The Great Beauty (La grande bellazza - 2013)

Lucinda, Bob, Jack, and I loved this creative movie about an Italian writer looking backward and forward after a most fabulous 65th birthday party. There isn't a lot of plot but we were still enthralled for almost two ½ hours, with the beautiful shots of Rome, the imaginative goings-on, more parties, and our hero's cynicism still leading to hope and happiness. Toni Servillo plays Jep Gambardella, a handsome, always well-dressed playboy who can go from jaded to sincere in the blink of an eye. Shockingly, the actor will be 55 in August. Kind of seems like cheating, but he is awfully good and we (slightly south of 65 ourselves) never doubted his age for a moment.

Nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar (as well as the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Best International Film of the Independent Spirit Awards, and many more) it won the Golden Globe, four European Film Awards, just to name a few.

Yes, it's long (the first cut was 190 minutes!) but we didn't mind one bit. It felt like we got to pay a little visit to Rome, with Jep's apartment patio overlooking the Coliseum (!), scenes at the Piazza Navona, and so many more.

The music is outstanding. This youtube playlist has some of the music from the movie, with classical and house music. Here is my favorite, I Lie performed by Torino Vocalensemble, in footage straight from the movie's credits. I think the same song is played at the beginning, in which we can see the women singing it in between camera moves around various tourist attractions in Rome. Watching the video will give you an idea of the beautiful cinematography. My readers and friends know of my love for vocals and this one is lovely.

Go to the bathroom first, sip your beverage sparingly, and settle in for crazy stuff, pretty pictures, humor, nudity, sightseeing, and philosophy. Love of Fellini films is a plus but not required.

Labor Day (2013)

Kate Winslet brings another powerful performance as an agoraphobic mother, Adele, whose teen son brings home an escaped convict. Perhaps it's a little syrupy (critics have been harsh), but we both liked it. Josh Brolin (last blogged in Gangster Squad) supports Winslet (most recently in Carnage) as the con Frank. My complaint, and I'm not alone in this, is that Frank's story in flashbacks could have been clearer: I thought the actor playing him as a young man isn't young enough--Tom Lipinski is 31 with a prematurely lined face--and the girl playing Frank's wife could be a younger Winslet--if they had asked me I would've suggested they make her a brunette. Young Gattlin Grifith (he played the boy in The Changeling) does a great job as the kid and Brooke Smith (daughter of LA publicist Lois Smith and ubiquitous supporting player, e.g. the DEA guy's ex-wife on Weeds) is also good in a small part as a neighbor who doesn't knock.

Almost forgot. The music, by Rolfe Kent (some of my favorites: Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), Election (1999), Nurse Betty (2000), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), The Matador (2005), Wedding Crashers (2005), Thank You for Smoking (2005), Up in the Air, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Young Adult) is moody and cool, and can be previewed on the amazon page and bought at many sites.

Yeah, the critics hated it, averaging 32% on rottentomatoes, and audiences are at only 60. Maybe director Jason Reitman (last blogged in Young Adult) is better known for his comedies, but we think this one would be fine for date night.

2013 Oscar nominated shorts, animated & live action (2013)

Jack and I liked these, but, in both compilations, not as much as in years past. We skipped the documentaries, as they sounded depressing (more on that in a moment). I've listed the shorts from my most-liked to least. Each show is about an hour and three-quarters, necessitating that three runners-up be added to the animated series. We saw the animated ones a week ago and the live action series on Wednesday.

ANIMATED:

Get a Horse (USA) begins with a vintage Micky Mouse cartoon on a small portion of the screen, then imaginatively fills the rest of it. Like Saving Mr. Banks, this Disney-based project had to be a Disney production. We liked it a lot, partly because we're suckers for vintage done well.

In Mr. Hublot (Luxembourg/France), the title character, made of metal with visible bolts, keeps his apartment very clean and looks out the window to the busy street below. Then his world changes when he makes an impulsive move. Very funny.

A la Francaise (France, runner-up) gives us a 17th century court at the Palace of Versailles, populated entirely by not-too-bright chickens. Vivian, this has your name on it! We loved it.

Room on the Broom (UK) features the narration of Simon Pegg with Gillian Anderson as a kindly witch who allows hitchhikers on her broom, displeasing her possessive cat. When we saw the squirrel we knew the filmmakers were familiar. Turns out they were nominated three years ago for The Gruffalo. The Gruffalo's Child made it into last year's series as a runner-up. The squirrel was in all three, along with many other distinguished actors adding their voices. Sweet.

Another runner-up, The Missing Scarf (Ireland), is narrated by George Takei. A squirrel, this one made of origami, looks for a scarf. Takei is always good.
Blue Umbrella (US) has no dialogue, and is about two umbrellas who meet in a rainstorm. It's a runner-up as well. Not awful.
A Japanese entry, Possessions, has a warrior-type man seeking shelter from a storm in a dilapidated shrine. He encounters a series of household objects inhabited by goblin spirits. I've already forgotten it.

Feral (USA) is about a wild boy brought to 19th or early 20th century civilization (judging by the clothing). Meh.

As usual, the emcees are animated, and this year's are great: a giraffe and an ostrich in front of the camera chat as they are stand-ins for other characters on a movie set. They've both worked in the business a while and they gossip and schmooze.

LIVE ACTION:

The Voorman Problem (UK) features Martin Freeman as a psychiatrist and Tom Hollander as a delusional prison inmate. There are no jokes but it's funny, based on an excerpt of a novel.

Helium (Denmark) is a sweet tale of a hospital janitor who comforts a sick boy with stories.
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything - France) gives us a woman calmly making arrangements to quit her job at an enormous supermarket, and we eventually (this one is 29 minutes) realize the gravity of her situation. A favorite of many reviewers.
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? - Finland) is an amusing tale of a harried housewife rushing her family to a wedding.

Now, about that "depressing" comment earlier: if I were the type to walk out of a movie, I certainly would have left the room for this last one. I found Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me - Spain) entirely odious. It made me sick both literally and figuratively with its swinging camera moves causing Motion Picture Motion Sickness (MPMS) and its theme of children with guns under the command of a murderous African warlord. Lucky for me, the Finnish one screened after it.

The time before and after each short was filled with comments from various filmmakers, including Steve McQueen, Oscar-nominated as director of 12 Years a Slave, Matthew Modine (I guess he's included for starring in Full Metal Jacket (1987), for which director Stanley Kubrick was nominated for Best Screenplay Oscar), and last year's Live Action Short winner Shawn Christensen (Curfew) (it was our favorite!).