The 88th Oscars - I watch so you don't have to

Oscar Night! Finally.

5:15 In preparation for walking the taupe carpet, I have donned my Green Lantern shirt (again). Partly because, well, why not, and also the movie was not as horrible as people make it out to be, but it certainly speaks to a film that didn't live up to its potential. See you in a couple of hours.

Just got my neck pillow; better to be prepared.

 7:26 - neck pillow - check, ice pack - check, cold beverage - check, handy reference links - check. Okay, enough pre-show warm up, let's get this show on the road. Bring on Chris Rock.

They're showing a montage of 2015 films, I've seen so many of them, they all become a blur. I have seen 49 out of 57 entries this year. Chris Rock just started, making #Oscarsowhite jokes in his monologue. He is not holding back at all. I thought he was funny and on point.

This is the category for writing, Best Original Screenplay. Straight Outta Compton, Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Spotlight, and Inside Out. The winner is Spotlight. I thought it would be between Spotlight or maybe Ex Machina. Best Adapted Screenplay is next and my hope is that Room wins. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are presenting and they are actually pretty funny. The Big Short, Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian and Room. The Big Short won. I am a little disappointed, but I really liked The Big Short; a little too close to home as far as I and many of my friends are concerned, but a must see movie. I liked all of the nominated films, they told different stories, different points of view, but I left satisfied after all of them (surprised in the case of The Martian).

They have inserted black actors into the very white movies, including Whoopi Goldberg in Joy, Leslie Jones in The Revenant, Tracy Morgan in The Danish Girl, Chris Rock in The Martian.

Sam Smith is going to sing "The Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre, present by Sarah Silverman. I thought she was kind of funny, but the audience was a little flat. Oh, the song is more whiny than I remember. It's no "Skyfall" that's for sure. It's over. Thank god.


Clips for Best Picture, The Big Short and The Martian are first up.

JK Simmons (Whiplash) is presenting for Best Supporting Actress. My hope is for Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl. I didn't see The Hateful Eight (Jennifer Jason Leigh), not in a big hurry, but I will in time. Rooney Mara in Carol was underwhelming to me and my friend. Rachel McAdams in Spotlight was good, but I don't think it was the best performance, and it was more of an ensemble piece in my mind. Vikander was amazing and to me she was a lead actress nominee, she was phenomenal. Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs was good, but again, not great and in a movie I hated. Vikander just won! I am so happy. It's a beautiful movie and she was amazing.

Forty-five minutes and three categories down. I think another nominated song is up next and maybe Best Supporting Actor.

Best Costume Design is being presented by Cate Blanchett. The nominees are so different, I don't know how you pick: Sandy Powell is nominated twice, Cinderella and Carol, The Danish Girl, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road. Jenny Bevan won for Mad Max: Fury Road, which was a stunning visual piece all the way around.

Best Production Design presented by Steve Carell and Tina Fey, which could be a new comedy team. Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl, The Martian, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road. I think Mad Max may take this one, or The Martian. Both pretty spectacular. Mad Max: Fury Road wins another technical award.

Jared Leto and Margot Robbie are presenting Hairstyle and Makeup. This is where my underdog is nominated, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant. Mad Max is three for three. Damn. You should still see the 100 year old man.

Benicio Del Toro and Jennifer Garner are presenting two more nominees for Best Picture, The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road.

The good thing is the pace seems pretty quick tonight. Maybe that's because I'm trying to process, type, add links, correct typos. But I think this happened last year. They're merciless to the 'little' awards, but when the high profile awards get going, the speeches go on forever. They're using a scroll on the bottom with pre-loaded 'thank yous', but the print is so small, I'm not sure who can actually see it.

Rachel McAdams and Michael B. Jordan (Creed) are presenting the Best Cinematography: Hateful Eight, Carol, Sicario, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant. Emmanuel Lubezki won for The Revenant, which was a beautifully filmed movie, if it didn't last 45 minutes too long and so many other reasons.

Best Film Editing is up next: The Big Short, Spotlight, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mad Max: Fury Road. Mad Max: Fury Road just won its fourth Oscar of the night.

Angela Bassett just hosted the Oscars Black History Month Minute, and I thought it was going to be for Will Smith, but it was for Jack Black. And then we go to commercial. Some of these are better than the Super Bowl ads.

Chadwick Boseman and Chris Evans are presenting (Boseman will be the Black Panther in the upcoming Captain America movie) Best Sound Editing: The Martian, The Revenant, Sicario, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Mad Max: Fury Road. Guess who won? Mad Max gets another technical award, a big night for Australia. Best Sound Mixing: Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Mad Max wins another.

They are showing clips of Andy Serkis doing his various performance capture roles, like Golum/Smeagle, characters from Planet of the Apes. He is now presenting the Oscar for Best Visual Effects: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, The Revenant, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road. Ex Machina won. Kind of a surprise given the run that Mad Max was having. The effects for Ex Machina were really pretty cool (that also starred Alicia Vikander).

Olivia Munn and Jason Segel are presenting the Sci-tech segment, which was hosted separately. She is really funny and was great in Newsroom (watch it, it's only three seasons). C3P0, R2D2 and BB8 just came out. Everyone loves droids. Not sure what that was for, but it got John Williams some screen time. "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey is coming up. I can't believe I had to watch that movie.

Chris Rock is trying to sell his daughters' Girl Scout cookies.

Best Animated Short Film is being presented by The Minions (a personal favorite of a friend of mine). The nominees are Bear Story, Prologue (hated it), Sanjay's Super Team, We Can't Live Without Cosmos, World of Tomorrow. Bear Story won. I did like that, the story was bittersweet and the animation was very well done and clever. This was the first Oscar for Chile (I thought they might have won a foreign film, but maybe not).

I think Best Animated Feature is next. Buzz Lightyear and Woody are presenting, but I don't think it's Tom Hanks and Tim Allen doing the voices. I had mixed feelings about this category, I hope Inside Out wins. The nominations are Shaun the Sheep, Anomalisa (hated it), When Marnie was There, Inside Out, Boy & the World (didn't see it). Inside Out wins! Awesome. I think it was the best; Shaun the Sheep would have been better as a hort film; Marnie was painful and I have no more words for Anomalisa.

Kevin Hart is presenting "Earned It" by The Weekend from Fifty Shades of Grey. Meh. I'm very distracted by his haircut. My brother tells me I'm too judgmental. I can't help it. I earned it.

Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon are presenting Best Picture nominees: Bridge of Spies and Spotlight. I liked both movies, I think I'm partial to Spotlight because it is still in the headlines. It was a great ensemble performance as well.

Chris Rock goes to Compton to see about the lack of diversity in the movies. It's pretty funny. I don't know how much is scripted or him just riffing with the people, but it's on target - again. None of the black people interviewed had seen the nominated 'white' movies.

Patricia Arquette is presenting the Best Supporting Actor category. She is either bored or having trouble reading the teleprompter. I don't even know about this category, it will probably go to Tom Hardy from The Revenant or Mark Ruffalo of Spotlight; I think Liev Schreiber should have been nominated for Spotlight. I did not see Creed and Sylvester Stallone may pull out the win as the sentimental favorite. Mark Rylance won for his role in Bridge of Spies. That's kind of a surprise; he was good, but his role was so understated compared to the others. Maybe that's why he won.

We still have the documentary categories, a couple more songs, Best Actor/Actresses, Director and Picture, so I'm guessing we won't be done by 10:00, maybe 10:30. The pacing is still pretty good, Rock's bits don't seem too long or dragging and the audience seems to still be engaged.  I wish someone could get me something to drink.

Louis CK (who was in Trumbo) is presenting the award for Documentary Short. There were so many powerful documentaries in this category. Hopefully you can still see them. The nominees are Body Team 12, Chau, Beyond the Lines, Claude Lanzmann: Specters of the Shoah, A Girl in the River, Last Day of Freedom. They all made me cry. A Girl in the River just won. Wow. That's great. The director/producer also directed the Oscar winning short: Saving Face. Hopefully this will help those girls who face the risk of honor killings.

Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel are presenting Best Documentary, another strong category. Amy, Cartel Land, The Look of Silence, What Happened, Miss Simone? (my favorite), Winter on Fire (another favorite). Amy just won. I am a little disappointed; I didn't think the documentary was strong even though its main character was larger than life. Watch them all, they are all available online, through your library, Netflix, Amazon. You will say thank you.

I think we are due for another song. Or the total of money raised by selling Girl Scout cookies, over $65,000.

Whoopi Goldberg is presenting the Governor's Awards from last November. Gena Rowlands, Spike Lee (who is boycotting tonight), Debbie Reynolds won the Jean Hirsholt Humanitarian Award.

Louis Gossett, Jr. is speaking before the In Memoriam piece, with music by Dave Grohl "Blackbird" by The Beatles. There's always outrage the next day about who was overlooked. I'm naive enough to think it's never malicious, just a timing issue and trying to include people from all aspects of movie making. Maybe there should be a page on the Oscars website that is more inclusive? That was very tastefully done.

Oh my gosh a commercial for Coca-Cola. I have not had soda/pop for four years, but that looked so good. Please don't snow tomorrow morning. That would really suck, especially if I'm late getting up because I don't get to bed until 11:00 (yes, I'm old, but the alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m.).

Jacob Tremblay (Room) and Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation) are presenting Best Live Action Short: Ave Maria, Day One, Everything Will Be Okay, Shok, Stutterer. I liked all them. Stutterer just won. Okay, that was my least favorite. I wonder if the votes were split, because there were at least three that were better.

The Best Foreign Film nominees are being awarded now. Unfortunately, I only saw one film, which I did like a lot, Theeb. Son of Saul won, and I'm not totally surprised, Holocaust films still resonate very strongly in Hollywood. Perhaps a sense of guilt.

Vice President Joe Biden is presenting Lady Gaga singing the song from Hunting Ground, from a documentary about sexual assault on college campuses. (I just lost internet connectivity, for crying out loud). I'm back. The movie is very powerful and should be watched by all parents sending their kids to college, as well as college administrators. Stop blaming the victims.  Sexual assault survivors are on stage. This is kind of like the moment last year with John Legend and Common singing their song from Selma. Powerful and emotion-packed. 

Quincy Jones and Pharrell are presenting for Best Original Score: Bridge of Spies - Thomas Newman, Carol - Carter Burwell, Sicario - Johann Johannsonn, The Hateful Eight - Ennio Morricone, Star Wars - The Force Awakens. The winner is Ennio Morricone. The poor guy was up in the loges and had a mile to walk before he came to the stage and he's not a young man. He is getting a standing ovation and giving his speech in Italian. He looks too tired to go back to his seat. 

Common and John Legend are presenting the Best Nominated Song: "Manta Ray" (Racing Extinction); "Simple Song #3" (Youth); "Earned It" (Fifty Shades of Grey); "Til It Happens to You" (The Hunting Ground); "The Writing's on the Wall" (Spectre). Ugh. James Bond wins again. That was a horrible song. Seriously?

Olivia Wilde and Sascha Baron Cohen are presenting. He is so annoying. They are actually showing the last nominees for Best Picture: Room (my favorite) and Brooklyn. 

I think Best Actress is next. I really hope Brie Larson wins for her performance in Room. I think it showed such a range of emotions and started out perhaps a little dim, but was ultimately so uplifting. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

J.J. Abrams is presenting for Best Director: Adam McKay - The Big Short, Lenny Abrahamson - Room, Tom McCarthy - Spotlight, Alejandro Inarritu - The Revenant, George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road. Inarritu just won. Ugh. I hope that doesn't mean The Revenant will win Best Picture - BECAUSE IT WAS NOT.

Okay, now I think it will be Best Actress next. Eddie Redmayne will be presenting. The nominees are: Cate Blanchett - Carol, Brie Larson - Room, Jennifer Lawrence (Joy - have not seen it), Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years (blah), Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn. Fingers crossed. Yes!!! That is fabulous. That makes me happy since I know that I won't be happy in a minute.

This time last year I think I was dying I was so sick. But I feel pretty okay for not having moved in three and a half hours. Chris Rock has done a good job tonight, funny, but pointed, which is what good comedy should be, I think.

Best Actor is next, and I think the whole world will be in shock if Leonardo DiCaprio does not win, but I still don't think he deserves it, sorry. Julianne Moore is presenting now: Bryan Cranston - Trumbo, Mark Damon - The Martian, Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant, Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs, Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl. Surprise, surprise. DiCarprio won. Well, at least that's over. Why does he always look like he's got chaw in his lip? I bet this damn movie is going to win the Best Picture. That would be a mistake in my opinion. I will say his speech is pretty frigging awesome.

Morgan Freeman will now present the Best Picture. I think they have him just because everyone loves his voice. He could read the phone book. Do you remember "Easy Reader" from The Electric Company? Brooklyn, Room, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, The Big Short, The Revenant, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road. The Oscar goes to: Spotlight. Hurrah! That is, just, wow. Yeah! I would have preferred Room won, but this is just as good.

What a night. Chris Rock was great, it moved along. I'd like to thank my movie going friends for helping me make this night possible. If you'd like to join me on a movie adventure, let me know. There's always room in the back row.

We'll resume the lists in a couple days.

Theeb and Youth complete my attempt to watch all of the nominated films

2/26/16 Youth, nominated for Best Original Song, 2015

Several thoughts crossed my mind as I watched Youth: if I hit myself in the head with a hammer, would it be as painful as this movie? if I ever had people I wanted to get out of my house, I would play this movie; how does ground glass taste? I would rather eat glue. So you can probably infer that I did not like this movie. And you could go to the head of the class. I thought I might be in for a couple of pretension filled hours because I loathed the other film by writer/director Paolo Sorrentino which one for Best Foreign Film a couple of years ago A Great Beauty (my review of the film) . The movie was made kind of how I cook, get whatever you have available, cook some of it, throw it together and hope you don't poison yourself, and if you're really lucky, you might get a few good bites. There were a few good moments, mainly because Michael Caine is so damn good, but it was mostly pretentious with a dash of Bergman, Fellini and Allen. I actually got so angry I wanted to turn it off, but I paid $4.99 on Amazon and damn it, I was going to get my money's worth or try to get my money back. It's old people looking back on their lives but only seeing their future and eventual demise; nobody seems too sad, just matter of fact. It's just awful. The movie was nominated for Best Original Song, Simple Song #3, and that was one of the few highlights, but it was as the END of the movie. I think the next time a film by this director is nominated in any category I'm just going to pass, or wait for it to be free from the library, because I am not paying for this shit again.

2/27/16 Theeb, nominated for Best Foreign Film, 2015

I'm glad I watched Theeb after Youth because I'd rather end on a good film than a bad one. The entry from Jordan is set in 1916, during the middle of the First World War (think Lawrence of Arabia) where the Turks and the Ottoman Empire are fighting the British and the Allies. The title character, Theeb, which translates to wolf, is the youngest son of the late sheikh of the area, and he is very close to his older brother and middle son, Hussein. When strangers, including an English officer, visit asking for an escort to the Roman Well along the pilgrim road, the new sheikh and eldest brother offers Hussein's assistance, even though the road is at risk for bandits. As Hussein sets off with the two men, Theeb chases after them. It's too risky to send him back alone, and the officer will not let Hussein take Theeb back, so they must carry on with him. I have to say the sight of the little boy hanging on for dear life at the back of the camel is pretty funny. The men arrive at their destination, only to find their comrades have been killed and they are surrounded and outnumbered by brigands. The English officer and his guide are shot, leaving Hussein and Theeb to try and escape. Hussein is a very good shot, but they are at a severe disadvantage and Hussein is killed. Theeb is left on his own, until one of the bandits comes back, having been shot by Hussein and abandoned by his compatriots. He and Theeb have to make an uneasy peace because they need one another. As they enter their strained relationship, riding across the desert, it reminded me of a Western, not exactly True Grit, but I was struck by the child/adult relationship, begrudging one another's mere existence. Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat is the young man who plays Theeb, and for someone who was not a trained actor (none of the Bedouin cast were actors) he was extraordinary, especially considering some of the scenes he had to play and that he was alone a good deal. You kind of had an idea that something bad was going to happen during the movie, especially when the English officer arrived, I knew it wasn't going to go well, but even saying that, you didn't know exactly what was going to happen. There are enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. The scenery is absolutely amazing, it is not just sand dunes; we get sand dunes, oases, high cliffs, rock formations. Stunning. This movie may not be on your radar, but if you're looking for something different (and good), I would recommend this. Unfortunately, this is the only foreign film nominee I was able to see, so I can't make any intelligent comparisons to the other films, but it is a wonderful movie, regardless.

And thus ends my quest to watch all of the 2016 nominations. I have watched 49 out of 57 nominees, which is 86% (if I did my math correctly), and it is the best I have done so far, and I would dare say I have seen more of the nominees than most Academy voters. There may be a few movies you won't have heard of, but should see, Theeb would be one, but also The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Racing Extinction and The Hunting Ground. I will continue my tradition of blogging live while watching the Oscars. I watch so you don't have to. I must go iron my outfit for tomorrow. See you on the Red Carpet.

2015 nominated films Straight Outta Compton and Steve Jobs

2/16/16 Freeheld, not nominated, 2015

Freeheld the 2015 movie was based on the 2007 Oscar-winning documentary short also called Freeheld. The movie stars Julianne Moore as Laurel Hester and Ellen Page as her partner Stacie Andree; Hester and Andree were a lesbian couple living in Ocean County, New Jersey in the early 2000s. Hester was a police officer for twenty-five years, but when she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, the Freeholders (the governing body of the county) denied her partner access to her pension, even though the state of New Jersey allowed for that. The movie begins with Hester on a stakeout and shows the early days of her relationship with Andree. It also shows her relationship with her police partner, Dane Wells (Michael Shannon); Hester has hidden her orientation from Wells, which he resents at first, but he becomes her (and Andree's) staunchest ally. Steve Carell is Steven Goldstein, founder and co-chair of Garden State Equality, the organization that leads the charge against the Freeholders. After an overwhelming battle, one that should make you angry, Stacie Andree is allowed to receive Laurel Hester's pension. I liked the movie, I didn't love it. I love Julianne Moore, but at first it was very distracting to see her with blonde, Farrah Fawcett hair. Ellen Page is as far from Juno as she could be, and she portrays Stacie Andree with a vulnerability and tenderness and a quiet determination to take care of her partner, despite being thwarted by the insurance and medical system. It's a wonderful love story, but the focus moves from Andree and Hester, to Goldstein and his organization's fight with the Freeholders, and to the Freeholders themselves, and also Hester's police colleagues. It didn't flow as well as it could have. Maybe if I hadn't seen the documentary, I would not have had my own thoughts as to how the story could be told. It's too bad it didn't find more of an audience at the box office, maybe it will in the DVD/streaming world. It's definitely a needed reminder that the GLBT community has fought for equal treatment, and continues to fight for it.

2/19/16 Straight Outta Compton, nominated Best Original Screenplay, 2015

I am no expert on hip hop music, not even a little bit (even though I do have Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's "Home" in my playlist), so Straight Outta Compton was all pretty 'new' stuff to me, or framed a different way, it took some events with which I was familiar and placed them in the context of hip hop music. N.W.A. comprised Eazy-E, Ice Cube (played by Ice Cube's son O'Shea Jackson, Jr.), and Dr. Dre. The movie starts before the band existed, when the individuals were getting into various degrees of trouble while trying to make their music. Things change when Eazy-E meets Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti), who becomes the band's manager, but also, ultimately the cause of their break up. In a lot of ways, the story of N.W.A. is like a lot of bands: friends who enjoy making music together, get their break, then break up because of a manager/girlfriend/money squabbles. They made socially charged music that spoke to thousands (millions?) of kids, again, not all that different from music of the sixties, except instead of metaphors and euphemisms, N.W.A used specifics, named names if you will. I liked Straight Outta Compton; I thought the first 30-40 minutes looked really dark, but since this happens to me a lot, I'm not sure if it was a cinematography choice or my 20 year old television, but it was hard for me to tell who was who - also an issue I experience when there are more than three main characters :(. I appreciated the story that the movie was trying to tell more given the current social/racial challenges we face in this country; sadly, it doesn't seem like things are all that different in 2016 from 1985. There were some good young actors in the movie, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Jackson as Ice Cube and Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre. I probably would not recommend this to my mom, but I would watch it with my brother. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay which is actually a pretty strong category this year with entries like Bridge of Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out and Spotlight.

2/20/16 Steve Jobs, nominated Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, 2015 

If I would have written this review yesterday after watching Steve Jobs, it would have been a few words and none of them very nice. But since I have an obligation to my dedicated readers, I'll try to expound a little more. I saw Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, a documentary on Steve Jobs and I wasn't all that impressed. Now I've watched this biopic and I'm even less so.  Steve Jobs shows us Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender in an Oscar nominated role) at a few major product unveilings, beginning 1984. Writer Aaron Sorkin uses the very intense moments leading up to the product drops to pour every ounce of tension and conflict that can possibly fit into those 'few minutes' and show us how driven Jobs was. Because we didn't know this before? The only person who can stand up to Jobs, poking him like a Polish Jiminy Cricket is Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet also in an Oscar nominated role), a marketing executive at Apple and neXT. She also tries to get him to acknowledge and engage with his daughter, Lisa. For most of the movie, Jobs denies that Lisa is his daughter, only reluctantly giving her mother money or spending time with her. I felt badly for Lisa, as well as the three men (Steve Wozniak, John Sculley and Andy Hertzfeld) who return to all of the product releases, either because they are hopeful for reconciliation with Jobs or they're masochists. I didn't care; Jobs is a narcissist, and we get that for almost the entire movie, and whether the last scene, which shows Jobs and Lisa connecting at last, is true, it comes too late for me to care. You cannot be an asshole for 110 minutes and then get redemption in the last 10. There were some great rants and ravings, which you would expect from Aaron Sorkin, but unlike the rantings that I loved in The West Wing, The Newsroom (if you haven't seen that, it is so good and made me love Jeff Daniels) or A Few Good Men, I really didn't care. The best rant was when Wozniak (Seth Rogen) goes off on Jobs near the end of the movie. Fassbender and Winslet were both good, but you expect nothing less, but I don't think either one will or should win the Oscar. Leo will probably win Best Actor and I am hoping that Alicia Vikander takes the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in The Danish Girl. She shows a greater range of emotions and there is more of a story arc and development for her character.

One week from tonight I will be blogging my running commentary of the Oscar night proceedings. We'll see what Chris Rock has to say about all the craziness leading up to the Oscars, what people are wearing and I hope you join me in a prayer that the ceremony lasts less than four hours.

The last of the 2015 Documentaries Winter on Fire, The Look of Silence and Racing Extinction

Regular readers may be tired of me saying this every time I review documentaries, but I really love that genre/class/type of movie, short or long form. It is very rare that I have watched a horrible documentary or a documentary that didn't teach, entertain or touch me in some way. All of the films below are nominated for an Oscar, although one is nominated for Best Song.

2/4/16 Racing Extinction, nominated for Best Song, 2015

All I could say after I watched Racing Extinction (and actually during) was "Wow". I was surprised that it was not nominated for Best Documentary or Best Cinematography, but it was nominated for Best Song "Manta Ray", but we'll get to that in a moment. Racing Extinction is about the human race's impending extinction, and as is pointed out, this extinction is man-made and could be prevented (there have been previous extinctions over the past hundreds of millions of years). Louie Psihoyos directed (he also directed the devastating Oscar-winner The Cove), and we learn about his passion for the ocean and the planet and all of its creatures. The first half or so of the movie shows us where sharks, whales and manta rays (among others) are being killed for food or folk medicine despite being endangered. Psihoyos and his team do much of the filming undercover because the people they are filming are engaging in illegal acts, or at best, questionable acts and methods. Some of the footage is quite disturbing, Psihoyos doesn't hold back or sugarcoat anything, and I only mention it because I think this is an important film for kids (maybe 12 and older) to see, it was a Discovery Channel film, and I assume it was shown on there for all to watch. The second half of the film is about how Psihoyos wants to present all of this information, which has been beautifully filmed, to an audience. He doesn't take a traditional or straightforward approach. He brings in an expert on visual displays and what they come up with is stunning, it involves portable/movable projectors, moving through the streets of New York City. You really have to see it to believe it. The movie ends on an optimistic note and the belief that the human race can prevent this race to the edge of the cliff. I would recommend the movie for families to watch together, I think you could have some good conversations, just be aware that there are some gruesome bits early in the movie. This was not nominated for Best Documentary, but Best Song. There was a really great song towards the end "One Candle" featuring Sia, but that wasn't nominated. "Manta Ray" was awful, and I don't understand the nomination at all. Thankfully it was at the end and I could end the movie. Please watch this movie.

2/4/16  The Look of Silence, nominated for Best Documentary, 2015

I was really leery of this movie when it was nominated because it is the companion piece to a nominee from 2012 that I absolutely despised, The Act of Killing, which featured individuals talking about their roles in the mass killings that occurred in Indonesia in the 1960s. It seemed grotesque and I could hardly watch it. The Look of Silence focuses on a middle aged man whose brother was one of those murdered during those killings. The man (who is not identified for his safety) goes around his village fitting people for glasses, and he begins asking questions about the time of the killings, did people really think those who were killed were Communists, etc. It's often uncomfortable, probably even more so because he is very soft-spoken and polite, but determined to learn about the past and his dead brother. His parents are elderly, his father is barely coherent and his mother takes care of him, and still grieves for her son who was murdered 45 years ago. What is frustrating, probably more so for the young man, is that even as some of these people bragged about what they did in footage from The Act of Killing, when they are confronted with their role in his brother's murder, they deny and equivocate, they are like most bullies when confronted, they are cowards. I was interested in this movie, but not until the last interview which was with the family of the man who actually killed the brother and WROTE a book and DREW pictures about it. The man bragged about this in the first documentary, with his wife by his side. Unfortunately, he died before The Look of Silence was filmed, but his wife and two sons were alive and they were confronted (initially without the video footage). They deny having any knowledge of the murders, and get very angry; the director intervenes and tries to explain that the young man is looking for answers and he has a basis for his questions, namely the video footage which is then shown. The elderly mother is very upset, and the sons get angry and threatening, when after a few moments the mother sits down and apologizes, and tries to make some kind of amends. That was very difficult to watch, and I can only imagine how brave the man must have been to confront them, knowing they still live in the same community with him and his parents. There is a history lesson here for Americans because during the 1960s at the height of the Cold War, the US was very anti-Communist and encouraged its allies to take the same stance, and some countries like Indonesia used this position and support to commit these mass killings. It was easier to connect to the main character in this movie than the generals/anti-Communists who re-enacted the murders and torture. 

2/14/16 Winter on Fire, nominated for Best Documentary, 2015

I found myself cringing, wincing, cursing and cheering during this movie about protests in Ukraine in late November 2013 through early 2014. Ukraine was on the verge of joining the European Union when President Yanukovych began turning towards Russia and Vladimir Putin. The protests united all walks of Ukrainian citizenry: students, military, doctors, Jews, Russian Orthodox, Muslim, young and old against the President and the Parliament. The protests start out as peaceful, but then the police/militia/hired thugs turn it extremely violent and deadly. There are a couple of ebbs and flows in the temperament of the protesters, moments of hope dashed by acts of violence. It's hard to capture the narrative here, but the movie and the members of the protest group relay their story very well, and it's accompanied by contemporaneous video footage. I was so impressed by the determination, resolution and strength of the protesters; they were frequently overwhelmed by the weapons on the other side and many took physical beatings that were so hard to watch, unbelieving that five men beat and kick one man lying on the ground. They don't give up and it was inspiring. I felt a similarity to The Square which told the story of the Egyptian revolution. The only thing I would have liked to have seen would have been some interviews with the police or army or someone opposed to the protest and joining the European Union, if only to hear the justification for the extreme violence or how they felt attacking their countrymen, many of the older/elderly protesters yelled at the police "why are doing this to your own people?". Were they reluctant? Was it a power trip? It would have completed the picture. I hope a lot of people see this to see the hope of democracy extends beyond our borders.

I don't think these documentaries will win, my money is on What Happened, Miss Simone? with Amy a close second (not my favorite, but music is always popular at the Oscars).  Cartel Land may pull it out because it has a North America point of view. They are all good and all are available on Amazon, NetFlix, DVDs from the library and I recommend all of them. You will feel uplifted, angry, sad and who knows what else, but you'll feel something, I promise.

The Oscars are a week and a half away - are you ready?

2015 films for Best Actress 45 Years and Brooklyn

I am down to the nitty gritty of the Oscar nominated films; 11 films that I probably will not see in time for the Oscars, although hope springs eternal. I saw the following two films with one of my movie buddies in the same day, our third 'double feature' of the movie season. 

2/13/16 45 Years, nominated for Best Supporting Actress, 2015

As I watched 45 Years all I could think about was that this would be a good television movie, maybe on Masterpiece Theater, but not necessarily a full length film that needed to be seen in the theater.  The titular 45 Years is the 45th wedding anniversary of Jeff and Kate Mercer. The movie opens as Kate returns from a walk along the Broads and brings in the post which contains a letter, in German, for Jeff. The letter reveals that Jeff's girlfriend from over 45 years ago, Katya, has been found buried in the ice in the Swiss Alps. The movie takes place over 6 days, and it is six days of Kate questioning Jeff about his past with Katya, questioning the whole of their relationship, and Tom avoiding as much discussion as he can. This leads up to their big anniversary party. Tom gives a great speech, they dance to the same song they danced to at their wedding, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by The Platters. While Kate and Jeff give the impression that they could have another twenty years together, the perceptive viewer knows that is not likely. The basis for the movie was a short story, and I think this would have been very good as a short film, as a feature it seemed to drag. I thought that Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling were good, but after watching most of the other nominees (and some non-nominees), I'm not sure she should have been nominated. It didn't strike me as strong of a performance as Brie Larson in Room, Cate Blanchett in Carol or Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn.


2/13/16 Brooklyn, nominated Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, 2015

I may or may not have seen Brooklyn if it wasn't nominated for three Oscars. I thought it was going to be a sicky sweet romantic movie, but it was not. Saoirse Ronan is Eilis Lacey, an Irish immigrant in 1950s Brooklyn. Eilis's sister, Rose, facilitated her emigration through her golf and church connections. Eilis has a rough sea voyage but arrives in Brooklyn to stay at Mrs. Kehoe's (a scene stealing Julie Walters) boarding house with other single, Irish women. The first part of the movie is Eilis getting acclimated and overcoming her extreme homesickness. Father Flood (Jim Broadbent) helps her by enrolling her in bookkeeping classes and hosting dances for the Irish immigrants. She meets Tony Fiorello and they begin a slow courtship culminating in a secret marriage. Things seem to be going well for Eilis and her American dream, too well, because there was still at least an hour left in the movie. Her older sister, Rose, dies suddenly and Eilis heads back to Ireland to comfort her mother, and what is supposed to be a short visit, unexpectedly turns into a longer stay. Perhaps because she was embarrassed that Tony was Italian, or that they married without her mother's permission, Eilis never mentions that she is married, which leads to some confusion with one of the more well-off locals, Jim Farrell (played by the seemingly omnipresent Domnhall Gleeson - also in The Revenant and Ex-Machina, three nominations, two for Best Picture). I enjoyed seeing Eilis transform from a mousy, quiet and insecure young woman to a confident, educated, almost worldly young lady who is now giving advice to young emigrants. There's no question that Ronan is the star of the show, supported by veterans like Broadbent and Walter but also very ably by Emory Cohen as Tony. I don't know if I enjoyed Brooklyn so much because I was comparing it to 45 Years, which I had just seen, or if I would have liked it anyway. Maybe it doesn't really matter. If someone asks, should I see Brooklyn, I would say absolutely. Maybe watch it and Carol for look into 1950s New York from either side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Will it win Best Picture? I don't think so, and I think the Best Actress category is pretty tough with Blanchett and Larson. But I think if Ronan gets the right projects, she will be nominated again.

A shout out to my friend who had to tell the idiots in our row to be quiet - and they were! Seriously, you are not at home and this not your personal theater, so keep your comments until the end.

Oscar nominees - Bridge of Spies, The Martian and Sicario

2/2/16 Bridge of Spies, nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound Mixing, 2015

I have found myself thinking of my dad a lot with this last round of movies and how much he would have liked some of them, and of course he would have read the books (possibly more than once) and he would have recommended them and probably another half dozen that I should read or watch. He was right more often than not. I think he would have really liked Bridge of Spies with its basis in history during the Cold War period; he would probably tell me he remembers when Gary Francis Powers was captured by the Soviets. Bridge of Spies is about the capture of a Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel (played by Best Supporting Actor nominee Mark Rylance) and the events leading up to his exchange for pilot Gary Francis Powers and student Frederic Pryor. The completion of this covert transaction was managed by attorney James Donovan (Tom Hanks), as he frequently clashed with the U.S. government and representatives of the USSR and GDR (East Germany). I appreciated the pace of the movie; it seems to me that movies set in this era have a slow build up as the writers try to explain the events of the time and set the the scene. Joel and Ethan Coen co-wrote the nominated screenplay with Matt Charman (who?) and I love that you wouldn't even know it was them if you didn't read the credits. The movie begins with the capture of Abel in New York and follows the process of his trial (represented by Donovan) and then the capture of Powers and Pryor (there's much more to it, but I don't think you need the whole plot detailed). Donovan and his family experience backlash due to the vigorous defense that Donovan tries to provide Abel. Rylance is up for Best Supporting Actor, but he is competing with Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Christian Bale (The Big Short), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight) and finally Sylvester Stallone (Creed). My money is on Hardy or Stallone. I'm not sure Bridge of Spies will get the Best Picture Oscar either, too much competition, and the movie doesn't have a lot of bangs, explosions or controversies to propel it to the top. In many ways it's a very understated movie. If you haven't seen it, this is a great movie for a Friday night, turn up the volume so you can hear the words and enjoy it. That's what my dad would say.

2/5/16 Sicario, nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, 2015

I heard great things about Sicario, but I didn't care for it. Perhaps because I just watched Cartel Land that watching a fictional story about corruption along the Mexican border didn't seem all that interesting. Benicio del Toro was very good as the ethically flexible Alejandro Gillick and probably should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. I don't think it will win for cinematography, which was done by Roger Deakins (cinematographer for the Coen Brothers) only because he is up against The Revenant/Emmanuel Lubezki, among others. Sorry for the short review, but I'm running on fumes and the movie didn't irritate me like The Revenant, so I can't even use that as a motivator.

2/6/16 The Martian, nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 2015

The Martian proves that The List giveth and The List taketh away. In thith, I mean this case, the list definitely gave. I did not want to see this movie, not interested, not my thing, ugh. Sometimes when that happens I like to subject my friends to it because suffering together can be fun. As it turned out we all enjoyed the movie, quite a bit actually. We laughed and we were on the edge of our collective seats, and at the end we analyzed why we liked it so much. The fact that the dog, my pal Riley, fell asleep for most of the movie has no bearing on this review whatsoever. A team of NASA astronauts/scientists are on a Mars mission when a major storm hits the planet and they decide to cut the mission short. As they are making their way back to the rocket to get them off the planet, one of the group, Mark Watney (Matt Damon), is separated and left for dead. The team, lead by Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), reluctantly leave the red planet and begin their long trip home. But, if Watney was dead, that would make for a very short movie, and certainly not the 'comedy' that the Golden Globes thought it was. Watney is indeed alive and the movie follows him as he learns to adapt to his surroundings, makes video logs, and eventually establishes contact with NASA back on planet Earth. Watney's insights and commentary is really funny, and considering that Damon is acting by himself, I think that's pretty impressive; a lot of comedy requires a straight man, but Damon is up to the challenge. One of the running jokes is the music he has available to him, which was from Commander Lewis and is a wonderful collection of hits from the 1980s - not Watney's preference. As Watney is counting down the days and growing potatoes, NASA, led by Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels) and Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is trying to figure out how to get Watney back before his food supply runs out. There are twists and turns along the way and the viewer is kept in suspense as to how everything will be resolved. I did have some flashbacks to Gravity, but I liked that movie, as opposed to Interstellar which was horrible. I haven't read the book I'm not a scientist or astronaut, I'm not even very good at math, so how realistic or possible any of this is, I can't say, and I almost don't care. Unlike The Revenant (seen with the same friends) where they have a lot of knowledge about camping and such, so the issues with believability didn't come up with The Martian. We were all pretty surprised at how much we enjoyed it. The effects were extremely well done, from the storms on Mars to the spacecrafts in space, it was visually awesome. I don't think it will win for Best Picture, although that seems to be up for grabs after the other awards shows; and I don't think Damon has a real chance at Best Actor, that will probably go to Leonardo DiCaprio or Eddie Redmayne, but I will admit what I thought was a throwaway nomination I now believe was totally deserving. This probably would have been much better on a huge movie screen, but if you have a television from this century it will still be very good. Four thumbs up!

I was supposed to see Joy tonight, but I could not get myself to the theater. Hopefully I'll fit it in before it leaves the theaters. Fifteen movies to go, including Joy; I think the foreign films are off the table for this year, no way it's going to happen.Wish me luck on my quest (cue John Williams music).

In a galaxy far, far away there is someone who has not seen Star Wars, but it's not me

12/26/15 Star Wars, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, 1978 #13 AFI, National Film Registry, #36 BBC

1/9/16 Empire Strikes Back, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, 1980 National Film Registry, BBC

1/11/16 Return of the Jedi, Special Achievement in Visual Effects, 1983

What can I say that thousands of nerds and geeks haven't said already? I have been thinking about how I would write this entry since I finished re-watching the original trilogy, which is one of the lame reasons it has taken so long to write. That, and the fact, I wanted to see the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens which I just did this past weekend. All of my contemplation brought me to a few conclusions: The Star Wars story is practically mythological, even if you can't recite all of the characters and their family trees, you know about Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, et al, just like you know about Zeus, Hercules, Apollo, and their stories. It's crazy. Another observation: the films get better with age; I know I saw the movies during their original release dates, but my memories are dim at best, which is why I wanted to watch them with fresh eyes. I enjoyed them so much more this time around; I found a new appreciation for the humor between C3P0 and R2D2, Chewbacca and Han Solo. And the effects - all three movies were recognized in some fashion for their visual and special effects. They may be 30 - 40 years old, but I thought they held up better than special effects you might see in a movie from the 1950s. I wasn't distracted by them, but enjoyed them, and realize now how truly groundbreaking they were at the time. The movies have a good versus evil theme, brothers in arms, a young man's quest for his place in the universe, etc., but without putting too much thought into it - they are just great movies. I found it odd that I enjoyed the movies more, years later, rather than at the time, but there you go. Proof I was just a contrary child.


2/6/16 Star Wars: The Force Awakens, nominated for Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, 2015

I'm a little late to the party since Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released in mid-December and here we are in almost mid-February and I have just seen it for the first time. I really was waiting for the crowds to go away, and see the other movies on my list. The Force Awakens introduces us to some new characters like Kylo Ren, Finn, Rey, BB-8, but also brings back familiar faces like Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker. The story seemed to be a modified telling of the original trilogy and didn't really give us any surprises (except one, but I'm not telling), and I say that having not read any spoilers or plot lines. There was still the familiar banter/growling between Chewbacca and Han Solo, it's like they've been traveling the galaxy for decades. Newcomer John Boyega as Finn had some very serious scenes, but that was balanced with humorous lines. Daisy Ridley joins as Rey, a scrapper, who is also a pilot and mechanic, who seems to have a bit of the Force in her. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is reminiscent of Darth Vader (with good reason as it turns out). You have already probably seen the movie, so I'm not going into any more plot points. I saw this with a friend of mine, who doesn't normally strike me as a sci-fi person, but she went with me and liked it. As did I. It carries on the tradition of good fun, with great effects, characters that you want to see again and again and a rousing score by the legendary John Williams. Nothing deep or complicated, or if there was, I chose to not find it. It entertained. It is nominated for a few Oscars, but I would be surprised if it won because the competition is so much more fierce than thirty years ago, like from Mad Max, Ex Machina and The Martian. I'm looking forward to the next installment as is everyone else on the planet.


I want to dedicate this particular review to a friend who recently passed on to the next galaxy. She loved Star Wars and especially Darth Vader; we went to the Star Wars exhibit years ago at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; she even got her hands on a lifesized cutout of Darth Vader for her cube at work. As fate would have it, she saw the most recent movie before she got sick. Somehow that makes me feel better. I'll miss you Brenda Kay of the Milky Way. May the Force be with you my friend.

The Revenant - we may agree to disagree

Twenty-one movies to go; it was supposed to be 20 but I fell asleep during one of the documentaries last night and I have to re-watch it. So far, things look good, but I'll probably miss the foreign films and a couple of big films that I missed in the theater and aren't on DVD until March. But, despite being behind the eight ball, I still fit in a non-nominated movie last week.

1/28/16 Pawn Sacrifice, not nominated, 2015

Pawn Sacrifice is a bio-pic of Bobby Fischer, the chess genius who suffered from severe paranoia. Toby Maguire is Fisher and Liev Schreiber plays his nemesis, Boris Spassky. We meet Bobby as a young chess prodigy with a laser focus on becoming the best chess player in the world, and doesn't let anyone stand in his way, except perhaps himself and his occasionally outrageous demands. When I saw the trailer for the movie, I was very interested in seeing it, but it really didn't live up to what I thought it would be. I'm not sure exactly what that was, but it lacked something. I have mentioned before, but I will say it again, if you are going to use subtitles (99% of Schreiber's dialog, and the other Russian characters, was in Russian) then they should be in a font that can be read on the movie screen as well as on television. Having said that, I missed out on any important tidbits that Spassky and others might have said. I got bored, which is too bad, because I think it's an interesting topic from an interesting period of time for international politics.

1/31/16 The Revenant, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Bests Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, 2015

I'm going to say this now: a lot of people are not going to like this review and disagree vehemently with me, but I did not LOVE The Revenant, nor do I think it's the best movie from this year. Sorry, but I don't. I will say that the cinematography is spectacular; I would love to have some stills from the film, and I will also say that Leonardo DiCaprio is very good as Hugh Glass and Tom Hardy is good as Mumbles, I mean John Fitzgerald. There is very little dialog in the film, comparatively less than the other movies, and that turns out to be a bonus because most of the spoken word is mumbled and unintelligibly. This tells me that the words aren't important, and I could probably have figured out what was happening without any words at all. A very high level synopsis (because it is almost three hours long): Glass and his son, Hawk, are part of a fur trapping party in the Western territories of the US. They are attacked by the Arikara and must flee. Glass is attacked by a bear (I didn't expect them to use a real bear, but there was something that screamed 'animatronic' to me) and almost killed. Fitzgerald wants to leave him, in part because he dislikes Glass's half-Indian son, and he doesn't want to be burdened by the near-dead Glass. As Fitzgerald tries to secretly kill Glass, Hawk sees and tries to stop him, but Fitzgerald kills him. He and Jim Bridger leave Glass half-buried and try to catch up with the rest of the trapping party. Glass comes back from the dead and begins tracking Fitzgerald and Bridger. This is where it gets long. As he hunts Fitzgerald, the Arikara are hunting them. I should mention that it is winter time in the Dakota/Wyoming territory and they are at some altitude. I kind of started to get irritated when Glass tries to hide in the river (it's winter, remember) and gets swept away, down some rapids, and seems to go for at least a few miles. He crawls out of the river and eventually builds a fire. I later asked my two friends, who are outdoor people and camped last year in Ely, Minnesota IN THE WINTER TIME, about hypothermia and frostbite, and they were pretty sure that would be some severe damage. But Glass persists, eating a raw bison heart or some organ, as one does when the drive through isn't available. Later, Glass takes a horse from some French trappers and skedaddles when he is chased yet again. This time, he and the horse go flying off of a cliff and smack into a very tall pine tree; well, Glass does, the poor horse immediately proves gravity exists. It was at that exact moment I looked at my young friend and said "I call bullshit." (that previously would have cost me a couple dollars for his college education, but hanging around with me is priceless) Not only is Glass NOT killed, he actually gets up and is moving around a lot better than when he could barely get on the horse a few minutes earlier. I was using the reclining feature in my seat but I became deathly afraid I would fall asleep, thus sacrificing all of my cool points with said young friend. I really stopped caring. The attraction of the beautiful scenery and any good acting just fell by the wayside. I really don't think this is the best movie of the year; Room is my favorite, but if not that, then Spotlight or The Big Short. DiCaprio is very good and he'll probably take it; Eddie Redmayne is outstanding in The Danish Girl, but I think it's long odds that he would win two years in a row, and I don't think the others are really in contention. So, it's off the list and now moves to the "I don't need to see this again" pile. Onward ho.

Lesson learned: Don't go camping with Leonardo DiCaprio, it doesn't end well.