Two Days, One Night; God and Elvis; a visit to Chernobyl, Spy and the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - a cinematic hotdish

There was actually going to be a plan to this entry, but that kind of  went out the window pretty quickly as the movies piled up. There are one foreign film and three documentary shorts and then to throw you off balance, two comedies. It's a grab bag of cinema.

11/21/15 Two Days, One Night, nominated Best Actress, 2014

Several posts ago I mentioned that I had watched all but one of the nominees for last year. I lied. And I'm sorry. I had Two Days, One Night at home, but couldn't fit it in to my busy schedule. I finally did a couple of weeks ago and it was an interesting premise and I would like to state for the record now that I believe within five years this will be remade as an American film. The movie was a joint Belgian/French/Italian production set in Belgium. Marion Cotillard was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, losing out to Julianne Moore in Still Alice. Marion is Sandra, a worker in a small solar panel factory in Seraing, a city near Liege, Belgium. When the movie starts Sandra is hoping to return to work after being gone for an unspecified reason (we are given clues along the way); unfortunately, the manager and owner learned that the the team could still meet all production demands being short one person. They are given the option of having Sandra back or getting a bonus; for some of the workers the bonus will have a huge impact on their quality of life. Sandra's friend, Juliette, has convinced the owner to hold a secret ballot after the weekend. This reprieve gives Sandra time to speak with everyone one on one and plead her case. She is reluctant, but her husband, Manu, tries to encourage her and support her. It's an emotional roller coaster as Sandra suffers rejection but also makes some conversions. I worried about her state of mind and tensed up as she made her plea. It didn't end like I thought it would, but I think it was better and more real. One thing I do want to say is that some of the workers made their decision based on the fact they would lose this bonus; but were they in such dire straits before Sandra left? And what makes them think they are safe and that management wouldn't see if they could do with one less person in six months? And (I guess that's three things) how come there was no union intervention? On that matter, I'm guessing because it was a small shop. I love Cotillard, I totally believed she was Sandra, the pain and angst and the love of her kids. She is amazing, although I think she is much better in French films, but perhaps I'm being a snob.

11/22/15 The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 2015

Movies are funny things. When you see a really good movie, you walk out and say, ooh, I hope they make a sequel. I loved The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, it featured some of the best British actors and actresses and it was on a beautiful location. Who wouldn't want a second movie? Most of the original cast returns: Dame Maggie Smith as Muriel Donnelly who now helps to run the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Dame Judi Dench as Evelyn Greenslade who works sourcing original Indian cloths; Bill Nighy is Douglas Ainslie a sweet, fumbling guide who has unrequited feelings for Evelyn; Dev Patel returns as Sonny Kapoor, the ambitious and over the top entrepreneur who is preparing for his wedding; Richard Gere is the new face and he is a guest at the hotel and also very interested in Sonny's mother. You kind of need a scorecard to keep track of who is with whom and who does what. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is doing so well that guests never leave (until they permanently check out) so Sonny and Mrs. Donnelly set off to America to make a deal to start a Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  As with any ensemble film, there's a lot going on and some of it is more interesting or funny than other bits, and you find there are characters you would rather watch. Maggie Smith as Mrs. Donnelly is that person for me. In some ways she is like her curmudgeony character on Downton Abbey, dropping acerbic comments as effortlessly as rain falls in Seattle. There is a great Bollywood dance at the end, and other than that, the movie was okay, but not great, and I really hope they don't make a third best exotic marigold hotel.

11/26/15 Chernobyl Heart, winner Best Documentary Short, 2003

I may have to come up with a ratings system for documentaries; I think this would be five tear drops. I remember when the Chernobyl disaster happened; I had friends living in Sweden at the time and the news said that the radiation was blowing towards Sweden and the children were not supposed to play in the sand. It was crazy. It was in the news for a while and occasionally news would come out about what was happening, especially to the children. Seventeen years after the disaster, director Maryann DeLeo takes us to Chernobyl and surrounding villages and cities, to hospitals and orphanages. The number of birth defects has increased dramatically since the disaster, as has the number of cases of thyroid cancer and other diseases. The impacts on this generation of children is unfathomable. Our 'guide' for this visit is Adi Roche, a most amazing woman who founded Chernobyl Children International. The film was difficult to watch, frustrating and infuriating and yet Adi and her team and the doctors who come to perform surgeries for free give that ray of hope. The video is available on youtube and I strongly encourage you to watch it. 

11/26/15 Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work Of Mark O'Brien, Best Documentary Short, 1996

Mark O'Brien was a poet who UC Berkeley, wrote several volumes of poetry and articles, all while being in an iron lung. O'Brien was stricken with polio when he was 6 years old. His parents didn't want to put him in a nursing home, so they kept him at home as long as they could, but then he went out on his own, attending college and graduate school. He has the help of attendants, but he uses a tool to type with his mouth. There are times he seems very lonely, but he still has a sense of humor and a sense of indignation when it comes to equal access and opportunity for disabled. His story was dramatized in Sessions which focused on his desire to experience sex. O'Brien died in 1999. The documentary is available on youtube and Sessions is available through the library or Netflix. I suggest seeing both.

11/26/15 God is the Bigger Elvis, nominated Best Documentary Short, 2011

I had no idea what this documentary was about until I watched it, I thought it was something to do with religion, but other than that, nada. Well, it has to do with God and Elvis. You movie buffs out there may know the name 'Dolores Hart' (I have to admit it didn't ring any bells with me, I'm sorry) from the 1950s, particularly Loving You with Elvis Presley. Dolores did not find the Hollywood lifestyle suitable to her and left to join a Benedictine order in Connecticut. The (now) Mother Prioress talks about her choice and others from the abbey about why they joined and what the Mother Prioress gives to them. I liked the documentary, it had a certain joie de vivre, but this was the year that Saving Face won and that was a hard one to beat, I think.

11/27/15 Spy, 2015

I really needed this movie after two days of intense movies (Secret in Their Eyes and Spotlight). There is no question that Melissa McCarthy has been in some hit or miss movies, but even if it's a 'miss', I almost always find something to laugh at; she is one funny lady. Spy isn't exactly a miss, but I didn't laugh as hard as I did during Bridesmaids, but I think that was a pretty rare occasion for me. 
Spy is a comedic take on James Bond, featuring Jude Law as agent Bradley Fine; Jason Statham as his interdepartmental rival, Rick Ford; Rose Byrne as baddie Rayna Boyanov; Allison Janney as Director Elaine Crocker. The casting is pretty spot on: Statham shows he has a sense of humor about himself and his tough guy image by being the consummate 'top the topper', escaping death more times than it's possible to imagine; Janney is just so good in everything she does, she could teach a master class in line delivery and McCarthy is smooth moving from physical comedy to playing off of her co-stars (she and Byrne have this down to a science). McCarthy plays Susan Cooper a behind the scenes type of agent, providing the field agent, Fine, with escape routes and intel on the bad guys. Cooper and the rest of the agency are led to believe that Fine has been killed by Boyanov and that all of the field agents have been compromised, so they need someone unknown to the other side, and that would be Susan Cooper now Penny Morgan. Susan goes to Europe to stop the bad guys selling nuclear weapons (actually I wasn't really following the plot all that closely). Cooper proves to be lot more capable than anyone gave her credit for and she is assisted by Nancy (English actress Miranda Hart who has a great scene with 50 Cent). I think when Melissa McCarthy has a good script and a good director (Paul Feig, he directed Bridesmaids and Heat) good times can be had by all. McCarthy is one of the best comedic actresses and it's fun watching her do her thing.