Get out your hankies. We loved this story of a five-year-old Indian boy who gets lost very far from home, is adopted by a Tasmanian couple, and, as an adult, searches for his birth family. It really happened and, wow, it's good.
Newcomer Sunny Pawar spoke no English before he was brought on set (4000 boys auditioned) and learned a few words shooting his later scenes as the young Saroo. Dev Patel (last blogged for the comedy The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) is terrific as the intense grown-up adoptee. He worked out and bulked up, perhaps to look a bit more like writer Saroo Brierley (here's a photo), on whose memoir A Long Way Home the movie is based, and learned an Australian accent with Tasmanian dialect. The actual adoptive mother Sue Brierley was granted her request for Nicole Kidman (most recently in The Family Fang) to play her, and both Kidman and Patel are racking up nominations, as is the movie as a whole (here's my running list). Apparently Rooney Mara (last blogged and acclaimed for Carol) was planning to take a break but decided she wanted to take the part of the girlfriend when she read the script. Many other supporting actors from both hemispheres are wonderful as well.
This is the feature film directing debut of artist and commercials director Garth Davis, who did helm four episodes of the excellent mini-series Top of the Lake (2013), which took place in New Zealand and has a second season coming next year. Luke Davies adapted Saroo Brierley's 2014 book. The title of the movie is explained at the end. The various locations--rural and urban India; suburban Hobart, Tasmania; Melbourne; and more--make beautiful pictures shot by Greig Fraser (most recently photographed Foxcatcher).
Serious product placement for Google Earth pushes along the plot and evidently saved the filmmakers serious money because the corporation provided actual imagery from the time of the search, avoiding the need to create such images in visual effects.
Dustin O'Halloran (profiled in Like Crazy, also scored 19 episodes of Transparent) gives us lovely music that can be streamed from this link.
Only 85% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes? Not enough. Their audiences average 91. Do see this. I suggest it for children, too, if they're able to read subtitles and won't get nightmares about getting lost themselves. And, if you stay in your seat, you'll be treated to a song by Sia (the first song on the youtube link above) and a tiny bonus at the end of the credits.
Warning: the movie may bring on mild MPMS or Motion Picture Motion Sickness (here's the list). Take your seat as far back as you can.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Fences (2016)
This powerful drama, adapted from the Pulitzer-winning play, about a frustrated 1950s African-American man and his family, won many Tonys in 1987 and more for its revival in 2010. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis reprise their 2010 roles of Troy and Rose (114 performances!) in this film version, with Washington now directing (his third time after Antwone Fisher (2002) and The Great Debaters (2007); for acting he was last blogged for his Oscar-nominated performance in Flight). After I cited Davis in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them we saw her in a small part in Get On Up and then 45 episodes of How to Get Away with Murder. Stephen Henderson (a recognizable character actor, he's been seen in, among others, Tower Heist, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, three episodes of The Newsroom, and Manchester by the Sea) also brings his Tony-nominated role of Jim Bono to the big screen.
Ably filling out the family are Jovan Adepo (18 episodes of The Leftovers, which we didn't watch, and some other things) as younger son Corey, Russell Hornsby (he's a regular--123 episodes--on Grimm which I've never seen) as elder son Lyons, and Mykelti Williamson (nine episodes of Hill Street Blues in the 80s, Miracle Mile (1988), Forrest Gump (1994), Con Air (1997), more) as Troy's brother Gabe.
August Wilson adapted his own play, working on it off and on from the 1990s until his 2005 death (playwright Tony Kushner (wrote the screenplay for Lincoln) helped finish it but his credit is as co-producer). As a play might be, it's dialogue-heavy, with few sets, though more than on stage, which apparently took place entirely in the family's back yard. The production design on those few locations is great, with picture cars and many little touches that make it look authentic.
Marcelo Zarvos (last blogged for Rock the Kasbah) provides the score, which can be streamed from this link, though the Dinah Washington track has been scrubbed from that youtube playlist. Here it is on its own. And listen for the track Day by Day by "Little" Jimmy Scott, track 16 on the previous playlist.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are swooning, with an average of 94% and its audiences come in at 81. As we told Amy before choosing to see it on Christmas eve, it's an important movie that should be seen. Not the fastest paced movie you'll see, but you should go anyway.
Ably filling out the family are Jovan Adepo (18 episodes of The Leftovers, which we didn't watch, and some other things) as younger son Corey, Russell Hornsby (he's a regular--123 episodes--on Grimm which I've never seen) as elder son Lyons, and Mykelti Williamson (nine episodes of Hill Street Blues in the 80s, Miracle Mile (1988), Forrest Gump (1994), Con Air (1997), more) as Troy's brother Gabe.
August Wilson adapted his own play, working on it off and on from the 1990s until his 2005 death (playwright Tony Kushner (wrote the screenplay for Lincoln) helped finish it but his credit is as co-producer). As a play might be, it's dialogue-heavy, with few sets, though more than on stage, which apparently took place entirely in the family's back yard. The production design on those few locations is great, with picture cars and many little touches that make it look authentic.
Marcelo Zarvos (last blogged for Rock the Kasbah) provides the score, which can be streamed from this link, though the Dinah Washington track has been scrubbed from that youtube playlist. Here it is on its own. And listen for the track Day by Day by "Little" Jimmy Scott, track 16 on the previous playlist.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are swooning, with an average of 94% and its audiences come in at 81. As we told Amy before choosing to see it on Christmas eve, it's an important movie that should be seen. Not the fastest paced movie you'll see, but you should go anyway.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Sleeping with Other People (2015)
Lightweight but cute, this story of a female philanderer and a male womanizer becoming friends is enjoyable enough. Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis are charming in the lead roles (she was last blogged for the somewhat similar How To be Single, which came out after this one, and he for Race).
When I researched Other People, this title kept coming up and I realized we had seen it but I'd forgotten to write about it last year. My regular readers know how important to me it is that everything I've seen since beginning the blog in September 2008 is listed here and in the index.
This is the second feature for director/writer Leslye Headland, and she wrote the 2014 remake of About Last Night (I saw only the 1986 original).
A lot of good songs are in the soundtrack but I don't remember the original music.
Though a popular screening at Sundance almost two years ago, the Rotten Tomatoes averages are now only 63% from critics and 56 from audiences. If you're a fan of the stars you might want to watch this.
When I researched Other People, this title kept coming up and I realized we had seen it but I'd forgotten to write about it last year. My regular readers know how important to me it is that everything I've seen since beginning the blog in September 2008 is listed here and in the index.
This is the second feature for director/writer Leslye Headland, and she wrote the 2014 remake of About Last Night (I saw only the 1986 original).
A lot of good songs are in the soundtrack but I don't remember the original music.
Though a popular screening at Sundance almost two years ago, the Rotten Tomatoes averages are now only 63% from critics and 56 from audiences. If you're a fan of the stars you might want to watch this.
Other People (2016)
Jack and I agree that this is very good--the story of a gay comedy writer who has returned home to help care for his dying mother. It sounds maudlin but has quite a few laughs among the sadness. We chose it because of its five Independent Spirit nominations.
Jesse Plemons, nominated for Best Male Lead, was in, among others, 65 episodes of Friday Night Lights as Landry, 13 of Breaking Bad as Todd, two of Olive Kittredge as Jerry McCarthy, ten of Fargo as Ed Blumquist, two of Drunk History (one of Jack's faves) as Charles Ponzi and Edgar Allen Poe, and the movies The Master, The Homesman, and Bridge of Spies. Molly Shannon (last blogged for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) is nominated for Best Supporting Female. They are both completely deserving. There are also pivotal scenes with Bradley Whitford (after writing about him in I Saw the Light I thought he was terrific in ten episodes of Happyish and seven of Transparent). Further support is ably provided by June Squibb (most recently in I'll See You in My Dreams) and Paul Dooley (of his 194 credits I choose to mention A Wedding (1978), Breaking Away (1979), Popeye (1980), Sixteen Candles (1984), six episodes of Dream On (1992-94), Runaway Bride (1999), six episodes of Once and Again (2001-02), seven of Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-05), and Sunshine Cleaning) as the grandparents. The sisters don't have a lot to do but the younger brunette one, Alex, is played by Maude Apatow (last blogged for This Is 40).
Director Chris Kelly, nominated for both Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay has a great writing resumé, including staff writer for Saturday Night Live, The Onion News Network, UCB Comedy Originals, and Broad City (also producer). The movie was also nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize earlier this year. Actor Adam Scott and his wife Naomi are among the producers.
Composer Julian Wass (last scored The Overnight, which starred Adam Scott) provides the music. I can't find this score online, but his website has plenty of tunes to stream.
We streamed this on Amazon yesterday ($4.99 for a one-week rental) and are glad we did. Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is 87% and its audiences' is 81.
Jesse Plemons, nominated for Best Male Lead, was in, among others, 65 episodes of Friday Night Lights as Landry, 13 of Breaking Bad as Todd, two of Olive Kittredge as Jerry McCarthy, ten of Fargo as Ed Blumquist, two of Drunk History (one of Jack's faves) as Charles Ponzi and Edgar Allen Poe, and the movies The Master, The Homesman, and Bridge of Spies. Molly Shannon (last blogged for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) is nominated for Best Supporting Female. They are both completely deserving. There are also pivotal scenes with Bradley Whitford (after writing about him in I Saw the Light I thought he was terrific in ten episodes of Happyish and seven of Transparent). Further support is ably provided by June Squibb (most recently in I'll See You in My Dreams) and Paul Dooley (of his 194 credits I choose to mention A Wedding (1978), Breaking Away (1979), Popeye (1980), Sixteen Candles (1984), six episodes of Dream On (1992-94), Runaway Bride (1999), six episodes of Once and Again (2001-02), seven of Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-05), and Sunshine Cleaning) as the grandparents. The sisters don't have a lot to do but the younger brunette one, Alex, is played by Maude Apatow (last blogged for This Is 40).
Director Chris Kelly, nominated for both Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay has a great writing resumé, including staff writer for Saturday Night Live, The Onion News Network, UCB Comedy Originals, and Broad City (also producer). The movie was also nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize earlier this year. Actor Adam Scott and his wife Naomi are among the producers.
Cinematography nominee Brian Burgoyne also shot Hello, My Name Is Doris, though I failed to mention him.
We streamed this on Amazon yesterday ($4.99 for a one-week rental) and are glad we did. Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is 87% and its audiences' is 81.
Doctor Strange (2016)
The latest Marvel-comic-movie is pretty good, about a talented and arrogant surgeon who teams with paranormal forces. Lots of stars power the cast with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead (he was last blogged for The Imitation Game), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight) and Michael Stulhlbarg (Arrival) as hospital colleagues, and Tilda Swinton (A Bigger Splash) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Martian) as denizens of the other-world.
This is the fourth feature for director/co-writer Scott Derrickson, who worked on the script with Jon Spaihts (co-writer of Prometheus) and C. Robert Cargill (who co-wrote an earlier movie that Derrickson directed and co-wrote).
I picked the wrong battle, maybe an hour and a half into the movie, to miss for a bathroom break because, when I returned, Jack told me I missed the obligatory Stan Lee cameo (his last one was in Deadpool). Here's the Deadpool cameo and here's the Doctor Strange cameo. For those of you who watched the movie in the theatre, I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that the book he's reading is Powers of Perception.
The jangly music is by the busy composer Michael Giacchino (most recently in these pages for Inside Out) and you can stream the whole thing here.
A must for Marvel fans, this is averaging 90% from Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 89 from its audiences. We saw it ten days ago as a break from the moody little independent films. This is moody, too, as it turns out, but the special effects are fun.
This is the fourth feature for director/co-writer Scott Derrickson, who worked on the script with Jon Spaihts (co-writer of Prometheus) and C. Robert Cargill (who co-wrote an earlier movie that Derrickson directed and co-wrote).
I picked the wrong battle, maybe an hour and a half into the movie, to miss for a bathroom break because, when I returned, Jack told me I missed the obligatory Stan Lee cameo (his last one was in Deadpool). Here's the Deadpool cameo and here's the Doctor Strange cameo. For those of you who watched the movie in the theatre, I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that the book he's reading is Powers of Perception.
The jangly music is by the busy composer Michael Giacchino (most recently in these pages for Inside Out) and you can stream the whole thing here.
A must for Marvel fans, this is averaging 90% from Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 89 from its audiences. We saw it ten days ago as a break from the moody little independent films. This is moody, too, as it turns out, but the special effects are fun.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Wow! Jack and I loved this story of an angry, repressed, single man who has to cope with guardianship of his teen nephew (and much more). It's skillfully written, perfectly acted, beautifully shot, and realistically paced. The movie and its makers are on short lists for Oscar nominations (nominations January 24, awards February 26) and are racking up others quickly (here's my running tally).
Heading the large cast, Casey Affleck (last blogged for Ain't Them Bodies Saints) gives us the all the depth required for Lee, without that many words. Lucas Hedges (played one of the scouts in Moonrise Kingdom and a few other things) is a talented young man who can portray the sadness and snark of the suddenly bereft sixteen-year-old Patrick, melding it in with typical high school behavior. Michelle Williams (most recently in Certain Women) isn't in a lot of scenes as Lee's wife, but makes a profound effect in all her work here. Jack commented that they were all so good we forgot they were acting.
Director/writer Kenneth Lonergan (co-wrote Analyze This (1999) and Gangs of New York (2002), solo wrote The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), and then wrote and directed You Can Count on Me (2000) and Margaret (2011)) is profiled beautifully in a New Yorker article which, I'm pleasantly surprised to report, has no spoilers about this movie. The article tells the origins of this movie and Lonergan's other work and details, among other things, Lonergan's close friendships with Matt Damon and Matthew Broderick (the former is among the producers and the latter has a short cameo). I highly recommend you read it. The script actually has some laughs here and there but this is definitely a drama.
The lovely images are thanks to cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes (after I blogged about him in Martha Marcy May Marlene he shot Trainwreck) and the glorious New England seaside locations.
I can't remember why, but composer Lesley Barber (scored You Can Count on Me for Lonergan and several others) will not eligible for an Oscar nomination this year. Her tracks are available for streaming on YouTube at this link. Then there are fifteen or so songs, some classical, some not, including a wonderful 1945 rendition of I'm Beginning To See the Light sung by the Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald. Imdb has published an abridged list of the songs.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 97%, and its audiences at 98, are among the many swooning over this picture. Don't be left out. Go see it as soon as you can. Rated R for language and sexuality.
Heading the large cast, Casey Affleck (last blogged for Ain't Them Bodies Saints) gives us the all the depth required for Lee, without that many words. Lucas Hedges (played one of the scouts in Moonrise Kingdom and a few other things) is a talented young man who can portray the sadness and snark of the suddenly bereft sixteen-year-old Patrick, melding it in with typical high school behavior. Michelle Williams (most recently in Certain Women) isn't in a lot of scenes as Lee's wife, but makes a profound effect in all her work here. Jack commented that they were all so good we forgot they were acting.
Director/writer Kenneth Lonergan (co-wrote Analyze This (1999) and Gangs of New York (2002), solo wrote The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), and then wrote and directed You Can Count on Me (2000) and Margaret (2011)) is profiled beautifully in a New Yorker article which, I'm pleasantly surprised to report, has no spoilers about this movie. The article tells the origins of this movie and Lonergan's other work and details, among other things, Lonergan's close friendships with Matt Damon and Matthew Broderick (the former is among the producers and the latter has a short cameo). I highly recommend you read it. The script actually has some laughs here and there but this is definitely a drama.
I can't remember why, but composer Lesley Barber (scored You Can Count on Me for Lonergan and several others) will not eligible for an Oscar nomination this year. Her tracks are available for streaming on YouTube at this link. Then there are fifteen or so songs, some classical, some not, including a wonderful 1945 rendition of I'm Beginning To See the Light sung by the Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald. Imdb has published an abridged list of the songs.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 97%, and its audiences at 98, are among the many swooning over this picture. Don't be left out. Go see it as soon as you can. Rated R for language and sexuality.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
The Eagle Huntress (2016)
Judy and I loved this magnificent documentary about 13-year-old Aisholpan (ASH-ol-pan), the first female Kazakh eagle hunter in her remote region of Mongolia. Eagle hunting--domesticating the birds and training them to kill smaller animals and lead their masters to their vanquished prey so that families may be fed and clothed--is a tradition there that for thousands of years has been passed down from fathers to sons. But Aisholpan, a girly girl who likes wardrobe and wears ribbons in her hair, also loves animals and is a natural at the craft. Her beaming smile and grunt of pleasure when she succeeds are but two of her endearing qualities. And her father Agalai has supported her throughout, even though she has an eight-year-old brother and, according to one article, an elder brother (not seen in the movie). Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) provides the English voice over narration.
Director Otto Bell, a commercial documentarian, read about Aisholpan on the BBC website, and decided he wanted to make this movie. He got in touch with Agalai and began shooting the pair almost immediately (with a cameraman named Chris Raymond--I don't know who he is because there are several by that name on imdb--uncredited in any case). Morgan Spurlock (POM Wonderful Presents: the Greatest Movie Ever Sold) got involved as a producer and they were on their way. If you want to read more, I gathered info from this article and this video.
Not only is there lots of plot (I could imagine someone remaking it into a drama) during the two or so years that elapse, but the cinematography is breathtaking--every bit as good as the spectacular Disneynature series (last year's was Monkey Kingdom), and that's saying a lot. Director of photography Simon Niblett has quite a few credits shooting documentaries of the natural world and it shows. Here's a featurette about the cinematography. However, Bell said that in key scenes they got only one take, so "everybody who could hold a camera was holding a camera," including go-pros, DSLRs, etc., so kudos to editor Pierre Takal, too.
I also loved the music by Jeff Peters (new to me) but can't find it online. I could find, however, the original song Angel by the Wings, performed by Sia and written by her and Greg Kurstin, which plays over the end credits, along with still photos from the movie.
On many short lists for an Oscar (and beginning to get nominations and wins, including some on my list), this has earned an average rating of 84% from critics and 93% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Strongly recommended for anyone of any age who can read some subtitles and won't freak out at seeing animals killed, skinned, and eaten.
Director Otto Bell, a commercial documentarian, read about Aisholpan on the BBC website, and decided he wanted to make this movie. He got in touch with Agalai and began shooting the pair almost immediately (with a cameraman named Chris Raymond--I don't know who he is because there are several by that name on imdb--uncredited in any case). Morgan Spurlock (POM Wonderful Presents: the Greatest Movie Ever Sold) got involved as a producer and they were on their way. If you want to read more, I gathered info from this article and this video.
Not only is there lots of plot (I could imagine someone remaking it into a drama) during the two or so years that elapse, but the cinematography is breathtaking--every bit as good as the spectacular Disneynature series (last year's was Monkey Kingdom), and that's saying a lot. Director of photography Simon Niblett has quite a few credits shooting documentaries of the natural world and it shows. Here's a featurette about the cinematography. However, Bell said that in key scenes they got only one take, so "everybody who could hold a camera was holding a camera," including go-pros, DSLRs, etc., so kudos to editor Pierre Takal, too.
I also loved the music by Jeff Peters (new to me) but can't find it online. I could find, however, the original song Angel by the Wings, performed by Sia and written by her and Greg Kurstin, which plays over the end credits, along with still photos from the movie.
On many short lists for an Oscar (and beginning to get nominations and wins, including some on my list), this has earned an average rating of 84% from critics and 93% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Strongly recommended for anyone of any age who can read some subtitles and won't freak out at seeing animals killed, skinned, and eaten.
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
This is a visual masterpiece, though the stories (yes, more than one) may puzzle some. Jack and I liked it, though. The main character is Susan, a gorgeous, successful, unhappy, art gallery owner played to perfection by Amy Adams, whose glamour here couldn't be more in contrast to her fresh-faced scientist in Arrival. Jake Gyllenhaal (last blogged for Nightcrawler) has the next most scenes, playing two characters. See above--no spoilers. Supporting are Michael Shannon (most recently seen in Loving), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (last blogged for Anna Karenina) as a loose cannon with long hair, Armie Hammer (most recently in The Birth of a Nation) as Adams' dashing husband, and Adams' doppelganger Isla Fisher (last blogged for The Brothers Grimsby) with their hair the exact same shade of red. See this page and scroll down to #4 to see Adams and Fisher pictured side by side. I liked the cameos by Michael Sheen and Andrea Riseborough as Susan's married friends, and Laura Linney as her big-haired mother (most recently in Far from the Madding Crowd, Birdman, and Sully, respectively).
This is the second movie directed and written by fashion designer Tom Ford, so it's no big surprise that it looks so glorious. He co-wrote the screenplay for A Single Man and wrote this one alone, adapting Austin Wright's 2015 novel Tony and Susan.
The opening credit sequence is a stunner. Plus-size older women dance naked with their bodies bouncing in slow motion as the words appear on the screen. Some writers have deplored it as fat shaming (which is kind of what Ford intended but changed his mind when he met the dancers). We saw their bravery and joy. This outspoken writer makes some important points about the sequence.
Abel Korzeniowski's (last scored A Single Man) soundtrack is full of violins swelling and adding to the tension. You can stream it here.
So far the movie has eleven nominations and three wins, including the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival (see my running list of major nominations and wins here). Rotten Tomatoes' critics damn it with faint praise, averaging 71%, but its audiences bring in a more respectable 80%. We think you should see it on the big screen.
This is the second movie directed and written by fashion designer Tom Ford, so it's no big surprise that it looks so glorious. He co-wrote the screenplay for A Single Man and wrote this one alone, adapting Austin Wright's 2015 novel Tony and Susan.
The opening credit sequence is a stunner. Plus-size older women dance naked with their bodies bouncing in slow motion as the words appear on the screen. Some writers have deplored it as fat shaming (which is kind of what Ford intended but changed his mind when he met the dancers). We saw their bravery and joy. This outspoken writer makes some important points about the sequence.
Abel Korzeniowski's (last scored A Single Man) soundtrack is full of violins swelling and adding to the tension. You can stream it here.
So far the movie has eleven nominations and three wins, including the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival (see my running list of major nominations and wins here). Rotten Tomatoes' critics damn it with faint praise, averaging 71%, but its audiences bring in a more respectable 80%. We think you should see it on the big screen.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Loving (2016)
We liked very much this drama about the interracial couple whose Supreme Court victory changed the country's laws forbidding such unions and paved the way for last year's gay marriage ruling. Their real name was Loving, and the storytelling doesn't have a lot of words, as written by director Jeff Nichols (last blogged for Mud). He had source material from both the 2005 non-fiction book Virginia Hasn't Always Been for Lovers: Interracial Marriage Bans and the Case of Richard and Mildred Loving by Phyl Newbeck and the documentary The Loving Story (2011). The latter also provided actual footage that Nichols could adapt for his purposes. My favorite line, in the trailer, is Mildred saying, "We might lose the small battles but win the big war."
Joel Edgerton (most recently in The Great Gatsby) and Ruth Negga (born in Ethiopia, she is new to me, despite many English-speaking credits) convey much with his set jaw and her big eyes. In the large cast I recognized Alano Miller, as Raymond (he helps Richard with fixing cars for drag races), from Jane the Virgin; Matt Malloy, as a lawyer later on, from Alpha House; and, of course, comic actor Nick Kroll playing it straight (perfectly) as Bernie Cohen, one of the primary lawyers on the case. Michael Shannon (also last blogged for Mud) is a Nichols regular, and has a cameo as a Life magazine photographer.
Kudos to production designer Chad Keith (notable work includes Martha Marcy May Marlene, Take Shelter, and Begin Again), art director Jonathan Guggenheim (Martha Marcy May Marlene, more), set decorator Adam Willis (Take Shelter and Spring Breakers, among others), and the phenomenal picture car team (probably hired by the same guys). Jack and I both noticed the Corelle dinnerware that Mildred washes in one scene, but were not aware that it came out in 1970, so is the one anachronism noted by imdb's contributors.
The soundtrack by David Wingo (most recently scored Our Brand Is Crisis) is not only available to buy from all the usual places but also to stream on YouTube. Start with this track and proceed by number for his compositions. We are also treated to a bunch of fun songs from the late 1950s and mid 1960s, listed here.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 89%, are more in line with us than its audiences' 79. We do recommend it.
Joel Edgerton (most recently in The Great Gatsby) and Ruth Negga (born in Ethiopia, she is new to me, despite many English-speaking credits) convey much with his set jaw and her big eyes. In the large cast I recognized Alano Miller, as Raymond (he helps Richard with fixing cars for drag races), from Jane the Virgin; Matt Malloy, as a lawyer later on, from Alpha House; and, of course, comic actor Nick Kroll playing it straight (perfectly) as Bernie Cohen, one of the primary lawyers on the case. Michael Shannon (also last blogged for Mud) is a Nichols regular, and has a cameo as a Life magazine photographer.
Kudos to production designer Chad Keith (notable work includes Martha Marcy May Marlene, Take Shelter, and Begin Again), art director Jonathan Guggenheim (Martha Marcy May Marlene, more), set decorator Adam Willis (Take Shelter and Spring Breakers, among others), and the phenomenal picture car team (probably hired by the same guys). Jack and I both noticed the Corelle dinnerware that Mildred washes in one scene, but were not aware that it came out in 1970, so is the one anachronism noted by imdb's contributors.
The soundtrack by David Wingo (most recently scored Our Brand Is Crisis) is not only available to buy from all the usual places but also to stream on YouTube. Start with this track and proceed by number for his compositions. We are also treated to a bunch of fun songs from the late 1950s and mid 1960s, listed here.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 89%, are more in line with us than its audiences' 79. We do recommend it.
Friday, December 2, 2016
Rules Don't Apply (2016)
Jack, Ann, Lucy, and I enjoyed aspects of this uneven, fictional story about Howard Hughes, a wannabe starlet, and her driver who is Hughes' employee. First the good news: the photography, production design, and picture cars are magnificent, the wardrobe is fun, and the acting mostly good. But the movie veers wildly between comedy and melodrama. Watching the credits in their entirety as we always do, Jack and I noticed that there were four editors. Perhaps that was one problem.
Then we have the auteur issue. Warren Beatty (directed and starred in Heaven Can Wait (1978), Reds (1981) which won him an Oscar, Dick Tracy (1990), and Bulworth (1998); now 79, he's been acting since 1957 and some of my favorites are the TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and movies Splendor in the Grass (1961), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1967), Shampoo (1975), Ishtar (1987) (yes, I did like it even though it's one of Hollywood's biggest failures), Bugsy (1991), and Town & Country (2001)) may have been able to produce, write, direct, and star successfully in the four pictures named above, but this one is not sure what it is. The acting I liked the best in this group came from Annette Bening (last blogged for Danny Collins, she is Beatty's real-life wife) as the starlet's mother and Alden Ehrenreich (the dumb guy in Hail, Caesar!) as the driver. Beatty is playing heavily into Hughes' eccentricities and hams it up quite a bit. Lily Collins (daughter of Phil, she was in The Blind Side) annoyed me--though perhaps her character the starlet is supposed to be that way--and her singing is off-key in the bridge (however my three movie-mates had no problem with her delivery) of the title track. I was frustrated that Megan Hilty, who has played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway, starred in the musical series Smash, and is a terrific singer, gets about three notes out before her scene cuts away (darn editors!) and I really, really wanted to hear her interpretation of the title track over the credits instead of Collins's.
An impressive number of big-time stars have cameos, including Matthew Broderick, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Oliver Platt, Alec Baldwin, Dabney Coleman, and Steve Coogan as a flight instructor.
As noted above, the look of this picture alone is worth the price of admission. Caleb Deschanel (Oscar-nominated for The Right Stuff (1983), The Natural (1984), Fly Away Home (1996), The Patriot (2000), and The Passion of the Christ (2004), he also shot Hope Floats (1998), Message in a Bottle (1999), My Sister's Keeper, and Killer Joe, among many others) brings us the beautiful images, as well as production designer Jeannine Oppewall, set decorator Nancy Haigh, and costume designer Albert Wolsky.
To hear the song go to this link and choose the video with the picture of the brunette in the white dress. There are plenty of great songs performed by other people, listed here, and no original score.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 57%, and its audiences at 47%, are in line with us this time. That said, the movie finished 12th in the nation's box office its first weekend. If you don't see many, this probably isn't the one for you.
Then we have the auteur issue. Warren Beatty (directed and starred in Heaven Can Wait (1978), Reds (1981) which won him an Oscar, Dick Tracy (1990), and Bulworth (1998); now 79, he's been acting since 1957 and some of my favorites are the TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and movies Splendor in the Grass (1961), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1967), Shampoo (1975), Ishtar (1987) (yes, I did like it even though it's one of Hollywood's biggest failures), Bugsy (1991), and Town & Country (2001)) may have been able to produce, write, direct, and star successfully in the four pictures named above, but this one is not sure what it is. The acting I liked the best in this group came from Annette Bening (last blogged for Danny Collins, she is Beatty's real-life wife) as the starlet's mother and Alden Ehrenreich (the dumb guy in Hail, Caesar!) as the driver. Beatty is playing heavily into Hughes' eccentricities and hams it up quite a bit. Lily Collins (daughter of Phil, she was in The Blind Side) annoyed me--though perhaps her character the starlet is supposed to be that way--and her singing is off-key in the bridge (however my three movie-mates had no problem with her delivery) of the title track. I was frustrated that Megan Hilty, who has played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway, starred in the musical series Smash, and is a terrific singer, gets about three notes out before her scene cuts away (darn editors!) and I really, really wanted to hear her interpretation of the title track over the credits instead of Collins's.
An impressive number of big-time stars have cameos, including Matthew Broderick, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Oliver Platt, Alec Baldwin, Dabney Coleman, and Steve Coogan as a flight instructor.
As noted above, the look of this picture alone is worth the price of admission. Caleb Deschanel (Oscar-nominated for The Right Stuff (1983), The Natural (1984), Fly Away Home (1996), The Patriot (2000), and The Passion of the Christ (2004), he also shot Hope Floats (1998), Message in a Bottle (1999), My Sister's Keeper, and Killer Joe, among many others) brings us the beautiful images, as well as production designer Jeannine Oppewall, set decorator Nancy Haigh, and costume designer Albert Wolsky.
To hear the song go to this link and choose the video with the picture of the brunette in the white dress. There are plenty of great songs performed by other people, listed here, and no original score.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 57%, and its audiences at 47%, are in line with us this time. That said, the movie finished 12th in the nation's box office its first weekend. If you don't see many, this probably isn't the one for you.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Moonlight (2016)
Jack and I loved this story of an African-American boy struggling with bullies, loneliness, and worse. It starts slow and dreamy, then picks up speed, and slows down again. Jack said we always feel like something bad is about to happen.
Three actors portray our hero Chiron (pronounced Shy-rone, not like the mythical Greek centaur Kye-ron) (for a spoiler-filled analysis of the relationship between the Greek myth and this movie, read this article after seeing the movie): Alex Hibbert as the nine year old in a powerful acting debut, Ashton Sanders (his third feature, including a small part in Straight Outta Compton) is terrific as the 16 year old, and Trevante Rhodes (two other features, some TV, and six upcoming projects) is good as well as the grown up. Chiron's best friend Kevin is well done by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and most especially André Holland (acting debut for Piner, feature debut for Jerome, and Holland was last blogged for Black or White). The adults in Chiron's life are Mahershala Ali (he has lots of credits besides 33 episodes of House of Cards as Remy Danton, including The Place Beyond the Pines, though I failed to mention him), singer Janelle Monáe (did voices for one animated TV episode and a small part in an animated feature before this, though she'll be one of the stars of the upcoming Christmas movie Hidden Figures), and Naomie Harris (since I profiled her in The First Grader she was in, among others, two James Bond movies--Skyfall and Spectre) as his mother.
When director/writer Barry Jenkins' first feature Medicine for Melancholy (2008) was released to much acclaim I meant to see it. This has earned even more acclaim, with 9 wins, 14 nominations, and counting. I'm keeping a running total of some of my favorite awards on this page. Jenkins' sophomore effort, this is adapted from a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, himself an award winner, though many scenes have very little dialogue. Speaking of which, when there is dialogue it can be hard to understand and the format on which it was shot does not allow for closed captions, either now on the big screen or later on small, so you'll have to pay close attention.
Lots of songs will entertain you, along with original music by Nicholas Britell, streaming on a spotify playlist at the bottom of this link.
Cinematographer James Laxton (pictured here with his steadicam) clearly had fun with this picture, shooting in Miami. There's an opening dolly shot that circles and circles the characters and moves around after that. I wish I had timed it--it lasts a long time! Unfortunately, this movie could make some people a bit nauseated. I keep a list of movies that cause MPMS-Motion Picture Motion Sickness on this page and Moonlight is on it.
Acclaimed is right, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 98% and its audiences 91 in its sixth week of release (only two weeks in the "lesser" cities). Highly recommended and aptly rated R.
Three actors portray our hero Chiron (pronounced Shy-rone, not like the mythical Greek centaur Kye-ron) (for a spoiler-filled analysis of the relationship between the Greek myth and this movie, read this article after seeing the movie): Alex Hibbert as the nine year old in a powerful acting debut, Ashton Sanders (his third feature, including a small part in Straight Outta Compton) is terrific as the 16 year old, and Trevante Rhodes (two other features, some TV, and six upcoming projects) is good as well as the grown up. Chiron's best friend Kevin is well done by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and most especially André Holland (acting debut for Piner, feature debut for Jerome, and Holland was last blogged for Black or White). The adults in Chiron's life are Mahershala Ali (he has lots of credits besides 33 episodes of House of Cards as Remy Danton, including The Place Beyond the Pines, though I failed to mention him), singer Janelle Monáe (did voices for one animated TV episode and a small part in an animated feature before this, though she'll be one of the stars of the upcoming Christmas movie Hidden Figures), and Naomie Harris (since I profiled her in The First Grader she was in, among others, two James Bond movies--Skyfall and Spectre) as his mother.
When director/writer Barry Jenkins' first feature Medicine for Melancholy (2008) was released to much acclaim I meant to see it. This has earned even more acclaim, with 9 wins, 14 nominations, and counting. I'm keeping a running total of some of my favorite awards on this page. Jenkins' sophomore effort, this is adapted from a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, himself an award winner, though many scenes have very little dialogue. Speaking of which, when there is dialogue it can be hard to understand and the format on which it was shot does not allow for closed captions, either now on the big screen or later on small, so you'll have to pay close attention.
Lots of songs will entertain you, along with original music by Nicholas Britell, streaming on a spotify playlist at the bottom of this link.
Cinematographer James Laxton (pictured here with his steadicam) clearly had fun with this picture, shooting in Miami. There's an opening dolly shot that circles and circles the characters and moves around after that. I wish I had timed it--it lasts a long time! Unfortunately, this movie could make some people a bit nauseated. I keep a list of movies that cause MPMS-Motion Picture Motion Sickness on this page and Moonlight is on it.
Acclaimed is right, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 98% and its audiences 91 in its sixth week of release (only two weeks in the "lesser" cities). Highly recommended and aptly rated R.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
My Sister's Keeper (2009)
I saw this when it was new and I know I liked it. It's about a girl conceived in order to save her dying sibling. Starring Abigail Breslin as the younger sister, Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric as the parents, and Sofia Vassilieva as the sick one. Breslin was last blogged for Zombieland, Diaz for Annie, and Vassilieva was new to me then and I haven't seen any of her work since. I remember liking Patric in Rush (1991), Sleepers (1996), Your Friends & neighbors (1998), and Narc (2002).
I read the Jodi Picoult book on which this is based and I remember liking that, too. Director Nick Cassavetes (I didn't see The Notebook but really liked Alpha Dog (2006), his fifth feature--this was his sixth, he directed two more and is planning two upcoming ones) adapted the book with Jeremy Leven (co-wrote seven before this and three after).
I just had to put this on the list to satisfy my obsessive-compulsive personality (not disorder) and make a milestone announcement: I thought this made 900 movies summarized (I don't like to say reviewed because I'm usually quite generous) on the blog since I began writing on September 3, 2008. However, I just double-checked the count and apparently I passed 900 five movies ago, so I'm up to 905. Certain Women was #900, but I was in such a bad mood I forgot to add it and others to the count!
When I began writing, I thought I'd go back and write about every movie I had ever seen. That didn't and won't happen. But I got 21 in there that I had seen before that date, so I keep two counts on my index. Another milestone will be coming in a bit.
One more comment. Google/blogger says that in the past month I've had 661 page views here in the USA and over five times that many in France. Bonjour à mes nombreaux amis francais! Apparently I also have readers in Poland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, India and Portugal?! I'm honored. Je suis honorée. Jestem zaszczycony. Ik ben vereerd. Ich bin geehrt. मैं सम्मानित किया।. Estou honrado. And thanks to https://www.freetranslation.com!
I read the Jodi Picoult book on which this is based and I remember liking that, too. Director Nick Cassavetes (I didn't see The Notebook but really liked Alpha Dog (2006), his fifth feature--this was his sixth, he directed two more and is planning two upcoming ones) adapted the book with Jeremy Leven (co-wrote seven before this and three after).
I just had to put this on the list to satisfy my obsessive-compulsive personality (not disorder) and make a milestone announcement: I thought this made 900 movies summarized (I don't like to say reviewed because I'm usually quite generous) on the blog since I began writing on September 3, 2008. However, I just double-checked the count and apparently I passed 900 five movies ago, so I'm up to 905. Certain Women was #900, but I was in such a bad mood I forgot to add it and others to the count!
When I began writing, I thought I'd go back and write about every movie I had ever seen. That didn't and won't happen. But I got 21 in there that I had seen before that date, so I keep two counts on my index. Another milestone will be coming in a bit.
One more comment. Google/blogger says that in the past month I've had 661 page views here in the USA and over five times that many in France. Bonjour à mes nombreaux amis francais! Apparently I also have readers in Poland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, India and Portugal?! I'm honored. Je suis honorée. Jestem zaszczycony. Ik ben vereerd. Ich bin geehrt. मैं सम्मानित किया।. Estou honrado. And thanks to https://www.freetranslation.com!
Friday, November 25, 2016
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
We loved this edgy coming-of-age comedy about a sardonic, angry, smart, funny, beautiful teenager who's always at the end of her rope. Hailee Steinfeld (last blogged for The Homesman) is outstanding as Nadine, Kyra Sedgewick (most recently in Kill Your Darlings) wonderful as her clueless mother, and Woody Harrelson (last in Now You See Me 2) surprisingly restrained as her favorite teacher. I watched Glee for a while but Blake Jenner (no relation to Caitlyn/Bruce) didn't look familiar to me. He's quite good as Nadine's brother Darian, as is Haley Lu Richardson as her best friend Krista. I also enjoyed the work of Lina Renna as little Nadine.
Kelly Fremon Craig, who wrote one feature script before this, makes her directing debut and it flows beautifully, with snappy, hilarious dialogue.
I must mention Nadine's wacky wardrobe, as designed by Carla Hetland, who also worked on 50/50, among many projects.
The soundtrack is credited to Atli Orvarsson (from Iceland) and four of his songs can be streamed by choosing this movie on his website. Chances are, however, you'll just remember the great songs, streaming here.
Critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes are lining up with us, averaging 94 and 88%, respectively. It's in wide release now, so you can catch it on the big screen or wait for the video--it won't lose in translation--but we recommend it highly.
I must mention Nadine's wacky wardrobe, as designed by Carla Hetland, who also worked on 50/50, among many projects.
The soundtrack is credited to Atli Orvarsson (from Iceland) and four of his songs can be streamed by choosing this movie on his website. Chances are, however, you'll just remember the great songs, streaming here.
Critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes are lining up with us, averaging 94 and 88%, respectively. It's in wide release now, so you can catch it on the big screen or wait for the video--it won't lose in translation--but we recommend it highly.
No Pay, Nudity (2016)
Jack and I liked a lot this story of a frustrated middle-aged actor and his friends looking for work in New York. With a distinguished cast headed by Gabriel Byrne and including Nathan Lane and Frances Conroy, it's funny and a little sentimental in a good way. Over ten years ago Amy and I met Byrne when I was consulting on a script that didn't get made. He's a bit of a sentimental guy in person, too. Some of my favorites of his work are Siesta (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Cool World (1992), Into the West (1992), The Usual Suspects (1995), and Wah-Wah (2005). Of Lane's film and TV resumé, the standouts are The Lion King (1994), The Birdcage (1996), Trixie (2000), The Producers (2005), Modern Family, The Good Wife, and The People vs. O.J. Simpson (in the last two he barely cracks a smile). We also just saw him onstage in the revival of The Front Page. Frances Conroy was last blogged for Stone.
Director Lee Wilkof, a middle-aged actor who gets lots of work (94 credits!), makes his directing debut with this picture and has a cameo as an auditioning actor who makes loud, annoying vocalizations in the waiting room. Ethan Sandler is an actor and producer making his feature screenwriting debut.
Craig Richey, no novice, has composed for a number of projects, including two of my favorites by Nicole Holofcener, Lovely & Amazing (2001) and Friends with Money (2006). The soundtrack doesn't seem to be available online but here's a sampler of his movie work and a list of the other songs.
This is in limited release so very few people have seen this yet. We went to a premiere last week. The six critics on Rotten Tomatoes who wrote about it average 83%. Googling it without quotation marks leads to some unsavory results so search only for "no pay nudity." The title refers to the kind of jobs an out-of-work actor can get.
Director Lee Wilkof, a middle-aged actor who gets lots of work (94 credits!), makes his directing debut with this picture and has a cameo as an auditioning actor who makes loud, annoying vocalizations in the waiting room. Ethan Sandler is an actor and producer making his feature screenwriting debut.
Craig Richey, no novice, has composed for a number of projects, including two of my favorites by Nicole Holofcener, Lovely & Amazing (2001) and Friends with Money (2006). The soundtrack doesn't seem to be available online but here's a sampler of his movie work and a list of the other songs.
This is in limited release so very few people have seen this yet. We went to a premiere last week. The six critics on Rotten Tomatoes who wrote about it average 83%. Googling it without quotation marks leads to some unsavory results so search only for "no pay nudity." The title refers to the kind of jobs an out-of-work actor can get.
Arrival (2016)
Jack and I enjoyed this sci-fi story of a linguist called by the military to communicate with aliens in the near future. More than just a mash-up of Independence Day and Contact, it has many layers, skillfully woven. Amy Adams handles the layers beautifully as the lead. Her co-stars, including Forest Whitaker, Jeremy Renner, and Michael Stuhlbarg (last blogged for Big Eyes, Dope. The Immigrant, and Miles Ahead, respectively) are strong as well. Fans of Halt and Catch Fire will recognize one of soldiers, Mark O'Brien, who plays Tom in the AMC series.
Director Denis Villenueve (most recently helmed Sicario) keeps the shells (that's what they call the aliens' spaceships) juggled in the air, working from a script by Eric Heisserer (he's written five other screenplays that I haven't seen) who adapted the 1998 novella Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang.
Jóhann Jóhannsson, who scored Sicario and Prisoners with Villeneuve provides music that is occasionally a little heavy handed but very trippy. The whole soundtrack playlist has been removed from YouTube since we saw it nine days ago, but here are a few tracks for your enjoyment: one, two, three.
Marcia said she wanted to see it because it stresses non-violent communication. It definitely does. There's a powerful line that the screenwriter agonized over and then found out that in the final cut, it was in another language with no subtitles. Here it is: In war there are no winners, only widows.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics love this, averaging 93% and its audiences aren't far behind at 82. It's playing pretty much everywhere now.
Director Denis Villenueve (most recently helmed Sicario) keeps the shells (that's what they call the aliens' spaceships) juggled in the air, working from a script by Eric Heisserer (he's written five other screenplays that I haven't seen) who adapted the 1998 novella Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang.
Jóhann Jóhannsson, who scored Sicario and Prisoners with Villeneuve provides music that is occasionally a little heavy handed but very trippy. The whole soundtrack playlist has been removed from YouTube since we saw it nine days ago, but here are a few tracks for your enjoyment: one, two, three.
Marcia said she wanted to see it because it stresses non-violent communication. It definitely does. There's a powerful line that the screenwriter agonized over and then found out that in the final cut, it was in another language with no subtitles. Here it is: In war there are no winners, only widows.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics love this, averaging 93% and its audiences aren't far behind at 82. It's playing pretty much everywhere now.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Independent Spirit Awards
The nominations were announced today. I love the Spirit Awards! The ceremony will be Saturday February 25, the day before the Oscars. They have it in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. The stars drink and get rowdy, and the hosts are always fun and funny. You can record or watch it live on the IFC channel at 2pm Pacific and 5pm Eastern. If you need to stream it, go to IFC.com. They usually do not show it more than once, nor have I been able to find it after the fact on youtube.
The nominees are now on my annual list of nominees and winners, right under the full index of all movies on babetteflix.
The nominees are now on my annual list of nominees and winners, right under the full index of all movies on babetteflix.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Bad Moms (2016)
Jack and I had a lot of laughs at this terribly silly and lewd farce in a second run theatre today. It stars the comedic talents of Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, and Kristen Bell vs. Annie Mumolo, Christina Applegate, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The first four were last blogged in Annie, The Family Fang, and The Boss (both Bell and Mumolo), respectively. Applegate is best known for her TV work, including 258 episodes of Married with Children (1987-1997), 35 of Samantha Who?, and 35 of Up All Night; her movie roles include the first Anchorman (2004) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues; and I liked Pinkett Smith in Bamboozled (2000), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004), The Women, and Magic Mike XXL. In fact, my only complaint about the movie is that the latter has so little to do--one big line, which we both found dumb and kind of gross.
Jack recognized the soccer coach, played by football player J. J. Watt of the Houston Texans. And other faces on the screen include Emjay Anthony (Chef) and Oona Laurence (new to me) as Kunis' kids, Clark Duke (Kick-Ass) as her boss, David Walton (TV: Bent, About a Boy, and a series arc on New Girl) as her husband, Wendell Pierce (lots of TV and movies, including Get on the Bus (1996), Ray (2004), Horrible Bosses, and 32 episodes of the new The Odd Couple, to name just a few) as the principal, Jay Hernandez (Crazy/Beautiful (2001)) as the hot dad, and Wanda Sykes (first and foremost a stand up comedian, she's been in TV shows including The Chris Rock Show, The Drew Carey Show, her own short-lived Wanda at Large, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Alpha House, Black-ish, and House of Lies) in a funny cameo.
Directed and written by the team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who co-wrote Four Christmases, and wrote (just the two of them) The Hangover, The Change-Up, and a few other things, and directed one other movie before this. There is a sort-of sequel in development: Bad Dads.
The composer is Christopher Lennertz (last blogged for The Boss) whose score, for at least the third time in my blog, has been upstaged by strong pop tunes.
I almost forgot to mention that this was a nice companion to last night's mini-binge (three episodes out of ten so far) of the new FX series Better Things starring Pamela Adlon and created by her and Louis C.K., about a working mom and her three daughters.
Yes, we sorely needed a comedy this week (see my previous post on Certain Women) and Bad Moms definitely filled the bill, brought to us by Rotten Tomatoes' 60% from critics and 70 from audiences. Tickets cost $2.25 each. It'll probably be free if you have cable or streaming TV in the next few months. Be sure not to get the censored version. And be sure not to skip the credits. All six stars chat on screen with their mothers at the end!
Jack recognized the soccer coach, played by football player J. J. Watt of the Houston Texans. And other faces on the screen include Emjay Anthony (Chef) and Oona Laurence (new to me) as Kunis' kids, Clark Duke (Kick-Ass) as her boss, David Walton (TV: Bent, About a Boy, and a series arc on New Girl) as her husband, Wendell Pierce (lots of TV and movies, including Get on the Bus (1996), Ray (2004), Horrible Bosses, and 32 episodes of the new The Odd Couple, to name just a few) as the principal, Jay Hernandez (Crazy/Beautiful (2001)) as the hot dad, and Wanda Sykes (first and foremost a stand up comedian, she's been in TV shows including The Chris Rock Show, The Drew Carey Show, her own short-lived Wanda at Large, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Alpha House, Black-ish, and House of Lies) in a funny cameo.
Directed and written by the team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who co-wrote Four Christmases, and wrote (just the two of them) The Hangover, The Change-Up, and a few other things, and directed one other movie before this. There is a sort-of sequel in development: Bad Dads.
The composer is Christopher Lennertz (last blogged for The Boss) whose score, for at least the third time in my blog, has been upstaged by strong pop tunes.
I almost forgot to mention that this was a nice companion to last night's mini-binge (three episodes out of ten so far) of the new FX series Better Things starring Pamela Adlon and created by her and Louis C.K., about a working mom and her three daughters.
Yes, we sorely needed a comedy this week (see my previous post on Certain Women) and Bad Moms definitely filled the bill, brought to us by Rotten Tomatoes' 60% from critics and 70 from audiences. Tickets cost $2.25 each. It'll probably be free if you have cable or streaming TV in the next few months. Be sure not to get the censored version. And be sure not to skip the credits. All six stars chat on screen with their mothers at the end!
Friday, November 11, 2016
Certain Women (2016)
Deb, Jack, and I were not particularly moved by this dreamy tale of four northwestern American women whose three stories barely intersect. The pictures are pretty but the pace and drama were not what we needed on Wednesday afternoon November 9, 2016 (the movie was about to leave town--it's gone now), despite no shortage of talent. First we have Laura Dern (profiled in Wild) in one story, Michelle Williams (last blogged for Oz the Great and Powerful) in another, and Kristen Stewart (most recently in Café Society) with Lily Gladstone (new to me) in the third. Gladstone is terrific with few words and has been nominated for the Breakthrough Actor Gotham Award for this role. Jared Harris (covered in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), in the Laura Dern story, plays the most flamboyant character and underlines how laid back the women are.
Acclaimed director/writer Kelley Reichardt (most recently made Meeks' Cutoff) adapted three short stories by Maile Meloy and, as mentioned earlier, the connections between them are tenuous at best. There are a couple of lines that stuck with me, though, one from Dern about sexism in her law career and another from Stewart about her family's expectations. Williams' character is also a bit of a trailblazer but her tightly wound Gina just annoyed me. Again, it could have been the emotions I was feeling that day. Reichardt and the movie have several more nominations and one win so far.
Composer Jeff Grace, who also scored Meek's Cutoff, provides nice tunes which are nowhere to be found online.
Two of my friends and many critics loved this movie, with Rotten Tomatoes' professional average coming in at 89%. Their audiences are more in line with us at 51. Maybe those who don't need to be cheered up will like it better than we did.
The Accountant (2016)
Jack and I expected to like this thriller--about a CPA with Aspergers, shady clients, and guns--and were not disappointed. Ben Affleck is wonderful in the title role and Anna Kendrick reminded me ever so slightly of her role in Rocket Science (2007). Her mother is an accountant who tutored Kendrick in the math necessary for this part. Affleck and Kendrick were last blogged in Gone Girl and The Hollars, respectively.
The very big cast includes good work from J.K. Simmons (most recently in The Meddler), John Lithgow (last in The Homesman), Jon Bernthal (last in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Jeffrey Tambor (after I covered his career in Win Win in 2011, he won several Emmys for the transgender father in Transparent), and Jean Smart (though known for 120 episodes of Designing Women (1986-91), her Emmy nominations and wins were for Frasier, Samantha Who, and Fargo, among others, and her movie roles have included Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Garden State (2004), Hope Springs, and Youth in Revolt) (she turned 65 in September--she looks fantastic!).
Director Gavin O'Connor (last helmed Warrior) works from a screenplay by Bill Dubuque (The Judge), which was on the 2011 Black List, the "most liked" unproduced scripts of the year. There's a twist at the end of the movie which Jack predicted and took me by surprise when we saw it ten days ago.
As a fan of composer Mark Isham (I last wrote about him for Beyond the Lights), I enjoyed his score, which I'm streaming now from this playlist.
The critics, with their reviews full of number puns, are rounding down to 51% with audiences counting higher at 84 on Rotten Tomatoes. You don't have to see it on the big screen but it might make more sense for some of the denser shots.
The very big cast includes good work from J.K. Simmons (most recently in The Meddler), John Lithgow (last in The Homesman), Jon Bernthal (last in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Jeffrey Tambor (after I covered his career in Win Win in 2011, he won several Emmys for the transgender father in Transparent), and Jean Smart (though known for 120 episodes of Designing Women (1986-91), her Emmy nominations and wins were for Frasier, Samantha Who, and Fargo, among others, and her movie roles have included Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Garden State (2004), Hope Springs, and Youth in Revolt) (she turned 65 in September--she looks fantastic!).
Director Gavin O'Connor (last helmed Warrior) works from a screenplay by Bill Dubuque (The Judge), which was on the 2011 Black List, the "most liked" unproduced scripts of the year. There's a twist at the end of the movie which Jack predicted and took me by surprise when we saw it ten days ago.
As a fan of composer Mark Isham (I last wrote about him for Beyond the Lights), I enjoyed his score, which I'm streaming now from this playlist.
The critics, with their reviews full of number puns, are rounding down to 51% with audiences counting higher at 84 on Rotten Tomatoes. You don't have to see it on the big screen but it might make more sense for some of the denser shots.
American Pastoral (2016)
Despite dismal reviews, Jack and I enjoyed this story of an idyllic 1950s family shaken by the daughter's 1960s radicalism, with powerful performances by all and nice production values. The feature directing debut of star Ewan McGregor (last blogged for the titular role in The Ghost Writer) co-stars the luminescent Jennifer Connelly (most recently in Noah) as the wife and a haunting Dakota Fanning (last in these pages for The Runaways) as the daughter. Peter Riegert (some of my favorites are Animal House (1978), Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), Local Hero (1983), Crossing Delancey (1988), The Object of Beauty (1991), and The Mask (1994)) as McGregor's father and Valorie Curry (the intern chased by both Clyde and Doug in ten episodes of House of Lies) as Rita both do notable work as well.
John Romano (before adapting The Lincoln Lawyer, he wrote lots of TV episodes including L.A, Law and Knots Landing, as well as the amusing legal dramedy Intolerable Cruelty (2003)) adapted Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize (for fiction 1998) winning novel.
Alexandre Desplat (last scored Florence Foster Jenkins) provides a lovely score which you can stream from this link, and it's complemented by this array of songs (including Moon River, which I learned to play on the piano in the very early 60s).
Note to Helene and Judy, see if you can spot the merkin!
As I said, dismal reviews--since we saw it a week ago the critics' averages have risen a point to 21% and the audiences' fallen a point to 44 on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, we liked it a lot. Sufferers of motion picture motion sickness will notice that a few highly tense scenes feature handheld cameras in the arms of runners, but they don't last long, so I won't put this on the list.
John Romano (before adapting The Lincoln Lawyer, he wrote lots of TV episodes including L.A, Law and Knots Landing, as well as the amusing legal dramedy Intolerable Cruelty (2003)) adapted Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize (for fiction 1998) winning novel.
Alexandre Desplat (last scored Florence Foster Jenkins) provides a lovely score which you can stream from this link, and it's complemented by this array of songs (including Moon River, which I learned to play on the piano in the very early 60s).
Note to Helene and Judy, see if you can spot the merkin!
As I said, dismal reviews--since we saw it a week ago the critics' averages have risen a point to 21% and the audiences' fallen a point to 44 on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, we liked it a lot. Sufferers of motion picture motion sickness will notice that a few highly tense scenes feature handheld cameras in the arms of runners, but they don't last long, so I won't put this on the list.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
A Man Called Ove (En man som heter Ove - 2015)
Funny and moving, this story of a cranky Swedish widower whose plans keep getting derailed is just plain great, as is the tagline: Misery hates company. For the title role, Rolf Lassgård has already won a couple of well deserved awards and the supporting cast is terrific as well. Though he looks older at first, the character and the actor are both 59 years old. Lassgård was in After the Wedding (2006), which I liked, among other projects.
Hannes Holm (new to me) directed and adapted the book by Fredrik Backman and the pacing works well. He, too, is beginning to rack up awards and nominations. You can stream clips from the soundtrack by Gaute Storaas from this page.
Averaging 93% from critics and 84 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, Sweden's official entry to the 2017 Oscars is definitely worth your time.
Hannes Holm (new to me) directed and adapted the book by Fredrik Backman and the pacing works well. He, too, is beginning to rack up awards and nominations. You can stream clips from the soundtrack by Gaute Storaas from this page.
Averaging 93% from critics and 84 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, Sweden's official entry to the 2017 Oscars is definitely worth your time.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Denial (2016)
This is a fine adaptation of the memoir by Deborah Lipstadt, a Jewish historian who was sued for libel by a holocaust denier in 1996. Mostly a courtroom drama, in England (wigs and all), it features a wonderful performance by Rachel Weisz (last blogged for Complete Unknown) as Lipstatdt, complete with brash New York accent (Weisz is English) and attitude. A slimmed down Timothy Spall (most recently in Mr. Turner) plays her determined accuser David Irving with zeal, and her defense team is headed up by Tom Wilkinson (last in Selma as LBJ) as Richard Rampton and Andrew Scott (one of the "Lesbians & Gays Supporting the Miners" in Pride) as Anthony Julius. The somber judge is practically a cameo by Alex Jennings, who was so delightfully droll in The Lady in the Van.
Director Mick Jackson has many credits, mostly in television, but I saw and liked the feature comedy L.A. Story (1991), the drama The Bodyguard (1992), and the TV movie Live from Baghdad (2002). He obviously is comfortable with his job at the helm. David Hare (Oscar-nominated for adapting The Hours (2002) and The Reader) adapted Lipstadt's book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier and it chugs along nicely. Apparently all of the courtroom dialogue is taken verbatim from the trial records.
I thought it might be a problem with continuity when Weisz's hair seems to change color from red to brown frequently, but then, when I looked up photos of the real Lipstadt, hers does the same thing.
The music by Howard Shore (last blogged for Spotlight) can be streamed by starting with this link and continuing to all the suggested videos with the same image.
Rotten Tomatoes' audiences and critics are tied at 78%. Jack and I thought it better than that and urge you to see it.
Director Mick Jackson has many credits, mostly in television, but I saw and liked the feature comedy L.A. Story (1991), the drama The Bodyguard (1992), and the TV movie Live from Baghdad (2002). He obviously is comfortable with his job at the helm. David Hare (Oscar-nominated for adapting The Hours (2002) and The Reader) adapted Lipstadt's book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier and it chugs along nicely. Apparently all of the courtroom dialogue is taken verbatim from the trial records.
I thought it might be a problem with continuity when Weisz's hair seems to change color from red to brown frequently, but then, when I looked up photos of the real Lipstadt, hers does the same thing.
The music by Howard Shore (last blogged for Spotlight) can be streamed by starting with this link and continuing to all the suggested videos with the same image.
Rotten Tomatoes' audiences and critics are tied at 78%. Jack and I thought it better than that and urge you to see it.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
The Front Page (1974)
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are good in this story of a reporter whose retirement plans are hindered by his boss's manipulations and a great story landing in their laps. Co-starring Carol Burnett, a very young Susan Sarandon, and a host of famous actors of the day, it's not as funny as some of director/co-writer Billy Wilder's other comedies, such as Some Like It Hot (1959) or One, Two, Three (1961). In fact, Carol Burnett happened to be on an airplane where this movie screened and apparently stood up afterwards and apologized to the passengers for her performance.
On our last trip to New York we had tickets to a revival (starring Nathan Lane, John Slattery, John Goodman, and a host of famous actors of this day) of this 1928 play so, as homework, I streamed this one on netflix in the hotel. The play was good fun.
There was also a 1931 adaptation for the screen, as well the 1940 version His Girl Friday, in which Lemmon's character was played by Rosalind Russell and Matthau's by Cary Grant. I haven't seen either one. This one is part of history and Jack, who has seen it multiple times, liked it more than I.
On our last trip to New York we had tickets to a revival (starring Nathan Lane, John Slattery, John Goodman, and a host of famous actors of this day) of this 1928 play so, as homework, I streamed this one on netflix in the hotel. The play was good fun.
There was also a 1931 adaptation for the screen, as well the 1940 version His Girl Friday, in which Lemmon's character was played by Rosalind Russell and Matthau's by Cary Grant. I haven't seen either one. This one is part of history and Jack, who has seen it multiple times, liked it more than I.
American Honey (2016)
I really liked this dreamy telling of a gritty story about a teenager who joins a band of other homeless kids traveling the country selling magazine subscriptions and partying. Jack didn't, primarily because of its excessive length (without which it would have been much less dreamy) of 2:43.
In her acting debut, Sasha Lane, who turned 21 in September, is remarkable as the lead, a fearless girl named Star. Some have called this a career-making role for Shia LaBeouf (when I last wrote about him in The Company You Keep, I said he was "less annoying" than in his previous movie) and he is compelling as the mercurial Jake. And you won't forget Riley Keogh, who is Elvis Presley's eldest grandchild and Lisa Marie's daughter. Keough was in but not blogged for The Runaways, Magic Mike, and Mad Max: Fury Road. And here her ice queen Krystal is formidable. Except for a cameo by Will Patton (last blogged for Meek's Cutoff), most of the others in the large cast are inexperienced actors who nonetheless contribute much to the picture.
Director/writer Andrea Arnold (most recently in these pages for Fish Tank) has crafted quite the story of Star and her new "family," and, though I don't disagree the movie is way too long, I didn't hate the cutaway shots of bug and birds on wires. Most of it was shot with natural or available light. It's also a major trigger of motion picture motion sickness (see my running list of MPMS movies here) due to lots of hand held camera work, including while running.
No composer is credited, and none needed, because of many kick ass songs, to which the kids sing along and/or dance jubilantly. Imdb lists 27 songs, and the album's 19 songs, available for sale at the usual sites, can be streamed on spotify for your listening pleasure.
Rated 81% by critics and 77 by audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie won the Jury Prize and Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes last winter, and, just this morning, Lane was nominated for the Breakthrough Award at the Gotham Independent Awards. You may not want your teenagers to see this as it contains graphic sex, nudity, really bad behavior, and foul language. But many patient adults will enjoy it.
In her acting debut, Sasha Lane, who turned 21 in September, is remarkable as the lead, a fearless girl named Star. Some have called this a career-making role for Shia LaBeouf (when I last wrote about him in The Company You Keep, I said he was "less annoying" than in his previous movie) and he is compelling as the mercurial Jake. And you won't forget Riley Keogh, who is Elvis Presley's eldest grandchild and Lisa Marie's daughter. Keough was in but not blogged for The Runaways, Magic Mike, and Mad Max: Fury Road. And here her ice queen Krystal is formidable. Except for a cameo by Will Patton (last blogged for Meek's Cutoff), most of the others in the large cast are inexperienced actors who nonetheless contribute much to the picture.
Director/writer Andrea Arnold (most recently in these pages for Fish Tank) has crafted quite the story of Star and her new "family," and, though I don't disagree the movie is way too long, I didn't hate the cutaway shots of bug and birds on wires. Most of it was shot with natural or available light. It's also a major trigger of motion picture motion sickness (see my running list of MPMS movies here) due to lots of hand held camera work, including while running.
No composer is credited, and none needed, because of many kick ass songs, to which the kids sing along and/or dance jubilantly. Imdb lists 27 songs, and the album's 19 songs, available for sale at the usual sites, can be streamed on spotify for your listening pleasure.
Rated 81% by critics and 77 by audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie won the Jury Prize and Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes last winter, and, just this morning, Lane was nominated for the Breakthrough Award at the Gotham Independent Awards. You may not want your teenagers to see this as it contains graphic sex, nudity, really bad behavior, and foul language. But many patient adults will enjoy it.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
The Birth of a Nation (2016)
It's difficult to love something so wrenching and violent, but this story of Nat Turner, an educated slave leading an uprising twenty years before emancipation, is quite moving and beautifully photographed. Apparently after Nate Parker starred in Beyond the Lights he told his agents he wouldn't do anything else until he had played Turner on screen. Not only did Parker play the lead, he directed, wrote the screenplay, co-wrote the story with Jean McGianni Celestin, and produced. That could be the biggest drawback--with one person calling all the shots, there may be just a few too many loving reaction shots and moody meditations.
That said, the acting is good. Not just Parker, but also Armie Hammer (last blogged for The Lone Ranger) as his former playmate turned owner Samuel, Penelope Ann Miller (covered in The Artist) as Samuel's mother, Jackie Earle Haley (profiled in Dark Shadows) as a slave hunter, Aunjanue Ellis (lots of TV and her movies include Lovely & Amazing (2001), Ray (2004), Notorious, The Help, and Get On Up) as Turner's mother, Esther Scott (I've seen some of her dozens of roles) as his grandmother, and Aja Naomi King (before 45 episodes of How to Get Away with Murder she was in Damsels in Distress and some other things) as his love interest.
The D.W. Griffiths' silent film; The Birth of a Nation (1915) showed the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light and Parker intentionally and ironically shared the name. William Styron's 1967 novel The Confessions of Nat Turner won the Pulitzer the following year, when ten African-American writers published The Second Crucifixion of Nat Turner.
Cinematographer Elliot Davis (among his varied credits I've seen, among others, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), Larger Than Life (1996), Gray's Anatomy (1996) (Spalding Gray's monologue, not the TV series), Out of Sight (1998), Breakfast of Champions (1999), Forces of Nature (1999), I Am Sam (2001), White Oleander (2002), Thirteen (2003), Lords of Dogtown (2005), and The Iron Lady) provides the sweeping photography and Henry Jackman (last blogged for Kingsman: The Secret Service) the background music, supplemented with field gospel songs, rap, and pop, some of which can be streamed here.
Thirty producers (including Parker) put this in the category of producers plethora, my list of top-heavy movies, and Rotten Tomatoes' critics 77% and its audiences' 75 put this in the category of maligned but still worth seeing, despite the revelation that Parker and Celestin, his Penn State classmate, raped a female freshman in 1999, were accused and acquitted, and the victim killed herself in 2012.
That said, the acting is good. Not just Parker, but also Armie Hammer (last blogged for The Lone Ranger) as his former playmate turned owner Samuel, Penelope Ann Miller (covered in The Artist) as Samuel's mother, Jackie Earle Haley (profiled in Dark Shadows) as a slave hunter, Aunjanue Ellis (lots of TV and her movies include Lovely & Amazing (2001), Ray (2004), Notorious, The Help, and Get On Up) as Turner's mother, Esther Scott (I've seen some of her dozens of roles) as his grandmother, and Aja Naomi King (before 45 episodes of How to Get Away with Murder she was in Damsels in Distress and some other things) as his love interest.
The D.W. Griffiths' silent film; The Birth of a Nation (1915) showed the Ku Klux Klan in a positive light and Parker intentionally and ironically shared the name. William Styron's 1967 novel The Confessions of Nat Turner won the Pulitzer the following year, when ten African-American writers published The Second Crucifixion of Nat Turner.
Cinematographer Elliot Davis (among his varied credits I've seen, among others, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), Larger Than Life (1996), Gray's Anatomy (1996) (Spalding Gray's monologue, not the TV series), Out of Sight (1998), Breakfast of Champions (1999), Forces of Nature (1999), I Am Sam (2001), White Oleander (2002), Thirteen (2003), Lords of Dogtown (2005), and The Iron Lady) provides the sweeping photography and Henry Jackman (last blogged for Kingsman: The Secret Service) the background music, supplemented with field gospel songs, rap, and pop, some of which can be streamed here.
Thirty producers (including Parker) put this in the category of producers plethora, my list of top-heavy movies, and Rotten Tomatoes' critics 77% and its audiences' 75 put this in the category of maligned but still worth seeing, despite the revelation that Parker and Celestin, his Penn State classmate, raped a female freshman in 1999, were accused and acquitted, and the victim killed herself in 2012.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
The Dressmaker (2015)
Jack and I loved this movie--part slapstick, part revenge, part romance, part tragedy--of a 1950s couture dress designer returning to the rural Australian village where she was hated as a child by the eccentric townspeople. Kate Winslet (last blogged for Steve Jobs) is marvelous in the title role and in those luscious costumes. Who better than Judy Davis (most recently in To Rome with Love) to play her mad mother? Then we have the equally luscious beefcake Liam Hemsworth (I didn't see a single Hunger Games nor any of his other credits) as the love interest and the fascinating Hugo Weaving (I saw only the first Matrix and some of the Lord of the Ringses but do remember him being scary in V is for Vendetta (2005) and Captain America: The First Avenger) playing against type as a cross dressing cop.
Jocelyn Moorhouse (directed How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and three others) runs the show with a slightly unsteady hand--at times I wondered why she kept changing genres, but it's all so entertaining I stopped caring. She and her husband P.J. Hogan (wrote and directed Muriel's Wedding (1994) and Peter Pan (2003), and wrote a few more scripts) adapted the Rosalie Ham novel which must be a humdinger considering the crazy plot twists.
This movie is a visual feast, thanks to cinematographer Donald McAlpine (Oscar-nominated for Moulin Rouge! (2001), also shot My Brilliant Career (1979), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Parenthood (1989), Stanley & Iris (1990), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and many more), production designer Roger Ford (some of his notable work includes Sirens (1993), Babe (1995), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), The Quiet American (2002), Peter Pan (2003), and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)) and costume designers Marion Boyce (nothing I've seen) and Margot Wilson (Bran Nue Dae), the latter of whom designed Winslet's glamorous duds.
Tracks from the original soundtrack by David Hirschfelder can be found on youtube, such as this and that. He blends western themes with classical, opera, and some pop hits of the time.
Everyone in the main cast and crew is either from Australia or New Zealand or lived or worked there (Winslet is English but her first movie, Heavenly Creatures (1994), was directed by Peter Jackson and shot in New Zealand).
Sadly, most critics on Rotten Tomatoes couldn't get past the genre-bending and are averaging only 54% and its audiences are only slightly warmer at 70, but we highly recommend this. See it on the big screen.
This movie is a visual feast, thanks to cinematographer Donald McAlpine (Oscar-nominated for Moulin Rouge! (2001), also shot My Brilliant Career (1979), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Parenthood (1989), Stanley & Iris (1990), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and many more), production designer Roger Ford (some of his notable work includes Sirens (1993), Babe (1995), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), The Quiet American (2002), Peter Pan (2003), and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)) and costume designers Marion Boyce (nothing I've seen) and Margot Wilson (Bran Nue Dae), the latter of whom designed Winslet's glamorous duds.
Tracks from the original soundtrack by David Hirschfelder can be found on youtube, such as this and that. He blends western themes with classical, opera, and some pop hits of the time.
Everyone in the main cast and crew is either from Australia or New Zealand or lived or worked there (Winslet is English but her first movie, Heavenly Creatures (1994), was directed by Peter Jackson and shot in New Zealand).
Sadly, most critics on Rotten Tomatoes couldn't get past the genre-bending and are averaging only 54% and its audiences are only slightly warmer at 70, but we highly recommend this. See it on the big screen.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Queen of Katwe (2016)
Jack and I really liked this inspiring and touching story of a girl from Ugandan slums who becomes a chess master. Based on a true story, it stars Lupita N'yongo (last blogged for The Jungle Book) and David Oyelowo (recently in A Most Violent Year) as the mother and coach, respectively, and newcomer Madina Nalwanga in the title role AKA Phiona Mutesi of Katwe, Uganda, with a host of other newbies. The acting is remarkable, including the gaggle of kids in the chess group.
Indian-born director Mira Nair (last in these pages for New York, I Love You and Amelia) is very good at colorful pictures featuring strong, often brown-skinned characters. In fact, she made a docu-drama about the real coach Robert Katende. You can watch it (13 minutes long) and a six minute doc about Phiona on this page. Screenwriter William Wheeler (adapted Clifford Irving's biography into the movie The Hoax (2007)) adapted this screenplay from Tim Crothers' book about Phiona, which Crothers fleshed out from his own article in ESPN Magazine.
Nair's love of color is aided by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, who shot Hysteria. Composer Alex Heffes (The First Grader) comes through again with sprightly African tunes, some of which can be streamed from this link and others on the right side of the youtube page.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are swooning with an average of 91%, with its audiences not far behind at 86. And be sure to stay seated for the credits, even if you don't want to read them. You will see the actors with the real people they have portrayed, as well as a fun music video of a pop song that the children sing during the movie.
I suspect that this movie could possibly cause motion-picture-motion-sickness (MPMS) in afflicted individuals. I was okay because we sat in the last row and I watched the closed caption device which kept me grounded, but I'll put it on the list.
Indian-born director Mira Nair (last in these pages for New York, I Love You and Amelia) is very good at colorful pictures featuring strong, often brown-skinned characters. In fact, she made a docu-drama about the real coach Robert Katende. You can watch it (13 minutes long) and a six minute doc about Phiona on this page. Screenwriter William Wheeler (adapted Clifford Irving's biography into the movie The Hoax (2007)) adapted this screenplay from Tim Crothers' book about Phiona, which Crothers fleshed out from his own article in ESPN Magazine.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are swooning with an average of 91%, with its audiences not far behind at 86. And be sure to stay seated for the credits, even if you don't want to read them. You will see the actors with the real people they have portrayed, as well as a fun music video of a pop song that the children sing during the movie.
I suspect that this movie could possibly cause motion-picture-motion-sickness (MPMS) in afflicted individuals. I was okay because we sat in the last row and I watched the closed caption device which kept me grounded, but I'll put it on the list.
Monday, October 3, 2016
The Hollars (2016)
I loved and Jack liked this dramedy of a man's return to his dysfunctional family when his mother falls ill. We laughed a lot at the befuddled men (except one) and the competent women (except one). John Krasinski stars and directs (he was last blogged for a voice in The Wind Rises, and, before this, directed three episodes of The Office and one other feature which we didn't see). As John Hollar, he proves his acting chops honed from 188 episodes of The Office and dozens of other roles, and, as a director, he keeps things moving at a nice pace, working from a script by Jim Strouse (the latter's sixth screenplay after four I haven't seen and a segment of New York, I Love You (2008)).
Richard Jenkins (most recently in these pages for an off-screen voice in Spotlight) apparently agreed to play the father if Margo Martindale (last blogged for August: Osage County) would play the mother, and their chemistry is adorable. Able supporting strength is provided by, among others, Anna Kendrick (most recently in Cake) as John's girlfriend, Charlie Day (from Horrible Bosses 2) as the mom's nurse, and Sharlto Copley (last heard as the voice and body movements of Chappie, he's South African and his native accent betrays him rarely) as John's brother.
Set in Ohio (there's a reference to an eight hour drive from New York, plus there are generic road signs for Cincinnati), it was shot in Mississippi.
The pretty folk music is credited to Josh Ritter, his first as composer, after having songs played on many TV shows and a few movies. Here are a soundtrack preview and a song list.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics haven't been kind, averaging 44%, while its audiences are warmer at 72. Whatever. See it this week, as it will be leaving these parts Thursday night.
Set in Ohio (there's a reference to an eight hour drive from New York, plus there are generic road signs for Cincinnati), it was shot in Mississippi.
The pretty folk music is credited to Josh Ritter, his first as composer, after having songs played on many TV shows and a few movies. Here are a soundtrack preview and a song list.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics haven't been kind, averaging 44%, while its audiences are warmer at 72. Whatever. See it this week, as it will be leaving these parts Thursday night.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Sully (2016)
Adrenaline pumping, knuckles whitening, eyes glued to the screen, tears welling (mine, anyway), we experienced powerful reenactments of the water landing of a commercial plane on the Hudson, which really happened in 2009. Tom Hanks is wonderful as the skilled yet humble veteran pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (last blogged in A Hologram for the King). Disclosure: every time I saw this trailer, even watching it again now, I get choked up--partly because we fly so much and I can see myself and my loved ones on that plane, and mostly tears of joy because we know it had a happy ending. Oh, come on, if that's a spoiler you really need to get out more.
Hanks is joined by Aaron Eckhart (most recently in The Rum Diary) and Laura Linney (after I wrote about her in Hyde Park on Hudson, she starred in 40 well-done episodes of The Big C on Showtime) as his co-pilot and wife, as well as a huge cast of supporting actors under the direction of Clint Eastwood (last in these pages for American Sniper). Jack and I do not agree with his politics, but he's a fine filmmaker for the most part, and definitely here.
Todd Komarnicki adapted the memoir by Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow into this, his third produced screenplay. It's a little corny at times, but it works.
We're really glad we saw it last week in IMAX (the huge screen) to fully appreciate the amazing photography. Cinematographer Tom Stern (Oscar-nominated for Changeling) works with Eastwood often, and Aerial Director of Photography Hans Bjerno has 200 credits, including Titanic (1997), Con Air (1997), The Italian Job (2003), The Aviator (2004), The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Flight, Interstellar, Tomorrowland, Spectre, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, just to name a few. And then the huge special effects crew surely has much to do with it, too.
We laughed at all the Marriott hotel product placement. Apparently the real survivors were brought to a Marriott. But Stern's/Eastwood's camera lingers lovingly on quite a few establishing shots of Marriott hotels, at least five, by the count of this reviewer, who didn't think much of the movie. I do like his headline that Sully is Flight without the cocaine. Airplane rescue movies are exhilarating, and this one joins my other two favorites: Flight and Superman Returns (2006), where, in the opening sequence, our superhero carries a disabled passenger jet down gently into a baseball game to the cheering of fans.
Eastwood loves jazz, and for this soundtrack he chose jazz pianist Christian Jacobs (his website here) and Jacobs' frequent collaborators The Tierney Sutton Band (click the second tab on the above page). The music is good, and not all that jazzy. Only one track is available now, as the soundtrack, including an original song by Eastwood, is scheduled for a September 30 release. And here's an article with a a few paragraphs about this score.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 80% and audiences at 89 enjoyed this as much as we did. Best on the big screen unless it'll be too intense for you. Stay for the news footage during the credits.
Hanks is joined by Aaron Eckhart (most recently in The Rum Diary) and Laura Linney (after I wrote about her in Hyde Park on Hudson, she starred in 40 well-done episodes of The Big C on Showtime) as his co-pilot and wife, as well as a huge cast of supporting actors under the direction of Clint Eastwood (last in these pages for American Sniper). Jack and I do not agree with his politics, but he's a fine filmmaker for the most part, and definitely here.
Todd Komarnicki adapted the memoir by Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow into this, his third produced screenplay. It's a little corny at times, but it works.
We're really glad we saw it last week in IMAX (the huge screen) to fully appreciate the amazing photography. Cinematographer Tom Stern (Oscar-nominated for Changeling) works with Eastwood often, and Aerial Director of Photography Hans Bjerno has 200 credits, including Titanic (1997), Con Air (1997), The Italian Job (2003), The Aviator (2004), The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Flight, Interstellar, Tomorrowland, Spectre, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, just to name a few. And then the huge special effects crew surely has much to do with it, too.
We laughed at all the Marriott hotel product placement. Apparently the real survivors were brought to a Marriott. But Stern's/Eastwood's camera lingers lovingly on quite a few establishing shots of Marriott hotels, at least five, by the count of this reviewer, who didn't think much of the movie. I do like his headline that Sully is Flight without the cocaine. Airplane rescue movies are exhilarating, and this one joins my other two favorites: Flight and Superman Returns (2006), where, in the opening sequence, our superhero carries a disabled passenger jet down gently into a baseball game to the cheering of fans.
Eastwood loves jazz, and for this soundtrack he chose jazz pianist Christian Jacobs (his website here) and Jacobs' frequent collaborators The Tierney Sutton Band (click the second tab on the above page). The music is good, and not all that jazzy. Only one track is available now, as the soundtrack, including an original song by Eastwood, is scheduled for a September 30 release. And here's an article with a a few paragraphs about this score.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 80% and audiences at 89 enjoyed this as much as we did. Best on the big screen unless it'll be too intense for you. Stay for the news footage during the credits.
Southside with You (2016)
Languid and talky but still enjoyable, this look into the day Michelle and Barack Obama went out for the first time in 1989 is a great date movie. Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers, as the couple, are both new to me, though they each have a few credits, and director/writer Richard Tanne makes his feature debut here.
I wanted to see this ten days ago after hearing Karen Grigsby Bates say, among other things, "You don't often see black love in dramatic film..." to Bob Mondello on NPR's Code Switch podcast of August 28.
Rule #13 of my 19 rules for movies and television is broken, as it's clear to me that Sawyers is really inhaling that smoke--we know the President was a smoker, and in this movie he's at it constantly.
Clips from Stephen James Taylor's score can be heard by clicking the play buttons on the right side of this page and you can read a list of the other tracks here.
This is one that Rotten Tomatoes' critics love, averaging 92% (audiences come in at 80). It's good, but you can wait for the small screen.
I wanted to see this ten days ago after hearing Karen Grigsby Bates say, among other things, "You don't often see black love in dramatic film..." to Bob Mondello on NPR's Code Switch podcast of August 28.
Rule #13 of my 19 rules for movies and television is broken, as it's clear to me that Sawyers is really inhaling that smoke--we know the President was a smoker, and in this movie he's at it constantly.
Clips from Stephen James Taylor's score can be heard by clicking the play buttons on the right side of this page and you can read a list of the other tracks here.
This is one that Rotten Tomatoes' critics love, averaging 92% (audiences come in at 80). It's good, but you can wait for the small screen.
Snowden (2016)
Quite the thriller, this biopic of the whistleblower who exposed the NSA's wiretaps of random US citizens has high production values, a lot of information, and portrays Snowden as a patriot and a hero. But what would you expect from director/co-writer Oliver Stone (last blogged for Savages), a Vietnam vet turned anti-war activist?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (most recently in The Walk) is masterful as the title character and Shailene Woodley (last in The Spectacular Now) is sweet as his love interest Lindsay. As usual with Stone's work, there are dozens of quality actors, including Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), Nicolas Cage (Kick-Ass), Melissa Leo (Prisoners), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Schnetzer (Pride) as the guy who calls Snowden "Snow White," and Keith Stanfield AKA Lakeith Lee Stanfield (small parts in Selma, Dope, Straight Outta Compton, and Miles Ahead, and co-stars as comic relief Darius in the current FX series Atlanta).
This is the second feature for Stone's co-writer Kieran Fitzgerald after The Homesman. The script chugs along but we laypeople could have done with slightly less data and some minutes cut from the 2:14 running time. The aforementioned production values are due at least in part to the cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle (last in these pages for Trance).
I'm listening to tracks from the movie by Craig Armstrong and Adam Peters--I started on this link with autoplay on.
Stay in your seat during the credits for some news footage of the actual Ed Snowden. Critics do not love this two days after its wide release, averaging 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are fonder at 72. We thought it pretty good.
Note: This is going on my list of movies that can trigger motion picture motion sickness or MPMS. See the complete list here. It's not constant, but there are places, so sit in the last row.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (most recently in The Walk) is masterful as the title character and Shailene Woodley (last in The Spectacular Now) is sweet as his love interest Lindsay. As usual with Stone's work, there are dozens of quality actors, including Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), Nicolas Cage (Kick-Ass), Melissa Leo (Prisoners), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Schnetzer (Pride) as the guy who calls Snowden "Snow White," and Keith Stanfield AKA Lakeith Lee Stanfield (small parts in Selma, Dope, Straight Outta Compton, and Miles Ahead, and co-stars as comic relief Darius in the current FX series Atlanta).
This is the second feature for Stone's co-writer Kieran Fitzgerald after The Homesman. The script chugs along but we laypeople could have done with slightly less data and some minutes cut from the 2:14 running time. The aforementioned production values are due at least in part to the cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle (last in these pages for Trance).
I'm listening to tracks from the movie by Craig Armstrong and Adam Peters--I started on this link with autoplay on.
Stay in your seat during the credits for some news footage of the actual Ed Snowden. Critics do not love this two days after its wide release, averaging 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are fonder at 72. We thought it pretty good.
Note: This is going on my list of movies that can trigger motion picture motion sickness or MPMS. See the complete list here. It's not constant, but there are places, so sit in the last row.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Complete Unknown (2016)
Jack and I enjoyed this weird tale of a woman who frequently changes identities meeting an old boyfriend at a dinner party. It's no spoiler to tell you that the first few minutes of the movie are a montage of some of her personae. Rachel Weisz' (last blogged for The Lobster), as Lucinda put it, facial expressions are something to behold as her character, mostly called Alice, vamps and improvises in company with other people. Michael Shannon (most recently starring in Elvis & Nixon) is also wonderful as the now-married ex. The cameos by Kathy Bates (last in Tammy) and Danny Glover (Beyond the Lights) are sweet.
Director/co-writer Joshua Marston (won many awards for Maria Full of Grace (2004), directed one other feature and lots of TV, plus a segment of New York, I Love You) works from the script co-written, in his feature debut, by Julian Sheppard.
The music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans (scored Martha Marcy May Marlene and three or four projects coming soon) is terrific but I can't find it online to hear it again or refer you to a link.
This is not a fast-paced film, and it hasn't been well reviewed--45% from critics and 42 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes--but we liked its dreamy style.
Director/co-writer Joshua Marston (won many awards for Maria Full of Grace (2004), directed one other feature and lots of TV, plus a segment of New York, I Love You) works from the script co-written, in his feature debut, by Julian Sheppard.
The music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans (scored Martha Marcy May Marlene and three or four projects coming soon) is terrific but I can't find it online to hear it again or refer you to a link.
This is not a fast-paced film, and it hasn't been well reviewed--45% from critics and 42 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes--but we liked its dreamy style.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Equity (2016)
Jack and I really liked this story of women working in the man's world of high finance--the sexism, the intrigue, the suspicion, and more. It's as if Skyler White moved from running the car wash to a job on Wall Street. Anna Gunn (who earned many credits before her 62 episodes of Breaking Bad as Ms. White) is a breath of fresh air, with the size 12 figure of a real human and the acting chops to carry off the confidence of the lead character Naomi. Sarah Megan Thomas (new to me) and Alysia Reiner (played the bitchy warden in Orange is the New Black and dozens of other roles including one in The Vicious Kind) not only shine as Naomi's nervous underling Erin and Naomi's former college buddy Sam, but the pair also co-wrote the story with screenwriter Amy Fox and share producing credit with eleven other women and six men, if the traditional first names are to be trusted. Yeah, there are some men in the cast, but who cares? Okay, okay, James Purefoy (four episodes of the Showtime series Episodes and lots of thing I didn't see) adds to the mix as Naomi's wily boyfriend and Nate Corddry (after I wrote about him in The Ugly Truth he has been busy, including on 34 episodes of Harry's Law, 33 of Mom, and St. Vincent) is cute and befuddled as usual.
Tautly directed by Meera Menon (her second feature), this is the first project of production company Broad Street Pictures, founded by Thomas. This is Fox's second screenplay in eleven years (the first was an adaptation of a play she also wrote). Kudos to Production Designer Diane Lederman, who coincidentally was set dresser on Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and to costume designer Teresa Binder Westby who has a quite a few credits as assistant, including Silver Linings Playbook, and is now coming into her own as department head.
The composing team of Alexis Marsh and Samuel Jones AKA Alexis & Sam gives us a cool soundtrack, 6 ½ minutes of which can be streamed from their soundcloud page (scroll down).
Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is 80% and its audiences' 73. It's probably leaving these parts Thursday night. Go see it.
Tautly directed by Meera Menon (her second feature), this is the first project of production company Broad Street Pictures, founded by Thomas. This is Fox's second screenplay in eleven years (the first was an adaptation of a play she also wrote). Kudos to Production Designer Diane Lederman, who coincidentally was set dresser on Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and to costume designer Teresa Binder Westby who has a quite a few credits as assistant, including Silver Linings Playbook, and is now coming into her own as department head.
The composing team of Alexis Marsh and Samuel Jones AKA Alexis & Sam gives us a cool soundtrack, 6 ½ minutes of which can be streamed from their soundcloud page (scroll down).
Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is 80% and its audiences' 73. It's probably leaving these parts Thursday night. Go see it.
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Happy 8th anniversary to me
I began writing this blog eight years ago today. In that time I've seen 864 movies (and written about 884). 864 includes Equity, which we saw yesterday, about which I will write shortly that we both loved it. If you see us at the movies, we'll be in our seats until after the credits are finished!
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Don't Think Twice (2016)
We loved this hilarious yet touching story of a New York improvisational troupe dealing with personal loyalty, professional competition, and the craft of improv, directed and written by Mike Birbiglia (last blogged for Trainwreck), and starring him as Miles. The rest of the ensemble are Gillian Jacobs (after I wrote about her in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, she was great as the damaged co-star of the Netflix series Love) as Sam, Keegan-Michael Key (most recently in Keanu) as her boyfriend Jack, Kate Micucci (I don't remember her in Scrubs and didn't see her seven episodes of The Big Bang Theory, but loved her loony banjo-playing childcare provider in 26 episodes of Raising Hope, plus she has dozens more credits) as Allison AKA Data, Chris Gethard (his real name, he was a regular on Broad City and did three Inside Amy Schumer episodes and a bunch of other things) as Bill, and Tami Sagher (not her feature acting debut, but she was executive story editor on 30 Rock, co-executive producer on Girls, staff writer on Psych, writer on Inside Amy Schumer, and more) as Lindsay, all hoping to get their big break in a show called Weekend Live, a thinly disguised version of SNL. Some of the above were skilled at improv, others had to study, and a few of their live workshops are included in the movie.
Ira Glass, co-producer of Birbiglia's Sleepwalk with Me, does the same honors here, but with no cameo, though you won't miss short appearances by Lena Dunham and Ben Stiller.
Ira Glass, co-producer of Birbiglia's Sleepwalk with Me, does the same honors here, but with no cameo, though you won't miss short appearances by Lena Dunham and Ben Stiller.
The title is an unspoken motto of the troupe, and one spoken motto is "yes, and..." in which each member must accept where another's imagination has taken the sketch.
Composer Roger Neill (after Beginners, he scored 20 episodes of Mozart in the Jungle) provides original music which he uploaded to his soundcloud page, including a wonderful rip-off of SNL's theme (track 3) and a cover of Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (track 18). The latter plays over the credits which include a nice selection of production still photos.
This is very much a show biz picture and I'm glad the critics get it, because they are averaging 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, even though the less enthusiastic audiences, at 78%, may be less interested in the biz.
Sensitive viewers may get a touch of Motion Picture Motion Sickness from the not-so-steadicam work, so this is going on my running list of MPMS movies.
It looks like it will be held over another week in these parts and check this list if you want to see it on a big screen, though a small screen will get the point across just fine. Please do pay for it to support this fine work. You can even pre-order the DVD on amazon. Estimated release date is mid-October.
Sensitive viewers may get a touch of Motion Picture Motion Sickness from the not-so-steadicam work, so this is going on my running list of MPMS movies.
It looks like it will be held over another week in these parts and check this list if you want to see it on a big screen, though a small screen will get the point across just fine. Please do pay for it to support this fine work. You can even pre-order the DVD on amazon. Estimated release date is mid-October.
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