The Duke, Omar, Enough Said, Mary Fahl at the Dakota

I'm not really sure where to start, so I'll just type and we'll see what comes out. It will be a surprise for me too.

7/19/14 The High and the Mighty, 1954, Best Original Musical Score

I don't know, there are better movies out there in all kinds of ways, and while the musical score, by Dmitri Tiomkin (Gunfight at the OK Corral, High Noon, the Alamo) was certainly very grand and majestic, but it's not enough to make anyone watch the movie unless it's on a list. The High and the Mighty is set on a plane traveling from Hawaii to San Francisco when disaster strikes. John Wayne plays veteran co-pilot, Dan Roman in a very non-Western role, and he plays Dan in a very subdued and controlled manner; Robert Stack is Captain John Sullivan; the rest of the cast may be virtually unknown to 21st century audiences. Each passenger on the plan has a story or an issue they get to wrestle with, especially as they face impending doom (okay, I am being a bit melodramatic). Film critic, Leonard Maltin does an introduction to the movie, trying to put it into context, giving a little background. He cautions the viewer not to get caught up in any perceived anachronisms and to accept the movie on its own terms (I really like that phrase and I may have to use that again). I think that's a fair warning, but at the same time, it's very hard, as a traveler, and not smile at the huge differences in airports, commercial flights, and other things. I was laughing at the gate check-in process, where the gate agent greeted every passenger by name, and then as a way to identify themselves, they loudly proclaimed their date of birth. Oh, the PII (that's personal information)!! Then about 15 people get on this huge plane with a lot of empty seats, and the solo child traveler gets two seats and promptly falls asleep and stays asleep the entire trip, even through what must have been an incredible drop in cabin pressure as Dan Roman must open the door to throw out all the luggage (I kid you not). The cast of characters seemed like a roll call of stereotypes: the hardened dame, the married couple that is drifting apart, the bitter man, and on and on. This is referred to as one of the first 'disaster' movies, but I think someone has to die in a disaster movie, and there actually has to be a disaster. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I wasn't all that concerned. You might find more entertainment watching Airport with Dean Martin and Helen Hayes. An interesting fact is that the movie was directed by William Wellman who directed Wings (another movie about airplanes) which was the first movie to win Best Picture in 1927.

7/20/2014 Enough Said, not nominated, 2013

There was a lot of buzz when this movie came out, and I really wanted to go, and of course, I ran out of time. This was one of James Gandolfini's last movies and he was partnered with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep). The result is a movie that I want to watch over again with friends to see if they get it like I got it. Nicole Holofcener wrote and directed this slice of life with a deft hand. Gandolfini is Albert, a divorced, middle-aged, portly man who is enjoying his bachelorhood and the freedom to swirl his guac to weed out the irons. He's a little quieter than the perky Eva, a divorcee who works as a masseuse and is preparing to send her only child off to school on the East coast. Albert and Eva meet at a party and even though Eva didn't find any of the men at the party attractive, she and Albert go out on a date. Of course, Eva has to be funny, or at least she thinks she's funny (those two are not always the same), and she is bemused by Albert's straight man routine. Eva's best friends are played by Toni Collette (The Way, Way Back) as Sarah and Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids) as Will, who have some kind of weird tension in their marriage. Of course, this wouldn't be a movie unless there was some plot twist, which I don't really want to give away, although you will probably figure it out soon enough). There were some laugh out loud moments, some chuckles and a couple of occasions where I found myself talking to the television saying 'this is not going to end well'. This is my favorite type of movie and the kind I really try to get people to see, like The Way, Way Back or The Kings of Summer. There is something that you can connect with, whether it's that feeling of pushing a joke a little too far and hurting your partner, or enjoying lively banter with them, or like in The Way, Way Back, the feeling of isolation and awkwardness. This is the kind of movie that I would gravitate to normally. What can I say about Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus who made their onscreen relationship seem effortless, not like they were acting at all? Louis-Dreyfus is a treasure, and she has great comedic chops and her dramatic ones weren't that bad either. Gandolfini was in many roles that were counter to Tony Soprano, like Carol in Where the Wild Things Are or The Last Castle where he was a power-crazed Colonel facing off against Robert Redford (great movie), but this role struck me as something different; he played the part in a reactionary way, in that Eva (or his daughter) would create the action and he had to create an appropriate reaction, if that makes sense. A friend and I were talking about why this was not nominated for any Oscars, and I think 2013 was a great year for movies and there were so many worthy films, but I do think it was a great omission in not nominating this movie for anything. But do not let that stop you. The next time you want a movie without CGI, guns, naked people, or costumed heroes, get this movie (I'm not judging you if you do like to watch CGI naked people with guns).

7/20/2014 Omar, nominated Best Foreign Film, 2013

The timing of me watching this movie was a little unsettling and I was wondering how I would handle it, would I be able to watch it objectively. Omar is set in what is known as the Occupied Territories in Israel. Omar is a young, Palestinian man who is hoping to get permission from his friend, Tarek, to court and date Tarek's sister, Nadia. Omar is also hanging out with Tarek and their other friend, Amjad, and planning attacks on Israeli soldiers. One of their forays does not go well and Omar is captured and put in jail and through trickery basically admits he would never admit to his crime (and in the Alice-through-the-looking-glass world Omar lives in, this is considered an admission of guilt). Omar is told he must help the Israeli army get more information on his comrades or Nadia would be hurt. It took a really long time for me to get into the movie and I occasionally lost the plot, but there were some good twists in the story and once I felt connected to Omar, the movie came through. It was hard to watch some of the tactics used by Omar's handlers, and it would be naive of me to think that torture doesn't happen, but I wish it didn't nonetheless. Adam Bakri plays Omar and he carries off the complexity of his character very well. The backdrop of the conflict between Arabs and Jews in Israel is one setting among many possibilities: Ireland/N. Ireland; Basque separatists in Spain, or in the US where perhaps a gang member has to turn on his friends. I think that the personal conflict is the larger canvas on which to create, and it's that part which got me. I honestly did not see the last twenty minutes coming, and I thought, nice one (to the writer and director Hany Abu-Assad), well played. I think this deserved more of a chance than The Great Beauty, which you may remember, I hated.

7/19/14 Mary Fahl at the Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis

Even if you don't know Mary Fahl's name, you may very well know her voice from the band from the 1990s October Project. From the moment I heard her voice on "Bury My Lovely", I was hooked. The lyrics were kind of mysterious, allegorical and layered, and Mary's voice was the perfect vehicle with its haunting depth. I still listen to both CDs, especially when I drive from Minnesota to Ohio because they are just the kick in the ass I need after driving seven or eight hours. I discovered Mary again in the early 2000s while watching the movie Gods and Generals about the events leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg. She had a song on the soundtrack that once again grabbed me by the throat called "Going Home" and that led me to her album "The Other Side of Time". I have been waiting for a while for Mary to come to the Twin Cities, especially once my finances improved. The date was announced back in March that Mary would be coming to town to promote her latest album "Love and Gravity", and she was coming to the Dakota Jazz Club, just down the street from where I work. I bought my ticket for a floor table, stage left and counted the days. It was a perfect Minnesota summer evening for a trip downtown. Mary came on stage, just her and her guitars. She started off the show by asking if there were any October Project fans (of course there were) and easing our fears by saying that she would sing some of the favorites, and then said that she's a talker, she likes to talk about the songs and what they mean, and then she started. The show was a fantastic collection of October Project songs ("Ariel", "Bury My Lovely", "Be My Hero"), covers (Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now", "Nessun Dorma by Puccini) and a lot of Mary's own material. It was very cool to hear the story about how she came to write the song for Anne Rice's audio book for The Wolves of Midwinter, "Exiles" or "The Dawning of the Day" for the movie The Guys. Even though Mary only had her guitar, all of the songs seemed very full and did not seem like they were lacking anything. One of the best things about small venues is a lot of times the artists will stay to sign CDs and chat. I'm not a great chatter, but I was going to stay and get a couple of CDs. Mary was really generous and engaged with everyone in front of me, even the poor guy who made the very clumsy comparison to Jim Nabors aka Gomer Pyle. Mary's husband Rich thought it was hilarious and Mary handled it with great humor. What the gentleman was trying to say was that Mary does not look like her voice sounds (Jim Nabors has quite the singing voice, but you would not think that if you only knew about Gomer); Mary is not very tall and she really isn't what you expect if you have only heard her because her voice is so big (it has just occurred to me that I may be butchering the analogy as well). Anyway, I'll leave you with this thought, check out "Love and Gravity" with songs inspired by Johnny and June (Cash), werewolves, Blind Willie Johnson. It includes the cover of "Both Sides Now" and an original song called "Cottonwood" which I can listen to over and over.

All-Star Week in Minneapolis, plus a few movies The Piano, Nosferatu, The Missing Picture

view of Minneapolis skyline at Target Field

Kansas City Monarchs - Negro League

Sometimes you just have to go out and live life instead of watching it on a screen, and that's my excuse this week. Minneapolis has been reveling in the glow of baseball's All-Star Game. Even if you didn't like baseball (and I do), it was hard not to get caught up in the crowds and the excitement and seeing your adopted city on the national news, for something besides -20 degree temperatures. I'm lucky enough to work downtown and pretty close to Target Field, and I was luckier enough to get tickets to the Futures Game and Celebrity Softball game.

Snoopy - FanFest

Panic! At the Disco

Adrian Peterson - MN Vikings

Maya Moore - MN Lynx

Derek Jeter - New York Yankees - All-Star Parade

7/8/14 The Piano, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, 1993

I kind of feel bad saying this but I hated this movie. I found Holly Hunter's character, Ada McGrath, annoying, soooo annoying, and Anna Paquin's Flora McGrath a little less annoying, occasionally funny, but not sure it was Oscar-worthy. The movie is set in the mid-1800s in New Zealand and Ada McGrath is a mute who loves to play the piano. She communicates the best with her daughter, Flora, who often interprets for her. Ada enters an arranged marriage with Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill) and becomes very distressed when she is unable to bring her piano to her new home; it languishes for a bit on the beach, and then eventually George Baines (Harvey Keitel) brings it to his house with the story that he wants to learn to play and wants Ada as his teacher.  Baines and Ada enter into an unusual relationship, which ultimately ends her marriage. I am not sure how this beat out Philadelphia for the best original screenplay, but it did. This movie didn't move me at all, I did not feel invested in any of the characters or the story. That's really all I have for you.

7/12/14 Nosferatu, 1922

Trylon Microcinema, Minneapolis, MN

Nosferatu - we've probably all seen clips from the movie, usually a scene of Count Orlok (Max Schreck) up close and scary. I know I have, and I had the chance to see it in a theater, Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis with live accompaniment by local band, Fate's Palette who scored the film. I have never been to a microcinema, so that was also part of the experience. The theater holds 50 people and the screen is way bigger than my television but not as large as a regular movie theater, but it worked for the size of the room. You may have a microcinema in your city and they probably play movies that you will not see anywhere outside of a fringe fest, so check them out. Nosferatu is a silent movie directed by F.W. Murnau (Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans) and is re-telling of the Count Dracula story. I thought it would be scarier than it was, so I was a little relieved, but it had an element of suspense and the make up for Count Orlok was very creepy; of course since this made over 90 years ago, a lot of the make up was very basic or comedic in the case of Herr Knock. There is very little dialog in terms of the intertitles, much like The Last Command, the narrative is accomplished in the action. As an historical film, it was interesting because it was restored from different film versions, including the safety film. It was a great experience to see a film this way, with a live band and an appreciative audience (except for the one person who has to 'whisper' through the whole thing). Hey lady, we can hear you.

7/12/14 The Missing Picture nominated Best Foreign Film, 2013

The Missing Picture is a film about the Khmer Rouge, the followers of the Communist Party in Kampuchea (known more commonly as Cambodia) which was led by Pol Pot, one of the most evil dictators in the 20th century. Rithy Panh directed and wrote the movie which uses archival film footage as well as clay figures to tell his story. I think this was a novel way to tell a story. The problem is this is a very complicated story and if you are not familiar with the history of southeast Asia, the colonization by the French of places like Vietnam and Kampuchea, the fight for separation including the Vietnam War and the bombing of Cambodia, the events may or may not resonate with you. Certainly some of the horrific incidents that Panh shows or narrates should strike a chord, but putting it all in context may be hard. For a dramatic telling of this era (1960s-1970s), check out The Killing Fields starring Sam Waterston and Haing S. Ngor; I saw it in 1984 when it premiered and probably should watch it again. That will move you.
Blogger's Note: I don't know what my problem was, but I originally called The Missing Picture a documentary, which in some ways it definitely is, but it was nominated for Best Foreign Film, not Best Documentary. My apologies for any confusion. I'm going to take a nap now.

Maleficent, Life Itself, Three Coins in the Fountain and The Last Command

I made it through the Fourth of July weekend without seeing Transformers: Age Of Extinction. At this point, I don't know if I'm bragging or complaining. A running time of almost three hours just does not sound enticing. However, I did see quite a few movies, and I think I would recommend all of them. I could end here, which would be the shortest blog entry ever, but fear not.

7/3/2014 Out of the Furnace, 2013, not nominated

When I first saw the previews for Out of the Furnace, I thought, man, I want to see that movie, it's got Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker and others. Then, time came and went, and it was Oscar time and I never got to it. Thanks to my local library, it didn't cost me a dime, and I'm kind of glad. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. The movie is set in a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is about two brothers. The older brother, Russ (Christian Bale) works in a steel mill, often pulling double shifts, and he has a serious relationship with Lena (Zoe Saldana) and a protective relationship with his younger brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck). Rodney is in the Army and has already done at least one tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, but when he is back home, he gambles, and owes his bookie, John Petty, (Willem Dafoe) a lot of money. Russ works hard, but occasionally plays hard as well, and gets into a car accident while intoxicated and spends some time in prison; meanwhile he loses his girlfriend, his father dies and Rodney is deployed again. Rodney starts bare knuckle fighting to make some money and payoff his bookie; when Rodney wants to up the stakes, he asks to fight for Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), who takes no prisoners and is a real mean SOB. That's about the first half of the movie and the second half is Russ finding out what happened to Rodney and holding DeGroat to account. I like revenge movies, I think they can be cathartic and suspenseful and redemptive. I didn't think Out of the Furnace was any of those things. It just felt like it was missing something: passion, a conscience, something. I think Sam Shepard (as Russ's uncle) or Forest Whitaker as the Police Chief could have been that, but it seemed flat. I read somewhere (maybe Netflix) that this was a thriller. It wasn't, not by my definition anyway. I knew what the outcome was going to be, there was no other option. Anyway, it's okay, and if you can get it for free, it's even better. I think there was a good opportunity wasted here.

 7/4/14 The Last Command, 1927/1928 Best Actor, national film registry

The Last Command is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg and stars Emil Jannings as Grand Duke Sergius Alexander and a relatively young William Powell as movie producer Leo Andreyev. In the first year of the Academy Awards the Best Actor and Actress awards were given for performances over multiple roles, and Jannings won for this film and The Way of All Flesh. The movie begins in the late 1920s but quickly flashes back to 1917/1918, towards the end of World War I but in the early days leading up to the Russian Revolution. Grand Duke Sergius is a cousin of the Czar and a military man who gets a little impatient with some of the Czar's silliness and perceived interference in running the war. The Grand Duke also has to contend with revolutionary actors who are an annoyance as well. One of these actors is Leo Andreyev who is sent off to prison (we think) and separated from his romantic interest, Natalie Dabrova. Natalie goes off with the Grand Duke, and while she starts off as quite revolutionary and full of the party line, she slowly becomes enamored of the Grand Duke, and he with her. There is a point where the power shifts from the army to the peasants and enlisted men, and the Grand Duke is in danger. Ultimately, Sergius escapes from Russia and lands in Hollywood and tries to get work as an extra and that is where Andreyev sees his photo and in a gesture that seems cruel at first, Andreyev hires Sergius to be a general in his film. Sergius has clearly aged and is no longer the brutish general, but a fragile old man. The end of the film has the element of redemption that I think I was looking for in Out of the Furnace, and while I didn't cry, I definitely felt a little sadness. While the acting occasionally seems over the top (something typical in the silent movies I've seen), many of Jannings' scenes are beautifully understated and wonderful. William Powell seems to capture the stereotype of the early movie producers and directors (Powell was in The Thin Man series). The movie provides an interesting perspective on the Russian Revolution (which in reality was only 10 years prior to this film being made) and it alternately makes a case against the Czarist regime, but does not seem to fully endorse the mob mentality of the revolutionaries. It's also amazing to consider that there really was not that much dialog (at least shown on the intertitles) and yet, you can still understand what's going on, which always makes me wonder about movies that have endless dialog and you have no idea what's happening.

7/5/14 Three Coins in the Fountain, Best Original Song, Best Cinematography, 1954

The Fountain of the title, 2006

You've heard the song, right? Well, watch this movie and then you have the whole context of the song. I actually didn't like the song that much, which might be blasphemy to some, but there you go. I did like the movie, though, and that's what we're here for. I was reminded of Roman Holiday which featured Rome through some beautiful shots; Three Coins in the Fountain does very much the same thing. The story focuses on three American women working in Rome as secretaries (I'm not being politically incorrect, that's how they were referred); they meet or know men that they eventually fall in love, and the movie follows them through adventures and misadventures and misunderstandings. The main cast may not ring a lot of bells with younger movie goers, but cinema fans will recognize Clifton Webb (Laura), Dorothy McGuire (Gentleman's Agreement, Old Yeller and others) and Louis Jourdan (Gigi). There aren't any complicated plot lines or big mysteries unraveled, but there are some funny moments as the men and women do the age old dance of courting and wooing and then not being interested or feigning disinterest. If you are planning to go to Italy, have gone to Italy or dream of going to Italy, pull a double feature with Roman Holiday and you can have a great family evening with beautiful views of the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, Spanish Steps and more. This was an unexpected find for me, I really just wanted to cross something off the list, and bonus for me, I liked it.

7/6/14 Maleficent, not yet nominated 2014

Okay, I'll admit it, when I first heard about this movie, I couldn't roll my eyes enough. Dumb, nobody is going to want to see this, etc. And then, I just kept hearing the positive buzz, and I'll say it, I'm an Angelina Jolie fan (I watch the Lara Croft movies every time they're on). So, fine, I went to see it. And, I'll be damned. I loved it. Honestly loved it. Why? Okay: Angelina Jolie totally owns Maleficent and all her flaws and positive traits and has a mischievous air about her; the cinematography is gorgeous; the sets are beautifully done, some are probably CGI, but others look 'real'; the story is a totally new twist on something that is familiar to almost everyone (Sleeping Beauty). Is that enough or do you want more? There are some really funny bits and some scary bits as well (if you let your kid see Harry Potter, then they'll be fine here, in my opinion). As I mentioned, it's a variation on the Sleeping Beauty story, Elle Fanning is the older Aurora (Sleeping Beauty); Imelda Staunton is one of the pixies; Sharlto Copley is King Stephen (I had to look him up, he was Howling Mad Murdock in The A-Team movie) and a lot of the cast is pretty anonymous (I don't mean that in a bad way, but some of the names and faces did not seem familiar to me at all), but they were really good, especially Sam Riley as Diaval, the closest thing Maleficent has as a friend or ally. I don't want to give too much away since it's still in the theaters, but basically Maleficent is a powerful fairy who protects the Moors against the humans across the valley. Her power is in her wings, and through trickery, she loses them, and then becomes rather grumpy and mean, and vindictive. But, unlike Out of the Furnace, there is a path that she takes and the hope for redemption. It definitely challenges the viewer to look at how we form perceptions, prejudices and how we can change them. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend seeing it on the big screen. As I alluded to, it's not for real little kids, there are some pretty scary moments, but there was a little boy who was maybe 7, and he seemed totally fine (there were only 5 of us in the theater - bonus!); the scary is balanced by funny or 'sweet' moments, so you're not in a dark place too long.

7/6/14 Life Itself, 2014

Talk about timing, I just finished Roger Ebert's autobiography, Life Itself on Saturday and then saw the documentary based on it on Sunday. I'm glad I read the book first because he goes into so much more detail about his early life, his influences and then later he talks about some of the actors and directors he got to know and his relationship with Gene Siskel. He packed a lot of information into 400 pages (I also read Charlie Chaplin's autobiography which topped 700 pages, and I thought Ebert's was much better written and more honest). Anyway, if you do not know, Roger Ebert was a film critic for over 40 years and was the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize. He passed away in 2013 after a courageous battle with cancer where he lost his lower jaw, could not eat, drink or speak. Up until the end, he did not really let these things stop him, he started blogging and communicating electronically. Ebert came up at probably the best time, the beginning of Martin Scorcese's career, to give you a reference, and saw thousands of movies. As he tells his story, he reflects honestly on his quirky habits (or annoying if you ask Siskel), his ego, his flaws - he is very open about his drinking problem, his politics, his love of London (my favorite city), his illness and his affection for his friends, some of whom he had since college. The book can be looked at as so many different things: it's a memoir for sure, but it also gives the reader insight into the newspaper industry (which I suppose in the 21st century may be more historical to some readers); a look into the Norman Rockwell-like setting of Urbana, Illinois; a travelogue to hidden London; a peek into the 'stars' of the 1960s and 1970s, some of whom may seem unknown today, like Lee Marvin; and lastly, a love letter to his wife Chaz. Most of you know I'm not much of a romantic, but it's hard not to be moved by their love story, and his love of her family. Steve James directed the documentary based on the book, and what the documentary adds to the book is actual interviews with Ebert's friends, co-workers, his wife, and Ebert himself who replies via his electronic voice. Siskel and Ebert were big supporters of James's early documentary Hoop Dreams, which is powerful viewing if you haven't seen it. We get to see Ebert in rehab, which can be very hard to watch sometimes, but Roger was intent on not hiding his illness, and he seems in mostly good spirits, giving his familiar thumbs up. This movie is not a downer, though, there are some hilarious outtakes from "At the Movies"/"Siskel & Ebert" that will have you laughing out loud; and some of the stories that Siskel's wife and the producers tell about their rivalry/friendship are pretty funny. I remember watching the different incarnations of Siskel & Ebert, and thinking sometimes I totally disagreed with one or both of them, but enjoyed their banter. I don't know if I ever watched or skipped a movie based on their comments, but it was good to have thumbs up or thumbs down. If you're a movie lover, I can't recommend the book or the movie enough; you won't regret it. It may not be nominated for an Oscar, but I think the Academy ought to give Roger Ebert an honorary Oscar for his dedication to the film industry.