10/14/18 Intolerance, 1916 #49 AFI, National Film Registry
I have borrowed this movie from the library twice before and returned it unwatched, then I got it from Netflix and it sat unopened for over a month before I forced myself to watch it...or at least have it playing where my eyes could randomly wander. I understand from a historical perspective why Intolerance is on the National Film Registry and maybe even on the American Film Institute's list of top 100 films, but I seriously considered poking myself in the eye. Written, directed and produced by D.W. Griffith, who also wrote, directed and produced The Birth of a Nation in 1915, it is three hours of epic storytelling and filmmaking. Except I didn't find it to be captivating storytelling at all. There are four separate stories that are from four different time periods in human history, and they are interwoven so the story lines run parallel. I have watched, and enjoyed, silent movies before, but, I didn't care. Perhaps if Griffith would have focused on one story, then maybe I would have paid attention. Supposedly Intolerance was made in response to the negative feedback that Griffith received after The Birth of a Nation which featured black Americans as negative stereotypes and white actors in blackface. I will leave further dissemination to true film critics. I will just say that most of my readers will not willingly subject themselves to this movie. And, it also completed the AFI 100 list.
10/20/18 Three Identical Strangers, not yet nominated, 2018
I think one of the most disgraceful and disgusting things in human history is when people we are supposed to trust to act in the best interest of all of us, betray that trust and act sanctimonious in the process. There are examples of this throughout different fields of medicine; Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cell line, for one, and the triplet brothers featured in Three Identical Strangers. The brothers, Eddie, David and Robert, were put up for adoption and were separated very early in life, and placed with three different families of three different socio-economic statuses to study them. The adopting families knew nothing about this experiment. The film interviews the brothers, their families and friends and uses archival news footage from when the brothers discovered each other. There are feelings of anger and resentment towards the adoption agency for lying and deceiving the families and separating the brothers, essentially robbing them of a lifetime together. The film producers were able to track down a couple of people involved in the study, led by Peter Neubauer, but Neubauer is dead, and the study was never published. Also discovered were other twins included in the study. One 'assistant' who is interviewed (I cannot remember her name, nor find it in the credits) was rather flippant about it, not bothered at all about the harm that was inflicted or about basically lying to the families, but conveniently, she didn't remember other things when asked. Her smugness made me want to slap her. The papers, notes, and data from the study were left to Yale University with restrictions on the collection until 2065, not even the subjects of the study could get those records, until the pressure from the release of the film made the owners of the records relent, a little. I was totally captivated by the story of the brothers and their families, and outraged that the adoption agency and researchers made decisions that impacted so many people, with very little regard for them. The movie blends the stories of the brothers within the context of the research and left me wanting to know more, in a good way, that is, I felt invested in the brothers and the others impacted.
10/20/18 The Big Lebowski, 1998, National Film Registry
As much as I enjoy movies by the Coen Brothers, I have never, ever seen The Big Lebowski. I have no reason. I kind of bumped it to the top of my watch list because apparently there is a Big Lebowski bar in Iceland, and I'll be headed there shortly. Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), who insists on being called "Dude", is a slacker and enjoys bowling and hanging out with his friends, who include Walter (John Goodman), a Vietnam Vet with frequent bursts of oversized outrage and Donny (Steve Buscemi) who always seems to be a step behind. Believe it or not (and with a Coen Brothers movie you usually have to do that a lot) there is another Jeffrey Lebowski in Los Angeles; this one is a little bit wealthier and has a wife with a spending habit, and a daughter, Maude (Julianne Moore), who is an enthusiastic feminist. In a case of mistaken identity, that kind of propels the whole movie, a couple of goons bust into the Dude's house and threaten him over his wife's debt, and then pee on his rug. The Dude is more upset over the defilement of the rug than the assault. The Dude goes on a quest to find the other Lebowski and replace the rug. Of course, it's not that simple, and one thing leads to another, including a kidnapping and ransom gone wrong, a couple of bowling games gone awry (John Turturro is hilarious as Jesus Quintana, a bowling nemesis with a questionable past), an encounter with a stranger (Sam Elliott), and a bizarre dream/dance sequence. All in a day's work for the Coen Brothers. Some movies (like the above-mentioned Intolerance) are on the list, and I dread them, and realize that I was right; other movies, like The Big Lebowski, I kind of wish I hadn't waited so long to watch it, one, because I did like it (not loved it, though) and it really has become embedded into the culture, thus, its inclusion onto the National Film Registry.
10/27/18 To Sleep With Anger, 1990, National Film Registry
To Sleep with Anger has a great cast: Danny Glover (Harry), Richard Brooks (Baby Brother; you'll recognize Brooks from his stint on "Law and Order"), Carl Lumbly (Junior), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Linda), Mary Alice (Suzie; you may not recognize the name, but you'll recognize her voice and face) and Paul Butler (Gideon). The story is as old as Cain and Abel or Jacob and Esau, two brothers competing for their father's approval and pride; there is nothing sinister or evil in this sibling rivalry, however, just resentments carried for years. Gideon and his family live in South Central Los Angeles, but still carry on with some of their rural ways brought with them from the South. Out of nowhere an old friend, Harry, appears on their doorstep. It's been decades since they have seen each other, but Gideon welcomes Harry into the house, and things start to go a little askew within the family. I am not sure that the content is what got the Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) written and directed film on the National Film Registry; perhaps it's because it was written and directed by an African-American and the cast is all African-American, admittedly, a rare occurrence these days, but especially in the 1990s. I thought the movie was okay, better than Killer of Sheep, which I didn't like at all, some good performances and potential in the story, but it wasn't great.
Showing posts with label silent movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silent movie. Show all posts
Two must see movies: Miss Sloane and Imitation of Life
9/30/17 Birth of a Nation, 1915, National Film Registry, #39 BBC
I honestly have no idea how to review this movie that should be an anachronism, but sadly, seems to fit into our current political and social climate. Even at the time of its release, in 1915, fifty years after the end of the Civil War, it was controversial for its portrayal of black Americans, and Northerners who opposed slavery. D.W. Griffith is considered an innovator of cinema with camera and storytelling techniques. And yet, with all of that being said, I was repulsed watching Birth of a Nation and the way it showed slaves as dancing and shucking and jiving whenever white people were around; and most, or many, of the black characters were white actors in black face. The story is told from the perspectives of two families, the Stonemans, a Northern family and the Camerons, who lived in the South. The movie follows the families as they send sons off to fight the Civil War, the Confederacy's loss (yes, they did lose) and Reconstruction. Griffith shamelessly peddles fear and uses every negative stereotype of black men that existed to show why the races shouldn't mix; Griffith seems to put forward an anti-war message (or claims to), and just thinks the races should be separate. He glorifies the Ku Klux Klan as defenders of white women and white ways. Honest to God, it was awful to watch, but having never seen it, I was hoping there would be a positive message that I could write about, but there wasn't.
10/30/17 Miss Sloane, 2016
The Penalty aside, I feel like I've been in a dry patch as far as movies go; they've been okay or so-so, or bad, but nothing has gotten me excited about writing a review like Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain did. Elizabeth Sloane (Chastain) is a high-octane lobbyist who says what she thinks, even if it means insulting a potential client or a co-worker. The movie starts pretty amped up and hits the nitro button around 30 minutes in. The movie uses flashbacks to unfold the story of how Sloane takes on the gun lobby with a smaller firm after she abruptly quits the high powered firm, headed by George Dupont (Sam Waterston). It's hard to tell if Sloane is really that passionate about taking on the gun lobby or she's just itching for a big fight. She does like a good argument, whether it's with her new boss, Rodolfo (Mark Strong), her former colleague, Pat Connors (the omnipresent Michael Stuhlbarg), her paid escort, Forde, or anyone else who is careless enough to get in her way. Chastain is simply fabulous (she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress), spitting out the dialogue practically effortlessly. The dialogue and fast pace reminded me of Newsroom, a smart series with a great cast, timely topics and biting wit that you should check out if you haven't seen it. I don't often watch movies again, but I would (and probably will) watch this again to see what I missed the first time. Add it to your list.
10/31/17 Imitation of Life, 1959, National Film Registry, #37 BBC
I honestly have no idea how to review this movie that should be an anachronism, but sadly, seems to fit into our current political and social climate. Even at the time of its release, in 1915, fifty years after the end of the Civil War, it was controversial for its portrayal of black Americans, and Northerners who opposed slavery. D.W. Griffith is considered an innovator of cinema with camera and storytelling techniques. And yet, with all of that being said, I was repulsed watching Birth of a Nation and the way it showed slaves as dancing and shucking and jiving whenever white people were around; and most, or many, of the black characters were white actors in black face. The story is told from the perspectives of two families, the Stonemans, a Northern family and the Camerons, who lived in the South. The movie follows the families as they send sons off to fight the Civil War, the Confederacy's loss (yes, they did lose) and Reconstruction. Griffith shamelessly peddles fear and uses every negative stereotype of black men that existed to show why the races shouldn't mix; Griffith seems to put forward an anti-war message (or claims to), and just thinks the races should be separate. He glorifies the Ku Klux Klan as defenders of white women and white ways. Honest to God, it was awful to watch, but having never seen it, I was hoping there would be a positive message that I could write about, but there wasn't.
10/30/17 Miss Sloane, 2016
The Penalty aside, I feel like I've been in a dry patch as far as movies go; they've been okay or so-so, or bad, but nothing has gotten me excited about writing a review like Miss Sloane starring Jessica Chastain did. Elizabeth Sloane (Chastain) is a high-octane lobbyist who says what she thinks, even if it means insulting a potential client or a co-worker. The movie starts pretty amped up and hits the nitro button around 30 minutes in. The movie uses flashbacks to unfold the story of how Sloane takes on the gun lobby with a smaller firm after she abruptly quits the high powered firm, headed by George Dupont (Sam Waterston). It's hard to tell if Sloane is really that passionate about taking on the gun lobby or she's just itching for a big fight. She does like a good argument, whether it's with her new boss, Rodolfo (Mark Strong), her former colleague, Pat Connors (the omnipresent Michael Stuhlbarg), her paid escort, Forde, or anyone else who is careless enough to get in her way. Chastain is simply fabulous (she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress), spitting out the dialogue practically effortlessly. The dialogue and fast pace reminded me of Newsroom, a smart series with a great cast, timely topics and biting wit that you should check out if you haven't seen it. I don't often watch movies again, but I would (and probably will) watch this again to see what I missed the first time. Add it to your list.
10/31/17 Imitation of Life, 1959, National Film Registry, #37 BBC
I was beginning to think I would never get to see this movie; it was on a 'long wait' on Netflix forever, and then I got it from the library and it wouldn't play, then I finally got it from Netflix. I had never heard of Imitation of Life before until it was on the lists (dun dun, I hear this sound every time I refer to 'the lists'). Lana Turner is Lora Meredith, a struggling actress who is also a single mother living in New York City. Serendipity brings her in contact with the woman who will become her steadfast, reliable friend for the rest of her life, Annie Johnson, incredibly played by Juanita Moore, who is also a single mother, in need of a job and a place to live. Annie moves into Lora's apartment with her daughter, Sarah Jane, takes care of Lora's daughter, Susie, as well as organizing the household while Lora goes on auditions. Lora fends off a handsy agent, potentially losing jobs (the timing for me watching this movie was eerie), but keeping her self-respect and turning for comfort and solace to Steve Archer, (John Gavin) a photographer who has a mad crush on Lora, even though she dumps him the minute opportunity knocks. Opportunity knocked in the form of a play that launches her career. Through all of Lora's ups and downs, man troubles, she has Annie. Annie has some problems of her own; Annie is black, but Sarah Jane is very light skinned and passes for white, often denying her mother's existence, which deeply hurts Annie. Sarah Jane resents her mother, resents that they still live with Lora and Susie, even though the small apartment has been traded in for a large house and they have benefited from Lora's success. Eventually, Sarah Jane runs away to sing in a club, and Annie tracks her down (Mr. Archer now has all kinds of contacts to help), Sarah Jane tells her to leave and never find her again. My heart just broke; you could see Annie, this indomitable woman, who would have done anything for her daughter, just crumble. Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner, who played Sarah Jane, were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars; they lost to Shelley Winters for her role in The Diary of Anne Frank; it's a tough call, and Winters was really good, but Moore would have been a well deserving winner. Lora and Annie never discuss race, unless someone else brings it up the four women consider one another family, and others looking in seem to feel the same way. There is a performance by Mahalia Jackson which gave me goosebumps. Some may think the movie is hokey or condescending, but I really enjoyed it, and I thought Moore and Turner were terrific. I cried more than once during this movie, and since it wasn't a sports movie or a documentary, that's saying a lot.
National Film Registry - Looney Tunes, Frank Capra's Why We Fight, Greed
National Film Registry
7/15/17 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
One Froggy Evening, 1956
You may recall One Froggy Evening: a man, down on his luck, finds a frog...a frog who can sing. Hoping to make his fortune, he takes the frog to different agents or theater people, only to have the frog stubbornly refuse to sing. The man opens his own production, promising free beer to his all male audience (this doesn't seem kid friendly, does it?), and still the frog refuses. That's pretty much how it goes. It's funnier than my little explication may lead you to believe.
What's Opera, Doc?, 1957
"Kill the Rabbit, Kill the Rabbit" as sung by Elmer Fudd in full opera regalia is possibly one of the most memorable scenes from What's Opera, Doc? This may encourage you to give opera a try. Elmer and Bugs Bunny are antagonists until they become lovers...? What? Yeah, opera is funny that way. It's clever in its incorporation of opera, and it has a 'tragic' operatic ending. It's only seven minutes long and I've probably told you too much.
Porky in Wackyland, 1938
8/8/17 Greed, 1924 #22 BBC and National Film Registry
Directed by Erich von Stroheim, Greed tells the tale of love: love of money and romantic love, but mostly love of money, and how it can destroy one's humanity. According to Wikipedia, the original version of Greed was seven hours long...seven hours. He was forced to edit it down to a little over two hours (which is the version I watched); there is a restored version, but that is still only about 3 1/2 hours ('only'). The story is about McTeague, Trina and Schouler; an unholy trinity; originally Schouler and Trina are engaged, but somehow and for some reason, Schouler lets McTeague date Trina, and they get married. Trina has also bought a lottery ticket, which is a winner, but instead of sharing the money, or at least spending the money, she keeps it away from McTeague, who, in turn, gets violent with her. Schouler thinks he should get some of the money since he was engaged to Trina at the time she purchased the lottery ticket. Schouler and McTeague are not very likeable, but Trina is unlikeable and very creepy; you can almost see the greed eating away at her soul, and I'm not exaggerating. It's an age old story, and Stroheim tells it to great effect. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the film itself is a piece of cinematic history that might make a great movie one day.
8/11/17 Why We Fight, 1943-1945
Like Duck and Cover, my timing in watching this collection of documentary/propaganda films was unintentionally prescient given the events of the past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Why We Fight is a series of films that provide some historical context for what would become known as World War II, but given seventy years of hindsight, there is also obvious propaganda and some pretty uncomfortable stereotyping of our 'enemies' who are now our allies. The world has been turned on its head. The films are broken up into the different theaters of war: China, Russia, England, Europe, and the United States. Up until Pearl Harbor, the US was maintaining a stance of isolationism, and there is a film dedicated to presenting the reasons why the US ultimately got involved. The films are interesting from a historical perspective and what they must have meant seventy years ago. I was telling a friend at work that while the films could have some valuable educational content, in these days when it seems few people have any ability to perform critical thinking, I would be concerned they couldn't understand the difference between someone reporting something and someone endorsing the anti-Semitic or racist comments that were included in the films. There is value to be found, but I would say handle with care.
7/15/17 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
I watched a few Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, you have probably seen at least the first two.
One Froggy Evening, 1956
You may recall One Froggy Evening: a man, down on his luck, finds a frog...a frog who can sing. Hoping to make his fortune, he takes the frog to different agents or theater people, only to have the frog stubbornly refuse to sing. The man opens his own production, promising free beer to his all male audience (this doesn't seem kid friendly, does it?), and still the frog refuses. That's pretty much how it goes. It's funnier than my little explication may lead you to believe.
What's Opera, Doc?, 1957
"Kill the Rabbit, Kill the Rabbit" as sung by Elmer Fudd in full opera regalia is possibly one of the most memorable scenes from What's Opera, Doc? This may encourage you to give opera a try. Elmer and Bugs Bunny are antagonists until they become lovers...? What? Yeah, opera is funny that way. It's clever in its incorporation of opera, and it has a 'tragic' operatic ending. It's only seven minutes long and I've probably told you too much.
Porky in Wackyland, 1938
Porky in Wackyland is probably very innovative in several ways, its animation techniques, maybe the concept. I really didn't like it; it seemed stupid and annoying. It's very surreal and has a thin (to me) story line of Porky hunting a rare bird, and he goes through these strange and exotic locales. Eh. Two out of three isn't bad.
Luxo, Jr., 1986
Luxo, Jr. was the second animated short from Pixar, and its first to receive an Oscar nomination. Luxo, Jr. was a small desk lamp that is trying to play with a larger lamp, but seems to be annoying it. The smaller lamp, which had the characteristics of a little kid, was 'kicking' a ball, and bouncing it, and ultimately, deflating it. This brings a 'look' of disapproval from the 'older' lamp. The film was only two minutes long, but it was paired with the first Toy Story and went on to have a significant impact on animated films for years.
Luxo, Jr. was the second animated short from Pixar, and its first to receive an Oscar nomination. Luxo, Jr. was a small desk lamp that is trying to play with a larger lamp, but seems to be annoying it. The smaller lamp, which had the characteristics of a little kid, was 'kicking' a ball, and bouncing it, and ultimately, deflating it. This brings a 'look' of disapproval from the 'older' lamp. The film was only two minutes long, but it was paired with the first Toy Story and went on to have a significant impact on animated films for years.
Duck and Cover, 1951
If I was reviewing this short film a year ago, funded by the Federal Civil Defense Administration and released shortly after the end of the Korean Conflict, it would be a 'fun' piece of nostalgia from the early nuclear age. Unfortunately, it seems eerie as we seem on the brink of some kind of pissing contest between the US and North Korea that may or may not involve nuclear armaments.
If I was reviewing this short film a year ago, funded by the Federal Civil Defense Administration and released shortly after the end of the Korean Conflict, it would be a 'fun' piece of nostalgia from the early nuclear age. Unfortunately, it seems eerie as we seem on the brink of some kind of pissing contest between the US and North Korea that may or may not involve nuclear armaments.
Let's All Go to the Lobby, 1957
This may be the shortest 'film' on any list at 38 seconds. It's a commercial for the concession stands at movie theaters. Let me put this earworm in your head "Let's all go the lobby, let's all go the lobby" (imagine dancing popcorn boxes and cups of soda).
Directed by Erich von Stroheim, Greed tells the tale of love: love of money and romantic love, but mostly love of money, and how it can destroy one's humanity. According to Wikipedia, the original version of Greed was seven hours long...seven hours. He was forced to edit it down to a little over two hours (which is the version I watched); there is a restored version, but that is still only about 3 1/2 hours ('only'). The story is about McTeague, Trina and Schouler; an unholy trinity; originally Schouler and Trina are engaged, but somehow and for some reason, Schouler lets McTeague date Trina, and they get married. Trina has also bought a lottery ticket, which is a winner, but instead of sharing the money, or at least spending the money, she keeps it away from McTeague, who, in turn, gets violent with her. Schouler thinks he should get some of the money since he was engaged to Trina at the time she purchased the lottery ticket. Schouler and McTeague are not very likeable, but Trina is unlikeable and very creepy; you can almost see the greed eating away at her soul, and I'm not exaggerating. It's an age old story, and Stroheim tells it to great effect. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the film itself is a piece of cinematic history that might make a great movie one day.
8/11/17 Why We Fight, 1943-1945
Like Duck and Cover, my timing in watching this collection of documentary/propaganda films was unintentionally prescient given the events of the past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Why We Fight is a series of films that provide some historical context for what would become known as World War II, but given seventy years of hindsight, there is also obvious propaganda and some pretty uncomfortable stereotyping of our 'enemies' who are now our allies. The world has been turned on its head. The films are broken up into the different theaters of war: China, Russia, England, Europe, and the United States. Up until Pearl Harbor, the US was maintaining a stance of isolationism, and there is a film dedicated to presenting the reasons why the US ultimately got involved. The films are interesting from a historical perspective and what they must have meant seventy years ago. I was telling a friend at work that while the films could have some valuable educational content, in these days when it seems few people have any ability to perform critical thinking, I would be concerned they couldn't understand the difference between someone reporting something and someone endorsing the anti-Semitic or racist comments that were included in the films. There is value to be found, but I would say handle with care.
Lacking some enthusiasm for Dunkirk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Days of Heaven
The blog will soon be celebrating its fifth birthday. I was thinking about a day out at Chuck E. Cheese, but that might be a little strange. Or, I could actually get back to writing. That's less strange. For some reason, the writing is a little labored and it's been a struggle, but damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.
7/19/17 Sherlock Jr., 1924, #44 BBC, National Film Registry
I don't mind silent films, and some of them I have really enjoyed. Buster Keaton starred and directed Sherlock Jr. and it's counted among the best films, on several lists, including the BBC 100 and the National Film Registry. But, you knew there was a but coming, it did nothing to me. I think I'm more of a Chaplin fan. I was exceedingly bored, even though I know some of the stunts were quite difficult; I just could not muster up the appropriate amount of appreciation for this classic.
7/28/17 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, Best Original Screenplay, #87 BBC
I tried watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shortly after it came out on DVD and didn't make it longer than 30 minutes. I just couldn't. I even rated it on Netflix as "not interested" because I just didn't care. I'm not sure my feelings have changed all that much, except, because it's on two of my stupid lists, I had to finish watching it. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are star-crossed lovers, Joel and Clementine. Instead of just moving on from a relationship that doesn't seem to be working, they seek out a specialist in removing memories, Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Except, it doesn't go quite as planned, when Joel's mind fights against the cleaning. It seems to turn into one kind of weird infinite loop; they fall in love, fall out of love, get memories wiped, fall in love, rinse and repeat. Charlie Kaufman wrote the script, and that might explain why I didn't like the movie and everyone else in the world did: very unintentionally, I don't like any of the movies he has done: Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and most recently, Anomalisa. He doesn't write stories or characters that I care about, in the least little bit.
7/30/17 Dunkirk, not yet nominated, 2017
I was so excited to see Dunkirk after seeing the trailers; a movie about an episode of World War II that not a lot of Americans know about, but is a critical part of English and French history. I liked it, but I didn't love it, and when some people asked me about it, I couldn't recommend it as enthusiastically as I have other movies, but I couldn't exactly say why. This was another movie with very sparing dialog, and we didn't know the names of many of the characters or any background. I think the idea was to be 'in the moment' and be connected to this experience rather than what village or town the character grew up in. Okay, I get that, and I don't think you need a lot of extensive backgrounds, that's what makes movies three hours long, but I needed something. The movie is not told in a linear, chronological fashion, but in three storylines beginning one week - Land/Mole , one day - Sea and one hour - Air; I liked the idea of the three perspectives, but I'm not sure the leaping timeline helped or was necessary. There was a lot of suspense, and I won't ruin it since it is still out in theatres, but I did get very choked up when the armada of recreational and fishing boats pulled onto the beach in Dunkirk. That was tremendous. The citizen sailors were represented by Oscar winner, Mark Rylance as Mr. Dawson, and his performance was tremendous. He brought the same quiet strength to this role that he did to Bridge of Spies, and I felt like I knew Mr. Dawson by the end of the film, and he was a man I would like to have known. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy and Harry Styles also had roles in the movie. If you're a World War II buff, you've probably already seen it, but if you're not, and war movies aren't your thing, I think you're fine if you wait for DVD or skip it. It probably will be nominated for an Oscar or two, sound editing and mixing, possibly film editing and maybe a nomination for Rylance; if it's nominated for the bigger awards, I don't give it much chance, because to my recollection, those awards go to movies released in November and December. I'm sorry I don't have a more enthusiastic review for you.
8/6/17 Days of Heaven, 1978, Best Cinematography, #49 BBC, National Film Registry
7/19/17 Sherlock Jr., 1924, #44 BBC, National Film Registry
I don't mind silent films, and some of them I have really enjoyed. Buster Keaton starred and directed Sherlock Jr. and it's counted among the best films, on several lists, including the BBC 100 and the National Film Registry. But, you knew there was a but coming, it did nothing to me. I think I'm more of a Chaplin fan. I was exceedingly bored, even though I know some of the stunts were quite difficult; I just could not muster up the appropriate amount of appreciation for this classic.
7/28/17 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, Best Original Screenplay, #87 BBC
I tried watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shortly after it came out on DVD and didn't make it longer than 30 minutes. I just couldn't. I even rated it on Netflix as "not interested" because I just didn't care. I'm not sure my feelings have changed all that much, except, because it's on two of my stupid lists, I had to finish watching it. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet are star-crossed lovers, Joel and Clementine. Instead of just moving on from a relationship that doesn't seem to be working, they seek out a specialist in removing memories, Dr. Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). Except, it doesn't go quite as planned, when Joel's mind fights against the cleaning. It seems to turn into one kind of weird infinite loop; they fall in love, fall out of love, get memories wiped, fall in love, rinse and repeat. Charlie Kaufman wrote the script, and that might explain why I didn't like the movie and everyone else in the world did: very unintentionally, I don't like any of the movies he has done: Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and most recently, Anomalisa. He doesn't write stories or characters that I care about, in the least little bit.
7/30/17 Dunkirk, not yet nominated, 2017
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| Exhibits from Churchill War Museum |
I was so excited to see Dunkirk after seeing the trailers; a movie about an episode of World War II that not a lot of Americans know about, but is a critical part of English and French history. I liked it, but I didn't love it, and when some people asked me about it, I couldn't recommend it as enthusiastically as I have other movies, but I couldn't exactly say why. This was another movie with very sparing dialog, and we didn't know the names of many of the characters or any background. I think the idea was to be 'in the moment' and be connected to this experience rather than what village or town the character grew up in. Okay, I get that, and I don't think you need a lot of extensive backgrounds, that's what makes movies three hours long, but I needed something. The movie is not told in a linear, chronological fashion, but in three storylines beginning one week - Land/Mole , one day - Sea and one hour - Air; I liked the idea of the three perspectives, but I'm not sure the leaping timeline helped or was necessary. There was a lot of suspense, and I won't ruin it since it is still out in theatres, but I did get very choked up when the armada of recreational and fishing boats pulled onto the beach in Dunkirk. That was tremendous. The citizen sailors were represented by Oscar winner, Mark Rylance as Mr. Dawson, and his performance was tremendous. He brought the same quiet strength to this role that he did to Bridge of Spies, and I felt like I knew Mr. Dawson by the end of the film, and he was a man I would like to have known. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy and Harry Styles also had roles in the movie. If you're a World War II buff, you've probably already seen it, but if you're not, and war movies aren't your thing, I think you're fine if you wait for DVD or skip it. It probably will be nominated for an Oscar or two, sound editing and mixing, possibly film editing and maybe a nomination for Rylance; if it's nominated for the bigger awards, I don't give it much chance, because to my recollection, those awards go to movies released in November and December. I'm sorry I don't have a more enthusiastic review for you.
8/6/17 Days of Heaven, 1978, Best Cinematography, #49 BBC, National Film Registry
In 2011, I had to watch The Tree of Life (for the list, pre-blog), also written and directed by Terrence Malick, and that was my first experience with his films, and it left me leery of his other movies. It was over two hours that I will never get back. So, I was not excited about watching Days of Heaven which is on three of my lists. Damn it. The movie features Richard Gere and the late Sam Shepard, along with Brooke Adams and Linda Manz in the main roles. Like in The Tree of Life, there is very little dialog supplemented by narration by Linda Manz's character, Linda. The movie is set in 1916, beginning in Chicago where Bill (Gere) kills his boss and he, his little sister Linda, and his girlfriend Abby (Adams) take off to Texas to work in the fields. In order to keep away the gossip, Abby and Bill pretend to be brother and sister; and all I could think of was, why didn't they pretend to be married, it's not like anyone would have asked for the paperwork. Except it would not have worked for the rest of the story, which is where Abby flirts with the lonely farmer (Shepard, his character is not given any other name) and the two get married. The farmer is given a terminal diagnosis and Bill and Abby plan for Abby to inherit the farmer's money after he dies. Sadly, for everyone involved, nothing goes as planned. The cinematography was stunning, but I didn't care at all about the story (similar to my not caring about The Tree of Life); I'm fine with limited dialog, but at least give me something to care about and get invested in for 90 minutes. I think improvisation can be great in a film, but other times it seems lazy on the part of the director/writer, and can lead to a sense of incoherence.
It really seems like this blog entry is a tribute to just doing it and getting it done. Looking forward to movies that I can strongly recommend.
The power of the human spirit: Educating Peter, Admiral Byrd, Steve Gleason
For the past several months, I've been going back into the archives, not really focusing too much on new films. But the list of 2017 Oscar nominations are out, so this may be the last look back until the end of February. There are some interesting documentaries below.
1/14/17 Educating Peter, Best Documentary Short, 1992
1/26/17 Graduating Peter, 2001
Educating Peter follows young Peter Gwazdauskas as he enters a traditional school after being in special needs classes until 3rd grade. Peter has Down Syndrome and we see him struggling to interact with his classmates; he acts out by hitting students and not staying on task. His teacher spends a lot of time trying to get him to listen and follow the class rules and structure. I found myself getting frustrated with him. The filmmaker, Gerardine Wurzburg, interviews Peter's teacher as well as several classmates; the kids are pretty honest with their feelings and their challenges with him, but then something interesting happens. The teacher and some of the other adults in the school get the children together and ask them what they think they should do, how they should handle Peter and his outbursts. This empowers the kids and team together to re-direct Peter's actions when he starts hitting out or misbehaving, and Peter starts to play and act better, and the kids say that they really like him and consider him a friend. One of the girls says that Peter has taught them so much, maybe more than they have taught him. Sometimes kids are so much better than adults.
Graduating Peter picks up with Peter going through middle school and high school. Peter still struggles with school, and his communication and reading skills are not where his mother (who is interviewed much more than in Educating Peter) or his teachers would like. Peter has been diagnosed with ADHD as well as depression, made worse by the fact that he really cannot communicate his feelings. Peter is very isolated and doesn't seem to have any friends, which concerns his parents, which may play a part in his acting out. Peter has an aide throughout the day who works with him on different life skills, handling money, working at different jobs to try and find something he likes and can do. Late in his time at high school, Peter begins working as the manager of the school soccer team and builds relationships with the players, and he seems to really blossom. Also, one of the special education coordinators comes up with an idea to get the kids with special needs to connect with 'regular' kids on outings. This also puts Peter in contact with other kids who get to know him and become friends. It's very important to Peter's parents that he make friends in their community so he can perhaps become a little more independent and able to function on his own as much as possible (he never be totally independent, but they want him to learn those skills). Peter also finds a job in the school kitchen that he seems to really enjoy and the people around him enjoy having him there. Wurzburg directed this film as well, and she never tries to sugarcoat the difficulties that Peter experiences which makes the victories he has even sweeter. Peter was granted a certificate of attendance upon finishing high school. He also went with a date to his prom. Watching Peter and his family and friends should teach us to appreciate the little victories in the day as well as to appreciate the differences that bring us together.
1/24/17 With Byrd at the South Pole, Best Cinematography, 1930
With Byrd at the South Pole is a documentary filmed in 1929 following Admiral Richard Byrd and his team of explorers as they head to the South Pole. The film starts off with an introduction by Byrd himself, who looks very uncomfortable on screen, and follows as his team take a ship to Antarctica and build their base camp, and eventually fly over the South Pole. Other than the staged presentation at the beginning, there is no sound from the actual expedition; there is narration, occasionally comical, by Floyd Gibbons, a journalist and radio commentator in the early 20th century, and a somewhat over-dramatic soundtrack. It was amazing what the men were able to create under such conditions and what they were able to do in the days before satellite technology and computers. From a film-making perspective, I think it was pretty incredible the footage that was captured on film. It reminded me of Kon-Tiki which I watched not too long ago, and the spirit of adventure and bravery to attempt these voyages with no safety nets. The DVD is available from Netflix, and I totally recommend watching it, although maybe not in the middle of winter. I still haven't warmed up.
1/26/17 Rabbit a la Berlin, nominated for Best Documentary Short, 2009
Rabbit a la Berlin is a documentary, but at times it was surreal. The film is a documentary about the rabbits who were trapped and isolated between the Berlin Wall in East Germany and West Berlin. It is told from the point of view of the rabbits, and their 'understanding' of what was happening to them. There were periods of peace and quiet as soldiers on the wall were forbidden from shooting at the rabbits; but there were also times where the rabbits were in danger from poison being spread on the grass to being shot at for food and sport. Telling the story from the rabbits' side is an interesting way to talk about the evolution of the wall, from its erection to being torn down. It's a unique theme, but I feel like I lost a lot because the subtitles were often unreadable (a HUGE pet peeve), and my German is pretty elementary. Music by Prudence won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
1/27/17 Gleason, 2016
Steve Gleason played football for the New Orleans Saints for eight seasons, including the seasons during Hurricane Katrina, for which he endeared himself to the people of New Orleans for his tough play, including a key play blocking a punt that was seen as symbolic for New Orleans' comeback. After he was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease in 2011, he began filming a video diary for his future child. At the beginning of the film, Gleason is still pretty mobile, although slowed down a bit; he and his wife and some of their family take a road trip up to Alaska. We see the progression of the illness as Steve loses more and more motor control, making his speech slur. His wife, Michel, initially takes on the caretaking duties, even as she is trying to take care of their newborn son, Rivers. It is very hard to watch as Steve and Michel struggle with ALS, raising their son and running the Gleason Initiative Foundation which was created to help people afflicted with ALS get computer equipment to help them communicate and live fulfilling lives. Steve doesn't flinch from difficult conversations, including the ones with his father and their different perspectives on God and faith healing. He and Michel have their highs and lows, and sometimes it seems like a lot of lows, too much for people to handle, but they do. It's not easy, and often not pretty, but it's real.
1/28/17 Growing Up Female, 1971, National Film Registry
I just finished watching this about an hour ago, and it's like I walked back into time, when women were supposed to defer to the wishes of their husbands, leaving the important decisions to them; when women were too fragile to handle the rigors of computer programming; and were easy targets to the genius men in advertising, and on and on it goes. The movie Growing Up Female was released in 1971, the very early days of the women's liberation movement, and you almost get the feeling from the narrator that she cheers when the women she interviews mention anything that indicates they are thinking outside the confines of the female stereotype. She interviews six girls and young women from different backgrounds, including two young black women, who have the double challenge of growing up female and black in a society that has definite limits on both. I think every woman should watch this video (I watched it on VHS tape) to see how far we have come, but how far we have yet to go. I am very grateful to my parents and my grandmother who encouraged me to do what I wanted, without any restrictions because I was a girl.
1/14/17 Educating Peter, Best Documentary Short, 1992
1/26/17 Graduating Peter, 2001
Educating Peter follows young Peter Gwazdauskas as he enters a traditional school after being in special needs classes until 3rd grade. Peter has Down Syndrome and we see him struggling to interact with his classmates; he acts out by hitting students and not staying on task. His teacher spends a lot of time trying to get him to listen and follow the class rules and structure. I found myself getting frustrated with him. The filmmaker, Gerardine Wurzburg, interviews Peter's teacher as well as several classmates; the kids are pretty honest with their feelings and their challenges with him, but then something interesting happens. The teacher and some of the other adults in the school get the children together and ask them what they think they should do, how they should handle Peter and his outbursts. This empowers the kids and team together to re-direct Peter's actions when he starts hitting out or misbehaving, and Peter starts to play and act better, and the kids say that they really like him and consider him a friend. One of the girls says that Peter has taught them so much, maybe more than they have taught him. Sometimes kids are so much better than adults.
Graduating Peter picks up with Peter going through middle school and high school. Peter still struggles with school, and his communication and reading skills are not where his mother (who is interviewed much more than in Educating Peter) or his teachers would like. Peter has been diagnosed with ADHD as well as depression, made worse by the fact that he really cannot communicate his feelings. Peter is very isolated and doesn't seem to have any friends, which concerns his parents, which may play a part in his acting out. Peter has an aide throughout the day who works with him on different life skills, handling money, working at different jobs to try and find something he likes and can do. Late in his time at high school, Peter begins working as the manager of the school soccer team and builds relationships with the players, and he seems to really blossom. Also, one of the special education coordinators comes up with an idea to get the kids with special needs to connect with 'regular' kids on outings. This also puts Peter in contact with other kids who get to know him and become friends. It's very important to Peter's parents that he make friends in their community so he can perhaps become a little more independent and able to function on his own as much as possible (he never be totally independent, but they want him to learn those skills). Peter also finds a job in the school kitchen that he seems to really enjoy and the people around him enjoy having him there. Wurzburg directed this film as well, and she never tries to sugarcoat the difficulties that Peter experiences which makes the victories he has even sweeter. Peter was granted a certificate of attendance upon finishing high school. He also went with a date to his prom. Watching Peter and his family and friends should teach us to appreciate the little victories in the day as well as to appreciate the differences that bring us together.
1/24/17 With Byrd at the South Pole, Best Cinematography, 1930
With Byrd at the South Pole is a documentary filmed in 1929 following Admiral Richard Byrd and his team of explorers as they head to the South Pole. The film starts off with an introduction by Byrd himself, who looks very uncomfortable on screen, and follows as his team take a ship to Antarctica and build their base camp, and eventually fly over the South Pole. Other than the staged presentation at the beginning, there is no sound from the actual expedition; there is narration, occasionally comical, by Floyd Gibbons, a journalist and radio commentator in the early 20th century, and a somewhat over-dramatic soundtrack. It was amazing what the men were able to create under such conditions and what they were able to do in the days before satellite technology and computers. From a film-making perspective, I think it was pretty incredible the footage that was captured on film. It reminded me of Kon-Tiki which I watched not too long ago, and the spirit of adventure and bravery to attempt these voyages with no safety nets. The DVD is available from Netflix, and I totally recommend watching it, although maybe not in the middle of winter. I still haven't warmed up.
1/26/17 Rabbit a la Berlin, nominated for Best Documentary Short, 2009
Rabbit a la Berlin is a documentary, but at times it was surreal. The film is a documentary about the rabbits who were trapped and isolated between the Berlin Wall in East Germany and West Berlin. It is told from the point of view of the rabbits, and their 'understanding' of what was happening to them. There were periods of peace and quiet as soldiers on the wall were forbidden from shooting at the rabbits; but there were also times where the rabbits were in danger from poison being spread on the grass to being shot at for food and sport. Telling the story from the rabbits' side is an interesting way to talk about the evolution of the wall, from its erection to being torn down. It's a unique theme, but I feel like I lost a lot because the subtitles were often unreadable (a HUGE pet peeve), and my German is pretty elementary. Music by Prudence won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
1/27/17 Gleason, 2016
Steve Gleason played football for the New Orleans Saints for eight seasons, including the seasons during Hurricane Katrina, for which he endeared himself to the people of New Orleans for his tough play, including a key play blocking a punt that was seen as symbolic for New Orleans' comeback. After he was diagnosed with ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease in 2011, he began filming a video diary for his future child. At the beginning of the film, Gleason is still pretty mobile, although slowed down a bit; he and his wife and some of their family take a road trip up to Alaska. We see the progression of the illness as Steve loses more and more motor control, making his speech slur. His wife, Michel, initially takes on the caretaking duties, even as she is trying to take care of their newborn son, Rivers. It is very hard to watch as Steve and Michel struggle with ALS, raising their son and running the Gleason Initiative Foundation which was created to help people afflicted with ALS get computer equipment to help them communicate and live fulfilling lives. Steve doesn't flinch from difficult conversations, including the ones with his father and their different perspectives on God and faith healing. He and Michel have their highs and lows, and sometimes it seems like a lot of lows, too much for people to handle, but they do. It's not easy, and often not pretty, but it's real.
1/28/17 Growing Up Female, 1971, National Film Registry
I just finished watching this about an hour ago, and it's like I walked back into time, when women were supposed to defer to the wishes of their husbands, leaving the important decisions to them; when women were too fragile to handle the rigors of computer programming; and were easy targets to the genius men in advertising, and on and on it goes. The movie Growing Up Female was released in 1971, the very early days of the women's liberation movement, and you almost get the feeling from the narrator that she cheers when the women she interviews mention anything that indicates they are thinking outside the confines of the female stereotype. She interviews six girls and young women from different backgrounds, including two young black women, who have the double challenge of growing up female and black in a society that has definite limits on both. I think every woman should watch this video (I watched it on VHS tape) to see how far we have come, but how far we have yet to go. I am very grateful to my parents and my grandmother who encouraged me to do what I wanted, without any restrictions because I was a girl.
I'm on a roll - more from the National Film Registry - film's first kiss, an early Western and Pixar's first Oscar
9/14/16 National Film Registry
Blacksmith Scene, 1893 - You may not be able to tell because it's only 34 seconds long, but the men are actors performing roles, not real blacksmiths. This is the earliest example of actors performing in a role.
The Kiss, 1896 - It is listed as the first ever kiss on film, but I would also daresay it was the first awkward moment on film. It is 18 seconds of really bad kissing (I'm not an expert, but watch it for yourself).
Star Theatre, 1901 - is a two-minute documentary showing the time lapsed demolition of the Star Theatre.
The Great Train Robbery, 1903 - is a Western that used many film techniques for the first time: shooting on location, frequent camera movement, and new editing methods. It is twelve minutes long. It did have an annoying 'new' soundtrack that was added, I think if you're going to add music, don't add something that gives people headaches.
Dickson Experimental Sound Film, 1894 This is the first example of a synchronized soundtrack; the version from the Library of Congress doesn't have the sound, but I found a couple of versions that do. It's not world class violin playing, but still, when you think that the first full length feature with sound didn't come out until over thirty years later, it is pretty cool.
A Corner in Wheat, 1909 - This is a chance to see an early film by D.W. Griffith, who also directed the iconic Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. It's a morality tale, with the greedy speculator getting his just desserts after driving up the price of wheat, making it hard for poor people to buy bread.
Princess Nicotine, 1909 I didn't quite get it, not that there was much to get at only five minutes long, but it seemed like the main character, a smoker (of cigarettes, I assume) was hallucinating. Little smoke/cigarette fairies come and play around. Yeah, I don't know. Sweet Caporal, who also sponsored early 20th century baseball cards, were the cigarettes featured in the film. I suppose it may be more noted for the special effects, including the miniature fairies and smoke, but otherwise, I'm not sure what was landmark about it.
Tin Toy, Best Animated Short, 1988 This Pixar short won an Oscar (Pixar's first) and is on the National Film Registry. It used new technology to tell the story of a little baby who terrorizes his toys. There are hints of what was to come with Toy Story.
Is it Always Right to be Right? Best Animated Short 1970
After you watch Is it Always Right to be Right? you will get the distinct impression that things have not changed in forty-six years, especially during this political cycle. The narrator (Orson Welles) tells us that in an unknown country, people are fighting among themselves, young versus old, black versus white. They're fighting and yelling, but not listening to each other, and things take a terrible turn, until one time when someone admits that they might not be right and the other person might not be wrong. It may seem simplistic, but I actually believe that is one of the biggest problems today. We're not listening, just shouting to get our point across, unwilling to back down. I think it's worth giving this a look; it's on Youtube and less than ten minutes.
Blacksmith Scene, 1893 - You may not be able to tell because it's only 34 seconds long, but the men are actors performing roles, not real blacksmiths. This is the earliest example of actors performing in a role.
The Kiss, 1896 - It is listed as the first ever kiss on film, but I would also daresay it was the first awkward moment on film. It is 18 seconds of really bad kissing (I'm not an expert, but watch it for yourself).
Star Theatre, 1901 - is a two-minute documentary showing the time lapsed demolition of the Star Theatre.
The Great Train Robbery, 1903 - is a Western that used many film techniques for the first time: shooting on location, frequent camera movement, and new editing methods. It is twelve minutes long. It did have an annoying 'new' soundtrack that was added, I think if you're going to add music, don't add something that gives people headaches.
Dickson Experimental Sound Film, 1894 This is the first example of a synchronized soundtrack; the version from the Library of Congress doesn't have the sound, but I found a couple of versions that do. It's not world class violin playing, but still, when you think that the first full length feature with sound didn't come out until over thirty years later, it is pretty cool.
A Corner in Wheat, 1909 - This is a chance to see an early film by D.W. Griffith, who also directed the iconic Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. It's a morality tale, with the greedy speculator getting his just desserts after driving up the price of wheat, making it hard for poor people to buy bread.
Princess Nicotine, 1909 I didn't quite get it, not that there was much to get at only five minutes long, but it seemed like the main character, a smoker (of cigarettes, I assume) was hallucinating. Little smoke/cigarette fairies come and play around. Yeah, I don't know. Sweet Caporal, who also sponsored early 20th century baseball cards, were the cigarettes featured in the film. I suppose it may be more noted for the special effects, including the miniature fairies and smoke, but otherwise, I'm not sure what was landmark about it.
Tin Toy, Best Animated Short, 1988 This Pixar short won an Oscar (Pixar's first) and is on the National Film Registry. It used new technology to tell the story of a little baby who terrorizes his toys. There are hints of what was to come with Toy Story.
Is it Always Right to be Right? Best Animated Short 1970
After you watch Is it Always Right to be Right? you will get the distinct impression that things have not changed in forty-six years, especially during this political cycle. The narrator (Orson Welles) tells us that in an unknown country, people are fighting among themselves, young versus old, black versus white. They're fighting and yelling, but not listening to each other, and things take a terrible turn, until one time when someone admits that they might not be right and the other person might not be wrong. It may seem simplistic, but I actually believe that is one of the biggest problems today. We're not listening, just shouting to get our point across, unwilling to back down. I think it's worth giving this a look; it's on Youtube and less than ten minutes.
Buster Keaton in The General, Montgomery Clift & Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun, A Sixth Sense and The Boss!
8/27/16 The General, 1926 #18 AFI, National Film Registry
I have watched several silent movies that I have enjoyed, All Quiet on the Western Front, Wings, Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans, City Lights (most Chaplin to be honest), and while I appreciated Buster Keaton's stunt work, I really didn't care for The General. The General is set during the opening days of the Civil War and Keaton is an engineer on a train based in the South. Some Northern troop are trying to sneak up to a Southern encampment and are doing this by stealing Keaton's engine; then he steals it back, and there's a girl involved. I don't know, my mind wandered. I may be missing something (I get that Keaton did his own stunts and they were pretty incredible, but I do not understand why this is on AFI's list of best 100 films, and I couldn't find any write up as to why). We'll just agree to disagree (check out Chaplin's Modern Times).
8/27/16 A Place in the Sun, Best Director, Best Cinematography (B&W), Best Costume Design (B&W), Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Writing - Screenplay, 1951, National Film Registry, #48 BBC
Watching A Place in the Sun in 2016 occasionally seems anachronistic, although the story of a poor boy caught between two worlds is also universal and timeless. To get the particulars out of the way so I don't forget: Montgomery Clift is George Eastman, the poor boy referenced above; Shelley Winters is Alice Tripp, a factory girl; a 17 year-old Elizabeth Taylor (in her first movie with Montgomery Clift) as Angela Vickers; Raymond Burr is District Attorney Frank Marlowe. George Stevens (Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, Swingtime) directed and won an Oscar. The movie was based on the book An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. George Eastman is the poor relative of Charles Eastman, a rich industrialist (we know they at least make bathing suits), and while Charles seems happy to have him as part of the family, the rest of the clan is not impressed. George goes to work on an assembly line and meets Alice. Despite the rules of not socializing, Alice and George began a covert relationship. Things seem to go swimmingly until George meets Angela Vickers, and the complications begin. He tries to lead a double life, not letting Alice know that he enjoys spending time with the social elite, and with Angela. You can imagine things don't go well if one of the lead roles is a district attorney, but to avoid spoiling anything, I'll stop here with the plot summary. I will tell you that the movie is worth watching for the three marquee actors; Taylor considered this her first 'grown up' film and the beginning of a life long friendship with Clift; Winters went totally against type,she was previously known for sexy roles, and probably began a new career path as a character driven actress; Clift is incredible to watch, at one point he just starts breaking out in a sweat, no make up involved (if you watch Judgement at Nuremberg, you cannot help but be moved by his performance on the witness stand). I really felt that Raymond Burr was ridiculously melodramatic and I believed his character least of all. The story may not hold up in our 21st century world, and it's not as dated as some movies (Shampoo always leaps to mind, and not in a good way) but I think the acting does
8/27/16 The Boss, 2016, not yet nominated
I know what you're thinking, one of these things is not like the other. The other movies are Oscar winners, on the national film registry or AFI's best 100 films. And then I go and mess with your head and include The Boss starring Melissa McCarthy as the titular boss, Michelle Darnell and Kristen Bell as her underappreciated assistant, Claire. Michelle Darnelle is like Martha Stewart on steroids; she is sent to federal prison after her former lover, Reynaud (Peter Dinklage) turns her into the Federal Trade Commission for insider trading and she loses everything. We don't spend a lot of time inside the prison, although I can't help but feel that could be pretty hilarious. Michelle winds up living with Claire and her daughter, Rachel and getting caught up in Rachel's Dandelion Troop and their annual cookie sales. Michelle founds a competing troop that sells Claire's brownies. There is a street fight with the Dandelions and Michelle's girls that shows some fierce fight moves. There is physical humor (a forte of McCarthy's) as well as some sexual references and some very funny stuff. I am a sucker for a Melissa McCarthy movie because I think she is fearless, she will do anything it takes to get the laugh; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't I think it works in The Boss. Bell as Claire is a great foil, playing it straight and serious, trying to get Michelle to live in the real world, and doing what she needs to do for her daughter. Reynaud (Dinklage) goes toe to toe with Michelle, and Dinklage is as fearless as McCarthy. McCarthy co-wrote the movie with her husband and frequent collaborator, Ben Falcone; Falcone also directed. Admittedly, this pairing has not always delivered what was expected (Tammy), but I think this attempt worked. I had several laugh out loud moments. A friend of mine often rates movies on was he entertained or not; I was definitely entertained. So while this may not be nominated for any Oscars, I would recommend it for a Saturday night.
8/28/16 The Sixth Sense, 1999 #89 AFI
It was The Sixth Sense's bad luck that it was released the same year as American Beauty, because otherwise it may have won at least one Oscar. In case you have not seen it yet (really? I've seen it before, so you have no excuse), I will try not to reveal too much because it is a well-crafted suspense story. Wikipedia describes it as a supernatural horror-thriller, which has at least two words that turn me off right away and why it took me so long to watch it the first time. Bruce Willis is Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, and he is married to Anna (Olivia Williams). We get the feeling that Dr. Crowe often puts his patients ahead of his wife. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment in an Oscar-nominated role) is a troubled young man who is a loner in spite of his mother's best efforts. Mom is played by Toni Collette and she was also nominated for an Oscar. Cole gets scratches from unknown sources, the heat goes off in their house, the dog freaks out for no apparent reason. Enter Dr. Crowe. Slowly Crowe builds trust with Cole and Cole shares his secret - he sees dead people (one of the top movie quotes, on AFI's list). As Crowe works with this knowledge, he is also experiencing issues at home, his wife won't speak to him. I don't want to tell you anymore in case I spoil it. So enough plot, now my review. After I watched it the first time, I liked it; the second time - I really liked it. I appreciated the storytelling and suspense element so much more, especially when I realized that 'horror' is not the right word to describe this movie. Willis is really good as Dr. Crowe, not at all like his Die Hard character; Collette went on to play other mom roles, she relates really well to her movie kids (The Way Way Back, Little Miss Sunshine, Jesus Henry Christ) and you can feel how much her character loves her son even though she is absolutely baffled by how to deal with him; and Haley Joel Osment really nails the role of Cole, his fear, his desire to fit in, his inability to convey what he is feeling and experiencing; he seems very natural in his interactions with Willis and Collette. There are a lot of 'hints' in the movie about what is happening, which I missed the first time, and I probably missed a few the second time. I never thought I would watch this movie again, but I am really glad I did, and I would watch it a third time as well. If you have not seen this (again - WHAT?) this is a great movie for the upcoming autumn (oh my gosh, I can't believe it's coming), perhaps for Halloween? I just re-read this and realized I did not mention the writer/director of the movie, M. Night Shyamalan. I haven't seen any of his other films because they haven't interested me, or they seem to fall into that 'horror' genre, hence, I don't watch them. But he did a great job here.
I have watched several silent movies that I have enjoyed, All Quiet on the Western Front, Wings, Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans, City Lights (most Chaplin to be honest), and while I appreciated Buster Keaton's stunt work, I really didn't care for The General. The General is set during the opening days of the Civil War and Keaton is an engineer on a train based in the South. Some Northern troop are trying to sneak up to a Southern encampment and are doing this by stealing Keaton's engine; then he steals it back, and there's a girl involved. I don't know, my mind wandered. I may be missing something (I get that Keaton did his own stunts and they were pretty incredible, but I do not understand why this is on AFI's list of best 100 films, and I couldn't find any write up as to why). We'll just agree to disagree (check out Chaplin's Modern Times).
8/27/16 A Place in the Sun, Best Director, Best Cinematography (B&W), Best Costume Design (B&W), Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Writing - Screenplay, 1951, National Film Registry, #48 BBC
Watching A Place in the Sun in 2016 occasionally seems anachronistic, although the story of a poor boy caught between two worlds is also universal and timeless. To get the particulars out of the way so I don't forget: Montgomery Clift is George Eastman, the poor boy referenced above; Shelley Winters is Alice Tripp, a factory girl; a 17 year-old Elizabeth Taylor (in her first movie with Montgomery Clift) as Angela Vickers; Raymond Burr is District Attorney Frank Marlowe. George Stevens (Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, Swingtime) directed and won an Oscar. The movie was based on the book An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. George Eastman is the poor relative of Charles Eastman, a rich industrialist (we know they at least make bathing suits), and while Charles seems happy to have him as part of the family, the rest of the clan is not impressed. George goes to work on an assembly line and meets Alice. Despite the rules of not socializing, Alice and George began a covert relationship. Things seem to go swimmingly until George meets Angela Vickers, and the complications begin. He tries to lead a double life, not letting Alice know that he enjoys spending time with the social elite, and with Angela. You can imagine things don't go well if one of the lead roles is a district attorney, but to avoid spoiling anything, I'll stop here with the plot summary. I will tell you that the movie is worth watching for the three marquee actors; Taylor considered this her first 'grown up' film and the beginning of a life long friendship with Clift; Winters went totally against type,she was previously known for sexy roles, and probably began a new career path as a character driven actress; Clift is incredible to watch, at one point he just starts breaking out in a sweat, no make up involved (if you watch Judgement at Nuremberg, you cannot help but be moved by his performance on the witness stand). I really felt that Raymond Burr was ridiculously melodramatic and I believed his character least of all. The story may not hold up in our 21st century world, and it's not as dated as some movies (Shampoo always leaps to mind, and not in a good way) but I think the acting does
8/27/16 The Boss, 2016, not yet nominated
I know what you're thinking, one of these things is not like the other. The other movies are Oscar winners, on the national film registry or AFI's best 100 films. And then I go and mess with your head and include The Boss starring Melissa McCarthy as the titular boss, Michelle Darnell and Kristen Bell as her underappreciated assistant, Claire. Michelle Darnelle is like Martha Stewart on steroids; she is sent to federal prison after her former lover, Reynaud (Peter Dinklage) turns her into the Federal Trade Commission for insider trading and she loses everything. We don't spend a lot of time inside the prison, although I can't help but feel that could be pretty hilarious. Michelle winds up living with Claire and her daughter, Rachel and getting caught up in Rachel's Dandelion Troop and their annual cookie sales. Michelle founds a competing troop that sells Claire's brownies. There is a street fight with the Dandelions and Michelle's girls that shows some fierce fight moves. There is physical humor (a forte of McCarthy's) as well as some sexual references and some very funny stuff. I am a sucker for a Melissa McCarthy movie because I think she is fearless, she will do anything it takes to get the laugh; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't I think it works in The Boss. Bell as Claire is a great foil, playing it straight and serious, trying to get Michelle to live in the real world, and doing what she needs to do for her daughter. Reynaud (Dinklage) goes toe to toe with Michelle, and Dinklage is as fearless as McCarthy. McCarthy co-wrote the movie with her husband and frequent collaborator, Ben Falcone; Falcone also directed. Admittedly, this pairing has not always delivered what was expected (Tammy), but I think this attempt worked. I had several laugh out loud moments. A friend of mine often rates movies on was he entertained or not; I was definitely entertained. So while this may not be nominated for any Oscars, I would recommend it for a Saturday night.
8/28/16 The Sixth Sense, 1999 #89 AFI
It was The Sixth Sense's bad luck that it was released the same year as American Beauty, because otherwise it may have won at least one Oscar. In case you have not seen it yet (really? I've seen it before, so you have no excuse), I will try not to reveal too much because it is a well-crafted suspense story. Wikipedia describes it as a supernatural horror-thriller, which has at least two words that turn me off right away and why it took me so long to watch it the first time. Bruce Willis is Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, and he is married to Anna (Olivia Williams). We get the feeling that Dr. Crowe often puts his patients ahead of his wife. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment in an Oscar-nominated role) is a troubled young man who is a loner in spite of his mother's best efforts. Mom is played by Toni Collette and she was also nominated for an Oscar. Cole gets scratches from unknown sources, the heat goes off in their house, the dog freaks out for no apparent reason. Enter Dr. Crowe. Slowly Crowe builds trust with Cole and Cole shares his secret - he sees dead people (one of the top movie quotes, on AFI's list). As Crowe works with this knowledge, he is also experiencing issues at home, his wife won't speak to him. I don't want to tell you anymore in case I spoil it. So enough plot, now my review. After I watched it the first time, I liked it; the second time - I really liked it. I appreciated the storytelling and suspense element so much more, especially when I realized that 'horror' is not the right word to describe this movie. Willis is really good as Dr. Crowe, not at all like his Die Hard character; Collette went on to play other mom roles, she relates really well to her movie kids (The Way Way Back, Little Miss Sunshine, Jesus Henry Christ) and you can feel how much her character loves her son even though she is absolutely baffled by how to deal with him; and Haley Joel Osment really nails the role of Cole, his fear, his desire to fit in, his inability to convey what he is feeling and experiencing; he seems very natural in his interactions with Willis and Collette. There are a lot of 'hints' in the movie about what is happening, which I missed the first time, and I probably missed a few the second time. I never thought I would watch this movie again, but I am really glad I did, and I would watch it a third time as well. If you have not seen this (again - WHAT?) this is a great movie for the upcoming autumn (oh my gosh, I can't believe it's coming), perhaps for Halloween? I just re-read this and realized I did not mention the writer/director of the movie, M. Night Shyamalan. I haven't seen any of his other films because they haven't interested me, or they seem to fall into that 'horror' genre, hence, I don't watch them. But he did a great job here.
Brando, Lloyd, Nicholson, Connery and Bogart - check out these classics: The Maltese Falcon, Goldfinger, On the Waterfront
I want to be clear: I LOVE libraries, what a great community meeting place, and a great source for free stuff: books, music, classes, and movies, especially movies. So, I really try not to get too upset when I get DVD that looks like someone took a scouring pad to it or ate peanut butter from it. Three movies in this review were problematic and two more were so bad, I couldn't even watcth them. ARGH, I was excited to watch In The Heat of the Night, and mildly interested in seeing It's a Wonderful Life (I have seen it years ago, and I know it's on television during the holidays, but I wanted to watch it on my time and without commercials), but the DVDs would not play. Maybe next time. I would ask that if you borrow DVDs or CDs or even old fashioned books from the library, please take care of them; just because they are free, doesn't mean they can be mistreated. They are for all of us. Cheers and happy watching.
12/23/15 On the Waterfront, Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Story and Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction - B&W, Best Cinematography - B&W, Best Film Editing, 1955 #8, AFI, National Film Registry
On the Waterfront won EIGHT Oscars in 1955 including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. I watched it years ago and liked it, but I wanted to watch it with fresh eyes and after watching hundreds more movies. Elia Kazan directed Marlon Brando (Terry Malloy), Karl Malden (Father Berry), Lee J. Cobb (Johnny Friendly) and Eva Marie Saint (Edie Doyle) in this dark story about corruption on the docks. Terry Malloy is a washed up boxer working on the docks and doing favors for the leader of the mob, Johnny Friendly. Unfortunately, one of the favors gets Joey Doyle killed; Joey's sister, Edie, wants answers. There are investigators from the Waterfront Crime Commission that are trying to get dockworkers to talk about what Johnny Friendly is doing. Due to feelings of guilt for Joey's death and growing feelings for Edie and the pressure coming from Father Berry, Terry considers testifying before the commission. Clearly this would not be good for Johnny and he tells Charley (Rod Steiger), Terry's older brother, to set Terry straight. This sets up the classic scene in a taxi, with Terry and Charley and Terry saying "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am.". I don't often tell you that you have to see a movie, but if you have not watched On the Waterfront or have not seen it in a while, you really should see it. Marlon Brando is amazing, restrained, strong but vulnerable. This is one of the reasons that Brando is considered one of the very best. This was Eva Marie Saint's first film and she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Malden, Steiger and Cobb were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and they probably cancelled each other out, because all three were very strong, although sometimes I find Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb too much; Steiger played such a different role than his lead role in The Heat of the Night which won him the Best Actor Oscar. But really, to me, Brando is why I watched this movie. There are political undertones because as Terry testified so did Kazan, but to the House Un-American Activities Committee which led to a backlash against Kazan by some in Hollywood.
Brando worked with Kazan and Malden a few years earlier in A Streetcar Named Desire for which all three were nominated for Best Oscars, with Malden winning that year. As a note, I was supposed to get the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire at the same time as On the Waterfront, but someone inadvertently requested the play instead.
12/25/15 A Few Good Men, nominated Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 1992
My normal routine on Christmas Day is to go see a movie in the theater with my friends, but we didn't want to see Star Wars or any of the other movies in the theater at the time. So instead we ate some really good food and watched some older releases, including A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson who pretty much steals every scene he is in. Lieutenant Daniel Kaffey (Cruise) is in the Navy's Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps and is known for being quick to take a plea bargain and for his irreverent attitude towards regulations; Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway is an investigator in the JAG and has a reputation for plodding and taking a long time to resolve cases. They end up working together representing two Marines charged with murder. Colonel Nathan Jessup (Nicholson) has his sights set on a national post; he is also incredibly egotistical and dismissive of Kaffey and Galloway. A Few Good Men was written by Aaron Sorkin (West Wing, Newsroom) based on his play, and it is taut and suspenseful. The scene where Jessup is cross-examined by Kaffey is one of the best scenes ever. Gene Hackman won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Unforgiven; it would have been a tough call for me. The movie is filled with young actors like Kevin Bacon as Jack Ross representing the Judge Advocate Division; Kiefer Sutherland, Noah Wyle, Cuba Gooding, Jr. It's probably not the traditional Christmas movie, but we all enjoyed it.
12/25/15 Goldfinger, Best Sound Effects Editing, 1965
"Gold-fingaaaaa", I mean how can you not burst into that song when you hear that title? Goldfinger was the third James Bond movie and starred Sean Connery as Bond. Bond is trying to figure out what Auric Goldfinger is up to with his gold smuggling enterprise. The adventure takes him from Miami to Switzerland to Ft. Knox in Kentucky. The Bond girls in the movie are the ill-fated Jill Masterson (Shirley Easton) and the capable and beautiful Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman, previously of The Avengers TV series). Of course there is also the henchman, and in Goldfinger we have Oddjob (Harold Sakata) who has a lethal derby hat as well as lethal hands. The Aston Martin is duly decked out, but it doesn't really last more than twenty minutes before it's trashed, which is a damned shame. There is some not great acting and definitely a suspension of belief, but that's what most movies are (I say that as a reminder to myself when I get upset that my superhero movies get too preposterous). Connery is so smooth as Bond, and he really seems to enjoy the fighting, quips and the women - not necessarily in that order. The movie won for Best Sound Effects Editing, and I was surprised that the title song sung by Shirley Bassey and written by Leslie Bricuse, Anthony Newley and John Barry. Travesty. This is also the movie where "A martini. Shaken, not stirred." made it's first appearance. All in all, a fun movie on Christmas Day.
1/1/16 The Maltese Falcon, 1941, #31 AFI, National Film Registry
I think the first time I saw The Maltese Falcon with my dad, years ago. I didn't quite appreciate Bogart or John Houston or anything really (that could apply generally to my life as well as specifically to this movie). This is another movie I wanted another chance to see and put in perspective with the other movies I've seen, including those with Bogart. This was Bogart's first real starring role and he places private detective, Sam Spade, who finds himself in the middle of a con game gone quite awry. This was also John Houston's directorial debut, and the first of several films where he teamed with Bogart. The Maltese Falcon is based on the book of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and set in San Francisco and is considered one of the first films noirs. Mary Astor is Ruth Wonderly who tells Sam and his partner Miles Archer a story about her missing sister and a mystery man. Things are not quite as they seem, and Archer is killed, and then people start asking about the Maltese Falcon, including Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) and Kaspar Gutman (Sidney Greenstreet) (both men would join Bogart in Casablanca a few years later). There are double crosses and red herrings, cigarettes and whiskey. The movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Greenstreet) and Best Adapted Screenplay by Houston. Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor went to the film How Green was My Valley. There were some interesting filming techniques and the cinematography is really well done. It may seem a little stiff and old fashioned by today's standards; if it was made today, there would be more sex, more swearing and more blood, I'm sure, but the movie still works. Bogart shows why he was cast as Rick in Casablanca and how Houston became one of the America's great directors. The mystery is still there, which is why I haven't really told you too much. If you want to find out about the Maltese Falcon and why people are willing to die for it, you need to watch the movie.
1/3/16 Safety Last!, 1923, National Film Registry
Whether you realize it or not, you have probably seen a small part of this silent film. You know, the part where this guy is hanging off a clock attached to a tall building. You know it. Well, that's Harold Lloyd, one of the more famous silent film actors after Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Lloyd is known for his over-sized glasses. The plot is really just a conduit for some great comedic pratfalls and pranks, but here is a brief synopsis: The Boy (Lloyd) goes off to the big city to make his fortune so can bring The Girl and get married. The Boy has a hard time making any money and paying rent, but eventually he gets a job in a department store. There are some pretty humorous scenes with crazy customers and an overbearing supervisor. The Boy has a friend, Limpy, who is a construction worker and can climb great heights on buildings. The Boy wants to use Limpy's skill to win $,1000 from the department store's general manager for attracting people to the store. Limpy is to climb up the to the top of the building. The Girl comes to the city to see how The Boy is doing and she thinks he's the general manager, and leads to more comedy as The Boy barks out orders to the staff, and they follow him. Limpy has his own encounters with a policeman who is not amused by too much. Honestly, for me, I wanted to see the scene that I was familiar with in the context of the movie (like Chaplin eating his shoes in Gold Rush), and I didn't know what to expect. I'm consistently amazed when I watch silent films that I don't miss the words. You can get the general idea of what's going on by the action, the intertitles and the music (often an updated score has been added, and I mean more than the original piano or organ music, but nothing crazy like synthesizers or anything like that). The comedy speaks for itself (no pun intended), if you're looking for something different to watch and you want to see a classic, check out this film (or something by Charlie Chaplin).
PSA: This doesn't really tie into any movie or theme in this entry, but I wanted to share this information with you anyway regarding food insecurity and children and how you can help if you are in the state of Minnesota (your community may have similar 'backpack' programs). There are over 200,000 children in Minnesota that deal with food insecurity, that is to say, they may rely on food programs at school during the week or other food subsidies. Some children do not have any food over the weekends and that makes it difficult to come back to school Monday ready to learn. The Sheridan Story in the Twin Cities area helps to provide these children with packages of food to help them get through the weekend. It's not gas station food (Twinkies, high sodium ramen, etc.) but fruit, vegetables, pasta. My firm helps to deliver these packages to a Minneapolis school on Fridays and we do it with mixed feelings, we get the warm fuzzies helping these kids but it's brutal to think this may be all they have for the weekend and that there are children in this country that are hungry. Anyway, if your company or church/synagogue/mosque is looking for something to do in the community that will have an immediate impact, please look at this website: http://www.thesheridanstory.com/
Thanks for reading.
12/23/15 On the Waterfront, Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Story and Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction - B&W, Best Cinematography - B&W, Best Film Editing, 1955 #8, AFI, National Film Registry
On the Waterfront won EIGHT Oscars in 1955 including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. I watched it years ago and liked it, but I wanted to watch it with fresh eyes and after watching hundreds more movies. Elia Kazan directed Marlon Brando (Terry Malloy), Karl Malden (Father Berry), Lee J. Cobb (Johnny Friendly) and Eva Marie Saint (Edie Doyle) in this dark story about corruption on the docks. Terry Malloy is a washed up boxer working on the docks and doing favors for the leader of the mob, Johnny Friendly. Unfortunately, one of the favors gets Joey Doyle killed; Joey's sister, Edie, wants answers. There are investigators from the Waterfront Crime Commission that are trying to get dockworkers to talk about what Johnny Friendly is doing. Due to feelings of guilt for Joey's death and growing feelings for Edie and the pressure coming from Father Berry, Terry considers testifying before the commission. Clearly this would not be good for Johnny and he tells Charley (Rod Steiger), Terry's older brother, to set Terry straight. This sets up the classic scene in a taxi, with Terry and Charley and Terry saying "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am.". I don't often tell you that you have to see a movie, but if you have not watched On the Waterfront or have not seen it in a while, you really should see it. Marlon Brando is amazing, restrained, strong but vulnerable. This is one of the reasons that Brando is considered one of the very best. This was Eva Marie Saint's first film and she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Malden, Steiger and Cobb were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and they probably cancelled each other out, because all three were very strong, although sometimes I find Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb too much; Steiger played such a different role than his lead role in The Heat of the Night which won him the Best Actor Oscar. But really, to me, Brando is why I watched this movie. There are political undertones because as Terry testified so did Kazan, but to the House Un-American Activities Committee which led to a backlash against Kazan by some in Hollywood.
Brando worked with Kazan and Malden a few years earlier in A Streetcar Named Desire for which all three were nominated for Best Oscars, with Malden winning that year. As a note, I was supposed to get the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire at the same time as On the Waterfront, but someone inadvertently requested the play instead.
12/25/15 A Few Good Men, nominated Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, 1992
My normal routine on Christmas Day is to go see a movie in the theater with my friends, but we didn't want to see Star Wars or any of the other movies in the theater at the time. So instead we ate some really good food and watched some older releases, including A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson who pretty much steals every scene he is in. Lieutenant Daniel Kaffey (Cruise) is in the Navy's Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps and is known for being quick to take a plea bargain and for his irreverent attitude towards regulations; Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway is an investigator in the JAG and has a reputation for plodding and taking a long time to resolve cases. They end up working together representing two Marines charged with murder. Colonel Nathan Jessup (Nicholson) has his sights set on a national post; he is also incredibly egotistical and dismissive of Kaffey and Galloway. A Few Good Men was written by Aaron Sorkin (West Wing, Newsroom) based on his play, and it is taut and suspenseful. The scene where Jessup is cross-examined by Kaffey is one of the best scenes ever. Gene Hackman won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Unforgiven; it would have been a tough call for me. The movie is filled with young actors like Kevin Bacon as Jack Ross representing the Judge Advocate Division; Kiefer Sutherland, Noah Wyle, Cuba Gooding, Jr. It's probably not the traditional Christmas movie, but we all enjoyed it.
12/25/15 Goldfinger, Best Sound Effects Editing, 1965
"Gold-fingaaaaa", I mean how can you not burst into that song when you hear that title? Goldfinger was the third James Bond movie and starred Sean Connery as Bond. Bond is trying to figure out what Auric Goldfinger is up to with his gold smuggling enterprise. The adventure takes him from Miami to Switzerland to Ft. Knox in Kentucky. The Bond girls in the movie are the ill-fated Jill Masterson (Shirley Easton) and the capable and beautiful Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman, previously of The Avengers TV series). Of course there is also the henchman, and in Goldfinger we have Oddjob (Harold Sakata) who has a lethal derby hat as well as lethal hands. The Aston Martin is duly decked out, but it doesn't really last more than twenty minutes before it's trashed, which is a damned shame. There is some not great acting and definitely a suspension of belief, but that's what most movies are (I say that as a reminder to myself when I get upset that my superhero movies get too preposterous). Connery is so smooth as Bond, and he really seems to enjoy the fighting, quips and the women - not necessarily in that order. The movie won for Best Sound Effects Editing, and I was surprised that the title song sung by Shirley Bassey and written by Leslie Bricuse, Anthony Newley and John Barry. Travesty. This is also the movie where "A martini. Shaken, not stirred." made it's first appearance. All in all, a fun movie on Christmas Day.
1/1/16 The Maltese Falcon, 1941, #31 AFI, National Film Registry
I think the first time I saw The Maltese Falcon with my dad, years ago. I didn't quite appreciate Bogart or John Houston or anything really (that could apply generally to my life as well as specifically to this movie). This is another movie I wanted another chance to see and put in perspective with the other movies I've seen, including those with Bogart. This was Bogart's first real starring role and he places private detective, Sam Spade, who finds himself in the middle of a con game gone quite awry. This was also John Houston's directorial debut, and the first of several films where he teamed with Bogart. The Maltese Falcon is based on the book of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and set in San Francisco and is considered one of the first films noirs. Mary Astor is Ruth Wonderly who tells Sam and his partner Miles Archer a story about her missing sister and a mystery man. Things are not quite as they seem, and Archer is killed, and then people start asking about the Maltese Falcon, including Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) and Kaspar Gutman (Sidney Greenstreet) (both men would join Bogart in Casablanca a few years later). There are double crosses and red herrings, cigarettes and whiskey. The movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Greenstreet) and Best Adapted Screenplay by Houston. Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor went to the film How Green was My Valley. There were some interesting filming techniques and the cinematography is really well done. It may seem a little stiff and old fashioned by today's standards; if it was made today, there would be more sex, more swearing and more blood, I'm sure, but the movie still works. Bogart shows why he was cast as Rick in Casablanca and how Houston became one of the America's great directors. The mystery is still there, which is why I haven't really told you too much. If you want to find out about the Maltese Falcon and why people are willing to die for it, you need to watch the movie.
1/3/16 Safety Last!, 1923, National Film Registry
Whether you realize it or not, you have probably seen a small part of this silent film. You know, the part where this guy is hanging off a clock attached to a tall building. You know it. Well, that's Harold Lloyd, one of the more famous silent film actors after Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Lloyd is known for his over-sized glasses. The plot is really just a conduit for some great comedic pratfalls and pranks, but here is a brief synopsis: The Boy (Lloyd) goes off to the big city to make his fortune so can bring The Girl and get married. The Boy has a hard time making any money and paying rent, but eventually he gets a job in a department store. There are some pretty humorous scenes with crazy customers and an overbearing supervisor. The Boy has a friend, Limpy, who is a construction worker and can climb great heights on buildings. The Boy wants to use Limpy's skill to win $,1000 from the department store's general manager for attracting people to the store. Limpy is to climb up the to the top of the building. The Girl comes to the city to see how The Boy is doing and she thinks he's the general manager, and leads to more comedy as The Boy barks out orders to the staff, and they follow him. Limpy has his own encounters with a policeman who is not amused by too much. Honestly, for me, I wanted to see the scene that I was familiar with in the context of the movie (like Chaplin eating his shoes in Gold Rush), and I didn't know what to expect. I'm consistently amazed when I watch silent films that I don't miss the words. You can get the general idea of what's going on by the action, the intertitles and the music (often an updated score has been added, and I mean more than the original piano or organ music, but nothing crazy like synthesizers or anything like that). The comedy speaks for itself (no pun intended), if you're looking for something different to watch and you want to see a classic, check out this film (or something by Charlie Chaplin).
PSA: This doesn't really tie into any movie or theme in this entry, but I wanted to share this information with you anyway regarding food insecurity and children and how you can help if you are in the state of Minnesota (your community may have similar 'backpack' programs). There are over 200,000 children in Minnesota that deal with food insecurity, that is to say, they may rely on food programs at school during the week or other food subsidies. Some children do not have any food over the weekends and that makes it difficult to come back to school Monday ready to learn. The Sheridan Story in the Twin Cities area helps to provide these children with packages of food to help them get through the weekend. It's not gas station food (Twinkies, high sodium ramen, etc.) but fruit, vegetables, pasta. My firm helps to deliver these packages to a Minneapolis school on Fridays and we do it with mixed feelings, we get the warm fuzzies helping these kids but it's brutal to think this may be all they have for the weekend and that there are children in this country that are hungry. Anyway, if your company or church/synagogue/mosque is looking for something to do in the community that will have an immediate impact, please look at this website: http://www.thesheridanstory.com/
Thanks for reading.
All-Star Week in Minneapolis, plus a few movies The Piano, Nosferatu, The Missing Picture
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| view of Minneapolis skyline at Target Field |
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| Kansas City Monarchs - Negro League |
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| Snoopy - FanFest |
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| Panic! At the Disco |
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| Adrian Peterson - MN Vikings |
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| Maya Moore - MN Lynx |
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| Derek Jeter - New York Yankees - All-Star Parade |
7/8/14 The Piano, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, 1993
I kind of feel bad saying this but I hated this movie. I found Holly Hunter's character, Ada McGrath, annoying, soooo annoying, and Anna Paquin's Flora McGrath a little less annoying, occasionally funny, but not sure it was Oscar-worthy. The movie is set in the mid-1800s in New Zealand and Ada McGrath is a mute who loves to play the piano. She communicates the best with her daughter, Flora, who often interprets for her. Ada enters an arranged marriage with Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill) and becomes very distressed when she is unable to bring her piano to her new home; it languishes for a bit on the beach, and then eventually George Baines (Harvey Keitel) brings it to his house with the story that he wants to learn to play and wants Ada as his teacher. Baines and Ada enter into an unusual relationship, which ultimately ends her marriage. I am not sure how this beat out Philadelphia for the best original screenplay, but it did. This movie didn't move me at all, I did not feel invested in any of the characters or the story. That's really all I have for you.
7/12/14 Nosferatu, 1922
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| Trylon Microcinema, Minneapolis, MN |
Nosferatu - we've probably all seen clips from the movie, usually a scene of Count Orlok (Max Schreck) up close and scary. I know I have, and I had the chance to see it in a theater, Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis with live accompaniment by local band, Fate's Palette who scored the film. I have never been to a microcinema, so that was also part of the experience. The theater holds 50 people and the screen is way bigger than my television but not as large as a regular movie theater, but it worked for the size of the room. You may have a microcinema in your city and they probably play movies that you will not see anywhere outside of a fringe fest, so check them out. Nosferatu is a silent movie directed by F.W. Murnau (Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans) and is re-telling of the Count Dracula story. I thought it would be scarier than it was, so I was a little relieved, but it had an element of suspense and the make up for Count Orlok was very creepy; of course since this made over 90 years ago, a lot of the make up was very basic or comedic in the case of Herr Knock. There is very little dialog in terms of the intertitles, much like The Last Command, the narrative is accomplished in the action. As an historical film, it was interesting because it was restored from different film versions, including the safety film. It was a great experience to see a film this way, with a live band and an appreciative audience (except for the one person who has to 'whisper' through the whole thing). Hey lady, we can hear you.
7/12/14 The Missing Picture nominated Best Foreign Film, 2013
The Missing Picture is a film about the Khmer Rouge, the followers of the Communist Party in Kampuchea (known more commonly as Cambodia) which was led by Pol Pot, one of the most evil dictators in the 20th century. Rithy Panh directed and wrote the movie which uses archival film footage as well as clay figures to tell his story. I think this was a novel way to tell a story. The problem is this is a very complicated story and if you are not familiar with the history of southeast Asia, the colonization by the French of places like Vietnam and Kampuchea, the fight for separation including the Vietnam War and the bombing of Cambodia, the events may or may not resonate with you. Certainly some of the horrific incidents that Panh shows or narrates should strike a chord, but putting it all in context may be hard. For a dramatic telling of this era (1960s-1970s), check out The Killing Fields starring Sam Waterston and Haing S. Ngor; I saw it in 1984 when it premiered and probably should watch it again. That will move you.
Blogger's Note: I don't know what my problem was, but I originally called The Missing Picture a documentary, which in some ways it definitely is, but it was nominated for Best Foreign Film, not Best Documentary. My apologies for any confusion. I'm going to take a nap now.
Maleficent, Life Itself, Three Coins in the Fountain and The Last Command
I made it through the Fourth of July weekend without seeing Transformers: Age Of Extinction. At this point, I don't know if I'm bragging or complaining. A running time of almost three hours just does not sound enticing. However, I did see quite a few movies, and I think I would recommend all of them. I could end here, which would be the shortest blog entry ever, but fear not.
7/3/2014 Out of the Furnace, 2013, not nominated
When I first saw the previews for Out of the Furnace, I thought, man, I want to see that movie, it's got Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker and others. Then, time came and went, and it was Oscar time and I never got to it. Thanks to my local library, it didn't cost me a dime, and I'm kind of glad. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. The movie is set in a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is about two brothers. The older brother, Russ (Christian Bale) works in a steel mill, often pulling double shifts, and he has a serious relationship with Lena (Zoe Saldana) and a protective relationship with his younger brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck). Rodney is in the Army and has already done at least one tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, but when he is back home, he gambles, and owes his bookie, John Petty, (Willem Dafoe) a lot of money. Russ works hard, but occasionally plays hard as well, and gets into a car accident while intoxicated and spends some time in prison; meanwhile he loses his girlfriend, his father dies and Rodney is deployed again. Rodney starts bare knuckle fighting to make some money and payoff his bookie; when Rodney wants to up the stakes, he asks to fight for Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), who takes no prisoners and is a real mean SOB. That's about the first half of the movie and the second half is Russ finding out what happened to Rodney and holding DeGroat to account. I like revenge movies, I think they can be cathartic and suspenseful and redemptive. I didn't think Out of the Furnace was any of those things. It just felt like it was missing something: passion, a conscience, something. I think Sam Shepard (as Russ's uncle) or Forest Whitaker as the Police Chief could have been that, but it seemed flat. I read somewhere (maybe Netflix) that this was a thriller. It wasn't, not by my definition anyway. I knew what the outcome was going to be, there was no other option. Anyway, it's okay, and if you can get it for free, it's even better. I think there was a good opportunity wasted here.
7/4/14 The Last Command, 1927/1928 Best Actor, national film registry
The Last Command is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg and stars Emil Jannings as Grand Duke Sergius Alexander and a relatively young William Powell as movie producer Leo Andreyev. In the first year of the Academy Awards the Best Actor and Actress awards were given for performances over multiple roles, and Jannings won for this film and The Way of All Flesh. The movie begins in the late 1920s but quickly flashes back to 1917/1918, towards the end of World War I but in the early days leading up to the Russian Revolution. Grand Duke Sergius is a cousin of the Czar and a military man who gets a little impatient with some of the Czar's silliness and perceived interference in running the war. The Grand Duke also has to contend with revolutionary actors who are an annoyance as well. One of these actors is Leo Andreyev who is sent off to prison (we think) and separated from his romantic interest, Natalie Dabrova. Natalie goes off with the Grand Duke, and while she starts off as quite revolutionary and full of the party line, she slowly becomes enamored of the Grand Duke, and he with her. There is a point where the power shifts from the army to the peasants and enlisted men, and the Grand Duke is in danger. Ultimately, Sergius escapes from Russia and lands in Hollywood and tries to get work as an extra and that is where Andreyev sees his photo and in a gesture that seems cruel at first, Andreyev hires Sergius to be a general in his film. Sergius has clearly aged and is no longer the brutish general, but a fragile old man. The end of the film has the element of redemption that I think I was looking for in Out of the Furnace, and while I didn't cry, I definitely felt a little sadness. While the acting occasionally seems over the top (something typical in the silent movies I've seen), many of Jannings' scenes are beautifully understated and wonderful. William Powell seems to capture the stereotype of the early movie producers and directors (Powell was in The Thin Man series). The movie provides an interesting perspective on the Russian Revolution (which in reality was only 10 years prior to this film being made) and it alternately makes a case against the Czarist regime, but does not seem to fully endorse the mob mentality of the revolutionaries. It's also amazing to consider that there really was not that much dialog (at least shown on the intertitles) and yet, you can still understand what's going on, which always makes me wonder about movies that have endless dialog and you have no idea what's happening.
7/5/14 Three Coins in the Fountain, Best Original Song, Best Cinematography, 1954
You've heard the song, right? Well, watch this movie and then you have the whole context of the song. I actually didn't like the song that much, which might be blasphemy to some, but there you go. I did like the movie, though, and that's what we're here for. I was reminded of Roman Holiday which featured Rome through some beautiful shots; Three Coins in the Fountain does very much the same thing. The story focuses on three American women working in Rome as secretaries (I'm not being politically incorrect, that's how they were referred); they meet or know men that they eventually fall in love, and the movie follows them through adventures and misadventures and misunderstandings. The main cast may not ring a lot of bells with younger movie goers, but cinema fans will recognize Clifton Webb (Laura), Dorothy McGuire (Gentleman's Agreement, Old Yeller and others) and Louis Jourdan (Gigi). There aren't any complicated plot lines or big mysteries unraveled, but there are some funny moments as the men and women do the age old dance of courting and wooing and then not being interested or feigning disinterest. If you are planning to go to Italy, have gone to Italy or dream of going to Italy, pull a double feature with Roman Holiday and you can have a great family evening with beautiful views of the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, Spanish Steps and more. This was an unexpected find for me, I really just wanted to cross something off the list, and bonus for me, I liked it.
7/6/14 Maleficent, not yet nominated 2014
Okay, I'll admit it, when I first heard about this movie, I couldn't roll my eyes enough. Dumb, nobody is going to want to see this, etc. And then, I just kept hearing the positive buzz, and I'll say it, I'm an Angelina Jolie fan (I watch the Lara Croft movies every time they're on). So, fine, I went to see it. And, I'll be damned. I loved it. Honestly loved it. Why? Okay: Angelina Jolie totally owns Maleficent and all her flaws and positive traits and has a mischievous air about her; the cinematography is gorgeous; the sets are beautifully done, some are probably CGI, but others look 'real'; the story is a totally new twist on something that is familiar to almost everyone (Sleeping Beauty). Is that enough or do you want more? There are some really funny bits and some scary bits as well (if you let your kid see Harry Potter, then they'll be fine here, in my opinion). As I mentioned, it's a variation on the Sleeping Beauty story, Elle Fanning is the older Aurora (Sleeping Beauty); Imelda Staunton is one of the pixies; Sharlto Copley is King Stephen (I had to look him up, he was Howling Mad Murdock in The A-Team movie) and a lot of the cast is pretty anonymous (I don't mean that in a bad way, but some of the names and faces did not seem familiar to me at all), but they were really good, especially Sam Riley as Diaval, the closest thing Maleficent has as a friend or ally. I don't want to give too much away since it's still in the theaters, but basically Maleficent is a powerful fairy who protects the Moors against the humans across the valley. Her power is in her wings, and through trickery, she loses them, and then becomes rather grumpy and mean, and vindictive. But, unlike Out of the Furnace, there is a path that she takes and the hope for redemption. It definitely challenges the viewer to look at how we form perceptions, prejudices and how we can change them. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend seeing it on the big screen. As I alluded to, it's not for real little kids, there are some pretty scary moments, but there was a little boy who was maybe 7, and he seemed totally fine (there were only 5 of us in the theater - bonus!); the scary is balanced by funny or 'sweet' moments, so you're not in a dark place too long.
7/6/14 Life Itself, 2014
Talk about timing, I just finished Roger Ebert's autobiography, Life Itself on Saturday and then saw the documentary based on it on Sunday. I'm glad I read the book first because he goes into so much more detail about his early life, his influences and then later he talks about some of the actors and directors he got to know and his relationship with Gene Siskel. He packed a lot of information into 400 pages (I also read Charlie Chaplin's autobiography which topped 700 pages, and I thought Ebert's was much better written and more honest). Anyway, if you do not know, Roger Ebert was a film critic for over 40 years and was the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize. He passed away in 2013 after a courageous battle with cancer where he lost his lower jaw, could not eat, drink or speak. Up until the end, he did not really let these things stop him, he started blogging and communicating electronically. Ebert came up at probably the best time, the beginning of Martin Scorcese's career, to give you a reference, and saw thousands of movies. As he tells his story, he reflects honestly on his quirky habits (or annoying if you ask Siskel), his ego, his flaws - he is very open about his drinking problem, his politics, his love of London (my favorite city), his illness and his affection for his friends, some of whom he had since college. The book can be looked at as so many different things: it's a memoir for sure, but it also gives the reader insight into the newspaper industry (which I suppose in the 21st century may be more historical to some readers); a look into the Norman Rockwell-like setting of Urbana, Illinois; a travelogue to hidden London; a peek into the 'stars' of the 1960s and 1970s, some of whom may seem unknown today, like Lee Marvin; and lastly, a love letter to his wife Chaz. Most of you know I'm not much of a romantic, but it's hard not to be moved by their love story, and his love of her family. Steve James directed the documentary based on the book, and what the documentary adds to the book is actual interviews with Ebert's friends, co-workers, his wife, and Ebert himself who replies via his electronic voice. Siskel and Ebert were big supporters of James's early documentary Hoop Dreams, which is powerful viewing if you haven't seen it. We get to see Ebert in rehab, which can be very hard to watch sometimes, but Roger was intent on not hiding his illness, and he seems in mostly good spirits, giving his familiar thumbs up. This movie is not a downer, though, there are some hilarious outtakes from "At the Movies"/"Siskel & Ebert" that will have you laughing out loud; and some of the stories that Siskel's wife and the producers tell about their rivalry/friendship are pretty funny. I remember watching the different incarnations of Siskel & Ebert, and thinking sometimes I totally disagreed with one or both of them, but enjoyed their banter. I don't know if I ever watched or skipped a movie based on their comments, but it was good to have thumbs up or thumbs down. If you're a movie lover, I can't recommend the book or the movie enough; you won't regret it. It may not be nominated for an Oscar, but I think the Academy ought to give Roger Ebert an honorary Oscar for his dedication to the film industry.
7/3/2014 Out of the Furnace, 2013, not nominated
When I first saw the previews for Out of the Furnace, I thought, man, I want to see that movie, it's got Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker and others. Then, time came and went, and it was Oscar time and I never got to it. Thanks to my local library, it didn't cost me a dime, and I'm kind of glad. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. The movie is set in a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is about two brothers. The older brother, Russ (Christian Bale) works in a steel mill, often pulling double shifts, and he has a serious relationship with Lena (Zoe Saldana) and a protective relationship with his younger brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck). Rodney is in the Army and has already done at least one tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, but when he is back home, he gambles, and owes his bookie, John Petty, (Willem Dafoe) a lot of money. Russ works hard, but occasionally plays hard as well, and gets into a car accident while intoxicated and spends some time in prison; meanwhile he loses his girlfriend, his father dies and Rodney is deployed again. Rodney starts bare knuckle fighting to make some money and payoff his bookie; when Rodney wants to up the stakes, he asks to fight for Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), who takes no prisoners and is a real mean SOB. That's about the first half of the movie and the second half is Russ finding out what happened to Rodney and holding DeGroat to account. I like revenge movies, I think they can be cathartic and suspenseful and redemptive. I didn't think Out of the Furnace was any of those things. It just felt like it was missing something: passion, a conscience, something. I think Sam Shepard (as Russ's uncle) or Forest Whitaker as the Police Chief could have been that, but it seemed flat. I read somewhere (maybe Netflix) that this was a thriller. It wasn't, not by my definition anyway. I knew what the outcome was going to be, there was no other option. Anyway, it's okay, and if you can get it for free, it's even better. I think there was a good opportunity wasted here.
7/4/14 The Last Command, 1927/1928 Best Actor, national film registry
The Last Command is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg and stars Emil Jannings as Grand Duke Sergius Alexander and a relatively young William Powell as movie producer Leo Andreyev. In the first year of the Academy Awards the Best Actor and Actress awards were given for performances over multiple roles, and Jannings won for this film and The Way of All Flesh. The movie begins in the late 1920s but quickly flashes back to 1917/1918, towards the end of World War I but in the early days leading up to the Russian Revolution. Grand Duke Sergius is a cousin of the Czar and a military man who gets a little impatient with some of the Czar's silliness and perceived interference in running the war. The Grand Duke also has to contend with revolutionary actors who are an annoyance as well. One of these actors is Leo Andreyev who is sent off to prison (we think) and separated from his romantic interest, Natalie Dabrova. Natalie goes off with the Grand Duke, and while she starts off as quite revolutionary and full of the party line, she slowly becomes enamored of the Grand Duke, and he with her. There is a point where the power shifts from the army to the peasants and enlisted men, and the Grand Duke is in danger. Ultimately, Sergius escapes from Russia and lands in Hollywood and tries to get work as an extra and that is where Andreyev sees his photo and in a gesture that seems cruel at first, Andreyev hires Sergius to be a general in his film. Sergius has clearly aged and is no longer the brutish general, but a fragile old man. The end of the film has the element of redemption that I think I was looking for in Out of the Furnace, and while I didn't cry, I definitely felt a little sadness. While the acting occasionally seems over the top (something typical in the silent movies I've seen), many of Jannings' scenes are beautifully understated and wonderful. William Powell seems to capture the stereotype of the early movie producers and directors (Powell was in The Thin Man series). The movie provides an interesting perspective on the Russian Revolution (which in reality was only 10 years prior to this film being made) and it alternately makes a case against the Czarist regime, but does not seem to fully endorse the mob mentality of the revolutionaries. It's also amazing to consider that there really was not that much dialog (at least shown on the intertitles) and yet, you can still understand what's going on, which always makes me wonder about movies that have endless dialog and you have no idea what's happening.
7/5/14 Three Coins in the Fountain, Best Original Song, Best Cinematography, 1954
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| The Fountain of the title, 2006 |
You've heard the song, right? Well, watch this movie and then you have the whole context of the song. I actually didn't like the song that much, which might be blasphemy to some, but there you go. I did like the movie, though, and that's what we're here for. I was reminded of Roman Holiday which featured Rome through some beautiful shots; Three Coins in the Fountain does very much the same thing. The story focuses on three American women working in Rome as secretaries (I'm not being politically incorrect, that's how they were referred); they meet or know men that they eventually fall in love, and the movie follows them through adventures and misadventures and misunderstandings. The main cast may not ring a lot of bells with younger movie goers, but cinema fans will recognize Clifton Webb (Laura), Dorothy McGuire (Gentleman's Agreement, Old Yeller and others) and Louis Jourdan (Gigi). There aren't any complicated plot lines or big mysteries unraveled, but there are some funny moments as the men and women do the age old dance of courting and wooing and then not being interested or feigning disinterest. If you are planning to go to Italy, have gone to Italy or dream of going to Italy, pull a double feature with Roman Holiday and you can have a great family evening with beautiful views of the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, Spanish Steps and more. This was an unexpected find for me, I really just wanted to cross something off the list, and bonus for me, I liked it.
7/6/14 Maleficent, not yet nominated 2014
Okay, I'll admit it, when I first heard about this movie, I couldn't roll my eyes enough. Dumb, nobody is going to want to see this, etc. And then, I just kept hearing the positive buzz, and I'll say it, I'm an Angelina Jolie fan (I watch the Lara Croft movies every time they're on). So, fine, I went to see it. And, I'll be damned. I loved it. Honestly loved it. Why? Okay: Angelina Jolie totally owns Maleficent and all her flaws and positive traits and has a mischievous air about her; the cinematography is gorgeous; the sets are beautifully done, some are probably CGI, but others look 'real'; the story is a totally new twist on something that is familiar to almost everyone (Sleeping Beauty). Is that enough or do you want more? There are some really funny bits and some scary bits as well (if you let your kid see Harry Potter, then they'll be fine here, in my opinion). As I mentioned, it's a variation on the Sleeping Beauty story, Elle Fanning is the older Aurora (Sleeping Beauty); Imelda Staunton is one of the pixies; Sharlto Copley is King Stephen (I had to look him up, he was Howling Mad Murdock in The A-Team movie) and a lot of the cast is pretty anonymous (I don't mean that in a bad way, but some of the names and faces did not seem familiar to me at all), but they were really good, especially Sam Riley as Diaval, the closest thing Maleficent has as a friend or ally. I don't want to give too much away since it's still in the theaters, but basically Maleficent is a powerful fairy who protects the Moors against the humans across the valley. Her power is in her wings, and through trickery, she loses them, and then becomes rather grumpy and mean, and vindictive. But, unlike Out of the Furnace, there is a path that she takes and the hope for redemption. It definitely challenges the viewer to look at how we form perceptions, prejudices and how we can change them. If you haven't seen it, I would recommend seeing it on the big screen. As I alluded to, it's not for real little kids, there are some pretty scary moments, but there was a little boy who was maybe 7, and he seemed totally fine (there were only 5 of us in the theater - bonus!); the scary is balanced by funny or 'sweet' moments, so you're not in a dark place too long.
7/6/14 Life Itself, 2014
Talk about timing, I just finished Roger Ebert's autobiography, Life Itself on Saturday and then saw the documentary based on it on Sunday. I'm glad I read the book first because he goes into so much more detail about his early life, his influences and then later he talks about some of the actors and directors he got to know and his relationship with Gene Siskel. He packed a lot of information into 400 pages (I also read Charlie Chaplin's autobiography which topped 700 pages, and I thought Ebert's was much better written and more honest). Anyway, if you do not know, Roger Ebert was a film critic for over 40 years and was the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize. He passed away in 2013 after a courageous battle with cancer where he lost his lower jaw, could not eat, drink or speak. Up until the end, he did not really let these things stop him, he started blogging and communicating electronically. Ebert came up at probably the best time, the beginning of Martin Scorcese's career, to give you a reference, and saw thousands of movies. As he tells his story, he reflects honestly on his quirky habits (or annoying if you ask Siskel), his ego, his flaws - he is very open about his drinking problem, his politics, his love of London (my favorite city), his illness and his affection for his friends, some of whom he had since college. The book can be looked at as so many different things: it's a memoir for sure, but it also gives the reader insight into the newspaper industry (which I suppose in the 21st century may be more historical to some readers); a look into the Norman Rockwell-like setting of Urbana, Illinois; a travelogue to hidden London; a peek into the 'stars' of the 1960s and 1970s, some of whom may seem unknown today, like Lee Marvin; and lastly, a love letter to his wife Chaz. Most of you know I'm not much of a romantic, but it's hard not to be moved by their love story, and his love of her family. Steve James directed the documentary based on the book, and what the documentary adds to the book is actual interviews with Ebert's friends, co-workers, his wife, and Ebert himself who replies via his electronic voice. Siskel and Ebert were big supporters of James's early documentary Hoop Dreams, which is powerful viewing if you haven't seen it. We get to see Ebert in rehab, which can be very hard to watch sometimes, but Roger was intent on not hiding his illness, and he seems in mostly good spirits, giving his familiar thumbs up. This movie is not a downer, though, there are some hilarious outtakes from "At the Movies"/"Siskel & Ebert" that will have you laughing out loud; and some of the stories that Siskel's wife and the producers tell about their rivalry/friendship are pretty funny. I remember watching the different incarnations of Siskel & Ebert, and thinking sometimes I totally disagreed with one or both of them, but enjoyed their banter. I don't know if I ever watched or skipped a movie based on their comments, but it was good to have thumbs up or thumbs down. If you're a movie lover, I can't recommend the book or the movie enough; you won't regret it. It may not be nominated for an Oscar, but I think the Academy ought to give Roger Ebert an honorary Oscar for his dedication to the film industry.
Spanning over seven decades from Sunrise to Breakfast at Tiffany's to Beetlejuice
Yes, it was a weekend filled with variety and not a television series in the batch. There is really something for everyone in this group of movies.
6/7/14 Sunrise, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography, Best Unique and Artistic Production, 1927 (awarded 1929), #82 on AFI Top 100 Films, National Film Registry
It's been a while since I have reached back into the archives, but I thought it was time. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (very melodramatic) was released in 1927, but due to the different scheduling for the early years of the Academy Awards, it did not receive its three awards until 1929. Two of the three awards have since been changed: originally the Best Actress and Actor Awards were for an actor's performance for that year, so Janet Gaynor won for her performances in Sunrise, Seventh Heaven and Street Angel. Best Unique and Artistic Production was only awarded for the first Academy Awards. So, now that the history lesson is over, on to the movie. German director. F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) directed this film that starred Janet Gaynor and George O'Brien, known only as The Wife and The Man, respectively. The movie opens with The Man stepping out on The Wife with The Woman from The City (the lack of character names is not uncommon in silent films, and in this case is meant to show the universality of the characters and the story). The Man is smitten by this woman of easy virtue and is almost persuaded to help his wife accidentally drown. The Man goes through various emotions, lust, love, regret among them, as he and his wife get reacquainted and fall in love again. The Man and Wife are from the country, which seems like an idyllic and pure place which has been 'contaminated' by The Woman from The City and her loose ways. Some of the drama or melodrama seems very over the top, very exaggerated, which is another common theme in silent movies; in this movie there are actually very few intertitles used, the viewer must rely on the emoting of the characters to infer the what is going on and move the story along. This was a little hard for me at first, but it works, and the climax of the movie was very gripping and I was surprised by the ending. It was very good storytelling. Also, this wasn't really silent, there is actually sound that was recorded as part of them film, horns honking, crowds yelling, wind blowing, but no talking among the characters. Silent films are not for everyone, and while there are others I would recommend (Gold Rush, City Lights, Seventh Heaven) before this one, this still deserves a look.
6/7/14 Beetlejuice, Best Makeup, 1988
I may be the only person in America in my age group who had never seen Beetlejuice, just not my thing, I guess. I have heard about it, seen clips, heard "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice", but really had no idea. I find I have this ambiguous feeling quite a bit with Tim Burton movies, when he is good, I think he is really good, and then, when he is not, well, kiss 90 minutes and $10 goodbye. Michael Keaton stars as Beetlejuice an annoying, 'i-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face' kind of character; Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are Adam and Barbara Maitland, recently passed over into the next world, also known as 'recently deceased'. Adam and Barbara are not having an easy time in their new lives, still living in their dream house as ghosts, while a new family, the Deetzes (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones and Winona Ryder) move in and take over. The movie is mostly about Adam and Barbara's attempts to get rid of the Deetzes and then get rid of Beetlejuice. There are some great scenes here, one of my favorite is the dancing scene, with the living humans being made to dance to 'Dayo'. It's pretty funny. Michael Keaton is crazy as Beetlejuice (if this was made ten years later, it might have been played by Jim Carrey); he totally owns the makeup, crazy hair and costume. He is obnoxious, which is exactly the point. The movie won for Best Makeup and there wasn't really a lot of competition for this year (that's not taking away from it, but usually there is something you can compare it too and the two others in the category didn't have a chance: Coming to America and Scrooged).
6/7/14 The Prince of Egypt, Best Original Song, 1998
I'm a sucker for a good Exodus story, seriously, the story of Moses was one of my favorites growing up (that and Solomon, but I digress). The Prince of Egypt is about Moses, his relationship with Rameses, and the eventual exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. Val Kilmer is the voice of adult Moses, Ralph Fiennes is Rameses, Patrick Stewart is the voice of Rameses and Moses's father, Seti (Moses's adoptive father); Sandra Bullock and Jeff Goldblum are Moses's sister and brother, so definitely an all-star cast. There are not a lot of surprises, I mean the story is several thousands of years old, how many surprises could there be? But I thought focusing on the relationship of Moses and Rameses was different than in The Ten Commandments, and Kilmer and Fiennes were really good. I enjoyed the movie and if you haven't watched it with your kids (or without kids), it might be fun to put on around Passover time. It's old school animation, as in hand drawn and not CGI, so I liked it for that fact. It won the award for Best Original Song ("When you Believe" sung most notably by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston), and while not a lot of the other songs stick in my head, I guess my personal favorite would have been "That'll Do Babe" by Randy Newman, sung by Peter Gabriel.
6/8/14 Breakfast at Tiffany's, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, National Film Registry, 1961
I have some mixed feelings about this classic film starring the elegant Audrey Hepburn, and I think they are of my own making. I read the book by Truman Capote only a day before I watched the movie. Usually it's years or months between reading the book and seeing the movie or vice versa, so everything was pretty fresh in the old noggin. Breakfast at Tiffany's is an iconic movie, people who have not seen it have heard of Holly Golightly (Hepburn's character), heard the song "Moon River" (the movie won for Best Original Song with "Moon River" which was written by Johnny Mercer and Cleveland's own, Henry Mancini), are familiar with the fashion of the film, but I remember watching it for the first time years ago and not liking it, not liking Holly, not understanding the fuss (sometimes when a film is so "locked" into a period it does not translate well to a generations after it). I only wanted to watch it again so I could give a fair report to you, and then I thought, hell, I should read the book, a novella really, by Capote. Briefly, Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a woman of some sophistication and dubious income; Holly is really all about Holly and only casually concerned about those around her, she's flighty and impetuous. Holly encounters her new neighbor, whom she calls 'Fred' but his name is Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard (younger audiences may know him as Hannibal Smith from "The A-Team"). The other major character is Manhattan (it may seem odd that I keep including cities as characters, but sometimes, they really are), but it's hard to imagine this story taking place anywhere else. The movie follows Holly and her somewhat mysterious background and friendships with a variety of men, her perplexing relationship with Paul, and Paul's relationship with Emily Failenson (played by Patricia Neal). Blake Edwards (of Pink Panther fame as well as The Great Race and many others) directed and injected some of his humor into the film by using Mickey Rooney in the role of one of Holly's other neighbors, Mr. Yunioshi and greatly exaggerating stereotypical traits of someone of Japanese heritage (in the book, I did not get the sense that there was any of that and the role of Yunioshi was pretty minimal). Fifty years later, Rooney's portrayal seemed so obviously out of touch and offensive, but at the time of filming, Edwards said he didn't think of it like that and just wanted to be funny. As Holly and Paul's friendship evolves, they also have quarrels because Paul must be the practical one and not so loosey-goosey. There are several times the story and the movie diverge and once or twice, they are pretty big divergences, in fact, the ending in the movie is SO different from the book (I was told by a friend of mine this is actually a Seinfeld episode). Here is my struggle: I actually really liked the novella so much better than the movie (and the other short stories in this collection), but I love Hepburn as well. Can glamour ooze? Is that oxymoronic? Because she just walks onto the screen and nothing else matters. I didn't dislike the movie as much as I did the first time, I think I had a better understanding of Holly's personality and her motivation for doing things. You can probably watch the movie and not read the book and be perfectly content, but because Capote's writing is so good, watch the movie and then wait a few months and read the book.
6/8/14 Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, Best Documentary, 2000
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport is a very powerful and moving documentary about the 10,000 children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia who were sent to England in the late 1930s to escape the grasp of the Nazis and almost guaranteed annihilation. The movie interviews almost a dozen 'kinder' about their experience, leaving Europe and their families, where they were ostracized, harassed and threatened to a country where they didn't speak the language, had to learn about a new culture, and sometimes still harassed but not to the extent they were in their homeland, they also faced the burden of trying to get their parents out, and later knowing that their parents were in danger. These survivors (and they are survivors) are older now, many in their 70s and 80s, but their memories are clear and vivid as they tell about the last time they saw their parents, how they felt when they met their first (sometimes not the last) foster families, what it was like to learn English. Very often stories from the Holocaust stories focus on the camps and life in the ghettos, there are not very many movies about these children and the people who took them in (perhaps most famous among them is Sir Richard Attenborough's family who took in two sisters), so this is definitely worth your time to hear this part of history. The stories have one thing in common, the children were sent to England, but after that and before that, their narratives are unique: the orphan who pretty much raised himself, then was deported, then came back to fight for Britain; the young girl who was sent from family to family, and later was able to bring her parents to England; the sister and brother who convinced their uncle to bring their baby sister over; the young girl whose father was so desperate not to be separated from his daughter that he pulled her off of the train, almost guaranteeing she would be sent to a concentration camp. I will say - this one made me cry.
Post script: Monuments Men is now available on DVD, and as a reminder, that movie looks at the US-led efforts to recover works of art stolen by the Nazis. I recently finished a book that examines the period when the art was stolen, focusing on a particular piece of art by Gustav Klimt, known as "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" or "The Lady in Gold" (this is also the name of the book by Anne-Marie O'Connor). The book transports us back to late 19th century and early 20th century Vienna, Austria, and the art movement known as "The Secessionist Movement", and the intellectual salons and gatherings hosted and supported by the Viennese Jewish community, focusing on Klimt's painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer and her family. O'Connor traces the lineage of several of Klimt's paintings as they went from being part of the Bloch-Bauer family to being confiscated or forcibly donated to the state of Austria. O'Connor follows the fortunes or misfortunes of the Bloch-Bauer family as some were able to emigrate to America or neutral or Allied countries, and others were not so lucky. There is a great twist at the end, and since this is a true story, the ending is even more moving. What I liked about this book as a bookend to Monuments Men is that it tells the story of the people who had the art, and it wasn't just about paintings, it was about how the paintings or sculptures were taken and that there were people at the other end of those paintings, not some immobile institution (it seems to me that there was only a very vague nod to the people who had the art stolen from them in the movie when Matt Damon returns a painting to an empty house), it adds a level of humanity that wasn't quite there in the movie (that wasn't its purpose, so I'm not criticizing, just pointing it out).
6/7/14 Sunrise, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography, Best Unique and Artistic Production, 1927 (awarded 1929), #82 on AFI Top 100 Films, National Film Registry
It's been a while since I have reached back into the archives, but I thought it was time. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (very melodramatic) was released in 1927, but due to the different scheduling for the early years of the Academy Awards, it did not receive its three awards until 1929. Two of the three awards have since been changed: originally the Best Actress and Actor Awards were for an actor's performance for that year, so Janet Gaynor won for her performances in Sunrise, Seventh Heaven and Street Angel. Best Unique and Artistic Production was only awarded for the first Academy Awards. So, now that the history lesson is over, on to the movie. German director. F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) directed this film that starred Janet Gaynor and George O'Brien, known only as The Wife and The Man, respectively. The movie opens with The Man stepping out on The Wife with The Woman from The City (the lack of character names is not uncommon in silent films, and in this case is meant to show the universality of the characters and the story). The Man is smitten by this woman of easy virtue and is almost persuaded to help his wife accidentally drown. The Man goes through various emotions, lust, love, regret among them, as he and his wife get reacquainted and fall in love again. The Man and Wife are from the country, which seems like an idyllic and pure place which has been 'contaminated' by The Woman from The City and her loose ways. Some of the drama or melodrama seems very over the top, very exaggerated, which is another common theme in silent movies; in this movie there are actually very few intertitles used, the viewer must rely on the emoting of the characters to infer the what is going on and move the story along. This was a little hard for me at first, but it works, and the climax of the movie was very gripping and I was surprised by the ending. It was very good storytelling. Also, this wasn't really silent, there is actually sound that was recorded as part of them film, horns honking, crowds yelling, wind blowing, but no talking among the characters. Silent films are not for everyone, and while there are others I would recommend (Gold Rush, City Lights, Seventh Heaven) before this one, this still deserves a look.
6/7/14 Beetlejuice, Best Makeup, 1988
I may be the only person in America in my age group who had never seen Beetlejuice, just not my thing, I guess. I have heard about it, seen clips, heard "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice", but really had no idea. I find I have this ambiguous feeling quite a bit with Tim Burton movies, when he is good, I think he is really good, and then, when he is not, well, kiss 90 minutes and $10 goodbye. Michael Keaton stars as Beetlejuice an annoying, 'i-want-to-punch-you-in-the-face' kind of character; Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are Adam and Barbara Maitland, recently passed over into the next world, also known as 'recently deceased'. Adam and Barbara are not having an easy time in their new lives, still living in their dream house as ghosts, while a new family, the Deetzes (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones and Winona Ryder) move in and take over. The movie is mostly about Adam and Barbara's attempts to get rid of the Deetzes and then get rid of Beetlejuice. There are some great scenes here, one of my favorite is the dancing scene, with the living humans being made to dance to 'Dayo'. It's pretty funny. Michael Keaton is crazy as Beetlejuice (if this was made ten years later, it might have been played by Jim Carrey); he totally owns the makeup, crazy hair and costume. He is obnoxious, which is exactly the point. The movie won for Best Makeup and there wasn't really a lot of competition for this year (that's not taking away from it, but usually there is something you can compare it too and the two others in the category didn't have a chance: Coming to America and Scrooged).
6/7/14 The Prince of Egypt, Best Original Song, 1998
I'm a sucker for a good Exodus story, seriously, the story of Moses was one of my favorites growing up (that and Solomon, but I digress). The Prince of Egypt is about Moses, his relationship with Rameses, and the eventual exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. Val Kilmer is the voice of adult Moses, Ralph Fiennes is Rameses, Patrick Stewart is the voice of Rameses and Moses's father, Seti (Moses's adoptive father); Sandra Bullock and Jeff Goldblum are Moses's sister and brother, so definitely an all-star cast. There are not a lot of surprises, I mean the story is several thousands of years old, how many surprises could there be? But I thought focusing on the relationship of Moses and Rameses was different than in The Ten Commandments, and Kilmer and Fiennes were really good. I enjoyed the movie and if you haven't watched it with your kids (or without kids), it might be fun to put on around Passover time. It's old school animation, as in hand drawn and not CGI, so I liked it for that fact. It won the award for Best Original Song ("When you Believe" sung most notably by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston), and while not a lot of the other songs stick in my head, I guess my personal favorite would have been "That'll Do Babe" by Randy Newman, sung by Peter Gabriel.
6/8/14 Breakfast at Tiffany's, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, National Film Registry, 1961
I have some mixed feelings about this classic film starring the elegant Audrey Hepburn, and I think they are of my own making. I read the book by Truman Capote only a day before I watched the movie. Usually it's years or months between reading the book and seeing the movie or vice versa, so everything was pretty fresh in the old noggin. Breakfast at Tiffany's is an iconic movie, people who have not seen it have heard of Holly Golightly (Hepburn's character), heard the song "Moon River" (the movie won for Best Original Song with "Moon River" which was written by Johnny Mercer and Cleveland's own, Henry Mancini), are familiar with the fashion of the film, but I remember watching it for the first time years ago and not liking it, not liking Holly, not understanding the fuss (sometimes when a film is so "locked" into a period it does not translate well to a generations after it). I only wanted to watch it again so I could give a fair report to you, and then I thought, hell, I should read the book, a novella really, by Capote. Briefly, Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a woman of some sophistication and dubious income; Holly is really all about Holly and only casually concerned about those around her, she's flighty and impetuous. Holly encounters her new neighbor, whom she calls 'Fred' but his name is Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard (younger audiences may know him as Hannibal Smith from "The A-Team"). The other major character is Manhattan (it may seem odd that I keep including cities as characters, but sometimes, they really are), but it's hard to imagine this story taking place anywhere else. The movie follows Holly and her somewhat mysterious background and friendships with a variety of men, her perplexing relationship with Paul, and Paul's relationship with Emily Failenson (played by Patricia Neal). Blake Edwards (of Pink Panther fame as well as The Great Race and many others) directed and injected some of his humor into the film by using Mickey Rooney in the role of one of Holly's other neighbors, Mr. Yunioshi and greatly exaggerating stereotypical traits of someone of Japanese heritage (in the book, I did not get the sense that there was any of that and the role of Yunioshi was pretty minimal). Fifty years later, Rooney's portrayal seemed so obviously out of touch and offensive, but at the time of filming, Edwards said he didn't think of it like that and just wanted to be funny. As Holly and Paul's friendship evolves, they also have quarrels because Paul must be the practical one and not so loosey-goosey. There are several times the story and the movie diverge and once or twice, they are pretty big divergences, in fact, the ending in the movie is SO different from the book (I was told by a friend of mine this is actually a Seinfeld episode). Here is my struggle: I actually really liked the novella so much better than the movie (and the other short stories in this collection), but I love Hepburn as well. Can glamour ooze? Is that oxymoronic? Because she just walks onto the screen and nothing else matters. I didn't dislike the movie as much as I did the first time, I think I had a better understanding of Holly's personality and her motivation for doing things. You can probably watch the movie and not read the book and be perfectly content, but because Capote's writing is so good, watch the movie and then wait a few months and read the book.
6/8/14 Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, Best Documentary, 2000
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport is a very powerful and moving documentary about the 10,000 children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia who were sent to England in the late 1930s to escape the grasp of the Nazis and almost guaranteed annihilation. The movie interviews almost a dozen 'kinder' about their experience, leaving Europe and their families, where they were ostracized, harassed and threatened to a country where they didn't speak the language, had to learn about a new culture, and sometimes still harassed but not to the extent they were in their homeland, they also faced the burden of trying to get their parents out, and later knowing that their parents were in danger. These survivors (and they are survivors) are older now, many in their 70s and 80s, but their memories are clear and vivid as they tell about the last time they saw their parents, how they felt when they met their first (sometimes not the last) foster families, what it was like to learn English. Very often stories from the Holocaust stories focus on the camps and life in the ghettos, there are not very many movies about these children and the people who took them in (perhaps most famous among them is Sir Richard Attenborough's family who took in two sisters), so this is definitely worth your time to hear this part of history. The stories have one thing in common, the children were sent to England, but after that and before that, their narratives are unique: the orphan who pretty much raised himself, then was deported, then came back to fight for Britain; the young girl who was sent from family to family, and later was able to bring her parents to England; the sister and brother who convinced their uncle to bring their baby sister over; the young girl whose father was so desperate not to be separated from his daughter that he pulled her off of the train, almost guaranteeing she would be sent to a concentration camp. I will say - this one made me cry.
Post script: Monuments Men is now available on DVD, and as a reminder, that movie looks at the US-led efforts to recover works of art stolen by the Nazis. I recently finished a book that examines the period when the art was stolen, focusing on a particular piece of art by Gustav Klimt, known as "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" or "The Lady in Gold" (this is also the name of the book by Anne-Marie O'Connor). The book transports us back to late 19th century and early 20th century Vienna, Austria, and the art movement known as "The Secessionist Movement", and the intellectual salons and gatherings hosted and supported by the Viennese Jewish community, focusing on Klimt's painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer and her family. O'Connor traces the lineage of several of Klimt's paintings as they went from being part of the Bloch-Bauer family to being confiscated or forcibly donated to the state of Austria. O'Connor follows the fortunes or misfortunes of the Bloch-Bauer family as some were able to emigrate to America or neutral or Allied countries, and others were not so lucky. There is a great twist at the end, and since this is a true story, the ending is even more moving. What I liked about this book as a bookend to Monuments Men is that it tells the story of the people who had the art, and it wasn't just about paintings, it was about how the paintings or sculptures were taken and that there were people at the other end of those paintings, not some immobile institution (it seems to me that there was only a very vague nod to the people who had the art stolen from them in the movie when Matt Damon returns a painting to an empty house), it adds a level of humanity that wasn't quite there in the movie (that wasn't its purpose, so I'm not criticizing, just pointing it out).
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Whiling away the time while staying at home
There is no denying that these are very strange and tumultuous we're living in. Obviously I haven't been blogging too much lately, i...
