Working off the National Film Registry list- Memento, Thelonious Monk and The Return of the Secaucus 7

10/31/18 Memento, 2000  National Film Registry

Shortly after watching Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman), I discussed it with a friend, and we both agreed that it's been a while since either of us have seen a movie that original. Having said that, I don't want to tell you too much about it, although to be honest, I'm not sure I could if I tried. Guy Pearce is Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator, who is trying to figure out who killed is wife (Jorja Fox) and gave him anterograde amnesia (he cannot form short term memories) in the process. Leonard uses some interesting ways to write notes to himself. He is befriended or tormented by John Edward Gammell (Joe Pantoliano), and forges a relationship of some kind with Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss). The use of flashbacks is clever and mildly mind-boggling, you really have to pay attention. Nolan uses color and black and white sequences to separate time lines. He knows how to get a particular mood, which he later did on the Batman series. If you haven't seen it, watch it with a friend or two to help keep track of everything, and if I have time, I may watch it again.

11/2/18 Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser, 1988 National Film Registry

I was so disappointed trying to watch this documentary on someone I didn't know very much about. Sometimes I watch documentaries to fill out and reinforce things I already, but a lot of times, I watch to learn about an event, art or person I know nothing or very little about. Those are the best. I remember watching What Happened, Miss Simone? and feeling like someone opened a door into music and cultural history. I didn't feel that way at all watching Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser. I felt very frustrated at the lack of strong narration, and clips of Monk playing live (which was apparently lost footage) and interviews with contemporaries and his son strung together in a patchwork sort of way. There were very few scenes where Monk actually spoke, and those were impossible to understand. I definitely picked up on a very strong personality and an immense talent, but I was hoping for more. In my opinion, this isn't on the National Film Registry because it's a great documentary, but more because of the rare footage and the subject. If you're a bebop fan or student, you have probably seen it, and perhaps got a lot more out of it than I did.

11/3/18 The Return of the Secaucus 7, 1980 National Film Registry

In the sources I reviewed, The Return of the Secaucus 7, written and directed by John Sayles, was the precursor to The Big Chill (nope, haven't seen that either, but I had the soundtrack on LP). It's a look at a group of college friends who get together for a weekend in New Hampshire and discuss life and love. You may recognize a couple of actors who got their early start here, even if you don't know the names: David Strathairn and Gordon Clapp, and possibly Adam LeFevre. Long term relationships break up, new ones get started. It was a movie about baby boomers by a baby boomer, and was about the people, no big event happening within the context of the film (no war, no murder, no heist, no natural disaster). It may be hard to believe that was different, but it was. Even though it is set in the 1980s, wondering what you're going to do with your life is a pretty universal feeling: do you head out to LA to pursue your music, have kids, change careers for something less stressful and more fiscally rewarding? I didn't love the movie, but I didn't hate it either.

11/4/18 Suddenly, Last Summer, 1959

With all of the lists I have to work from, you may wonder why I went off script, so to speak, to watch a not great movie that's not on any of the lists. I recently finished a biography of Montgomery Clift and was really interested to watch Suddenly, Last Summer. Sigh. It was taken from the Tennessee Williams play and starred Katherine Hepburn as the deep in mourning and denial Viola, mother of the frequently referenced, but never seen and deceased, Sebastian; Elizabeth Taylor as the tortured Catherine, cousin of Sebastian; Clift as Dr. Cukrowicz, a surgeon who specializes in lobotomies (maybe I should have quite while I was ahead). Joseph Mankiewicz directed (All About Eve, Guys and Dolls, Cleopatra) and Williams and Gore Vidal wrote the screenplay. On the face of it, this should have been a great film, but it was a little creepy. I'm going to skip over the barbaric conditions under which the opening surgery is performed, that's too obvious. The unnaturally intense grief that is displayed by Viola for Sebastian is unnerving. I was really proud of myself for noticing the connection between the names Viola and Sebastian and the play Twelfth Night by Shakespeare; the thing is, they were twins. The description of Sebastian's death at the hands of some local boys in a Spanish beach town is disturbing. If you watch the movie with no understanding of the background, some things may not make sense, but there are veiled hints at Sebastian's homosexuality, which Viola denies, but Catherine confirms in a very emotional speech. Catherine's knowledge of Sebastian's secret is why Viola is trying to get Cukrowicz to perform a lobotomy on Catherine. Yeah, did you just make a face? I will say I had to watch Hepburn, she was so commanding. She and Taylor were both nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, but lost to Simone Signoret. Clift was not at his best, this film came only a few years after a devastating car accident. I don't care if it wasn't on a list, I'm crossing it off.

A trip through the National Film Registry: Boyz N the Hood, Paris is Burning, Daughters of the Dust, Princess Bride

You could say I went a little crazy with the National Film Registry list over Memorial Day Weekend, and with that many movies, I was bound to come across one I didn't like or possibly even loathed. I suppose, honestly, there was only one that I was so-so about, otherwise, I would recommend any of the following films. 

5/23/18 Boyz N the Hood, 1991

When Boyz N the Hood first came out (I promise, I don't say this for every movie), I wasn't terribly interested in seeing it, it was just not my thing at the time (let's just say I have lived in a series of metaphorical boxes in my life, I'm a little better now). However, after watching Straight Outta Compton (because it was on a list), I realized that just because something may not exactly be in my wheelhouse, doesn't mean it's not good or that I won't end up liking it. I suppose that's what happened with Boyz N the Hood, I decided just to watch it; there's a lot of swearing, and it's not that I'm a prude, I swear A LOT myself, I sometimes think it's just lazy writing, but, that is how some kids/teenagers talk, and writer/director John Singleton does a lot of things, but he does not treat the characters or the audience with kid gloves. The movie follows a three friends as they grow up in South Central Los Angeles, a community that has too many shootings, too many drugs and poor relations with the police. Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) lives with his demanding and strict father, "Furious" (Laurence Fishburne), and has a real job at the mall (he's a teenager). His friends are Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Doughboy's half brother (also their mother's favorite), Rick (Morris Chestnut). Doughboy has spent a lot of his young years in prison, and is struggling to find his feet; Rick is a football scholarship candidate, which makes his mother proud and is a way out of the neighborhood, and can help him make a better life for his young son. The guys and their friends are out one night, just chilling, when members of different gang cause some trouble and Doughboy flashes a gun, which is only a temporary solution, because minutes later, the other gang starts firing off a gun into the air. And this is how things spiral rapidly out of control. You show me yours, I'll show you mine; mine is bigger than yours; I can kill you first. Singleton shows us black young men killing each other, often because it doesn't seem like there are any other options. The death of Rick (I hope I didn't spoil it) highlighted the senselessness of this tit for tat violence. It's not gratuitous at all, there's a point - the point is: nobody wins. Rick's young son certainly didn't win. I felt like someone sucked the air out of the room when it happened. And Doughboy, who has always been protective of Rick, and way more streetsmart, is out for vengeance. Tre doesn't participate in any of the retribution, because he knows he'll never get out if he does. Like Daughters of the Dust, and Paris is Burning, Boyz N the Hood looks at a community that did not have any kind of voice when the film was released. Singleton was nominated for Oscars for Best Director (the youngest at the time) and Best Original Screenplay. After I finished watching, I texted my youngest brother and asked if he had seen it before (he wasn't even born when it came out) and he said of course, and it was a great movie. That is a sign of a movie that 'is culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", if it can be watched and appreciated by newer generations.


5/26/18 Atlantic City, 1980

Louis Malle's film, Atlantic City, was the critics' darling when it came out, I remember the praise that was heaped on Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon and the director; of course, I couldn't see it because it's rated R, and I was too young. I love Lancaster in pretty much anything, he always seems so effortless, and I do like him as Lou, the former gangster who takes numbers and keeps company with the widow of his deceased boss. He also has his eyes on Sally (Sarandon), a wannabe black jack dealer. Sally's estranged/former (I wasn't really sure) husband shows up on her doorstep with his pregnant wife/girlfriend with a lot of cocaine to sell. Clearly, you don't need a lot of insight or psychic skills to figure out that nothing good is going to happen. So, the movie is definitely not a mystery, but a look into the relationships of different people: Lou, who is re-energized by his relationship with Sally; Sally, who likes Lou's seeming sophistication, but gets frustrated with his reluctance to contemplate the possibilities in Europe; Lou's subservient attitude towards Grace. It seems like Lou is a dinosaur in the waning days of the Jurassic period. It's not the good old days. Both Lancaster an Sarandon were nominated for Oscars, as well as being nominated for Best Picture, but the movie came away with no Oscars (this was the year that Chariots of Fire won the Best Picture Oscar, and Red, Raiders of the Lost Ark and On Golden Pond were all nominated). I'm not totally sure why it's on the National Film Registry list.

5/27/18 Paris is Burning, 1991

Even though I watched Paris is Burning in May, I'm finally reviewing it in June, which is fitting since it is Pride Month. Paris is Burning is a documentary by Jennie Livingston that takes us into the world of balls in New York City, a highly competitive environment. The balls allow gay and transgender people, mostly of the African-American and Latino communities, members of an already marginalized GLBTQ society, to strut and be proud and embrace who they are, with a fierceness that is fun to watch. "Voguing" which was popularized in mainstream culture by Madonna, originated at the ball events. The documentary was filmed in the mid to late 80s, only twenty years or so after the Stonewall Riots, and in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, but decades away from Laverne Cox and her groundbreaking role on Orange is the New Black, The Transparent series or Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman (2017 Oscar winning film). The interviews provide a glimpse into why the performers do what they do, how they support each other, and how they compete. I felt particularly drawn to Dorian Corey, who was like an elder of the group, and had many insights and could be quite sharp in her observations and commentary. The transgender community is one that is misunderstood by the heterosexual and the gay and lesbian communities, but their history must be included and they should be recognized for their contributions and pain. That may sound incredibly pretentious, but I don't really care, and I think watching this documentary is a way to start.

5/27/18 The Atomic Café, 1982

This documentary consists of historical newsreel footage, film and television clips and public service films edited together in a somewhat frightening fashion, but also occasionally awkwardly funny and naïve. Many of the scenes are how to avoid nuclear fallout by hiding under a table or covering your head under a desk; packing a survival kit of canned and powdered foods; or the scary scenes of the nuclear testing done on Bikini Atoll, that had horrible impacts on the native population, which, according to US military personnel on scene, was all for the good of humanity. It might not be a bad idea to dust off this old chestnut and get it out on the airwaves, given the current climate, just to remind us of the risks and dangers of nuclear warfare.

5/28/18 Daughters of the Dust, 1991

The lists giveth, and the lists taketh away. In this case, the list definitely giveth. Julie Dash wrote and directed Daughters of the Dust, the story of the Peazant family, a clan who have lived on the St. Simons Island, off the coast of Georgia (the Gullah islands), for generations. The movie is set in the early part of the 20th century, roughly forty years after the end of the Civil War. The family is led by Nana Peazant, the keeper of the traditions and memories (good and bad) of the family, and determined not to leave her home. The younger generations have already moved to the mainland, two of her granddaughters have already moved there, Viola and Yellow Mary. Normally I have trouble with storylines that are non-linear, I like things told in order, but I was so interested in this family and their history, I went with it. You have to pay attention because there are several storylines and also because the actors speak in the Gullah dialect, which is close to Creole, and sometimes things happened quickly and my ears couldn't keep up. In some ways, at its core, the movie is about family, it could be about any family, an immigrant family deciding to leave their ancestral home for a better life, and possibly leaving the old ways behind. In another way, it is more than that, because this family has already left their ancestral home in Africa, perhaps only seventy five or hundred years earlier, unwillingly, and this departure is their choice. The actors, none of whom I have ever heard of, own their roles, it's like they were made for the parts or vice versa; there were several powerful performances. The cinematography was so beautiful, otherworldly (if that's not too dramatic), for whatever it might mean to you, it reminded me of the original Picnic at Hanging Rock (another movie that I was enthralled by at the time). (I just read some reviews of the film on Netflix, which I generally don't do, and there are definitely extreme feelings about the movie, um, some not so nice, and others lavish in their praise; I suppose that's pretty normal. I hate The Usual Suspects, while others think it's the best movie ever). I still liked Daughters of the Dust.

5/28/18 The Princess Bride, 1987

Believe it or not, I have never seen The Princess Bride in its entirety or even more than a few seconds of clips. So before you can say it, I will: "Inconceivable!" I will also say, I liked it, I enjoyed it, I laughed. The comedy-fantasy-adventure was directed by Rob Reiner, and has what would now be considered an all-star cast: Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes, Christopher Guest, Andre the Giant, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal, Peter Falk and Fred Savage. Peter Falk narrates the movie as he reads to his reluctant grandson played by Fred Savage. Since I may be the only person in the universe to have not seen The Princess Bride, I don't need to recap the plot. I don't know why I was so reluctant to watch it, I think because all of my friends just loved it, and at my core, I'm a contrarian, so I thought, nothing can be that funny or quotable. I'm not so stubborn that I can't say I was wrong. It reminded me of some of Mel Brooks' movies (Brooks is a friend and comedic partner of Reiner's father, Carl Reiner): jokes/lines that appear throughout the movie; ridiculous dialog played absolutely straight, full of puns and word play and silly accents; actors that appear to be having a great time (Andre the Giant was so fabulous and funny); and a story that has a ring of familiarity but is still original. The movie received no Oscar nominations and wasn't even that successful in its box office run, and yet, there are probably more people who have now seen The Princess Bride than have seen Atlantic City which was nominated for five Oscars. Sometimes winning an Oscar is not a guarantee of a long legacy. Having said that, I TOTALLY get why it's on the National Film Registry list.

5/28/18 Hester Street, 1975

Watching Hester Street, starring Carol Kane, Steven Keats and Doris Roberts, was like being there when my great grandparents arrived in New York from Russia. Steven Keats is Yankl, now Jake, and he comes to America before his wife and young son; he also tries to become as American as possible, and begins a relationship with Mamie, a dancer. Jake's wife, Gitl and son, Yossele, arrive in New York City, and Jake doesn't seem very pleased, he is especially unhappy that Gitl doesn't shed her Old World habits as quickly as he would like. Doris Roberts plays Mrs. Kavarsky and befriends Gitl. In case we've forgotten, the immigrant experience can be lonely and hard, regardless of your country of origin. The movie is in English and Yiddish, and while I don't really understand a lot of Yiddish, it made me think of my grandparents and older relatives who would occasionally use it when they didn't want us to understand something. Carol Kane was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. Joan Micklin Silver wrote the screenplay and directed the film (she directed Crossing Delancey). By way of six degrees of separation, Silver is married to Rabbi Raphael Silver who is the son of the late Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, and back in the early 1990s, I worked on team processing the Rabbi's historical papers. 

Watch these 2017 nominated films: A Fantastic Woman and Faces Places

3/12/18 A Fantastic Woman, Best Foreign Film, 2017
Normally when it takes me a long time to write a review it's because I didn't like the movie, or worse, didn't care about the movie, and can't figure out how to express that. I have to say that is totally NOT the case with A Fantastic Woman, winner of the Best Foreign Film for 2017. I think what happened is I was so burned out from cramming in movies in a condensed period of time, I just couldn't do it. However, I ready now. If you watched the Oscars, you saw the star of A Fantastic Woman, Daniela Vega, as the first transgender presenter for the awards. The film is set in Chile, and Vega is Marina, a singer and waitress, who is the girlfriend of an older man, Orlando (Francisco Reyes). After a night out of celebrating, Orlando doesn't feel well, and Marina takes him to the hospital. Orlando dies, and Marina calls his brother, Gabo, to explain what happened. Gabo is aware of their relationship, and is the most sympathetic of Orlando's family. The movie follows Marina as she deals with the loss of her partner, but not being able to grieve openly because of his family and society's fears and prejudices against transgender people. I found her to be an incredibly likeable and sympathetic character, and I got upset and angry at the way she was treated by the police, who on the one hand tried to accuse her of beating Orlando, but then were condescending towards her, and thought she was forced into the relationship. I wanted to scream at the screen. The battle she has with Orlando's ex-wife (I'm not sure if that was a translation error, or if it's a cultural difference, because she seemed to have a lot of power as an ex-wife) broke my heart. Writer/director Sebastian Lelio could have easily made this into a campy film, playing into negative stereotypes, or more sexualized, but he made Marina (I believe he said in his acceptance speech that Daniela was the inspiration for Marina) a very real and accessible character, ultimately hopeful. I think Vega could have been nominated for Best Actress, she was that good. There were a couple of scenes that reminded me of Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (this is kind of a non-sequitur, but I wanted to mention it). I have been recommending this movie to anyone I think will give it a try; foreign films often scare people away, and the topic of transgenderism can make people uncomfortable, but I hope you give this a try. Here's how great I think it is: I was going to see it a second time, the day after I saw it, with my brother. I rarely watch movies more than once.

3/31/18 Faces Places, nominated Best Documentary, 2017

Faces Places by Agnes Varda and JR is the last of the nominated documentaries for 2017, and the only one I had not seen prior to the Oscars. I don't think it should have won, but it was by far better than the ultimate winner, Icarus. Agnes Varda, a French filmmaker, has been making films since the 1950s (she's a contemporary of Jean-Luc Goddard) and JR is a French photographer and artist who does a lot of his work in the streets. These two artists connected and wanted to do a project celebrating people in the French countryside. They drove around in a big truck that actually produced large format photographs and made huge posters. One of the first installations they did was in a mining town, on a street where everybody was gone, except for one woman, Jeannine, who still lived in her house. JR re-printed some existing, vintage photographs in giant size and pasted them on the buildings. It was quite something to see the response of the village to these representations of the lives of their parents and grandparents. Varda and JR go from farm to village to seaside and meet people and talk to them, and find that little nugget of information or history that makes the encounter special, and the photographs unique. The photos can last a few weeks, days or hours, depending on the weather conditions and the environment. The viewer gets a brief glimpse of different French towns, but also gets to observe the relationship between Varda and JR, which is sometimes teasing, sometimes educational, sometimes a lesson in film and film history, like when they visited the home of Jean-Luc Goddard, to unexpected results. If you watch the movie on DVD, there is an interview with JR and Agnes that talks about how they made the film, how they chose their locations, their friendship, and I found that as interesting as the documentary, and in fact, just ordered Varda's film The Gleaners and I from the library.

Get Out and Call Me By Your Name - Best Picture, Best Actor nominations

2/2/18 Get Out, nominated Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, 2017

I was pretty leery of seeing Get Out, mainly because it was hyped as a horror film, and in my mind, no good can come of that. Maybe because I was watching it with the lights on, in the comfort of my own home, that I didn't get freaked out or hide my eyes. It was suspenseful and pretty violent at the end, but I wouldn't call it a horror movie (by my above definition). Anyway, enough about me. Get Out broke a lot traditions (if I can call them that) in scary movies (and just plain old movies), but also poked fun at some of society's stereotypes. This was done by comedian (and writer and director of the film) Jordan Peele, an African-American who seems to delight in skewering the white characters in his film. Chris, a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) is getting ready to visit his white girlfriend's (Allison Williams) parents' house in the country. He's not thrilled about it, but Rose is determined, and tells him it will be fine. Chris's friend, Rod (Lil Rey Howery), is a TSA Agent, and provides humorous insight into Chris's circumstances and life. It's kind of hard to give you a synopsis without ruining the story, and that is part of what makes the movie fun. Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener are Rose's parents; I like Whitford, but there was something annoying about Keener. Speaking of annoying, Caleb Landry Jones as Jeremy, Rose's brother, brings the most out of place accent to the role, and I wanted him to shut up. You'd think that was not a big deal, but it seemed so dissonant compared to the others. I did like the movie, and I thought it pretty fresh, with a combination of drama, suspense, creepiness and timely observations and humor. I think it's got some pretty tough competition for its awards, but I would like to see it win for Best Original Screenplay. I have told you very little about the movie, so you'll have to see it for yourself, and it's not as scary as you might think. If I can watch it, you'll be fine.

2/4/18 Call Me By Your Name, nominated Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song, 2017

I realize that I am serious danger of entering a permanent state of curmudgeon, and I'm kind of sorry, it could also be that I just don't think some movies are up to the hype of 'this is the best movie ever'. It's not that I hated Call Me By Your Name, I didn't, I liked it, but I didn't love it. Call Me By Your Name is set in the 1980s in Italy, and Armee Hammer is Oliver a visiting graduate student. He is staying with Professor Perlman (the ubiquitous Michael Stuhlbarg) and his family, including his teenaged son, Elio (Oscar nominated Timothee Chalamet). There is some weird tension between Elio and Oliver, partly because Oliver is very popular with the locals, especially the woman, partly because Oliver seems aloof from Elio; it's a version of cat and mouse. It's not secret if you've seen some of the trailers that this is a love story; the secret is a little better kept in the film, because it has to be. The Italian countryside is beautiful, and the fruit trees and other food made me think of Babette's Feast; theaters could have made a lot of money selling apricot juice. Chalamet and Hammer seemed very comfortable in this story of young love, and were very respectful; Stuhlbarg, in my snarky opinion, was like a manila folder: serviceable, but nothing special (which is so rare for him). Just blah, and his speech to Elio towards the very end of the film seemed contrived and something I just couldn't believe. I don't have a better way to express it, it just rang false to me. I think part of what made it false was he talks about all this time that they spent together, and goes on and on about that, when to my mind, they didn't spend ALL THAT TIME together. They did have some intense moments at the end of Oliver's stay. Maybe that's hair-splitting, but it just bugged me. Maybe what really bothered me was the Oscar-nominated screenplay by James Ivory, which seemed full of holes: Oliver and the Perlmans are Jewish, a fact which is pointed out in a very obvious way, and I kept waiting for some more on that topic, and it was just some cursory thing. So to me, why bother? There is barely any mention made of Oliver's studies or work with the professor, some, yes, but, the movie was 8 hours long, so there was time to be more than casual about somethings. Oh yeah, a gay couple is introduced, friends of the family, but Elio has some unkind comments about them. So, is he showing his internalized homophobia? Probably, and that's actually not unusual. The couple are on screen for maybe 5 minutes. Maybe with a different screenplay, I could have really loved this movie. Oh, and when characters were smoking, it looked like they were goldfish eating those food flakes. We will probably see a lot more of Chalamet (who also appears in Lady Bird) who is very charismatic, but sensitive, funny, and (it appears) very musical.

2015 nominated films Straight Outta Compton and Steve Jobs

2/16/16 Freeheld, not nominated, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

2015 films: Carol, Anomalisa, 50 Shades of Grey and The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

I was bemoaning the fact that I had to watch Fifty Shades of Grey because it was on the list. Some suggested I skip it, I mean, they're my rules. But if I skip one movie, where would it end? It's a slippery slope. However, the same weekend that I planned to watch Fifty Shades of Grey, I also saw Carol, Anomalisa and the hidden gem of the Oscars, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Forty movies and four weeks to go. Easy peasy.

1/23/16 Carol, nominated Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, 2015

Cate Blanchett is Carol Aird and Rooney Mara is Therese Belivet in this 1950s drama based on the 1952 book The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. Carol is a wealthy woman separated from her wealthy husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler). Therese works at Frankenberg's and that happens to be where is Carol is doing some last minute Christmas shopping in New York City. Therese is seeing Richard, but seems intrigued by Carol's smooth and glamorous demeanor. Carol definitely seems interested in Therese who is many years younger and quite naive. We get veiled hints about Carol's past, and her relationship with Abby (Sarah Paulson), and the damage that has been done to Harge and Carol's marriage and more important to Carol, is the threat that Harge will take away their daughter, Rindy. Carol decides to head west for a break after Harge takes Rindy to Florida for Christmas, and she asks Therese to go with her. This is the 1950s and homosexual relationships were not out in the open and could lead to all kinds of ostracism, and could certainly cost Carol any contact with Rindy. Cate Blanchett is tremendous as the cool, elegant and sexy Carol who very slyly maneuvers the budding romance with Therese. As I was watching the movie, I flashed back to the Beebo Brinker/Odd Girl Out books and thought this story would have fit perfectly. I honestly don't know if the character of Therese bothered me or if it was Rooney Mara, but in any event, I did not get that connection at all. I watched it with my friend and we both commented that we did not see or feel any sparks (we may be the only two, but at least we agreed). The costumes and sets were extremely well done and I felt captured that post-war revival that came in the 1950s. Blanchett is nominated for Bet Actress, and she was really good, but my pick would be Brie Larson for Room because I feel that Brie's character ran the emotional gamut and I felt pulled into that movie so much more than Carol.

1/23/16 Anomalisa, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2015

I'm not sure where to start with Anomalisa the animated film directed and produced by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson. I liked the animation technique of stop motion and the way the animated characters were created as well as the incredibly detailed sets. I thought the story was interesting and in some form could have been a regular live action movie. But at the end of it, my friend and I (we saw Carol an hour before this) were not emotionally moved (as the trailers indicated we would be). Michael Stone (David Thewlis) is an ex-pat Brit who has been living in America for a while, has a family, and as the movie opens, he is landing in Cincinnati, Ohio, to give a motivational speech. Michael is kind of crabby, and I put that down to being tired from the flight. But it became clear to us (me and my Twinnie) that it wasn't the flight, he was crabby and lonely. Michael has an abrupt conversation with his wife and son; he then reconnects with an ex-lover from 10 years ago, and to say that doesn't go as planned would be a mild understatement. Michael mistakenly knocks on another room and invites the two women, who happen to be fans of his, down to the hotel bar for a few drinks. One thing leads to another, and he hits it off with Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and they go back to his room. I must say, I was a little taken aback at the full frontal nudity of the animated characters, to say nothing of what they did in that state. Unfortunately, the honeymoon period of Michael and Lisa's relationship lasted as long as it takes to get from Cleveland to Cincinnati on I-71. I think a lot of what is 'magical' or 'deep' about the movie requires it to be seen, so I don't want to give away too much. You should have that 'aha' moment on your own. The movie is definitely worth seeing, it's different than most animated stories out there. As for the Oscar, this is my pick; I would prefer Inside Out to win, but I don't know if it will, and I don't think Shaun the Sheep deserves it, and I haven't seen Boy & the World.

1/23/16 Fifty Shades of Grey, nominated Best Original Song, 2015

When my friends found out I had to watch Fifty Shades of Grey, some laughed, most refused to watch it with me, and a couple thought it would be hilariously uncomfortable to watch it with me, and a few offered to lend me the books. With friends like that.... I just decided to watch it and get it over with; I have seen a lot of terrible movies and I knew they weren't fatal. Fifty Shades of Grey is the story of the relationship between college student Anastasia (Ana) Steele (Dakota Johnson) and billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Christian wants to share his affinity for S&M with Ana, and has drawn up a contract regarding what is permissible and what is not. Ana is intrigued but gets hung up on the contract. It doesn't stop her from doing anything, so I don't know what she was squawking about. The acting was not great, in fact, so not great that the actors, the movie and the director were all nominated for a Golden Raspberry award (nominations pending at this time). It was light porn, I suppose. The soundtrack wasn't horrible, but the song that was nominated "Earned It" was not the best song on there. This could actually win (the horror) and because the only big name movie with a song is Spectre and the song by Sam Smith, "Writing's on the Wall", which could pull it out. The other movies/songs are on the list; we'll see. The best thing about this movie is that it was free from the library. This might be a fun movie to watch with friends and make some kind of drinking game out of it; I don't really drink, but it might help. This capped a day of movies with all kinds of sex and naked people. I think I'm good for a while.

1/24/16 The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, nominated Best Hairstyling and Makeup, 2015

What a treat. This Swedish production was so delightful. It reminded me of the Coen Brothers meet Forrest Gump and the quirkiness from My Life as a Dog. First, yes, it's a Swedish film and it's mostly in Swedish but it's narrated in English. Second, it's a history lesson of the 20th century told from the perspective of Allan Karlsson, who is turning 100 years old in the opening scenes of the movie. There is something that is innocently charming about Allan, almost like Mr. Magoo as he is seemingly oblivious about the situations that occur. Allan is put into a senior citizens home because he blew up the fox that killed his beloved cat. Allan loves to blow things up and it's a recurring theme. Allan climbs out the window and goes to the transit center and with all the money he has, he goes to Byringe, a town with a population of one, Julius. But, before he gets there, a skinhead tough looking guy demands that Allan hold on to his suitcase while he goes to the toilet. Allan (in Mr. Magoo fashion) continues to hold on to the case as he boards the bus. That's the Coen Brothers part. The movie uses flashbacks to show us Allan's past and then brings us to the current day and Allan's new friends, including Julius, Benny and Gunilla and the people trying to chase him down, Gaddan, Hinken and Pim. The flashbacks include saving General Francisco Franco from getting blown up, giving Oppenheimer tips on completing the atomic bomb (that's the Forrest Gump part). The movie was nominated for Best Hairstyling and Makeup and as I watched on the special features how they made actor Robert Gustafsson as Allan Karlsson age from 19 to 30 to 50 to 80 and 100 (or something like that) it was quite amazing. Sometimes five or six hours of makeup. It's up against Mad Max and The Revenant, so I'm not sure it will win, but get it from the library or Netflix, you won't regret it. In fact, I may have to buy a copy to keep for when I get tired of my lists.

More nominees: The Danish Girl, Mad Max, Cinderella and Ex Machina - visual delights all around

1/12/16 Experimenter, not nominated, 2015

Even though I was pretty sure Experimenter would not get nominated for an Oscar but I thought I had some spare time and it was available from the library. I was interested in it because it was about the experiments that Dr. Stanley Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard) conducted in the 1960s and 1970s about crowd mentality, most famously the experiment where one member of the experiment would deliver electric shocks in increasing volts to the other member of the experiment. Milgram was influenced by the Nazis and how many people said they were just doing what they were told. Participants in the experiment were encouraged, cajoled, instructed to increase the voltage even when the recipient appeared to be screaming in pain. The movie also shows some of Milgram's other experiments. Wynona Ryder is Milgram's wife, Sasha. The movie was okay, there was nothing groundbreaking and the performances were fine. If you are interested in psychological experiments, this is a good movie to check out.

Soren Kirkegaard, existenialist, Copenhagen, Denmark

1/16/16 The Danish Girl, nominated for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, 2015

 The Danish Girl is based on the of Lili Erbe (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander). Lili Erbe was previously known as Einar Wegener before Einar began her transition to a female. Lili and Gerda were married painters in Denmark in the early 20th century. Einar poses for Gerda wearing women's clothing and discovers that he enjoys them and feels more comfortable. It starts out as fun and somewhat exciting for both of them as Einar/Lili attends events and fools most people. It soon becomes clear to Einar that something has been 'off' his whole life and only as Lili does he feel normal. Einar begins his transition to Lili and Gerda is remarkably sympathetic, if not a little confused and hurt as Lili pulls away from her.  Einar seeks professional help in Copenhagen, but at that time, the homosexual and transgender communities were viewed as sick and degenerate, and Einar was subjected to painful radiation treatments. Einar was the more successful painter, but as Lili she lost her desire to paint, and Gerda began painting portraits of Lili and she became more popular. So popular that she went to Paris for her own showings. Einar 'put' Lili away, but was very melancholy and started to dress as her again and reconnected with an old friend, Hans, who was an art dealer. Eventually, Lili and Gerda went to see a sexologist who was interested in helping Lili transition to being a woman physically. Gerda continued her support of Lili even as they stopped being husband and wife. Eddie Redmayne is subtle and and intense in portraying Lili's internal struggle. Alicia Vikander matches his emotion as she tries to make Gerda strong and understanding and an advocate for her husband and best friend's interests. They are a beautiful couple and the movie is just as beautiful and gorgeous. The costumes and sets were stunning; Copenhagen is one of my most favorite cities in the world, especially around Nyhavn. Redmayne is up for Best Actor, which he won last year for his role as Stephen Hawking; and Vikander is nominated as Best Supporting Actress and based on the nominated actresses I have seen this year, I think she certainly deserves it. I don't understand why she wasn't nominated for Best Actress because she is equal to Redmayne's character in my opinion. The movie is tender and sensitive and a not your standard love story (but it is most definitely a love story).

1/18/16 Ex Machina, nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, 2015 

I don't really how to review Ex Machina. It was a movie I didn't really want to see (generally not a fan of science fiction), and as it turned out, I didn't really enjoy the movie. It was okay. Alicia Vikander (who may be one of my new favorite actresses) is Ava, the artificial intelligence humanoid robot who is being tested by Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) a computer programmer on behalf of his employer, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), who is a an eccentric billionaire. Nathan has been brought in to see how close to human Ava is, and in the process he develops an emotional attachment to Ava. Nathan is unpredictable, like a buddy one minute, and a mad scientist the next. Isaac is an actor who can transform himself from a struggling folk musician (Inside Llewyn Davis) to an organized crime boss (A Most Violent Year), and if you didn't know any of those characters was him, you might not know it. He and Vikander are very good, I kind of thought Gleeson was the weakest link, and since the chain only really has three links, I think that impacted my liking of the movie (or not liking it). The story reminded me of a short story that Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein might have written, and something my dad would have read for sure, and I think I would have liked it more as a short film than a feature film. The visual effects are good, I don't think they are superlative, and this is a category that has Star Wars, The Revenant, The Martian and Mad Max. It was good, and the ending was the best part, I think. If you are a sci-fi fan, you will probably like this a lot more than I did.

1/20/16 When Marnie Was There, nominated for Best Animated Feature, 2015 

Um, no, no, no. The film has already won one film award this year, the Chicago International Children's Film Festival Best Animated Film of the Year and all I can say is, they probably didn't ask any kids. There is no way I can see most children, including the one I used to be, sitting through this. Maybe if the ideas were condensed into 40 minutes, but not 104. I stopped caring. Actually, that's not true. I never cared. That's not to say there were not some important topics, especially related to children, but I would bet they would be bored before these were made apparent. The topics the film touches on include: juvenile diabetes and how a child copes with being 'different', being an orphan/foster child, feelings of loneliness. I mean, these are pretty important, but blah blah blah. It's a beautifully drawn/animated film, with a lovely song at the end. You'd be better off watching Inside/Out. That's all. Next film please.

1/21/16 Cinderella, nominated for Best Costume Design, 2015

Whew. Nice recovery with Cinderella. I'm not going to recount the story of Cinderella, the story is pretty much the same as it always is, the difference here is it stars Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother, Helena Bonham-Carter as the narrator and fairy godmother, Derek Jacobi as the elderly king and Lily James (Downton Abbey) as a beautiful and sweet Cinderella, all directed by Kenneth Branagh. When this was released in the theater, I was kind of ho hum about it, but after watching the mind-numbing When Marnie Was There the night before, I was hopeful for redemption. I was not disappointed. The movie is a beautiful re-telling of a familiar tale, with gorgeous scenery, fun effects (although not too much), an evil performance by Blanchett but not too over the top and Bonham-Carter is a scene stealer in her few minutes of actually being on screen, costumes worthy of the Oscar nomination and Lily James holds her own as Cinderella. Seriously, I was shocked at how much I really enjoyed the movie. If you are looking for a movie for the kids, I totally recommend this film.

1/22/16 Mad Max: Fury Road, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, 2015

I'm not going to give a detailed synopsis of Mad Max because at the heart of it, it's really not that deep (in my opinion) despite the weight that some people give it. Mad Max is set in a post-apocalyptic world, mostly desert with water and gasoline are king. Charlize Theron is virtually unrecognizable as Imperator Furiosa, a woman hardened by the challenging and dire conditions under which she lives. Tom Hardy is the new Mad Max and he's a loner but gets captured by the War Boys who fight on behalf of Immortan Joe who is quite ghastly. Furiosa tries to help Joe's five wives escape and through a series of circumstances, Max joins them. Mad Max is a great action movie; the stunts and effects are really incredible; some of them look like Cirque du Soleil on acid (and I mean that in a good way). I really couldn't keep track of which wife was which and which bad guy was which, and I finally decided I didn't care, I just wanted to enjoy the movie. The scenery/sets were stunning, not in the same sensitive way that they were in The Danish Girl or Carol, but in a big, bombastic in your face way. It's a movie I would watch again just to see the effects and stunts again. If you're looking for a movie for the blizzard this weekend or for a Friday night where you just want to watch a movie and have a visceral experience, this is a good one (maybe not for the kids). I would be surprised if this takes Best Picture or Best Director, but I would expect it to get a couple of the technical awards.

The Power of Two - The Indigo Girls at the Minnesota Zoo

7/17/15 The Indigo Girls at the Minnesota Zoo, One Lost Day

I usually combine my reviews of concerts and movies, but I feel like this music review should be a standalone. I saw The Indigo Girls almost two years ago, and it while it seems like yesterday, it has been way too long. This time around they are promoting their new CD, One Lost Day, and as excited as I was to hear the new music, it took me a few listens before I could say I liked it, and now I love it. The Indigo Girls have a great way with lyrical storytelling, songs of the American landscape (new songs like "Texas was Clean", "Fishtails" by Amy Ray and "Findlay, Ohio 1968 by Emily Saliers) as well as relationship songs, usually lost opportunities ("California is Your Girlfriend", "Learned it on Me" by Emily and "Spread the Pain Around" by Amy). I have seen the Indigo Girls at least seven times, maybe more, and I have never been disappointed, except that eventually the concert has to end. There is something about just being at an IG show that brings out a feeling of community, and not being in the minority. It's kind of like a family reunion, I inevitably see someone I know (okay, it's usually the same person I see, but it's still fun), and this time was no different; people spent as much time waving at one another as watching the concert. I have mixed feelings about concerts at the zoo; usually it's a feeling of numbness in my ass from sitting on those ridiculous benches (it's an amphitheater, which was great for the Greeks) but almost every seat has a fabulous view of the stage, and where else do you get to see bats flying around the stage? It was a warm, humid Minnesota night, one which I'll miss when it's -20 in six months. Michelle Malone opened the show with her band, and they were tight; Michelle has toured with the Indigo Girls for years. Michelle has a combination of styles, kind of rocking, but a little flavor of country (she is from Georgia and has played with Kristian Bush of Sugarland). Her new album is Stronger Than You Think and she played a couple songs from that; she has quite a lengthy discography and obviously couldn't play everything, but there are some songs from her older albums that would have been nice to hear. She is an amazing guitarist and ripped it out a couple of times, and I was hoping she would come out and exchange some licks with Emily later.

Michelle Malone

It was around 8:02 when the Indigo Girls took the stage and opened with "Least Complicated" from Swamp Ophelia (one of my favorites), and the hootenanny began. I think they played it very smart by opening with a few old, familiar and much loved songs before dropping in some new ones, usually one by Amy and then one by Emily. I had done my homework by listening to the new CD nonstop in my car, so I was able to sing it out (yes, I was that person whom I mocked from the Billy Joel concert), but I wasn't alone. Of course, I was sitting in front of the five woman who knew nothing, and carried on conversations during the concert, mentioning several times that they didn't know the words. Then GO HOME and drink your chardonnay from the box and let me listen. Good grief. Everyone has their favorite songs and people weren't shy about shouting them out, from "Romeo and Juliet" (Rites of Passage by Mark Knopfler) to "Watershed" to pretty much everything in the catalog. The cool thing about being in such an intimate venue is the performers can usually hear everything you yell at them, and they may even respond, as Amy did when someone yelled out "Romeo and Juliet" and Amy took a break from getting her guitar plugged in to address the yellee by saying (paraphrasing) " I hear you, but I don't even know that one right now, and I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you", and someone else yelled (I think) '"We know it" because Amy said, "I know you do". Anyway, back to the songs. Amy did "Happy in the Sorrow Key" which is a fast paced song that I really love; and then Emily did "Learned it on Me" which is the song you sing to your ex a few years after you break up and aren't so much bitter as reflective. It must be hard for an artist to bring out new material when the fans want the tried and true material, and you have so much of it, so they were both so appreciative when the audience sat and listened to the new stuff; Emily specifically mentioned that after finishing "Findlay, Ohio 1968"; prior to the song, she introduced her dad who was in the audience that night. I was really happy that they did "Yield" from Become You which is another fast paced song from Amy with some pointed lyrics. Emily did "Southern California is your Girlfriend" from One Lost Day and it's really not one of my favorites from the album, but like many of their songs that don't grab me on an album, when done live, I usually grow to like it a little more; Amy then did "Fishtails" which is another one I really like, she definitely sets a mood of kids running around in a Georgia evening in their hoodies, it's not ominous, though. When the chords of "Joking" (Rites of Passage) started, the crowd was even more electrified, on their feet singing. The whole set list can be found here, but they finished the night with "Rise of the Black Messiah" from the new album which is another one of my favorite songs because it is taken from the true story of the Angola Three and a letter that Amy received from one of the men and because it is musically so driving and grabs you; and of course "Closer to Fine" is probably one song they have to do, and that's where Michelle Malone came out to sing with them.

They had the same band from a couple of years ago, Jaron Pearlman on drums, Ben Williams on bass, Carol Isaacs on keyboards, accordion and whistle (not sure if she was here in 2013) and the amazing Lyris Hung on violin. The IG has a knack of find wonderful musicians who seem to get their fans and understand their music. Amy and Emily are no slouches in the musicianship department and Emily does not get the credit she deserves for being an incredible guitarist who can shred it when necessary, but she doesn't overplay and she's not flashy. But what the Indigo Girls are known for is their harmonies and the way their vocals are intertwined, and that is beautifully presented on the new album, and they do it live, but I think sometimes it's hard to really get the sonic clarity live in the mix. 

The Indigo Girls have been making records for almost thirty years, which is pretty astounding when you think about it, and they continue to grow and change while staying true to what is important to them (Honor the Earth as an example); they have grown a fan base that could probably sing every sing at any time. Whenever a crowd sings with them or back to them, they always seem humbled and sincerely thankful for their fans.It's part of what makes me love them. Another thing is, who else would wear animal hats onstage (check the last picture)? You cannot walk away from an Indigo Girls concert feeling anything less than uplifted.

2015 nominees - The Imitation Game, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Judge and more

A little less than two weeks to go and I have 21 movies to watch. I'm hoping to get a few more done in the next week. Wish me luck.

1/31/15 The Imitation Game, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, 2014

If you're counting, The Imitation Game is nominated for 8 awards this year, right up there with Birdman. I was reading a little bit about the movie as I do after I watch it and there is some criticism about different historical aspects of the film. I will say the same thing here that I said about Selma, sometimes things are done in a film to make the narrative flow better or film better or able to fit into a 2 to 2 1/2 hour time frame. I am just going to review the movie and let you make up your own mind (I will probably be doing the same thing when I see American Sniper this weekend).

Anyway, The Imitation Game focuses on the British efforts during the Second World War to decrypt "Enigma" the code used by the Germans. There were many people who worked on code-breaking during the war, but Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) may be the most well-known. The movie uses a two-fold flashback format (I just invented that term), starting in the 1950s, after the war, going back to the Second World War and then back to when Alan was in school. I think it's effective, giving a good framework for the narrative. Turing was a mathematical genius, portrayed as socially awkward as a child and adult; he was also homosexual, which in England was a crime. One criticism about the movie was that Turing's homosexuality was hidden or perhaps close to being written out of the story. I appreciated the way Turing's homosexuality was at the edges of the plot, I thought it added to the tension of the coding process as well as the mystery I felt the director was trying to add. If people watch the movie, and don't know he was gay, it gets revealed slowly; if you watch the movie and do know he's gay, then I think it's still taut because you wait to see how others find out. It also lets the code-breaking be part of the story. The film opens in 1950s Manchester where Turing is living and that is where he has an encounter with the police and we begin to learn about Turing and his time at public school (private school in America) which was torturous. His one lifeline was a friendship he formed with a classmate. Turing applies to join the team of code-breakers, but isn't very impressed with the team he has, so he asks to bring on some new blood via a crossword puzzle. One of the new recruits is Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley in an Oscar-nominated role), who by virtue of being a woman is also a bit of an outcast because she is not able to work with the men directly (it would be unseemly; I think this was mainly due to her parents' conservatism). Joan and Alan become friends and she tries to help translate for him when he has difficulties with his co-workers. The team is under a lot of pressure to crack Engima because Germany was winning the war. Cumberbatch is tremendous; he is a chameleon, last year he was in 12 Years a Slave and The Fifth Estate (as Julian Assange), two very different characters, and now a third (many more really, but math isn't my strong suit). He really humanizes this man who was a mathematical genius, social outcast by virtue of being gay and more than a little awkward, but also passionate about breaking the code. Hopefully, like Selma, The Theory of Everything and American Sniper, people will watch The Imitation Game and learn more about the subject at hand: World War II, code-breaking, mathematics and Alan Turing (in this case). It's been tough to pick my favorite movie; I think I either loved them or loathed them, but this is definitely at the top of the list.

1/31/15 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, nominated Best Visual Effects, 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set years in the future after Rise of the Planet of the Apes with the only recurring characters being some of the apes, including Caesar (played by Andy Serkis). Humans have been killed off by a deadly virus and are in quarantined off areas. A group of humans goes into an area dominated by apes in order to get the power going again. Malcolm (Jason Clarke) is the leader of this small group, but Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) is the leader of the humans back at the compound. Malcolm is not interested in any confrontation with the apes and tries to form a relationship with Caesar. Caesar is a very knowing leader, understanding the real politick of letting the humans accomplish their task or face all out war. Unfortunately, some of his cadre do not agree with his thinking, including Koba, who leads a treasonous attack on Caesar and those loyal to whom and blames it on the humans. I grew up on the original Planet of the Ape film series and the television series, and I think I like how the newer films have not tried to redo the originals, but have used them as a trellis to build their stories. I think I wrote in my review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, if I even wrote one, that I would prefer the apes over the people. I enjoyed the movie, it had good action and a good story (the ape-centric story, not human). It's nominated in the Visual Effects category and it's up against Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America 2, X-Men and Interstellar, and those are pretty heavy duty effects movies. Several people over the years have tried to make the argument that actors like Andy Serkis, who wear the body sensors and then their features are computer enhanced, but the actors actually act, should be eligible for Oscar nominations. Serkis was also Golum from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It hasn't happened, but it should and at some point Serkis is going to have to be recognized for his contributions to this performance style.

1/31/15 The Judge, nominated Best Supporting Actor 2014

I wanted to see The Judge when it came out in the theaters, but at almost two and a half hours, I just couldn't do it. But, I was going to see it even if it wasn't nominated for an Oscar, however, Robert Duvall snagged a nomination for his role as Judge Joseph Palmer, a tough judge and a tougher father. His strict hand pushed his middle son away, Hank Palmer (Robert Downey, Jr.), a brash defense attorney, who hasn't been home in years. Hank only returns for the funeral of his mother, but is unexpectedly detained when his father is accused of murder. The story is as much about the relationship between the Palmer family (older brother Glen is played by Vincent D'Onofrio and youngest brother Dale is played by Jeremy Strong) as it is about the trial of Judge Palmer. There's a subplot involving Samantha Powell (Vera Farmiga), Hank's ex-girlfriend, that was annoying to me. I think it was the corn pone accent that Farmiga used (the movie is set in a small Indiana town); I don't know if it was an authentic accent, but it did not fit, or maybe it was the blonde hair or the tattoo, something didn't work for me. Duvall was great as the hard-ass judge, still trying to control his adult sons and himself as he undergoes chemo treatment for cancer. As I was writing, I started thinking of another Duvall role where he played the martinet father and Marine as the titled role in The Great Santini. I think Duvall has a chance at the Oscar (certainly over Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke). Overall, I liked the movie, it was nice to see Robert Downey, Jr. do something besides Iron Man (I love Iron Man, but still, it's good to change it up), and he and Duvall go toe to toe. I would love to see D'Onofrio in more roles, he is so great.

2/1/15 How to Train Your Dragon 2, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2014

I remember watching the first How to Train Your Dragon and thinking it was okay, I guess it didn't move my needle the way it did for some people, so I wasn't all that rushed to see the sequel. Curse my list! It wasn't bad, and there were parts where I enjoyed it, but eh, not necessary. Hiccup is back and quite the dragon master. He meets his mother, who left him and his father when he was a baby. I don't know, honestly, I really didn't care enough to pay too much attention. The thing that I kept focusing on was that both Hiccup's parents have Scottish accents and yet Hiccup has none. That bothered me. I'm not sure why this made it and The Lego Movie did not; I thought the The Lego Movie was more creative in its universe and mixing in the human element as well as the story and dialog. I didn't think HTTYD was that inventive. Go see Boxtrolls.

2/1/15 Begin Again, nominated Best Original Song, 2014

Begin Again is a light, no-brainer romantic comedy with a pop music soundtrack. There is nothing wrong with that; I know some people think I'm a snob, and I suppose I am sometimes, but this was a great break after some of the heavy movies I had been watching. Keira Knightley (as Gretta James) and Mark Ruffalo (as Dan Mulligan) star as a songwriter and music producer, respectively. Adam Levine plays Dave Kohl, Gretta's ex-boyfriend. Dave and Gretta go to New York for Dave's burgeoning music career where they become estranged (probably not unpredictably) and Gretta feels homesick. At an open mic night, Gretta is invited by her friend, Steve (James Corden) to sing a song, which she does. This catches Dan's attention and they begin a collaboration. The set up in the movie is a little less direct than that recap just was. The two decide to collaborate on a record using the sounds of the city as well as some non-traditional musicians, or perhaps unexpected is a better word (?). Honestly, those were my favorite parts of the movie; it reminded me of music videos from the 1980s (oh my god, I can't believe I just went down that road; what's next AARP membership?). Gretta has her relationship with Dave and Dan has his complex relationship with his daughter (Hailee Steinfeld) and ex-wife (Catherine Keener). I thought Keira Knightley was pretty good as a singer, I guess she had not sung on stage before. Begin Again was directed by John Carney who also directed Once (a movie about which I am ambivalent at best). "Lost Stars" is nominated for Best Original Song (I wonder if Adam Levine will sing on the Oscars).

 2/7/15 Boyhood nominated Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, 2014

WHY??????? Why did this have to be nominated? If you have read the blog, you may recall that I was not a big fan of Linklater's trilogy Before the End of Time cannot come soon enough, or something like that. Well, I'll be danged, he came up with another movie that everyone loves, except me. If you have not read or heard anything about the movie, the big draw is the fact that it was filmed over twelve years, so we see the characters age as the actors age. Yep. People getting older - they made a movie. The movie starts with Mason (Eller Coltrane) aged 6, lying on the grass waiting for his mother, Olivia (Patricia Arquette). At home, we also meet Mason's older sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) and learn that Olivia is divorced from the kids' father, Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke). We follow the family through Olivia's bad marriage decisions (she's three for three), Olivia going back to school to eventually become a college instructor (or professor, I'm not sure) and Mason and Samantha's journeys as the family gets uprooted several times (I will say, having moved once when I was younger, I think I'm still scarred) and Mason's first loves and difficulties with authority. I did not care, I didn't think any of the characters were likable or admirable, and having been a petulant teenager (some would say petulant adult), I know kids aren't cute and precocious all the time and life isn't a bowl of cherries. I did not need an almost three hour movie to tell me that. I don't mind real life being reflected back at me, and I don't mind high-minded art, but I abhor pretentiousness. My pick for Best Supporting Actress is Laura Dern (Wild)and Best Supporting Actor as I mentioned above is Robert Duvall in The Judge, although Birdman may be the night's big winner.

A movie classic: 2001: A Space Odyssey and some new movies from 2014 - Snowpiercer, Pride, Skeleton Twins

Sometimes I think I'm onto a great idea and other times, I just get points for trying. In this case, I thought I would be able to knock a few off of the 2014 list (which was released on 1/15/15) and also clear some off of the big list. Alas, only two come off the list, BUT, and this is a big BUT for me, there were a couple of fabulous movies that I hope you check out.

1/8/15 Of Human Bondage 1934
This was probably the most disappointing of all of the movies in this selection. First, for some reason I was certain it was on the list, only to find out that Bette Davis was nominated for the Best Actress award, but did not win, and the film did not win anything at the Oscars. Second, the movie was really not that great. It was based on the book by Somerset Maugham, which I have not read, and now have no plans to do so. It was dreary and annoying, kind of like our modern-day soap operas with the weak-willed man who is a sucker for the manipulating woman (sorry if that's too simple of an analysis). I really lost interest about 45 minutes into it. The saving grace is it was a relatively short film. This was Bette Davis' break out role, and it was definitely a tough role, but Leslie Howard in the lead was milque toast. A basic synopsis is Leslie Howard plays a failed artist with a club foot; he then tries his hand at medicine, but he falls in love with a waitress, Mildred, (Bette Davis) who is happy to use him, but doesn't really return his affections. And this is how the movie continues until Mildred dies a rather horrible death. I would recommend skipping this.

1/9/15 Snowpiercer not nominated 2014
I really am not a huge science fiction fan, especially of the dystopic sub-genre, it just doesn't usually interest me. However, I read an online interview with Tilda Swinton who co-stars in Snowpiercer by Korean director, Bong Joon-Ho, and it sounded really interesting and the author supposed that the film might be nominated for an Oscar or two. So, trying to get ahead of the nominations, I thought I would watch. What a treat. Seriously. It leans towards being very dark and serious, but then something will happen that will be humorous. The movie is set in the mid-21st century, so not too far in the future, and the has been devastating climate change - the world is frozen over. Survivors are on a train circling the Earth (now in its 18th year), with the passengers divided into classes, the lower classes are in the back of the train and eat a very gross protein bar, while the upper class eat meat and eggs and experience daylight. The train is driven and guided by a man who is unseen until the end of the film, Wilford (played by Ed Harris). His right hand man (or woman) is Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton); I say man or woman because Mason is addressed as "Sir" and is almost androgynous; in fact, Swinton is almost unrecognizable, looking a little like Edith Head or the character from The Incredibles and she provides some of the best humor at the worst possible times. I really think she should have received a Supporting Actress nod. The leader of the people in the tail section is John Hurt as Gilliam, but he is ready to pass on the reigns to Curtis (Captain America Chris Evans). Curtis is a reluctant leader, he wants change, but not the responsibility of leading the section in revolt that will get people killed. Circumstances come together to push Curtis to the front, to confront the demons from the past and deal with a future he cannot comprehend. There is a lot that happens, and I don't want to spoil it as it unfolds. It's a movie I would watch again because I'm sure I missed things, especially when the movie got going. Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell and Ewen Bremner also co-star. Evans and Song Kang-ho (a Korean actor) really feature, and Evans is good, more emotive than his Captain America role, but also controlled. The movie has tension and some plot twists, interesting effects. This is probably not on anyone's radar, but it was at my library and I saw it on Netflix, so it's out there. Go get it.

1/10/15 Skeleton Twins not nominated 2014

I didn't really think this would be nominated , but when I saw the previews, I thought it was going to be pretty funny, and it came up from the library, so I grabbed it. It's funny, but it's not pee your pants funny. The funny is tempered by the serious and sad nature of the relationship between Maggie and Milo, twins played by Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. And I think that's fine, it just wasn't what I was expecting. Maggie and Milo have been separated for many years and still carry around unresolved feelings about their father's suicide, and have a distant relationship with their mother. Maggie is married to a seemingly great guy (Luke Wilson) but cheats on him with apparent regularity; and Milo is gay and a struggling actor in California. After a failed suicide attempt, Maggie brings Milo back home to New York state, and they reconnect, but it's not easy. Some of the funny moments are when Milo visits Maggie at the dentist officer where she works and they inhale quite a bit of nitrous; they also lip-synch to a Jefferson Starship song (and the name escapes me at the moment), and that was pretty funny. Like I said, it wasn't a side-splitting movie, but that's okay. Hader and Wiig are really funny; I'm a latecomer to appreciating Hader because I was not a loyal Saturday Night Live viewer, but I usually liked the sketches he was in (arg, I hate ending sentences with a preposition).

1/10/15 The Equalizer not nominated 2014

Again, this was not going to be nominated for any major awards, but you never know on the technical side, especially sound editing. And really, it's Denzel Washington, so I don't need to justify anything here. The Equalizer is a movie based on the television series from the 1980s starring Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a retired agent of a government agency. Washington plays McCall in the film. I never watched the series, so I didn't have any preconceived ideas of how it should be. McCall works in a Home Depot-type store and is a friend or mentor to a lot of the workers, even though he kind of keeps to himself. He's kind of Yoda-like, inspiring an overweight co-worker to work out and diet to get enough to apply for a security guard job. McCall has long given up his pat life, but he cannot help himself when he sees friends in trouble; we some of his retribution, but some we don't, leaving us to fill in the blanks (it's not hard, but it was nice that director Antoine Fuqua let us figure it out on our own). McCall is a well-read, type A insomniac who keeps late hours at a 24 hour diner where he befriends a young girl, Teri, in the escort business (played by Chloe Grace Moretz). After Teri gets beaten by her employers, McCall takes matters into his own hands, using past connections from his agency to get the lowdown on the bad guys. Whereas I don't usually watch science fiction, movies like this catch my attention (witness my willingness to watch Taken 2 and  November Man), so I enjoyed it. It had a lot of action and great acting by Washington, and left the distinct possibility for a sequel, although Washington has historically avoided any sequels. I kind of thought it might be nominated for sound editing, but it was not to be. If you're looking for a movie to hunker down with during the winter, this would not be a bad choice.

1/10/15 Million Dollar Arm not nominated, 2014

On the road to Agra

I didn't really think that Million Dollar Arm, an inspired by the true story film by Disney would be nominated for an Oscar, although I thought there was an outside chance the the soundtrack/score by A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours among many of his scores) would be nominated, and from I can learn from Wikipedia, it was on the long list. Million Dollar Arm is about sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) who is struggling to get his own business up and running and his crazy scheme to go to India, focusing on cricket players to find a pitcher for major league baseball. His P.T. Barnum approach takes him (and us) around India, including to Agra, the site of the Taj Mahal, at sunrise, and to Indian villages. Bernstein, with the help of scout, Ray Pointevint (the irascible Alan Arkin) picks two boys to come back to the States, hopefully getting tryouts with Major League scouts. Dinesh and Rinku, and translator/comrade Amit are overwhelmed by the amenities and modern conveniences they experience, and kind of dumped by Bernstein, who doesn't consider that he has uprooted these young men and abandoned them. Coach Tom House (Bill Paxton) is willing to work the boys who have unconventional forms and no understanding of baseball whatsoever; House tries to engage Bernstein a little more, but it takes Brenda (Lake Bell), his tenant and potential love interest, to really hammer it home. I'm a fan of sports movies and travel, so this was a nice combination. Having been to India and having friends who live there, I was interested in how things would be portrayed. I think they did a good job of showing the color and variety of the country, as well as the openness of the people. I thought the movie was a little long, and I was turned off by Bernstein, but I liked the young actors who played Dinesh,  Rinku and Amit (Madhur Mittal, Suraj Sharma and Pitobash Tripathy) added a great sense of naivete but adventurousness that made them fun to watch.  I doubt my friends in Hyderabad watched this, we talked many times about movies and their tastes ran towards action films, but maybe they'll give this a try.

1/11/15 Calamity Jane, Best Original Song, 1953

WARNING: Leave your late 20th/early 21st century sensibilities in the closet or you risk being offended by the politically incorrect portrayal and references to American Indians and women as well. If you can do that, I think you might enjoy this 1950s musical about Calamity Jane, portrayed by the legendary Doris Day. Calamity Jane is set in Deadwood, South Dakota, in the late 1800s. The plot revolves around the tale-telling, gun-toting Calamity Jane and her promise to the mostly male population of Deadwood that she would bring famed entertainer Adelaid Adams to Deadwood. Instead, she brings Katie Brown, Miss Adams' maid, who has aspirations of being on the stage. After overcoming the initial disappointment of Katie not being Miss Adams, she is embraced by the town, and she also forms an unlikely friendship with the tomboyish Jane. Jane has a love/hate relationship with Wild Bill Hickock (Howard Keel), but has designs on Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin. As these types of plots usually goes, there are crossed wires and hurt feelings, but they are overcome with song. The movie doesn't tax your brain, has some rollicking songs ("The Deadwood Stage Whip Crack Away", "A Woman's Touch" and Oscar-winning "Secret Love") and Doris Day. I don't think today's audiences, myself included, really appreciate the kind of talent Doris Day had, and I've only had a little taste in The Man Who Knew Too Much, but she is really amazing, and I look forward to watching a few more of her films. After recently watching Hello Dolly! and feeling my attention wane, I didn't feel the same way watching Calamity Jane; it wasn't as lush (if that's it) and didn't have the dance numbers, but I liked it more (being PC aside).

1/11/15 2001: A Space Odyssey, Best Visual Effects, 1968, #15 AFI, National Film Registry

I am not quite sure how to review this iconic film, I mean it is on the American Film Institute's list of 100 best films, it was put on the National Film Registry as a film of historic significance, it has references that most people know, even if they have never seen the film. I feel like I should have seen this movie at some point in my younger days, that my dad would have inflicted it on me, I'm certain he read the book by Arthur C. Clarke, but I have no complete memory of it. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is set in the future (it seems very odd to say future given that 2001 is in our rearview mirror), and is complete with space travel and gadgets of the future. The movie does not have a traditional narrative, and as I was watching it, I was reminded of The Tree of Life a Terrence Malick film from 2011 which I hated, and yet, I didn't hate this move at all. Once I released my brain from trying to follow the story and just enjoyed the visual immensity and the aural festival, I really liked it. There is very little dialog, and really none of it matters except for the last 45 minutes or so (the movie is close to three hours) when HAL (the supercomputer) is confronted by the astronauts, Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood). This is one of the most beautiful films I think I have seen, incredible visuals (deserving of the Best Visual Effects Oscar), and the music is wonderfully apropos; I'm sure Richard Strauss never imagined how is waltzes would be used. There is an extremely long and detailed article on Wikipedia about the movie, its influences, etc. and you would be better off reading that for more information, because I am not up to the task. The movie may not be everyone's cup of tea and its length may be off-putting, but the section with HAL is well worth it. For those of us who periodically think computers are running the world, HAL does nothing to change that point of view.

1/14/15 Pride not nominated 2014

Pride is set in 1980s, Thatcher England and Wales among coalfields and the gay rights movement. Huh? Yeah, exactly. What an unlikely combination, but it works and works incredibly well. Pride was nominated for a Golden Globe and for a couple of BAFTA awards but not a single Oscar (although this year's Oscars may be more remembered for the many movies it snubbed than what was nominated). Until today when I saw Selma (review to come soon), I don't recall crying so much during a movie. As I was driving back from Selma, I was thinking about this, and it kind of made sense, two movies that had a spirit and showed the power of what people can do together. Pride focuses on a group of gay and lesbian young people in London, led by Mark Ashton, who decide to support the coal miners during their strike in 1984. The problem lies in the fact that most of the unions don't want to take support from the gay community, so the group, now called LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) picks a community and union to give their support. They find a small town in South Wales and begin to forge the most unlikely of alliances. For a pretty serious situation that includes a lot of hate and bigotry, the film handles it with humor (or humour since it's a British film) and affection. Dominic West (from HBO's The Wire) leads the cast of gay and lesbian activists as Jonathan Blake; the remainder of the actors may are relatively unknown in the US. The Welsh community is led by Dai Donovan (Paddy Considine), Hefina (Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake, Harry Potter, Nanny McPhee among others), Cliff (Bill Nighy - Love Actually, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). Ben Schnetzer plays Mark Ashton, the leader of LGSM, who brings an incredible enthusiasm and passion and a refusal to take no for an answer (mostly); I have not seen Schnetzer in anything before, but he was a dynamo and he must have been magnetic to be around, and probably frustrating because he was like a bull sometimes. It's important to remember the place in time that this movie occupies, decades removed from gay marriage and the openness we see from artists (Elton John had not yet come out), but in the early days of the AIDS epidemic; also the movie is based on real events and real people, some of whom are still alive, which made it more powerful to me. I was so excited about this movie that I emailed a friend of mine the next day, I thought a text late at night might be overdoing it, to tell him about it. I don't buy movies, but I will probably buy this one. Some people may be uncomfortable with the overt gay theme, but when you see middle-aged Welsh miners embrace 'the gays' as they are called, how can you be uncomfortable? It's a great lesson in tolerance and acceptance, from both sides.