10/14/18 Intolerance, 1916 #49 AFI, National Film Registry
I have borrowed this movie from the library twice before and returned it unwatched, then I got it from Netflix and it sat unopened for over a month before I forced myself to watch it...or at least have it playing where my eyes could randomly wander. I understand from a historical perspective why Intolerance is on the National Film Registry and maybe even on the American Film Institute's list of top 100 films, but I seriously considered poking myself in the eye. Written, directed and produced by D.W. Griffith, who also wrote, directed and produced The Birth of a Nation in 1915, it is three hours of epic storytelling and filmmaking. Except I didn't find it to be captivating storytelling at all. There are four separate stories that are from four different time periods in human history, and they are interwoven so the story lines run parallel. I have watched, and enjoyed, silent movies before, but, I didn't care. Perhaps if Griffith would have focused on one story, then maybe I would have paid attention. Supposedly Intolerance was made in response to the negative feedback that Griffith received after The Birth of a Nation which featured black Americans as negative stereotypes and white actors in blackface. I will leave further dissemination to true film critics. I will just say that most of my readers will not willingly subject themselves to this movie. And, it also completed the AFI 100 list.
10/20/18 Three Identical Strangers, not yet nominated, 2018
I think one of the most disgraceful and disgusting things in human history is when people we are supposed to trust to act in the best interest of all of us, betray that trust and act sanctimonious in the process. There are examples of this throughout different fields of medicine; Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cell line, for one, and the triplet brothers featured in Three Identical Strangers. The brothers, Eddie, David and Robert, were put up for adoption and were separated very early in life, and placed with three different families of three different socio-economic statuses to study them. The adopting families knew nothing about this experiment. The film interviews the brothers, their families and friends and uses archival news footage from when the brothers discovered each other. There are feelings of anger and resentment towards the adoption agency for lying and deceiving the families and separating the brothers, essentially robbing them of a lifetime together. The film producers were able to track down a couple of people involved in the study, led by Peter Neubauer, but Neubauer is dead, and the study was never published. Also discovered were other twins included in the study. One 'assistant' who is interviewed (I cannot remember her name, nor find it in the credits) was rather flippant about it, not bothered at all about the harm that was inflicted or about basically lying to the families, but conveniently, she didn't remember other things when asked. Her smugness made me want to slap her. The papers, notes, and data from the study were left to Yale University with restrictions on the collection until 2065, not even the subjects of the study could get those records, until the pressure from the release of the film made the owners of the records relent, a little. I was totally captivated by the story of the brothers and their families, and outraged that the adoption agency and researchers made decisions that impacted so many people, with very little regard for them. The movie blends the stories of the brothers within the context of the research and left me wanting to know more, in a good way, that is, I felt invested in the brothers and the others impacted.
10/20/18 The Big Lebowski, 1998, National Film Registry
As much as I enjoy movies by the Coen Brothers, I have never, ever seen The Big Lebowski. I have no reason. I kind of bumped it to the top of my watch list because apparently there is a Big Lebowski bar in Iceland, and I'll be headed there shortly. Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), who insists on being called "Dude", is a slacker and enjoys bowling and hanging out with his friends, who include Walter (John Goodman), a Vietnam Vet with frequent bursts of oversized outrage and Donny (Steve Buscemi) who always seems to be a step behind. Believe it or not (and with a Coen Brothers movie you usually have to do that a lot) there is another Jeffrey Lebowski in Los Angeles; this one is a little bit wealthier and has a wife with a spending habit, and a daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore), who is an enthusiastic feminist. In a case of mistaken identity, that kind of propels the whole movie, a couple of goons bust into the Dude's house and threaten him over his wife's debt, and then pee on his rug. The Dude is more upset over the defilement of the rug than the assault. The Dude goes on a quest to find the other Lebowski and replace the rug. Of course, it's not that simple, and one thing leads to another, including a kidnapping and ransom gone wrong, a couple of bowling games gone awry (John Turturro is hilarious as Jesus Quintana, a bowling nemesis with a questionable past), an encounter with a stranger (Sam Elliott), and a bizarre dream/dance sequence. All in a day's work for the Coen Brothers. Some movies (like the above-mentioned Intolerance) are on the list, and I dread them, and realize that I was right; other movies, like The Big Lebowski, I kind of wish I hadn't waited so long to watch it, one, because I did like it (not loved it, though) and it really has become embedded into the culture, thus, its inclusion onto the National Film Registry.
10/27/18 To Sleep With Anger, 1990, National Film Registry
To Sleep with Anger has a great cast: Danny Glover (Harry), Richard Brooks (Baby Brother; you'll recognize Brooks from his stint on "Law and Order"), Carl Lumbly (Junior), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Linda), Mary Alice (Suzie; you may not recognize the name, but you'll recognize her voice and face) and Paul Butler (Gideon). The story is as old as Cain and Abel or Jacob and Esau, two brothers competing for their father's approval and pride; there is nothing sinister or evil in this sibling rivalry, however, just resentments carried for years. Gideon and his family live in South Central Los Angeles, but still carry on with some of their rural ways brought with them from the South. Out of nowhere an old friend, Harry, appears on their doorstep. It's been decades since they have seen each other, but Gideon welcomes Harry into the house, and things start to go a little askew within the family. I am not sure that the content is what got the Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) written and directed film on the National Film Registry; perhaps it's because it was written and directed by an African-American and the cast is all African-American, admittedly, a rare occurrence these days, but especially in the 1990s. I thought the movie was okay, better than Killer of Sheep, which I didn't like at all, some good performances and potential in the story, but it wasn't great.
Showing posts with label American Film Institute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Film Institute. Show all posts
Meet Queen Elizabeth I and II, Spinal Tap and James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life
11/23/17 Elizabeth, Best Makeup, 1998
12/16/17 Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Best Costume Design, 2007
Cate Blanchett stars in these two films about one of the greatest monarchs in history, Elizabeth I. Shekhar Kapur directed both films, and the some of the cast carries over from one film to the next (unless of course they were beheaded or otherwise knocked off). They are lush, beautiful films, with gorgeous and extravagant sets and costumes. The cast is deep with stars, including Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham, spymaster to the queen; Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley, one of Elizabeth's suitors; John Gielgud as Pope Pius V; Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh; Eddie Redmayne as Anthony Babington, and so many more. Blanchett was nominated for both films as Best Actress, but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love in 1998 and Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose in 2007. It's hard to believe that in 1998, this was only Blanchett's fifth film. She commands the screen and makes Elizabeth come alive. The films represent the events in Elizabeth's life: her many suitors, the plots against her life, the attempt to balance Protestantism and Catholicism, war against Spain. But it is not a documentary, and some events are told out of sequence, people's lives have been shortened or lengthened for dramatic purposes. If you watch the films, watch them because there is great acting and production value, not for the last word in Elizabethan history.
11/23/17 The Queen, Best Actress, 2006
It was kind of weird watching this movie about the royal family's reaction to Princess Diana's death 20 years after it happened. We know a lot more about the events, and have more information from Princes William and Harry. Helen Mirren stars as Queen Elizabeth, she won an Oscar for that role, and she is as restrained as Cate Blanchett was outspoken as her predecessor. Michael Sheen stars opposite Mirren as new Prime Minister Tony Blair, a man who seems to be in opposition to the monarchy, which his wife, Cherie (Helen McCrory) definitely is, as is his staff. The royal family struggles with how to deal with Diana's death, internally - when to tell the boys, how to bring her body back to England, but also externally, because Diana was "the people's princess" and the nation fell into deep mourning, and expected that same reaction from her former in-laws. Blair has a common touch (not meant in a bad way) that resonates with the British people, but it is unfamiliar territory for Queen Elizabeth and her family. The movie shows the transition that the Queen makes, and also how Blair gained an insight into the centuries of tradition and isolation that make grand gestures so difficult. The change in behavior and the ultimate response by Queen Elizabeth changed the perception of the royal family and their interactions with the people. Mirren is terrific; I don't know if Prince Philip really is so difficult, but James Cromwell plays him as a most unlikeable person. Prince Charles is played by Alex Jennings; Diana is represented only by news footage. Sheen holds his own when sharing the screen with Mirren. The Queen is a good film that presents a moment in time that many of us lived through via 24 hour news cycles.
11/25/17 It's a Wonderful Life, 1946 #46 BBC, #20 AFI, National Film Registry
When I mentioned to people that I was going to be watching It's a Wonderful Life, I got strange looks. Haven't I watched it before? Yes, but years ago, and I didn't find it life changing or anything. It was never part of my family's winter traditions. So, as has happened several times with 'the lists', I have re-watched a movie so I could review it properly. And to be perfectly honest, I have tried for about a year to watch it, but I couldn't get a disk that would play. I finally did, and watched it from beginning to end, and...I really enjoyed it. And I think I 'got it'. It's a Wonderful Life is on the BBC, the American Film Institute and National Film Registry lists, but it did not win any Oscars. It was nominated for five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Engineering) but lost out to The Best Years of Our Lives, which is also a fantastic film. If you're not familiar with the story (first of all, please contact me, because I hated being the only one), George Bailey lives with his family in Bedford Falls, New York, where he has lived his whole life, his father and uncle ran a savings and loan. On Christmas Eve, events conspire to make George wish he had never been born. Enter Clarence, a guardian angel still looking to earn his wings. Clarence shows George what life would have been like in Bedford Falls if he hadn't been born. James Stewart stars as George, and he brings all of his tools: his enthusiasm and energy (think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), physicality, humor, pathos. Donna Reed is Mary Bailey, George's supportive wife, who sacrifices her honeymoon funds to bail out the savings and loan. Lionel Barrymore is the thoroughly unlikeable Mr. Potter. The movie was directed by Frank Capra, who worked with Stewart on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The film may be one of the most American of films; it highlights what is great about America: people helping each other out, working hard and seeing the results. Of course, greedy Mr. Potter seems eerily close to many of our leading politicians and corporate leaders. After watching the movie, I totally understand why it is on all three of my movie lists. If you're wondering, Clarence finally gets his wings.
12/8/17 This is Spinal Tap, 1984, National Film Registry
This is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary that was directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, and is about the British band, Spinal Tap, who started in the 1960s and are touring the U.S. to promote their new album. The film looks back at the beginning of the band, their evolution through different styles of music, as well as their many different drummers. Nigel Tufnel (Guest), David St. Hubbins (McKean) and Derek Smalls (Shearer) are the mainstays of Spinal Tap and Marty Di Bergi (Reiner) is the filmmaker trying to capture everything with a straight face. Nothing seems to go right, from poor ticket sales, to an album cover that's not exactly what anyone had in mind, to a Stonehenge set that is a little smaller than expected. The movie is a precursor to the Guest-helmed films like Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, with improvised dialog, comedic scenes handled with absolute seriousness and a lack of irony, and characters that seem just a little off. There are a lot of cameos that are fun to pick out: Billy Crystal and Dana Carvey as catering mimes; Paul Schaefer as a music promoter; Bruno Kirby as a limo driver; and several others (Fran Drescher, Ed Begley, Jr., Patrick Macnee). If you like music and concerts (me, me), then some of the scenarios may be reminiscent of various interviews or biographies/autobiographies you may have read or heard. It's definitely a part of American pop culture.
12/16/17 Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Best Costume Design, 2007
Cate Blanchett stars in these two films about one of the greatest monarchs in history, Elizabeth I. Shekhar Kapur directed both films, and the some of the cast carries over from one film to the next (unless of course they were beheaded or otherwise knocked off). They are lush, beautiful films, with gorgeous and extravagant sets and costumes. The cast is deep with stars, including Geoffrey Rush as Francis Walsingham, spymaster to the queen; Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley, one of Elizabeth's suitors; John Gielgud as Pope Pius V; Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh; Eddie Redmayne as Anthony Babington, and so many more. Blanchett was nominated for both films as Best Actress, but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love in 1998 and Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose in 2007. It's hard to believe that in 1998, this was only Blanchett's fifth film. She commands the screen and makes Elizabeth come alive. The films represent the events in Elizabeth's life: her many suitors, the plots against her life, the attempt to balance Protestantism and Catholicism, war against Spain. But it is not a documentary, and some events are told out of sequence, people's lives have been shortened or lengthened for dramatic purposes. If you watch the films, watch them because there is great acting and production value, not for the last word in Elizabethan history.
11/23/17 The Queen, Best Actress, 2006
It was kind of weird watching this movie about the royal family's reaction to Princess Diana's death 20 years after it happened. We know a lot more about the events, and have more information from Princes William and Harry. Helen Mirren stars as Queen Elizabeth, she won an Oscar for that role, and she is as restrained as Cate Blanchett was outspoken as her predecessor. Michael Sheen stars opposite Mirren as new Prime Minister Tony Blair, a man who seems to be in opposition to the monarchy, which his wife, Cherie (Helen McCrory) definitely is, as is his staff. The royal family struggles with how to deal with Diana's death, internally - when to tell the boys, how to bring her body back to England, but also externally, because Diana was "the people's princess" and the nation fell into deep mourning, and expected that same reaction from her former in-laws. Blair has a common touch (not meant in a bad way) that resonates with the British people, but it is unfamiliar territory for Queen Elizabeth and her family. The movie shows the transition that the Queen makes, and also how Blair gained an insight into the centuries of tradition and isolation that make grand gestures so difficult. The change in behavior and the ultimate response by Queen Elizabeth changed the perception of the royal family and their interactions with the people. Mirren is terrific; I don't know if Prince Philip really is so difficult, but James Cromwell plays him as a most unlikeable person. Prince Charles is played by Alex Jennings; Diana is represented only by news footage. Sheen holds his own when sharing the screen with Mirren. The Queen is a good film that presents a moment in time that many of us lived through via 24 hour news cycles.
11/25/17 It's a Wonderful Life, 1946 #46 BBC, #20 AFI, National Film Registry
When I mentioned to people that I was going to be watching It's a Wonderful Life, I got strange looks. Haven't I watched it before? Yes, but years ago, and I didn't find it life changing or anything. It was never part of my family's winter traditions. So, as has happened several times with 'the lists', I have re-watched a movie so I could review it properly. And to be perfectly honest, I have tried for about a year to watch it, but I couldn't get a disk that would play. I finally did, and watched it from beginning to end, and...I really enjoyed it. And I think I 'got it'. It's a Wonderful Life is on the BBC, the American Film Institute and National Film Registry lists, but it did not win any Oscars. It was nominated for five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Engineering) but lost out to The Best Years of Our Lives, which is also a fantastic film. If you're not familiar with the story (first of all, please contact me, because I hated being the only one), George Bailey lives with his family in Bedford Falls, New York, where he has lived his whole life, his father and uncle ran a savings and loan. On Christmas Eve, events conspire to make George wish he had never been born. Enter Clarence, a guardian angel still looking to earn his wings. Clarence shows George what life would have been like in Bedford Falls if he hadn't been born. James Stewart stars as George, and he brings all of his tools: his enthusiasm and energy (think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), physicality, humor, pathos. Donna Reed is Mary Bailey, George's supportive wife, who sacrifices her honeymoon funds to bail out the savings and loan. Lionel Barrymore is the thoroughly unlikeable Mr. Potter. The movie was directed by Frank Capra, who worked with Stewart on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The film may be one of the most American of films; it highlights what is great about America: people helping each other out, working hard and seeing the results. Of course, greedy Mr. Potter seems eerily close to many of our leading politicians and corporate leaders. After watching the movie, I totally understand why it is on all three of my movie lists. If you're wondering, Clarence finally gets his wings.
12/8/17 This is Spinal Tap, 1984, National Film Registry
This is Spinal Tap is a mockumentary that was directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, and is about the British band, Spinal Tap, who started in the 1960s and are touring the U.S. to promote their new album. The film looks back at the beginning of the band, their evolution through different styles of music, as well as their many different drummers. Nigel Tufnel (Guest), David St. Hubbins (McKean) and Derek Smalls (Shearer) are the mainstays of Spinal Tap and Marty Di Bergi (Reiner) is the filmmaker trying to capture everything with a straight face. Nothing seems to go right, from poor ticket sales, to an album cover that's not exactly what anyone had in mind, to a Stonehenge set that is a little smaller than expected. The movie is a precursor to the Guest-helmed films like Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, with improvised dialog, comedic scenes handled with absolute seriousness and a lack of irony, and characters that seem just a little off. There are a lot of cameos that are fun to pick out: Billy Crystal and Dana Carvey as catering mimes; Paul Schaefer as a music promoter; Bruno Kirby as a limo driver; and several others (Fran Drescher, Ed Begley, Jr., Patrick Macnee). If you like music and concerts (me, me), then some of the scenarios may be reminiscent of various interviews or biographies/autobiographies you may have read or heard. It's definitely a part of American pop culture.
One word movie titles for three hundred, please - Hugo, Deliverance, Champion, Spartacus
8/26/17 Hugo, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 2011
I haven't figured out why Martin Scorsese's Hugo has not found a bigger audience; I think it has stunning visuals (this is one of the few movies I have seen where 3D makes a difference, in a good way); I think kids/young teens can relate to the story; fans of early animation can appreciate the story of Georges Melies. But, perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. In 1930s Paris, Hugo (Asa Butterfield - Boy in the Striped Pajamas) is orphaned after his clockmaker/inventor father (Jude Law) is killed in a fire, but he is left an automaton his father was repairing. He is left in the care of his drunk and mean uncle Claude (Ray Winston), who teaches him to keep the clocks running at Gare Montparnesse. Hugo has a habit of shoplifting from a toy store owner (Ben Kingsley); using the pieces to finish restoring the automaton, until he gets caught by the store owner, who threatens to burn Hugo's notebook. Hugo meets Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) and they go on adventures, and Hugo learns that Isabelle is the toy store owner's goddaughter. Uncle Claude turns up dead after an ill-timed dip in the Seine, and Hugo is on his own again, so he lives in the clock (seriously, who would not think this is the coolest thing?), evading capture from a very hilarious Station Inspector Gustave (Sacha Baron Cohen who is surprisingly not offensive). It turns out that the toy store owner, also known as Papa Georges, was a groundbreaking filmmaker in the early 20th century, making the landmark film "A Trip to the Moon". The movie won the visual Oscars for very good reason, it's gorgeously done, the special effects from the automaton to the recreated scenes from Meliers' films and theater pieces are beautiful. Scorsese is a film historian and has provided funds for film restoration and while this may seem off the beaten track for him, I think it's a work of love. There are not a lot of films that families can watch together, so if you're looking for something whimsical and magical, get Hugo from the library or Netflix.
8/26/17 Deliverance, 1972 #84 BBC, National Film Registry
I don't think some of these 'classic' films translate so well thirty or forty years later. At least that's my opinion Deliverance based on watching it three times and not liking it any time, although I was less creeped out the last time than the first two times. The film is set in the north Georgia wilderness, and stars Burt Reynolds as Lewis, Jon Voight as Ed, Ronnie Cox as Drew and Ned Beatty as Bobby; Lewis and Ed are the outdoorsmen of the group, and this is Drew and Bobby's first outing. These are city boys and the locals are targets for their mockery and mistrust (although the mistrust goes both ways). Even if you have never seen Deliverance you are probably familiar with the music called "Dueling Banjos" (usually played when people are referring to hillbillies or something backwards); it's early on, and pretty much the only part I liked. Anyway, the city boys head down the river in their canoes, and Ed and Bobby have the misfortune to meet two very creepy country boys who have more than just fishing on their minds; one of them humiliates Bobby by making him squeal like a pig and then raping him. Before the same can be done to Ed, Lewis kills the attacker with a shot from his bow. The men dispose of the body, but are now in fear of the second man, whom they believe is stalking them from above in the cliffs. Things get really dangerous as they hit a series dangerous rapids, and it doesn't end there, as there are more deaths, severe injuries and an encounter with the local sheriff who doesn't believe anything they say. I don't mind outdoor films, and director John Boorman filmed a lot of beautiful shots in the Tallulah Gorge, and I like a good mystery or thriller, but this did nothing for me, and I can honestly say I tried.
8/26/17 Champion, Best Editing, 1949
I've been in a Kirk Douglas frame of mind, I guess, having recently finished Douglas's autobiography, The Ragman's Son, watching an old interview with Dick Cavett and grabbing two of his films in this blog session, Champion and Spartacus. Douglas was nominated for Best Actor for his role as "Midge" Kelly, a good boxer but a pretty crappy person. Midge didn't plan on being a boxer; he and his crippled brother, Connie (Arthur Kennedy), are heading west to claim their ownership of a restaurant in California, only to find that they've been swindled. The real owner, Lew, of the diner lets them stay on to work and both Midge and Connie fall for the owner's daughter, Emma. Lew is less than pleased with Midge and Emma's relationship and forces them into a shotgun marriage. Now that the fun is over, Midge takes off, leaving Emma behind. This is pretty typical of how Midge operates; he's a me first kind of guy. On the way out west, Midge enters a fight as a way to make some quick money, and when he flees his marriage, he finds Tommy Haley who offered to train and manage him if he wanted to get into the fight game for real. Midge has a single-minded focus on his new career, defeating all comers as he moves around the country. Midge gets the opportunity to fight Johnny Dunne, who is in line for the championship. Instead of tanking the fight like he promised, Midge knows out Johnny early on, earning the wrath of the mob, but the affections of Johnny's girlfriend, Grace. Yeah, there's not a lot to like about most of the characters in this movie. Grace persuades Midge to drop Tommy and get a new manager. Bad move on Grace's part as she unwittingly sets Midge up with his next fling. Being champion holds short term rewards for Midge, for which he seems to have no gratitude or appreciation. Things don't end for him quite as he anticipated. Douglas is pretty despicable in this role, and it kind of reminded me of his part in Ace in the Hole, as a journalist who is willing to risk another man's life to improve his career - devoid of scruples. It was a good movie, probably not at the top of most people's list, but it's one of Douglas's earlier films and worth a look.
8/27/17 Spartacus, 1960, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography - Color, Best Costume Design - Color, #81 AFI
Spartacus is one of those old time Hollywood epic films that begins with an overture, has an orchestral intermission and a closing bit, enough costumed Romans to fill the Colosseum and more stars than there are in the sky. The movie is significant for more than its scope; it was Dalton Trumbo's first officially credited movie since he had been blacklisted, and it pretty much broke the blacklist; Kirk Douglas hired Trumbo and made the decision to put his name on the credits. Stanley Kubrick directed after the production company, Bryna Productions, fired the original director, Anthony Mann (Bryna Productions was Douglas's company). Douglas stars as Spartacus, a Thracian slave who is sold to a gladiator school run by Batiatus (Peter Ustinov in an Oscar winning role). Spartacus meets a slave girl, Varinia (Jean Simmons), who also draws the attention of Crassus (Laurence Olivier) and his entourage. Crassus and his party request a fight to the death between the gladiators, and Spartacus is chosen to fight against the African, Draba. Draba refuses to kill Spartacus and instead, lunges at the gawking visitors, only to be killed by one of the guards. This is the inspiration for the slave rebellion, led by Spartacus. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Crassus is in a power struggle with Gracchus (Charles Laughton) in the Senate. Domestically, Crassus adds a young slave to his household, Antoninus (Tony Curtis), and attempts to seduce him (one of the interesting things about this scene is that it is part of the restored film and Olivier's voice had to be dubbed by Anthony Hopkins). Antoninus later joins the growing slave army. Spartacus is trying to get the slaves out of Rome and makes a deal for ships, but in the time it takes for him to move down the coast, Crassus and Gracchus have been making their own deals and double-deals, in opposition to one another. Eventually, Spartacus and his army are brutally defeated, and the stage is set for probably the best known scene in the film, where the Romans are looking for Spartacus, and everyone stands up and says "I'm Spartacus"; the scene is more dramatic than written here. I love the drama, maybe melodrama, the grand scale, the cast of amazing actors, and since I have learned more of the history of the film, that just adds to it. Ustinov plays his role with a touch of comedy, dry wit and tongue in cheek; Olivier is cool and calculating; Laughton is calculating but honest about some of his foibles and weaknesses (food and women); there is something about Jean Simmons that I find captivating, her voice, her almost ethereal presence, I don't know. Douglas as Spartacus is pretty flawless, which is not typical of most heroes, there is sign of weakness, not even being prideful; I don't think it detracts anything, though, the movie is so big and there are other flawed characters. This would be a great movie for an autumn night in front of the fire, perhaps some Italian wine and cheese, if you're so inclined.
I haven't figured out why Martin Scorsese's Hugo has not found a bigger audience; I think it has stunning visuals (this is one of the few movies I have seen where 3D makes a difference, in a good way); I think kids/young teens can relate to the story; fans of early animation can appreciate the story of Georges Melies. But, perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. In 1930s Paris, Hugo (Asa Butterfield - Boy in the Striped Pajamas) is orphaned after his clockmaker/inventor father (Jude Law) is killed in a fire, but he is left an automaton his father was repairing. He is left in the care of his drunk and mean uncle Claude (Ray Winston), who teaches him to keep the clocks running at Gare Montparnesse. Hugo has a habit of shoplifting from a toy store owner (Ben Kingsley); using the pieces to finish restoring the automaton, until he gets caught by the store owner, who threatens to burn Hugo's notebook. Hugo meets Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) and they go on adventures, and Hugo learns that Isabelle is the toy store owner's goddaughter. Uncle Claude turns up dead after an ill-timed dip in the Seine, and Hugo is on his own again, so he lives in the clock (seriously, who would not think this is the coolest thing?), evading capture from a very hilarious Station Inspector Gustave (Sacha Baron Cohen who is surprisingly not offensive). It turns out that the toy store owner, also known as Papa Georges, was a groundbreaking filmmaker in the early 20th century, making the landmark film "A Trip to the Moon". The movie won the visual Oscars for very good reason, it's gorgeously done, the special effects from the automaton to the recreated scenes from Meliers' films and theater pieces are beautiful. Scorsese is a film historian and has provided funds for film restoration and while this may seem off the beaten track for him, I think it's a work of love. There are not a lot of films that families can watch together, so if you're looking for something whimsical and magical, get Hugo from the library or Netflix.
8/26/17 Deliverance, 1972 #84 BBC, National Film Registry
I don't think some of these 'classic' films translate so well thirty or forty years later. At least that's my opinion Deliverance based on watching it three times and not liking it any time, although I was less creeped out the last time than the first two times. The film is set in the north Georgia wilderness, and stars Burt Reynolds as Lewis, Jon Voight as Ed, Ronnie Cox as Drew and Ned Beatty as Bobby; Lewis and Ed are the outdoorsmen of the group, and this is Drew and Bobby's first outing. These are city boys and the locals are targets for their mockery and mistrust (although the mistrust goes both ways). Even if you have never seen Deliverance you are probably familiar with the music called "Dueling Banjos" (usually played when people are referring to hillbillies or something backwards); it's early on, and pretty much the only part I liked. Anyway, the city boys head down the river in their canoes, and Ed and Bobby have the misfortune to meet two very creepy country boys who have more than just fishing on their minds; one of them humiliates Bobby by making him squeal like a pig and then raping him. Before the same can be done to Ed, Lewis kills the attacker with a shot from his bow. The men dispose of the body, but are now in fear of the second man, whom they believe is stalking them from above in the cliffs. Things get really dangerous as they hit a series dangerous rapids, and it doesn't end there, as there are more deaths, severe injuries and an encounter with the local sheriff who doesn't believe anything they say. I don't mind outdoor films, and director John Boorman filmed a lot of beautiful shots in the Tallulah Gorge, and I like a good mystery or thriller, but this did nothing for me, and I can honestly say I tried.
8/26/17 Champion, Best Editing, 1949
I've been in a Kirk Douglas frame of mind, I guess, having recently finished Douglas's autobiography, The Ragman's Son, watching an old interview with Dick Cavett and grabbing two of his films in this blog session, Champion and Spartacus. Douglas was nominated for Best Actor for his role as "Midge" Kelly, a good boxer but a pretty crappy person. Midge didn't plan on being a boxer; he and his crippled brother, Connie (Arthur Kennedy), are heading west to claim their ownership of a restaurant in California, only to find that they've been swindled. The real owner, Lew, of the diner lets them stay on to work and both Midge and Connie fall for the owner's daughter, Emma. Lew is less than pleased with Midge and Emma's relationship and forces them into a shotgun marriage. Now that the fun is over, Midge takes off, leaving Emma behind. This is pretty typical of how Midge operates; he's a me first kind of guy. On the way out west, Midge enters a fight as a way to make some quick money, and when he flees his marriage, he finds Tommy Haley who offered to train and manage him if he wanted to get into the fight game for real. Midge has a single-minded focus on his new career, defeating all comers as he moves around the country. Midge gets the opportunity to fight Johnny Dunne, who is in line for the championship. Instead of tanking the fight like he promised, Midge knows out Johnny early on, earning the wrath of the mob, but the affections of Johnny's girlfriend, Grace. Yeah, there's not a lot to like about most of the characters in this movie. Grace persuades Midge to drop Tommy and get a new manager. Bad move on Grace's part as she unwittingly sets Midge up with his next fling. Being champion holds short term rewards for Midge, for which he seems to have no gratitude or appreciation. Things don't end for him quite as he anticipated. Douglas is pretty despicable in this role, and it kind of reminded me of his part in Ace in the Hole, as a journalist who is willing to risk another man's life to improve his career - devoid of scruples. It was a good movie, probably not at the top of most people's list, but it's one of Douglas's earlier films and worth a look.
8/27/17 Spartacus, 1960, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography - Color, Best Costume Design - Color, #81 AFI
Spartacus is one of those old time Hollywood epic films that begins with an overture, has an orchestral intermission and a closing bit, enough costumed Romans to fill the Colosseum and more stars than there are in the sky. The movie is significant for more than its scope; it was Dalton Trumbo's first officially credited movie since he had been blacklisted, and it pretty much broke the blacklist; Kirk Douglas hired Trumbo and made the decision to put his name on the credits. Stanley Kubrick directed after the production company, Bryna Productions, fired the original director, Anthony Mann (Bryna Productions was Douglas's company). Douglas stars as Spartacus, a Thracian slave who is sold to a gladiator school run by Batiatus (Peter Ustinov in an Oscar winning role). Spartacus meets a slave girl, Varinia (Jean Simmons), who also draws the attention of Crassus (Laurence Olivier) and his entourage. Crassus and his party request a fight to the death between the gladiators, and Spartacus is chosen to fight against the African, Draba. Draba refuses to kill Spartacus and instead, lunges at the gawking visitors, only to be killed by one of the guards. This is the inspiration for the slave rebellion, led by Spartacus. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Crassus is in a power struggle with Gracchus (Charles Laughton) in the Senate. Domestically, Crassus adds a young slave to his household, Antoninus (Tony Curtis), and attempts to seduce him (one of the interesting things about this scene is that it is part of the restored film and Olivier's voice had to be dubbed by Anthony Hopkins). Antoninus later joins the growing slave army. Spartacus is trying to get the slaves out of Rome and makes a deal for ships, but in the time it takes for him to move down the coast, Crassus and Gracchus have been making their own deals and double-deals, in opposition to one another. Eventually, Spartacus and his army are brutally defeated, and the stage is set for probably the best known scene in the film, where the Romans are looking for Spartacus, and everyone stands up and says "I'm Spartacus"; the scene is more dramatic than written here. I love the drama, maybe melodrama, the grand scale, the cast of amazing actors, and since I have learned more of the history of the film, that just adds to it. Ustinov plays his role with a touch of comedy, dry wit and tongue in cheek; Olivier is cool and calculating; Laughton is calculating but honest about some of his foibles and weaknesses (food and women); there is something about Jean Simmons that I find captivating, her voice, her almost ethereal presence, I don't know. Douglas as Spartacus is pretty flawless, which is not typical of most heroes, there is sign of weakness, not even being prideful; I don't think it detracts anything, though, the movie is so big and there are other flawed characters. This would be a great movie for an autumn night in front of the fire, perhaps some Italian wine and cheese, if you're so inclined.
Last of 2016 winners The Salesman, along with Alice in Wonderland and Saving Private Ryan
8/11/17 The Salesman, Best Foreign Film, 2016
8/19/17 Alice in Wonderland, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, 2010
Tim Burton makes movies that are wonderful to look at, sometimes he makes movies that are also fun to watch, and Alice in Wonderland is one such movie. The visual components are so striking that they can overwhelm the story, but I don't think that's true here, it's close, but the Lewis Carroll's story of that impertinent Alice and her friends in Wonderland is engaging, with fun and sometimes nonsensical dialog. Mia Wasikowska is Alice; Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter, decidedly over the top, eccentric and definitely mad; Helena Bonham Carter (one of my favorites) is the tantrum-prone Red Queen; Anne Hathaway is the White Queen; Crispin Glover is the Knave (Jack) of Hearts the late Alan Rickman is the Caterpillar; Stephen Fry is the Cheshire Cat; and that's just some of the cast. I will admit that sometimes I get distracted trying to keep track of who is doing what voice, but that's not just for this movie. Alice is desperately unhappy about the imminent proposal of Hamish Ascot to be his lovely, quiet and well-behaved wife, and she is lucky to escape down the rabbit hole where she meets the above mentioned cast of characters and has many mind altering adventures. The actors seem perfect matches for their roles; it's hard to imagine anyone else but Johnny Depp as the Hatter or Rickman as the voice of Absolem. I think Lewis Carroll and Tim Burton were made for each other. If you're looking for a family night movie, and you haven't seen this in a while, or at all, I recommend making a double feature with this and Alice through the Looking Glass which did not fare as well critically, but I liked it.
8/19/17 Saving Private Ryan, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Director, 1998, #71 AFI, National Film Registry
Here's another film that I'm a little behind the times on, like twenty years or so, but in fairness to me, I have tried on and off for the past three years to watch it, but either the DVD wouldn't play or some other reason. Anyway, the good news for YOU is that I finally watched it and it's off of three lists. BAM! Being serious for a second, I felt more compelled to watch Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, after my disappointment with Dunkirk. I definitely got what I was hoping for in this case. The movie opens with US forces landing on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France. Tom Hanks stars as Captain Miller of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath, and a cast of familiar faces, including Giovanni Ribisi, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper and Vin Diesel. The first 27 minutes are incredibly intense and chaotic and you get some small (very small) sense of what it was like to be on that beach. It was interesting to read some of Spielberg's comments about how he decided to film those shots. Once the men get to relative safety, Captain Miller is given another assignment, to find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), who has been airdropped but nobody is sure where he is, and bring him back so he can be sent home. This is in response to his three brothers being killed in action. The movie follows Miller and his hand-picked team as they move across France, encountering different obstacles along the way; almost like Odysseus and his men. Spielberg paints a pretty horrific picture of battle, nothing is sugar-coated, men, boys really, cry out for the moms as they are dying on the battlefield; men vomit with nerves, seasickness; death is not some peaceful endeavor, although it gives a permanent respite to the bullets and bombs. The acting was more of an ensemble piece as opposed to a starring vehicle, even though Hanks was probably the biggest name in the cast, and Damon doesn't show up until over an hour into the movie, but you really needed all of the different characters to tell the story. I'm glad I finally watched it, and not just because of the lists.
It took me so long to watch The Salesman, I think I had it at my house for over a month (ugh) and I wish I could say me delay or wait was rewarded with an inspiring or moving film...and I wasn't. The Salesman was surrounded by controversy because it was an Iranian film and the President of the United States (god that makes me gag) signed an order banning citizens from Iran and six other Muslim countries, and director Asghar Farhadi threatened not to attend (and he did not). In 2012, Farhadi's film A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film (I liked A Separation much more than this film). The main characters are Emad and Rana, a married couple who are acting together in a production of Death of a Salesman, which is supposed to act as a frame for the film. Rana is raped by an unknown assailant, and in addition to the stigma of being raped, Rana has to deal with Emad trying to find her rapist. I found the utilization of the play to be a distraction and unnecessary to tell the story. I didn't think this was the best foreign film of the nominees, I think Land of Mine, A Man Called Ove or Tanna were better.
8/19/17 Alice in Wonderland, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, 2010
Tim Burton makes movies that are wonderful to look at, sometimes he makes movies that are also fun to watch, and Alice in Wonderland is one such movie. The visual components are so striking that they can overwhelm the story, but I don't think that's true here, it's close, but the Lewis Carroll's story of that impertinent Alice and her friends in Wonderland is engaging, with fun and sometimes nonsensical dialog. Mia Wasikowska is Alice; Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter, decidedly over the top, eccentric and definitely mad; Helena Bonham Carter (one of my favorites) is the tantrum-prone Red Queen; Anne Hathaway is the White Queen; Crispin Glover is the Knave (Jack) of Hearts the late Alan Rickman is the Caterpillar; Stephen Fry is the Cheshire Cat; and that's just some of the cast. I will admit that sometimes I get distracted trying to keep track of who is doing what voice, but that's not just for this movie. Alice is desperately unhappy about the imminent proposal of Hamish Ascot to be his lovely, quiet and well-behaved wife, and she is lucky to escape down the rabbit hole where she meets the above mentioned cast of characters and has many mind altering adventures. The actors seem perfect matches for their roles; it's hard to imagine anyone else but Johnny Depp as the Hatter or Rickman as the voice of Absolem. I think Lewis Carroll and Tim Burton were made for each other. If you're looking for a family night movie, and you haven't seen this in a while, or at all, I recommend making a double feature with this and Alice through the Looking Glass which did not fare as well critically, but I liked it.
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| Alice in Wonderland display at Minnesota State Fair 2017 |
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| Alice in Wonderland display at Minnesota State Fair 2017 |
8/19/17 Saving Private Ryan, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Director, 1998, #71 AFI, National Film Registry
Here's another film that I'm a little behind the times on, like twenty years or so, but in fairness to me, I have tried on and off for the past three years to watch it, but either the DVD wouldn't play or some other reason. Anyway, the good news for YOU is that I finally watched it and it's off of three lists. BAM! Being serious for a second, I felt more compelled to watch Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, after my disappointment with Dunkirk. I definitely got what I was hoping for in this case. The movie opens with US forces landing on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France. Tom Hanks stars as Captain Miller of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath, and a cast of familiar faces, including Giovanni Ribisi, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper and Vin Diesel. The first 27 minutes are incredibly intense and chaotic and you get some small (very small) sense of what it was like to be on that beach. It was interesting to read some of Spielberg's comments about how he decided to film those shots. Once the men get to relative safety, Captain Miller is given another assignment, to find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), who has been airdropped but nobody is sure where he is, and bring him back so he can be sent home. This is in response to his three brothers being killed in action. The movie follows Miller and his hand-picked team as they move across France, encountering different obstacles along the way; almost like Odysseus and his men. Spielberg paints a pretty horrific picture of battle, nothing is sugar-coated, men, boys really, cry out for the moms as they are dying on the battlefield; men vomit with nerves, seasickness; death is not some peaceful endeavor, although it gives a permanent respite to the bullets and bombs. The acting was more of an ensemble piece as opposed to a starring vehicle, even though Hanks was probably the biggest name in the cast, and Damon doesn't show up until over an hour into the movie, but you really needed all of the different characters to tell the story. I'm glad I finally watched it, and not just because of the lists.
The Hunt for Red October, James Stewart - The Shop Around the Corner, The Band Wagon w/Astaire
5/26/17 The Hunt for Red October, Best Sound Editing, 1991
5/27/17 The Shop Around the Corner, 1940, #58 BBC, National Film Registry
The BBC list has been a fickle mistress, but I feel a little redemption with The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka, To Be or Not To Be), and starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan (the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz). It took me a little while to get used to because the movie is set in Hungary, the characters have Hungarian names, but most of the actors have American or English accents. James Stewart is Alfred Kralik, the senior salesman at Matuschek and Company (Mr. Matuschek played by Frank Morgan). Margaret Sullivan is Klara Novak, a young woman who initially comes in looking for a job, but Mr. Kralik turns her away, but then she is drawn into a debate about a questionable cigarette box that Mr. Matuschek wants to sell, but Kralik thinks it's a terrible idea. On the personal side, Kralik has been writing letters to a woman he has not yet met, but she thinks he is wonderful, even if perhaps he embellished. There are several subplots going on: Pepi the delivery boy who has aspirations of being a salesman; Mr. Matuschek and Kralik having an unexpected falling out; Mr. Pirovitch, a co-worker, who is Kralik's friend and confidante; the uncomfortable relationship with Kralik and Klara. It's an entertaining romantic comedy, with Stewart as dapper and understated as ever; Sullavan is a match for him, and their scenes are funny; every time that Morgan was onscreen I couldn't help but think of him as Professor Marvel from The Wizard of Oz; that's not a bad thing, he just seemed to have those mannerisms in this role as well. I had never heard of the movie before, and then I find out it's also on the National Film Registry (also a list that has given me fits over time). This definitely makes up for The Shanghai Gesture.
5/29/17 The Band Wagon, 1953 #70 BBC, National Film Registry
Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, and direction by Vincente Minnelli. What else do you need? Maybe a story by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Alan Lerner, and a few snappy songs and great dance numbers. Yeah, that's it, and really, for my money, I'm not sure the story was all that important, just something between numbers. I could watch Fred Astaire dance for hours; he's so smooth and makes it look effortless. Astaire is Tony Hunter, a movie star in a downturn of his career who meets up with some old friends (played by Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) and a slightly eccentric British actor/director/writer, Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan). As they discuss a potential project together, they break into song with "That's Entertainment", and decide on next steps. They are looking for a female lead and try to entice a ballerina Gaby Gerard (Cyd Charisse) to join the production. Their show doesn't quite take off as they thought it would (Faust isn't for everyone), but Tony rallies the troops (the much younger cast who kind of look up to Tony). There is a lot of friction between Tony and Gaby (he smokes, she's too tall), but eventually they put on a hit show. Like I said, the story was an excuse to have some song and dance numbers, but, it was a great excuse. Numbers like "Dancing in the Dark" and "Girl Hunt Ballet" featuring Astaire and Charisse are so fun to watch with their elegance and class. "The Triplets" is fun and silly with Astaire, Fabray and Buchanan as the triplets of the title. Minnelli directed films like Meet Me In St. Louis, Gigi, and An American in Paris (starring Gene Kelly), so he knows how to mix music, dancing, costumes and art direction.
The Hunt for Red October is a Cold War thriller based on the best-selling book by Tom Clancy, and stars Sean Connery as the Soviet Captain of nuclear submarine, Captain Ramius and Alec Baldwin as Dr. Jack Ryan, a CIA intelligence analyst. It's a high stakes case of cat and mouse as Ramius is leading his crew on a path of defection to the U.S. Remius is a pretty complex and somber character, and Connery plays him with the right amount of gravitas. I like Alec Baldwin, and I enjoy seeing him in roles that are different from what we're used to, Jack on "30 Rock" or his Trump impersonation (he's had quite a varied career), and Jack Ryan is not a bully, or super-masculine, he's a pretty smart guy, a professor of Naval history at the US Naval Academy, and he hates flying. Connery steals the show, from Baldwin and the rest of the very impressive cast (James Earl Jones, Sam Neill, Scott Glenn and more). If a submarine film is done well, the viewer gets a claustrophobic feeling, and I definitely got that for the sub scenes. There is suspense, some action, and in light of current events, a strange sense of history thumbing its nose at us. My dad loved reading Tom Clancy's books, and I'm fairly certain he would have seen this movie at some point, so in some ways, this wasn't about the movie, but about remembering my dad. But, since this is a movie review blog, I enjoyed it, the drama, the plotline, the acting. A great summertime movie.
The BBC list has been a fickle mistress, but I feel a little redemption with The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka, To Be or Not To Be), and starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan (the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz). It took me a little while to get used to because the movie is set in Hungary, the characters have Hungarian names, but most of the actors have American or English accents. James Stewart is Alfred Kralik, the senior salesman at Matuschek and Company (Mr. Matuschek played by Frank Morgan). Margaret Sullivan is Klara Novak, a young woman who initially comes in looking for a job, but Mr. Kralik turns her away, but then she is drawn into a debate about a questionable cigarette box that Mr. Matuschek wants to sell, but Kralik thinks it's a terrible idea. On the personal side, Kralik has been writing letters to a woman he has not yet met, but she thinks he is wonderful, even if perhaps he embellished. There are several subplots going on: Pepi the delivery boy who has aspirations of being a salesman; Mr. Matuschek and Kralik having an unexpected falling out; Mr. Pirovitch, a co-worker, who is Kralik's friend and confidante; the uncomfortable relationship with Kralik and Klara. It's an entertaining romantic comedy, with Stewart as dapper and understated as ever; Sullavan is a match for him, and their scenes are funny; every time that Morgan was onscreen I couldn't help but think of him as Professor Marvel from The Wizard of Oz; that's not a bad thing, he just seemed to have those mannerisms in this role as well. I had never heard of the movie before, and then I find out it's also on the National Film Registry (also a list that has given me fits over time). This definitely makes up for The Shanghai Gesture.
5/29/17 The Band Wagon, 1953 #70 BBC, National Film Registry
Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, and direction by Vincente Minnelli. What else do you need? Maybe a story by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Alan Lerner, and a few snappy songs and great dance numbers. Yeah, that's it, and really, for my money, I'm not sure the story was all that important, just something between numbers. I could watch Fred Astaire dance for hours; he's so smooth and makes it look effortless. Astaire is Tony Hunter, a movie star in a downturn of his career who meets up with some old friends (played by Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) and a slightly eccentric British actor/director/writer, Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan). As they discuss a potential project together, they break into song with "That's Entertainment", and decide on next steps. They are looking for a female lead and try to entice a ballerina Gaby Gerard (Cyd Charisse) to join the production. Their show doesn't quite take off as they thought it would (Faust isn't for everyone), but Tony rallies the troops (the much younger cast who kind of look up to Tony). There is a lot of friction between Tony and Gaby (he smokes, she's too tall), but eventually they put on a hit show. Like I said, the story was an excuse to have some song and dance numbers, but, it was a great excuse. Numbers like "Dancing in the Dark" and "Girl Hunt Ballet" featuring Astaire and Charisse are so fun to watch with their elegance and class. "The Triplets" is fun and silly with Astaire, Fabray and Buchanan as the triplets of the title. Minnelli directed films like Meet Me In St. Louis, Gigi, and An American in Paris (starring Gene Kelly), so he knows how to mix music, dancing, costumes and art direction.
Back to the Future, Close Encounters of the boring kind, Apocalypse Now
10/30/16 Back to the Future, Best Sound Effects Editing, 1985 #56 BBC, National Film Registry
I don't have any deep, insightful comments for Back to the Future. If there is some philosophical meaning, I've missed it. I can say that over 20 years later, it's still a fun movie. I can even say I understand why it's on the National Film Registry, but not so sure why it's on the BBC list (that list has to be the most perplexing of the four). Anyway, in case you have lived under a rock or are under thirty and you are not familiar with Back to the Future, a brief synopsis follows. Michael J. Fox is Marty McFly, a sort of hip high schooler who is friends with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), a 'mad scientist' with a dream of building a time machine. Marty's parents, George and Lorraine (Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson) are less than average, schlumpy and defeated, especially in the eyes of Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), a high school classmate and George's boss. Doc Brown builds his time machine, in the form of a DeLorean and powers it with plutonium stolen from a group of Libyans. Doc Brown gets shot at by the Libyans as he his ready to test the DeLorean, and McFly jumps in trying to escape. Marty goes back to 1955, when his parents were in high school. Marty tries to fit in as the new kid and being a peer to his parents. All kinds of time shifting things can and do happen. Fox is perfect as McFly, with a wise-cracking and and engaging manner. Lloyd, who is also known to fans of the television show Taxi as Reverend Jim, is addled and compelling, the science teacher we all wish we had. The movie is fun and has fun with the time travel aspect, including Marty McFly influencing Chuck Berry and his duck walk. It also raises the question of what happens if you change one little thing in history - what else gets changed? The movie is fun and family friendly, and has tons of great trivia questions (like, do you know what a DeLorean is?). It won't go down as one of my favorite movies ever, but I also don't resent watching it again (see below).
11/4/16 Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Best Cinematography, 1977 #75 BBC, National Film Registry
Oh my god. I didn't really get into this movie when I saw it the first time almost 40 years ago; I thought there was a chance that now that I'm older and wiser and appreciate things that I didn't before (early bed times, vegetables, Westerns), maybe I would like it now. Nope, no, uh-uh. I kind of liked the last 10 minutes, but honestly, I just didn't care. I just could not suspend my sense of disbelief for any length of time. In my opinion, not one of Steven Spielberg's best films, even though it's #75 on the BBC's 100 Best American Films, and it's on the National Film Registry as being of historical significance. Perhaps I'll give you that it was groundbreaking; I'm sure my dad would say that, in fact, I think he owned it, but he also made me watch Star Trek re-runs my entire childhood.
11/5/16 Apocalypse Now, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography 1979, #30 AFI, #90 BBC, National Film Registry
There are a couple of versions of Apocalypse Now, but I only watched the original cut, which is the one that was nominated for the Oscars and is on all three of the other lists. Apocalypse Now is set during the Vietnam War, but is based on Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, which is set in the Congo (I have not read the book, so I cannot do any kind of compare or contrast). The movie is seen through the point of view of Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen), and follows his journey to find Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) and kill him; Kurtz has created his own ideology, and in turn, amassed loyal and fanatical followers, some from the army, but some also from the indigenous Montagnards in Cambodia. He has become a threat to army and they want him eliminated. The time that Willard actually spends with Kurtz is far less than the time spent on the journey up river with members of the PBR Street Gang, led by the Chief, Chef, Mr. Clean (a very young Laurence Fishburne) and Lance Johnson. They're not all that thrilled with having to escort Willard and they have their own conflicts, with him, each other and others in the military. The group meets up with an Air Cavalry regiment, led by Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who admires Lance Johnson because of his reputation as a surfer (Kilgore/Duvall also utters the famous phrase 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning'); Dennis Hopper as an American photojournalist who seems to be under the spell of Kurtz. I was surprised that Sheen wasn't nominated for Best Actor for his role; it's through his eyes we experience the story, and the senselessness of the war and the death that surrounds the him and his comrades in arms, the twisted irony that is his mission: trying to kill a decorated U.S.Special Forces colonel in neutral country, a man who would otherwise be a hero. The movie is filled with complexities, a lot of dialogue, symbolism, multiple viewings reveal different things; it's also a movie that comes with its own legend and movie about the movie Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. None of this is surprising when you consider that Francis Ford Coppola directed, produced, co-wrote the screenplay and the score. I was shocked and a little upset that a movie this intense, well-acted (Hopper annoyed me and have the time I couldn't understand what he was saying, but aside from that), thought-provoking, only won two of the eight Oscars for which it was nominated. And, not to disparage Kramer v. Kramer, but really? Kramer v. Kramer won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (again, Sheen not even nominated), Best Adapted Screenplay. That's kind of like would you like a really good frozen pizza or a delicious pizza from (Twin Cities' own) Pizza Luce. Um, Pizza Luce please. Which one do people still talk about 35 years later? It's an investment in time and attention, but one that I think is totally worth it. It has far more of a place in cinematic and social history than many of the other films of that year.
I don't have any deep, insightful comments for Back to the Future. If there is some philosophical meaning, I've missed it. I can say that over 20 years later, it's still a fun movie. I can even say I understand why it's on the National Film Registry, but not so sure why it's on the BBC list (that list has to be the most perplexing of the four). Anyway, in case you have lived under a rock or are under thirty and you are not familiar with Back to the Future, a brief synopsis follows. Michael J. Fox is Marty McFly, a sort of hip high schooler who is friends with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), a 'mad scientist' with a dream of building a time machine. Marty's parents, George and Lorraine (Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson) are less than average, schlumpy and defeated, especially in the eyes of Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), a high school classmate and George's boss. Doc Brown builds his time machine, in the form of a DeLorean and powers it with plutonium stolen from a group of Libyans. Doc Brown gets shot at by the Libyans as he his ready to test the DeLorean, and McFly jumps in trying to escape. Marty goes back to 1955, when his parents were in high school. Marty tries to fit in as the new kid and being a peer to his parents. All kinds of time shifting things can and do happen. Fox is perfect as McFly, with a wise-cracking and and engaging manner. Lloyd, who is also known to fans of the television show Taxi as Reverend Jim, is addled and compelling, the science teacher we all wish we had. The movie is fun and has fun with the time travel aspect, including Marty McFly influencing Chuck Berry and his duck walk. It also raises the question of what happens if you change one little thing in history - what else gets changed? The movie is fun and family friendly, and has tons of great trivia questions (like, do you know what a DeLorean is?). It won't go down as one of my favorite movies ever, but I also don't resent watching it again (see below).
11/4/16 Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Best Cinematography, 1977 #75 BBC, National Film Registry
Oh my god. I didn't really get into this movie when I saw it the first time almost 40 years ago; I thought there was a chance that now that I'm older and wiser and appreciate things that I didn't before (early bed times, vegetables, Westerns), maybe I would like it now. Nope, no, uh-uh. I kind of liked the last 10 minutes, but honestly, I just didn't care. I just could not suspend my sense of disbelief for any length of time. In my opinion, not one of Steven Spielberg's best films, even though it's #75 on the BBC's 100 Best American Films, and it's on the National Film Registry as being of historical significance. Perhaps I'll give you that it was groundbreaking; I'm sure my dad would say that, in fact, I think he owned it, but he also made me watch Star Trek re-runs my entire childhood.
11/5/16 Apocalypse Now, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography 1979, #30 AFI, #90 BBC, National Film Registry
There are a couple of versions of Apocalypse Now, but I only watched the original cut, which is the one that was nominated for the Oscars and is on all three of the other lists. Apocalypse Now is set during the Vietnam War, but is based on Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, which is set in the Congo (I have not read the book, so I cannot do any kind of compare or contrast). The movie is seen through the point of view of Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen), and follows his journey to find Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) and kill him; Kurtz has created his own ideology, and in turn, amassed loyal and fanatical followers, some from the army, but some also from the indigenous Montagnards in Cambodia. He has become a threat to army and they want him eliminated. The time that Willard actually spends with Kurtz is far less than the time spent on the journey up river with members of the PBR Street Gang, led by the Chief, Chef, Mr. Clean (a very young Laurence Fishburne) and Lance Johnson. They're not all that thrilled with having to escort Willard and they have their own conflicts, with him, each other and others in the military. The group meets up with an Air Cavalry regiment, led by Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who admires Lance Johnson because of his reputation as a surfer (Kilgore/Duvall also utters the famous phrase 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning'); Dennis Hopper as an American photojournalist who seems to be under the spell of Kurtz. I was surprised that Sheen wasn't nominated for Best Actor for his role; it's through his eyes we experience the story, and the senselessness of the war and the death that surrounds the him and his comrades in arms, the twisted irony that is his mission: trying to kill a decorated U.S.Special Forces colonel in neutral country, a man who would otherwise be a hero. The movie is filled with complexities, a lot of dialogue, symbolism, multiple viewings reveal different things; it's also a movie that comes with its own legend and movie about the movie Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. None of this is surprising when you consider that Francis Ford Coppola directed, produced, co-wrote the screenplay and the score. I was shocked and a little upset that a movie this intense, well-acted (Hopper annoyed me and have the time I couldn't understand what he was saying, but aside from that), thought-provoking, only won two of the eight Oscars for which it was nominated. And, not to disparage Kramer v. Kramer, but really? Kramer v. Kramer won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (again, Sheen not even nominated), Best Adapted Screenplay. That's kind of like would you like a really good frozen pizza or a delicious pizza from (Twin Cities' own) Pizza Luce. Um, Pizza Luce please. Which one do people still talk about 35 years later? It's an investment in time and attention, but one that I think is totally worth it. It has far more of a place in cinematic and social history than many of the other films of that year.
Classics: Shawshank Redemption, A Clockwork Orange, Sunset Boulevard
9/16/16 Shawshank Redemption, 1994 #72 AFI, National Film Registry
Shawshank Redemption is one of the few movies that I will watch whenever I see it's on television (which is almost as often as the Tolkien trilogy), regardless if it is halfway over or has only fifteen minutes to go, it's just that great. It's based on a short story by Steven King and stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Andy Dufresne (Robbins) is found guilty of killing his wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary (which was the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio) where he meets Red (Freeman) who is a man who knows how to get things. It's very obvious that Andy is not like the other prisoners, he's quiet, thoughtful, well-versed in many topics, and able to see the big picture and play the long game. He makes friends with Brooks (James Whitmore), the prison librarian and animal-lover; as well as winning over several of the inmates by scoring some beers on a hot summer day by offering to provide Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown) with some financial advice. The warden (Bob Gunton) is also eager to use Andy's 'skills' for his own funny money business. Life moves along in the prison, things change but they also stay the same. Like I mentioned earlier, Andy has been playing the long game, and there are a few clues along the way (which I am not going to ruin in case you have not seen it). The best part, to me, is the last 30 minutes; I could watch that part over and over again. The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, winning none, and was considered a box office failure, yet whenever I mention the movie (or it comes up in conversation), everyone loves it. I think it's the 'redemption' part, not just for Andy, but for his fellow prisoners, who get a little bit of humanity back, and the 'fall' of the prison powers. It's about the power of the human spirit; many people would have crumbled after what Andy went through, but he didn't; he survived, and maybe even became stronger. I'm not as eloquent as I'm sure Andy would be, but if you haven't seen the movie, you can wait until it's on TNT or get it from the library. I promise you will not be sorry.
9/17/16 A Clockwork Orange, #70 AFI
I have always wanted to like or appreciate A Clockwork Orange (I've seen it three times), and I just can't. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell, and Anthony Burgess. The movie is set in the near future in England, and Alex (McDowell) is the leader of violent youths who are comfortable kicking old men or raping women; after a particularly violent evening where a woman died, Alex is sent away to prison for fourteen years. In exchange for a shorter sentence, Alex agrees to be part of an experimental rehab program. He is forced to watch horrifically violent film clips, while being injected with a chemical that makes him physically ill, until he cannot even fight in self-defense. Alex sees his life change dramatically after his release; his parents aren't all that keen to have him, his old friends really aren't thrilled to see him, and on and on. There are some philosophical questions which present themselves, but I'm too lazy to really dig into them. At the highest level, there is the question 'can you program morality or desired behavior?' and 'should you?'. The doctors and prison officers don't really work with Alex and the other prisoners to find the root causes of their behaviors and what could positively change their attitudes and behaviors; they just use tools to modify the behaviors they don't want. Stanley Kubrick doesn't shy away from using sex as a metaphor or as a narrative tool (there are shades of that in Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, and Eyes Wide Shut); I have not seen Lolita or Eyes Wide Shut, so I don't know how it's used in those films. There was also a part of me that thought Alex may have gotten what he deserved: he killed, crippled and raped. Hard to feel sorry for him; it's not like he was stealing bread to survive. On another note, I did notice that Kubrick used music throughout the movie, but especially towards the end, in the same fashion as he did in 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the action seemed balletic. I don't know, that's about as insightful as it's going to get.
9/17/16 Mulholland Drive, 2001 #21 BBC
I'm not even going to try and give you a synopsis, because I'm not really sure what happened. I can tell you that David Lynch directed this film noir filled with hidden clues and twisting plotline. The movie, which is set in 'current day' but pays homage to movies like Sunset Boulevard and old Hollywood. Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring are the female leads, as actresses, and Justin Theroux (I didn't know he acted in anything) is Adam, a movie director. I usually dislike (or hate) movies that don't make sense or that seem too smart for their own good (The Usual Suspects - hated it), but I didn't. I didn't love it, but I did like it enough that I would watch it again. It was the perfect movie for a Saturday night.
9/18/16 Sunset Boulevard, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, Best Art Direction - B&W, Best Music, 1950, #16 AFI, National Film Registry, #54 BBC
There is no shortage of accolades for Sunset Boulevard: Oscar nominations, Oscar wins, on two top 100 lists and preserved for posterity. Do you really need me to review it? You may be familiar with one of the most famous lines "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup." said by the lead actress, Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond. It was good timing on my part that I watched Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard one after the other; as I mentioned above, Mulholland Drive tips its hat toward Sunset Boulevard and old Hollywood, femme fatales and film-noir. Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, not only refers to silent film era, it features some of the stars from that period: Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner, Anna Q. Nilsson in cameos; the famous director, DeMille as himself; Erich von Stroheim as the dedicated and protective butler/chauffeur, Max, and of course, Gloria Swanson. The opening of the film reminded me a little of Laura directed by Otto Preminger from 1944 (is your interest piqued?). William Holden stars as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, who falls into the very open arms of Norma, who is still living on the memory of her glory days. To say she is delusional may be too kind. It's really hard to separate Swanson from the character (verging on caricature) of Desmond; Swanson just embodies Desmond's neuroses and insecurities, you kind of don't think she's acting (the only thing that convinced me that Swanson was NOT Desmond is the fact that her biographical information is full of real accomplishments and she wasn't a fragile vase). Joe gets into her clutches, he almost becomes a gigolo, and I don't think he intentionally tries to hurt her or take advantage, it's kind of a trap he falls into. He just wants to write, and begins a secret writing relationship with Betty, a script reader, and he tries to break away from Norma, but her mental strength is so unstable that Max warns Joe against hurting her. All four main characters were nominated for acting Oscars, but all four lost: Swanson lost to Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday); Holden lost Best Actor to Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac (which I have not seen); Stroheim lost the Best Supporting Actor to George Sanders in All About Eve; and lastly, Nancy Olson who played Betty lost to Josephine Hull in Harvey. I honestly don't know, Holliday was really great in Born Yesterday (which also starred William Holden), but I think Swanson gave the performance of her career. Wilder was also nominated for Best Director and lost to Joseph Mankiewicz for All About Eve, which was the big winner that year. This is a classic, and I did enjoy it, but I don't know how many of you will like it. But, I would say give it a go; it's a classic, but also a cultural icon with so many references in other movies.
Shawshank Redemption is one of the few movies that I will watch whenever I see it's on television (which is almost as often as the Tolkien trilogy), regardless if it is halfway over or has only fifteen minutes to go, it's just that great. It's based on a short story by Steven King and stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Andy Dufresne (Robbins) is found guilty of killing his wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank State Penitentiary (which was the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio) where he meets Red (Freeman) who is a man who knows how to get things. It's very obvious that Andy is not like the other prisoners, he's quiet, thoughtful, well-versed in many topics, and able to see the big picture and play the long game. He makes friends with Brooks (James Whitmore), the prison librarian and animal-lover; as well as winning over several of the inmates by scoring some beers on a hot summer day by offering to provide Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown) with some financial advice. The warden (Bob Gunton) is also eager to use Andy's 'skills' for his own funny money business. Life moves along in the prison, things change but they also stay the same. Like I mentioned earlier, Andy has been playing the long game, and there are a few clues along the way (which I am not going to ruin in case you have not seen it). The best part, to me, is the last 30 minutes; I could watch that part over and over again. The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, winning none, and was considered a box office failure, yet whenever I mention the movie (or it comes up in conversation), everyone loves it. I think it's the 'redemption' part, not just for Andy, but for his fellow prisoners, who get a little bit of humanity back, and the 'fall' of the prison powers. It's about the power of the human spirit; many people would have crumbled after what Andy went through, but he didn't; he survived, and maybe even became stronger. I'm not as eloquent as I'm sure Andy would be, but if you haven't seen the movie, you can wait until it's on TNT or get it from the library. I promise you will not be sorry.
9/17/16 A Clockwork Orange, #70 AFI
I have always wanted to like or appreciate A Clockwork Orange (I've seen it three times), and I just can't. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell, and Anthony Burgess. The movie is set in the near future in England, and Alex (McDowell) is the leader of violent youths who are comfortable kicking old men or raping women; after a particularly violent evening where a woman died, Alex is sent away to prison for fourteen years. In exchange for a shorter sentence, Alex agrees to be part of an experimental rehab program. He is forced to watch horrifically violent film clips, while being injected with a chemical that makes him physically ill, until he cannot even fight in self-defense. Alex sees his life change dramatically after his release; his parents aren't all that keen to have him, his old friends really aren't thrilled to see him, and on and on. There are some philosophical questions which present themselves, but I'm too lazy to really dig into them. At the highest level, there is the question 'can you program morality or desired behavior?' and 'should you?'. The doctors and prison officers don't really work with Alex and the other prisoners to find the root causes of their behaviors and what could positively change their attitudes and behaviors; they just use tools to modify the behaviors they don't want. Stanley Kubrick doesn't shy away from using sex as a metaphor or as a narrative tool (there are shades of that in Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, and Eyes Wide Shut); I have not seen Lolita or Eyes Wide Shut, so I don't know how it's used in those films. There was also a part of me that thought Alex may have gotten what he deserved: he killed, crippled and raped. Hard to feel sorry for him; it's not like he was stealing bread to survive. On another note, I did notice that Kubrick used music throughout the movie, but especially towards the end, in the same fashion as he did in 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the action seemed balletic. I don't know, that's about as insightful as it's going to get.
9/17/16 Mulholland Drive, 2001 #21 BBC
I'm not even going to try and give you a synopsis, because I'm not really sure what happened. I can tell you that David Lynch directed this film noir filled with hidden clues and twisting plotline. The movie, which is set in 'current day' but pays homage to movies like Sunset Boulevard and old Hollywood. Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring are the female leads, as actresses, and Justin Theroux (I didn't know he acted in anything) is Adam, a movie director. I usually dislike (or hate) movies that don't make sense or that seem too smart for their own good (The Usual Suspects - hated it), but I didn't. I didn't love it, but I did like it enough that I would watch it again. It was the perfect movie for a Saturday night.
9/18/16 Sunset Boulevard, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, Best Art Direction - B&W, Best Music, 1950, #16 AFI, National Film Registry, #54 BBC
There is no shortage of accolades for Sunset Boulevard: Oscar nominations, Oscar wins, on two top 100 lists and preserved for posterity. Do you really need me to review it? You may be familiar with one of the most famous lines "All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup." said by the lead actress, Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond. It was good timing on my part that I watched Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard one after the other; as I mentioned above, Mulholland Drive tips its hat toward Sunset Boulevard and old Hollywood, femme fatales and film-noir. Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder, not only refers to silent film era, it features some of the stars from that period: Buster Keaton, H.B. Warner, Anna Q. Nilsson in cameos; the famous director, DeMille as himself; Erich von Stroheim as the dedicated and protective butler/chauffeur, Max, and of course, Gloria Swanson. The opening of the film reminded me a little of Laura directed by Otto Preminger from 1944 (is your interest piqued?). William Holden stars as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, who falls into the very open arms of Norma, who is still living on the memory of her glory days. To say she is delusional may be too kind. It's really hard to separate Swanson from the character (verging on caricature) of Desmond; Swanson just embodies Desmond's neuroses and insecurities, you kind of don't think she's acting (the only thing that convinced me that Swanson was NOT Desmond is the fact that her biographical information is full of real accomplishments and she wasn't a fragile vase). Joe gets into her clutches, he almost becomes a gigolo, and I don't think he intentionally tries to hurt her or take advantage, it's kind of a trap he falls into. He just wants to write, and begins a secret writing relationship with Betty, a script reader, and he tries to break away from Norma, but her mental strength is so unstable that Max warns Joe against hurting her. All four main characters were nominated for acting Oscars, but all four lost: Swanson lost to Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday); Holden lost Best Actor to Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac (which I have not seen); Stroheim lost the Best Supporting Actor to George Sanders in All About Eve; and lastly, Nancy Olson who played Betty lost to Josephine Hull in Harvey. I honestly don't know, Holliday was really great in Born Yesterday (which also starred William Holden), but I think Swanson gave the performance of her career. Wilder was also nominated for Best Director and lost to Joseph Mankiewicz for All About Eve, which was the big winner that year. This is a classic, and I did enjoy it, but I don't know how many of you will like it. But, I would say give it a go; it's a classic, but also a cultural icon with so many references in other movies.
Dr. Strangelove, Psycho, E.T., The Gruffalo - an assortment of Oscar winners and nominees and the AFI list
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| Seed art - The Heights Theater |
This is a strange combination of movies, even for me. All I can say is blame it on the lists. Speaking of lists, I only have 8 more movies from the AFI list, 39 from the BBC list of 100 Best American films, 781 Oscar winners to watch (out of 1213). It's always good to have goals.
9/5/16 Dr. Strangelove, 1964, #39 AFI, National Film Registry, #42 BBC
Dr. Strangelove is yet another movie that I have watched before and didn't really get it or care for it, but wanted to watch again so I could write a fair review. I'm kind of glad I did. I think the reason I didn't get it the first time is because it is classified as a 'comedy', sometimes as a dark comedy. When I think of comedy, I think of Jerry Lewis or in 21st century terms, Bridesmaids, that is to say, thigh slapping, laugh out loud funny. I don't think that is Dr. Strangelove, and when I saw it more as satire, political commentary on the geopolitics of the time, then I appreciated it more. Peter Sellers was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his THREE roles in the film (he lost to Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, and looking back, I'm not even sure how that happened); he was Group Captain Mandrake, U.S. President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove. The rest of the cast is pretty amazing: George C. Scott is blustery, over the top general, General Buck Turgidson; Sterling Hayden is Brigadier General Jack Ripper who sets all of the events in motion through his extreme paranoia; Keenan Wynn is "Bat" Guano, an Army officer; Slim Pickens is Major "King" Kong, commander of the B-52 Stratofortress that is the instrument of doom. General Ripper has initiated the process to start a nuclear war with the U.S.S.R., setting the available bombers on paths to drop their payloads over the 'enemy'. The movie follows one bomber, led by Major Kong, as they try to check and double-check the protocols and code words, totally realizing the impending destruction; meanwhile, Group Captain Mandrake discovers that the code may not have been approved by the Pentagon and President and tries to deal with General Ripper. In his role as President Muffley, he tries to speak with the leader of the U.S.S.R. to defuse the situation and figure out the potential damage, and in doing so, he brings in an 'expert', in the form of Dr. Strangelove, a former Nazi, who has 'alien hand syndrome' which causes him to give the Nazi salute at the most inappropriate times. Stanley Kubrick directed and apparently used some interesting techniques to get the performances he wanted: he only gave Slim Pickens his scenes so he would totally play his role straight; he got Scott to be so outrageous by telling him those scenes weren't being filmed. Many of Kubrick's films are on my lists, some I have seen and others I will be seeing soon, and they seem to be different genres: action (Full Metal Jacket), science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey), dystopian (A Clockwork Orange), horror/suspense (The Shining, you know I'm looking forward to that one), and I don't know if I have the words or the insight to give you an analysis of his work, but suffice it to say that he was one of the most influential directors of our time, along with Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder, they each have four films on AFI's top 100 list. If you are looking for a thigh slapping movie, I don't think this is it; but if you are looking for something that is funny, satirical, and strangely apropos (think if Donald Trump had the nuclear codes, this is what could happen), then this movie is for you.
9/7/16 The Gruffalo, nominated for Best Animated Short, 2010
If you are looking for something to watch with the kids, or something for them to watch on their own, you know, while you're trying to pay bills or whatever, I totally recommend The Gruffalo (in my head I kept hearing "Mark Ruffalo"), starring my favorite, Helena Bonham Carter as mama squirrel (sorry, as an animated squirrel), James Corden as Mouse, Tom Wilkinson as Fox, John Hurt as Owl and Robbie Coltrane as the Gruffalo. Mother Squirrel is trying to bring back an acorn for her family when she is harassed by a bird; this frightens her children, so she tells them a story about a little mouse who fends off various predators by creating an imaginary creature called a 'gruffalo'. It's a great story about a smaller, weaker creature outsmarting and outwitting bigger, scarier animals by using his mind. The film has a fun story that kids and parents can enjoy (it is based on the book by Julie Donaldson and Axel Scheffler), and I loved the animation. The gruffalo looked like it was inspired by Maurice Sendak's drawings. The winner this year was The Lost Thing which I liked quite a bit as I recall; otherwise, I think The Gruffalo should have won. I found The Gruffalo on Amazon Prime, and I think it was also on Youtube.
9/1/16 Gerald McBoing-Boing, Best Animated Short, 1950, National Film Registry
After you get done watching The Gruffalo, find Gerald McBoing-Boing on Youtube, it's only about 7 minutes long. Gerald is a little boy who can't speak with words, but makes the most fabulous noises: foghorns, whistles, beeps, anything you can imagine. Obviously, this isn't the best way to communicate in the real world, and he did have some challenges, until he met a man who could utilize his special talents, as a sound effects 'man' on the radio. The original story was written by Dr. Seuss, which you would probably figure out from the rhythm of the narration. The narrator is Marvin Miller whose voice may sound familiar as he was the voice of the PA announce in MASH, the voice in some Pink Panther segments, and the narrator for Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, among others. When kids struggle with where they fit in society and with their peers because they're 'different', this is good to watch; everyone fits somewhere and should be appreciated for their uniqueness. Go on, it's seven minutes of your life.
9/8/16 E.T The Extra Terrestrial, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, 1982, #24 AFI, National Film Registry, #91 BBC
E.T. came out in 1982, I was fifteen and earning my curmudgeon stripes at an early age. I saw this movie in the theater and have not seen it again until this past week when I decided to watch again and get it off of my lists. I didn't love it the first time, and I am so sorry, but I didn't love it this time either. I did really get into the last forty minutes of the movie, but the first hour left me disinterested. It's times like this that make me feel like my inner child is stuck in an alternate Dickensian universe where there is no joy. An alien spaceship lands in California and leaves one of its passengers behind (kind of like some parents leave their kids at the roadside gas station 'accidentally'). Anyway, this little being makes its way to the home of ten-year old Elliott and his family, including his mom (Dee Wallace), older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and his little sister, Gertie (a five-year old Drew Barrymore). Adults, and anyone over 10, are portrayed as mean, idiotic or lacking imagination, or a combination. Over a brief period of time, Elliott and E.T. form a bond that becomes a physical type of empathy, Elliott feels what E.T. feels and vice versa. Eventually, the government (which consists of adults) discovers that E.T. exists and they try to take him away, but the symbiosis that it and Elliott have created has taken a toll, when E.T. falls ill. Of course, this is where I was interested and started caring. There are some incredibly iconic moments in the movie, Elliott flying on his bicycle with E.T.; E.T.'s glowing finger reaching out to Elliott; "Phone home", etc. The action in the last forty minutes did get my adrenaline pumping even though I remembered what was going to happen. The score by the great John Williams is electric and has some of his trademark flourishes. I think that the movie does still hold up thirty plus years later, not so much on the technology level (that within the movie and that used on the movie), but on the theme of alienation that Elliott feels, especially after his parents' divorce and how kids are with each other - brothers and sisters don't always get along, but they can come together when necessary, especially against adults, and our interest in alien life forms. So, while the entire movie still doesn't do a lot for me, I see how it can and does appeal to others.
9/10/16 Psycho, 1960 #14 AFI, National Film Registry, #8 BBC
Not gonna lie, I was dreading this movie, I even asked a friend if she would watch it with me. Turns out, I'm a big girl, and having watched several of Alfred Hitchcock's other suspense-filled movies, I realized I would be safe. Psycho is another iconic American movie; even if you have not seen the whole movie (like myself), you have probably seen the scene of Janet Leigh as Marion Crane in the shower getting stabbed. The movie is so much more than that, and it really does have such a great element of suspense; I can only imagine what audiences in 1960 thought as this psychological suspense movie played out in front of their eyes. It's possible I would have cried, well, maybe not cried. Marion Crane is real estate secretary who is entrusted with $40,000 in cash to be deposited in the bank, but instead she heads off to meet her boyfriend, Sam (John Gavin). Without spoiling anything, let's just say she doesn't make it. She stops to spend the night at the Bates Motel, run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his mother. Norman tries to engage Marion in conversation and seems very glad for her company. We never meet Norman's mother, but it's clear she has an influence on him. When Marion doesn't show up at her sister's house (played by Vera Miles), private investigator, Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam) is brought in to find her. So, even though the audience by this time knows what happened to Marion, the rest of the cast is still in the dark. And you will be too because I am not telling you the rest of the plot. What I will tell you is that Anthony Perkins is wonderfully creepy, but you still feel a little sorry for him, he seems so lonely and eager to make friends. Hitchcock does what he does so well and that is build the suspense with a story, and editing and camera angles. The acting isn't overdone, which I do think can happen in some of his films. I may have cheated because I watched the movie in broad daylight, so I didn't have the atmosphere of a dark theater and having to go to bed right after watching it, BUT I did watch it and I did enjoy it. I might even watch it again. It didn't win any Oscars, but it was nominated for a few: Best Director which Hitchcock lost to Billy Wilder for The Apartment, Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh and she lost to Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry, and Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.
9/10/16 Midnight Cowboy, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1969, #43 AFI, National Film Registry
I first watched Midnight Cowboy about ten years ago and hated it. I could not understand what was so great about it; my girlfriend's dad told me that at the time it was revolutionary in its content, it was originally rated X, mainly for its homosexual content. I suppose in the 21st century that is really not that revolutionary. Since I embarked on this project, I decided I wanted to re-watch to try and be fair in a review. I don't think that was necessary. I still didn't like it, although, I suppose I have a better appreciation for Dustin Hoffman's work as Ratso Rizzo (both he and Jon Voight were nominated for Best Actors in the film), but otherwise I probably could have spent those 90+ minutes cleaning. Jon Voight is Texan Joe Buck, a wannabe gigolo whose cowboy outfit seems to get him more attention in New York City's gay community. Joe Buck quickly finds himself out of his depth as he gets hustled by women and men alike. His only ally is Ratso Rizzo, a crippled hustler played by Dustin Hoffman. Directed by John Schlesinger, the movie uses flashbacks to suggest the kind of life that Joe Buck left, raised by a grandmother more concerned with her sex life than him; a girl, Crazy Annie, and I'm not sure what the hell was going on there. There are a lot of quick edits, giving a frenetic feeling to the movie. It is very much of the later 1960s, including members of Andy Warhol's entourage and the loose mores of that period. It was kind of like Shampoo; it may have been groundbreaking at the time, but for me, in this time, it doesn't hold up (sorry Roger Ebert, we have to disagree here). I did, and do, like the song that was used throughout the movie, sung by Harry Nilsson, "Everybody's Talkin' ". Personally, I think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid should have won for Best Picture.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - a weekend with Hobbits, Orcs, Elves and Ents
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
9/2/16 The Fellowship of the Ring, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, 2001, #51 AFI
9/3/16 The Two Towers, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, 2002
9/4/16 The Return of the King, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, 2003
Before I start, I feel like I need to clarify that I actually saw all three movies, when they were released, in the theaters. This is not one of my 'Johnny come lately' moments (I tend to admit that right away). I read the trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien many years ago, and although I am not one of those people who read and re-read books over and over again, it made a huge impression on me, back to the first time I ever heard The Hobbit. My fourth grade teacher, Mr. Rounds (much gratitude to him for being one of the best teachers ever), used to read to us when we came back in from lunch, I think it was meant to calm us down after pretty intense kickball games. I fell in love with the story, watched the animated film, listened to an older cousin as he showed me his map of Middle Earth and explained Elvish to me; it was a little while before I was able to get into reading the books for myself, but when I did, I was so sad when it was over. Tolkien had an incredible ability to create a universe with so much detail you felt it was real; characters that came alive with their heroism, humor and frailty; and a story line where a character, no matter how large, small, magical or mortal, has a role to play. SO when I heard these movies were going to be made back in the early 2000s, I was ecstatic, but nervous. How could anyone put onto a screen what Tolkien had created in my mind? I probably don't need to tell you, but Peter Jackson not only did it once, but three times.
Each film corresponds to one of the trilogy, there is no doubling up (or tripling up) like Jackson did for The Hobbit. Jackson filmed all three movies at the same time, or consecutively, or put another way, he didn't wait years between each film; I think this helped with the continuity of the movies, the actors weren't 5 or 10 years older. Ian Holm is featured as Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit who starts it all in The Hobbit and Elijah Wood is his nephew Frodo. In The Hobbit, Bilbo brought back a magical ring, stolen from Gollum/Smeagol; The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the story of the return and ultimate destruction of the ring. Frodo inherits the ring from Bilbo and when Gandalf determines that it is best for the ring to be destroyed, Frodo sets off with his friends Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Pippin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan). Along the way, they meet Strider/Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), Boromir (Sean Bean), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies), among many, but this is the 'fellowship of the ring'. The best bet for success is to split of the group, and the story branches off into three main parts: Frodo and Samwise; Merry and Pip; and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli; Gandalf appears when needed. There is way too much to try and recap here, and I'm not even going to try; besides, you probably already know or you haven't read or seen the movies and I'm not going to ruin it for you.What you do need to know is that there is a lot of suspense, incredible effects (I mean, it won the Oscar three times for Best Visual Effects), battle scenes that will have you swinging your imaginary battleaxe, and some humor, usually found in the banter between Legolas and Gimli or with Pippin and Merry. If you read the blog regularly, you may know that I tend to be biased against long movies unless there is a point. Well, these are not short, by any stretch, in fact the last of the trilogy is over three hours, and I did NOT care. I didn't want them to end. There are times I didn't like the pacing of the different plot lines because I didn't want to leave Aragorn and the others to go wandering with Frodo and Sam, but then I got back into it, other times I was less interested in Merry and Pippin, but then the Ent (I love the Ents), Treebeard, appears and I'm caught up again; I hated the battles because the 'good guys' were always facing overwhelming odds, but then, you know, magic would happen, and then I didn't want the battles to end. Seriously, Jackson takes you on one helluva roller coaster ride and you don't want to get off. This might have been the perfect storm as far as movies go, because I think the cast is perfect, I can't imagine anyone else as Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, etc. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Andy Serkis as Gollum who broke ground as a motion-capture actor, in fact there was some talk that he should have been nominated for an Oscar, or maybe a special Oscar, for his performance. The main cast is superb, and the supporting cast is also just amazing, with Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Lord Elrond, Christoper Lee as Saruman, and the list goes on.
I really can't say if the movies were 100% faithful to the books, to my recollection, they were faithful enough for me; there are people who can speak to that better than I. I just know the movies and books are absolutely magical. My complaint or what I take issue with is that the movies are shown on cable just about every 90 days or so. I just think that dilutes everything, and unless they show it without commercials (insert HUGE belly laugh), they are making them LONGER, or speeding up the film to make it shorter (or whatever the technical term is). BOO! I had the DVDs (thanks friends for not charging an overdue fee) and it was perfect (well, perfect was on the big screen, but this worked). I think I will put the books on the reading list and let Tolkien work his magic again.
This probably isn't my typical review, but I really didn't know how to review these epics that I love so much. Maybe that's the review? At least it's better than the movies that get the one sentence review, right?
9/2/16 The Fellowship of the Ring, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, 2001, #51 AFI
9/3/16 The Two Towers, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, 2002
9/4/16 The Return of the King, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, 2003
Before I start, I feel like I need to clarify that I actually saw all three movies, when they were released, in the theaters. This is not one of my 'Johnny come lately' moments (I tend to admit that right away). I read the trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien many years ago, and although I am not one of those people who read and re-read books over and over again, it made a huge impression on me, back to the first time I ever heard The Hobbit. My fourth grade teacher, Mr. Rounds (much gratitude to him for being one of the best teachers ever), used to read to us when we came back in from lunch, I think it was meant to calm us down after pretty intense kickball games. I fell in love with the story, watched the animated film, listened to an older cousin as he showed me his map of Middle Earth and explained Elvish to me; it was a little while before I was able to get into reading the books for myself, but when I did, I was so sad when it was over. Tolkien had an incredible ability to create a universe with so much detail you felt it was real; characters that came alive with their heroism, humor and frailty; and a story line where a character, no matter how large, small, magical or mortal, has a role to play. SO when I heard these movies were going to be made back in the early 2000s, I was ecstatic, but nervous. How could anyone put onto a screen what Tolkien had created in my mind? I probably don't need to tell you, but Peter Jackson not only did it once, but three times.
Each film corresponds to one of the trilogy, there is no doubling up (or tripling up) like Jackson did for The Hobbit. Jackson filmed all three movies at the same time, or consecutively, or put another way, he didn't wait years between each film; I think this helped with the continuity of the movies, the actors weren't 5 or 10 years older. Ian Holm is featured as Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit who starts it all in The Hobbit and Elijah Wood is his nephew Frodo. In The Hobbit, Bilbo brought back a magical ring, stolen from Gollum/Smeagol; The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the story of the return and ultimate destruction of the ring. Frodo inherits the ring from Bilbo and when Gandalf determines that it is best for the ring to be destroyed, Frodo sets off with his friends Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Pippin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan). Along the way, they meet Strider/Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), Boromir (Sean Bean), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies), among many, but this is the 'fellowship of the ring'. The best bet for success is to split of the group, and the story branches off into three main parts: Frodo and Samwise; Merry and Pip; and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli; Gandalf appears when needed. There is way too much to try and recap here, and I'm not even going to try; besides, you probably already know or you haven't read or seen the movies and I'm not going to ruin it for you.What you do need to know is that there is a lot of suspense, incredible effects (I mean, it won the Oscar three times for Best Visual Effects), battle scenes that will have you swinging your imaginary battleaxe, and some humor, usually found in the banter between Legolas and Gimli or with Pippin and Merry. If you read the blog regularly, you may know that I tend to be biased against long movies unless there is a point. Well, these are not short, by any stretch, in fact the last of the trilogy is over three hours, and I did NOT care. I didn't want them to end. There are times I didn't like the pacing of the different plot lines because I didn't want to leave Aragorn and the others to go wandering with Frodo and Sam, but then I got back into it, other times I was less interested in Merry and Pippin, but then the Ent (I love the Ents), Treebeard, appears and I'm caught up again; I hated the battles because the 'good guys' were always facing overwhelming odds, but then, you know, magic would happen, and then I didn't want the battles to end. Seriously, Jackson takes you on one helluva roller coaster ride and you don't want to get off. This might have been the perfect storm as far as movies go, because I think the cast is perfect, I can't imagine anyone else as Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, etc. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Andy Serkis as Gollum who broke ground as a motion-capture actor, in fact there was some talk that he should have been nominated for an Oscar, or maybe a special Oscar, for his performance. The main cast is superb, and the supporting cast is also just amazing, with Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Lord Elrond, Christoper Lee as Saruman, and the list goes on.
I really can't say if the movies were 100% faithful to the books, to my recollection, they were faithful enough for me; there are people who can speak to that better than I. I just know the movies and books are absolutely magical. My complaint or what I take issue with is that the movies are shown on cable just about every 90 days or so. I just think that dilutes everything, and unless they show it without commercials (insert HUGE belly laugh), they are making them LONGER, or speeding up the film to make it shorter (or whatever the technical term is). BOO! I had the DVDs (thanks friends for not charging an overdue fee) and it was perfect (well, perfect was on the big screen, but this worked). I think I will put the books on the reading list and let Tolkien work his magic again.
This probably isn't my typical review, but I really didn't know how to review these epics that I love so much. Maybe that's the review? At least it's better than the movies that get the one sentence review, right?
Buster Keaton in The General, Montgomery Clift & Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun, A Sixth Sense and The Boss!
8/27/16 The General, 1926 #18 AFI, National Film Registry
I have watched several silent movies that I have enjoyed, All Quiet on the Western Front, Wings, Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans, City Lights (most Chaplin to be honest), and while I appreciated Buster Keaton's stunt work, I really didn't care for The General. The General is set during the opening days of the Civil War and Keaton is an engineer on a train based in the South. Some Northern troop are trying to sneak up to a Southern encampment and are doing this by stealing Keaton's engine; then he steals it back, and there's a girl involved. I don't know, my mind wandered. I may be missing something (I get that Keaton did his own stunts and they were pretty incredible, but I do not understand why this is on AFI's list of best 100 films, and I couldn't find any write up as to why). We'll just agree to disagree (check out Chaplin's Modern Times).
8/27/16 A Place in the Sun, Best Director, Best Cinematography (B&W), Best Costume Design (B&W), Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Writing - Screenplay, 1951, National Film Registry, #48 BBC
Watching A Place in the Sun in 2016 occasionally seems anachronistic, although the story of a poor boy caught between two worlds is also universal and timeless. To get the particulars out of the way so I don't forget: Montgomery Clift is George Eastman, the poor boy referenced above; Shelley Winters is Alice Tripp, a factory girl; a 17 year-old Elizabeth Taylor (in her first movie with Montgomery Clift) as Angela Vickers; Raymond Burr is District Attorney Frank Marlowe. George Stevens (Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, Swingtime) directed and won an Oscar. The movie was based on the book An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. George Eastman is the poor relative of Charles Eastman, a rich industrialist (we know they at least make bathing suits), and while Charles seems happy to have him as part of the family, the rest of the clan is not impressed. George goes to work on an assembly line and meets Alice. Despite the rules of not socializing, Alice and George began a covert relationship. Things seem to go swimmingly until George meets Angela Vickers, and the complications begin. He tries to lead a double life, not letting Alice know that he enjoys spending time with the social elite, and with Angela. You can imagine things don't go well if one of the lead roles is a district attorney, but to avoid spoiling anything, I'll stop here with the plot summary. I will tell you that the movie is worth watching for the three marquee actors; Taylor considered this her first 'grown up' film and the beginning of a life long friendship with Clift; Winters went totally against type,she was previously known for sexy roles, and probably began a new career path as a character driven actress; Clift is incredible to watch, at one point he just starts breaking out in a sweat, no make up involved (if you watch Judgement at Nuremberg, you cannot help but be moved by his performance on the witness stand). I really felt that Raymond Burr was ridiculously melodramatic and I believed his character least of all. The story may not hold up in our 21st century world, and it's not as dated as some movies (Shampoo always leaps to mind, and not in a good way) but I think the acting does
8/27/16 The Boss, 2016, not yet nominated
I know what you're thinking, one of these things is not like the other. The other movies are Oscar winners, on the national film registry or AFI's best 100 films. And then I go and mess with your head and include The Boss starring Melissa McCarthy as the titular boss, Michelle Darnell and Kristen Bell as her underappreciated assistant, Claire. Michelle Darnelle is like Martha Stewart on steroids; she is sent to federal prison after her former lover, Reynaud (Peter Dinklage) turns her into the Federal Trade Commission for insider trading and she loses everything. We don't spend a lot of time inside the prison, although I can't help but feel that could be pretty hilarious. Michelle winds up living with Claire and her daughter, Rachel and getting caught up in Rachel's Dandelion Troop and their annual cookie sales. Michelle founds a competing troop that sells Claire's brownies. There is a street fight with the Dandelions and Michelle's girls that shows some fierce fight moves. There is physical humor (a forte of McCarthy's) as well as some sexual references and some very funny stuff. I am a sucker for a Melissa McCarthy movie because I think she is fearless, she will do anything it takes to get the laugh; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't I think it works in The Boss. Bell as Claire is a great foil, playing it straight and serious, trying to get Michelle to live in the real world, and doing what she needs to do for her daughter. Reynaud (Dinklage) goes toe to toe with Michelle, and Dinklage is as fearless as McCarthy. McCarthy co-wrote the movie with her husband and frequent collaborator, Ben Falcone; Falcone also directed. Admittedly, this pairing has not always delivered what was expected (Tammy), but I think this attempt worked. I had several laugh out loud moments. A friend of mine often rates movies on was he entertained or not; I was definitely entertained. So while this may not be nominated for any Oscars, I would recommend it for a Saturday night.
8/28/16 The Sixth Sense, 1999 #89 AFI
It was The Sixth Sense's bad luck that it was released the same year as American Beauty, because otherwise it may have won at least one Oscar. In case you have not seen it yet (really? I've seen it before, so you have no excuse), I will try not to reveal too much because it is a well-crafted suspense story. Wikipedia describes it as a supernatural horror-thriller, which has at least two words that turn me off right away and why it took me so long to watch it the first time. Bruce Willis is Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, and he is married to Anna (Olivia Williams). We get the feeling that Dr. Crowe often puts his patients ahead of his wife. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment in an Oscar-nominated role) is a troubled young man who is a loner in spite of his mother's best efforts. Mom is played by Toni Collette and she was also nominated for an Oscar. Cole gets scratches from unknown sources, the heat goes off in their house, the dog freaks out for no apparent reason. Enter Dr. Crowe. Slowly Crowe builds trust with Cole and Cole shares his secret - he sees dead people (one of the top movie quotes, on AFI's list). As Crowe works with this knowledge, he is also experiencing issues at home, his wife won't speak to him. I don't want to tell you anymore in case I spoil it. So enough plot, now my review. After I watched it the first time, I liked it; the second time - I really liked it. I appreciated the storytelling and suspense element so much more, especially when I realized that 'horror' is not the right word to describe this movie. Willis is really good as Dr. Crowe, not at all like his Die Hard character; Collette went on to play other mom roles, she relates really well to her movie kids (The Way Way Back, Little Miss Sunshine, Jesus Henry Christ) and you can feel how much her character loves her son even though she is absolutely baffled by how to deal with him; and Haley Joel Osment really nails the role of Cole, his fear, his desire to fit in, his inability to convey what he is feeling and experiencing; he seems very natural in his interactions with Willis and Collette. There are a lot of 'hints' in the movie about what is happening, which I missed the first time, and I probably missed a few the second time. I never thought I would watch this movie again, but I am really glad I did, and I would watch it a third time as well. If you have not seen this (again - WHAT?) this is a great movie for the upcoming autumn (oh my gosh, I can't believe it's coming), perhaps for Halloween? I just re-read this and realized I did not mention the writer/director of the movie, M. Night Shyamalan. I haven't seen any of his other films because they haven't interested me, or they seem to fall into that 'horror' genre, hence, I don't watch them. But he did a great job here.
I have watched several silent movies that I have enjoyed, All Quiet on the Western Front, Wings, Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans, City Lights (most Chaplin to be honest), and while I appreciated Buster Keaton's stunt work, I really didn't care for The General. The General is set during the opening days of the Civil War and Keaton is an engineer on a train based in the South. Some Northern troop are trying to sneak up to a Southern encampment and are doing this by stealing Keaton's engine; then he steals it back, and there's a girl involved. I don't know, my mind wandered. I may be missing something (I get that Keaton did his own stunts and they were pretty incredible, but I do not understand why this is on AFI's list of best 100 films, and I couldn't find any write up as to why). We'll just agree to disagree (check out Chaplin's Modern Times).
8/27/16 A Place in the Sun, Best Director, Best Cinematography (B&W), Best Costume Design (B&W), Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Writing - Screenplay, 1951, National Film Registry, #48 BBC
Watching A Place in the Sun in 2016 occasionally seems anachronistic, although the story of a poor boy caught between two worlds is also universal and timeless. To get the particulars out of the way so I don't forget: Montgomery Clift is George Eastman, the poor boy referenced above; Shelley Winters is Alice Tripp, a factory girl; a 17 year-old Elizabeth Taylor (in her first movie with Montgomery Clift) as Angela Vickers; Raymond Burr is District Attorney Frank Marlowe. George Stevens (Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, Swingtime) directed and won an Oscar. The movie was based on the book An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. George Eastman is the poor relative of Charles Eastman, a rich industrialist (we know they at least make bathing suits), and while Charles seems happy to have him as part of the family, the rest of the clan is not impressed. George goes to work on an assembly line and meets Alice. Despite the rules of not socializing, Alice and George began a covert relationship. Things seem to go swimmingly until George meets Angela Vickers, and the complications begin. He tries to lead a double life, not letting Alice know that he enjoys spending time with the social elite, and with Angela. You can imagine things don't go well if one of the lead roles is a district attorney, but to avoid spoiling anything, I'll stop here with the plot summary. I will tell you that the movie is worth watching for the three marquee actors; Taylor considered this her first 'grown up' film and the beginning of a life long friendship with Clift; Winters went totally against type,she was previously known for sexy roles, and probably began a new career path as a character driven actress; Clift is incredible to watch, at one point he just starts breaking out in a sweat, no make up involved (if you watch Judgement at Nuremberg, you cannot help but be moved by his performance on the witness stand). I really felt that Raymond Burr was ridiculously melodramatic and I believed his character least of all. The story may not hold up in our 21st century world, and it's not as dated as some movies (Shampoo always leaps to mind, and not in a good way) but I think the acting does
8/27/16 The Boss, 2016, not yet nominated
I know what you're thinking, one of these things is not like the other. The other movies are Oscar winners, on the national film registry or AFI's best 100 films. And then I go and mess with your head and include The Boss starring Melissa McCarthy as the titular boss, Michelle Darnell and Kristen Bell as her underappreciated assistant, Claire. Michelle Darnelle is like Martha Stewart on steroids; she is sent to federal prison after her former lover, Reynaud (Peter Dinklage) turns her into the Federal Trade Commission for insider trading and she loses everything. We don't spend a lot of time inside the prison, although I can't help but feel that could be pretty hilarious. Michelle winds up living with Claire and her daughter, Rachel and getting caught up in Rachel's Dandelion Troop and their annual cookie sales. Michelle founds a competing troop that sells Claire's brownies. There is a street fight with the Dandelions and Michelle's girls that shows some fierce fight moves. There is physical humor (a forte of McCarthy's) as well as some sexual references and some very funny stuff. I am a sucker for a Melissa McCarthy movie because I think she is fearless, she will do anything it takes to get the laugh; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't I think it works in The Boss. Bell as Claire is a great foil, playing it straight and serious, trying to get Michelle to live in the real world, and doing what she needs to do for her daughter. Reynaud (Dinklage) goes toe to toe with Michelle, and Dinklage is as fearless as McCarthy. McCarthy co-wrote the movie with her husband and frequent collaborator, Ben Falcone; Falcone also directed. Admittedly, this pairing has not always delivered what was expected (Tammy), but I think this attempt worked. I had several laugh out loud moments. A friend of mine often rates movies on was he entertained or not; I was definitely entertained. So while this may not be nominated for any Oscars, I would recommend it for a Saturday night.
8/28/16 The Sixth Sense, 1999 #89 AFI
It was The Sixth Sense's bad luck that it was released the same year as American Beauty, because otherwise it may have won at least one Oscar. In case you have not seen it yet (really? I've seen it before, so you have no excuse), I will try not to reveal too much because it is a well-crafted suspense story. Wikipedia describes it as a supernatural horror-thriller, which has at least two words that turn me off right away and why it took me so long to watch it the first time. Bruce Willis is Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, and he is married to Anna (Olivia Williams). We get the feeling that Dr. Crowe often puts his patients ahead of his wife. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment in an Oscar-nominated role) is a troubled young man who is a loner in spite of his mother's best efforts. Mom is played by Toni Collette and she was also nominated for an Oscar. Cole gets scratches from unknown sources, the heat goes off in their house, the dog freaks out for no apparent reason. Enter Dr. Crowe. Slowly Crowe builds trust with Cole and Cole shares his secret - he sees dead people (one of the top movie quotes, on AFI's list). As Crowe works with this knowledge, he is also experiencing issues at home, his wife won't speak to him. I don't want to tell you anymore in case I spoil it. So enough plot, now my review. After I watched it the first time, I liked it; the second time - I really liked it. I appreciated the storytelling and suspense element so much more, especially when I realized that 'horror' is not the right word to describe this movie. Willis is really good as Dr. Crowe, not at all like his Die Hard character; Collette went on to play other mom roles, she relates really well to her movie kids (The Way Way Back, Little Miss Sunshine, Jesus Henry Christ) and you can feel how much her character loves her son even though she is absolutely baffled by how to deal with him; and Haley Joel Osment really nails the role of Cole, his fear, his desire to fit in, his inability to convey what he is feeling and experiencing; he seems very natural in his interactions with Willis and Collette. There are a lot of 'hints' in the movie about what is happening, which I missed the first time, and I probably missed a few the second time. I never thought I would watch this movie again, but I am really glad I did, and I would watch it a third time as well. If you have not seen this (again - WHAT?) this is a great movie for the upcoming autumn (oh my gosh, I can't believe it's coming), perhaps for Halloween? I just re-read this and realized I did not mention the writer/director of the movie, M. Night Shyamalan. I haven't seen any of his other films because they haven't interested me, or they seem to fall into that 'horror' genre, hence, I don't watch them. But he did a great job here.
Race, Singin' in the Rain, M.A.S.H. and All the President's Men
7/31/16 Race, not yet nominated 2016
Race is the story of Jesse Owens' (Stephan James) journey to and experience at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Some historical background: Owens' family moved from Alabama to Cleveland, and Jesse essentially spent his formative years in Cleveland, Ohio, and then ran at The Ohio State University. The movie spends some time on his college racing career and his coach, Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis), and then moves to the Olympics in an increasingly hostile and racist and anti-Semitic Germany. Owens considered not going to the Olympics because of the conditions. German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (Carice van Houten), who filmed the Olympics as part of a larger propaganda scheme is in the film and acts as an interpreter/translator between Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons) and propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. I don't know if that really happened, but it helps to connect the different personalities and introduces the character of Hitler even if there is no dialog from him. The movie gives us a very small glimpse into the Nazi world that Hitler was creating, and just a small look at what Jesse Owens had to deal with, overcoming the odds, the pressure to win four gold medals. There was a little bit of the relationship that Owens had with Carl "Luz" Long in the long jump competition, but as with most of the movie, I was left wanting more. I'm a little familiar with Jesse Owens's story, so I was hoping for something more, something visceral to really convey the racism he had to face, trying to balance his love for his sport and his country, but also survive in a country where racism was still quite systemic. I didn't get that. I got a little, but not enough. I wanted some of those moments I got from Selma which left me in tears and with chills. I wanted to come away with the sense of enormity with what he did. Now we think nothing of it that athletes participate in two, three or four Olympics, but back in the days before financial support and training opportunities, that just wasn't feasible for most people, so four gold medals in one Olympics was momentous. It was good, and this is the perfect time to watch it since Track and Field is happening in the Olympics now.
8/6/16 All the President's Men, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, 1976, #77 AFI, National Film Registry
Released a few years after the events it covers (the break in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters, the subsequent cover up and the eventual resignation of President Nixon), most people viewing were probably more than well-versed in what was happening in the country at the time. Watching it forty years later, it may be more 'educational' on investigative reporting or a Clif's notes version of the 1970s, and an interesting look at a young Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. It's a fitting predecessor to the winner of the 2016 Best Picture winner Spotlight. I can watch All the President's Men over and over because there is always something I missed or didn't make the connection, or I've learned something new about the time frame and now it makes sense in the context of the movie. I love the story, I really like seeing the process of the research and digging into the sources; Redford as Bob Woodward and Hoffman as Carl Bernstein are good (I don't know enough about the real people to say how accurate they are); Jason Robards (love him) as executive editor Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It occurred to me that some people may think this Watergate stuff is tame compared to the craziness going on this year (heaven help us all), but I think it shows the power of the press and the importance of a free press and the ability to turn over the rocks.
8/9/16 M.A.S.H., Best Adapted Screenplay, 1971, #54 AFI, National Film Registry
Before I ever knew there was a move M.A.S.H., my father subjected me to the television series (I say 'subjected', but it ultimately became one of my favorite television shows). There are similarities, but the television show gave the characters time to develop and evolve and for the viewers to learn more about their personal lives. The familiar opening tune in the television series is actually a whole song called "Suicide is Painless"; we also get the loudspeaker announcements. M.A.S.H. was directed by Robert Altman, which I did not know, and after I learned that, the flow of the movie makes sense. Based on the other Altman films I've seen (Nashville, Prairie Home Companion, Gosford Park), there may not be an obvious plotline, but if there is, it is connected by little vignettes, mini-movies within the larger movie. Characters like Hawkeye (Donald Sutherand), Trapper John (Elliott Gould), Henry Blake (Roger Bowen), Radar (Gary Burghoff - the only actor to go from the movie to television series), Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and Hot Lips Houlihan (Sally Kellerman), sorry folks, no Max Klinger. We don't get as much in the operating theater as we did in the television series; it's there, but the action is focused on the hijinks and trouble that Hawkeye, Trapper John and co. can get into, whether that is revealing Hot Lips in the shower, rigging a football game, driving Frank Burns crazy. It's not my favorite Altman movie, I like it, but I still prefer the television series.
8/13/16 Singin' In the Rain, 1952 #5 AFI, National Film Registry, #7 BBC
I haven't done a detailed study, but this may be the only movie that did NOT win an Oscar, but is on my three lists. That seems really crazy. It didn't win a single Oscar. Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Betcha didn't see that coming. Singin' In the Rain holds up after almost 65 years. Gene Kelly is Don Lockwood a vaudevillian turned stunt man turned actor; Donald O'Connor is Cosmo Brown, his friend and a huge comedic asset to the film; Debbie Reynolds is Kathy Selden an aspiring actress and singer who becomes romantically involved with Lockwood. The story (basically) is a re-telling of Hollywood's transition from silent pictures to the talkies; many actors and actresses were left behind because their voices did not translate to the silver screen. Lockwood and Lamont are working on a movie together when the new talkie technology and The Jazz Singer appear on the scene. R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) is the head of Monumental Pictures and he wants to make a talking picture. It doesn't take too long before everyone realizes that Lina Lamont may not be made for this new invention. This narrative is built around music and dance breaks which are worth watching alone. Kelly and O'Connor are great together, O'Connor is funny and comedic, but he matches Kelly step for step. "Good Morning", "Make 'em Laugh"and "Singin' in the Rain" and "Broadway Melody Ballet" are just spectacular. Fred Astaire was suave, debonair and elegant and Gene Kelly was suave, but athletic as well. The story is funny, it actually worked and held my interest, contrary to Swingtime which kind of bored me unless Astaire and Rogers were dancing. Jean Hagen really nails the character of Lina Lamont; Reynolds sounds superb and hangs with O'Connor and Kelly (I did read that she wasn't that much of a dancer and that Kelly, who directed the dance scenes, was tough on her); it's beautifully filmed, colorful without being gaudy and nauseating. It's one of the few movies I could watch over and over. It's great for family movie night.
Race is the story of Jesse Owens' (Stephan James) journey to and experience at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Some historical background: Owens' family moved from Alabama to Cleveland, and Jesse essentially spent his formative years in Cleveland, Ohio, and then ran at The Ohio State University. The movie spends some time on his college racing career and his coach, Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis), and then moves to the Olympics in an increasingly hostile and racist and anti-Semitic Germany. Owens considered not going to the Olympics because of the conditions. German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (Carice van Houten), who filmed the Olympics as part of a larger propaganda scheme is in the film and acts as an interpreter/translator between Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons) and propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. I don't know if that really happened, but it helps to connect the different personalities and introduces the character of Hitler even if there is no dialog from him. The movie gives us a very small glimpse into the Nazi world that Hitler was creating, and just a small look at what Jesse Owens had to deal with, overcoming the odds, the pressure to win four gold medals. There was a little bit of the relationship that Owens had with Carl "Luz" Long in the long jump competition, but as with most of the movie, I was left wanting more. I'm a little familiar with Jesse Owens's story, so I was hoping for something more, something visceral to really convey the racism he had to face, trying to balance his love for his sport and his country, but also survive in a country where racism was still quite systemic. I didn't get that. I got a little, but not enough. I wanted some of those moments I got from Selma which left me in tears and with chills. I wanted to come away with the sense of enormity with what he did. Now we think nothing of it that athletes participate in two, three or four Olympics, but back in the days before financial support and training opportunities, that just wasn't feasible for most people, so four gold medals in one Olympics was momentous. It was good, and this is the perfect time to watch it since Track and Field is happening in the Olympics now.
8/6/16 All the President's Men, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, 1976, #77 AFI, National Film Registry
Released a few years after the events it covers (the break in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters, the subsequent cover up and the eventual resignation of President Nixon), most people viewing were probably more than well-versed in what was happening in the country at the time. Watching it forty years later, it may be more 'educational' on investigative reporting or a Clif's notes version of the 1970s, and an interesting look at a young Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. It's a fitting predecessor to the winner of the 2016 Best Picture winner Spotlight. I can watch All the President's Men over and over because there is always something I missed or didn't make the connection, or I've learned something new about the time frame and now it makes sense in the context of the movie. I love the story, I really like seeing the process of the research and digging into the sources; Redford as Bob Woodward and Hoffman as Carl Bernstein are good (I don't know enough about the real people to say how accurate they are); Jason Robards (love him) as executive editor Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It occurred to me that some people may think this Watergate stuff is tame compared to the craziness going on this year (heaven help us all), but I think it shows the power of the press and the importance of a free press and the ability to turn over the rocks.
8/9/16 M.A.S.H., Best Adapted Screenplay, 1971, #54 AFI, National Film Registry
Before I ever knew there was a move M.A.S.H., my father subjected me to the television series (I say 'subjected', but it ultimately became one of my favorite television shows). There are similarities, but the television show gave the characters time to develop and evolve and for the viewers to learn more about their personal lives. The familiar opening tune in the television series is actually a whole song called "Suicide is Painless"; we also get the loudspeaker announcements. M.A.S.H. was directed by Robert Altman, which I did not know, and after I learned that, the flow of the movie makes sense. Based on the other Altman films I've seen (Nashville, Prairie Home Companion, Gosford Park), there may not be an obvious plotline, but if there is, it is connected by little vignettes, mini-movies within the larger movie. Characters like Hawkeye (Donald Sutherand), Trapper John (Elliott Gould), Henry Blake (Roger Bowen), Radar (Gary Burghoff - the only actor to go from the movie to television series), Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and Hot Lips Houlihan (Sally Kellerman), sorry folks, no Max Klinger. We don't get as much in the operating theater as we did in the television series; it's there, but the action is focused on the hijinks and trouble that Hawkeye, Trapper John and co. can get into, whether that is revealing Hot Lips in the shower, rigging a football game, driving Frank Burns crazy. It's not my favorite Altman movie, I like it, but I still prefer the television series.
8/13/16 Singin' In the Rain, 1952 #5 AFI, National Film Registry, #7 BBC
I haven't done a detailed study, but this may be the only movie that did NOT win an Oscar, but is on my three lists. That seems really crazy. It didn't win a single Oscar. Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Betcha didn't see that coming. Singin' In the Rain holds up after almost 65 years. Gene Kelly is Don Lockwood a vaudevillian turned stunt man turned actor; Donald O'Connor is Cosmo Brown, his friend and a huge comedic asset to the film; Debbie Reynolds is Kathy Selden an aspiring actress and singer who becomes romantically involved with Lockwood. The story (basically) is a re-telling of Hollywood's transition from silent pictures to the talkies; many actors and actresses were left behind because their voices did not translate to the silver screen. Lockwood and Lamont are working on a movie together when the new talkie technology and The Jazz Singer appear on the scene. R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) is the head of Monumental Pictures and he wants to make a talking picture. It doesn't take too long before everyone realizes that Lina Lamont may not be made for this new invention. This narrative is built around music and dance breaks which are worth watching alone. Kelly and O'Connor are great together, O'Connor is funny and comedic, but he matches Kelly step for step. "Good Morning", "Make 'em Laugh"and "Singin' in the Rain" and "Broadway Melody Ballet" are just spectacular. Fred Astaire was suave, debonair and elegant and Gene Kelly was suave, but athletic as well. The story is funny, it actually worked and held my interest, contrary to Swingtime which kind of bored me unless Astaire and Rogers were dancing. Jean Hagen really nails the character of Lina Lamont; Reynolds sounds superb and hangs with O'Connor and Kelly (I did read that she wasn't that much of a dancer and that Kelly, who directed the dance scenes, was tough on her); it's beautifully filmed, colorful without being gaudy and nauseating. It's one of the few movies I could watch over and over. It's great for family movie night.
Ben-Hur, Groundhog Day and An Inconvenient Truth - movies for every occasion
7/3/16 Ben-Hur, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction - Color, Best Cinematography - Color, Best Costume Design - Color, Best Special Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Drama or Comedy, Best Sound Recording, 1959, #100 AFI, National Film Registry
A remake of Ben-Hur is coming out soon. I don't know why, I would imagine the comparisons to the 1959 Oscar-winning movie (11 wins), and Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur are going to be inevitable. It's possible that the only knowledge that young movie goers have of Ben-Hur is from the famous chariot racing scene which always seems to be included in any montage tribute to classic films. I have classified Ben-Hur as a 'religious' film in my tags, but it's not as religious (to me) as The Greatest Story Ever Told or Jesus of Nazareth, in fact the religious awakening/awareness don't come until the last 20-30 minutes of the film. Charlton Heston had himself one helluva a career in just two movies with The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (I mean, he did more than that, obviously, but if he only made two, I would have picked these two). Heston plays Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish merchant in Judea. Judah's childhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), a Roman, returns to Judea as a tribune. Messala wants to use his friendship with Judah, and Judah's influence, to calm the Jews and get them to tow the line. Judah cannot bring himself to do this, and through a series of events, Judah is sent as a slave on a galley ship. Roman Consul Quintus Arrias (English actor Jack Hawkins) takes an interest in this slave who seems determined and focused and unbent by the extreme physical exertion of rowing. Arrias eventually adopts Ben-Hur (this was actually not uncommon in Roman culture) and trains him as a charioteer. The opportunity arises for Ben-Hur to race against Messala, who has since imprisoned Ben-Hur's mother and sister, and is his mortal enemy. This is the scene I referenced above, and I'm not sure how to describe it, or if I even could in a way that would do it justice. After the race, Judah discovers that his mother and sister are no longer imprisoned, but in a leper colony. Around this same time, Jesus is traveling and preaching through Jerusalem, ultimately being put on trial by Pontius Pilate. The scene of Jesus walking through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the crucifix does not focus on Jesus, but on Judah watching Jesus, even trying to give him a drink of water. Judah's family experiences a miracle after the Crucifixion, and the anger and hate that Judah had been feeling dissipate. As you faithful readers know, I generally dislike long movies on principle, and while I think this movie could have been a little shorter, I didn't mind because it was so well-done. William Wyler directed (Roman Holiday, The Best Years of Our Lives, Mrs. Miniver, Wuthering Heights to name a few) and he did a spectacular job, combining the action of battle scenes and chariot races with gorgeous sets and magnificent cinematography, plus getting wonderful performances from the actors. The movie won Best Picture and Wyler won Best Director. Heston won Best Actor. It also won several other Oscars and is #100 on the AFI list and on the national film registry. There is an earlier, silent version of Ben-Hur which is also on the national film registry, and that disk was included in the set from the library, but I ran out of time and had to return it. Also, my brother was coming for a visit and love is not making your 22 year old brother watch a two hour silent movie. I don't know if I will see the new version coming out, perhaps if it's nominated.
7/23/16 An Inconvenient Truth, Best Documentary, Best Original Song, 2006
After all these years, I do not understand how anyone with a critical thinking brain cell can deny climate change and the impact that humans have on this planet. After watching An Inconvenient Truth, I feel even more strongly about that. This is really Al Gore's movie, he presents to audiences around the world on global warming, using powerful graphics, his Southern accent and facts that seem to have been burned into his brain. He is as comfortable talking and explaining the science behind global warming as if he was chatting to friends around a picnic table. Around the scenes of his actual presentation, former Vice President Gore talks about certain events in his life that have had a long lasting impact on his life: his sister's death from cancer brought on by a lifetime of smoking, his son's accident that helped him refocus his priorities, and teachers who influenced him. Gore is not a recent convert to environmental issues, he has been an advocate since he was a congressman from Tennessee in the late 1970s. The movie is ten years old, which is hard to believe, but it's probably more relevant and important today than even when it was released. Gore isn't all doom and gloom, he points out that if we all make incremental changes, the affect can still be felt. It's not too late, but we have to act now. The movie was written by Al Gore and directed by Davis Guggenheim (He Named Her Malala); it also won the Oscar for Best Original Song, "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge. I encourage you to watch this movie as well as a few others about our planet: Racing Extinction, Merchants of Doubt, which requires you to wear your critical thinking cap, and Chasing Ice. These are just a few, but they are powerful in the how they portray what is happening to this planet. For crying out loud, if we can bring Earth to the very brink of destruction in less than 200 years, what hope do we have on some future home, whether it's Mars or some undiscovered sphere?
7/30/16 Boy & the World, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2015
Watching Boy & the World turned into a 'list exercise' meaning I finished watching it because it was on the list of nominated films for 2015 and, in fact, was the last film on the list. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature, Inside Out was the winner. I'm not going to lie, the movie did not hold my interest at all, I can't even give you a synopsis, except to say that it would have made a good short film, but 90 minutes was too long for me. There was virtually no dialogue, and perhaps that added to its appeal, I don't know. I didn't hate it, I just didn't care. Sorry.
7/30/16 Groundhog Day, 1993, National Film Registry, #71 BBC
Since watching the Ghostbusters remake last week, I have yet to watch the original, but in an effort to make up for that, I did watch Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and directed by Harold Ramis. That kind of counts for something, doesn't it? Groundhog Day did not win any Oscars, but it did land a place on the National Film Registry as well as on the BBC's list of the top 100 American films. It has also landed a place in our lexicon when people find themselves doing the same thing over and over (or it feels like it), they say something like, "It's like Groundhog Day." I know I have. Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an snide, arrogant weatherman in Pittsburgh, who goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to wait for the groundhog to come up and see his shadow. Along for the fun are his producer Rite (Andie McDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott). After watching the groundhog come out and see his shadow, the crew try to head back to Pittsburgh, but are deterred by a snowstorm that Phil failed to predict. They head back to town where Phil finds himself in a time loop, and in a twist worthy of a Greek tragedy, Phil has to relive Groundhog Day over and over and over. He goes through a period of despair and tries to kill himself; normally I would not use 'suicide' and 'funny' in the same review, but his attempts and the results, are pretty funny. Eventually he learns to use it to his advantage since he knows exactly what's going to happen next, like answering Jeopardy questions before Alex Trebek can answer them. There's no question that this is Bill Murray's movie, but he does have a good partner in McDowell, who does the only thing you can do and that's play it straight. I don't think we know how or what created this time loop, but I think that's totally okay and is really irrelevant. I enjoyed the humor and the way the story did progress, so even though it was the same day, we see different aspects of that day. I didn't laugh out loud, but I did like it quite a bit and was laughing on the inside.
A remake of Ben-Hur is coming out soon. I don't know why, I would imagine the comparisons to the 1959 Oscar-winning movie (11 wins), and Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur are going to be inevitable. It's possible that the only knowledge that young movie goers have of Ben-Hur is from the famous chariot racing scene which always seems to be included in any montage tribute to classic films. I have classified Ben-Hur as a 'religious' film in my tags, but it's not as religious (to me) as The Greatest Story Ever Told or Jesus of Nazareth, in fact the religious awakening/awareness don't come until the last 20-30 minutes of the film. Charlton Heston had himself one helluva a career in just two movies with The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (I mean, he did more than that, obviously, but if he only made two, I would have picked these two). Heston plays Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish merchant in Judea. Judah's childhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), a Roman, returns to Judea as a tribune. Messala wants to use his friendship with Judah, and Judah's influence, to calm the Jews and get them to tow the line. Judah cannot bring himself to do this, and through a series of events, Judah is sent as a slave on a galley ship. Roman Consul Quintus Arrias (English actor Jack Hawkins) takes an interest in this slave who seems determined and focused and unbent by the extreme physical exertion of rowing. Arrias eventually adopts Ben-Hur (this was actually not uncommon in Roman culture) and trains him as a charioteer. The opportunity arises for Ben-Hur to race against Messala, who has since imprisoned Ben-Hur's mother and sister, and is his mortal enemy. This is the scene I referenced above, and I'm not sure how to describe it, or if I even could in a way that would do it justice. After the race, Judah discovers that his mother and sister are no longer imprisoned, but in a leper colony. Around this same time, Jesus is traveling and preaching through Jerusalem, ultimately being put on trial by Pontius Pilate. The scene of Jesus walking through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the crucifix does not focus on Jesus, but on Judah watching Jesus, even trying to give him a drink of water. Judah's family experiences a miracle after the Crucifixion, and the anger and hate that Judah had been feeling dissipate. As you faithful readers know, I generally dislike long movies on principle, and while I think this movie could have been a little shorter, I didn't mind because it was so well-done. William Wyler directed (Roman Holiday, The Best Years of Our Lives, Mrs. Miniver, Wuthering Heights to name a few) and he did a spectacular job, combining the action of battle scenes and chariot races with gorgeous sets and magnificent cinematography, plus getting wonderful performances from the actors. The movie won Best Picture and Wyler won Best Director. Heston won Best Actor. It also won several other Oscars and is #100 on the AFI list and on the national film registry. There is an earlier, silent version of Ben-Hur which is also on the national film registry, and that disk was included in the set from the library, but I ran out of time and had to return it. Also, my brother was coming for a visit and love is not making your 22 year old brother watch a two hour silent movie. I don't know if I will see the new version coming out, perhaps if it's nominated.
7/23/16 An Inconvenient Truth, Best Documentary, Best Original Song, 2006
After all these years, I do not understand how anyone with a critical thinking brain cell can deny climate change and the impact that humans have on this planet. After watching An Inconvenient Truth, I feel even more strongly about that. This is really Al Gore's movie, he presents to audiences around the world on global warming, using powerful graphics, his Southern accent and facts that seem to have been burned into his brain. He is as comfortable talking and explaining the science behind global warming as if he was chatting to friends around a picnic table. Around the scenes of his actual presentation, former Vice President Gore talks about certain events in his life that have had a long lasting impact on his life: his sister's death from cancer brought on by a lifetime of smoking, his son's accident that helped him refocus his priorities, and teachers who influenced him. Gore is not a recent convert to environmental issues, he has been an advocate since he was a congressman from Tennessee in the late 1970s. The movie is ten years old, which is hard to believe, but it's probably more relevant and important today than even when it was released. Gore isn't all doom and gloom, he points out that if we all make incremental changes, the affect can still be felt. It's not too late, but we have to act now. The movie was written by Al Gore and directed by Davis Guggenheim (He Named Her Malala); it also won the Oscar for Best Original Song, "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge. I encourage you to watch this movie as well as a few others about our planet: Racing Extinction, Merchants of Doubt, which requires you to wear your critical thinking cap, and Chasing Ice. These are just a few, but they are powerful in the how they portray what is happening to this planet. For crying out loud, if we can bring Earth to the very brink of destruction in less than 200 years, what hope do we have on some future home, whether it's Mars or some undiscovered sphere?
7/30/16 Boy & the World, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2015
Watching Boy & the World turned into a 'list exercise' meaning I finished watching it because it was on the list of nominated films for 2015 and, in fact, was the last film on the list. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature, Inside Out was the winner. I'm not going to lie, the movie did not hold my interest at all, I can't even give you a synopsis, except to say that it would have made a good short film, but 90 minutes was too long for me. There was virtually no dialogue, and perhaps that added to its appeal, I don't know. I didn't hate it, I just didn't care. Sorry.
7/30/16 Groundhog Day, 1993, National Film Registry, #71 BBC
Since watching the Ghostbusters remake last week, I have yet to watch the original, but in an effort to make up for that, I did watch Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and directed by Harold Ramis. That kind of counts for something, doesn't it? Groundhog Day did not win any Oscars, but it did land a place on the National Film Registry as well as on the BBC's list of the top 100 American films. It has also landed a place in our lexicon when people find themselves doing the same thing over and over (or it feels like it), they say something like, "It's like Groundhog Day." I know I have. Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an snide, arrogant weatherman in Pittsburgh, who goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to wait for the groundhog to come up and see his shadow. Along for the fun are his producer Rite (Andie McDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott). After watching the groundhog come out and see his shadow, the crew try to head back to Pittsburgh, but are deterred by a snowstorm that Phil failed to predict. They head back to town where Phil finds himself in a time loop, and in a twist worthy of a Greek tragedy, Phil has to relive Groundhog Day over and over and over. He goes through a period of despair and tries to kill himself; normally I would not use 'suicide' and 'funny' in the same review, but his attempts and the results, are pretty funny. Eventually he learns to use it to his advantage since he knows exactly what's going to happen next, like answering Jeopardy questions before Alex Trebek can answer them. There's no question that this is Bill Murray's movie, but he does have a good partner in McDowell, who does the only thing you can do and that's play it straight. I don't think we know how or what created this time loop, but I think that's totally okay and is really irrelevant. I enjoyed the humor and the way the story did progress, so even though it was the same day, we see different aspects of that day. I didn't laugh out loud, but I did like it quite a bit and was laughing on the inside.
The AFI and National Film Registry featured: The French Connection, American Graffiti and Swing Time
6/11/16 The French Connection, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1971 #93 AFI, National Film Registry
The French Connection won five Oscars, including three of the top awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Williams Friedkin) and Best Actor (Gene Hackman) and may have one of the most well-known car chases. The French Connection is definitely a movie of its time, taking us through a gritty, crime-riddled, drug infested New York City. Hackman and Roy Scheider play two New York City detectives who stumble onto an international drug ring moving into New York. Popeye Doyle (Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy"Russo are partners, Doyle being more hot-headed and impetuous, and Cloudy trying to rein him in. A mysterious man from Marseilles, France, is planning to smuggle in a lot of heroin to the US, involving local Mafia connections to do so. Doyle and Russo spend a lot of time chasing around, fighting with the FBI, taking us on a tour of New York City (Ward's Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan). Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) is the smooth criminal who leads Popeye and Cloudy on the wild goose chase. The French Connection is full of iconic movie moments: the car chase and the way the drugs are smuggled in (hint: it's a method often referenced in other crime dramas). I definitely enjoyed the movie, seeing 1970s New York, and finding those iconic moments; I always like watching Gene Hackman, a great American actor. It won five Oscars in a year that I think was full of fabulous movies, many of which won Oscars in other categories. Winning Best Picture, it beat out Fiddler on the Roof, A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show and Nicholas and Alexander (the only nominee I have not seen); Friedkin won Best Director over Peter Bogdanovich, Stanley Kubrick, Norman Jewison and John Schlesinger (not a small feat); I'm less familiar with the films from the Best Actor category, but I am familiar with the actors, and they are no slouches: Walter Matthau, Chaim Topol, George C. Scott and Peter Finch; I have only seen Topol's performance in Fiddler on the Roof, and they are such different movies, I'm not sure I could have judged. Without a doubt, this is an American classic.
6/11/16 American Graffiti, 1973 #62 AFI, National Film Registry
I have this very vague recollection that when the television show Happy Days came out, American Graffiti was mentioned as being an influence; I would have been only 9 or 10, so please forgive me if I am totally making that up. Anyway, I guess I was trying to say that the shadow of American Graffiti has followed me and I finally watched it. Directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie takes place over one night in 1962 Modesto, California, with a group of friends having adventures together and separately. There are a lot of young actors who went on to have long acting careers, some a little more famous than others (Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss). Cars and music are as important to the movie as the characters and stories. There is young love, new love, making out, dancing, young people on the cusp of adulthood, some of them looking to get away from their little town and see the world. A coming of age movie, it is a time capsule of that era, when people listened to their favorite DJ, went to the drive-in for a malt and burger, before the Civil Rights movement was fully mobilized and there are virtually no African Americans in the movie. The music is a wonderful primer of the 1950s and 1960s, including music from Bill Haley and the Comets, Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, The Platters and more. I know very little about cars, but it was fun to see the cars from that time: a yellow deuce coupe, Ford Thunderbird, and the others. It was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, but lost to The Sting in both categories.
7/2/16 Swing Time, Best Original Song, 1937, #91 AFI, National Film Registry
After watching Swing Time, I don't think it it is on the AFI and National Film Registry because of the plot or the acting, but because of the incredible dancing by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and the music by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. The story was inane and I didn't pay too much attention except when Astaire and Rogers were dancing. My favorite dance numbers were "Pick Yourself Up" and "Never Gonna Dance" which Rogers and Astaire did together, and "Bojangles of Harlem", which Astaire did solo. Sadly (watching in the 21st century), he did it in blackface, according to Wikipedia as a tribute Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, whom Astaire admired. Trying to ignore the blackface, I really enjoyed the dance, which was fun to watch. The movie also featured the song "The Way You Look Tonight"which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. If you are a fan of dance films, Astaire and Rogers, Jerome Kern, then you should definitely check out this movie, and you can probably just fast forward between numbers. That's what I should have done.
My brother is running in the Susan Komen Breast Cancer run in Cleveland in honor of our mom. Please consider supporting him: Cris's page
The French Connection won five Oscars, including three of the top awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Williams Friedkin) and Best Actor (Gene Hackman) and may have one of the most well-known car chases. The French Connection is definitely a movie of its time, taking us through a gritty, crime-riddled, drug infested New York City. Hackman and Roy Scheider play two New York City detectives who stumble onto an international drug ring moving into New York. Popeye Doyle (Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy"Russo are partners, Doyle being more hot-headed and impetuous, and Cloudy trying to rein him in. A mysterious man from Marseilles, France, is planning to smuggle in a lot of heroin to the US, involving local Mafia connections to do so. Doyle and Russo spend a lot of time chasing around, fighting with the FBI, taking us on a tour of New York City (Ward's Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan). Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) is the smooth criminal who leads Popeye and Cloudy on the wild goose chase. The French Connection is full of iconic movie moments: the car chase and the way the drugs are smuggled in (hint: it's a method often referenced in other crime dramas). I definitely enjoyed the movie, seeing 1970s New York, and finding those iconic moments; I always like watching Gene Hackman, a great American actor. It won five Oscars in a year that I think was full of fabulous movies, many of which won Oscars in other categories. Winning Best Picture, it beat out Fiddler on the Roof, A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show and Nicholas and Alexander (the only nominee I have not seen); Friedkin won Best Director over Peter Bogdanovich, Stanley Kubrick, Norman Jewison and John Schlesinger (not a small feat); I'm less familiar with the films from the Best Actor category, but I am familiar with the actors, and they are no slouches: Walter Matthau, Chaim Topol, George C. Scott and Peter Finch; I have only seen Topol's performance in Fiddler on the Roof, and they are such different movies, I'm not sure I could have judged. Without a doubt, this is an American classic.
6/11/16 American Graffiti, 1973 #62 AFI, National Film Registry
I have this very vague recollection that when the television show Happy Days came out, American Graffiti was mentioned as being an influence; I would have been only 9 or 10, so please forgive me if I am totally making that up. Anyway, I guess I was trying to say that the shadow of American Graffiti has followed me and I finally watched it. Directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie takes place over one night in 1962 Modesto, California, with a group of friends having adventures together and separately. There are a lot of young actors who went on to have long acting careers, some a little more famous than others (Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss). Cars and music are as important to the movie as the characters and stories. There is young love, new love, making out, dancing, young people on the cusp of adulthood, some of them looking to get away from their little town and see the world. A coming of age movie, it is a time capsule of that era, when people listened to their favorite DJ, went to the drive-in for a malt and burger, before the Civil Rights movement was fully mobilized and there are virtually no African Americans in the movie. The music is a wonderful primer of the 1950s and 1960s, including music from Bill Haley and the Comets, Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, The Platters and more. I know very little about cars, but it was fun to see the cars from that time: a yellow deuce coupe, Ford Thunderbird, and the others. It was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, but lost to The Sting in both categories.
7/2/16 Swing Time, Best Original Song, 1937, #91 AFI, National Film Registry
After watching Swing Time, I don't think it it is on the AFI and National Film Registry because of the plot or the acting, but because of the incredible dancing by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and the music by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. The story was inane and I didn't pay too much attention except when Astaire and Rogers were dancing. My favorite dance numbers were "Pick Yourself Up" and "Never Gonna Dance" which Rogers and Astaire did together, and "Bojangles of Harlem", which Astaire did solo. Sadly (watching in the 21st century), he did it in blackface, according to Wikipedia as a tribute Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, whom Astaire admired. Trying to ignore the blackface, I really enjoyed the dance, which was fun to watch. The movie also featured the song "The Way You Look Tonight"which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. If you are a fan of dance films, Astaire and Rogers, Jerome Kern, then you should definitely check out this movie, and you can probably just fast forward between numbers. That's what I should have done.
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