Despite the violence Jack and I enjoyed ourselves at this film noir-style story of 1949 rogue cops trying to rid L.A. of mobster Mickey Cohen's dominance. Jack was eager to see anything by Ruben Fleischer, the director of Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less and he wasn't disappointed, though we were sorry it was missing the humor of the previous two.
The cast is all great. Josh Brolin (most recently blogged in Men in Black 3) stars as Sergeant O'Mara, leader of the pack, which includes Ryan Gosling (last in The Ides of March) as Sergeant Wooters, Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau) as Officer Harris, Robert Patrick (familiar due to a small part in Trouble with the Curve and other action roles unseen by me) as Officer Kennard, Giovanni Ribisi (I liked him in The Rum Diary, though it wasn't very good) as Officer Keeler (the brains of the operation), and Michael Peña (End of Watch) as Officer Navidad Ramirez. Cohen is played by Sean Penn (the last thing I liked him in was Fair Game) in a prosthetic nose (Cohen was an ex-boxer, which fits nicely into the plot). Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Mireille Enos (played twins JoDean and Kathy on Big Love) round out, so to speak, the ensemble as partners for Wooters and O'Mara respectively.
This is the first screenplay for Will Beall (story editor/writer on the TV series Castle) who adapted the book Tales from the Gangster Squad by Paul Lieberman (Lieberman's book is based on his 2008 seven part series in the Los Angeles Times), and Lieberman acted as an Executive Producer. The movie was supposed to be released last year, but a scene of bad guys firing into a crowded movie theatre was removed, rewritten, and reshot after the tragedy in Aurora Colorado, all of which delayed the release until this month. The gangster squad really did exist, though some liberties were taken, especially with the conclusion.
It's no secret to regular readers of my blog that we love period details, and this one, designed by Maher Ahmad (dozens of credits including Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less) is terrific: cars, sets, props, and the rich cinematography by Dion Beebe (won an Oscar and his guild's award for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Oscar-nominated for Chicago (2002), and nominated by his guild for Collateral (2004) and Nine, among many of his credits). The location shots of Los Angeles, whether real, computer-generated, or shot out of town, are spectacular as well.
Steve Jablonsky (apparently best known for composing soundtracks to several Transformers movies and the series Desperate Housewives) gives us an exciting score that you can stream from this link.
Though not for the faint of heart, as the mayhem isn't exactly cartoonish, this is still good and we recommend it for those with strong constitutions.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
I looked away from the torture scene at the beginning but otherwise Jack and I agree this dramatization of the hunt for and assassination of Osama bin Laden is a good movie, albeit a tad long at 157 minutes (!). With five Oscar nominations and much more (see my list), it's one you've all thought about seeing. I don't like gore either, but found it possible to avert my eyes enough to prevent nightmares. Speaking of Oscars, director Kathryn Bigelow, like Ben Affleck for Argo, was snubbed for Best Director even though this project was nominated for Best Picture. Three years ago The Hurt Locker (I profiled her in that post), won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Bigelow), and Best Original Screenplay (Mark Boal, who wrote and is nominated for this, his second script). Just as "hurt locker" is a military term for someplace you don't want to go, "00 dark thirty" refers to an unspecified time in the sunless early morning.
Jessica Chastain (last in these pages in Take Shelter) stars as Maya, the quietly intense brains behind the operation, who tends to drop an F-bomb when meeting her superiors. She has won all the major awards so far for which she's been nominated for this role. Jason Clarke (I haven't seen any of his TV work and don't remember him in Public Enemies or anything else) is the guy in the trailer who says, "I am bad news." In the imdb trivia, they refer to Joel Edgerton (most recently in Warrior) as having a leading role. He's actually in only the third act, as one of the SEALS who goes on the mission with Chris Pratt (Moneyball). They're both featured in the trailer, however, as is James Gandolfini, still breathing loudly even when at rest (when I wrote about him in Where the Wild Things Are I referenced his mouth breathing, but he does appear to use his nose, just with difficulty) (I'm all for body acceptance, but at this point the guy is damaging his health with his extra pounds).
Much has been written about the aforementioned torture scene--here's one article.
Alexandre Desplat (Argo) once again gives us an eminently listenable soundtrack, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra, available on youtube--look down the right side after each numbered track ends and you can find then next one.
The often handheld cinematography by Greig Fraser (Bright Star) may bring on motion picture motion sickness (MPMS), so those of you who are susceptible should sit at the back of the room.
You don't need me to encourage you to see it--it's averaging 93% from critics and 85 from audiences on rottentomatoes.
Jessica Chastain (last in these pages in Take Shelter) stars as Maya, the quietly intense brains behind the operation, who tends to drop an F-bomb when meeting her superiors. She has won all the major awards so far for which she's been nominated for this role. Jason Clarke (I haven't seen any of his TV work and don't remember him in Public Enemies or anything else) is the guy in the trailer who says, "I am bad news." In the imdb trivia, they refer to Joel Edgerton (most recently in Warrior) as having a leading role. He's actually in only the third act, as one of the SEALS who goes on the mission with Chris Pratt (Moneyball). They're both featured in the trailer, however, as is James Gandolfini, still breathing loudly even when at rest (when I wrote about him in Where the Wild Things Are I referenced his mouth breathing, but he does appear to use his nose, just with difficulty) (I'm all for body acceptance, but at this point the guy is damaging his health with his extra pounds).
Much has been written about the aforementioned torture scene--here's one article.
Alexandre Desplat (Argo) once again gives us an eminently listenable soundtrack, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra, available on youtube--look down the right side after each numbered track ends and you can find then next one.
The often handheld cinematography by Greig Fraser (Bright Star) may bring on motion picture motion sickness (MPMS), so those of you who are susceptible should sit at the back of the room.
You don't need me to encourage you to see it--it's averaging 93% from critics and 85 from audiences on rottentomatoes.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Impossible (Lo impossible - 2012)
Heart-wrenching, this powerful story of a family's surviving the 2004 tsunami in Thailand is so good one can hardly look away (except for some bloody images which my readers know I block from my field of vision). The movie was made in Spain (hence the Spanish title above), where "the producers" (I don't know which of the seven) heard a radio show about the true story and decided to make the movie. Survivor María Belón (shown here with Naomi Watts) gets a story credit. Her family is Spanish and lived in Japan when they vacationed in Thailand for Christmas 2004. In the movie we are to assume they are British, as Watts (last blogged in J. Edgar), Ewan McGregor (most recently in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), and the wonderful boys playing their children, Tom Holland (his first time in front of a camera but he had starred and co-starred in a couple of London productions of Billy Elliot), Samuel Joslin (in his debut he shows strength in his one important scene), and Oaklee Pendergast (can't be more than 6 but was in a 2008 episode of the British comedy series EastEnders and is in something coming out later in 2013) all speak English with UK accents. Watts was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice (she lost the latter two to Anne Hathaway from Les Misérables), among others, for this role and young Holland, although he lost the Best Young Actor/Actress Critics Choice award to Quvenzhané Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild, won an award from the National Board of Review for his role of eldest son Lucas. Jack said to me during the movie, "That kid ought to win something!" Note: the "old woman" watching the stars is Geraldine Chaplin, 68 year old daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill Chaplin, herself the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. In the movie Chaplin (1992) she played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin.
Director Juan Antonio Bayona and screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchéz were much awarded for their first feature The Orphanage (El orfanato - 2007), and will doubtless get more work in the future. One line from the trailer that has stayed with me is Watts saying to Holland, "Go help people. You're good at it." So sweet. The special effects are spectacular yet believable. May cause motion picture motion sickness so sit in the back if you are susceptible.
Fernando Velázquez' (scored The Orphanage and many others unknown to me) music is appropriately scary or sad--listen to this preview. Do see this before the Oscars.
Director Juan Antonio Bayona and screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchéz were much awarded for their first feature The Orphanage (El orfanato - 2007), and will doubtless get more work in the future. One line from the trailer that has stayed with me is Watts saying to Holland, "Go help people. You're good at it." So sweet. The special effects are spectacular yet believable. May cause motion picture motion sickness so sit in the back if you are susceptible.
Fernando Velázquez' (scored The Orphanage and many others unknown to me) music is appropriately scary or sad--listen to this preview. Do see this before the Oscars.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Les Misérables (2012)
Jack said he didn't hate it. But I did. This extravaganza about 19th century French people yearning for justice and happiness and finding only, well, misery, is crack for those who loved the stage version (fourth longest running Broadway show in history--just over 16 years). The special effects and long steadicam shots are pretty spectacular, too.
Here's the thing: I detested the musical in London the summer of 1986, less than a year before it opened in New York. My friend and I flew from L.A., left our luggage at the hotel, he insisted we see a show, and tickets were available. He promptly fell asleep and I sat grumbling in my seat. Sure, I was in a foul mood, what with the 8 hour jet lag and all. But there is art that can transcend one's subjective frame of mind and then there is this. Up until about a month ago I thought Les Mis was by Andrew Lloyd Webber and I don't like him either (the two longest running Broadway shows are his: Cats and Phantom; the third is Chicago. I loved Chicago).
The movie's director Tom Hooper (won the Oscar for The King's Speech) is enamored with proving his actors are singing live. Some wags (in links below) have referenced the close-ups of actors' tonsils. As a musician, I agree they would have sounded way better in a studio and not braying into the camera. And this musician isn't an opera fan. Grumble grumble grumble. Not everyone agrees with me. The movie has many wins, nominations, and beaucoup bucks in box office receipts. I do admire those who can sing while crying, but I had had enough after about a half hour of this movie. Actually I kind of got the giggles, not only from the weep-singing but also because the person next to me, not Jack, was constantly making noise--rustling his popcorn bag, crunching, applauding, humming, fidgeting, even jingling metal in his pocket.
Hugh Jackman (known to many simply as Wolverine in five movies and counting--two more are in the pipeline--he can do much more: I liked him a lot in Someone Like You... (2001), Scoop (2006), The Fountain (2006), and The Prestige (2006)) works really, really hard, as does Anne Hathaway (last in these pages in The Dark Knight Rises). Russell Crowe (most recently in State of Play) sings while hanging ten (toes) at the edge of a precipice. Twice. Even the antics of Sacha Baron Cohen (The Dictator) and Helena Bonham Carter (Dark Shadows), though mildly amusing, can't save this.
And on to the snark. On NPR the other day David Edelstein, in listing his top 12 movies of 2012, made me laugh out loud as he trashed this one. If you care to, listen here from 9:00 to 10:45 for those comments. David Denby of the New Yorker is in complete agreement with me in this blog post (within that post is a link to Anthony Lane's equally harsh New Yorker review). Then Anne Hathaway and Samuel L. Jackson made a silly video they called the "Sad Off" about their Christmas movies, this and Django Unchained. Sam wins.
So please don't let me deter you from enjoying this blockbuster, if it's your thing. Do what you wanna do. Audiences are averaging 84% on rottentomatoes to critics' 70. It got eight Oscar nominations this morning to add to its growing pile of accolades. But this gal would rather be just about anywhere else.
Here's the thing: I detested the musical in London the summer of 1986, less than a year before it opened in New York. My friend and I flew from L.A., left our luggage at the hotel, he insisted we see a show, and tickets were available. He promptly fell asleep and I sat grumbling in my seat. Sure, I was in a foul mood, what with the 8 hour jet lag and all. But there is art that can transcend one's subjective frame of mind and then there is this. Up until about a month ago I thought Les Mis was by Andrew Lloyd Webber and I don't like him either (the two longest running Broadway shows are his: Cats and Phantom; the third is Chicago. I loved Chicago).
The movie's director Tom Hooper (won the Oscar for The King's Speech) is enamored with proving his actors are singing live. Some wags (in links below) have referenced the close-ups of actors' tonsils. As a musician, I agree they would have sounded way better in a studio and not braying into the camera. And this musician isn't an opera fan. Grumble grumble grumble. Not everyone agrees with me. The movie has many wins, nominations, and beaucoup bucks in box office receipts. I do admire those who can sing while crying, but I had had enough after about a half hour of this movie. Actually I kind of got the giggles, not only from the weep-singing but also because the person next to me, not Jack, was constantly making noise--rustling his popcorn bag, crunching, applauding, humming, fidgeting, even jingling metal in his pocket.
Hugh Jackman (known to many simply as Wolverine in five movies and counting--two more are in the pipeline--he can do much more: I liked him a lot in Someone Like You... (2001), Scoop (2006), The Fountain (2006), and The Prestige (2006)) works really, really hard, as does Anne Hathaway (last in these pages in The Dark Knight Rises). Russell Crowe (most recently in State of Play) sings while hanging ten (toes) at the edge of a precipice. Twice. Even the antics of Sacha Baron Cohen (The Dictator) and Helena Bonham Carter (Dark Shadows), though mildly amusing, can't save this.
And on to the snark. On NPR the other day David Edelstein, in listing his top 12 movies of 2012, made me laugh out loud as he trashed this one. If you care to, listen here from 9:00 to 10:45 for those comments. David Denby of the New Yorker is in complete agreement with me in this blog post (within that post is a link to Anthony Lane's equally harsh New Yorker review). Then Anne Hathaway and Samuel L. Jackson made a silly video they called the "Sad Off" about their Christmas movies, this and Django Unchained. Sam wins.
So please don't let me deter you from enjoying this blockbuster, if it's your thing. Do what you wanna do. Audiences are averaging 84% on rottentomatoes to critics' 70. It got eight Oscar nominations this morning to add to its growing pile of accolades. But this gal would rather be just about anywhere else.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Brave (2012)
Jack and I thoroughly enjoyed this animated tale of girl power wherein a medieval Scottish princess doesn't want or need a prince. Pixar's first heroine, teenage Merida, argues with her mother over it and things take quite a twist. This had been on my list for a while because I love Kelly Macdonald (covered in detail in Anna Karenina) who voices Merida, Emma Thompson (last blogged in Men in Black III) who voices her mother Queen Elinor, and especially Billy Connolly (as a comedian he is known as "The Big Yin" (the big one to us Yanks)--his stand-up is marvelous; he had two American TV serieses in the early 80s: Head of the Class and Billy; he received great acclaim for his performance as John Brown, the boyfriend of widowed Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) in Mrs. Brown (1997); had small parts in, among others, White Oleander (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), and The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008); and played the title role as a pet zombie with no lines in the very funny Fido (2006)) who voices King Fergus. Craig Ferguson (most recently on the big screen in the animated How to Train Your Dragon), Kevin McKidd (these days he's probably best known as Dr. Owen Hunt on Grey's Anatomy, but he, like Macdonald, made his feature debut in Trainspotting (1996), and has been in many fine productions, including Hideous Kinky (1998), Topsy-Turvy (1999), and De-Lovely (2004)), and Robbie Coltrane (last in The Brothers Bloom) voice the suitors. All above except Londoner Thompson are Scottish born and the unintelligible dialect that McKidd uses is native to his northern Scotland home.
It's not unusual for modern animated movies to have more than one director. This has two directors: Brenda Chapman (shared story credit on Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994), and Fantasia/2000 (1999); co-director of The Prince of Egypt (1998); storyboard artist and other credits elsewhere) and Mark Andrews (his first feature directing job; he worked as a a writer on a few things and storyboard artist on some) and one "co-director": Steve Purcell, a video game creator and artist. All three share screenplay credit with Irene Mecchi (shared writing credit on The Lion King and part of Hercules (1997) and Chapman is credited with creating the story. Speaking of artists, the drawings are great. Apparently Pixar developed a new software just to make Merida's wild orange hair bounce when she moved.
Music is by Patrick Doyle (among the 50 scores to his credit, my favorites would be Indochine (1992), Frankenstein (1994) Sense and Sensibility (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Gosford Park (2001), Calendar Girls (2003), Wah-Wah (2005), and Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Someone has thoughtfully, and probably illegally, posted the entire soundtrack on youtube. The song Learn Me Right, by Mumford & Sons with Birdy, has been nominated for a Critics Choice Award (they'll be handed out Thursday night) and a Grammy. You can hear it here.
The movie has been nominated for Best Animated Film Golden Globe, ten Annie (animation) awards including Best Animated Feature, and way more, maybe an Oscar in the morning. There are laughs and sight gags galore. Rated PG, this is suitable for all but the youngest of your children and grandchildren (here's the imdb parents' guide--it's full of spoilers). We watched it today on Time Warner on demand.
It's not unusual for modern animated movies to have more than one director. This has two directors: Brenda Chapman (shared story credit on Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994), and Fantasia/2000 (1999); co-director of The Prince of Egypt (1998); storyboard artist and other credits elsewhere) and Mark Andrews (his first feature directing job; he worked as a a writer on a few things and storyboard artist on some) and one "co-director": Steve Purcell, a video game creator and artist. All three share screenplay credit with Irene Mecchi (shared writing credit on The Lion King and part of Hercules (1997) and Chapman is credited with creating the story. Speaking of artists, the drawings are great. Apparently Pixar developed a new software just to make Merida's wild orange hair bounce when she moved.
Music is by Patrick Doyle (among the 50 scores to his credit, my favorites would be Indochine (1992), Frankenstein (1994) Sense and Sensibility (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Gosford Park (2001), Calendar Girls (2003), Wah-Wah (2005), and Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Someone has thoughtfully, and probably illegally, posted the entire soundtrack on youtube. The song Learn Me Right, by Mumford & Sons with Birdy, has been nominated for a Critics Choice Award (they'll be handed out Thursday night) and a Grammy. You can hear it here.
The movie has been nominated for Best Animated Film Golden Globe, ten Annie (animation) awards including Best Animated Feature, and way more, maybe an Oscar in the morning. There are laughs and sight gags galore. Rated PG, this is suitable for all but the youngest of your children and grandchildren (here's the imdb parents' guide--it's full of spoilers). We watched it today on Time Warner on demand.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The Paperboy (2012)
This is a sultry, sweaty story about low-lifes in the 1960s south, the third feature directed by Lee Daniels (Precious). Jack hated it and I didn't like it much when we saw it ten weeks ago. Roger Ebert called it "great trash" in his positive review (minor spoilers therein). It stars Zac Efron (last in these pages in Liberal Arts), Nicole Kidman (most recently in Rabbit Hole), Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe, another nasty role), David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and John Cusack (the last project we saw of his was Hot Tub Time Machine) playing against type as a particularly despicable convict named Hillary. Daniels and Pete Dexter adapted the screenplay from Dexter's 1995 novel, winner of the PEN Center USA literary award for fiction.
This was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes a year ago and more recently Kidman was nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG award. It's available now on DVD and if you trust Roger Ebert more than you trust Jack and me (and why wouldn't you?), by all means get it from netflix.
This was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes a year ago and more recently Kidman was nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG award. It's available now on DVD and if you trust Roger Ebert more than you trust Jack and me (and why wouldn't you?), by all means get it from netflix.
2013 Razzie nominations
The Golden Raspberry Award nominations for awfulness in movies were announced today, just in advance of the Oscar nominations (announced Thursday morning January 10 at, I think, 8am Eastern, 5am Pacific). The Oscars will be awarded on Sunday February 24 and the Razzies the night before. The only one of these we saw was The Guilt Trip (though we actually considered two or three others) and I did note that Streisand's performance was subpar. Note that the Twilight movie got a nomination in every category (and two nominations in the final one). Here's a funny clip of Halle Berry accepting her Razzie for Catwoman (2004); she brought her actual Oscar for Monster's Ball (2001).
Worst Picture
"Battleship"
"The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure"
"That's My Boy"
"A Thousand Words"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Worst Director
Sean Anders - "That's My Boy"
Peter Berg - "Battleship"
Bill Condon - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Tyler Perry - "Good Deeds" / "Madea's Witness Protection"
John Putch - "Atlas Shrugged: Part II"
Worst Actress
Katherine Heigl - "One for the Money"
Milla Jovovich - "Resident Evil: Retribution"
Tyler Perry - "Madea's Witness Protection"
Kristen Stewart - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II" / "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Barbra Streisand - "The Guilt Trip"
Worst Actor
Nicolas Cage - "Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance" / "Seeking Justice"
Eddie Murphy - "A Thousand Words"
Robert Pattinson - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Tyler Perry - "Alex Cross / Good Deeds"
Adam Sandler - "That's My Boy"
Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Biel - "Playing For Keeps / Total Recall"
Brooklyn Decker - "Battleship / What to Expect When You're Expecting"
Ashley Greene - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Jennifer Lopez - "What to Expect When You're Expecting"
Rihanna - "Battleship"
Worst Supporting Actor
David Hasselhoff - "Pirannha 3-DD"
Taylor Lautner - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Liam Neeson - "Battleship / Wrath of the Titans"
Nick Swardson - "That's My Boy"
Vanilla Ice - "That's My Boy"
Worst Screen Ensemble
"Battleship"
"The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure"
"That's My Boy"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
"Madea's Witness Protection"
Worst Screenplay
"Atlas Shrugged Part II"
"Battleship"
"That's My Boy"
"A Thousand Words"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
"Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance"
"Pirannha 3-DD"
"Red Dawn"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
"Madea's Witness Protection"
Worst Screen Couple
Any two cast members from "Jersey Shore" in "The Three Stooges"
Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Tyler Perry and his drag in "Madea's Witness Protection"
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, or Susan Sarandon in "That's My Boy"
Worst Picture
"Battleship"
"The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure"
"That's My Boy"
"A Thousand Words"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Worst Director
Sean Anders - "That's My Boy"
Peter Berg - "Battleship"
Bill Condon - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Tyler Perry - "Good Deeds" / "Madea's Witness Protection"
John Putch - "Atlas Shrugged: Part II"
Worst Actress
Katherine Heigl - "One for the Money"
Milla Jovovich - "Resident Evil: Retribution"
Tyler Perry - "Madea's Witness Protection"
Kristen Stewart - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II" / "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Barbra Streisand - "The Guilt Trip"
Worst Actor
Nicolas Cage - "Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance" / "Seeking Justice"
Eddie Murphy - "A Thousand Words"
Robert Pattinson - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Tyler Perry - "Alex Cross / Good Deeds"
Adam Sandler - "That's My Boy"
Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Biel - "Playing For Keeps / Total Recall"
Brooklyn Decker - "Battleship / What to Expect When You're Expecting"
Ashley Greene - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Jennifer Lopez - "What to Expect When You're Expecting"
Rihanna - "Battleship"
Worst Supporting Actor
David Hasselhoff - "Pirannha 3-DD"
Taylor Lautner - "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Liam Neeson - "Battleship / Wrath of the Titans"
Nick Swardson - "That's My Boy"
Vanilla Ice - "That's My Boy"
Worst Screen Ensemble
"Battleship"
"The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure"
"That's My Boy"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
"Madea's Witness Protection"
Worst Screenplay
"Atlas Shrugged Part II"
"Battleship"
"That's My Boy"
"A Thousand Words"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel
"Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance"
"Pirannha 3-DD"
"Red Dawn"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
"Madea's Witness Protection"
Worst Screen Couple
Any two cast members from "Jersey Shore" in "The Three Stooges"
Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II"
Tyler Perry and his drag in "Madea's Witness Protection"
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, or Susan Sarandon in "That's My Boy"
My Best Enemy (Mein bester Feind - 2011)
While many around me at the Jewish Film Festival laughed a lot, I did only a little at this holocaust story about an Austrian Jew and a Nazi whose lives are intertwined. Moritz Bleibtreu (last blogged in Soul Kitchen) stars as the Jew and Marthe Keller (Golden Globe nomination for Marathon Man (1976) and much more) plays his mother. Paul Hengge (his first of 27 writing credits was in 1965) and director Wolfgang Murnberger (born in 1960, he has 36 directing credits) adapted Hengge's novel. At least I think the novel came first. This interview with the director suggests otherwise.
There are some funny moments and the rest of my audience seemed to love it. Because of the movie's limited release there haven't been many reviews, but those I've read agree with me--it can't commit to being a comedy or tragedy (here is a spoiler-filled review from The Hollywood Reporter). Available now on DVD.
There are some funny moments and the rest of my audience seemed to love it. Because of the movie's limited release there haven't been many reviews, but those I've read agree with me--it can't commit to being a comedy or tragedy (here is a spoiler-filled review from The Hollywood Reporter). Available now on DVD.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Seven Psychopaths (2012)
Jack's and my eager anticipation of this crime comedy was rewarded after the trailer enticed us with its bumbling dognappers and the big-time criminals whose paths they cross. Colin Farrell (last blogged in Horrible Bosses) reunites with director/writer Martin McDonagh (you must see In Bruges (2008), another crime comedy, which earned Farrell a Best Actor Golden Globe), this time playing a struggling screenwriter in over his head. Among the movie's accolades are its Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Male for Sam Rockwell (most recently in Cowboys & Aliens).
After the funny bit at the opening with Michaels Stuhlbarg and Pitt, who play psychopaths on Boardwalk Empire, we are treated to great work from Abbie Cornish (Limitless), Christopher Walken (A Late Quartet), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Tom Waits (covered in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Gabourey Sidibe (Tower Heist), Bonny the Shih Tzu (the movie's tagline is "They won't take any shih tzu"), and more.
The prolific Carter Burwell (mentioned in both True Grit and Howl) composed the soundtrack and there are quite a few songs, recognizable and not (here's the amazon page).
We liked it a lot and rottentomatoes' averages are 81% critics/80 audiences. Perhaps it will win something at the Independent Spirit Awards the night before the Oscars. It's available on DVD now (we saw it on Halloween). Yeah, it's violent and profane.
After the funny bit at the opening with Michaels Stuhlbarg and Pitt, who play psychopaths on Boardwalk Empire, we are treated to great work from Abbie Cornish (Limitless), Christopher Walken (A Late Quartet), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Tom Waits (covered in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Gabourey Sidibe (Tower Heist), Bonny the Shih Tzu (the movie's tagline is "They won't take any shih tzu"), and more.
The prolific Carter Burwell (mentioned in both True Grit and Howl) composed the soundtrack and there are quite a few songs, recognizable and not (here's the amazon page).
We liked it a lot and rottentomatoes' averages are 81% critics/80 audiences. Perhaps it will win something at the Independent Spirit Awards the night before the Oscars. It's available on DVD now (we saw it on Halloween). Yeah, it's violent and profane.
Sing Your Song (2011)
We loved this fabulous documentary about Harry Belafonte and learned a lot about his activism. He sings in the movie, mostly in old footage, including on The Smothers Brothers and Muppets shows. Imdb has given us this list of songs, albeit with many typos. Susanne Rostock makes her directing debut after editing 11 documentaries and one dramatic feature. We saw this in a special presentation with Belafonte making a personal appearance in these parts last fall (his voice was gravelly and he didn't sing). I was able to share with him that my brothers and I went to the same Manhattan school as his children! 97% of rottentomatoes critics liked this and 81% of audiences. The DVD is available now on disk from netflix and streaming from amazon, so it would be worth your while to spend some time with Harry and his friends.
End of Watch (2012)
Pretty darn good, this veers wildly yet successfully between being a goofy buddy picture and a violent cop drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal (last in these pages in Source Code) and Michael Peña (covered in The Lincoln Lawyer, then in Everything Must Go, 30 Minutes or Less, and Tower Heist). There are some bloody images that will stay with you. Directed and written by David Ayer (wrote Training Day (2001), wrote and directed others I haven't seen), it pulls us in to the close relationship between these colleagues and the others in their lives, including Anna Kendrick (most recently in Pitch Perfect).
Its expected DVD release is January 22 and with rottentomatoes' critics averaging 85 and audiences 88, you might want to put it in your queue if you don't mind violence and its dubious distinction of being sixth in the all time profanity list, with 326 instances of the F word in 109 minutes.
I wanted to flesh out the "placeholder" I wrote for this movie (we saw it October 18) because it's been nominated for a Critics Choice Best Actor Award for Gyllenhaal, and they will be handed out this Thursday evening. The National Board of Review has put this on its list of Top Ten Independent Films for the year and it has two nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards: Peña for Supporting Male and Roman Vasyanov (new to me) for Cinematography. The latter nomination is ironic to me because it's a serious MPMS (motion picture motion sickness) inducer, partly due to a subplot of Gyllenhaal's character documenting his life with a hand-held camera. Apparently I was warned but didn't look at my notes before we picked something to see while we were out of town back then.
Its expected DVD release is January 22 and with rottentomatoes' critics averaging 85 and audiences 88, you might want to put it in your queue if you don't mind violence and its dubious distinction of being sixth in the all time profanity list, with 326 instances of the F word in 109 minutes.
Promised Land (2012)
Six of us who hate fracking liked very much this story of two salespeople working to get locals in rural Pennsylvania to sell their mineral rights to a natural gas company for hydraulic fracturing. Written by John Krasinski (last blogged in It's Complicated) and Matt Damon (most recently here in We Bought a Zoo) from a story by Dave Eggers (profiled in his first feature Away We Go, in which Krasinski starred, after which Eggers co-adapted Where the Wild Things Are with its director Spike Jonze but I somehow forgot to say so), it was meant to be Damon's directorial debut, but due to other commitments and "creative differences" (no idea) the project was directed by Gus Van Sant (covered in Restless). Damon is very good as the confident pitchman as is Frances McDormand (in detail in Moonrise Kingdom) as his colleague. Krasinski shows up in the second act as an environmentalist with his trademark grin. Rosemarie DeWitt (Your Sister's Sister) and the venerable Hal Holbrook (got his first Oscar nomination for Into the Wild (2007) when he was 82 and is this year nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble of Lincoln, playing Preston Blair; but he may be better known for playing the 16th president himself as well as Mark Twain on stage and TV; Scott reminded us, "He was married to Dixie Carter!") are among the excellent supporting cast.
Danny Elfman's (Hitchcock and many more) soundtrack is different work for him and well worth a listen (here--click on the arrows next to 320 in each row). We also liked the photography.
Apparently a gas industry trade group is running brief ads (pro-fracking) before 75% of Pennsylvania's screenings of this movie. Feh.
Speaking of feh, this movie has been poorly reviewed, scoring only 50% from critics and 40 from audiences on rottentomatoes. There are a few holes in the third act so I would give it a respectable 80.
Danny Elfman's (Hitchcock and many more) soundtrack is different work for him and well worth a listen (here--click on the arrows next to 320 in each row). We also liked the photography.
Apparently a gas industry trade group is running brief ads (pro-fracking) before 75% of Pennsylvania's screenings of this movie. Feh.
Speaking of feh, this movie has been poorly reviewed, scoring only 50% from critics and 40 from audiences on rottentomatoes. There are a few holes in the third act so I would give it a respectable 80.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Smashed (2012)
I thought this little independent movie about a hard drinking couple and her subsequent sobriety was terrific, though Amy didn't like it as much as I did. Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance as Kate is every bit as powerful as Denzel Washington's alcoholic in Flight, and it got her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award, though her competition is tough this year. Winstead (known to me for playing Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) gives us all the mood swings and then some, accompanied by Aaron Paul (Amanda Seyfried's boyfriend/husband on Big Love and Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad) as her husband Charlie, Nick Offerman (best known as gruff Ron Swanson on 77 episodes of Parks and Recreation) sporting a neat goatee and trendy glasses as her fellow teacher, Megan Mullally (Offerman's real-life wife, best known for 187 episodes of Will & Grace) as the principal, Octavia Spencer (won Oscar for and profiled in The Help) as a friend, and Mary Kay Place (won an Emmy for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in 1976, she was great in Private Benjamin (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Manny & Lo (1996), Citizen Ruth (1996), Pecker (1998), The Safety of Objects (2001), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Nine Lives (2005), It's Complicated, and 42 episodes of Big Love as Adaleen Grant) in a cameo as Kate's mother.
Susan Burke, who, in her debut, co-wrote the script (a lot of it by email) with director James Ponsoldt (he made one other feature), apparently got sober at age 24 and referenced some of her own experiences.
Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bat, Shins, Califones, Our Idiot Brother) and Andy Cabic are credited with the music, which also includes songs by others. 13 tracks are included on the soundtrack which can be previewed here.
Nominated for last year's Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this is rated 83% by critics and 79 by audiences on rottentomatoes. We saw it two weeks ago on the last day of its limited local release--the DVD will be out in March.
Susan Burke, who, in her debut, co-wrote the script (a lot of it by email) with director James Ponsoldt (he made one other feature), apparently got sober at age 24 and referenced some of her own experiences.
Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bat, Shins, Califones, Our Idiot Brother) and Andy Cabic are credited with the music, which also includes songs by others. 13 tracks are included on the soundtrack which can be previewed here.
Nominated for last year's Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this is rated 83% by critics and 79 by audiences on rottentomatoes. We saw it two weeks ago on the last day of its limited local release--the DVD will be out in March.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
Jack and I enjoyed Bill Murray's delightful turn as Franklin D. Roosevelt entertaining the first British monarchs to visit America. The photography and period details are just right, from the shiny 1930s cars with wide white wall tires to the Bayer aspirin tin in the president's desk. Murray (last blogged in Moonrise Kingdom) has been deservedly nominated for a Golden Globe for this work. Olivia Colman has already won the British Independent Film Award for Supporting Actress (last year she won Best Actress for Tyrannosaur, which I didn't see) for playing Queen Elizabeth, mother of the current Queen; and Royal Shakespeare actor Samuel West is good and funny as King George VI (also played by Colin Firth last year in The King's Speech). Laura Linney's (nominated for Oscars for You Can Count on Me (2000), Kinsey (2004), and The Savages (2007); I also liked Dave (1993), The Truman Show (1998), The Life of David Gale (2003), Man of the Year (2006), loved The Squid and the Whale (2005), and three seasons of The Big C--its fourth and final season will be sometime this year) mousy Daisy isn't such a pleasure, although her voiceover is helpful. I'm sorry to say that only a little research has taught me that screenwriter Richard Nelson (wrote one other feature, not known to me) and director Roger Michell (covered in Morning Glory) have wildly embellished the truth of the matter (caution, spoilers in this link) (and here's some historical perspective without spoilers).
Reviews have not been kind (39% critics, 36 audiences on rottentomatoes) and, in fact, the friends we ran into at yesterday's opening night show didn't like it either. But we did! And regular babetteflix readers know that we don't like everything.
Reviews have not been kind (39% critics, 36 audiences on rottentomatoes) and, in fact, the friends we ran into at yesterday's opening night show didn't like it either. But we did! And regular babetteflix readers know that we don't like everything.
Friday, January 4, 2013
This is 40 (2012)
While Jack watched the Rose Bowl Mary Ellen and I laughed our asses off at Judd Apatow's "sort-of sequel to Knocked Up" (2007) with Leslie Mann (real-life Mrs. Apatow for over 15 years, she is best known for working on his movies, most recently Funny People) and Paul Rudd (last blogged in both Wanderlust and The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as a couple on the verge of freaking out over the aging process. Mann's and Apatow's daughters Maude (15) and Iris (10), who played their mother's daughters in Knocked Up and Funny People as well, steal every scene they are in, and they're all the more entertaining because we've heard/read that they wrote or inspired a lot of their own dialogue. Jason Segal (last in Jeff, Who Lives at Home), Chris O'Dowd (profiled in Bridesmaids, which was co-produced by Apatow, and mentioned in Friends with Kids), Megan Fox (also in Friends with Kids), and Charlyne Yi (after starring in Paper Heart she was in 21 episodes of the final season of House) have some funny bits (Yi's final scene still has me giggling two days later). You may notice the Oscar-nominated co-writer of Bridesmaids Annie Mumolo (she had a cameo in that one as a nervous airplane passenger) as Mann's best friend. Albert Brooks is funny, too, and there are tons of cameos, including Melissa McCarthy (Oscar-nominated for Bridesmaids), Lena Dunham (before Girls was on HBO she made Tiny Furniture), musician Graham Parker (see below), and more.
The lush sets are beautifully shot by Phedon Papamichael (covered in The Descendants). Locations aren't given on imdb but I suspect they're supposed to be living in Bel Air or Brentwood (west of L.A.), where there are some high end homes.
This holiday season I wanted to see three comedies and did so in ratings order from worst to best, ending with this one, the clear winner. None of the three was rated "fresh" on rottentomatoes. You already know how I felt about Parental Guidance and The Guilt Trip (this one got 51% from critics and 57 from from audiences). Each has family conflict and resolution, accompanied in Guilt Trip by confounded violins. Although you probably won't notice the music by Jon Brion (profiled in The Future), you can listen to it on the movie's website--just pause the trailer in the middle of the page and activate the soundtrack music player at the upper right corner of the screen. No violins, but lots of guitars and possibly a cello. What you will notice when you see the movie are the pop songs on the soundtrack (here's an article about the 16 songs and here's the amazon page where you can listen to clips).
You can see this on the big screen or you can wait for the DVD estimated to drop in March, and I think you'll have some good laughs, especially if you're anywhere north of 35 years old (I say that only because Mary Ellen's son said he thought he was too young at 21 to enjoy it). Oh, and there are some outtakes at the end that are the icing on the cake.
The lush sets are beautifully shot by Phedon Papamichael (covered in The Descendants). Locations aren't given on imdb but I suspect they're supposed to be living in Bel Air or Brentwood (west of L.A.), where there are some high end homes.
This holiday season I wanted to see three comedies and did so in ratings order from worst to best, ending with this one, the clear winner. None of the three was rated "fresh" on rottentomatoes. You already know how I felt about Parental Guidance and The Guilt Trip (this one got 51% from critics and 57 from from audiences). Each has family conflict and resolution, accompanied in Guilt Trip by confounded violins. Although you probably won't notice the music by Jon Brion (profiled in The Future), you can listen to it on the movie's website--just pause the trailer in the middle of the page and activate the soundtrack music player at the upper right corner of the screen. No violins, but lots of guitars and possibly a cello. What you will notice when you see the movie are the pop songs on the soundtrack (here's an article about the 16 songs and here's the amazon page where you can listen to clips).
You can see this on the big screen or you can wait for the DVD estimated to drop in March, and I think you'll have some good laughs, especially if you're anywhere north of 35 years old (I say that only because Mary Ellen's son said he thought he was too young at 21 to enjoy it). Oh, and there are some outtakes at the end that are the icing on the cake.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The Guilt Trip (2012)
This son/mother comedy should have been way better but Seth Rogen and especially Barbra Streisand are squandered. There are a few laughs but they are too far apart. Streisand gets top billing but it's Rogen's movie, and despite his commendable dramatic performance in Take This Waltz, he grimaces and glowers for most of the 95 minutes. We know Streisand can act (my favorites: Funny Girl (1968), Hello, Dolly! (1969), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), A Star is Born (1976), Yentl (1983), Nuts (1987), and even Meet the Fockers (2004), although Little Fockers was abysmal). This movie could have used a lot more Roz Focker. Instead Jack and I cringed every time the violins began. Seriously. Violins. I really like composer Christophe Beck (last blogged in both The Muppets and Tower Heist) but his tracks just drag down the pace. Anne Fletcher (The Proposal) directs from a script by Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) and we know they are capable of more.
This had higher rottentomatoes numbers (37% critics, 50% audiences) than Parental Guidance but is inferior. The manicure is there but the frumpy wardrobe is overdone and she doesn't sing. Recommended only for hard-core Barbra fans.
This had higher rottentomatoes numbers (37% critics, 50% audiences) than Parental Guidance but is inferior. The manicure is there but the frumpy wardrobe is overdone and she doesn't sing. Recommended only for hard-core Barbra fans.
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