Sure to be nominated: Secret in Their Eyes and Spotlight

11/26/15  Secret in Their Eyes, not yet nominated, 2015 

Julia Roberts, Chiwetel  Ejiofor and Nicole Kidman star in the remake/adaptation of the Argentinean film and Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Film from 2009. The name of the movie sounded familiar but it didn't really hit me until towards the end that this was a remake; not that it made a huge difference, just a fact. Another fact is I really liked this movie as well. The story is told using flashbacks (as the original did) and we first meet Ray (Ejiofor) as he is staring at a computer screen comparing faces from a database; and we then see him in Los Angeles waiting to meet with the District Attorney, Claire Sloan (Kidman). Jess (Roberts) walks in on them only to find that Ray is there because of an old case they worked on 13 years earlier. Flashback 13 years and we see Jess and Ray as they are working a post 9/11 joint terrorism task force in Los Angeles; Ray is on loan from the New York bureau of the FBI. Claire is a Philadelphia transplant to the DA's office. Michael Kelly plays Seifert, a pain in the ass member of the team who has a confidential informant who leads them to a local mosque and the promise of terrorist activity. All of these facts come crashing together when Jess's daughter, Carolyn, is found dead, after being brutally raped, behind the mosque. Going back to the future, Ray wants Claire to re-open the investigation and let him work it and follow his findings. The movie uses flashbacks wisely, and the tension builds to a crescendo, and there are a few red herrings. Roberts is really good here, the emotional pain she feels is palpable to the audience. Ejiofor and Kidman are good as well, although there is a romantic plot line that seems awkward and forced (perhaps that's intentional, since she is playing a Harvard educated lawyer who is engaged and later married and he is an investigator). Alfred Molina plays Martin Morales, the District Attorney when the movie opens, and there is something right away that is smarmy (that's really not giving anything away). This could get nominated for editing and Roberts could definitely get nominated for Best Actress. If you see this, I also recommend seeing the original.


11/27/15 Spotlight, not yet nominated, 2015

When the movie ended you could hear people sighing and making other sounds of knowing disbelief - they knew the story happened, but you simply could not believe it. Spotlight refers to a section of the Boston Globe that focused on investigative journalism, and in this case, the abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests in and around the Boston area. The film has a strong cast of actors including Michael Keaton as editor Walter "Robby" Robinson; Liev Schreiber (Best Supporting Actor?) as executive editor Marty Barron; Mark Ruffalo as Mike Rezendes and Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer, two of the investigative reporters; and Stanley Tucci as quirky attorney Mitchell Garabedian. Some of the characters are based on real people and others are composite characters. I should also mention that John Slattery plays Ben Bradlee Jr., son of Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of the Washington Post during the Watergate scandal. It occasionally felt like this was a mini-Watergate or All the President's Men with the secrecy and conspiracy. Even if you followed the news back in 2002/2003, and I do remember when the report came out, the story behind the story is intriguing and well told. It was nice to see Keaton follow up his performance in Birdman with another powerful role as a man investigating his own 'family' (including a priest who taught at his high school and one of his closest friends for his role in the cover-up). Liev Schreiber as Barron, the outsider - not from Boston and Jewish, and it's at his instigation that the investigation takes the turn it does, which is a shift from the individual to a focus on the systemic cover-up and corruption; Schreiber does it in a very understated way, you can see him struggling to navigate the cronyism and insularity of the Roman Catholic Church. Stanley Tucci is Mitchell Garabedian (I don't know if he was a real person or a composite) but he comes off as paranoid, but ready to slay the dragon that is the Church. He is reluctant to let Mike Rezendes into his confidence, but he does when he finally believes that Rezendes and the team are sincere in search for truth and that using the press to expose what has been going on for over thirty years. Mark Ruffalo as Rezendes annoyed the crap out of me; I don't know if he was taking on Rezendes' real life quirks, but he kept talking out of the side of his mouth and he seemed very twitchy. The Spotlight team won a Pulitzer for their work on the story, and Spotlight will probably be nominated for a few Oscars (my opinion) - Best Supporting Actor - Liev Schreiber or Stanley Tucci; maybe Best Picture, Best Screenplay and possibly an editing nod. It's hard to say you 'enjoyed' a movie like this, but it did make an impact and it was extremely well done.

As a sidenote: being a records manager and recovering archivist, it was really gratifying to see the Spotlight team using the library to help in their research and to see the library team using: microfilm, newspaper clippings and computers to locate the needed information (as well as the obligatory trip to the dusty, smelly basement). Much more realistic than untrained personnel walking right up to the correct box of files or file drawers without so much as a barcode or other locator. 

A documentary buffet featuring food, science, a Big Bird and a boxing legend

10/24/15 Deli Man, Documentary, 2015 not yet nominated

The title of the film, Deli Man, probably gives away the subject matter: the Jewish deli and its slow demise across America. I don't have too many hopes that the movie will be nominated for an Oscar, and with so many good documentaries out there, I'm not sure it should be nominated, but I want to support it because I did help to fund it on Kickstarter and it's an enjoyable movie. Deli Man gives us a little history of the Jewish deli, how immigrants brought over food from their home countries and the cultural aspect of food. Director Erik Greenberg Anjou uses Ziggy Gruber, a New York transplant in Houston and owner of Kenny and Ziggy's (I hope to visit on my trip to Houston), as the focal point. Ziggy grew up in delis and has a passion for the history of delis, which is also the history of his family. Watching Deli Man made me think of the delis at home in Cleveland, the delis I have visited in New York (service with a snarl) and the few I have experienced in the Twin Cities. There is something about the dish of kosher pickles and pickled tomatoes on the table, the familiarity of the dishes: latkes, knishes, corned beef (no thank you), challah and more. I get hungry just thinking about it. I wish the movie had smell-o-vision, but it did not. People gather around food and it's a great ice breaker, I mean who doesn't love matzo ball soup? 


11/7/15 Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, 2015 not yet nominated

Going Clear received a lot of publicity even before it was released because of the subject matter: Scientology. Alex Gibney (Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine and many others) directed the movie and interviewed former members of Scientology's inner circle, but not some of its more famous members like John Travolta and Tom Cruise. There was this pervasive  feeling of paranoia as I listened to all of the things that were being done or that was happening to believers of Scientology. It's a belief system (I hesitate to call it a 'religion', although the federal government recognizes it as a religion for tax purposes) that does not appear to value independence or free thought and perhaps has even gotten worse in the past two decades (or more) under David Miscavige who has a god complex (based only on the footage presented). I don't like to disparage people's beliefs, but this seems so obviously cult-like and absurd that it's hard to conceive of people giving thousands of dollars to it, much less submitting to the control alleged by those who have left. The movie gives an historical background on L. Ron Hubbard, the creator of Dyanetics and Scientology, and it does not necessarily paint him in a good light and includes background on the different levels in Scientology and interviews with former members. I thought this film was better done than Steve Jobs, and I cared more about the people in the film and I felt something, whereas in Steve Jobs I did not.


11/13/15 Merchants of Doubt, 2014

If you have a critical thinking bone in your body or brain, watching this movie will make you so angry at those people who can't look past the nose on their faces for the truth. It's scary and enraging. Merchants of Doubt refers to the people who work to cast doubt on scientific discovery, usually by disparaging and attacking the scientists personally since they really cannot factually dispute the science. The director, Robert Kenner, uses Naomi Oreskes, an historian of science and co-author of the book Merchants of Doubt, and Stanton Glantz, an activist for tobacco regulation, to give the background on these tactics, that go back to when the tobacco industry denied any harmful effects from smoking. Then, when it was proven that the tobacco industry KNEW there were negative effects from smoking, they tried to turn the tables and make it the smokers' fault. It's mind boggling. Oreskes has done a lot of research on the people behind these tactics and their anti-scientific approaches. One of the main topics examined in the film is global warming; and what is scary is how the deniers of global warming use fake science, misdirection and economic fear to sway people. Kenner interviews 'converts' those who didn't believe in global warming, thought it was a scare tactic by liberals but who have since read the scientific reports and now try to dispute the deniers. Bob Inglis, former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, is one of those now trying to take the 'party politics' out of a very serious situation. He does it with grace and eloquence and a determination that is inspiring, even though he lost his seat to a candidate supported by the Tea Party. I cannot recommend this movie strongly enough. It presents the facts and evidence in a strong and convincing way, and the fact that many of the deniers say that yes, global warming is happening but we can't afford to do anything about it and it's government overreach, gives lie to their position. Kenner directed the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. which is about the food industry and made me not want to eat for a short period.


11/21/15 I am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story, 2015, not yet nominated

Who doesn't like Big Bird? He represents that little kid in all of us, he asked the questions we wanted to ask and did the silly things we liked to do. I am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story gives us a behind the scenes look at Caroll Spinney, the Muppeteer behind Big Bird and the yin to his yang, Oscar the Grouch. We gather from Spinney and the people who know him that he really was Big Bird, that with or without the 8 foot tall costume, he would still have that wonderment. We meet many of the cast from Sesame Street including Bob, Luis, Susan and Maria, and hear how they felt Big Bird represented the children who were watching, but also their thoughts about Caroll as a performer. There was a period of time where Big Bird was everywhere, going all over the world, including a newly opened China. Spinney has been playing Big Bird for forty years, and seems to have no immediate plans to retire, despite the fact that playing Big Bird can be physically exhausting. the magic does not diminish even though we learn how Big Bird works, we get an inside look into the feathery costumer. A story about Big Bird would not be complete without the father of the Muppets, Jim Henson making an appearance, and Spinney speaks of him with great affection and of how Henson believed in him, even when things got discouraging. I always liked Big Bird, but I think I love him, and Sesame Street, more now and have a great appreciation for the respect they have for their audience. As a documentary, I kept waiting for 'something', but I don't have words to describe what it was. I am so glad I saw it and I hope more people do, but I don't think it will be nominated for an Oscar. That doesn't diminish it in any way, though. Check it out.

11/21/15 Unforgivable Blackness, 2005

Jack Johnson (1878-1946) was the most dominant fighter of his time; he was also a black fighter during a period when some Americans still had bitter memories of Reconstruction and less than enlightened views of the black man. The Ken Burns documentary, based on the book of the same name by Geoffrey C. Ward, uses film footage and newspaper articles and first person accounts, including Johnson's. Burns places Johnson's story in an historical, sociological, cultural and sports context, and this gives you a sense of what it was like in the first two decades of the 20th century. While black men could box, it was often to entertain white men; the fighters might be blindfolded, among one variation; but they could not fight for the championship. It would never do to have a black man fight a white man (what if the Negro won?) and in fact the white heavyweight champion, James Jeffries refused to fight Johnson. Fights were stopped before Johnson could knock out his opponents (and he surely would have) because there was a fear of rioting if a white man was knocked out by a black man (fear seemed to be a common theme in the reactions to Johnson). Johnson looks massive in the century old footage in comparison to his opponents; much like Mike Tyson towered over his opponents. Back in the early days of boxing, matches could be scheduled for twenty rounds, in fact, one of Johnson's fights was scheduled to go 45 rounds, unimaginable today. Aside from his boxing prowess and physical strength, Johnson was an independent minded man, not really caring what anyone thought of him. He dated and lived with white women which in that time was scandalous; he openly said that nobody would tell him who he could love. He had impeccable taste in clothes and cars; he was well-spoken. If he was living in the 21st century, he would probably rub elbows with LeBron James and Floyd Mayweather, but he didn't live in 2015, he lived in 1915, and Johnson's confidence and bravado offended so many in the white establishment, and as the story unfolds, his overconfidence led to his slow downfall. Burns always does a great job of telling the story of America and her people and this is no different; Burns includes the inimitable James Earl Jones, who played Johnson in "The Great White Hope", Stanley Crouch, a writer, Bert Sugar, a boxing historian, among others to keep the viewer interested. You get a lesson in the racial climate of the US sneakily wrapped up in a history of boxing. Burns' guests do a better job than I can of encapsulating everything and they have a couple of hours to do it. It was uncomfortable watching and listening to some of the footage because the blatant, uncompromising racism and hatred toward Johnson is repugnant, especially when it seemed that he really didn't have those same feelings (perhaps he did, but it wasn't apparent to me), he just wanted to box and be the best and have fun doing it, and he was a little arrogant. Show me a boxer who isn't that way; in fact, James Earl Jones says that when Muhammad Ali came to see "The Great White Hope", he said if you substitute the issue of being with white women for religion, the story was Ali's. We don't hear a lot about Jack Johnson these days; I learned about him in college when I did an independent study, but otherwise, I don't think would have known about him. Johnson had his flaws, and he was a polarizing figure, but his story is definitely worth learning about.

Spectre and Get Low

11/15/15 Spectre, not yet nominated, 2015

It's funny, I would not consider myself a James Bond fan, and yet I have seen all of the Daniel Craig movies in the theater, usually in the first couple weeks. So, a couple friends and I went to the theater this past weekend and waited. They waited for him to take off his shirt and I, well, that's not why I was there. The movie opened with some incredible views of the Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City. That was pretty impressive. Then Bond goes off and does Bond things, like killing people and flying a helicopter dangerously low to the crowd. Upon his return to London, he is reprimanded by M, now played by Ralph Fiennes, and told to behave himself. It may take me a while to get used to Fiennes, as I really loved Judi Dench as M, a role she first played in 1995. M (Dench) left Bond a brief upon her demise and Bond heads off on a mission to Rome, driving a spectacular car. Christoph Waltz is Ernst Blofeld (a familiar character to Bonds fans), and he really is a great bad guy. Since the movie is still so new and there are more detailed synopses elsewhere, I will not dwell too much on the story. Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color) is Dr. Madeleine Swann, the daughter of one of Bonds's nemeses, and Bond has promised to protect her, even if she doesn't want him to. There are a couple of cool explosions, one was the largest explosion on a set (I'm pretty sure there will be some Oscar nominations for effects, sound and editing). There were a couple of story elements that I liked, they were a little unexpected and added a twist (no spoilers here). So, what about the song? Sam Smith co-wrote and performed "The Writing's on the Wall". It was fine; I have to admit that I have never heard him sing, so I didn't know what to expect, and I was surprised when he hit some very high notes. I think while Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" is THE Bond song, Adele's "Skyfall" is right up there, and for those new to Bond films, it probably is THE song, so it must be hard to follow Adele. My guess is it will be nominated for an Oscar as well, and could be quite an interesting performance in 2016. The big question - did I like the movie? The movie ended and we looked at each other and kind of went, oh, okay, that was all right, but none of us left thinking that was the best movie, or even the best James Bond movie we'd seen. I wanted more gadgets from Q, I thought they were kind of lame and my friends wanted less clothes on Daniel Craig.

11/15/15 Get Low, 2009 

 I saw the trailer for Get Low a few times and thought it looked funny, Bill Murray is dry and cynical and Robert Duvall plays an enigmatic hermit in Tennessee in the 1930s. Felix Bush (Duvall) lives alone in the woods and decides to throw a funeral for himself and ask people to tell a story or memory about him. Frank Quinn (Murray) is the owner of the funeral home who sees a great opportunity to make some money and generate some publicity; his assistant, Buddy Robinson, is not so mercenary about it, and befriends Bush. Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek) is a contemporary of Bush, and we're not totally certain of their relationship until further in the movie. Get Low is a quirky little film, in some ways it reminded me of St. Vincent from a few years ago, which starred Bill Murray, you think it's going to be some gut busting hilarious movie, and it suckers you in, and then shows you a flawed man who has some demons. It kind of reminds you that everyone has a story and everyone has pain, some just bury it deeper than others. There are great performances from everyone, especially Duvall and Lucas Black who played Buddy.

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, vintage cartoons from the 1930s

With the exception of the first short reviewed, the rest are all from Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies series. Disney won five straight Oscars for his shorts that are mostly taken from fables or well-known children's stories. These are all available on Youtube.com.

11/10/15 Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase, Best Animated Short, 1991

This should have been in the last posting on animation, but I lost track of where I was. So here it is. The short takes the viewer through a history of art, although not necessarily in chronological order. We watch as a Da Vinci morphs into a Van Gogh into a Gaughin into a Picasso. It was fun to see if I recognized the art and the artist.

Silly Symphonies
Flowers and Trees, Best Animated Short, 1931/1932 - Something about this short reminded me of the scene in Fantasia with the alligators and ostriches dancing, except with plant life. I really enjoyed this as the flora in the forest came alive. Disney perfected anthropomorphic characters and you can see that here with mushrooms and lilies and trees stretching and dancing. There were some flowers that might have been black-eyed Susans, but they seemed like they were flowers in black face; I don't know if I made that up or not. That was the only moment of pause for me, otherwise, it's a fun short.

Three Little Pigs, Best Animated Short, 1932/1933, National Film Registry - No need to explain the plot here, pretty straightforward, it shows the three little pigs building their houses of hay, sticks and bricks, which results in the big bad wolf being very disappointed. One thing I noticed that made me laugh were the pictures of 'mom' and 'dad'; the picture of mom was a sow with piglets, but poor dad was a sausage link. That's the kind of humor that you may or may not notice, but when you do, it's funny.

The Tortoise and the Hare, Best Animated Short, 1933/1934 - This re-telling of Aesop's fable holds no surprises, but it was still fun to watch; and even though you know the hare is going to lose, you still root for the tortoise and cheer when he wins.

Three Orphan Kittens, Best Animated Short, 1935 - This could have been a Tom & Jerry cartoon (as could The Country Cousin) with the feline shenanigans. Three little kittens are dumped outside a home in a snowstorm and make their way inside. They start to explore and play. They make quite a fuss and are discovered by the housekeeper/maid, who in the style of the times (which were less enlightened than we might admit) is a a black woman with a 'Mammy' outfit and accent. I was disappointed (and more than a little naive) because I thought when she came on in the very beginning that it was her house, but it was not. Like I said, in 1935, that was acceptable, it's really not acceptable now and it took any fun or enjoyment away. Almost as annoying was the little girl of the house who dressed the kittens up as babies. This is one I could do without.

The Country Cousin, Best Animated Short, 1936- Sometimes the grass is not always greener, but we have to find that out for ourselves, don't we? In this animated version of the country mouse and town mouse, Abner, the country mouse, receives a telegram from his town cousin, Monty, telling him to come and live the high life with him (this is Tom & Jerry without Tom). Abner is very impressed with the set up, an incredible spread of food that would make Old Country Buffet blush, and he goes about trying to taste it, but he's too loud for Monty's liking, and eventually, too drunk. So, while Monty may have a never-ending buffet, he can't really enjoy it. Abner winds up heading back to the country where he can be loud, uncouth and happy.

The Ugly Duckling, Best Animated Short, 1938 - This is an animated version of Hans Christian Andersen's story. Aesop and Andersen created stories that still hold the for generations. The story of the ugly duckling, which at one very simply level is to not judge a book by its cover, is relevant today, and it's told with a little bit of a raspberry at the end. A mother duck and her drake are waiting for their ducklings to hatch; they all hatch except one, and then, when it does, the baby does not look anything like its parents. Instead of accepting this addition, the ducks make the ugly duckling very uncomfortable and he eventually swims away. He happens upon some other swimming birds, who instead of turning away or shunning him, they welcome him to the family (bevy). It turns out, he's just like them, a baby swan (cygnet). As the bevy swims past the ducks, the former ugly duckling looks proud and happy and gives a virtual finger to his first family (that's how I choose to interpret it).

Wait Wait, Paula Poundstone was in town

11/6/15 Paula Poundstone, The Sheldon Theater, Red Wing, MN

Paula Poundstone's mind goes a million miles a minute, she is quick on her feet. A friend and I traveled down to lovely Red Wing, Minnesota, to see Paula at the historic Sheldon Theater. As an aside, it's a nice little theater and any town would be lucky to have it; it needs a little loving, and it looks like there is a restoration project underway. Having traveled around to see different acts in different locations, I really have come to appreciate the importance of small, community theaters, whether they are of vintage design like the Sheldon or newer like the Hopkins Theater for the Arts. My friend and I were in the balcony in center seats, which is the perfect place as far as I'm concerned. Paula has a routine, jokes or stories that she tells regularly, referencing her three kids, sometimes her multitude of cats or her rant against too much computer/screen time, especially for kids. In between the regularly scheduled material, she is off and interacting with the audience members. If you sit in the front few rows, you REALLY have to be prepared to be part of the act. She started off with asking how many of the audience were native Minnesotans, and unfortunately, the gentleman in the front row was not from here, meaning he MOVED to Minnesota intentionally. He was from Atlanta, where he used to sell pool supplies; one of the reasons he gave for moving was the lack of Swedes in Atlanta. Paula just went to town. Even when she is just asking for clarification, it's never that easy. At some point during the evening, she met eyes with a woman in the front row who was very eager to contribute, and boy howdy, did she ever. She gave Paula the best bit she's had in a long time. The woman just recently retired from watching cheese being made and making sure it was okay to sell. I am not kidding. Paula just about fell over. The woman worked there for 28 years, and hated it. This distressed Paula no end. Then about 30 minutes later Paula asked another woman in the same row what SHE did, and she SOLD cheese. I wish the performance would have been recorded, because it was priceless, you really can't make that up. Apparently, they are sisters, and the one had NO idea that her sister was so miserable, and Paula read her the riot act. They were all great sports. Another woman (in the same row) was getting something out of her purse, and Paula asked her what she was doing. "Getting my birth control pill." For real. We laughed so hard we cried and my sides hurt. If you can catch Paula and her very bright suits, I strongly recommend it. If laughter is the best medicine, I won't get sick at all this winter.

We go from hilarious and intelligent to:
11/7/15 Unfinished Business, not yet nominated, 2015

I thought this Vince Vaughn movie would be funny, maybe not pee your pants funny, but a few good belly laughs. Sadly, the funny bits were in the trailers. Happily, I borrowed the movie from the library, so it was free AND I could give it back. I wanted to tape a warning on the case, but then thought, why should I suffer alone. Vince Vaughn plays Dan, a sales rep who sees his take get reduced by his manager. This leads Dan to quit and start his own company, and takes him on an impromptu adventure to Berlin (let's not start to question how one of his team received a passport on such short notice, or how they were able to afford international airfares on the same short notice). It seems like the movie couldn't really decide if it wanted to be a somewhat sentimental family comedy surrounded by adult problems, kind of like Couples Retreat which I do think is funny or if it wanted to be a more adult-oriented comedy with sexual references and scenes with a dash of family to make it 'heart-warming'. I'm not sure it matters. What was a little disturbing was how funny the cast thought the movie was; this was seen in the "Extras", and how they made it have a 'deeper' meaning than it did. Tom Wilkinson played Timothy, the finance guy on Dan's team. I love Tom Wilkinson and I have forever, from Prime Suspect (yes, he was in that with Helen Mirren) to The Full Monty (yes, he was in that too) to his over the edge character in Michael Clayton, but he cannot save this movie. And please don't get me wrong, I like Vince Vaughn; with the right set up (writing, directing and cast) he is hilarious and he always brings a human touch, but I just did not care at all about this movie. Maybe I am not the target demographic, and that's entirely possible, and in that case, I don't aspire to be either. So, the other good news is that if, in some bizarre instance of Oscar voting, this gets nominated for anything, I have already seen it.

Veterans Day 2015

Veteran's Day comes around and I think of a couple of things, I guess. The first is, obviously, to think about the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and the few that I have known personally. I also think about World War I, the war to end all wars, which led to Armistice Day, later Veteran's Day, being designated. And then I think of Doc. I had the pleasure of working with Doc in his 4th career, after a career in the Navy (two tours in Vietnam as a medic); a nursing career; a records management career; and lastly, a career as my sparring partner and mentor. Doc was from a family of 17 who grew up on a farm in Wisconsin and regularly dispensed folksy wisdom as he tried to educate and cajole the 'kids' in the Records Center (my Records Center, as I like to refer to it). Anyway, I always think of Doc because he was born on Veteran's Day and left a great impression on so many of us.

So, in honor (which sounds so pretentious) I'm going to recap some of the military-themed movies I've reviewed over the past few years.

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1  won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for 2014 and I couldn't agree more. The film focuses on the crisis center that responds to calls for help from veterans and their families. It's a powerful reminder that even those these men and women are more than 'willing' to fight and defend our country, they are not always able to cope with civilian life after their experiences. It's as much a look at the veterans calling in as it is a look at the responders, many of whom are veterans. This should be required viewing for any congressman/senator looking to cut funding for veterans' services.

The Invisible War  was nominated for Best Documentary in 2012, and I believe it should have won. It takes a hard, unflinching look at sexual assault in the military. There is still so much work to be done in Congress (you know, when they're finished being asshats) and it may be a good time to watch this film and contact your Representative and Senators to ask them to support legislation from Senator Kirsten Gillebrand of New York.

All Quiet on the Western Front  won Best Director and Best Production (Picture) in 1930. It's set during World War I and shows the conditions of trench warfare. Some older movies are tough to watch because the production quality is not what we're used to with our 21st century technology, but I think it's very good and overall the movie is worth watching.

Unbroken is a bio-pic about Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner and World War II veteran and a survivor of Japanese prison camps. Zamperini was an amazing survivor, having to dig deep in his mental, emotional and physical reserves. Zamperini is opposite The Bird a sadistic camp sergeant who has made it his mission to destroy Zamperini. There is also a book of the same name, and I think they complement each other nicely, the book goes into more detail about Louie's life after he gets out of the camps and it's almost as difficult as it was during the war. It's just a different kind of difficult. I recommend watching the movie and reading the book.

Fury was not an Oscar-nominee, and I did think it should have been recognized for it's sound editing and effects. Fury focuses on tank warfare during World War II, and I don't think there are many movies that have done that. Tanks are similar to submarines in that they are self-contained fighting units, but they can also be fiery tombs under the wrong conditions. When used in movies, they also create a sense of claustrophobia and tension which is good for storytelling. My brother and I liked the movie; it was pretty action-packed from the beginning, taking a break to pursue a different storyline, but then back to the action.

Other movies to check out:
Mrs. Minver  - set during WWII, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
The Best Years of Our Lives  - set during WWII, this movie won seven Oscars and is a look at three WWII veterans as they try to fit into society after the war, starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March and Harold Russell, who was the first non-actor to win a competitive Oscar (Best Supporting Actor)
American Sniper - set during the war in Afghanistan and based on the life of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL and sniper.

 

Home and a variety of animated shorts including Munro (1960), Granny O'Grimm, La Maison en Petits Cubes

Some things about this blog are pretty random, and then other times, I have a plan or theme. In this case, this entry is all about animation. It finally dawned on me that Youtube.com might have some of the animated shorts I needed to see. Voila! Without further ado, I'll start with a feature film that hasn't been nominated yet, but it may be, and we'll go from there.

10/31/15 Home, not yet nominated, 2015

Home is an alien-meets girl film, starring Jim Parsons as Oh, a naive, but eager Boov; Rihanna as Tip, a young girl who moved to the US with her mom from Barbados; Steve Martin is the egotistical and incompetent leader of the Boovs, Captain Smek. The Boovs seem to be in a constant state of running away from the Gorgs, a seemingly violent and aggressive race of aliens. Captain Smek leads the Boovs to Earth, but first all of the humans need to be picked up and sent to Australia (it seems to take less than the normal 24+ hour flight, so that's a bonus, right?), but Tip manages to hide from them until she meets Oh, who has been ostracized from the Boovs because he sort of gave the Boovs' location to the Gorgs. The story follows Tip and Oh as they try to find Tip's mom (played by Jennifer Lopez). Along the way, Oh learns a little more about human ways and feelings (in some ways Oh is not all that different from Sheldon Cooper, Parsons' alter ego). Tip gets frustrated at Oh's lack of a sense of urgency to find her mom. There is some fun music, provided by Rihanna and JLo, there are some touching moments and an interesting twist at the end of the movie. So, did I like it? Yeah, I did, did I love it? I don't know. I guess not. I think it might be me; I used to love animated movies, run to the theater and now, I wait until they're on DVD. Maybe it's because the kids I used to take to see the movies are growing up (I'll need to find new friends with little kids, I suppose), or they just aren't that fabulous. Probably a combination of the two. Occasionally I'm asked what recent animated movie I really like and in the last couple of years I always come back to The Boxtrolls. That movie was very well done in so many ways. So, any way, I'll sign this entry "Scrooge'.

1960, Best Animated Short Film
Munro
I found this gem on youtube (actually all of the shorts listed below were on youtube if you want to check them out). Even though this short was done back in 1960, it seems timeless in portraying the incompetency of bureaucracy, whether it's military or governmental; I expected the script to be written by Franz Kafka. Munro is a little boy who is drafted into the army; he dutifully reports for his physical, all the while protesting that he's only four years old. Eventually he is recognized to be a child and goes back to his mother (you do have to wonder where his parents were throughout this, but perhaps this also reflects some of the writer's feelings about adults in general). Take a few minutes and find this online.

1997, Geri's Game, Winner for Best Animated Short Feature
Geri is playing a game of chess against himself. He takes off his glasses when he's on the other side, and as he is on the verge of check-mate, his other self, does the old switcheroo and turns the board around. This allows his 'real' self to win.

2007
La Maison en Petits Cubes,  Winner for Best Animated Short Feature 
Despite its French title this was actually done by a Japanese animation team; the animation looks hand-drawn as opposed to computer animation. It seems like a moving watercolor painting. There's no dialog, just a soundtrack. The film opens with what seems like a lake, but there are houses in it. We discover the unnamed main character in the top level of his house as the water begins to take over again. That's when we the extent to which the man has gone to stay in his home, as the many levels of his house are revealed. It kind of reminded me of the plot line in Tangerines and Ivo not wanting to leave his home, no matter what destruction crossed his threshold. It had a poignancy that I appreciated without beating me over the head or using overwrought emotions. It was beautiful in its simplicity.
Lavatory - Lovestory
This Russian entry has a bit of a cheekiness to it that was a total about face to La Maison en Petits Cubes. You may correctly infer that the film has something to do with a love story in a lavatory. It appears to be a lavatory in a bus or train station with a female attendant, even for the men's restroom. The woeful and lovelorn attendant reads her newspaper as the customers go in and out, but mysteriously, someone puts a small bouquet of flowers in her money jar. She tries to find who it is, and is somewhat frustrated by her efforts. She is determined and eventually meets her lavatory love. There is a sense of fun in the animation style that matches the narrative; I find that I mostly prefer the hand-drawn style than anything that resembles stereotypical computer animation (the 'hand-drawn' look may very well be achieved through computer animation, but I still like it better).

Oktapodi

This is just a fun, silly entry that is set in what looks like Santorini, Greece. An octopus is taken away from her mate (very possibly for someone else's meal) and her mate (I'm presuming on the gender of each octopus) escapes to rescue her. That's where the adventures begin, as the truck with the octopus flies through the hilly and angular streets of the village. It was fun, but didn't make any great impression on me.


Presto is a Pixar film that shows a magician in a contest with his magic hat and rabbit. I have the Marx brothers on my mind and it could have been a Marx brothers skit from 60 years ago. It was clever and fun, and sometimes you like to see the rabbit get the best of the magician, so that was kind of nice. Again, fun to watch, but it nothing too deep (and that's probably okay, but I think I need something to move my needle).

This Way Up
An English father and son pair of undertakers go through all kinds of extreme conditions to successfully complete the burial of their elderly 'customer'. This was also fun to watch, very little dialogue, but the story is conveyed well enough by the action. 


2008, nominated for Best Animated Short Film
The winner for this year was Logorama which was a very well-done (computer-animated) film that poked vicious fun at different logos and branded characters.

French Roast is also computer-animated but resembles stop-action and is set in a French cafe where a patron finds that he is without his wallet. He somehow thinks that if he just keeps ordering espresso he'll be able to figure out a way to pay (I don't know how). A little old lady sits next to him and as she goes to the restroom, he discovers she has a bit of money and he thinks his troubles are solved. Of course, it's not as easy as that, especially when the little old lady is not everything she seems. The lesson here may be don't judge a book by its cover. I liked the strange twist.

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
Speaking of strange and twisted, don't let Granny O'Grimm put your kids to bed and don't be fooled by her Irish brogue, this woman is demented. Granny is putting her granddaughter to bed and tells her version of "Sleeping Beauty". It seems that Granny may have some unresolved issues. Okay, a lot of unresolved issues. There is something familiar about the animation style and the way the characters are portrayed (especially Granny) and perhaps it's the artists and I am unable to determine where I have seen it before. It's another CGI movie, but I like it when that is not the first thing I think about when watching a movie, but the humor and the story. It was pretty funny. I would actually like to hear Granny O'Grimm's take on a few more fairytales (kind of reminds me of "Fractured Fairytales" from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show".

2009
Let's Pollute, nominated for Best Animated Short Film
The Lost Thing was the winner for this year, and I really like that film. Let's Pollute uses an animation style that is very similar to Munro, but a narrative style that is so ridiculously heavy handed, I wanted to go out and pollute just to be difficult. You may guess from the title that Let's Pollute is about how pollution has developed over the past century or so, since the industrial revolution, and how we can help increase pollution. Yes, satirical, but there is no subtly like in Swift's A Modest Proposal. It was 6 1/2 minutes long and it was annoying. But at least it wasn't 7 minutes.

2010
Wild Life, nominated for Best Animated Short Film
 I wasn't really sure how I felt about Wild Life after I watched it. Part of me thought well, what an idiot, he deserved it, but then a part of me thought I was little harsh and judgmental. An unnamed young man from England makes his way to Albert, Canada in 1909 and he was provided for by his family back in England. Apparently, this was not an uncommon occurrence and there was even an name for men and women like him, "remittance man" (or "woman"). We see the man spending time in the local saloon or maybe enjoying the nature on the open plains. Except, something happens. A Canadian mountie is seen at the young man's property, and it seems quite mysterious. It appears that the young man had a suitcase (perhaps heading back home?) but he stopped to enjoy the beautiful night sky, but then did he freeze to death? It is clear that he was never really prepared to live out in the Canadian wild (at least it was to me). So, that's where I get conflicted. I don't know, I think it's worth seeing, but I feel confident that the winner for the year, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore was the correct choice.