, aspirations, concerns.There were fourteen children who were interviewed, but only four girls (three from the East End), and one boy who was black; the others were white boys from London, Yorkshire and Liverpool. Director Michael Apted turned it into a seven year cyclical event, kind of like the return of the cicadas. I have seen a few of the films in the past, but the library had the box set of all the films and I was compelled to watch all eight films at once (okay, over a period of two days). I was originally interested in the films (I think the first one I saw was 35 Up) was because I thought it was really cool to have this look back over twenty-eight years with different people to see how they had grown, changed, and to see living history (trust me, I wasn't always as much fun as I am today). The benefit of watching all the films so close together is that you don't have to wait seven years and there is more continuity to the stories and lives of the individuals; to be fair, though, Apted intercuts interviews from the previous films, so if you only wanted to watch 56 Up you could and still have a good idea of what happened (I wouldn't, but you could). Watching the interviews with the kids when they are seven years old is very much like talking to any seven year old (or collection of them), some are very creative and full of imagination, some are serious. The children went to a variety of schools: boarding schools, public schools, state schools, etc. As Apted points out in the interview with Roger Ebert in one of the bonus features, the initial film was very intent on showing a liberal/leftist point of view (in the 1960s, England was still a class oriented society). The later films may have a subtext of politics or class struggles, but those come more from the comments of the participants and what is happening in their lives than any 'forced' commentary. In 7 Up the children are very free with their thoughts, they don't self-edit themselves; by 14 Up and 21 Up, the now teenagers and young adults are a little more self-conscious (you can see in their body language they would rather be anywhere else) and reluctant to participate; it seems they were only 'required' to participate in the first two films, everything else was 'voluntary' (I use quotes because you definitely get the feeling that many of them feel like they can't quit the series no matter how unpleasant it is). Because this covers such a long period of time, the participants experience life (the birth of children and grandchildren), death (many lose their parents over the course of filming), marriage, re-marriage, and some show more emotion and feeling than others. One thing that caught my attention around 21 Up was the reluctance that many of the participants had at being interviewed and how they felt that the public who were watching them didn't really understand them, but felt they knew the people. These films were started before the disgusting obsession we seem to have with reality television, and people going on television for the explicit reason to be famous and on the Internet. Several interviewees (Suzy, Nick, Charles and John among a few) mention that they don't like being recognized by the public and feel very uncomfortable. I think it would be very hard to start a project like this today because it would difficult to get such a 'pure' look at the interviewees; people today are so interested in their fifteen minutes of fame, I don't think it would resonate the same way. I hope they are able to carry on with the series; the next one would be 63 Up and if everything is on schedule it would be released in the UK around 2019.
Sometimes 'good' has to be good enough: Speed, Tsotsi and Hearts and Minds
As usual, my eyes were bigger than, well, my eyes. I had eight movies going into this weekend, and only got through three, although, to be fair, I also got through Season 1 of "Wallander". I don't know why I do that, it always seems like such a great idea to have a television series to break up the movies, but then I get sucked in, and have to watch the whole thing. That's okay, I still finished three movies, and did my laundry...a successful weekend. A friend of mine asked if I take notes when I'm watching the movies so I can use them in my write-ups. I do not, I sometimes think I should so I can capture some of my insightful observations, but I worry I would get too distracted. So, I rely on my memory, which is usually pretty good, at least for my impressions, if not always everything else. [this blog was interrupted by a serious case of writer's block]
11/22/13 Hearts and Minds, Best Documentary Feature, 1974
Hearts and Minds uses contemporaneous interviews and footage filmed around Vietnam. I always find it interesting to watch a documentary like this, that when it was originally was shown, was current and could have been a segment on the evening news, and to watch it now, it's actually 'history' or 'historical'. I have vague memories of watching the news (in the days before 24-hour cable channels, when watching the television news was kind of a family event, at least in our house) and seeing protests on television and the helicopters in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. I think it's safe to say that in the almost forty years since this documentary was released, there has been an evolution in the thought-process regarding the US involvement in the war, the feelings about the soldiers as well as those evading the draft, and the Vietnamese people themselves. Some of the people interviewed for the film express some very racist views of the 'Oriental' cultures in general and the Vietnamese people in particular. These opinions can actually be transported back in time to the Crusades and the views of Europeans about the Arabs, Americans and Europeans about the Japanese during the Second World War, and forward to the current wars/conflicts in the Middle East: non-Caucasians are identified as savages, backwards, illiterate, etc. In some cases this is just based on skin color, but then usually combined with their religious practices. That was forty years ago. Fast forward to today and the feelings that people have (had) for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the people of those countries. In some ways, things haven't changed that much, and in others, maybe they have. There seems to be a very distinct separation between the men and women fighting the war (defending our country) and the war itself. The question of whether we should have been in Vietnam at all and what was the rationale exists today. The answer in the 1950s - 1970s was to fight against Communism (there are some interesting interviews with North Vietnamese and anti-war protesters describing their fight as a war of independence, shaking of the colonial powers - sound familiar?); the answer for the current conflicts is to protect oil interests and fight terrorism. I don't think this is the best documentary I have ever seen, but I do think it is an interesting look back at watershed moment in US history. The film is very clearly slanted towards the anti-war camp and makes no real attempt at unbiased reporting, and I think as long as you know that, you can still get something out of it.
11/23/13 Speed, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 1994
Once again, I am late to the party. This was the first time I have ever watched Speed (no, I was not under a rock). I have to say, after watching four hours of depressing, moping Kurt Wallander, this was a nice change of pace. There is nothing overly thought-provoking about this movie about a bus that is rigged to explode if the speed drops below fifty miles an hour. Dennis Hopper is the psychopathic demolition man who is bent on revenge against the police (I'm not giving anything away here); Keanu Reeves is the hero cop who doesn't have too much trouble bending or breaking the rules to save the citizens of Los Angeles; Sandra Bullock winds up driving the bus through the streets of Los Angeles. Like I said, this is not complicated. The reason it works is that it's fun: there are explosions; witty banter between the characters Jeff Daniels and Reeves; Reeves and Bullock; crazy driving skills; a great look at 1990s computer technology (gasp); and Dennis Hopper is nuts. The movie won for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and after watching a few of these winners, it does seem that there is a lot of hard work that goes into making sure explosions and traffic sounds and gun shots all sync up to make the experience come through the speakers. I should note that (knock wood), I am watching the same television I bought in 1993, and it doesn't even know what surround sound or HDTV are, so I'm sure I am missing out on a lot. It wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
11/24/13 Tsotsi, Best Foreign Language Film, 2005
I really wanted to love this movie, and I feel bad because I only liked it and even then, it took a while to get to like. Tsotsi is set in South Africa and follows a gang of kids, focusing on the leader, David (known as Tsotsi). David and his crew rob people, steal things, whatever they need to do to survive. After a series of events, Tsotsi shoots a woman, then steals her car, and discovers that her baby is in it. The overarching story is watching this tough kid (and they are kids) learn to deal with his past and open his heart to this little baby. That is some nice character development; it's not simple and straightforward, there are some zigs and zags in the road. Tsotsi forms an unexpected bond with the father of the baby and I wanted to see how that played out. South Africa is a complex country with a complex history (and present), and there is something about it that has intrigued me for a long time, and the movie captures a little of that. Things are not always black and white, cut and dried. There are circumstances. I can't put my finger on why I am struggling with this; I think it's because I was not interested in some of the peripheral characters, and found it hard to care. It was a little over halfway through that I found myself engaged. The movie was based on a book by Athol Fugard, so perhaps there is more in the book that I was looking for than was in the movie. I can't give this a big thumbs up, but I can't say don't see it. Perhaps it will resonate with you more than me. I am glad I saw it, and sometimes that's all you can hope for. I have 680 more movies to go, and I'm sure there are going to be movies I will encourage you to avoid; this isn't one of them.
On a side note, as you may know if you are a regular reader (thank you for that), I love documentaries. I would imagine that documentaries don't often get the big studio budgets that a comic book hero or a talking car get. That's where Kickstarter comes in; there are some good projects out there, and I am hoping that two of them come to fruition. Feel free to check them out (or the many others). One is about Magda, who was a Jewish spy during World War II; she's still around at 91 and this movie is telling her story. The other project is about The Wrecking Crew, studio musicians who played and supported an incredible number of acts like Simon and Garfunkle, The Beach Boys, and more. I love movies like this (if you have not seen Standing in the Shadows about the musicians who made up the Motown sound, you really should; it made me cry). I supported a project that was successfully funded a little while ago about the last surviving US veteran from World War I, called Pershing's Last Patriot. I'm usually ranting against social media and the participatory activities it spawns (no, the irony is not lost on me), but the idea of micro-funding/crowd-funding something that is of interest, is pretty cool. It's a small way to support artists, designers, creators.
Ah, I think the writer's block is gone. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah.
11/22/13 Hearts and Minds, Best Documentary Feature, 1974
Hearts and Minds uses contemporaneous interviews and footage filmed around Vietnam. I always find it interesting to watch a documentary like this, that when it was originally was shown, was current and could have been a segment on the evening news, and to watch it now, it's actually 'history' or 'historical'. I have vague memories of watching the news (in the days before 24-hour cable channels, when watching the television news was kind of a family event, at least in our house) and seeing protests on television and the helicopters in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. I think it's safe to say that in the almost forty years since this documentary was released, there has been an evolution in the thought-process regarding the US involvement in the war, the feelings about the soldiers as well as those evading the draft, and the Vietnamese people themselves. Some of the people interviewed for the film express some very racist views of the 'Oriental' cultures in general and the Vietnamese people in particular. These opinions can actually be transported back in time to the Crusades and the views of Europeans about the Arabs, Americans and Europeans about the Japanese during the Second World War, and forward to the current wars/conflicts in the Middle East: non-Caucasians are identified as savages, backwards, illiterate, etc. In some cases this is just based on skin color, but then usually combined with their religious practices. That was forty years ago. Fast forward to today and the feelings that people have (had) for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the people of those countries. In some ways, things haven't changed that much, and in others, maybe they have. There seems to be a very distinct separation between the men and women fighting the war (defending our country) and the war itself. The question of whether we should have been in Vietnam at all and what was the rationale exists today. The answer in the 1950s - 1970s was to fight against Communism (there are some interesting interviews with North Vietnamese and anti-war protesters describing their fight as a war of independence, shaking of the colonial powers - sound familiar?); the answer for the current conflicts is to protect oil interests and fight terrorism. I don't think this is the best documentary I have ever seen, but I do think it is an interesting look back at watershed moment in US history. The film is very clearly slanted towards the anti-war camp and makes no real attempt at unbiased reporting, and I think as long as you know that, you can still get something out of it.
11/23/13 Speed, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 1994
Once again, I am late to the party. This was the first time I have ever watched Speed (no, I was not under a rock). I have to say, after watching four hours of depressing, moping Kurt Wallander, this was a nice change of pace. There is nothing overly thought-provoking about this movie about a bus that is rigged to explode if the speed drops below fifty miles an hour. Dennis Hopper is the psychopathic demolition man who is bent on revenge against the police (I'm not giving anything away here); Keanu Reeves is the hero cop who doesn't have too much trouble bending or breaking the rules to save the citizens of Los Angeles; Sandra Bullock winds up driving the bus through the streets of Los Angeles. Like I said, this is not complicated. The reason it works is that it's fun: there are explosions; witty banter between the characters Jeff Daniels and Reeves; Reeves and Bullock; crazy driving skills; a great look at 1990s computer technology (gasp); and Dennis Hopper is nuts. The movie won for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and after watching a few of these winners, it does seem that there is a lot of hard work that goes into making sure explosions and traffic sounds and gun shots all sync up to make the experience come through the speakers. I should note that (knock wood), I am watching the same television I bought in 1993, and it doesn't even know what surround sound or HDTV are, so I'm sure I am missing out on a lot. It wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
11/24/13 Tsotsi, Best Foreign Language Film, 2005
I really wanted to love this movie, and I feel bad because I only liked it and even then, it took a while to get to like. Tsotsi is set in South Africa and follows a gang of kids, focusing on the leader, David (known as Tsotsi). David and his crew rob people, steal things, whatever they need to do to survive. After a series of events, Tsotsi shoots a woman, then steals her car, and discovers that her baby is in it. The overarching story is watching this tough kid (and they are kids) learn to deal with his past and open his heart to this little baby. That is some nice character development; it's not simple and straightforward, there are some zigs and zags in the road. Tsotsi forms an unexpected bond with the father of the baby and I wanted to see how that played out. South Africa is a complex country with a complex history (and present), and there is something about it that has intrigued me for a long time, and the movie captures a little of that. Things are not always black and white, cut and dried. There are circumstances. I can't put my finger on why I am struggling with this; I think it's because I was not interested in some of the peripheral characters, and found it hard to care. It was a little over halfway through that I found myself engaged. The movie was based on a book by Athol Fugard, so perhaps there is more in the book that I was looking for than was in the movie. I can't give this a big thumbs up, but I can't say don't see it. Perhaps it will resonate with you more than me. I am glad I saw it, and sometimes that's all you can hope for. I have 680 more movies to go, and I'm sure there are going to be movies I will encourage you to avoid; this isn't one of them.
On a side note, as you may know if you are a regular reader (thank you for that), I love documentaries. I would imagine that documentaries don't often get the big studio budgets that a comic book hero or a talking car get. That's where Kickstarter comes in; there are some good projects out there, and I am hoping that two of them come to fruition. Feel free to check them out (or the many others). One is about Magda, who was a Jewish spy during World War II; she's still around at 91 and this movie is telling her story. The other project is about The Wrecking Crew, studio musicians who played and supported an incredible number of acts like Simon and Garfunkle, The Beach Boys, and more. I love movies like this (if you have not seen Standing in the Shadows about the musicians who made up the Motown sound, you really should; it made me cry). I supported a project that was successfully funded a little while ago about the last surviving US veteran from World War I, called Pershing's Last Patriot. I'm usually ranting against social media and the participatory activities it spawns (no, the irony is not lost on me), but the idea of micro-funding/crowd-funding something that is of interest, is pretty cool. It's a small way to support artists, designers, creators.
Ah, I think the writer's block is gone. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah.
You really should see these movies: Pride & Prejudice, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and 12 Years a Slave
It was a weekend of classics: a film based on a classic novel, a classic American film, and a film that I truly believe will be a classic.
11/6/13 Pride and Prejudice, Best Art Direction B&W, 1940
You really cannot go wrong with Jane Austen, well, I mean I suppose you could if you really tried, but under normal circumstances, Miss Austen is tried and true. 2013 was the bicentennial of the first publication of Pride and Prejudice, a fact of which I was unaware until ten minutes ago, otherwise, I would have celebrated much more fervently. A few months ago I was lucky enough to see Pride and Prejudice at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis (a gorgeous theater with a thrust stage), so the dialog and characters are fairly fresh, and Austen is nothing if not about the witty dialog and the memorable characters. The Bennett family, led by long-suffering patriarch, Mr. Bennett's life (Edmund Gwenn also known for being Santa in Miracle on 34th Street), is overflowing with women, some silly(including Mrs. Bennett), some serious, needs to get five daughters married to men of means since they are unable to inherit from their father. Edmund Gwenn is Mr. Bennett, Austen's lines just rolling off his tongue. Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver) is Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bennett, the eldest and like most elder daughters, the brightest, funniest and most observant. Lizzie is an astutely cynical and social observer, although she is not without her own 'prejudices' as Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier) points out. Austen gives Lizzie some great lines, and like many of her leading characters, a strong, independent personality, and when you think that the story was set in the early 1800s (women could not vote and had virtually no 'power' outside of their own home, if there), that's pretty incredible. Olivier is Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth's very capable sparring partner, and he handles the role of straight man, prideful snob (per Lizzie) wonderfully. Olivier employs a playfulness that you don't often see when he is being Henry V or Heathcliffe. Being a movie and not the book, there are things that are omitted, changed, etc., I stopped getting hung up on that stuff a long time ago, as long as the movie is true to the idea and heart of the book, I'm fine with some minor tweaks; some things just are better written than in film, or you make a movie that's three hours long. If you want to hear the mellifluous sound of Austen's words being spoken by amazing orators like Olivier, Gwenn, Garson, Ann Rutherford and so many others, then definitely check out this movie. It won't take anything away from the book and you can read the book as well. You can watch this with the whole family, and it might be a nice move to watch over the coming holidays, maybe on Boxing Day.
11/16/13 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Best Writing, Original Story, 1939
1939 was quite a year for movies: Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind as just two examples, so it's not totally surprising that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which was nominated for a total of eleven awards, only won one, for Best Original Story (since Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz and Goodbye, Mr. Chips,were based on books, that kind of helped in this category). I was telling a few people, some of whom have seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and some who have, that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington should be required viewing for all members of elected government. It should be required viewing for everyone, really, not as a civics lesson necessarily, but to remind people that we have a participatory system and we need to participate. Frank Capra, the director (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and It's a Wonderful Life) and Sidney Buchman, the screenwriter, do not try to develop the complexities that are inherent in politics or real life, they paint a fairly black and white situation, the good guy is good to the core, the bad guys will stop at nothing to win. I don't have a problem with that, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a morality tale, and the moral of the story is that the good guy can win if he stays true to himself and his cause, to clutter that up with wavering or a character flaw would have muted some of the effect, in this case. I think Capra knows his audience, and knows they want they want their hero, Jefferson Smith (a patriotic first name with the everyman last name) played by American Icon, Jimmy Stewart, to triumph. Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, Casablanca) plays Senator Joe Paine, senior Senator from the same state as Stewart's Jeff Smith, is the direct antagonist to Smith, is eloquent and deceptively fatherly to Smith. Jeff Smith is a hero to all the boys of his unnamed state because of his 'Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett' persona, and appointed to the recently vacant senatorial seat because the political machine of his state thinks he will be a patsy for their projects. Smith is 'guided' by his wiseguy secretary, Saunders, played by Jean Arthur. Arthur also played a similar character in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Gary Cooper. Arthur holds her own as the main female character in an otherwise male-dominated story (politics was very much a man's world, except, Saunders does show she knows the game better than most). She was great, smart, cynical, beautiful, and convinced her new boss is the biggest chump in the world until she realizes how absolutely sincere and earnest he is, and then she uses her knowledge of Senate rules and the Senate to help him (it's not that easy of course, because the course of true love never ran straight or something like that). There is not a question of this being the most accurate portrayal of politics, but I would question anyone who gets too indignant over the scandalous depiction of the politicians, and ask if they have checked Congress's approval ratings lately. Stewart gives a wonderful portrayal of the naive, young senator, and his filibuster attempt is one of movie lore. I found myself fist-pumping as you feel the tide turn in his favor (another reason I watch movies by myself). Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a good movie to start a conversation about all kinds of things: politics, the political process, and movie making. It is on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Best American films. This is also a good family friendly film (there's some drinking and smoking).
11/17/13 Twelve Years a Slave, not yet nominated 2013
Breakfast and a movie with a friend, what better way to spend a Sunday morning? My friend and I both wanted to see Twelve Years a Slave, because we heard really good things, and I was feeling terribly guilty about not seeing more current movies (I mean Two Guns and Bad Grandpa were entertaining, but I'm not thinking they're going to win any Oscars). The movie was directed by Steve McQueen, who also directed Hunger about the Irish Hunger Strikes in the 1980s, clearly he doesn't shy away from difficult topics. That was a powerful film and starred Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands. If you can get this from Netflix, I totally recommend it. Chiwetel Eijofor (Kinky Boots, which if you have not seen, you should) plays Solomon Northup, a free black man from Saratoga Springs, New York, who is kidnapped and sold as a slave; Michael Fassbender, appearing in his third Steve McQueen film, is the crazed, slave owner, Edwin Epps (he reminded me a little of John Hurt as Caligula in I, Claudius) and he is magnificent (if that doesn't sound too twisted); Benedict Cumberpatch is the kindly plantation owner, William Ford who really does not want to own slaves, it's just the circumstances of the times and the place. Lupita Nyong'o, who is a newcomer to American cinema, plays Patsey, a slave who has mesmerized Epps, and is despised by his wife (Sarah Paulsen). Patsey is a pivotal role, with actually very little dialog, and I was blown away by Nyong'o. Actually, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty much blown away by the whole film: the direction, the acting (the cast is superb), the cinematography, the use of music, everything. Usually I'm pretty skeptical about movies that everyone 'loves' or that leaves everyone in tears, or whatever, I often wonder if people just don't want to say, ugh, it was horrible. But in this case, everyone I have talked to about this, I am telling them to see it. This is another movie that everyone (every American) should see, in part because of the subject matter, slavery, which is always seems so hard to talk about, even 150 years after it's been abolished in the U.S., but also because it is a beautiful bit of film making. I don't want to sound too 'professorial', because I'm not a film student, but one of the things I loved about the movie was space that McQueen left between the delivery of lines, or the transition between scenes; he's not afraid to just let the audience and the characters 'be', and have atmospheric/ambience music in the background. Terrence Malick did this to the extreme in Tree of Life and I almost cried from boredom, McQueen did this to great effect. He would go in for a closeup and just stay there and let the character's eyes tell the story. I was comparing it to Django Unchained where you, as a viewer, went from violent scene to aggressive scene and you almost couldn't catch your breath. Here, you might have a super violent scene, a whipping or beating and then you have five to seven minutes where the characters take minute to contemplate, breathe (I'm overusing that word, but that's the only thing that I can really think of) and move on. There's a balance, and while the movie definitely has disturbing moments, as a viewer you don't get a) immune to it and b) you don't get drowned by it, I feel like you give it the importance and the weight it deserves. Eijofor as Northrup is so good, he makes Northup (who was a real person) well-rounded as a character, he's not too good, too perfect, he is flawed, he is trying to survive while maintaining his dignity and humanity. I've read/seen other stories like this about Holocaust survivors. These are not black and white situations (irony not intended), these are survival situations. Brad Pitt plays Samuel Bass, a traveling carpenter from Canada, who has a negative view of slavery which he shares with Epps, befriends Northup, but even he has trepidation about helping Northup get out of his situation, he says he fears for his life if he helps. That is just one example of the ambiguity that people felt; Alfre Woodard plays the 'wife' of a white plantation owner, and she tells Patsey (essentially) it's all about surviving. This certainly isn't a 'family-friendly' movie, but after you see it, you may want to watch it with your older teenage kids, so you can have the discussions, answer questions. I remember watching Roots and The Holocaust when they were originally on television in the 1970s and early 1980s, and that was tough television, but so important to help advance the conversations around some really hard historical topics. And it's so well done.
Blogger's note: I've actually done more post-publication editing on this entry than others (which is usually none), but that's what happens when you stay up past your bedtime, you leave half-completed thoughts. My apologies...the thoughts may be wonky, but the intent should be clear...good movie watching to be had.
11/6/13 Pride and Prejudice, Best Art Direction B&W, 1940
You really cannot go wrong with Jane Austen, well, I mean I suppose you could if you really tried, but under normal circumstances, Miss Austen is tried and true. 2013 was the bicentennial of the first publication of Pride and Prejudice, a fact of which I was unaware until ten minutes ago, otherwise, I would have celebrated much more fervently. A few months ago I was lucky enough to see Pride and Prejudice at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis (a gorgeous theater with a thrust stage), so the dialog and characters are fairly fresh, and Austen is nothing if not about the witty dialog and the memorable characters. The Bennett family, led by long-suffering patriarch, Mr. Bennett's life (Edmund Gwenn also known for being Santa in Miracle on 34th Street), is overflowing with women, some silly(including Mrs. Bennett), some serious, needs to get five daughters married to men of means since they are unable to inherit from their father. Edmund Gwenn is Mr. Bennett, Austen's lines just rolling off his tongue. Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver) is Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bennett, the eldest and like most elder daughters, the brightest, funniest and most observant. Lizzie is an astutely cynical and social observer, although she is not without her own 'prejudices' as Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier) points out. Austen gives Lizzie some great lines, and like many of her leading characters, a strong, independent personality, and when you think that the story was set in the early 1800s (women could not vote and had virtually no 'power' outside of their own home, if there), that's pretty incredible. Olivier is Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth's very capable sparring partner, and he handles the role of straight man, prideful snob (per Lizzie) wonderfully. Olivier employs a playfulness that you don't often see when he is being Henry V or Heathcliffe. Being a movie and not the book, there are things that are omitted, changed, etc., I stopped getting hung up on that stuff a long time ago, as long as the movie is true to the idea and heart of the book, I'm fine with some minor tweaks; some things just are better written than in film, or you make a movie that's three hours long. If you want to hear the mellifluous sound of Austen's words being spoken by amazing orators like Olivier, Gwenn, Garson, Ann Rutherford and so many others, then definitely check out this movie. It won't take anything away from the book and you can read the book as well. You can watch this with the whole family, and it might be a nice move to watch over the coming holidays, maybe on Boxing Day.
11/16/13 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Best Writing, Original Story, 1939
1939 was quite a year for movies: Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind as just two examples, so it's not totally surprising that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which was nominated for a total of eleven awards, only won one, for Best Original Story (since Gone with the Wind, Wizard of Oz and Goodbye, Mr. Chips,were based on books, that kind of helped in this category). I was telling a few people, some of whom have seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and some who have, that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington should be required viewing for all members of elected government. It should be required viewing for everyone, really, not as a civics lesson necessarily, but to remind people that we have a participatory system and we need to participate. Frank Capra, the director (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and It's a Wonderful Life) and Sidney Buchman, the screenwriter, do not try to develop the complexities that are inherent in politics or real life, they paint a fairly black and white situation, the good guy is good to the core, the bad guys will stop at nothing to win. I don't have a problem with that, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a morality tale, and the moral of the story is that the good guy can win if he stays true to himself and his cause, to clutter that up with wavering or a character flaw would have muted some of the effect, in this case. I think Capra knows his audience, and knows they want they want their hero, Jefferson Smith (a patriotic first name with the everyman last name) played by American Icon, Jimmy Stewart, to triumph. Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, Casablanca) plays Senator Joe Paine, senior Senator from the same state as Stewart's Jeff Smith, is the direct antagonist to Smith, is eloquent and deceptively fatherly to Smith. Jeff Smith is a hero to all the boys of his unnamed state because of his 'Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett' persona, and appointed to the recently vacant senatorial seat because the political machine of his state thinks he will be a patsy for their projects. Smith is 'guided' by his wiseguy secretary, Saunders, played by Jean Arthur. Arthur also played a similar character in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Gary Cooper. Arthur holds her own as the main female character in an otherwise male-dominated story (politics was very much a man's world, except, Saunders does show she knows the game better than most). She was great, smart, cynical, beautiful, and convinced her new boss is the biggest chump in the world until she realizes how absolutely sincere and earnest he is, and then she uses her knowledge of Senate rules and the Senate to help him (it's not that easy of course, because the course of true love never ran straight or something like that). There is not a question of this being the most accurate portrayal of politics, but I would question anyone who gets too indignant over the scandalous depiction of the politicians, and ask if they have checked Congress's approval ratings lately. Stewart gives a wonderful portrayal of the naive, young senator, and his filibuster attempt is one of movie lore. I found myself fist-pumping as you feel the tide turn in his favor (another reason I watch movies by myself). Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a good movie to start a conversation about all kinds of things: politics, the political process, and movie making. It is on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Best American films. This is also a good family friendly film (there's some drinking and smoking).
11/17/13 Twelve Years a Slave, not yet nominated 2013
Breakfast and a movie with a friend, what better way to spend a Sunday morning? My friend and I both wanted to see Twelve Years a Slave, because we heard really good things, and I was feeling terribly guilty about not seeing more current movies (I mean Two Guns and Bad Grandpa were entertaining, but I'm not thinking they're going to win any Oscars). The movie was directed by Steve McQueen, who also directed Hunger about the Irish Hunger Strikes in the 1980s, clearly he doesn't shy away from difficult topics. That was a powerful film and starred Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands. If you can get this from Netflix, I totally recommend it. Chiwetel Eijofor (Kinky Boots, which if you have not seen, you should) plays Solomon Northup, a free black man from Saratoga Springs, New York, who is kidnapped and sold as a slave; Michael Fassbender, appearing in his third Steve McQueen film, is the crazed, slave owner, Edwin Epps (he reminded me a little of John Hurt as Caligula in I, Claudius) and he is magnificent (if that doesn't sound too twisted); Benedict Cumberpatch is the kindly plantation owner, William Ford who really does not want to own slaves, it's just the circumstances of the times and the place. Lupita Nyong'o, who is a newcomer to American cinema, plays Patsey, a slave who has mesmerized Epps, and is despised by his wife (Sarah Paulsen). Patsey is a pivotal role, with actually very little dialog, and I was blown away by Nyong'o. Actually, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty much blown away by the whole film: the direction, the acting (the cast is superb), the cinematography, the use of music, everything. Usually I'm pretty skeptical about movies that everyone 'loves' or that leaves everyone in tears, or whatever, I often wonder if people just don't want to say, ugh, it was horrible. But in this case, everyone I have talked to about this, I am telling them to see it. This is another movie that everyone (every American) should see, in part because of the subject matter, slavery, which is always seems so hard to talk about, even 150 years after it's been abolished in the U.S., but also because it is a beautiful bit of film making. I don't want to sound too 'professorial', because I'm not a film student, but one of the things I loved about the movie was space that McQueen left between the delivery of lines, or the transition between scenes; he's not afraid to just let the audience and the characters 'be', and have atmospheric/ambience music in the background. Terrence Malick did this to the extreme in Tree of Life and I almost cried from boredom, McQueen did this to great effect. He would go in for a closeup and just stay there and let the character's eyes tell the story. I was comparing it to Django Unchained where you, as a viewer, went from violent scene to aggressive scene and you almost couldn't catch your breath. Here, you might have a super violent scene, a whipping or beating and then you have five to seven minutes where the characters take minute to contemplate, breathe (I'm overusing that word, but that's the only thing that I can really think of) and move on. There's a balance, and while the movie definitely has disturbing moments, as a viewer you don't get a) immune to it and b) you don't get drowned by it, I feel like you give it the importance and the weight it deserves. Eijofor as Northrup is so good, he makes Northup (who was a real person) well-rounded as a character, he's not too good, too perfect, he is flawed, he is trying to survive while maintaining his dignity and humanity. I've read/seen other stories like this about Holocaust survivors. These are not black and white situations (irony not intended), these are survival situations. Brad Pitt plays Samuel Bass, a traveling carpenter from Canada, who has a negative view of slavery which he shares with Epps, befriends Northup, but even he has trepidation about helping Northup get out of his situation, he says he fears for his life if he helps. That is just one example of the ambiguity that people felt; Alfre Woodard plays the 'wife' of a white plantation owner, and she tells Patsey (essentially) it's all about surviving. This certainly isn't a 'family-friendly' movie, but after you see it, you may want to watch it with your older teenage kids, so you can have the discussions, answer questions. I remember watching Roots and The Holocaust when they were originally on television in the 1970s and early 1980s, and that was tough television, but so important to help advance the conversations around some really hard historical topics. And it's so well done.
Blogger's note: I've actually done more post-publication editing on this entry than others (which is usually none), but that's what happens when you stay up past your bedtime, you leave half-completed thoughts. My apologies...the thoughts may be wonky, but the intent should be clear...good movie watching to be had.
A weekend smorgasbord: Thor, Little Women, The Motorcycle Diaries, The Official Story and more
Oh, what a weekend this is going to be (it's Saturday as I write this), especially as I totally crapped out on movies last weekend. I don't like gorging myself on movies, I'm fairly certain a lot of brain cells can be hurt in the process, even if the movies are great. But, here I am, with overdue notices staring me in the face, and Thor: The Dark World opening this weekend, so gorge it is.
11/9/13 Thor: The Dark World
I don't know what excited me more, seeing Thor or seeing the previews for Captain America: Winter Soldier (filmed in Cleveland this past summer) or X-Men: Days of Future Past. I did a little happy dance for both. But getting back to Thor (without giving away too much), I did like it, I thought the dialogue had the proper balance of seriousness and comedic lines and the effects were top notch (potential nominee for editing and visual effects). We did not see it in 3-D because I am still not convinced it's really worth the extra money. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his cohorts start off the movie by trying to get the worlds re-aligned and set right; Thor still holds a torch (or a hammer) for Jane Porter (Natalie Portman). Jane is still researching the astronomical anomalies, this time she's in London. Stellan Skarsgard returns as Dr. Erik Selvig, who has some crazy moments interspersed with lucidity. Jane's intern is wise-cracking Darcy (Kat Denning) and I must admit, I looked forward to what she was going to say next. The Asgardians are represented by Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins who could make a reading of the Yellow Pages entrancing) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who is locked up for his demolition of New York (The Avengers). The nine worlds are about to begin a very rare convergence which will let loose the Aether, and Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves longs to possess it. There is massive devastation in Asgard as well as Greenwich, England. Personally, I prefer a lot of action in my superhero movies, I don't need a lot of moralizing or philosophizing and that works out just fine here. And I'll let you take it from there, or just go see it. Make sure to stay until through the credits.
11/8/13 Little Women, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1933
There have been several film versions of Little Women, based on the book by Louisa May Alcott. This one stars Katherine Hepburn as Jo March, the aspiring writer in the family and Joan Bennett as Amy March, the youngest sister. The story is set during and after the American Civil War, and Mr. March has gone off to fight, leaving his family behind, struggling financially and socially. Oldest sister, Meg, works as a seamstress and Beth is the musical talent in the family. Their mother, fondly called 'Marmee' goes about town doing good deeds for others less fortunate than her family, even asking the girls to sacrifice their Christmas breakfast for another family, which they do. Laurie is the grandson of the Marches' wealthy neighbor who has a very obvious crush on Jo, but she is too devoted to her writing. Meg marries Mr. Brooke, Laurie's tutor. Circumstances force Jo to go New York to live in a boarding house and work on her writing; Amy goes to live with their crabby Aunt March. Little Women was one of Katherine Hepburn's first films, and you can see some of the traits that made her such a film icon. She is self-assured, bold and not afraid to infuse physicality into the role. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for another movie that year, Morning Glory. George Cukor directed the movie, he also directed Hepburn in several other films, including The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib. The movie may seem very tame eighty years later, and it really is, but I don't think stories like Little Women and Pride and Prejudice are meant to be wild and crazy and risque. They capture the charm of a less complicated era which is what appealed to the audiences at the time. The country was four years into the Great Depression and a movie about a close family, getting by on love and supporting each other, which sounds corny in this jaded century, must have been comforting. I don't think this is the greatest movie, and certainly not the best work of Cukor or Hepburn, but it is a chance to see Hepburn in an early role, and if you like movies based on Jane Austen's books, you may also enjoy this one.
11/9/13 The Motorcycle Diaries, Best Original Song, 2004
Seriously, I had no idea, I assumed this would have won for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not, it was not even nominated in that category. It won for the Best Original Song "Al otro lado del rÃo". The Motorcycle Diaries is a biopic about Ernesto Che Guevera and his friend, Alberto Granado as they take a motorcycle journey throughout South America in 1952. Guevera and Granado are both in the medical field and want to visit a leper colony in Peru. This trip is life-changing as Guevera and Granado encounter the kindness of strangers, the poverty of the indigenous people and strengthen their commitment to socialism and a united 'America' (in this case Guevera means the countries of South America as well). Gael Garcia Bernal as Guevera (he was also in Babel and No) conveys a compassion and commitment that made Guevera a lasting political and social icon. The movie soft-peddles the socialist/communist ideology, it starts out as a travelogue of 1950s South America, showing the countryside of Argentina, Chile and Peru; I felt it guided you to certain conclusions, but it didn't feel heavy-handed to me. You could see how much the people he met meant to him. There is a running storyline about fifteen US dollars that Guevera's girlfriend gives him to buy a bathing suit for her; Granado keeps asking for the money for various things, food, shelter, and even a prostitute, but Guevera refuses to give him the money. He later tells Alberto he has given the money to a poor couple in Chile. When they get to the leper colony, they refuse to follow the rule of wearing gloves (if someone is being treated for leprosy, then they are not contagious, and since the people in the colony were being treated, the disease could not be passed on, but the Mother Superior insisted on the gloves). They even shake hands with the people and play football, treating them with humanity. There haven't been a lot of movies about Guevera, which seems odd to me, so I feel like I learned a lot and want to learn more about him. At the time the movie was made, Granado was still alive and even went back to the leper colony in Peru where some of the people were still there.
11/9/13 The Official Story, Best Foreign Language Film, 1985
I really wanted to like this movie, I really did, but all I could think of was time stopped, and not in a good way. The Official Story is a film from Argentina set after the time of the last junta (dictatorship); during the junta, children were taken from their parents who were opposed to the government. Alicia is a history teacher and Roberto is a successful businessman who seems to have powerful government connections. Alicia and Roberto are the parents of Gaby, a little girl they adopted under less than normal circumstances. Around Gaby's 5th birthday, Alicia begins to ask Roberto questions about the adoption, wondering about her grandparents. As Alicia looks into Gaby's records, she and Roberto quarrel; clearly there is something he does not want to tell her. I was hoping for something like The Secrets in Their Eyes, another movie about the "Dirty War" period in Argentina, with taut story-telling and compelling characters. It wasn't there for me; perhaps because it was made so soon after the junta ended and the writer and director just wanted to get the story out, I don't know. I want to learn more about this period in history, but I will have to do that elsewhere.
11/10/13 City Lights, 1931 American Film Institute 100 Best Films, #11
The Little Tramp strikes again. I enjoyed this film much more than Gold Rush and a little more than Modern Times. There is so much going on this movie: physical comedy, sight gags (no pun intended), a musical score that acts as another character. By 1931, most films were being made with sound, but Chaplin (and I think many other silent film stars) did not think that sound pictures would last very long. The Little Tramp was a character known around the world, mainly because his stories could be told without sound they were universal, he could be English, American, Italian or French. The movie opens with the unveiling of a statue with Chaplin sleeping in the arms of one of the figures. The Tramp later meets a blind flower girl, played by Virginia Cherrill, with whom the Little Tramp becomes infatuated. She mistakes him for a millionaire (the movie is full of 'mistaken identity' gags), and he does not want to disappoint her. The Tramp finds a real millionaire on the brink of committing suicide and saves him from himself. This scene is just one of many that show what a good choreographer Chaplin was (among so many things). The millionaire (he has no name like the other characters in the film) is very grateful and brings the Tramp back to his house where they proceed to get very intoxicated. The Tramp and the millionaire have an on-again off-again relationship through the movie, depending on the sobriety of the millionaire (the drunker the better), which makes for many of the comedic moments. The Tramp wants to take care of the blind girl and goes to great lengths to do so, even taking a job as a street sweeper to earn money, and when he gets fired from that, he agrees to fight in a boxing match that he believes will be rigged so he doesn't get hurt. The boxing scene is so well staged, it's like a ballet. The end of the movie is really wonderful, masterfully understated. Chaplin's Tramp embodies the full range of human emotions from delight to despair, all silently. The DVD I borrowed from the library had a bonus DVD that provides some insight into the making of the movie and Chaplin's motivation behind some of his decisions. This is a great family movie, the kids might really enjoy some of the antics (the Tramp accidentally swallows a whistle and the ensuing scene is pretty funny, as well as his spaghetti eating scene).
In honor of Veteran's Day tomorrow, here are some Oscar-winning military films (and nominated documentaries):
World War I All Quiet on the Western Front, Wings
World War II Patton, The Dirty Dozen, Pearl Harbor
Korean War M.A.S.H.
Vietnam War Platoon
Iraq/Afghanistan War Hell and Back Again - documentary
Women in the Military The Invisible War - documentary
11/9/13 Thor: The Dark World
I don't know what excited me more, seeing Thor or seeing the previews for Captain America: Winter Soldier (filmed in Cleveland this past summer) or X-Men: Days of Future Past. I did a little happy dance for both. But getting back to Thor (without giving away too much), I did like it, I thought the dialogue had the proper balance of seriousness and comedic lines and the effects were top notch (potential nominee for editing and visual effects). We did not see it in 3-D because I am still not convinced it's really worth the extra money. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his cohorts start off the movie by trying to get the worlds re-aligned and set right; Thor still holds a torch (or a hammer) for Jane Porter (Natalie Portman). Jane is still researching the astronomical anomalies, this time she's in London. Stellan Skarsgard returns as Dr. Erik Selvig, who has some crazy moments interspersed with lucidity. Jane's intern is wise-cracking Darcy (Kat Denning) and I must admit, I looked forward to what she was going to say next. The Asgardians are represented by Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins who could make a reading of the Yellow Pages entrancing) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who is locked up for his demolition of New York (The Avengers). The nine worlds are about to begin a very rare convergence which will let loose the Aether, and Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves longs to possess it. There is massive devastation in Asgard as well as Greenwich, England. Personally, I prefer a lot of action in my superhero movies, I don't need a lot of moralizing or philosophizing and that works out just fine here. And I'll let you take it from there, or just go see it. Make sure to stay until through the credits.
11/8/13 Little Women, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1933
There have been several film versions of Little Women, based on the book by Louisa May Alcott. This one stars Katherine Hepburn as Jo March, the aspiring writer in the family and Joan Bennett as Amy March, the youngest sister. The story is set during and after the American Civil War, and Mr. March has gone off to fight, leaving his family behind, struggling financially and socially. Oldest sister, Meg, works as a seamstress and Beth is the musical talent in the family. Their mother, fondly called 'Marmee' goes about town doing good deeds for others less fortunate than her family, even asking the girls to sacrifice their Christmas breakfast for another family, which they do. Laurie is the grandson of the Marches' wealthy neighbor who has a very obvious crush on Jo, but she is too devoted to her writing. Meg marries Mr. Brooke, Laurie's tutor. Circumstances force Jo to go New York to live in a boarding house and work on her writing; Amy goes to live with their crabby Aunt March. Little Women was one of Katherine Hepburn's first films, and you can see some of the traits that made her such a film icon. She is self-assured, bold and not afraid to infuse physicality into the role. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for another movie that year, Morning Glory. George Cukor directed the movie, he also directed Hepburn in several other films, including The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib. The movie may seem very tame eighty years later, and it really is, but I don't think stories like Little Women and Pride and Prejudice are meant to be wild and crazy and risque. They capture the charm of a less complicated era which is what appealed to the audiences at the time. The country was four years into the Great Depression and a movie about a close family, getting by on love and supporting each other, which sounds corny in this jaded century, must have been comforting. I don't think this is the greatest movie, and certainly not the best work of Cukor or Hepburn, but it is a chance to see Hepburn in an early role, and if you like movies based on Jane Austen's books, you may also enjoy this one.
11/9/13 The Motorcycle Diaries, Best Original Song, 2004
Seriously, I had no idea, I assumed this would have won for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not, it was not even nominated in that category. It won for the Best Original Song "Al otro lado del rÃo". The Motorcycle Diaries is a biopic about Ernesto Che Guevera and his friend, Alberto Granado as they take a motorcycle journey throughout South America in 1952. Guevera and Granado are both in the medical field and want to visit a leper colony in Peru. This trip is life-changing as Guevera and Granado encounter the kindness of strangers, the poverty of the indigenous people and strengthen their commitment to socialism and a united 'America' (in this case Guevera means the countries of South America as well). Gael Garcia Bernal as Guevera (he was also in Babel and No) conveys a compassion and commitment that made Guevera a lasting political and social icon. The movie soft-peddles the socialist/communist ideology, it starts out as a travelogue of 1950s South America, showing the countryside of Argentina, Chile and Peru; I felt it guided you to certain conclusions, but it didn't feel heavy-handed to me. You could see how much the people he met meant to him. There is a running storyline about fifteen US dollars that Guevera's girlfriend gives him to buy a bathing suit for her; Granado keeps asking for the money for various things, food, shelter, and even a prostitute, but Guevera refuses to give him the money. He later tells Alberto he has given the money to a poor couple in Chile. When they get to the leper colony, they refuse to follow the rule of wearing gloves (if someone is being treated for leprosy, then they are not contagious, and since the people in the colony were being treated, the disease could not be passed on, but the Mother Superior insisted on the gloves). They even shake hands with the people and play football, treating them with humanity. There haven't been a lot of movies about Guevera, which seems odd to me, so I feel like I learned a lot and want to learn more about him. At the time the movie was made, Granado was still alive and even went back to the leper colony in Peru where some of the people were still there.
11/9/13 The Official Story, Best Foreign Language Film, 1985
I really wanted to like this movie, I really did, but all I could think of was time stopped, and not in a good way. The Official Story is a film from Argentina set after the time of the last junta (dictatorship); during the junta, children were taken from their parents who were opposed to the government. Alicia is a history teacher and Roberto is a successful businessman who seems to have powerful government connections. Alicia and Roberto are the parents of Gaby, a little girl they adopted under less than normal circumstances. Around Gaby's 5th birthday, Alicia begins to ask Roberto questions about the adoption, wondering about her grandparents. As Alicia looks into Gaby's records, she and Roberto quarrel; clearly there is something he does not want to tell her. I was hoping for something like The Secrets in Their Eyes, another movie about the "Dirty War" period in Argentina, with taut story-telling and compelling characters. It wasn't there for me; perhaps because it was made so soon after the junta ended and the writer and director just wanted to get the story out, I don't know. I want to learn more about this period in history, but I will have to do that elsewhere.
11/10/13 City Lights, 1931 American Film Institute 100 Best Films, #11
The Little Tramp strikes again. I enjoyed this film much more than Gold Rush and a little more than Modern Times. There is so much going on this movie: physical comedy, sight gags (no pun intended), a musical score that acts as another character. By 1931, most films were being made with sound, but Chaplin (and I think many other silent film stars) did not think that sound pictures would last very long. The Little Tramp was a character known around the world, mainly because his stories could be told without sound they were universal, he could be English, American, Italian or French. The movie opens with the unveiling of a statue with Chaplin sleeping in the arms of one of the figures. The Tramp later meets a blind flower girl, played by Virginia Cherrill, with whom the Little Tramp becomes infatuated. She mistakes him for a millionaire (the movie is full of 'mistaken identity' gags), and he does not want to disappoint her. The Tramp finds a real millionaire on the brink of committing suicide and saves him from himself. This scene is just one of many that show what a good choreographer Chaplin was (among so many things). The millionaire (he has no name like the other characters in the film) is very grateful and brings the Tramp back to his house where they proceed to get very intoxicated. The Tramp and the millionaire have an on-again off-again relationship through the movie, depending on the sobriety of the millionaire (the drunker the better), which makes for many of the comedic moments. The Tramp wants to take care of the blind girl and goes to great lengths to do so, even taking a job as a street sweeper to earn money, and when he gets fired from that, he agrees to fight in a boxing match that he believes will be rigged so he doesn't get hurt. The boxing scene is so well staged, it's like a ballet. The end of the movie is really wonderful, masterfully understated. Chaplin's Tramp embodies the full range of human emotions from delight to despair, all silently. The DVD I borrowed from the library had a bonus DVD that provides some insight into the making of the movie and Chaplin's motivation behind some of his decisions. This is a great family movie, the kids might really enjoy some of the antics (the Tramp accidentally swallows a whistle and the ensuing scene is pretty funny, as well as his spaghetti eating scene).
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| Imperial War Museum, London 2006 |
In honor of Veteran's Day tomorrow, here are some Oscar-winning military films (and nominated documentaries):
World War I All Quiet on the Western Front, Wings
World War II Patton, The Dirty Dozen, Pearl Harbor
Korean War M.A.S.H.
Vietnam War Platoon
Iraq/Afghanistan War Hell and Back Again - documentary
Women in the Military The Invisible War - documentary
Redemption - National Public Radio's A Prairie Home Companion
11/4/13 Blogger's note: in over 120 posts, I have never fretted about an entry once it's posted until last night. I turned off the computer, went to bed and had a panic attack about what I wrote. Did I leave sentences unfinished? How and why did I use 'automaton'? Did I write anything about the show? I'm going to blame it on the time change. I have re-read the post and only changed one word, so any flaws are still intact. Cheers and happy Monday.
11/2/13 A Prairie Home Companion, live from The State Theater in Minneapolis
After seeing Bad Grandpa last week, I felt like I needed some intellectual redemption. Don't get me wrong, as I mentioned, we laughed until we cried, but having people tell me they never thought I would see it kind of made me feel like I let them down. Or, I suppose, conversely, perhaps it made me seem more human and less like an automaton (a big thanks to my co-worker for using one of my favorite words, it made my day). Anyway, I bought the tickets for A Prairie Home Companion (APHC) long before I knew I was going to see Bad Grandpa, so the timing was just fortuitous.
I have listened to APHC on and off for years, taking pleasure in the fact that its home-base is here in St. Paul, and Lake Wobegon is a fictional town in Minnesota. I was delighted that when Robert Altman made his film based on the radio show, he filmed a lot of it locally, including at The Fitzgerald Theater. (I'm a Buckeye, but when the opportunity arises, I'll gladly fly Minnesota colors.) The chance to see APHC live seems to come and go so quickly, by the time I hear about it the dates, I've missed them. Also, driving to St. Paul still scares me, although I have perfected my route to the Fitz, but this time, the troupe was performing in Minneapolis at the State Theater, so I took the light rail downtown. The seats were in the second balcony, but at center stage, so I was pretty happy. It's not like there's a lot to see because it's a radio show, but at the same time, it was really cool to watch the band and the cast getting in place, and there are a couple of set pieces.
There is a part of me that assumed a Public Radio audience would be a little more sophisticated and informed about behavior in a theater. Well, shoot that stereotype right down the toilet. Apparently having a smartphone (which I do not) requires you to take flash photos during the performance and turn it on to check the time every fifteen minutes, oh and not get in your seats until 4:47 when the show starts at 4:45. Oh, I feel better now. At 4:45 the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band came on (led by the ever-present Rich Dworsky on piano) and began playing some bluegrassy music, after 7 minutes or so (times are estimates because I don't have a smartphone and cannot read my watch in the dark) Garrison Keillor came onstage to great applause, for some reason I thought that the show was starting right then as Garrison launched into a welcome and some Minnesota-centric jokes and observations, but then close to the 5:00 hour he said the show was going live in 15 seconds. Dang, nobody else was going to hear the about how modest Minnesotans are (actually, some of that did come up during the live show). The red light went on and we were LIVE from Minneapolis. The regular cast of characters appeared with Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Fred Newman doing multiple voices and effects (watching them work to see how some of the sounds were made was really cool - cue the geek music). A young singer names Hilary Thavis sang bits I can only guess were written by Garrison; she was very good, and a Twin Cities-based choral group called Cantus also sang a few songs written by Garrison and a few by other composers. I am not always familiar with the talent that appears on the show, but I find that my horizons are expanded on a regular basis. The skits included a commercial for POEM - Professional Organization of English Majors, a Guy Noir episode (which was not my favorite, sometimes those are hit or miss) and a story from Lake Wobegon. Keillor sang a bit as well. A treat for me (again, expanding horizons) was having Billy Collins read several of his poems. Billy Collins was twice US Poet Laureate (I didn't know that until the performance); I'm not big into late 20th/21st century poetry; I much prefer Blake, Coleridge and Wordsworth. But, I may be a convert to Mr. Collins. Many of the poems he read were very accessible and had a humorous twist; they almost gave you a sense that you could have written them if you tried. I don't mean that in a negative way, I just mean they captured every day life in language that you could understand even if you wren't an English major. "The Revenant" is a poem written in the voice of a dog's ghost; "The Suggestion Box" is about all the ideas that people like to give poets about topics for poems, which apparently happens all the time. Mr. Collins came out several times during the show, so it wasn't like one long poetry reading.
I wasn't ready for the show to be over. I wanted more: more skits, more music, more of Garrison Keillor's thoughts on the humility of Minnesotans and the history of Minneapolis. I thought this would be one thing crossed off my bucket list and move on, but I have to say that when the show returns to the Twin Cities, I will be doing my best to get a ticket and have my mind expanded. Skol!
11/2/13 A Prairie Home Companion, live from The State Theater in Minneapolis
After seeing Bad Grandpa last week, I felt like I needed some intellectual redemption. Don't get me wrong, as I mentioned, we laughed until we cried, but having people tell me they never thought I would see it kind of made me feel like I let them down. Or, I suppose, conversely, perhaps it made me seem more human and less like an automaton (a big thanks to my co-worker for using one of my favorite words, it made my day). Anyway, I bought the tickets for A Prairie Home Companion (APHC) long before I knew I was going to see Bad Grandpa, so the timing was just fortuitous.
I have listened to APHC on and off for years, taking pleasure in the fact that its home-base is here in St. Paul, and Lake Wobegon is a fictional town in Minnesota. I was delighted that when Robert Altman made his film based on the radio show, he filmed a lot of it locally, including at The Fitzgerald Theater. (I'm a Buckeye, but when the opportunity arises, I'll gladly fly Minnesota colors.) The chance to see APHC live seems to come and go so quickly, by the time I hear about it the dates, I've missed them. Also, driving to St. Paul still scares me, although I have perfected my route to the Fitz, but this time, the troupe was performing in Minneapolis at the State Theater, so I took the light rail downtown. The seats were in the second balcony, but at center stage, so I was pretty happy. It's not like there's a lot to see because it's a radio show, but at the same time, it was really cool to watch the band and the cast getting in place, and there are a couple of set pieces.
There is a part of me that assumed a Public Radio audience would be a little more sophisticated and informed about behavior in a theater. Well, shoot that stereotype right down the toilet. Apparently having a smartphone (which I do not) requires you to take flash photos during the performance and turn it on to check the time every fifteen minutes, oh and not get in your seats until 4:47 when the show starts at 4:45. Oh, I feel better now. At 4:45 the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band came on (led by the ever-present Rich Dworsky on piano) and began playing some bluegrassy music, after 7 minutes or so (times are estimates because I don't have a smartphone and cannot read my watch in the dark) Garrison Keillor came onstage to great applause, for some reason I thought that the show was starting right then as Garrison launched into a welcome and some Minnesota-centric jokes and observations, but then close to the 5:00 hour he said the show was going live in 15 seconds. Dang, nobody else was going to hear the about how modest Minnesotans are (actually, some of that did come up during the live show). The red light went on and we were LIVE from Minneapolis. The regular cast of characters appeared with Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Fred Newman doing multiple voices and effects (watching them work to see how some of the sounds were made was really cool - cue the geek music). A young singer names Hilary Thavis sang bits I can only guess were written by Garrison; she was very good, and a Twin Cities-based choral group called Cantus also sang a few songs written by Garrison and a few by other composers. I am not always familiar with the talent that appears on the show, but I find that my horizons are expanded on a regular basis. The skits included a commercial for POEM - Professional Organization of English Majors, a Guy Noir episode (which was not my favorite, sometimes those are hit or miss) and a story from Lake Wobegon. Keillor sang a bit as well. A treat for me (again, expanding horizons) was having Billy Collins read several of his poems. Billy Collins was twice US Poet Laureate (I didn't know that until the performance); I'm not big into late 20th/21st century poetry; I much prefer Blake, Coleridge and Wordsworth. But, I may be a convert to Mr. Collins. Many of the poems he read were very accessible and had a humorous twist; they almost gave you a sense that you could have written them if you tried. I don't mean that in a negative way, I just mean they captured every day life in language that you could understand even if you wren't an English major. "The Revenant" is a poem written in the voice of a dog's ghost; "The Suggestion Box" is about all the ideas that people like to give poets about topics for poems, which apparently happens all the time. Mr. Collins came out several times during the show, so it wasn't like one long poetry reading.
I wasn't ready for the show to be over. I wanted more: more skits, more music, more of Garrison Keillor's thoughts on the humility of Minnesotans and the history of Minneapolis. I thought this would be one thing crossed off my bucket list and move on, but I have to say that when the show returns to the Twin Cities, I will be doing my best to get a ticket and have my mind expanded. Skol!
The first step is admitting it - I laughed at Bad Grandpa
10/30/13, Bad Grandpa
To say I was a little reluctant to even admit I was thinking of seeing Bad Grandpa, much less admitting that I actually saw it is a huge understatement (like the Minnesota Vikings are having an off year). I don't have any great expectations that Bad Grandpa will be nominated for any Oscars, but you never know, there were some pretty good sound effects. By nature, I'm a pretty solitary person, where most people are uncomfortable doing things by themselves, I'm uncomfortable doing things with people. Watching movies fits in perfectly with that personality. I prefer watching Woody Allen or my documentaries by myself. However, there are some movies that are better as a community event. I probably would have laughed really hard at Bridesmaids if I was by myself, but watching it with two of my good friends, I'm fairly certain I peed myself from laughing so hard. That's how it was with Bad Grandpa, two other friends (don't worry, I'm not going to start enumerating them for you) and I saw the preview a couple of months ago and couldn't stop laughing. We decided we were going to see it together. Almost immediately, I began having buyer's remorse, I mean, come on, I watch foreign films and documentary, not Jackass movies. So, time went by, and then the release date got closer. Crap, were we really going to do this? We set a date, and the three of us met up. The previews to Bad Grandpa were horrible, a bunch of stupid horror movies (sorry, that was judgmental, clearly I am not their target demographic). Finally, it started. I really don't want to spoil the movie, because part of the fun is being totally surprised and shocked at the outrageousness of Johnny Knoxville and crew. The premise is Grandpa Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) has to take his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) across the country from Nebraska to North Carolina. Along the way, Grandpa and Billy interact with regular people in every day settings (like a modern day Candid Camera on crack), and act in very inappropriate and ridiculous ways. There were more than a few moments where the three of us were in tears from laughing so hard, simultaneously cringing and hiding behind our hands in horror at what was going to come out of Grandpa's mouth, or worse, Billy's. The movie is like a travelogue from Nebraska to North Carolina, but cities like Cleveland and Columbus made several appearances instead of the cities along the imagined route. A part of me was like, "Yeah, Cleveland", and then when I saw the scenes, I was like, "Um, nice". I was excited to actually recognize the city before the end of the credits told me filming was done there (the red, white and blue RTA signs were a major giveaway, and then the street sign for St. Clair Avenue, and filming in front of my beloved Terminal Tower). One of the many funny scenes was Billy pushing a drunk Grandpa in a shopping cart through a drive through trying to order and trying to pick up chicks (Grandpa is not shy about pursuing the ladies since Grandma recently passed away, oh the funeral is pretty hilarious). Ok, there are a lot of funny things, so I'll stop. This is not a child-oriented movie, which may seem like a no-brainer, but I have been to many R-Rated movies and because some "adult" thinks it's just funny and they bring their 12-year olds (seriously, people). Nobody will mistake this for an existential moralistic tale, but damn, it was funny. And after the past two weeks, I appreciated the convulsions of laughter.
To say I was a little reluctant to even admit I was thinking of seeing Bad Grandpa, much less admitting that I actually saw it is a huge understatement (like the Minnesota Vikings are having an off year). I don't have any great expectations that Bad Grandpa will be nominated for any Oscars, but you never know, there were some pretty good sound effects. By nature, I'm a pretty solitary person, where most people are uncomfortable doing things by themselves, I'm uncomfortable doing things with people. Watching movies fits in perfectly with that personality. I prefer watching Woody Allen or my documentaries by myself. However, there are some movies that are better as a community event. I probably would have laughed really hard at Bridesmaids if I was by myself, but watching it with two of my good friends, I'm fairly certain I peed myself from laughing so hard. That's how it was with Bad Grandpa, two other friends (don't worry, I'm not going to start enumerating them for you) and I saw the preview a couple of months ago and couldn't stop laughing. We decided we were going to see it together. Almost immediately, I began having buyer's remorse, I mean, come on, I watch foreign films and documentary, not Jackass movies. So, time went by, and then the release date got closer. Crap, were we really going to do this? We set a date, and the three of us met up. The previews to Bad Grandpa were horrible, a bunch of stupid horror movies (sorry, that was judgmental, clearly I am not their target demographic). Finally, it started. I really don't want to spoil the movie, because part of the fun is being totally surprised and shocked at the outrageousness of Johnny Knoxville and crew. The premise is Grandpa Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) has to take his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) across the country from Nebraska to North Carolina. Along the way, Grandpa and Billy interact with regular people in every day settings (like a modern day Candid Camera on crack), and act in very inappropriate and ridiculous ways. There were more than a few moments where the three of us were in tears from laughing so hard, simultaneously cringing and hiding behind our hands in horror at what was going to come out of Grandpa's mouth, or worse, Billy's. The movie is like a travelogue from Nebraska to North Carolina, but cities like Cleveland and Columbus made several appearances instead of the cities along the imagined route. A part of me was like, "Yeah, Cleveland", and then when I saw the scenes, I was like, "Um, nice". I was excited to actually recognize the city before the end of the credits told me filming was done there (the red, white and blue RTA signs were a major giveaway, and then the street sign for St. Clair Avenue, and filming in front of my beloved Terminal Tower). One of the many funny scenes was Billy pushing a drunk Grandpa in a shopping cart through a drive through trying to order and trying to pick up chicks (Grandpa is not shy about pursuing the ladies since Grandma recently passed away, oh the funeral is pretty hilarious). Ok, there are a lot of funny things, so I'll stop. This is not a child-oriented movie, which may seem like a no-brainer, but I have been to many R-Rated movies and because some "adult" thinks it's just funny and they bring their 12-year olds (seriously, people). Nobody will mistake this for an existential moralistic tale, but damn, it was funny. And after the past two weeks, I appreciated the convulsions of laughter.
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