Finally - The Big Lebowski and Finishing off the AFI list with Intolerance and Three Identical Strangers

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.

Long time gone, but I'm back - Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Henry Fonda, Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett

It's been a while. Writer's block sucks. This is going to be quick and dirty, and I hope to get back on track.

6/20/18 Now, Voyager, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, 1942

Bette Davis stars as the ugly duckling turned swan, Charlotte Vale, in this film that also features Claude Rains and Paul Heinreid. Charlotte is dominated by her mother and matriarch of the Vale family (Gladys Cooper); she is bullied so much so that she is sent to a sanitarium under the treatment of Dr. Jaquith (Claude Rains). Charlotte blossoms and discovers her own personality and strength. Davis was nominated for Best Actress, but Greer Garson won for her role as Kay Miniver in Mrs. Miniver; Katharine Hepburn was nominated as Tess Harding in Woman of the Year, and Joan Fontaine in Rebecca as The Second Mrs. DeWinter. I enjoyed the film and watching Charlotte's transformation. There was something about the film that seemed relevant today, over seventy five years later.

6/21/18 The Adventures of Robin Hood, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, 1938

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a fun movie; Errol Flynn seems to be enjoying his role as Robin Hood, teasing and basically giving Prince John (Claude Rains) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) a very hard time until King Richard returns to England from the Crusades. The movie has swashbuckling action, humor, a love story featuring Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) and Robin, and an Oscar-winning score. The fabulous Technicolor is still eye-popping (even on my twenty year old television), I can't imagine what it was like on a big screen when most films were still in black and white (Now Voyager was released four years after this was in black and white). If you're looking for a fun movie for a weekend at the cabin, I would recommend this one.

6/23/18 One Survivor Remembers, Best Documentary Short, National Film Registry, 1995

As we lose Holocaust survivors to age, it becomes more and more important to remember their stories and what those stories mean to us, especially in the upside down world we're living in these days. Survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein narrates her story and the story of her family, who perished in the camps. Her experience is one of destruction and death, but also resilience, strength and love. The film is available on YouTube (and hopefully in the link below) and her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards show is included and it is well worth watching.

6/23/18 The Anderson Platoon, Best Documentary Feature, 1967

In the 21st century, with the 24-hour news cycles and smartphone videos coming from every corner of the world, it may be hard to imagine a time when it wasn't quite as common for a film crew to be embedded with a platoon that is in combat. French director Pierre Schoendoerffer was with the American 1st Cavalry Division in South Vietnam, specifically a platoon led by West Point graduate, Lieutenant Joseph Anderson. The film takes us into the jungle and combat, we also get brief biographies on the soldiers, and updates on injuries and mortalities. The Vietnam War was controversial and divisive, but the film really focuses on the soldiers, the young men, barely into their twenties, who are far from home, and trying to survive.

6/30/18 The Bad and the Beautiful, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction (B&W), Best Cinematography (B&W), Best Costume Design (B&W), Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, National Film Registry, 1952

I feel like I should have loved this movie, but I didn't. It was fine, I liked it, but it seemed derivative, a lot of Citizen Kane and a little bit of Ace in the Hole (also starring Kirk Douglas). Douglas is Jonathan Shields, a producer/studio head, who has no qualms about using people to advance his career, even if it hurts others. Three of these 'others' are gathered together, and in flashbacks, we learn how Shields cheated, betrayed or hurt them. Gloria Grahame won the Best Supporting Actress for her role as the Southern belle wife of one of the people that Shields hurt; she was on screen for less than twenty five minutes, and I personally think it should have gone to Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain. Watching the film was timely because a few weeks earlier I watched Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, starring Annette Bening as Grahame. I think your life will continue on if you don't watch this, but if you do watch it, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world, either.

6/30/18 Ocean's 8, not yet nominated 2018

I don't have any great analysis on Ocean's 8 starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and a cast of very talented actresses. It was a fun, smart, fast paced eist movie, along the lines of the other "Ocean's" movies. I would actually watch it again, which I don't say very often about any movie. Will it be nominated? Very possibly not, but I don't care. It's probably going to be out on video/streaming soon, and it would be great for a movie night (pretty much for the whole family). 

7/8/18 Jezebel, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, National Film Registry, 1938

It took me a while to get into Jezebel, starring Bette Davis as spoiled Southern belle Julie Marsden. I don't know, perhaps I was distracted. It was really towards the end that I appreciated what the movie was about. It also stars Henry Fonda as Julie's frustrated beau. It is 1850s New Orleans and Julie is headstrong and not afraid to defy conventions, and while that may be admired today, it causes her and her family embarrassment. Watching Davis in Now, Voyager and then Jezebel, you can see her range and why she is considered such a great actress; two very different characters, although they are united by their ultimate strength. It's not a movie to watch if you're looking for laughs or an escape from the world, but it is worth watching.

7/8/18 Dodsworth, Best Art Direction, National Film Registry, 1936

I had never heard of Dodsworth before, and I hadn't read anything about it before I watched it, so I had no idea what it was about. I would consider it a pleasant surprise. William Wyler directed Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor in this look at marriage in the first half of the twentieth century. In some ways, it takes a very common occurrence, the husband (Huston as Sam Dodsworth) retires and decides he wants to do all those things he and his wife (Chatterton as Fran Dodsworth) didn't have time for, and then they both find out (although Fran might have known all along) that they don't necessarily want the same things, and Fran is a little freer in finding other companions. I was rooting for Sam all the way, even as he struck up a friendship with Edith Cortright (Mary Astor) and found his bliss in Italy. I truly was not certain how the movie would end, and I'm not going to tell you, but if you want to try a movie off the beaten path (have you ever heard of Dodsworth?) pick it up from the library or Netflix.

2017 Nominated Documentary Short Subjects

This is my 300th entry. The girl's got staying power.

Documentary Shorts at the Riverview Theater, Minneapolis, 2/14/17

If I had to pick my favorite category of the Oscars, I think it has to be the documentary shorts. There are always two or three (or more) that are so well done, inspiring, heartbreaking, enlightening, that I practically bully people to go see them (I like to think of it as 'encouraging', but I suppose it depends on your perspective). This year, I was crying pretty much from the first 10 minutes of the first film until the end of the last film. I think that's why I like going alone; I don't need anyone to see me sobbing like the Cleveland Indians just lost the seventh game of the World Series in the last inning of the game. Human beings are incredibly resilient, and given the chance, I think most of them do the right or good thing, and that is so evident in the following films.

Joe's Violin - Joseph Feingold survived a Soviet prison camp in Siberia during the Second World War and afterward, while in a refugee camp in Germany awaiting transport to the United States, he bought a violin with a carton of cigarettes. Little did he know that over sixty years later the violin would be bringing joy to a whole new generation. Through an instrument donation program in New York City, Joseph donated his violin and it wound up at the Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls Charter School and with Brianna Perez, a 12 year old student chosen because of her passion for playing. There are three segments to the movie: Joseph's story, Brianna's story and the story of them together. Brianna and her fellow students are all eager to meet Joseph because to them he is a hero. When Brianna and Joseph meet, it was the most beautiful moment; she played a piece by Grieg that Joseph's mother sent to him while he was at the Russian camp; his mother and youngest brother died in Treblinka. Beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Looking at Joseph and the young girls at the school, many of whom come from immigrant or refugee families, that is the best of America. The movie can be viewed online here: http://www.joesviolin.com/watch-now. PBS will also be showing it at some time.

Extremis - End of life discussions are incredibly difficult when people are healthy; who thinks of extreme measures like life extending tracheotomies when you're running around and enjoying life? This Netflix production looks at those very moments that are so important and can be so painful for a family to make, especially when they don't know what the patient wants to do. The movie was filmed in the Intensive Care Unit of Highland Hospital in Oakland, California, and we look over the shoulder of Doctor Jessica Zitter who has to have those conversations several times a day. Dr. Zitter meets with patients and their families to lay out the treatment options, if any, and what the expected prognosis is; unfortunately, the prognosis may only be another month or two. She does this with care and kindness, trying not to impose her own beliefs on to the families, like when she really doesn't think that extra intervention will add to a quality of life, and yield no cure. She has several moments where she looks utterly exhausted and defeated, but she keeps going. It probably sounds weird to say this is a great documentary; but it is, and a powerful one. It certainly points out the importance of creating a health care directive, if for no other reason than to ease the burden on family members who may be wracked with guilt about making the wrong decision. This is available on Netflix streaming.

4.1 Miles - This collection of documentaries contains more 'heroes' than I recall seeing in previous collections. In 4.1 Miles, the heroes are the captain and his crew who run a Coast Guard boat in the waters around the Island of Lesbos, rescuing refugees fleeing from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan through Turkey. The waters can be rough, the boats overfull of panicking and frightened people, and the ship's crew is stressed and overworked. It would be easy for the captain (I apologize I cannot remember his name and I cannot find it) and his crew to be angry or resentful of these people who endanger their lives, but they're not. They do get scared because they are responsible for all of these people, including very young children; they get angry because it seems the Greek government and the rest of the world don't care and aren't providing enough assistance; they get sad and upset because some that they are trying to rescue, die. But they don't give up; you see the whole island pulling together.

Watani: My Homeland - I cried, I laughed, I cried and I cheered. This is another documentary about the Civil War in Syria, this time focusing on a family whose father is a Commander in the Free Syrian Army. Abu Ali and his wife, Hala, are devoted to each other and their four children, Hammoudi, Helen, Farah and Sarah, and they are likewise devoted to their parents. They live in Aleppo, or rather survive there as they hope the bombs miss their current apartment and that Abu Ali comes back from his missions. One day Abu Ali is betrayed by his men to ISIL, and the family waits anxiously for his return, now less safe without Abu Ali. Hala doesn't want to leave, but the attacks are getting worse, and the children are more frightened. When Germany announces they will take 20,000 refugees, Hala decides they need to apply; they know nothing about Germany except it's not getting bombed. The film follows them as they journey from Syria to Turkey to Germany, landing in a small, medieval village (according to an informational video they watched, population is dwindling at a rapid rate as old people die every day - this was one of the lighter moments as we, the audience knew the video was mild propaganda, but the children did not). Their new world is 180 degrees different than their old lives, and the children get acclimated fairly quickly, learning German and making new friends. Hala carries this great sadness, as well as a load of guilt for leaving Syria in case Abu Ali is alive, and for leaving her homeland. She denounces ISIL for their perversion of Islam and destruction of her country. In a way she reminded me of my mom, a person who has suffered tremendously, but yet has a strength and fortitude that is unexpected, all for her children and her husband. The two youngest children provide the laughs, speaking their minds and seeing the world through their young perspective. I think everyone should watch this movie, especially if you have a fear of the refugees, or if you don't believe how perilous the situation is or you think these people are a threat. I suppose you might not change your mind, but I hope you do. They didn't want to leave 'their Syria', Hammoudi talks about returning to Syria one day to rebuild his country. They just want a chance to live and be safe. I hope the family is thriving in Germany.

The White Helmets - This is another Netflix production, and another film with a cast of heroes. The White Helmets are civilians who act as first responders throughout Syria, attempting to rescue their friends, neighbors and families who may be buried under rubble after the bombings. A few of the White Helmets give us their stories and why they have joined; they come from all walks of life, have young children and could be staying at home with them, but they all this incredible sense of devotion to this very dangerous task. We see them on various rescue missions, with mixed successes. The men are sent to a training facility in Turkey to learn new rescue techniques, using different types of equipment and getting a brief respite from the bombardments, but not from the stress and worry about their families. Even as the men strengthen their bonds with each other, after their exercises, they watch television coverage of the destruction from the Russians, the Syrian Army and ISIL; one of the men's brothers is killed while he's away. You feel their hopelessness at being so far away, but they also know they are learning techniques that may save lives. Like Halal and her family, the men in the White Helmets love their country and hope one day for peace.

I cannot even pick a winner. They all deserve to have their stories told.

International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org/
The White Helmets: http://www.whitehelmets.org/en
Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation: http://www.mhopus.org/

A weekend of movies: Suicide Squad, When Harry Met Sally, the original Ghostbusters, Terminator

12/31/16 Suicide Squad, 2016 not yet nominated

Ambivalent, half-hearted, reluctant. There are the words I would use to describe my feelings about watching Suicide Squad. I believe it was while waiting for Batman versus Superman that my brother and I saw the trailer, and he asked me what I thought. I said "I think it's stupid". That may sound harsh, and I may modify it a bit, but not much. Perhaps this gives you an idea of what I thought: around the middle of the movie I said to my friends, "All I can think about is pancakes." My hosts did nothing to help my craving.

Here is what I did like: there were probably more strong, leading female characters than I recall seeing in any other super hero movie, Marvel or DC, including Amanda Waller (Viola Davis channeling her ruthless side); Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (who was so good I think I recall reading she may get her own stand alone movie), Cara Delevingne as Enchantress (who was terrible, by the way); and Karen Fukuhara as Katana (who intrigued me and I would like to see more). I also liked seeing so many characters with whom I was not familiar, including El Diablo and Killer Croc. I also liked seeing a different aspect of Will Smith's acting as Deadshot, another character I kind of liked. Oh, and as my young friend mentioned, the soundtrack was pretty good.

What I didn't like: a lot of the acting and writing was really not very good, even for a superhero movie. The actor playing Rick Flag, Joel Kinnaman was not great. Jared Leto took a big chance, playing the first Joker incarnation since Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar, and it's hard to judge the portrayal in a vacuum; essentially, he creeped me out and I thought he was more of a distraction to the story line than a bonus.

I only paid a dollar to watch it, so I may have gotten off cheaper than most people, and the only reason I wanted to see it was in case it was nominated for any effects Oscars and in case the spinoff movies are forthcoming.

12/31/16 When Harry Met Sally, 1989

As I was watching this with my friends on New Year's Eve, we were sure this won an Oscar for something, or was on the National Film Registry. It had to be; hell, The Breakfast Club is on the National Film Registry. But no, it's not on any of my lists. We were shocked. We had seen the movie before, but it has been about ten years for me, and unlike a lot of movies, it holds up twenty five years later. The writing from Nora Ephron, Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal is so good at portraying the relationship between men and women (is there a gay version, because that could be funny too). Reiner directed and kept the movie at a good pace; I never felt we stayed in one place for too long. Billy Crystal as Harry Burns is cynical, sarcastic, jaded, but also hilarious; and Meg Ryan, America's sweetheart, was a good sparring partner as Sally Albright. These two are so perfect together as actors, that as viewers you yell at the screen telling them to figure it out. It was a little bitter sweet watching this though, because Carrie Fisher is Sally's best friend, Marie, who marries Harry's best friend, Jess. We first meet Harry and Sally as they leave college and Chicago and head east to New York. They begin their relationship debating whether men and women can just be friends, or does it have to end in sex, and maybe dating (although, not a necessary component). It follows the pair over several years as they meet at different times before reconnecting as 'friends'. Intercut in the movie are interviews with older people, some of whom have been married for decades, and those scenes are fun to watch. I don't know if Billy Crystal is as appreciated as he should be for his incredible talent; back in the 1980s and parts of the 1990s, he had quite a streak going: movies, hosting the Oscars, live shows. Meg Ryan was no slouch either. Definitely glad I watched it again. And now I would like some pecan pie.

1/1/17 In Darkness, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, 2011 

In Darkness is not the movie to watch if you're looking for whimsy or levity, but director Agnieszka Holland's film about Polish Jews hiding in the sewer system during the Holocaust shows us another story, and a true story at that. In Lvov, Poland, Jews are being harassed, tortured, killed in the streets and those that aren't killed outright, are sent to camps. There is a small group who decide to try and tunnel into the sewer system to hide. As they dig their entrance, they encounter Leopold Socha, a plumber who has a side business stealing and hiding his loot in the sewers. At first he agrees to help them hide if they agree to pay him, but after a while, it stops becoming about business and becomes about humanity, theirs and his. He does this at the risk of his and his family's life, as well as those he is aiding. It is a very hard movie to watch, visually, because so much is 'in darkness', underground, and the topic is very heartbreaking, and for me, it makes me angry and sad, and I felt very tense, until the end. I've only seen three of the nominated films for this year, including the winner A Separation, which I thought was very good, and Monsieur Lazhar which broke my heart. I know a lot of people avoid foreign films in general, and Holocaust movies in particular, but if you can, I recommend watching all three of them (although, not in a row, that's too much). Holland also directed Europa, Europa, another Oscar nominated film set during the Holocaust.

1/1/17 The Night of the Iguana, Best Costume Design, 1964

I love Richard Burton, he could be reading the phone book, and I'd still listen, enthralled, but I could not deal with him, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr in the John Huston-directed The Night of the Iguana. I was telling a friend it was just too much yelling, and he said, it's Tennessee Williams, what do you expect? Burton is a shamed priest who is hiding out in Mexico giving cheap tours, and during the film, he happens to be taking out a nice ladies church group, with a lovely young lady among them. She makes some moves on him, and he struggles against all of his inner demons to control himself. After that, I actually started drifting in and out and could not bring myself to re-watch what I missed (which I usually do). All I could think of was when I watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? also with Burton as well as Elizabeth Taylor, and the yelling. Is that what 1950s drama was all about? I'm sorry if I've offended any theatrical sensibilities, but consider this one crossed off the list.

1/1/17 Ghostbusters, 1984 National Film Registry

So, I watched the original Ghotsbusters for the very first time ever. Apparently that just surprises people. I'm sorry, but I didn't love it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I laughed harder at the remake, but that may have been because I really wanted the remake to succeed. Anyway, we s lowly get introduced to the ghostbusting team, which is Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Peter Venkman (Billy Murray) and Ray Stantz (Dan Ackroyd). Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) seeks the help of the ghostbusters, but gets extra attention from Venkman. Rick Moranis is Louis Tully, kind of a nudgenick, who would love to get to know Dana better, but instead gets possessed by a demon, the Keymaster; Dana is also possessed by the demon, Zuul. The Ghostbusters, plus their new member, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), fight the demons, pretty much destroying the city in the process. There is something about movies like Ghostbusters, The Terminator or When Harry Met Sally, that if you know anything about cultural references, you know something about these movies, they are part of our collective cultural history. If someone says "Who ya gonna call?" You say "Ghostbusters". You might not even know why. I may not have loved it, but I did appreciate finally seeing it, and seeing/hearing the references in their context. And you get a sense of the immense comedic talent on the screen (I did forget to mention Annie Potts was hilarious as the less than helpful secretary, Janine Melnitz). I'm reviewing this because it's on the National Film Registry, because most of you have probably already seen it.

1/2/17 The Terminator, 1984 National Film Registry

I honestly do not remember watching this before, but I did watch Terminator 2, and you would have thought that I would have watched 1 before 2, but I guess not. This is not a great movie; the acting is terrible, it's like a bunch of amateurs, but, like a friend said, it sets the table for the rest of the franchise. Arnold Schwartzenegger is the Terminator of the title, and is his most iconic role (sorry for those of you that thought it was Conan the Barbarian), and he is after Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Poor Sarah has no clue what's happening, especially after Reese (Michael Biehn) also starts chasing her, but to protect her. Reese and the Terminator have come form the future to prevent something from happening in the future. Does your head hurt? Yeah, don't think about it. Just enjoy the special effects (which do seem a little dated thirty years later), and enjoy this as one of James Cameron's short movies, and less pretentious to boot.

Documentaries: Maya Lin, Inocente, Anne Frank Remembered, The Thin Blue Line

12/14/16 Maya Lin: A strong clear vision, Best Documentary, 1994

If you are old enough to remember when the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was commissioned and created, you may recall the controversy around it. It was created by a very young woman, of Chinese parentage and was in stark contrast to what most people thought a memorial should be. If anyone was up to these challenges, sometimes very insulting and aggressive dissension, it was Maya Lin. Maya Lin was a young student when she entered a contest to find the design for a memorial to the veterans of the Vietnam War. She designed a memorial of long walls with the names of those men and women killed in the war etched into it in chronological order. The walls are sunk into the ground. Having been there, I can attest to the powerful feeling I had as a citizen; the documentary shows veterans being overwhelmed by their emotions and memories. In the documentary, Lin is interviewed about her though process for the design of the memorial, explaining her decisions from the order of the names, to the positioning of the walls to why the memorial is sunken below ground. The film allows the viewer insight into her other works, the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, Women's Table at Yale University (her alma mater). While Lin is well-spoken in the film sharing her visual ideas, and passionate about her visions, she seems very uncomfortable when receiving accolades or presenting her work to an audience. She believes that the work should be the focus, whether it is the memories of Vietnam for the veterans, or the participants of the Civil Rights Movement, it is the work and the viewers' interpretations that are important. If people are moved, then she has done her job. The movie spends the most time on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the controversy of Lin's selection, the reaction of the veterans, as well as Lin's insights; it also follows her as she works on newer pieces, in her home state of Ohio, as well as throughout the United States. It was very interesting to watch her work, especially because I have wondered how large pieces get done, it's not just the artist, that's for sure. Maya Lin recently received the Presidential Medal of  Freedom by President Obama. She is an American treasure and I totally recommend watching this documentary.

12/16/16 Letter from an Unknown Woman, 1948, #48 BBC, National Film Registry

So many thoughts went through my head as I watched Letter from an Unknown Woman, starring Joan Fontaine (Rebecca) and Louis Jourdan (Gigi), co-produced by John Houseman and directed by Max Ophuls. One thought was, why I have never heard of this movie? Two, how come Hollywood has not remade it (a Chinese remake was done in the early 2000s)? And three, not that receiving an Oscar, or being nominated, means a movie is great, how did this movie not get nominated for any Oscars? Set in the early 20th century, Joan Fontaine is Lisa, a Viennese teenager who lives in the same apartment building as Stefan Brand (Jourdan), a concert pianist. Brand really doesn't notice Lisa, but she is completely smitten with him, and moons after him, ignoring and neglecting everything else. Her mother remarries, and the family moves to Linz, against Lisa's wishes. In Linz, Lisa is wooed by Johann, a young soldier, and both families have hopes of wedding bells, except for Lisa. She upsets that applecart and runs back to Vienna, hoping to find Stefan again. They do meet, but although Stefan is immediately smitten by her, he does not recall Lisa from the apartment building. They spend the entire night together, and Stefan promises more evenings and days and dinners together, except he forgot he had to leave on tour for two weeks. He also left Lisa with a permanent reminder of their night together, a child. In our 21st century world, that is probably not shocking or scandalous, but in the early 1900s, that was a pretty big deal, and having this as a significant plot point in the 1940s would also be outrageous (perhaps that is why there were no Oscar nominations?). Whether through luck, brains, guile or something else, Lisa and her child are not thrown into destitution, and she eventually reconnects with Johann, who has moved up in the military and is quite successful, and he is also forgiving of her past, to a point. I liked the movie, and when I tried to watch it as someone would back in 1948, I thought it was groundbreaking; I thought Lisa was unrealistic and she annoyed me (as a character), but I did like Joan Fontaine, and Louis Jourdan was handsome, dashing and a bit of a rogue. It's not necessarily a date night movie (or perhaps it is, I'm not the best judge), but if you are looking for something different from 'the usual', give this a try, if you can find it.

12/17/16 Anne Frank Remembered, Best Documentary, 1995

The Diary of Anne Frank was a dramatized telling of the Frank family's time in hiding in Amsterdam. Anne Frank Remembered is more about Anne as she grew up, her friends who knew her as a little girl, family friends, including Miep Gies, the woman who worked for Otto Frank, helped set them up in the attic and found Anne's diary after the family was captured by the Nazis. We get a look at how her friends saw Anne and her sister Margot; Margot was serious and studious, while Anne was mischievous, spoiled (some said), argumentative, and as several of her friends said, a regular teenager. The documentary begins before the Second World War, even before Anne was born, with the Frank family living in Germany, through their move to The Netherlands, trying to escape the rising anti-Semitism in Germany. I really enjoyed this documentary, especially for the fact that it does not try and paint Anne as a saint, she's a teenager, a young girl, who has arguments with her parents and other adults. She is eminently relatable to other teenagers, whether those who read her story in the 1950s or the 2000s. We hear from her friends who survived the camps, who knew Anne and her sister in their last days. I strongly recommend watching this documentary, with your kids, with a group of friends. It's important that Anne's story, and the story of her friends and family, not be forgotten, especially today.

12/17/16 Inocente, Best Documentary Short, 2012

It has been a real challenge trying to balance, fun and entertaining movies, with educational and enlightening films that may be a bit heavy and sad. Inocente is a little bit of everything, all packed into forty minutes. Inocente Izucar is a young, homeless girl living in San Diego with her mother and two brothers. She finds solace and relief in her art, starting the day by creating wearable art on her face. Inocente and her family have been homeless for many years, never staying in one place for more than three months. She's ashamed to let her classmates know that she is homeless, so she doesn't tell them. Inocente goes to ARTS (A Reason To Survive) in San Diego where she finds mentors and encouragement to pursue her painting. I think it is so easy to look down on the homeless, or undocumented workers and blame them for their circumstance, but a child (Inocente is 15 at the time of filming, but she has been living under these conditions for most of her life) has very little say in their conditions. As Inocente says, nobody wakes up and says they want to be homeless. She blames herself for the violent explosion of her father, which is a very common (and misplaced) sentiment from kids. But she doesn't use being homeless as an excuse, she uses it to propel her forward, and as inspiration in her art. Her art is colorful, hopeful, but also thoughtful and thought-provoking. I cried, I smiled, I learned. I think you may do the same.

12/17/16 The Thin Blue Line, 1988, National Film Registry

I've been learning more about our justice system (it's broken) and about men and women sentenced to life in prison or death sentences and that it's not always about proof or evidence or the pursuit of truth. I suggest reading Just Mercy by attorney and advocate Bryan Stevenson and the novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, which while fiction is a fair representation of the legal system and the noblesse oblige of life in the South in the 1940s. This may seem like a digression, but it's not really. The Thin Blue Line is a documentary by Errol Morris about Randall Dale Adams and his sentence, first of death, later commuted to life in prison; the conviction was later overturned. Adams was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer after the police relied on evidence from a sixteen year old young man who had picked up Adams after his car ran out of gas; David Ray Harris later confessed to the shooting. The police also relied on 'eye witness' testimony by people who turned out later to not be very reliable, and in fact, may have been more interested in the reward money than helping solve crime. Eye witness testimony has been demonstrated to be highly unreliable under most circumstances. Morris interviews Adams in a Texas prison, who emphatically denied his guilt. He also interviewed Harris in prison; while Adams is angry about his situation, Harris seemed to me not to really care, admitting his past bad behaviors (although not immediately to killing the police officer). Adams's original defense attorneys are interviewed, as well as the judge, detectives and the witnesses who testified against Adams. The movie was released in 1988 and Adams's conviction was overturned in 1989; Harris was not charged with the death of the Dallas police officer. Neither Adams nor Morris could know the conviction would be overturned when the film was being made (Morris did not want it labeled a 'documentary'). The Thin Blue Line has informed and influenced many later documentaries, which is reflected in its place on the National Film Registry.

Mean Streets and Judgement at Nuremberg

10/8/16 Mean Streets, 1973 #93 BBC, National Film Registry

Mean Streets is one of director Martin Scorcese's very early films, and it features some very familiar faces like Robert DeNiro as Johnny Boy Civello and Harvey Keitel as wise-guy wanna be Charlie Cappa. Much like other movies filmed in New York in the 1970s (Shack, The French Connection), the city is a gritty, rough and compelling co-star. Scorcese (who also directed the documentary on The Band, The Last Waltz) features music in the background and also as part of the story. DeNiro's Johnny Boy comes across as a clown, always scamming his friends, including Charlie, and Charlie's friend and loan shark, Michael. Charlie wants to move up in his uncle's 'organization' in the local mob, but he is restricted by his friendship with Johnny Boy and his relationship with Johnny's cousin who has epilepsy (epilepsy isn't contagious, but Charlie's uncle and others don't want her around, I'm not sure if that is how society really was in the 1970s, or if it was cultural or what). Keitel is the main star here, the movie opens with home movies of Charlie and his family at church functions, it looks like a baptism, but I don't think it was his child, and we follow him on various errands for his uncle, hanging out with Johnny Boy, wreaking havoc on kids coming into the city for a good time. DeNiro demonstrates the intensity that he is known for in later films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and even The Fokkers franchise (seriously, his character is crazy intense - I just watched one of them last night - no judging). There's no end game to Mean Streets, like a big battle to be fought, a damsel to be rescued, a grail to be found, it just follows a couple of friends, who happen to be low-level mobsters. There is some violence, but not as much as in some of Scorcese's films. I was thinking of "The Sopranos" as I watched, and thought this could have been some kind of prequel to it. I liked it, and since I have been watching a lot of Scorcese's films as part of this long project, I'm glad I did; it is always interesting to see actors and directors in the early years.

10/12/16 Judgement at Nuremberg, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, 1961 National Film Registry 

Judgement at Nuremberg was made fourteen years after the real-life events upon which it was based, which was the Judges' Trial from 1947. This trial was not for Hess, Goebbels or any of Hitler's other henchman. It was for the judges who carried out the Nuremberg Laws on behalf of the Nazi regime. Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) directed and produced the movie from Abby Mann's Oscar-winning script. Spencer Tracy as Judge Dan Haywood, a simple, straightforward and curious judge from Maine, who is under no illusion that he was the first choice for this job; Maximillian Schell is defense counsel Hans Rolfe (Best Actor); his clients include Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer) and Dr. Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster). Judge Haywood comes to Nuremberg and is a little overwhelmed by the destruction in the city and his new living quarters which once belonged to Frau Bertholt (Marlene Dietrich) and the staff of three that attend to him. At one point he comments that he really doesn't need all of the help, but he is told that the staff get to eat if they work for him, so he reluctantly keeps them on. At hand before him and his fellow judges on the tribunal are the cases of four judges who are accused of crimes against humanity for their role in enforcing the Nuremberg laws that were racist, anti-Semitic and otherwise aimed to rid Germany of undesirables. Post-war Germany was a complex place, a defeated country, forced to collectively acknowledge the heinous acts committed in its name, yet now a potential strategic ally against the growing Soviet influence in the east. We see a little of this through Haywood's eyes, as we not only see what happens in the courtroom, but also on the homefront, with Haywood befriending Frau Bertholt and his housekeeping staff. The prosecution, led by Colonel Ted Lawson (Richard Widmark) brings forward reluctant witnesses, including Rudolph Peterson, a developmentally challenged man who was sterilized by the order of one of the judges (hauntingly played by Montgomery Clift); Judy Garland was Irene Hoffman Wallner who was accused of breaking the law by having an inappropriate relationship with an older, Jewish man; the man was put to death for race defilement. Both Clift and Garland were powerful and their relatively brief time on screen will remain with me for a long time. Dr. Ernst Janning was the head judge and therefore signed off on the orders put forward by the prosecutors and other judges. He is also the most reluctant to participate in his own defense. Lancaster brings a quiet and strong dignity to a man I wanted to instinctively hate, but when he speaks up to spare Irene Wallner from further humiliation and accepts his fate without protestations of injustice. Janning presents the very uncomfortable idea that he did what he did without hope for personal gain, but was following the law, perhaps in his own way mitigating some of the horrors that he may or may not have known were happening in Germany and conquered countries; he and his co-defendants were consistent in denying they knew what was happening in the concentration camps. Rolfe presents a vigorous defense of his clients, almost uncomfortably so, because it seems at some moments he is defending the Third Reich and the 'glory of the Fatherland'. Colonel Lawson points out that the defendants could have spoken out in the early days of Hitler's rise, but they sat idly by, and he denies their claims that they were simply following the laws. Watching a film like Judgement at Nuremberg is important at any time, but it seems more so these days, as people blindly follow the rantings of another power-crazed man focused on demonizing those different than him; it doesn't take too much imagination to see similarities between a Nazi rally and a Donald Trump rally, not if you're paying attention. The movie is fiction, but based on actual events, and we could benefit from the lessons it espouses.

Two foreign film entries from 2015: Son of Saul, Mustang

5/15/16 Son of Saul, Best Foreign Film, 2016

Terezin, Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia)

I had the chance to see Son of Saul in the theaters but I wasn't ready; I have to be in the right frame of mind to watch or read anything on the Holocaust. Son of Saul tells its story from the vantage point of Saul, a member of the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz (Sonderkommando were work units made up of prisoners who scrubbed the floors of the gas chambers, removed bodies, looked for jewelry or any gold on the bodies, etc.). When we first see Saul, he is a shell of a man, numb to the horrors that surround him, until a young boy is pulled from the shower and is still, somehow, breathing. The medical personnel is ordered to kill the boy and then perform an autopsy to see how he managed to survive. Saul sees the boy and recognizes him as his son, and even though he was unable to protect him while he was alive, he becomes fixated on finding a rabbi to perform a proper Jewish burial. There is a rabbi in Saul's group, but he wants to say kaddish later, but Saul is determined to this the right way, although he does not freely share the reason for his focus. Like all quests, he must accomplish other tasks along the way, including trying to get gun powder from the women's camp, helping to take secret pictures of life in the camp. Eventually Saul believes he has found a rabbi, but the man was an imposter. Saul takes the body of the boy to try and give him a burial, but time and other events conspire against him. The movie is filmed at a frenetic pace, there are no leisurely walks across the camp, everyone is scurrying about, everything is done in a hurry; the guards, Nazi and Kapos, yell, push and harass the prisoners, those who about to die and those who dare to live. There is a cacophony of languages: German, Polish, Hungarian, Russian and Yiddish, unlike other films, especially English language films, everyone does not necessarily understand everyone else, beatings occurred because the prisoners may not speak German. The viewpoint of the film struck me - we saw most of the film from Saul's perspective, as if the cameraman was right behind him. To me it made it very claustrophobic, few wide angle shots or shots that panned around, we saw it from Saul's perspective. It was a very intense film, and told the story of a group of men that is rarely shown and hard to watch. The director and writer cast no judgement on the Sonderkommandos or on Saul, either judging their daily tasks or that they do them; or judging Saul and his actions trying to do something for his son in death that he couldn't do in life. I am loathe to say I loved a film like this, because how do you really say you love a movie or book about the Holocaust? I have seen three of the foreign films so far, and I really don't know how I would have voted, because they have been very good. Son of Saul was very good and then some, and I think that Geza Rohrig should have been more widely considered for Best Actor for his performance. This is a movie you may not want to see, but you should see it.

5/30/16 Mustang, nominated Best Foreign Film, 2016 

Mustang was a French-Turkish nominee, and is set in the countryside in Turkey in the current era, although as I watched it, I often felt like I was back in the 1800s. Mustang is the story of five sisters who have lived with their grandmother and uncle for around ten years since their parents died. Lale is the youngest and we see most of the story form her point of view. She is the most independent of the five. The girls are mischievous and fun-loving and don't like feeling fenced in by their conservative family, especially their uncle. The girls and their friends leave school for the summer and head to the beach where they play in the water and sit on the boys' shoulders. Unfortunately for them, a neighbor sees them, and thinking that they are behaving immorally, she reports them to their grandmother. The three oldest are beaten, and the restrictions on their freedom begins. The walls are built up, making it harder for the girls to leave undetected. Grandmother decides it is time to marry the girls off, and begins to arrange visits by prospective husbands. The eldest daughter, Sonay, defies her grandmother and tells her she will only marry the boy she loves; so the potential husband is deferred to Selma, the second oldest. To say this was not a love match would be insulting, but Selma doesn't fight the inevitability of the match. We get a glimpse of something untoward happening, but nothing is said, but it becomes evident that Grandmother may be in a hurry to marry off her granddaughters to protect them. Ece, the third daughter is next in line for marriage. She does not want the marriage and she does not want to be with her uncle any longer, but is not sure how to get out of it. She does find a way however. Throughout, the girls manage to escape their compound, but every time they do, their uncle puts more bars on the windows and doors. On one of her successful trips out, Lale asks Yasin, a friendly truck driver, to teach her how to drive. Lale and her sister, Nur, are the only ones left, and grandmother is not done with her matchmaking, telling Nur that she is next, and on the night of Nur's wedding, the girls turn things about, using the fact that the house is now a fortress to their advantage, keeping everyone else out, while they escape. They head to Istanbul where Lale's former teacher now lives. So far, none of the three foreign films nominated is a 'fun' movie, and I know people like to watch fun movies, but they are all very good, as I mentioned above. This was a very well done film, the five young women who played sisters really looked like sisters and acted liked sisters, they acted like girls from anywhere in the world. Sadly, the story of girls being treated as less than, and being restricted from having fun because it might be 'impure' are found in the news a lot these days. The movie is probably not as raw as it could have been, but it certainly conveys feelings and emotions of being held captive and being treated as chattel, but also a certain hopefulness and spirit in Lale, who is still young enough to believe that she can do anything. We see the Grandmother between a rock and hard place; a woman who loves granddaughters dearly, and perhaps has high hopes for them to have more freedom and education than she did growing up, but also knowing she is beholden to her son with whom they live. She wants to protect them, but is limited in her options. I thought this was a beautiful film, with a great score, in a beautiful country and a heartbreaking story.

2015 nominated documentaries incl What Happened, Miss Simone?, Cartel Land, The Hunting Ground and the Shorts

The documentary, without a doubt or hesitation, is my favorite category. A good documentary can inform you and a great documentary can inform and motivate, inspire or piss you off. I can say my feelings ran the gamut for the films listed below.

1/25/16 What Happened, Miss Simone? nominated Best Documentary, 2015
I love music and I like to think I'm fairly educated about music history, but my curriculum did not include any Nina Simone, and I feel a little robbed. Granted her style was more in the jazz/blues genre which really isn't my thing, but listening to some of her music in the documentary was incredibly eye opening. The documentary shows Nina's early music education in the (still segregated) South by a white woman, playing for mostly white audiences; she was being groomed to be a classical pianist and went north to pursue that dream. She 'fell' into popular music because she was playing in clubs to make money and she was told she needed to sing; and that was all she wrote. The movie uses Nina Simone's own words from interviews and her journals as well as interviews with her daughter, husband and her longtime guitarist, among others. Concert performances are included throughout the movie and I was blown away. She was something else. Nina Simone found her activist voice in the 1960s, as did many performers, but it seems that her outspoken songs and protests had a more negative impact on her career and legacy than it did for others. On occasion I have heard Nina Simone's name as  an influence on other singers/songwriters, but not as often as I would have thought; or even more, her influence on pianists. The movie does not sugarcoat Simone's personal, internal struggles, her daughter's conflict with her mother and occasional tormentor. Simone definitely had demons, as so many artists do. It makes her human. It makes her songs more powerful and poignant. Even if What Happened, Miss Simone? does not win the Oscar, I hope it brings her music to a new and wider audience. I think she deserves that much.

1/26/16 Cartel Land, nominated Best Documentary, 2015

Cartel Land tells the story of citizens fed up with what they perceive as their governments' inability to protect them and their families from the Mexican drug cartels. What I think is really interesting about this is that most of the narrative is told from the south of the border by a group of Mexicans who organize and arm themselves against the drug gangs. The other side is a group of Americans who are similarly angry and fed up with the American government, the Arizona Border Recon. The movie goes back and forth, but the focus is on the Mexicans and the group 'Autodefensas' and their charismatic leader, Dr. Jose Mireles. Mireles develops a cult of personality, which almost too predictably collapses in on itself (human nature, regardless of language or country, is subject to hubris and the flying too close to the sun). The rise and fall of Mireles and the Autodefensas is like a Greek tragedy, except it's real and true and has pretty serious consequences. At first it seems like the Autodefensas is winning the battle against the cartels in different towns and villages, but the group faces a challenge from the government, and then Mireles is severely injured in a plane crash, and the usurpation begins. And in true Shakespearean fashion, he is betrayed by a man he considers his close friend, known as Papa Smurf. I first was impressed by Mireles, a doctor in his regular job, Wyatt Earp in his spare time, fearless in the face of the gangs, but then he seems to get a little drunk with power (this may have been editing) and then his dramatic fall. Regarding the Arizona Border Recon group, the leader, Tim Foley, justifies what he does and downplays any racist overtones in his actions. It's about protecting the US, Arizona and the American Way. They appear to work with the US Border Patrol and we don't see any overt abuse of power; there are occasional racist remarks from some of the 'team' members. Foley actually voices some support for the Autodefensas as they battle the cartel, but he foreshadows how everything will collapse. The way the movie ended just about put me through the roof I was so angry; not that I was so naive, but that it seems the corruption runs so deep and so unabated. I don't think it will win, but people should see it.

1/27/16 The Hunting Ground, nominated Best Original Song, 2015 

The Hunting Ground is not nominated for Best Documentary, but for Best Original Song, "Til it happens to you" by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga. The Hunting Ground was done by the same team, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering who did The Invisible War which was about sexual assault in the military and nominated for Best Documentary Feature. The Hunting Ground moves from military bases to college campuses and the stories are eerily similar: assault survivors being blamed, disbelieved, harassed, driven to self-harm or suicide while their attackers are protected, shielded and exonerated. The film focuses on Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, two students and rape survivors form the University of North Carolina, and their efforts to raise awareness of sexual assault on campus and the rights of the victims, and the network they build across the country of survivors. They are not widely thanked for their pains, they are threatened on social media on  campus, but they are not deterred. The movie looks at the institutionalized acceptance of the predatory behavior and how entrenched it is. There is an organization that was created to bring these crimes to the fore and shed light on the monsters under the bed; it's called See Act Stop. This and The Invisible War should be required viewing for all college students and their parents.  The song, performed by Lady Gaga, is haunting and powerful; this or "The Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre are currently my picks (still a few I haven't heard yet).

1/29/16 Documentary shorts, 2015

I love the shorts; I have said before that in some ways doing a short film is harder because you have 5 to 55 minutes to get your point across, no fluff, no extraneous story lines. Last year's selection of documentary shorts were disappointing, but this year's nominees had me captivated from beginning to end. My prediction (if I wait until the end of the review, I'll forget) is either Last Day of Freedom or Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah. Let's see why this may be too close to call.

Body Team 12 - We heard about Ebola over here; we saw news stories from Liberia; we heard how horrible it was. Body Team 12 lived it. Body Team 12 is a group of Liberians who are responsible for removing the dead bodies from homes and villages and disposing of them safely. Their story is told by Garmai, a female worker who is fearless and has so much compassion for the families, even when they get angry with the team. I was moved by Garmai's actions, but also her eloquence in speaking about her job and why it was important. Many people talk about 'doing things' in the name of their country, but the people on Body Team 12 talked about doing this job, taking this risk for Liberia, to save their country. These weren't empty words.

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness is about honor killings in Pakistan, and one young woman who survived the attempted murder by her father and uncle. Saba (I apologize I cannot confirm her name and I thought I would remember from the film) had the gall to fall in love with a young man and married him against the wishes of her family. As punishment for disrespecting him, her father decided he should be the one to kill her. Somehow she survived and the rest of the film is about her desire NOT to forgive her father and uncle, and the societal pressures to forgive them. This isn't just semantics; custom dictates that if the perpetrators are forgiven, all criminal proceedings cease and the matter is over. Saba is initially represented and counseled by a lawyer not to forgive them because her case would disappear into the ether. The town elders substitute counsel and he contends, ON CAMERA, that Saba agreed to forgive her family. Ultimately, her eldest brother-in-law decided it was best for everyone to forgive because they had to live in the village and would likely be ostracized if they did not. Saba has to consent, she is now living with her husband's family and is fairly powerless. Yet, for all that she has been through, you would expect bitterness, but it's not there. She is angry, but she trusts in God and that the Koran will protect her and she hopes that her baby is a girl and that her daughter will be educated and do great things. You cannot help but like this young woman and hope she finds happiness with her husband and her new baby. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directed this and also directed Saving Face which was about women who had been attacked with acid by their husbands or other male family members in Pakistan.

Last Day of Freedom is an animated documentary. Bill Babbitt begins telling his story, actually the story of his younger brother, Manny. Manny struggled in school, joined the Marines and served two tours of duty in Vietnam, returned to the United States and struggled with what we know today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Manny eventually moves out to California to live with Bill and his family. Manny seems to come into money around the same time that an elderly woman is murdered in her home. Bill does some investigating and believes that it was his brother who committed the murder, but nobody else has yet put the pieces together. It's conceivable that Bill could have said nothing and the murder would have stayed unsolved, but he didn't think that was the right thing to do. He also believed that his brother would get able representation and the help he clearly needed. The decked seemed stacked against Manny from beginning to end: inept counsel, an all-white jury (Babbitt was black), no serious inclusion of Babbitt's military service, PTSD or additional mental health history. He was sentenced to death. We are told all of this by Bill Babbitt; his is the only voice and we only see him through the sketched animation, but it kind of makes you focus on his voice and his anguish. At first I was distracted by the animation, but it works. This is one that I think may win. My reasoning is this: the death penalty and mental health stirs debate; the all-white jury and incompetent attorney; and the lack of diversity in all of the major categories may give the smaller categories an opportunity via guilt. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good and powerful film, some people may assuage their guilt over the nominations with picking this as a winner. Quite honestly, I couldn't pick a clear winner.

Chau, Beyond the Lines - Sometimes people complain about things that they could easily change or fix, but choose not to, and then other people don't make a sound about things that cannot be changed no matter what, and they accomplish things that seem impossible. Chau is a young man in Viet Nam whose mother drank water contaminated by Agent Orange during the Viet Nam War. Chau's legs are severely deformed so much that he cannot walk, and his arms are also malformed, but he can draw. Chau has spent over fifteen years in a care center that seems just this side of Dickens. He eventually goes back home to live with his parents because the nurses did not support his dream of drawing and being an artist. Living with his parents is less than ideal so he moves to the city and tries to live independently. In the process he improves his drawing and painting and develops a painting style using his mouth. He wants to be independent and part of society and do something he loves. In so many ways, he's not that different from most teenagers, except he gets around a little differently than most of us. I was impressed with his art, his use of color and the detail he is able to achieve just using his mouth. The movie is about Chau and his desire to paint and pursue his dream, but the shadow of the war and the United States' use of Agent Orange are not far from the surface.

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah is a recounting of how Claude Lanzmann made the 1985 epic documentary Shoah. Shoah was a documentary about the Holocaust with interviews of survivors, witnesses and German/Nazi participants; many interviews were secretly recorded. It took Lanzmann 12 years to make the 9 1/2 hour documentary, and this film looks at the emotional cost of making the film and how Lanzmann was determined to make the best film and tell the story of those who perished. It took such a toll on him that at one point he tried to commit suicide. I remember watching Shoah and reading the companion book. I also remember a scene, filmed in Poland, and the townspeople near Auschwitz (I think it was) said they had no idea what was going on and didn't really believe that it was happening. I was so angry. This is my other pick for a winner. The Holocaust still resonates in Hollywood, and I think Hollywood likes movies about the movies and the people that make them.

More nominees to follow.

Avengers, Billy Joel Live, Woman in Gold and more

The first two weeks of May have been filled with variety of the cinematic, television and musical kind. I am happy to present to you, May.

Turn Left at the End of the World, 2004

I don't remember how this movie ended up in my Netflix queue. I'm sure I randomly clicked it or read the synopsis and thought it would be interesting. And it was. Turn Left at the End of the World is set in the Negev desert in Israel in the 1960s and it focuses on the newer immigrants from Morocco and India. I did not know there were immigrants from India; I was aware of Moroccan Jews, but not really of their lives in Israel. Two girls, one from an Indian family and one from a Moroccan family, become friends despite their families' differences and disagreements. Both groups are wary and judgmental of the other. The movie is mostly in Hebrew but also in English and French. I think if you're looking for something a little different in terms of topic and locale, this might be of interest.

5/1/2015 Woman in Gold, 2015, not yet nominated

Woman in Gold is based on the true story of Maria Altmann and her fight to get back several family paintings taken by the Nazis during the Second World War. I mentioned this story about a year after I read the book The Lady in Gold, the Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer by Anne-Marie O'Connor. Helen Mirren stars as Marie Altmann and Ryan Reynolds is Randy Schoenberg, her reluctant attorney who takes up her cause and int he process, learns a little more about his own history. The movie uses flashbacks to help tell the story of Maria and her family's life, including her beloved aunt, Adele Bloch Bauer, who was at the center of many social gatherings in Vienna and the subject of an historic painting by Gustav Klimt. Mirren is wonderful as always, avoiding sentimentality but dealing with things in a determined, matter-of-fact way, occasionally with stubbornness, a little humor and a hint of satisfaction at the end result of her case (not smugness, though); Reynolds is up to the task, showing a bit of reluctance at even taking on this case, but eventually getting drawn into the enormity of the issue at hand and the connection to his own family (his grandfathers were Austrian composers Arnold Schoenberg and Eric Zeisl; Schoenberg is specifically mentioned as a friend of the Bloch Bauers), as well as matching wits with the very sharp Altmann/Mirren. There are very definite good guys and bad guys here, without guns or weapons, just a history of anti-Semitism and a desire to bury the past. Schoenberg and Altmann are met at every turn with roadblocks from the Austrian government, but Schoenberg finds loopholes in international and US law that allow them to pursue their case. There was something about Toman, the official from the Belvedere Museum that made me want to hiss and boo. Schoenberg and Altmann are assisted by Hubertus Czernin,(Daniel Bruhl) a Hungarian journalist who believes that in order to heal and move forward, Austria must acknowledge and make amends for its role during the Holocaust. I enjoyed the movie and am so glad this story has made it to film, but I was glad I read the book first because even though I struggled to get through the first hundred pages or so, O'Connor provided a rich background of life in Vienna in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and especially culturally; she also included information about the wider Bloch Bauer clan and what happened to the different members of the family. Obviously, that couldn't all be put into a ninety minute movie. I liked the movie, but if you haven't seen it on the big screen, I think it's a great film for your DVD or streaming pleasure, but you should see it.

5/2/15 Avengers: Age of Ultron, 5/2/15, not yet nominated

Followers of this blog will recall that I love my superhero movies, and as you can imagine, I have been waiting for this movie and the others promised by Marvel over the next few years. Age of Ultron reunites our heroes from the first Avengers movie and adds War Machine, Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and my favorite, The Vision, plus a new villain, Ultron. The movie opens right away with an action/fight sequence with the team fighting a Hydra outpost; this is where Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are introduced (if you saw the last X-Men movie, you may recall that Quicksilver made a key appearance there as well). There is some awesome action sequences, especially towards the end, but to be honest, there was too much talking for me. I just want flying and fighting and stuff like that, I was not thrilled with the subplot with Hawkeye (I have to agree with a column I read that Hawkeye should have been knocked off instead of the character who was); and I thought the subplot with Black Widow and The Hulk was ridiculous. I could use more Black Widow and other female heroes, so I am happy they added the Scarlet Witch to the mix (although it took a very long time for Elizabeth Olsen to grow on me, and I'm still not 100% there). On a side note, a friend of mine and I, who often discuss the merits of superhero movies, talked about how there are so many good female characters, enough to create their own movie. Oh well, maybe another time. I love The Vision and can't wait for more of him (played by Paul Bettany). I also LOVED how James Spader brought Ultron to life with his voice dripping with sarcasm, irony and  and all the characteristics that make his Raymond Reddington character so enjoyable (and the best thing about The Blacklist). Without disclosing too much of the plot, what I will say is this not my favorite Marvel movie (although I still liked it) and it seemed more like a bridge to the upcoming Captain America: Civil War and other movies like The Black Panther and the next Avengers. My guess is that it will get nominated for one or more of the effects categories. 

5/9/15 Father Goose, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, 1964

I love Cary Grant, not in that way, because I would have a lot of explaining to do, but I love his movies. Father Goose features a less than dapper Cary Grant as Walter Ecklund a drunken, ne'er do well, who finds himself in the South Pacific as the Japanese are threatening invasion to the islands. He is coerced/bribed into becoming a coast watcher for the Australian Navy. Ecklund is not really interested, but he really doesn't have a choice. He is sent on an unexpected mission to another island where he meets Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) who is in charge of seven young girls. Walter and Catherine are very different and exchange barbs and witticisms, with the girls often taking Catherine's side, until one of the girls, who has not spoken a word, forms a bond with Ecklund and they begin working on his boat that was damaged by the Australian Navy, essentially to strand him on the island. Relations improve between Catherine and Walter after they mistakenly believe she has been bitten by a poisonous snake; the audience is in on the misunderstanding and it's pretty funny. The group soon finds itself under attack from Japanese planes and tries to get off of the island. I certainly do not think this is the best movie ever, or the best Cary Grant movie ever, but it was fun to watch; one might even say 'cute'. There is a lot of drinking, it's pretty much Walter's raison d'etre, so it's hard to say this is a 'family movie', but there's practically no real violence (the gunshots don't really hit anyone), there's no swearing (I don't think, nothing sticks out, maybe a 'hell' or 'damn'), the kids are cute in the precocious 1960s way. This movie came towards the end of Grant's film career, in fact it was the next to lat movie that he did. Watch The Bishop's Wife or The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer for a glimpse of him in his prime.

Billy Joel, The Target Center, Minneapolis, 5/16/15

I've been to a lot of concerts over the past two years, and I have to say, that I feel very fortunate that every one of them has been a great experience; I've seen solo acts with just their guitars, I've seen bands with great stage shows and I've had fabulous seats, I've gotten signed CDs, etc., overall, I have not regretted a single event. Last night with Billy Joel was no exception. I've had the chance to see Billy Joel in the past, thirty years ago, in fact, and I just never wanted to. I must be getting old and nostalgic, but I really wanted to see him this time around, even if it was going to be at the Target Center, my least favorite venue. Gavin DeGraw opened up the show and he was full of energy and excitement and the crowd was very receptive. I appreciated his stage presence and performance, but I have to say, after twenty minutes, his stuff sounded the same. That may be because I am not as familiar with his material or because it really did sound the same. After realizing I was in the wrong section (it was not my only 'duh' moment of the evening), I scooted over one section to the left and waited for Mr. Joel to take the stage. Thank goodness for the screens, otherwise, I would have to take it on faith that he was on stage because I was pretty close to the roof (did I mention I hate this venue?). Billy opened with "My Life" and then played most of his well-known songs and a few gems that the hard-core fans really enjoyed. He played with a great energy and the band seemed to be really having a good time. There wasn't any of the 'arena rock' planned banter, it came off as being a conversation between a guy and 20,000 of his friends, it was easy, self-deprecating (he looked up at his image on the screen and said he thought he saw his dad; joked about the tiff between him and Elton John and songs about his former wife, Christie Brinkley) and appreciative. He gave the audience the chance to pick a couple of songs early on in the set. Songs included "Pressure", "Allentown", "Uptown Girl", "Vienna" (a song I had never heard before), "The Downeaster Alexa", "She's Always a Woman" (a favorite of mine), as well as a bit of "Like a Rolling Stone" just before he started "Piano Man". The encore had to be about 20 minutes or more and included another favorite "Big Shot", as well as  "You May Be Right" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". His band would have been fun to watch if I had not been blinded by the landing lights that totally obscured them. That is probably my only issue with the concert, is the lights were so overwhelming and you couldn't watch the band rock out; if the camera wasn't on them, they weren't on the big screens. I love a band/performer that uses a horn section, and he had a trumpet, saxophones, slide trombone, with only three people. They were great and all multi-instrumentalists. My other issue is the woman behind me; look, I love rocking out to my favorite bands and singing with them (just wait until the Indigo Girls in July), but she was so high pitched and behind the count, that it was a little distracting. Love her passion, just wished it was quieter. I definitely got my money's worth that night, and I so enjoyed myself I didn't even care I went to the wrong parking garage to get my car.

More nominees: Selma, Gone Girl, Ida, Whiplash (43 movies to go)

Blogger's Note: Good grief, I started this entry on Sunday and it is now Tuesday night. I'd like to think this means I'm being thoughtful, but I honestly can't say, I just want to apologize for the delay. Clearly, I'm not meeting my self-imposed deadlines.

It has been a busy week. Someone asked if I could do this for a living. I don't think so. Too stressful, and I don't think I could meet my deadlines. I may make my current deadline, which is February 22, Oscar Night, and I'm on pace to hit 95%.

1/17/15 Selma, nominated Best Picture, Best Song 2014

This review is being written last, even though it was the first film in this selection that I saw. I wanted to be thoughtful, maybe thought-provoking. The truth is, I loved the movie. I have been interested in the Civil Rights movement for a very long time, and the Civil Rights movement within the context of everything else that was happening in the 1960s: Vietnam, assassinations of American leaders (the Kennedys, King, Malcolm X and others). I don't usually cry in movies (this has been documented), but I started to cry pretty early on and didn't stop (it wasn't a weepfest, but it was very emotional). The movie focuses on Martin Luther King, Jr., the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Council) and the voting rights movement in the South, specifically in Alabama. David Oyelowo is Martin Luther King, Jr., Tom Wilkinson is Lyndon B. Johnson; they are the leads in this very deep and talented cast. The pivotal event in the film is the march from Selma to Montgomery (capital of Alabama) to protest the multitude of voting restrictions for African Americans at the time (if you do not get absolutely spitting angry when Oprah Winfrey's character Annie Lee Cooper is denied her right to vote after answering the registrar's questions, then you're just not paying attention). The early part of the movie lays the background for the necessity of the march (the denial of Annie Lee Cooper's right to vote is part of that); the background is important, especially if the viewer is not really familiar with the Civil Rights movement. It also gives us an opportunity to see some of the dynamics within the SCLC and the conflict between the SCLC and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The idea of the march was to be nonviolent and peaceful, but the state troopers (sent by Governor George Wallace, played by Tim Roth) and the county sheriff had other ideas. Unfortunately for them, the violence was captured on television (this is before cable and the 24 hours news cycle) and shared around the country and world. Of course, there is a lot that happens between the opening scenes and the march, including visits to the White House by King, a conversation between Malcolm X and Coretta Scott King, and other events. I never felt overwhelmed by the information, and even though the movie was long in duration (two hours), I could have sat there a while longer. Director Ava DuVernay does a great job at pacing the movie and captures the crowd/action scenes with a visceral quality. There are a couple of original songs in the film and "Glory" by John Legend and Common is one of them, and it is nominated for Best Song. The movie (it is a movie) conveys the events of the time, the emotion of people fighting for their rights, does not shy away from the allegations of King's infidelities (which it could/would if it was a whitewashing of his legacy, and I don't think it is at all) or the conflicts within the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. Is it 100% accurate as might be told in a monograph on the subject? No, somethings are done for a dramatic purpose; Maureen Dowd wrote an article taking issue with LBJ's position in the movie on Civil Rights versus his position in real life; in real life LBJ was more sympathetic than portrayed in the movie (her article is worth reading because it gives food for thought). My own opinion on this is King had to have a place to voice his thoughts, desires for action, the frustration he and others were feeling; I think it was important to have that dialog with a white man. Who would that white man be? Wallace, a racist? He wouldn't have let King go off like he did. The county sheriff? That wouldn't have the impact. He needed to have this conversation with the most powerful man in the free world and that would be LBJ. That's just my opinion of how I understand moving a story along. This wasn't a documentary, just like Glory or  Mississippi Burning or Pearl Harbor were not documentaries. They are movies. They tell part of a story that may be 100% true and other parts are contrived. As a history major, I think it's important to get movies like this (well-told, well acted, thought provoking) out there and have discussions like Dowd and others have provoked. I mean, if a movie is totally inaccurate, that's a different story. But if you can get kids (or even grown ups) to watch a movie like this or Schindler's List, then you can have discussions that go further, read historical books about the topic. Some people hate history because it's so dry and boring (WHAT?), but if you can humanize it, and if Selma does anything it humanizes the people of the movement, Annie Lee Cooper, Cager Lee, John Lewis, and the others. The Civil Rights Movement precluded the Women's Rights Movement of the 1970s and the Gay Rights Movement in the late 1980s through today. We stand on the shoulders of those men and women, black and white, and we should not forget that.

1/17/15 Gone Girl, nominated Best Actress 2014

I do not even know where to start with Gone Girl but I'll try. I am not one of the many people who read the book and I intentionally did not read any of the reviews because I knew I would see it at some point, especially after hearing such great reviews of Rosamund Pike's performance. Rosamund Pike plays Amy Dunne, the inspiration for her parents' best-selling books featuring "Amazing Amy"; Amy is married to Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), who writes for a magazine, until he gets laid off. Early in the movie, we are led to believe that something awful has befallen Amy, and perhaps Nick is responsible. The movie is not a straight narrative, going from point A to point B; it's told from different perspectives and uses flashbacks. I would suggest paying attention (on occasion, I have been known to multi-task, but I can focus when necessary). I don't want to give anything away in case you haven't seen it because the suspense is imperative to the success of the movie, I think. For the first 45 minutes or so of the movie, I thought Pike was good, but not nomination worthy, and then about an hour into it, she flipped a switch. Wow. I was not expecting any of what happened next. She totally transformed, and was amazing. Between the actual story and the musical score (by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, which surprisingly was not nominated for an Oscar), I was a little freaked out and not sure how I was going to sleep that night. Even being a little wigged out, I still liked the movie, I thought it really kept you on your feet. I think The Best Actress category is a pretty tough one, having now seen three of the five movies, I really don't have an inkling. Now that I've seen the movie, I don't plan on reading the book (sorry Rach).

1/19/15 The Last Days, Best Documentary, 1998

The Last Days is a documentary focusing on five survivors of the Holocaust; all five survivors were from Hungary. They were all kids when they were sent to the camps and at the time of the documentary were in their 60s or 70s. They begin by telling their stories of growing up in their villages or town and how they (almost all of them) felt their Hungarian nationality was primary and their Jewishness was just a small part of who they were. In fact, when they started to hear stories from Polish or Czech refugees about what was happening in their hometowns, the Hungarian Jews were convinced that could not happen to them. Unfortunately, fascism reared its head in a most forceful way in the form of the Arrow Cross Party; the Arrow Cross were responsible for deporting and killing Jews. Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden saved many Hungarian Jews by giving them fake passports. The survivors provide vivid and detailed descriptions of their deportations and the intake process into the camps, how in some cases they were separated from their family members. All of the survivors in the movie go back to Hungary, some of them go back to the sites of their camps with their adult children; they meet their old neighbors. Returning to Hungary and the camps seems to give some 'closure' (not the best word) to survivors; in fact, a couple of them say they never need to come back. Documentaries like The Last Days are hard to watch and they should be, but they should also be watched, especially considering the rise of anti-Semitism and the continued existence of Holocaust deniers. The documentation of Holocaust survivors has been a singular goal of Steven Spielberg as part of the USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education.

Wild - The book by Cheryl Strayed was the basis for the 2014 movie with Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl (in an Oscar nominated role). I think it's a coin toss when you have a book that's made into a movie, sometimes I read the book first, sometimes I see the  movie, sometimes I don't read the book. In this case, I probably would not have read the book had I not seen the movie and really enjoyed it and been moved by Cheryl's story. I found them complimentary to one another, not one better than the other. I loved the movie for the incredible scenery and because Witherspoon gave a voice and embodiment of Cheryl, and also, Laura Dern gave Cheryl's mother Bobbi a voice as well. For me, because I saw the movie first, this helped me when I read the book to have a visual in my head. The book is more raw and has more details than the movie, because I think that's the beauty of a book. Bobbi's sudden illness and death were almost more palpable to me in the book than the film, and in fact, I was not sure I was going to get through the first chapter. But, as a friend of mine told me, the payoff was well worth the tears in the first 50 pages or so. Obviously, the book (or any other book like Foxcatcher or Unbroken (which I'm reading now) will have more information, and movies compress events and often make composite characters to facilitate the film, but in this case, I don't think it hurts the movie, and you can find the depth in the book.

1/24/15 Ida, nominated for Best Foreign Film, Poland, Best Cinematography 2014

I kind of feel bad, but I didn't like this movie, even though I wanted to, and you would think it would be right up my alley. The movie ended and I said something like "What a f*&()*) awful movie" or words to that effect. Ida is set in post World War II Poland, early 1960s, and we first meet Ida in a convent where she is preparing to take her vows as a nun. That is until the prioress tells Ida that they have finally heard from her one living relative, an aunt, and Ida is encouraged, nay told, to go and meet her. At first I thought the aunt was a prostitute, but apparently she was not, she was a judge. Aunt Wanda is not one for sentimentality, and blurts out that Ida is Jewish. After a false start, the two start out on a quest to locate the bodies of Ida's parents, which takes Ida back to the village where she was born. Wanda was very closely associated with the Stalinist regime and seemed possessed by a deep melancholia or something which keeps her in between cynicism and morbidness. The movie is full of long silences and pauses, which normally don't bother me, but here it just seemed annoying. It is a beautiful film, the black, white and grays are very powerful, but otherwise, I could have cared less, about Ida or her aunt (I might have been more interested in a movie about Wanda and the complexities of her life, which were based on a real person). It seemed to me that the idea that Ida was Jewish was just a gimmick. The only blessing is the movie was less than 90 minutes.

1/24/15 Gary Louris, Northfield Arts Guild

In September, I had the opportunity to indulge my recent love of the Jayhawks at the First Avenue in Minneapolis. I'd been waiting ever since for a solo date by Gary Louris, lead singer and main writer for the band. Of course, it would be in January in Northfield, MN (read: country), but it was on a Saturday night, and as luck would have it, the East Coast was getting all of our snow. So, I headed down the road, it's really not that far. A very good friend of mine is from Northfield and told me the venue was small. I had no idea how small "small" was until I got there. The seating capacity might have been 100, tops and I was in the very last row and it was still one of the best seats I've had at a concert. I did feel like some outsider, since I think almost everyone in the theater was from Northfield or Rice County at large. Terry Vanderwalker opened; Terry is a local guy, and I was actually sitting next to his wife, and is (was?) in a band called The Big Wu which is known around Minnesota. Then Gary Louris came on and played a few Jayhawks songs and then brought out Kraig Johnson, also of the Jayhawks, to play guitar and sing. You could tell these guys have known each other a long time, and they also just got back from a West Coast trip, so they seemed a little loopy (in a good way); they had great banter with each other and the audience. There were Jayhawks songs, songs Gary wrote with other people, including the Dixie Chicks and stuff from his own solo material. It was a fun night at the Northfield Arts Guild.

1/25/15 Whiplash, nominated Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 2014

This movie was intense, not intense in the way Selma or Gone Girl were intense, maybe percussive is a better way to describe it, especially since the drums are another character in the story. Andrew (Miles Teller) is a first year student at the most prestigious music conservatory in the country, and he aspires to join the elite jazz band led by the sadistic Terence Fletcher (Oscar nominated J.K. Simmons). Andrew gets his chance, but that doesn't mean things get any easier for him, and the minute he shows any flash of confidence or heaven forbid, bravura, Fletcher knocks him down. It's nothing personal, Fletcher is pretty brutal to everyone. Andrew is driven and instead of being discouraged, he practices harder, much to his father's chagrin (his dad is played by Paul Reiser). As a viewer, you learn pretty quickly not to get too comfortable with Andrew's successes, and you kind of hold your breath, waiting for something else to happen. There comes a point near the end of the movie where Andrew has the chance to walk away from Fletcher, move on, take a different path, and he does not; I began to think that Fletcher may have been a sadist, but Andrew was pretty close to a masochist, and maybe they belong together. If you remember J.K. Simmons from his role as J.J. Jamison from the Toby McGuire Spiderman franchise, you are very well aware that he can be blusterous, and in Whiplash he takes it up a notch, but yet is a little more restrained; you knew J.J. was just blowing off steam and he would never really do anything, but with Fletcher, you're not sure. I liked the movie, I don't know if I loved it, but J.K. Simmons is powerful and he would be vote for Best Supporting Actor with Edward Norton. The characters that they play impacted and informed what the main characters did. I'm not a big band/jazz enthusiast, so I have no idea if the music was spot on in the genre, but I liked a couple of the songs/pieces and may get some Buddy Rich or Charlie Parker from the library.

1/25/15 Finding Vivian Maier, nominated Best Documentary Feature, 2014

Everyone likes a good mystery, including the Academy (Searching for Sugarman from a couple of years ago), so I was going to see this whether or not it was nominated. John Maloof was looking for photographs of Chicago for a project he was working on, so he bought a box of photos from an auction. What he found led him to buy more boxes of photos, negatives and film, all by a nanny named Vivian Maier who died in 2009, not leaving any documentation or narrative other than her photos and bits of receipts and bric a brac, and a small group of former employers. Maloof becomes obsessed with learning more about Vivian, even tracing her family in the French Alps. Vivian comes across as a complex person, not quite the Mary Poppins-type. The photographs are captivating and very good, and several professional photographers opine that she may have become quite well-known had she ever published her work or gave an exhibit. I enjoyed the film and would be interested in a book or exhibit of her photographs, but something in the documentary didn't quite fill me with the joy, passion, anger or whatever strong emotion I like to get from a documentary. I think it was because we never 'find' Vivian the way we 'found' Sugarman; we could enjoy Rodriguez's resurgence with him in a way we cannot with Vivian. I'm guessing based on past documentary winners this may lose out to the documentary on Edward Snowden (Citizenfour) or the documentary on the Vietnam War.