Goodbye to Language (Adieu au langage - 2014)

The latest picture from revered 84-year-old director/writer Jean-Luc Godard also bids adieu to plot and structure. Jack and I were puzzled. Twice two people walk away from each other, and one appears in the right eye of the 3D glasses and the other in the left. Interesting, but not comfortable. I was tired that evening and was already having trouble focusing on the 3D. At that point I began from time to time closing each eye alternately.

As we walked into the special screening we were handed A.O Scott's review from The New York Times. It said the dog (Godard's own) would figure prominently. It didn't.

Reading through Godard's credits (his 38 wins and 39 nominations include an honorary Oscar in 2011) I thought I would know more than just Breathless (1960) and Masculin Féminin (1966) but it appears I have Godard mixed up with François Truffaut, who wrote the former and worked many times with Jean-Pierre Léaud, who starred in the latter. It looks like Godard said goodbye to traditional linear storytelling a long time ago. Not that there's anything wrong with that. This just wasn't our tasse de thé, which puts us in agreement with Rotten Tomatoes' audiences at 51%, rather than its critics at 84.

In two weeks this movie will be released on 3D Blu-ray DVDs. If you possess the hardware, have at it.

'71 (2014)

After watching this violent story of a British soldier during "The Troubles" in Belfast between the IRA and the Brits, several in my group commented we were glad not to have seen it alone nor at night (we went on Sunday morning). It's hard to watch. I had to put my hand up to block the screen several times to avoid the most disturbing shots. Jack O'Connell (I didn't see Unbroken--he starred in it, among others) is the hero, Gary Hook (fictitious), leading a cast of dozens, all unfamiliar to me. Speaking of which I wasn't the only one of the group who wished we had familiarized ourselves in advance with the history of the 1971 conflict. That said, we did get sorted out as the movie unfolded.

Director Yann Demange (a British TV director) and screenwriter Gregory Burke (an acclaimed Scottish playwright) make their feature debuts, winning for this picture several awards and nominated for more in the United Kingdom and Europe.

The music by Belfast native David Holmes (Ocean's Eleven (2001), Analyze That (2002), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Haywire, more) is good and can be sampled from this link, with a couple of lines from the movie introducing it. Also, here's an article about the composer for those who are interested.

With the intermittent use of handheld camera operators running after people, the movie is likely to induce motion picture motion sickness in those susceptible. Here's my ongoing list of MPMS movies.

I don't take issue with the critics at Rotten Tomatoes whose review average 97% to its audiences' 84. But it's not for the faint of heart.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

So silly! I was glad we made an exception to our no vampire movies rule because this farce of a mock-umentary about a group of vampires in modern day Wellington, New Zealand, is damn funny. Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, last in Men in Black 3) and Taika Waititi (directed four episodes of Conchords, wrote two) together direct, wrote, and star as Vladislav and Viago. Also making a cameo is Rhys Darby, who had a cameo in Pirate Radio and played the manager in Conchords.

The music is by Plan 9 (David Donaldson, Steve Roche, and Janet Roddick), also from New Zealand. This is their website and the whole raucous soundtrack can be streamed here.

We decided to go because of Clement and rave reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, averaging 96% from critics and 88 from audiences. Its release is fairly limited. If you watch it at home, be sure to get the room really dark. Vampires can't handle much light!

McFarland, USA (2015)

We liked a lot this true tale of a hot-headed teacher who forms a high school cross-country track team with Hispanic farmworkers in a dirt-poor 1987 California town. The acting is good and the story is inspiring. Kevin Costner (last in Draft Day) and Maria Bello (most recently in Third Person) are great as always and so are the boys. The only one I had seen before is Carlos Pratts (played Gus in the TV series The Bridge, among others) as Thomas. Two of the others, Hector Duran and Johnny Ortiz (as Johnny and Jose, respectively), had a few credits and the others, Michael Aguero, Sergio Avelar, Rafael Martinez, and Ramiro Rodriguez, make their acting debuts here. Not making her debut is Morgan Saylor, who plays the daughter in Homeland, and Costner's and Bello's daughter here. Diana Maria Riva, who plays Señora Diaz, was also in The Bridge, among many other credits.

Director Niki Caro (Whale Rider (2002) won Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards, and North Country (2005) earned Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand Oscar nominations) is from New Zealand, but definitely has the hang of this country by now.

Grant Thompson wrote the screenplay (his first feature after a handful of acting jobs) from a story by Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois (they also wrote Glory Road (2006), another true story, about the Texas Western coach who led the first all-black starting line-up to the NCAA national championship in 1966).

There are lots of songs, listed here and streamed there, and a nice score, composed by Antonio Pinto (his work includes Central Station (Central do Brasil - 1998), City of God (Cidade de Deus - 2002), and Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)), which is available on this youtube playlist.

We vote with the audiences of Rotten Tomatoes, with 92%, rather than the critics' 79.

Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes - 2014)

Readers of these pages know that Jack and I love sick, twisted humor and this one hits the spot in six artfully combined shorts about revenge in Argentina. Nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, it's hilarious. Spanish master Pedro Almodóvar is advertised as a producer and his colorful fingerprints are everywhere. The only cast member familiar to us was Ricardo Darín (The Secret in Their Eyes) as the handsome explosives engineer in the segment "Bombita," but I want to point out a couple of other noteworthy performances: Rita Cortese as the cook in "The Rats" and Erica Rivas as the bride in "Til Death Do Us Part."

Damián Szifron, an Argentinean TV director/writer, directs and wrote the script(s), swinging expertly from languid to frenzied. I enjoyed the look of the picture (shot by Javier Julia) in its six very different settings, including a beautiful road in the hills, a wealthy family's house, a downscale diner, and a fancy Jewish wedding.

Music by Gustavo Santaolalla (last blogged for August: Osage County) complements the many moods and tracks can be streamed from this playlist, with advertising.

You don't need to take our word for it, as Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are in sync with us, averaging 93% and 94% respectively. Jack has a question for the writer: were the elderly couple on the lawn chairs the pilot's parents? You'll understand after you see it, which you must.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)

We loved this marvelous ensemble comedy, wherein the aged British residents of the hotel in India continue their interesting lives and romances, a sequel that's every bit as good as the first. We laughed a lot. Most of the original characters return in top form: Judi Dench (last blogged in Philomena); Maggie Smith (most recently in My Old Lady); Bill Nighy (last in Pride); Penelope Wilton (most recently in Belle); and Celie Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Dev Patel, and Tina Desai, all last mentioned in first outing. Lillete Dubey (she was in The Lunchbox, but I failed to mention her, as well as the Delightful Monsoon Wedding (2001)) has her own sub-plot this time, and newcomers to the story are Richard Gere (last in Arbitrage) and Tamsin Grieg (one of the stars of Episodes, which I wrote recently is among my favorite TV shows these days).

As in the first one, there is a big dancing finale. This time, we see some rehearsal beforehand, setting us up for the colorful ending. Speaking of colorful, Ben Smithard's cinematography is gorgeous (he also shot The Damned United, The Trip, My Week with Marilyn, and Belle, among others).

Returning from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are director John Madden with good timing, screenwriter Ol Parker with sparkling dialogue, and composer Thomas Newman (last scored The Judge) with another wonderful soundtrack, 46 minutes of which can be streamed on youtube. One of my favorite parts of the music is the male vocals, a small bit of which begins at about 32 minutes into the previous link, but most of it is missing.

Fun fact: in the trailer, Muriel (Smith) remarks that she is 19 days older than Evelyn (Dench), when in fact it is Dench who is exactly 19 days older than Smith (birth dates December 9 and 28, 1934).

Apparently my nine-year-old grand-nephew wants to see this movie because of an ad calling it the best comedy in America. With a PG rating there's nothing stopping him, but, other than some humorous rivalry between the 20-something Sonny (Patel) and his buddy, Taylor would likely be bored by the octogenarians' antics and especially their romances (as well as those of the folks in their 60s and 70s). The ad may be exaggerating a bit–Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 63% and the audiences 67–but, then again, it came in sixth at the box office last weekend. We recommend that those of you at least twice as old as Taylor see it on the big screen ASAP.

Chappie (2015)

Jack and I really liked this clever science fiction action picture about a robot with artificial intelligence in a dystopian future Johannesburg, sort of Robo-Cop meets E.T., with ambiguity in who is good and who is bad. Sharlto Copley (last blogged in Elysium) was tracked for motion capture as the title role (he talks a little about it here–sorry about the commercial) and, hearing his voice in that interview, it's clear to me that Copley is also the voice of Chappie. Dev Patel (this couldn't be more different from his concurrent release, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; it has more in common with his role on The Newsroom) is the scientist Deon, or "Maker," who invents the A.I., and he's good as he wheels between being creative, paternal, rebellious, and more. Hugh Jackman's (most recently in X-Men: Days of Future Passed) Vincent takes a somewhat surprising turn and Sigourney Weaver's (before mentioning her cameo in Cedar Rapids I profiled her in Avatar) Michelle does not. Ask me for my favorite line of hers.

The South African music duo going by the names Yo-Landi Visser (also spelled ¥o-Landi Vi$$er) and Ninja use those names for their characters who adopt and name Chappie. They require a lot of grooming for their distinctive looks (check out the photos and read this profile from W Magazine).

Director/co-writer Neill Blomkamp (last project was Elysium) worked with co-writer Terri Tatchell on the excellent and thematically related District 9.

The soundtrack is great, with a lot of loud songs (stream here) and a wonderful score (can be streamed here, but there are a number of silent intervals) by Hans Zimmer (most recently blogged for Interstellar), as to be expected from the master.

Speaking of loud songs and other sensory overload, sufferers of MPMS (motion-picture-motion-sickness) should take measures when watching this (sit in the back row, look away occasionally, take meds, watch it at home if you must) because it will make you sick. Here's my ongoing list of movies with wildly swinging camera work.

I can't even guess what the rotten critics at Rotten Tomatoes were expecting when they gave it an average of 30% (audiences are at 64) but, fifth at the box office last weekend, its second weekend, says about this picture what we thought: it's great!

Focus (2015)

Jack and I liked this romantic comedy, a cat and mouse game about some con-artists, wherein it's never quite clear who is scamming whom. Will Smith (last blogged in Men in Black 3) is charming as the world-weary older (when did THAT happen?) crook and Margot Robbie (most recently in The Wolf of Wall Street) is believable as the sexy newbie. The ensemble includes character actor Adrian Martinez (you'd recognize his face from cameos in It's Kind of a Funny Story, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Casa di Mi Padre, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, American Hustle, and the TV show Inside Amy Schumer) as trash-talking Farhad, BD Wong (he is the only actor to have won a Tony and four other awards for the same performance–for his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly) as a hilarious gambler, and Rodrigo Santoro (one of the love interests in I Love You Phillip Morris) as a handsome gangster.

Directed and written by the team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (made Crazy, Stupid, Love. after Phillip Morris above), there are plenty of laughs, some suspense, and a number of twists.

Plenty of songs (listed here and some of them, including my personal favorite White Bird by It's a Beautiful Day can be streamed here) are added to the original music by Nick Urata (last blogged for What Maisie Knew). The love theme is available on youtube.

Jack thinks the mention of being a waitress at Sizzler is a reference to a gag of Smith's on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, a song and dance to "We're going to Sizzler," but neither of us could find a link.

The reviews are tepid (55% from critics and 60 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes) but in its third weekend of release, it came in fourth at the box office. We had fun and you might, too.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Jack and I thought this James Bond spoof was good, silly, violent fun, with Colin Firth's "Galahad" (in great big 1980s glasses) acting as mentor to a young streetwise trainee in London and Samuel L. Jackson as a lisping villain. Firth (last blogged in Before I Go to Sleep) kicks ass here, appropriate, considering director Matthew Vaughn also directed Kick-Ass (more on that in a moment). The mentee named Eggsy is played by Taron Egerton (new to me and almost everyone else, he's been in one feature and  a few episodes of two British series) with brash abandon, and Jackson (most recently in Captain America: Winter Soldier) is funny, as always (the lisp was his idea on set). The Camelot gag is continued with Michael Caine's (last in Interstellar) code name of Arthur, Mark Strong (most recently in The Imitation Game) as Merlin, and Jack Davenport (played the mercurial director Derek Wills on the TV series Smash) as Lancelot. And that funny old fellow playing Professor Arnold? That's Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker and so much more)! Apparently Oscar Pistorius was approached to play the character who walks and runs on deadly blades (before he was arrested for murdering his girlfriend) but instead the part went to Algerian dancer Sofia Boutella (look at this). There's a prodigious amount of trivia available on imdb, some of which I'm putting in here.

Vaughn co-wrote the movie with his writing partner Jane Goldman (they worked together on Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, and The Debt, in that order), adapted from the 2012 comic The Secret Service. Vaughn quit working on another X-Men sequel to work on this project.

The music by Henry Jackman (last scored Captain America: Winter Soldier) and Matthew Margeson wouldn't be out of place in a Bond movie, with echoes of John Barry in particular. You can listen to the full score on youtube, as I am while I write. And here's a partial list of songs.

Second at the box office in its third weekend, the movie has a tie-in to a line of clothing based on it, for the gentleman spy who wants big glasses ($450) and bespoke suits. Jackson's character, however, wears Adidas and hip-hop gear.

This one may be slightly too hip for the room, with Rotten Tomatoes' critics averaging 74% but its audiences warmer at 88. It's not great art, by any means, but entertaining nonetheless. There's an extra scene after the beginning of the credits, so don't run away.

Still Alice (2014)

So sad, this story of a 50-year-old woman and her family coping with her early-onset Alzheimer's proves that money can't buy happiness nor health. I liked it a lot, but Jack decided not go, as it's difficult to contemplate such a grim future. Julianne Moore (last blogged in Don Jon) earned her Best Actress Oscar with a many-layered performance as the woman whose intellect completely defines her and Alec Baldwin (most recently in these pages for Blue Jasmine) is also very good as her stalwart yet pragmatic husband. Kate Bosworth (mentioned only in passing in Another Happy Day) has often irked me with her anorexic frame and teeny-bopper roles, but here, as Alice's elder daughter, she's gaining some maturity in her acting. Hunter Parrish (best known to most as Silas Botwin on Weeds, he also played Baldwin's son in It's Complicated) doesn't have a lot to do as the middle child but he's always pleasant and easy on the eyes. Kristen Stewart (last in On the Road) has plenty to do as the youngest sibling.

Directed and the screenplay adapted by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (I meant to see their Quinceañera (2006)) with confidence and style, despite Glatzer's ALS, necessitating his performing his directorial duties with a text-to-speech app on an iPad. Wow. Still Alice, self-published in 2007, was Lisa Genova's first novel, and was acquired by Simon & Schuster two years later, spending 40 weeks on the New York Times best seller list. Different wow, but wow, nonetheless.

The music is also quite beautiful, composed by Ilan Eshkeri (credited with, among others, projects as disparate as Kick-Ass and Young Victoria). You can hear clips interspersed with his talking about the score on this link, the main theme on this one, and sample his entire soundtrack on that one.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 91% and audiences 86, with the Oscar helping the bottom line (ninth last weekend after seven weeks in release). I made up for watching it alone by following it with Episodes on Showtime, one of my favorite comedy series of the moment. Make sure you have something fun or funny to do after seeing this fine piece.

UPDATE: Glatzer died March 19, 2015. He was Westmoreland's husband. Here's a spoiler-free story of how his ALS corresponds with the movie's Alzheimer's. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-richard-glatzer-dies-wash-westmoreland-still-alice-20150312-story.html#page=1