Wild (2014)

Amy and I liked a lot this movie adapted from Cheryl Strayed's memoir about hiking 1100 miles alone in the Western U.S. mountains in 1995. Reese Witherspoon's angry, determined portrayal of Strayed has earned her, among others, a Screen Actors Guild nomination, with more to come. Witherspoon (last blogged in Mud) optioned Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail just before its 2012 publication and is also a producer here, making me wonder why the imdb trivia says she "beat out" other actresses for the leading role. With many flashbacks and interactions with other hikers along the way, this is far from a one-woman show, and features Laura Dern (besides her Oscar-nominated performance in Rambling Rose (1992), I also liked her in Mask (1985), Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Jurassic Park (1993), Citizen Ruth (1993), Dr. T and the Women (2000), Novocaine (2001), We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004), Happy Endings (2005), Year of the Dog (2007), Recount (2008), small parts in Everything Must Go and The Master, and her star turn as the whack job in the HBO series Enlightened) as Strayed's beloved mother, Thomas Sadoski (known to me just as Don Keefer on The Newsroom), and many more.

Director Jean-Marc Vallée has already brought Oscars to two actors for Dallas Buyers Club, so let's see what happens here in February. Nick Hornby, who adapted a memoir into the screenplay for An Education, does the same honors here for Strayed's best-selling book. Strayed, who chose her last name  (one syllable) and legally changed it at age 27 right before the journey, has a cameo, dropping off Witherspoon in the beginning (we missed it), and Strayed's own daughter plays Strayed as a child throughout the movie.

I couldn't help but think of Tracks, another young woman's odyssey released earlier this year. There, as here, photos during the credits prove that the wardrobe department took care to match outfits with the real hikers. In this one, you won't miss the strong endorsement of equipment vendor REI. The book (and the gear) can be purchased on their website.

The glorious cinematography is by Yves Bélanger (Dallas Buyers Club). No composer is listed and the extensive list of songs can be found here.

Jack had another commitment so couldn't join us the other night, but I'm sure he will like it just as much as we did. Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 93% to audiences' 81, and last weekend, before the holiday, it was sixth at the box office. Be sure to see it on a big screen if you possibly can.

Foxcatcher (2014)

Disturbing yet mesmerizing. Jack, Mary Ellen, and I thought this story of John du Pont training Olympic Gold wrestler Mark Schultz in the 1980s was fabulous. Steve Carell is scary as the chemical company heir who thinks he can buy everything and Channing Tatum awesome as the vulnerable Mark. I mentioned Carell in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and linked to his earlier work in The Way Way Back; Tatum was mentioned in Don Jon and Magic Mike and I listed previous credits in Haywire.  Both are much more than their previous reputations of funny man and beefcake, respectively. Mark Ruffalo (last blogged in Begin Again) brings his dependable talent to the role of Mark's devoted brother, coach, and fellow gold medalist Dave.

Director Bennett Miller began this project several years ago, but put it aside when he took over for Steven Soderbergh in Moneyball. That's but one of the fascinating trivia facts on imdb. The script was co-written by E. Max Frye (Something Wild (1986), more) and Dan Futterman (you might know him as an actor--the son in the Birdcage (1996), Danny Pearl in A Mighty Heart (2007), or his 76 episodes as Amy's brother in Judging Amy--but he was Oscar-nominated for adapting the book on which Capote (2005) was based, his first feature writing gig, and this is his second). Here's a discussion of the real story vs. the movie, but beware, it's full of spoilers.

The music by Rob Simonsen (The Spectacular Now) is pretty great, too, and can be previewed on iTunes. And the eerie cinematography is by Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty). The mansion exteriors were shot in Leesburg, Virginia, since the du Pont homestead (called Foxcatcher) has since been demolished, and interiors were mostly shot in the Pittsburgh area, where the family lived.

This has begun racking up awards and nominations. See it locally before the Oscars!

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

This stupid sequel made us laugh a lot in between the occasional lulls. Raunchy and violent, it's probably only for fans of the first Horrible Bosses. In this one, the three dumb guys are trying to make it on their own. Reprising their roles are Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, and Jamie Foxx (last blogged in This Is Where I Leave You, We're the Millers, the first Horrible Bosses, also We're the Millers, Margin Call, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, respectively). New characters are played by Chris Pine and Christoph Waltz (most recently in Star Trek: Into Darkness and Django Unchained).

As writers, Sean Anders and John Morris were last in these pages for We're the Millers. This is the first of Anders' four directing gigs I've seen.

Christopher Lennertz also returns as composer and his music is exciting again, but you're probably going to remember only the hit songs, listed here.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are notably unimpressed, averaging 34%, with audiences coming in at 57%. If you happen upon this on TV, do stay for the outtakes and bloopers at the end (don't bother if it's on network or basic cable--they'll probably cut out the credits, which are quite funny). If anyone asks us, Jack and I think there should not be a part three.

Top Five (2014)

Jack and I loved this story of a comedian trying to be taken seriously as an actor after getting sober. Sounds serious, doesn't it? But with Chris Rock starring, writing, and directing, we laughed plenty, and not only at the dirty jokes. This is Rock's third time in the three-job position, after Head of State (2003) and I Think I Love My Wife (2007), unless you count the documentary Good Hair, and he had no co-writers this time. In addition to the above, his stand-up, and his stint on SNL, I also liked Rock's acting in Nurse Betty (2000), Down to Earth (2001), and The Longest Yard (2005). Rosario Dawson (last blogged in Trance) is great as the reporter with the edgy hairdo. We have supporting star power from J.B. Smoove (most recently in Clear History), Gabrielle Union (last in these pages in Cadillac Records), Tracy Morgan (best known for 139 episodes of 30 Rock, he had a cameo in The Other Guys), Romany Malco (The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Blades of Glory (2007), Baby Mama (2008), No Ordinary Family (2010-11), and 38 episodes of Weeds (2005-12)), and Cedric the Entertainer (Larry Crowne). And then the cameos: Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler, DMX (don't worry if you won't recognize the rapper--he is introduced), Charlie Rose, and many more. Seinfeld is particularly funny. Oh, and don't miss Ben Vereen asking for money in a short appearance.

The title refers to Rock's Andre Allen and other characters listing their top five hip-hop music acts (most go past five), and they talk of many artists, musical and otherwise, e.g. Kanye West, Jay Z, Tyler Perry. As it happens, Kanye and Jay Z are among the producers.

Ludwig Göransson (We're the Millers) is credited with the soundtrack but you're more likely to remember the hip-hop, discussed in detail on this link, with videos.

Don't just take our word for it, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 90% and audiences 75. It was fourth at the box office, so should play for a while, in between the Oscar hopefuls.

The Homesman (2014)

This story of an 1850s spinster transporting three insane women across the harsh prairie pulled us in with its powerful story, good acting, magnificent images of bleak landscapes, and beautiful music. Hilary Swank and Tommy Lee Jones are wonderful as the woman and the drifter she hires to help on the journey across the plain states. Swank was last blogged in Amelia and Jones, most recently in The Family, not only stars, he directs to a script he co-wrote with Kieran Fitzgerald (in his fiction feature debut) and Wesley A. Oliver (in his writing debut after working as Jones' assistant on four movies), based on the 1988 novel by Glendon Swarthout, which had previously been optioned by Paul Newman. Interestingly, this author's works also include The Shootist (1975 novel and 1976 movie) and Where the Boys Are (1960 novel and movie). All is not dust and gloom in this picture--we laughed more than we expected for something that is certainly not a comedy.

The mad housewives of Nebraska are portrayed by the talents of Grace Gummer (last in Frances Ha), Miranda Otto (played the ex-wife in War of the Worlds (2005), but best known to me for TV: mini-series The Starter Wife (2007), guilty pleasure The Cashmere Mafia (2008), and another ex-wife in the highly entertaining Rake earlier this year), and Danish actress Sonja Richter.

Big star power is in the supporting cast with large credits for few scenes each, including John Lithgow (most recently in Love Is Strange), Meryl Streep (Gummer's mom, she was last blogged in August: Osage County), James Spader (best known for his TV work on 22 episodes of The Practice (2003-04), 101 of Boston Legal (2004-08), and 25 of The Office from 2011-12--I haven't seen The Blacklist--but who can forget his sexy movie work in Pretty in Pink (1986), Less Than Zero (1987), Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), White Palace (1990), Bad Influence (1990), Crash (1996), Two Days in the Valley (1996), and Secretary (2002), before his decidedly unsexy role in Lincoln alongside Mr. Jones), Hailee Steinfeld (most recently in Begin Again), Tim Blake Nelson (a guy with a lot of teeth who was in, among others, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Big Year, and Lincoln, among many), and Barry Corbin (Jack whispered, "He was the astronaut in Northern Exposure!" 110 episodes from 1990-95. I also remember from among Corbin's 192 credits, beginning with Urban Cowboy (1980), War Games (1983), Nothing in Common (1986), The Hot Spot (1990), two with Jones in 2007: No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah, and three episodes of Modern Family as Cameron's father). Really, all but Lithgow's are just cameos.

Here's my James Spader anecdote: In the mid-1990s I was walking on Mulholland Drive (as I did thrice weekly for fifteen years), near my Laurel Canyon house, and passed Spader going the other way, also on foot, with Christian Clemonson, who played his brother in Bad Influence (1990). I think they had a baby with them. In my usual starstruck awkwardness, I exclaimed, "So you really are brothers!" They ignored me and later Clemenson was in half of the episodes of Boston Legal.

Jones was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes for this and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), the only two features he has directed. Do be forewarned, there are a handful of scenes out of sequence, and one left me puzzled for several minutes. Two more warnings: this is not for kids and there's the possibility of learning a pretty big spoiler if you're not careful.

I expect recognition for many of the filmmakers, including cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (last shot Argo) and composer Marco Beltrami (scored Snowpiercer). You can stream four cuts of this soundtrack on Beltrami's website.

The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer is at a solid 80% for critics but only 53% for the philistines in the audience (for a discussion of philistines, watch this clip from The Squid and the Whale (2005), especially beginning at 1:10). Don't be a philistine. See this one on the big screen before the Oscars and before somebody gives away the twist.

Nightcrawler (2014)

Jack and I picked this story of a man driven to be the best news videographer in LA because of its Gotham Award nomination and thought it well worth our time. Jake Gyllenhaal is sublime as the tightly-wound, almost Aspergers-spectrum Lou and the cinematography by Robert Elswit (won his Oscar for There Will Be Blood (2007), nominated for Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), and did great work on Desert Hearts (1985), Hard Eight (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Heist (2001), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Syriana (2005), Michael Clayton (2007), Duplicity, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Salt, The Town, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, among his dozens of credits) is beautiful and dark with fabulous helicopter shots of Los Angeles.

Gyllenhaal (last blogged in Prisoners) was described by one reviewer as "unblinking," and apparently blinks very little during this performance. I was too caught up in the story to notice, but Jack did. Gyllenhaal is gaunt, having lost 20 pounds for this role and should be nominated for something. The one who was, besides the director, however, is Riz Ahmed (new to me) as Lou's assistant Rick. Rene Russo (mentioned in Thor: The Dark World and linked to other blog posts in Thor) is good as the news director.

Director/writer Dan Gilroy, Russo's husband, makes his directorial debut; he co-wrote The Fall (2006) (a wonderful fantasy about a hospitalized stuntman telling supernatural stories to his fellow patient, a little girl) for director Tarsem Singh, and more; he's the brother of Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote all the Bourne movies then directed the last to a script he wrote with Dan). This script is tight and the pacing good.

James Newton Howard (most recently in these pages for scoring Larry Crowne) provides a tense soundtrack that can be accessed one track at a time beginning here.

Those afflicted with Motion-Picture-Motion-Sickness (MPMS list here) should take whatever measures possible because the cameras swing wildly throughout. In fact, those of you with that infirmity may want to wait until the DVD release in February 2015. It is still playing locally, however.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences agree with us this time, averaging 95% and 87%, respectively.

The Theory of Everything (2014)

Beautiful, romantic, sad, and inspiring, this story of genius Stephen Hawking (from age 21, when he could walk and talk, to his machine-voiced, wheelchair-bound 40s) through the eyes of his wife Jane is Oscar bait for the incredible performance of Eddie Redmayne--and Felicity Jones is no slouch, either. Redmayne sang in Les Misérables, but I didn't mention him because I'm in the 1% who didn't like that one. I covered him, however, in the excellent My Week with Marilyn (those of you who have seen the latter should read this hilarious synopsis, filled with spoilers). But I digress. Redmayne's scenes were not shot in chronological order, so he took extra care to note how much degeneration Hawking had suffered for each scene, and the contortions of his body are remarkable. I hope he didn't damage his spine! Jones (last blogged in The Invisible Woman) brings the fierce devotion of Jane Wilde Hawking, whose memoir Travelling to Infinity -- My Life with Stephen is the basis of this movie, to life. David Thewlis (most recently in War Horse) is fine as the warm professor and Charlie Cox (Irish soldier Owen in a series arc on Boardwalk Empire, though his broad smile was not much in evidence there) absolutely yummy as the choir master Jonathan. Emily Watson (last in Belle) is on screen too briefly as Jane's mother but the scene's punchline made everyone in the theatre laugh.

James Marsh (won his Oscar and more for the Philippe Petit documentary Man on Wire) directs from the screenplay adaptation by Anthony McCarten (a novelist in his own, er, write, he's new to me). The gorgeous cinematography, making full use of interesting lighting effects (oh, the fireworks!) is by Benoît Delhomme (A Most Wanted Man).

Scientist Kip Thorne is mentioned in this movie, and I knew the name because it came up in the trivia list for Interstellar the other night. He must be glad. Hawking himself loves this movie, and lent his actual "voice" to the project. And just yesterday, I saw this news item, that Hawking has been using the same talking device all these years, and Intel has designed him a new system that they plan to donate to and customize for other users as well.

The movie, beginning in 1963, has some great pop songs from the era and then moves into the glorious music of Jóhann Jóhannsson (the only one of his work I've seen is Prisoners), plus a little symphonic Wagner. Again, tonight, I've had trouble streaming music, but this playlist works pretty well, and is in sections, so you can reload the page when it stalls.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 83% and its audiences at 84 may be a wee bit less enthusiastic than Jack and I, but you should see this before the Oscars.

Laggies (2014)

Jack and I quite liked this story of a slacker in her 20s who hides out at the home of a teenager and her dad. Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Sam Rockwell are wonderful in the top three roles (last blogged in Begin Again, Dark Shadows, and Better Living Through Chemistry, respectively). Also featuring good performances by Kaitlyn Dever (most recently in Men, Women & Children) as another teenager, Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids) as an adult friend, and Jeff Garlin (I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With) as Knightley's father.

The title is a throwaway line of Dever's, "Come on, laggies!" when she wants the other kids to hurry up.

The beautiful establishing shots of Seattle are thanks to Ben Kasulke, who also shot Your Sister's Sister for director Lynn Shelton, and I looked up the spectacular location of the wedding early in the movie. It's called Chihuly Garden and Glass. Screenwriter Andrea Siegel makes her debut with this script.

Here's a taste of the sweet soundtrack by Benjamin Gibbard (known for Death Cab for Cutie and is Zooey Deschanel's ex-husband).

Critics are tepid at 69% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences worse at 58%. But I'll see and like anything with Rockwell, and you can find this streaming on amazon until the DVD comes out in February.

The Outrageous Sophie Tucker (2014)

Making the rounds at American Jewish film festivals, this documentary about the last of the red hot mamas is pretty entertaining, though Jack and I would have liked more performances and less footage of the biographers. We had no problem with the celebrities, however, such as Bette Midler, Michael Feinstein, Barbara Walters, Tony Bennett, Carol Channing, and more. Afterwards we looked at the website, where the biographers seem to have copyrighted Ms. Tucker's (1887-1966) name, and watched some videos linked therein. The soundtrack is available on amazon, but the movie is still playing one-nighters and isn't available to watch online, nor on DVD. When it is, it will be fun for any who remember or want to know more about the good old days.

The Wonders (2013)

This upbeat mystery about a slacker artist and a prophet held hostage across the street in Jerusalem is quite fun and is based on a true story. Screened as part of the local Jewish Film Festival, the audience was enthralled, both by the movie and the director/co-writer, Avi Nesher, who spoke afterwards. He said it had much to do with the contrast between the secular and the religious, and also that it was inspired by Alice in Wonderland and Chinatown (1974). For the former, our hero is known as Arnav, which is Hebrew for the word rabbit; there's a mad hatter; the equivalent of a smoking caterpillar; and creative animation. For the latter, Jerusalem is integral to the story, just as Los Angeles was to Chinatown.

Starring Ori Hizkiah as Arnav, Adir Miller as Gittes (always with a hat), Yehuda Levi as the prophet Knafo, and Yuval Scharf as the gorgeous redhead Ella, this is well worth your while and is available as a DVD on netflix and to stream on amazon (to be sure you get the right one, as the title isn't unique, pick the one with the redhead, the frizzy-haired guy, and the animated bunny).

Interstellar (2014)

Jack and I liked this sci-fi thriller about a future astronaut trying to save humanity from a dystopian Earth, despite its excessive (2:49) length, and we couldn't immediately think what to trim. I told the waitress at dinner that night that it had at least five stories and Jack added, "Each of them two hours long." McConaughey (last blogged in The Wolf of Wall Street) is well-suited to the role of the devoted father and maverick astronaut chosen to save the species as is Michael Caine (most recently in Now You See Me) as the éminence grise. Powerful performances are are given by Jessica Chastain (last in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) and young Mackenzie Foy. Anne Hathaway (most recently mentioned in Don Jon and linked to previous work in Les Misérables) plays the Sandra Bullock part, er, the co-astronaut, and it's always nice to see Ellen Burstyn (most recently in Draft Day), even in a cameo. That's the voice of Bill Irwin (I always think of him as a mime, which he played in Scenes from a Mall (1991), but maybe clown is more accurate; and then he's done a lot of good work in a lot of good projects, including Rachel Getting Married, which starred Hathaway, and Higher Ground) as the robot TARS.

Director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan co-wrote the complex script; the same jobs they had on The Dark Knight Rises.

The magnificent images are shot by Hoyte van Hoytema (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), though there are obviously a lot of computer generated effects. A filmmaker told me before we saw it that there is an awesome long tracking shot involving the pickup truck, but I missed it. The 92 items of trivia are fascinating and tell a lot about the science behind the movie.

Composer Hans Zimmer (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) is at the top of his game here with a majestic score. There are several places to stream the soundtrack. This is one (the ad on it for the new HBO series is great) but be forewarned that every site I tried stopped dead after a while--even after I rebooted my computer just now.

Those afflicted by Motion Picture Motion Sickness (MPMS) should sit in the back and look away occasionally.

Some are calling this the best movie of the decade. That's a prediction I find highly improbable. With critics on Rotten Tomatoes averaging 73% and audiences at 87, this is a must-see for science fiction buffs and McConaughey fans and not bad for anyone else, either.

Whiplash (2014)

This terrific story of a driven young jazz drummer pushed to the limit by his abusive teacher is not something to see if you need to relax. The performances are outstanding and the movie is starting to bring in awards (Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance and more). Miles Teller (last blogged in The Spectacular Now) is incredible as the single-minded Andrew and J.K. Simmons (most recently in, appropriately, The Vicious Kind) terrifying as the mercurial conductor Fletcher. Paul Reiser (perhaps best known, and certainly most awarded, for 162 episodes of Mad About You (1992-99), he was also wonderful in Diner (1982), My Two Dads (1987-90), Bye Bye Love (1995), One Night at McCool's (2001), The Thing About My Folks (2005), and "the old guy" in Married (2014--now on hiatus but renewed for a second season)) lends a warm touch as Andrew's caring father.

Here's my personal Paul Reiser anecdote. A close friend of my mother's was close friends with Florence Stanley, who played the judge on My Two Dads, and I dined with her several times. At an Italian restaurant in London, England, in the 1980s, I saw Reiser holding court with a group of about ten people. I walked up to him and said I was a friend of Flo's and a fan of the show. He couldn't have been nicer. Earlier this year I met him again here in the heartland after his stand-up comedy show, but didn't try to remind him of the story because I was with someone who actually knew him personally and they had only a minute or two to catch up in the book-signing line. Still nice, though.

Fletcher is inspired by a band instructor who terrorized director/writer Damien Chazelle (Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, which we didn't like, was his first feature and this is his second) and the school is supposed to be a blend of Juilliard, Eastman, and Lincoln Conservatory. We have a completely different view of Chazelle now!

My heart pounded with adrenaline for Andrew, combined with the jumpy (and excellent) editing, the occasional wild camera moves (motion picture motion sickness, or MPMS, sufferers, sit in the back), the high energy big band numbers, and my musician's knowledge of the difficulty of the rhythms, including 14/8 (the title track) and 15/8. Teller and Simmons do their own playing (Teller took a lot of extra lessons before shooting), but all the other musicians are pros. My preferred jazz forms are vocals but the music in this is first rate. Most of the songs are written by Justin Hurwitz, Chazelle's classical-piano-trained friend from their days at Harvard, and they collaborated on Guy and Madeline. Tim Simonec, conductor and/or orchestrator of 98 other projects and composer of 12, contributes a few songs as well. You can listen to the entire 54 minute soundtrack on Spotify via this link (with commercials). Or watch this 5 minute youtube video for a taste.

Glad to report that we're on the same page with Rotten Tomatoes: 96% all around. Join the choir and see this before the Oscars.

Rosewater (2014)

Jack and I throughly enjoyed comedian Jon Stewart's feature directing/writing debut, a drama based on the memoir of Maziar Bahari's 2009 imprisonment in his native Iran. Gael García Bernal's portrayal is so positive that it lightens what could have been a deeply depressing movie. We may have wondered at the casting of Bernal (last blogged in Casa di Mi Padre), a Mexican, as the Iranian journalist, but his acting skills are so developed that we had no problem once we saw what he did with it. The co-star, playing Javadi (no relation, I think, to the character in Homeland) but referred to as Rosewater for his scent, is also not Iranian but a Dane named Kim Bodnia (he was in the fabulous In a Better World (Hævnen) but I failed to write about him). Dimitri Leonidas, who plays Davood, is English, there's a Turk and an Egyptian, too, but the rest of the cast that's supposed to be Iranian is. I did instantly recognize the lovely voice of Iranian Shohreh Aghdashloo (Oscar-nominated for House of Sand and Fog (2003)), as Bahari's mother, when I heard it in the very beginning.

Bahari appeared on Stewart's Daily Show in that year, which had a direct impact on his imprisonment, and the segment is recreated in the movie with Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones playing himself. After his release, Bahari wrote the book Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival with Aimee Molloy. Stewart has a sure hand behind the camera, and uses a few inventive cinematic techniques, such as displaying his character's thoughts on the sides of buildings as he walks down the street.

If you listen to the clips on amazon of the Howard Shore (most recently scored A Dangerous Method) soundtrack, you'll hear Aghdashloo's voice over most of the first track.

I've read nothing but raves, but Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging only 74% and audiences are at 80. But, like Birdman, it's in the top fifteen (#13 to Birdman's 10) at the box office despite showing in a fraction of the number of screens as the bigger earners. Check it out. It's worth your time and money.

Men, Women & Children (2014)

Critics hated, but Jack and I did not, this ensemble story of the internet's impact on human relationships of teenagers and adults in a Texas town. Out of the huge cast the standouts are Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Kaitlyn Dever, and Ansel Elgort. DeWitt (last blogged in Promised Land) and Adam Sandler (most recently in these pages for his Razzie nominations for That's My Boy (2012), Jack & Jill (2011), and Just Go with It) play an unsatisfied couple, Garner (last in Draft Day) plays a horribly controlling mom, Dever (during the whole movie I was sure she was the girl from Homeland--look at the pictures--one, two--and see if you agree) her good daughter who doesn't deserve the psychopathic scrutiny, Greer (most recently in Jeff, Who Lives at Home) the well-meaning but dumbly permissive mother of Olivia Crocicchia (last in Palo Alto), and Dean Norris (Hank the DEA brother-in-law on Breaking Bad) the befuddled dad who can't figure out why his son, played by Elgort, has quit the football team, or, for that matter, why his wife left them. Elena Kampouris also does a nice job as the anorexic kid, as does Travis Trope (I've just seen his first episode in a series arc on his season of Boardwalk Empire) as DeWitt and Sandler's son. Dennis Haysbert (profiled in Dear White People) has a nice cameo in a few well-shot scenes with DeWitt.

Director Jason Reitman (last helmed Labor Day) and Erin Cressida Wilson (Chloe) adapted the 2011 novel by Chad Kultgen (credited for the story in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone). Wikipedia says that Kutlgen has been vilified for his writing being sex-obsessed, which makes me wonder how true this movie is to the original book. There's some sex obsession, but it doesn't permeate the entire picture. One thing the author got right that the movie doesn't is the use of the Oxford comma (it goes before the word "and" in any series of more than two things) in its title Men, Women, and Children.

I don't remember much about the soundtrack (no composer is listed), but on this link you can read the names of the songs and hear clips if you click the play arrow on the album cover.

Here are the awful Rotten Tomatoes reviews--29% critics, 53 audiences. This is definitely not the first movie you should see nowadays (Oscar season has officially begun), but it has plenty to recommend it if you happen upon it after its DVD release in January.

Dear White People (2014)

Jack and I loved this edgy, cringy satire about black students at a mostly white Ivy League college. Director/writer Justin Simien is making a big splash in his feature debut and began racking up wins with the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Breakthough Talent early this year. Tyler James Williams (88 episodes of Everybody Hates Chris (2005-09) and 19 of Go On (2012-13)) and Tessa Thompson (new to me) star as Lionel Higgins and Sam White, ably supported by Teyonah Parris (played Don's secretary Dawn in Mad Men with radically different hair) and Brandon P Bell (haven't seen him before, either) as Coco Connors and Troy Fairbanks. I'm giving you their last names because I think the contrast between "Lionel Higgins" and "Troy Fairbanks" is both vast and humorous. Dennis Haysbert (of his 113 credits I remember liking best Love Field (1992) Waiting to Exhale (1995), Far from Heaven (2002), a lot of TV including President David Palmer on 24, and his Allstate commercials) lends his gravitas and booming bass voice to the role of Dean Fairbanks.

Simien has a twitter page for the movie and I read somewhere that he used quotes from it in the movie. However, now that the movie is out, the twitter feed is different and I can't get far enough down to verify.

Although a composer, Kathryn Bostic, is in the credits, nothing by her is on the album, and her own website features an alternate trailer with classical music. Here's the more oft-played trailer. They're both very funny, and, if you like them, you're likely to agree with Jack, me, and the Rotten Tomatoes critics, who are averaging 91%, as opposed to its less agreeable audiences, coming in at 71%.

Don't run out of the room before the credits are over, because there will be photos of actual events at actual colleges that relate to the story.

The Judge (2014)

Ann and I liked this drama about a cocky Chicago attorney who returns to his Indiana hometown for his mother's funeral and stays to defend his estranged father, a respected judge, against a murder rap. Roberts Downey and Duvall are very good and the cinematography, music, and production design are stunning. As I recall, two weeks later, it was too long, however. Downey (last blogged for his cameo in Chef) is no stranger to playing arrogant characters but, of course, he softens after a while. Duvall (most recently in Get Low) doesn't let us down as the hard-to-please father. Vera Farmiga (last in Higher Ground) is lovely and warm as Downey's high school flame all grown up, and Vincent D'Onofrio (who can forget him as the alien made of bugs in Men in Black (1997)? I also liked his work in Full Metal Jacket (1987), Mystic Pizza (1988), The Player (1992), Household Saints (1995), Strange Days (1995), The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002), Thumbsucker (2005), and the 2009 Oscar nominated short The New Tenants) is also convincing as Downey's frustrated brother.

David Dobkin (The Change-Up) directs from a screenplay by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino) and Bill Dubuque (his debut). Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln) is behind the beautiful pictures.

My Rule #8 declares that Ohio is where hicks live in the movies. This time it's Indiana that Downey's character denigrates. That said, the design team does a lot with the small town sets and locations.

Thomas Newman (last scored Get On Up) remains one of my favorite film composers. Listen to tracks on youtube, beginning here.

Rotten Tomatoes critics didn't care much for it, averaging 47%, while the audiences are coming in at 78. Jack couldn't join us when we saw it, but I think he would've given it about a 70, as we would.

The Change-Up (2011)

Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman play best friends who are a playboy and a family man, respectively, and, when they each express envy at the other's life, they magically switch bodies. I know we saw it, I know we liked it, but it was released 3½ years ago and I forgot to write about it. It was silly fun, with Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, and Alan Arkin, among others. Also with Mircea Monroe, who plays Morning Randolph on Episodes, one of my favorite series ever. Directed by David Dobkin, who helmed the hilarious and successful Wedding Crashers (2005).

Gone Girl (2014)

Jack and I liked this thriller about a man whose wife seems to have been abducted on their anniversary. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike turn in good performances for director David Fincher from a script adapted by Gillian Flynn from her bestselling 2012 third novel (we didn't read it). The story is satisfactorily complex but the author's having written the screenplay may explain why it was 149 minutes long--we writers sometimes love our own words too much.

Affleck (last blogged in Argo) and Pike (mentioned in The Big Year and linked to her previous work in Made in Dagenham) are convincing as Nick and Amy falling in love and then becoming a bickering couple in various flashbacks. Fun trivia: Nick is a New Yorker and was supposed to wear a Yankees cap in one scene. Affleck, a Yankee-hating Red Sox fan, refused, and compromised on a Mets cap. Carrie Coon (haven't been following The Leftovers, nor have I seen her on Broadway) is wonderful as Nick's sister and Neil Patrick Harris (most recently in these pages in A Million Ways to Die in the West) excellent as a nice guy who gets creepy later. Also noteworthy are Tyler Perry (we haven't seen a single Madea movie) as a savvy lawyer and Scoot McNairy (after Argo I liked him in the AMC series Halt and Catch Fire) as a scam victim.

Fincher (after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake he produced all 26 episodes of House of Cards and directed two) is quite the powerhouse and his power is on the screen with high production values and another compelling soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (also did Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) (listen to the whole Gone Girl score here with occasional commercials). Apparently Fincher asked the composers to create music that's supposed to be relaxing but is unsettling, like something he had heard at a massage parlor. There are plenty of songs, too, but I think you'll remember the Reznor/Ross score.

That said, we saw this three weeks ago and my memory isn't all that sharp. Rotten Tomatoes is good with 88% critics and 90 from audiences.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

Surprisingly funny and intense as all get out, this story of an angry, desperate, hallucinating, ex-action hero mounting a serious play on Broadway is a flat-out masterpiece. Jack said Michael Keaton's layered performance was one of the best he's ever seen. There's a certain symmetry to the choice of Keaton (last blogged in Robocop) for this role of Riggan Thomson, as Keaton played Batman in 1989 and 1992. My friend Judy worked on the movie One Good Cop (1991) and happened to be present for the first table-read of the script. She told me that each person introduced him-/herself. When it was Keaton's turn, he gruffly said, "I'm Batman," and the room cracked up.

That funny man should get an Oscar nomination for this role. He's already been nominated for a Gotham Award, and the movie for Best Film, plus four wins and a Golden Lion nomination at the Venice Film Festival. It's early yet.

Ed Norton (most recently in these pages in The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Zach Galifianakis (last in The Campaign, and last in a serious role in It's Kind of a Funny Story) also bring magnificent work to their high-energy characters: the mercurial and brilliant actor Mike and the hard-working, take-no-prisoners lawyer Jake, respectively.

I don't want to discount the women in this cast. Emma Stone (most recently in Magic in the Moonlight) is wonderful as Riggan's troubled daughter Sam, Naomi Watts (just in St. Vincent) great as insecure actress Lesley, Andrea Riseborough (last in Disconnect) very good as Riggan's girlfriend and co-star Laura, and Amy Ryan (was in Clear History with Keaton) grounded as the sanest person in the movie, Riggan's ex-wife and Sam's mother, Sylvia. That covers the seven faces on the poster, but I must mention Lindsay Duncan (Le Week-End) whose few scenes as a feared critic are important.

It's such a cliché to say that New York City is a character in the story, but even so, this couldn't take place anywhere else. In fact, it's narrowed down to the St. James Theatre on West 44 Street, where we saw Bullets Over Broadway earlier this year, and the block where it's located.

Director Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu (last in these pages in Biutiful) co-wrote the script with Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo, who both collaborated with the director on Biutiful, and Alexander Dinelaris in his debut. The cinematographer responsible for the moody pictures is Emmanuel Lubezki (Oscar nominated for A Little Princess (1995), Sleepy Hollow (1999), The New World (2005), Children of Men (2006), and The Tree of Life, and winner for Gravity). Apparently Iñárritu told Mike Nichols he was planning to shoot the entire movie in one long camera shot but Nichols advised against it, saying it would decrease the chance for editing in some comic timing. Nonetheless, the movie appears to be made that way, and I do advise those afflicted with Motion Picture Motion Sickness (MPMS) to sit in the back and bring your ginger or remedy of choice to counteract the constant use of hand-held cameras.

There are songs, but most of the soundtrack is drum solos, improvised by Antonio Sanchez, whose other job is drummer for the Pat Metheny Group. It is remarkable. Here's a Vanity Fair article about the score. No spoilers in the article but possibly one in the video. The album, with 15 drum tracks and six classical ones, can be previewed in its entirety here. In the very first moments of the movie, you'll hear someone speaking Spanish. That is Sanchez. The drummer you see on the screen in the movie is not.

Here's Rotten Tomatoes agreeing with us at 94% critics and 89 audiences, but it's been out only three weeks in limited release. This weekend's grosses obviously aren't posted yet, but by last weekend, when it was showing in 231 theatres, it was still number 12 in earnings. You won't regret adding to that total.

Before I Go to Sleep (2014)

Despite its dismal reviews Jack and I enjoyed this thriller with Nicole Kidman as an amnesiac and Colin Firth as her husband. The acting is outstanding, the English settings at once dreary and beautiful, and the story full of twists. Jack said Kidman (last blogged in The Paperboy) is always good at that deer-in-the-headlights look and Firth (most recently in Magic in the Moonlight) charming and earnest. Somewhere I read "What woman, amnesia or not, wouldn't be thrilled to wake and find Colin Firth in her bed?" Supporting actors are Mark Strong (last in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy).

Directed and co-written by Rowan Joffe (we didn't like The American) from the novel by S.J. Watson, this features a soundtrack by Ed Shearmur (most recently scored Mother and Child). Here's a link to a playlist from others of his extensive catalog of soundtracks. Sorry about the ads, unless you see the very funny one for Poo-pourri.

When we saw it Wednesday the Rotten Tomatoes ratings were 37% critics and 53 audiences. One day later it's slipped to 36. Ugh. We think differently.

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

We loved this dark comedy about estranged fraternal twins (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) who have more in common than they realize. It surprised us with its depth. Hader is amazing as gay brother Milo, with body language that is spot on. Wiig is good as always as straight sister Maggie. They were SNL players together and acted together in Adventureland. Hader (nominated for a Gotham Best Actor Award for this role) was last blogged in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and Wiig was mentioned in How to Train Your Dragon 2 and blogged with a link in Her. Luke Wilson (I liked and liked him in Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), Legally Blonde (2001), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Old School (2003), The Family Stone (2005), and 15 episodes of Enlightened) is playing his usual aw-shucks kind of regular guy but Ty Burrell (most recently the voice of Mr. Peabody in Mr. Peabody & Sherman) is outstanding in a supporting but pivotal role. Joanna Gleeson (I didn't know she's the daughter of Monty Hall! I enjoyed her work in Heartburn (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), If These Walls Could Talk (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Wedding Planner (2001), and numerous TV appearances) explains a lot as the twins' mother. We saw it two weeks ago when it was in town for a short run.

Director Craig Johnson has made two other movies, one of which starred Mark Duplass who, with his brother Jay, last produced The Do-Deca-Pentathalon, which is about siblings as well. The Duplass Brothers are among the producers of this one and their twenty fingerprints are all over it. Johnson co-wrote the screenplay with Mark Heyman and it's Heyman's second feature (his first was Black Swan!). At Sundance early this year the script won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. I see more prizes in the future.

A short clip of the nice score by Nathan Larson (most recently scored Don Jon) can be sampled here--it says "soudntrack"--but no further links to the music can be found online. However, the pop songs can mostly be heard on this page. There's a lip-sync scene that is not to be missed.

In fact the whole movie is not to be missed. Rated 87% from critics and 83 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, it is scheduled to be released on DVD December 15, 2015.

Last Vegas (2013)

I liked this story about Kevin Kline, Robert De Niro, and Morgan Freeman having a bachelor party for their lifelong friend Michael Douglas before he marries a woman less than half his age. Silly fun with the men, plus Mary Steenburgen and more, acting up. I saw it late in 2013 and, in researching something else, just noticed I forgot to write about it. I like an accurate count so here it is.

St. Vincent (2014)

Jack and I loved this (mostly) comedy with Bill Murray as cantankerous Vin who finds redemption babysitting a middle schooler next door to his Brooklyn home. Deserved Oscar buzz for Murray is but one reason you should see this. Melissa McCarthy is terrific playing it straight as the boy's mother, Naomi Watts is hilarious as the pregnant Russian hooker, and now-11-year-old Jaeden Lieberher is adorable as the boy. Murray (last blogged for a small part in The Grand Budapest Hotel, referenced with a link in The Monuments Men) has been showing us for years he's more than a slapstick comedian, and his range in this is way broader than in Lost in Translation (2003) for which he was Oscar nominated. Jack and I agree that this is one of McCarthy's (last in the mediocre Tammy) best roles--we love her slapstick out-of-control characters, but this one is solid. Watts (most recently in The Impossible) almost never does comedy but she's up to the task--there's a sight gag at her place of business that made us laugh out loud. And Chris O'Dowd (most recently in Calvary) has some wonderful scenes (and lines) as a priest/teacher.

Theodore Melfi (commercials, music videos, and one earlier feature unknown to me) directs to his own sparkling script, which does NOT include the line, "Get off my lawn!" Theodore Shapiro (last scored The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) gives us a jaunty soundtrack which can be sampled on soundcloud, but you're more likely to remember the 60s hits such as Somebody to Love, One Toke Over the Line, and Shelter from the Storm (videos available here).

At the age of 63, Jack and I often refer to ourselves as geezers, but we're kind of joking. Rolling Stone referred to Murray's character as an "old coot." The character is 68 (maybe coot-adjacent), Murray is 64. The magazine also adds that Murray's singing along to the Dylan tune over the end credits is worth "double the price of admission," and we concur. 75% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes may be "certified Fresh" but it's a bit tepid--82% from audiences is getting there--for this wonderful movie. See it!

Frozen (2013)

I liked the animated musical of the cursed girl who accidentally freezes her hometown and runs away until her sister sets off to rescue her, featuring the awesome vocal chops of Idina Menzel as the former and Kristen Bell as the latter. It's all quite pleasant and funny in spots. It's based on Hans Christian Andersen's story The Snow Queen, but Disney wisely decided to make the queen likable instead of a villain. Good choice, as it won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars and Golden Globes, among 61 wins and 43 nominations. I recorded it on cable in July and watched it two and a half weeks ago, the day after I broke my foot (among many many more hours of video--feeling pretty low that Sunday). As it happened, I had also just watched several little girls bellowing Let It Go into their parents' (my friends') cameras on Facebook.

As is my wont, I'll give you some of my favorites of Bell (I didn't see any versions of Veronica Mars but I quite liked her in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), its sort-of-sequel Get Him to the Greek (tiny part), another small part in Safety Not Guaranteed, co-starring in her real-life husband Dax Shepard's Hit and Run, three episodes of Parks and Recreation, and 36 of House of Lies--the parental ratings range between Frozen and House of Lies is vast) and Menzel (on Broadway in Wicked (Amy and I were moved to tears by her opening song), on the big screen in Rent (2005) and Enchanted, and on the small screen in Glee). Plenty of other talents provide voices but I'll let it go this time.

Oh, and this is where I get to publish my theory about John Travolta's mangling of Menzel's name at the Oscars in February. We've since learned that he's dyslexic. I maintain he didn't say Adele Dazeem, he actually said Adele Nazeem--he got all the consonants, but in the wrong order.

Nobody needs my advice on this movie--many parents have watched it multiple times and some have been happy to do so.

Tracks (2013)

Jack and I loved this, "based on the remarkable true, story" of Robyn Davidson who walked 1700 miles across Australia over about nine months in 1977, with her dog Diggity and some camels. Mia Wasikowska's intensity is just right as anti-social Robyn. Don't be misled by the poster of her (last blogged in Only Lovers Left Alive) with Adam Driver (most recently in This Is Where I Leave You), this isn't a romance--Robyn has trouble letting people in. The real Robyn turned 27 in 1977 and has led a remarkable life. Apparently this story has been in development longer than Wasikowska, now 25, has been alive. Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman were each once considered for the lead. I don't want to discount Driver's performance--he's good as usual, this time as photographer Rick who does all he can to help Robyn in her solo quest. It's fun to see photos of the real Robyn and Rick, who happen to closely resemble the actors, at the end credits.

Directed with an even hand by John Curran (covered in Stone) and magnificently shot by Mandy Walker (Lantana (2001), Shattered Glass (2003), Australia), this movie has a few nominations and I imagine more will follow. The screenplay was adapted from Davidson's memoir of the same name by Marion Nelson in her debut. Plenty of girl power both on the screen and off.

The dreamy music by Garth Stevenson can be sampled on youtube or purchased at the retailer of your choice. And we enjoyed the judicious use of Hoagy Carmichael singing his hit song Stardust. Rotten Tomatoes' critics average 81% and audiences 76. Go see it on the big screen.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)

Jack and I didn't love this contemporary tale of lost love following a tragedy (not revealed until about a half hour in). Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy are great actors, but the movie made us work a bit harder than we wanted. See the end of the title ": Them"? Originally there were two features, ": Her" and ": Him", at 90 and 100 minutes respectively, which both premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2013, apparently telling the same story from the perspective of each partner. This one is those two edited together, at 123 minutes, premiering at Cannes in May of 2014 and released in the US in September. It's noteworthy to me that on the movie's official website the two previous chapters are discussed but ": Them" has been removed from the title. I think it's fair to tell you that Chastain's character is named Eleanor Rigby, and in the movie's production notes it says that her name's purpose is to underscore the generation gap between boomers (her parents) and their kids.

Chastain (last blogged in Zero Dark Thirty) covers all the bases, going from radiant to depressed to resolute in the blink of an eye and McAvoy (most recently in X-Men: Days of Future Past) shows no less range. Plenty of talent supports, including William Hurt (I loved his Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), his nominated Children of a Lesser God (1986), Broadcast News (1987), and A History of Violence (2005), as well as his work in Altered States (1980), Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Woody Allen's Alice (1980), Smoke (1995), Michael (1996), The King (2005), Mr. Brooks (2007), Into the Wild (2007), Vantage Point (2008), and The Incredible Hulk (2008)), Isabelle Huppert (last in Home), Viola Davis (most recently in Get On Up), Bill Hader (last in Clear History), and Ciaràn Hinds (most recently in the short film The Shore), among others. My favorite line is Davis's, as Chastain's professor: "You must really hate the Beatles."

Director/writer Ned Benson's first features were the twins :Her and :Him and I expect we'll see more from him after two Cannes nominations for this one.

For afflicted with Motion Picture Motion Sickness (MPMS), there are some incidences of the camera bouncing as the operator seems to run after an actor but the picture is steady most of the time. We saw this two weeks ago on its penultimate night here. I can't remember the music by Son Lux AKA Ryan Nott and it's not showing up in my searches.

We're on a roll with the fourth picture in a row of Rotten Tomatoes' critics agreeing with us. This one averages 62% with audiences less tepid at 71. If you happen to see it and loved it, write me and we'll discuss.

Pride (2014)

Absolutely fabulous, this is based on the true story of Lesbians and Gays Supporting the Miners in 1984 London and Wales. We laughed, I cried, we loved it. During the prolonged miners' strike, Mark Ashton, a young gay Brit, saw the parallels between the two groups' struggles and organized the highly unlikely alliance. Ben Schnetzer (wonderful in The Book Thief, though I failed to mention him as the Jewish refugee) turns in a powerful performance as Mark, and I never would have guessed he's American. The movie starts and ends with closeted Joe AKA Bromley, the one completely fictional character, who is played to naive perfection by George MacKay (last blogged in Defiance). The others in the LGSM group are Dominic West (I didn't see his 60 episodes of The Wire, but he's been recognized as part of the ensemble of Chicago (2002), and was good in Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and the mini-series The Hour (2011)) as flamboyant Jonathan, Andrew Scott as brooding Gethin, Joseph Gilgun as quiet Mike, and Faye Marsay as practical Steph (the latter three are new to me but not to the profession).

Representing the elders of the Welsh contingent we have heavy hitters Imelda Staunton (most recently in Another Year) as Hefina, Bill Nighy (last in About Time) as Cliff, Paddy Considine (most recently in The World's End) as Dai, and Menna Trussler (a veteran I haven't seen before but will surely notice from here on) as Gwen, to name a few.

Stage director Matthew Warchus (Tony for  God of Carnage (2009), nominated for Art (1998), True West (2000), and The Norman Conquests (2009)) directs his second feature in 15 years with this first-rate script by Stephen Bereford (a stage and TV actor) in his writing debut, expertly combining comedy with drama.

Pride won the Queer Palm Award at Cannes earlier this year in the fifth outing (ha!) of the award. There's a youtube video about the real story, called Dancing in Dulais. I haven't watched it yet but I will.

Some of the visuals that tickled us were the ubiquitous instances of garish wallpaper in the homes, and aerial shots of the characters' frequent crossings of the Severn Bridge between England and Wales, not to mention the hair and wardrobe crimes of that era.

The soundtrack contains a great selection of 80s dance tunes, which can be streamed here, including a few instrumentals by the movie's composer Christopher Nightingale.

Jack and I aren't the only ones loving this one--Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging 93%. To paraphrase a line from late in the movie, you'll love this whether you're gay, straight, or haven't made up your mind yet.

Love Is Strange (2014)

We liked a lot this story of long-time life partners Ben and George whose marriage results in George's getting fired from his job at a Catholic school and their losing their Manhattan apartment. John Lithgow and Alfred Molina shine under the direction of co-writer Ira Sachs (I missed his Independent Spirit Award nominated Keep the Lights On (2012) but very much liked Married Life (2007)), who wed his partner as soon as it became legal in New York in 2011. Mauricio Zacharias co-wrote Keep the Lights On and this, among others.

Lithgow (last blogged in The Campaign) and Molina (covered in An Education) give us sympathetic portrayals of older men set in their ways but determined to go with the flow under duress. Also under duress are Marisa Tomei's (most recently in Parental Guidance) Kate--a stay-at-home writer whose work is disturbed by her husband's uncle Ben living with them--and Charlie Tahan's (I've seen some of his movies but can't say that I recall him) Joey, a moody teenager. Jack recognized Darren Burrows, who plays Kate's husband/Joey's father Elliott, from his work on Northern Exposure.

No composer is listed but clips of the music, mostly classical, can be found on the amazon page. And with 33 producers, this one goes into my producers plethora category. The current leader The Butler, however, will be hard to beat with 39.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are in agreement with Jack and me, averaging 97% for this one. Do see this before it leaves town.

The Trip to Italy (2014)

Yummy and hilarious, this sequel to The Trip brings back Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon improvising versions of themselves eating six luscious meals in six glorious Italian locations from Liguria to Capri, all the while bantering, doing impressions, and reciting poetry with music from Verdi to Alanis Morissette. It's directed again by Michael Winterbottom.

Obviously this goes on my running list of food movies.

I don't read reviews before seeing movies, but this one, from The New Yorker, doesn't give anything away and may even add to your enjoyment, mentioning that Coogan may be best known in this country for Philomena, and that the comedians' voices are outstanding.

Finally! Rotten Tomatoes' critics are in line with Jack and me, averaging 87%. Their audiences are more like the audience in the last line of the New Yorker review at 61%.

We saw this last week just before it closed locally. Sorry I couldn't get it written up before then. But never fear--it's coming out on DVD on December 23, just in time for Christmas!

This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

We liked a lot this comedy about four adult children forced to hang out together after their father's death. The wonderful and plentiful cast brings the good story to life. Jason Bateman, Tiny Fey, Corey Stoll, Adam Driver, and Jane Fonda do justice to the siblings and their mother (last blogged in Bad Words, Admission, Midnight in Paris, Frances Ha, and Better Living Through Chemistry, respectively, and Stoll was particularly good in House of Cards), aided by Rose Byrne (The Place Beyond the Pines), Abigail Spencer (Rectify, Cowboys & Aliens), Kathryn Hahn (also in Bad Words), Connie Britton (profiled in The Fitzgerald Family Christmas), Timothy Olyphant (I didn't see Deadwood, Damages, nor Justified, but I liked The Safety of Objects (2001) and Catch and Release (2006)), Dax Shepard (Hit & Run), and Ben Schwartz (also in Better Living Through Chemistry). Though it's first Bateman's story, this is a true ensemble picture, in the manner of director Robert Altman's work. In fact, the movie family's name is Altman, having been changed from Foxman in Jonathan Tropper's 2010 novel. I can only hope that Tropper, who adapted his own book in his feature debut, had Robert Altman in mind. Fun trivia: the mother in the novel worked out to Jane Fonda tapes. In the movie, she's played by Jane Fonda.

We saw this on vacation on a rainy day in New York a couple of weeks ago, just as we saw director Shawn Levy's Date Night, which also featured Tina Fey, on vacation four years ago.

The light breezy music is courtesy of Michael Giacchino (most recently blogged in Star Trek Into Darkness). Here's a sample.

More haters are hating in Rotten Tomatoes' 42% critics, but 69% from audiences is more in line with the movie being #7 at the box office in its third week.

The Congress (2013)

This cynical movie NOT about politics, taking place in a dystopian Hollywood, about an insecure actress named Robin Wright who sells the digital rights to her image in order to support herself and her family is extremely weird and hard to follow, especially in the second half which is animated. Robin Wright (last blogged in A Most Wanted Man) plays this version of herself in the live-action part, her voice in the animated part, and sings a couple of songs on the soundtrack (see below). Harvey Keitel (most recently in Moonrise Kingdom),  Danny Huston (last in Hitchcock), and Paul Giamatti (most recently in The Amazing Spider-Man 2) add to the mayhem live and drawn, and Jack picked up the voice of Jon Hamm (Million Dollar Arm) in the second half as the nice guy.

People are bound to say Wright is "brave" for appearing middle aged--her actual age is 48 and the character is 44. In the second half she's 64, bent and skinny, with gray hair in a bun and a loose matronly dress. Give me a break. Director Ari Folman (the animated documentary Waltz With Bashir) is 59 but he has no clue about aging. With its central theme of Wright's inability to find work, this was clearly made either before or with no knowledge of her tour de force in the House of Cards series.

The animated part, with doses of R Crumb, Ralph Bakshi, old Disney, and Monty Python is literally trippy--I had to look up why she hallucinated (she drank the tap water) in research about the Stanislaw Lem novel from which Folman adapted the screenplay. The novel also includes a 164 story hotel in which "The Congress," a trade show, takes place, and where we saw cartoons of, among others, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Queen Elizabeth. It's only because I took notes after seeing it four weeks ago that I can give you this much info.

I do like composer Max Richter (last scored The Lunchbox) and you can listen to tracks from the movie, beginning with Wright's two songs, and more by him here.

I've had it with Rotten Tomatoes (or critics in general). They dislike so many movies that I/we like, including the last two I just summarized, and this one, at 76% critics and 63 audiences (what hallucinogenics are they on?), is practically a rave but Jack and I do not urge you to see it!

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (2013)

Great fun! This documentary of the ritzy Manhattan department store has flash, celebrity, and creativity to the max, plus more than a soupçon of gossip and humor. Directed by Matthew Miele (new to me, he has a doc about Tiffany's coming next year) with music composed by Parov Stelar (listen to some videos on his website) it's not just for retailers. The store window sequences are worth the price of admission. And admission may be free, since it's available streaming on netflix right now (I saw it in August but just remembered to add it to the blog). If you don't have a netflix account you can rent it on amazon for $2.99 (free viewing on amazon prime isn't showing up).

Haters on Rotten Tomatoes have it at 49% critics and 41 audiences. I don't know what they saw but it must have been something else. Watch the trailer on the the official website for a taste, check out the whole hour and 34 minutes, and then let me know what you think.

My Old Lady (2014)

Jack and I enjoyed this tale of a prickly American loser who finds that the Paris apartment he just inherited comes with a nonagenarian and her daughter. Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, and Kristin Scott Thomas are in top form and the establishing shots are beautiful, breaking my rule #2 about the Eiffel Tower. Kline (last blogged in Joe Papp in Five Acts and Darling Companion) pronounces every word with such care it's always a pleasure to listen to him. I did find it hard to swallow that his character is supposed to be 57 (Kline's birthdate is 10/24/47) but it was worth it to enjoy his darkly comic moodiness. Thomas (most recently in Nowhere Boy) is a more believable 57 (5/24/60) and brings in her reliable skills and flawless French (she's been living in France since her late teens). Dame Smith (last in Quartet) simply employs body language and subtracts makeup to add a few years (12/28/34) and can do no wrong.

When I lived in Boston in the late 70s-early 80s, playwright Israel Horovitz, a Massachusetts native, was much revered. He wrote the adaptation of his play and here makes his fiction directorial debut, following a documentary. Trivia: he is the father of Beastie Boy Adam. Jack did comment that the movie seemed awfully play-like, i.e. static, but I didn't feel that way. The lovely cinematography is credited to Michel Amathieu and the production design to Pierre-François Limbosch.

The French viager tradition, a sort of reverse mortgage explained here, is cause for much of the humor. The movie could benefit from subtitles; I was glad I understood a bit of French here and there.

As I write this I'm listening to clips from Mark Orton's (most recently scored Nebraska) sprightly soundtrack on amazon. Stay in the room to hear the end of the music over the credits. You'll be rewarded by important bonuses, one tying up a loose end in the plot.

Rotten Tomatoes' averages are too low, at 56% critics and 61% audiences. We liked and recommend it.

Milestone alert! This marks the 700th movie I have watched for the first time since beginning the blog September 3, 2008, or six years and one month ago. Who's counting? I am.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

Jack and I ate up this delicious story of a family from India opening a restaurant in the south of France across the street from a traditional establishment run by a difficult owner. Helen Mirren (last blogged in RED 2) is fun to watch in anything, even if she's playing a stodgy control freak. As the Indian patriarch, Om Puri (can't say I remember specific performances in any of his 256 credits but his face is familiar) brings heart to his character, as do Manish Dayal as his son the chef and the lovely Charlotte Le Bon as the French sous-chef with a winning smile and wonderful wardrobe of flirty dresses.

Director Lasse Hallström (profiled in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) leads with an even hand from a screenplay by Steven Knight (Oscar-nominated for Dirty Pretty Things (2002), with many nominations and wins for that script and for Eastern Promises (2007), both much meaner and grimier than this project), based on the novel by Richard C. Morais.

Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey lend star power to the band of nine producers and, no doubt, assisted in the securing of the spectacular locations, including Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val and a late sequence at Restaurant Le Georges in the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The magnificent photography of said locations courtesy of Linus Sandgren (Promised Land and American Hustle, among others).

The go-to composer of Indian soundtracks of the 21st century so far, A.R. Rahman (most recently scored Million Dollar Arm), provides native and other tunes for our enjoyment. I've been listening to clips from the movie's official website while writing.

Yesterday, while watching a scene in Land Ho! that takes place in an upscale restaurant, I suddenly wondered if I had remembered to put this movie on my list of food movies. No, I had not, because, for the first time in years, I had completely forgotten to blog about this one. The error is now corrected and the food movie list is updated.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are merely simmering with an average of 65% but their audiences are more bubbly at 85. We're with the audiences. Try it. You'll like it.

Land Ho! (2014)

Jack, Ann, and I enjoyed this languid tale of two old friends traveling in Iceland, with glorious photography and an upbeat soundtrack. Earl Lynn Nelson (72) is, like his character Mitch, a retired doctor--not a professional actor--who is from Kentucky and practiced in New Orleans. Mitch is kind of boorish, and every now and then when I was thinking I'd had enough of him, the scene cut away (co-director Aaron Katz also edited) to another beautiful shot by cinematographer Andrew Reed. Co-director Martha Stephens is Nelson's cousin and she also hired him to act in her two previous features (that's his entire acting resumé). Paul Eenhoorn (65), an Australian who is new to me despite his 30 credits, plays Colin as low-key and thoughtful. FYI I found the actors' ages not at my usual reference imdb, but by reading a review on the AARP website.

Ann asked me after the movie if there was a script and I assured her there was, having read that Stephens and Katz propelled the low-budget project from idea to completion in one year (here's more to read if you want). But AARP reports that Nelson and Eenhoorn improvised about half the dialogue, which explains a lot. There's a scene where Mitch meets a honeymooning hipster couple, who are played by Ben Kasulke (he shot Safety Not Guaranteed and Your Sister's Sister, among others) and Christina Jennings, who worked on this movie as second camera operator and producer, respectively.

I'm having fun listening as I write to the soundtrack and outtakes by Keegan DeWitt, streamed from this page on his website.

Speaking of AARP, two friends saw this on Saturday afternoon. At ages 66 and 73, they thought they were the youngest folks in the room. I'm not sure the demographics of the audience today because we always watch the full credits and everyone else is gone by the time the lights go up.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics weigh in at 78% and audiences at 60. We liked it and it cemented our desire to see Iceland one day.