Blazing Saddles, Transformers: Age of Extinction, St. Vincent

Well, I have crossed nothing off of the current Oscars list, but I'm hoping that I may have taken two off of 2014 nominees by watching St. Vincent and Transformers. Time will tell, I guess. I'm not sure what my problem is; I started a new job three weeks ago, and I didn't really change my schedule or my commute, but you would think I changed time zones or something. I'm going to use that as my excuse for now.

November 2014, Blazing Saddles, National Film Registry, 1974

I really like Mel Brooks' films, some I really love, like Young Frankenstein and History of the World, Part 1. I watched Blazing Saddles on the recommendation of a friend only to find it was on one of my many lists, so yay me. Blazing Saddles is set in the Old West and stars Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart, Gene Wilder as Jim the Waco Kid, a drunken gunslinger, Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr, the greedy State Attorney General and Mel Brooks in the role of the Governor and an American Indian who speaks Yiddish. As in most Mel Brooks movies, there are a lot of running gags, like people mispronouncing Hedley Lamarr as 'Hedy' Lamarr (the actress). Wikipedia says that the movie is full of intentional anachronisms like Nazi soldiers, bikers  and toll booths (the screenplay was co-written by Brooks, Richard Pryor, Andrew Bergman, Norman Steinberg and Al Uger) and some over the top stereotypes, I mean it is Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor for crying out loud, but I don't know how well this plays in the 21st century (the epithets thrown around, especially in the direction of Sheriff Bart, who is black, come to mind), in fact, Mel Brooks has said he probably could not make the movie today. Anyway, Lamarr is trying to buy up land along the new railroad, and the frontier town of Rock Ridge is in the way (everyone living there is named Johnson). Different hijinks folllow, including the famous scene of Alex Karras as Mongo punching a horse (don't ask). I just didn't laugh as hard as I wanted to, and I really wanted to. I still love History of the World and would pick that as my favorite Mel Brooks movie, although apparently it has not been deemed worthy of preservation.

November 2014, Transformers: Age of Extinction, not yet nominated, 2014

Only in a misguided attempt to be prepared and not have to cram in three hours of robots at the last minute in the event of a nomination for sound, effects, etc., did I watch this. Otherwise, I think I may have passed on the latest installment of the Autobots versus evil man versus evil Decepticons, etc. etc. Michael Bay and James Cameron must have gone to the same film editing class, as in don't edit, leave it all in. UGH. 165 minutes of...something. 165 minutes = over two and a half hours, time I will never get back. Damn you, Optimus Prime. Actually, he's the only one I like and can identify. Age of Extinction is a reboot of the Transformers franchise sans Shia LeBeouf, but with Mark Wahlberg as the human interface between the Autobots and the other humans. I really don't like it when people and some kind of convoluted narrative get in the way of the bots. I just want action, I did not care about some story about a struggling inventor, Cade Yeager (Wahlberg), his daughter and her Irish boyfriend (whose accent sometimes sounded Australian) and their fight to outsmart Kelsey Grammer as a CIA agent (the CIA is not supposed to operate on American soil, but we'll save that for another day). Grammer is in cahoots with Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci), an inventor who is looking for the Autobot/Decepticon genome (yeah, I know). Joyce actually turned out to have a lot of the funny scenes (this isn't a comedy, but it's not very well acted/written, so some of the humor is just because it's so bad, but his stuff is funny on purpose, I think). If you followed any of that, you are better than me. And I have no idea about the Dinobots, they're introduced at the beginning and then come back at the end and there you go. Ta-da. WTH? There is some good action, which is all I want anyway, just give me Optimus and Bumble Bee and I'm happy. Don't clutter it with people. Did I mention it's almost 5 hours long? If this doesn't at least get nominated, I am going to be so pissed.

11/15/14 St. Vincent, not yet nominated 2014

St. Vincent stars the inimitable Bill Murray as Vincent, a grumpy, curmudgeon withe a drinking and gambling problem and a bit of a secret life. Melissa McCarthy and Jaeden Lieberher as Maggie Bronstein and her son, Oliver are Vincent's new neighbors. Vincent loves the horses, his whiskey and his prostitute/stripper/girlfriend, Daka (Naomi Watts), and not much else. Maggie and Oliver are trying to start a new life, which is complicated because Maggie is starting a new job and cannot be there for Oliver at the end of the school day. Oliver winds up hanging out with Vincent, for a price, and they slowly form a bond as they bet on the races, Vincent teaches Oliver how to fight back against the bullies at school, and Oliver shows Vincent that not everyone believes he's a big grouch. Vincent has a secret that he only partly shares with Oliver (I'm not going to spoil it for you), but as Oliver is researching an assignment for school, he learns more about Vincent and 'nominates' Vincent as a saint. My friend and I really enjoyed the movie, but I think we were under the impression from the previews that it was a laughfest and we were kind of surprised when it turned out to have just as much drama as comedy. That is not a bad thing, but I wanted to warn you in case you think this is all out comedy. Bill Murray is really great as Vincent, showing a gruff side, but also a connection with Oliver and a tenderness with his wife as well as Daka. There are a few scenes where Murray just cuts loose, dancing to the juke box at his local pub (if I can move like that at 64, I want some kind of award), and it must be awesome to have that kind of freedom. The way he acts/talks with Oliver seems natural, like you could imagine him saying and doing those things. When Murray is on, he doesn't seem like he's acting at all. McCarthy, who is coming off of some not very successful films, is good here, she doesn't have to carry the movie or be outrageously funny; she's a good foil for Murray. Jaeden Lieberher is a new face, and as Oliver, he is unfailingly polite, but vulnerable and kind, and I hope to see him in more roles. I was surprised by Naomi Watts as Daka, at first I found her annoying, but then she grew on me. She wasn't one dimensional and developed through the course of the movie. The movie had good dialog, a good story and some interesting subplots and the acting was good, especially by Murray and a good soundtrack; I have to think there might be a nomination for story or acting either in the Golden Globes and possibly the Oscars. We'll see. Regardless, try to see this one while it's still in the theaters.