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.

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.

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

We loved this story (based on a true one) of a 1944 New York heiress with a tin ear whose loving husband (with the people he pays off) helps her perform at Carnegie Hall. The incomparable Meryl Streep in the title role, Hugh Grant as the husband named St. Clair Bayfield, and Simon Helberg as the beleaguered accompanist Cosmé McMoon are each marvelous in their roles. Streep (last blogged for Suffragette) struts and screeches, belying the actress's actual talent as a trained singer. Apparently she began rehearsals singing correctly and learned to degrade her pitch and tone with time. Hugh Grant (among his movies that I've liked are Maurice (1987), Impromptu (1991), Sirens (1993), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Notting Hill (1999), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), About a Boy (2002), Love Actually (2003), American Dreamz (2006), and Music and Lyrics (2007)) is delightful as the dashing younger husband/caretaker (he is almost 56 to Streep's 67), and Simon Helberg (he had dozens of credits before 209 episodes of The Big Bang Theory) is hilarious when he mugs in horror over his employer's tone-deafness. Just as Streep is a real singer, Helberg is a true pianist (in the interview linked below he refers to himself as a "party trick" piano player with a focus on jazz) and the two of them actually performed live in all scenes.

Supporting strength comes from a host of characters, but especially standing out are Rebecca Ferguson (she looks familiar but I can't place her even after reading her resumé) as the mistress and Nina Arianda (the 2012 Tony winner, for Venus in Fur, has been in quite a few movies I've seen, including Win Win, Midnight in Paris, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them, and one episode of Aziz Ansari's series Master of None) as "the showgirl."

Noted director Stephen Frears (most recently in these pages for Philomena) works from a script by Nicholas Martin in his feature debut.

The look of the picture is lush, with various locations in Frears' and Grant's native England subbing in for (and digitally altered to resemble) World War II era Manhattan, magnificent set dressing (oh, that apartment, those lobbies!), and terrific wardrobe. Ferguson's Lauren Bacall-style outfits particularly pleased me. I must give credit to cinematographer Danny Cohen (last blogged for The Danish Girl), production designer Alan MacDonald (worked on Kinky Boots (2005), The Queen (2006), Chéri (these two also directed by Frears), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Philomena, and Sing Street, to name a few), and costume designer Consolata Boyle (Oscar nominated for Helen Mirren's wardrobe in The Queen, dressed Streep in The Iron Lady, and worked on, among others, Into the West (1992), The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), Mary Reilly (1996) (another by Frears), Angela's Ashes (1999), and Chéri).

Some of the score by Alexandre Desplat (last blogged for The Danish Girl) can be streamed on this playlist (turn the auto-play button on). When the screeching starts I suggest you turn it off. But in context it is very funny. One great scene has a character literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Zealots like me, after seeing the movie, will enjoy this interview (it contains spoilers), nearly an hour long, with the three top stars. Grant's dry humor and Helberg's modesty contrast with Streep's earnest professionalism.

As a musician with a discriminating ear, I worried that I would hate this movie. I couldn't have been more wrong. Jenkins' passion and love of music are inspiring and, of course, portrayed to perfection. And the chaste love of the couple is quite touching. When Martha and Jerry said they liked it, we resolved to see it today and I'm so glad we did. Rotten Tomatoes' critics liked it too, averaging 87%, though its audiences come in at only 77%.

The big screen isn't a must but the movie is wonderful.

Hell or High Water (2016)

Jack and I really enjoyed this story of a pair of bank robbing brothers and the two Texas Rangers on their tails. Good story, good acting, beautiful images, and a few laughs in the well-crafted screenplay kept us happy to return to the movies in between summer trips out of town. As the brothers, Chris Pine (last blogged for Into the Woods) and Ben Foster (most recently in Kill Your Darlings) are wonderful. Jeff Bridges (last in True Grit) seems to have grown more marbles in his mouth but I could understand most of his lines even without a closed caption device (I'm getting so old!). You will recognize Gil Birmingham from his many TV roles, including four episodes of House of Cards.

Director David Mackenzie is new to me despite nine features under his belt, and this is the second screenplay by Taylor Sheridan (his first was Sicario). Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens (among his credits are The Deep End (2001), Bee Season (2005) (many fantastical images in that one), and What Maisie Knew) provides the pictures shot in Texas and New Mexico.

I'm streaming the soundtrack by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis from this link. I recall other songs that we liked but they're not listed on imdb.

Critics are loving this modern-day western, with a Rotten Tomatoes average of 99%! Audiences trail by only a little at 90. Mosey on up to your neighborhood art house and take a look.

Indignation (2016)

Jack and I really liked this drama of an outspoken freshman who doesn't fit in at his 1951 college. Based on Philip Roth's 2008 novel, its characters are complex, the acting exceptional, the story layered, and we loved the period sets and cars, as usual.

Logan Lerman (last seen in Noah) is terrific, blending maturity and naïveté, as beloved only child Marcus adapting to dorm/college life and what are now somewhat archaic customs; as is Sarah Gadon (most recently in Belle) as Olivia, a beautiful girl with more than meets the eye. Tracy Letts (last in Wiener-Dog) is perfect as the Dean with whom Marcus verbally spars, and I particularly appreciated the character of Marcus' mother, as played by Linda Emond (she was in Julie & Julia as Childs' collaborator Simone Beck--that's why she looked so familiar). Another familiar face is Ben Rosenfield as Flusser, Marcus' roommate (he played Nucky's nephew Willie Thompson on Boardwalk Empire).

James Schamus adapted Roth's 29th book and makes his feature directorial debut after writing and co-writing many hits for director Ang Lee, including Eat Drink Man Woman, The Ice Storm (1997), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); Hulk (2003); Lust, Caution (2007); and Taking Woodstock. He seems like a pro already. Not a surprise, since, as co-President of Focus Features he has producing credits on fifty projects--not only those above, but also Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Brothers McMullen (1995), Happiness (1998), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and Suffragette, to name a few.

It turns out we've seen quite a lot of production designer Inbal Weinberg's work, including Blue Valentine, Pariah, Our Idiot Brother, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which starred Lerman), and St. Vincent. It's probably best to save this three minute featurette about the costumes until after you've watched the movie, because I consider it to have spoilers.

The  music by Jay Wadley (new to me) is ethereal and can be streamed by starting here and turning on autoplay. Pay attention to Is It Love, heard on the radio during Marcus and Olivia's first date. Schamus and Wadley wrote the lyrics and music, respectively, just for this movie and hired cabaret singer Jane Monheit to interpret it with a full orchestra. Turns out Schamus also wrote lyrics for the Oscar-nominated song in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. However, he voted not for his own song but for the winner: Bob Dylan's Things Have Changed from Wonder Boys (2000).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 80% and its audiences 95% one day after its wide release. We highly recommend it for a wide audience of adults.

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Tarzan is living in late 1800s London, married to Jane, and they go back to the Congo on a diplomatic mission. Here's what I liked: the gorgeous jungle, the love story, the zoology, the swinging through the trees, people and animals surging through the forest at top speed, the stampede, spunky Jane, old ships and trains, and its runtime being under two hours. Here's what I didn't like: so many battles and too much dialogue explaining too much back story.

On my first day of film school, over thirty years ago, the head of the program warned us not to write/produce lots of dialogue explaining back story. "Show, don't tell," rule one for most artists, is broken way too many times here.

The stars are Alexander Skarsgård (last in The Diary of a Teenage Girl) as hunky Tarzan/John, Margot Robbie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) as lovely/brave Jane, Christoph Waltz (Spectre) as the villain, Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight) as the good natured sidekick, and Djimon Hounsou (profiled in How to Train Your Dragon 2) as one of the African chiefs.

David Yates, who helmed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, which I saw, and the sequel, which I didn't, is in the director's chair here. Adam Cozad is top billed for the screenplay and second billed for the story (he wrote one of the Jack Ryan movies before this) and Craig Brewer (the reverse on these credits) was considered as director before Yates got the job. Brewer directed and wrote Hustle & Flow (2005) and some other things.

Director of photography Henry Braham's gorgeous pictures ease the pain of the script, which does, to be fair, have some good lines in it. Among Braham's other credits are Waking Ned Devine (1998), the beautifully shot fantasy The Golden Compass (2007), and Everybody's Fine. The country of Gabon, along Africa's west coast, stands in for neighboring Congo. It's not hard to predict nominations for the cinematography at the end of the year.

Rupert Gregson-Williams, brother of fellow composer Harry, has a long resumé, including Hotel Rwanda (2004), Just Go With It, and 38 episodes of Veep, and has written a good score which can be streamed here. I particularly like the African vocals in the first track.

Imdb has lots of trivia, especially about 6'4" Skarsgård's diet and exercise plans to get cut for the mostly shirtless role, but my favorite trivia item is that in "formal dining," leaving your flatware crossed means you didn't enjoy the meal, which I didn't know. I did know that placing them side by side means you're finished. Watch for that scene if you decide to see this.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average of 35% and its audiences' 66 may have dampened my enthusiasm, but Jack thought less of it than I did, even though when we first saw the trailer in June we were both eager to see it. The movie is down to just a few screenings in these parts (we saw it in 2D this afternoon) and its DVD release is estimated for October of 2016. Parents, there's quite a bit of fighting and violence.

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

This documentary about the groundbreaking movie channel on Los Angeles cable TV in the 1980s is very good, from the madness of founder Jerry Harvey to the plethora of classic movies on the station. I lived in LA  from 1982-2001, and subscribed to the Z Channel, recorded dozens if not hundreds of movies on six-hour VHS tapes, and saved the program guides, with their first-rate movie descriptions and reviews, for years.

Here's the trailer which should interest most movie buffs. Directed by Xan Cassavetes, daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands (who happened to live on my street in the Hollywood Hills--I know because I met Gena canvassing for an ecological cause right before I moved). Xan directed Kiss of the Damned, which won a few awards, in 2012 but I didn't see it.

Composer Steven Hufsteter's Repo Man (1984) and Unhook the Stars (1986)--the latter starring Rowlands--were very likely screened on Z Channel. He also scored Xan's Kiss of the Damned.

Thirteen reviewers all gave this 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 1,984 audience members averaged 86%.

Jack and I watched this on a netflix DVD six weeks ago. A google search shows many sites offering to stream it for free, but I couldn't get any of them to load on my Safari browser. Maybe you'll have better luck with another browser and OS if you don't have the netflix DVD option.

UPDATE: I found it and you can stream it here!

The Infiltrator (2016)

Based on the memoir of customs agent Robert Mazur going undercover in 1985 to expose money laundering schemes involving Pablo Escobar, this thriller had Jack and me on the edges of our seats. With the reliable Bryan Cranston (last blogged for Trumbo) in the lead it's a sure thing. Sidekicks include John Leguizamo (most recently in these pages for Chef), Diane Kruger (last in Farewell, My Queen), and Juliet Aubrey as the wife (though she has many credits, I don't recognize her). Also starring in powerful roles are Olympia Dukakis (now 85, she is an Oscar winner for Moonstruck (1987), and was great in Steel Magnolias (1989), Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City (1993) and its sequels, Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Away from Her (2006), In the Land of Women (2007), and Joe Papp in Five Acts, to name some highlights of her career) and Benjamin Bratt (my favorites of his include Traffic (2000), Miss Congeniality (2000), Thumbsucker (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), 36 episodes of Private Practice, and five of Modern Family). The cast is enormous.

Director Brad Furman (we last saw The Lincoln Lawyer) works from a script adapted by his wife Ellen Brown Furman from Mazur's book, and the music by Chris Hajian (I don't believe I've seen a single other one of his 59 credits) adds suspense. You can listen to a five minute soundtrack preview here or start with this one and let youtube lead you on. The inclusion of the funky tune Eminence Front by The Who from 1982 gave me much pleasure, too.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics weigh in at only 68% and audiences at a more respectable 78. We saw it two weeks ago and now it's on its way out of our area. It's quite good and, if you don't get to see it on a big screen, the DVD release is set for October 11, 2016.

Ghostbusters (2016)

Big fun. We knew we'd like this reboot of the 1984 classic in which four intrepid women battle the paranormal in New York, and you will, too. Though not first billed, Kate McKinnon is my favorite here, and she's joined by Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Jones (McKinnon has to her credit 89 episodes of Saturday Night Live, a small part in Sisters, and a bunch of other stuff; Jones has 42 episodes of SNL and other projects I haven't seen; McCarthy and Wiig were last blogged in The Boss and Welcome to Me, respectively). They're all very funny. As the male version of the dumb secretary, Chris Hemsworth (most recently made another Thor appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron) fills the bill nicely. The enormous cast is too big to list in detail, but watch for all the cameos. We missed the appearance of the son of the late Harold Ramis as a heavy metal music fan who says "Ozzy rocks!" and I don't recall noticing the bust of Harold's head in Wiig's office. Now you know so you can watch for those. The other cameos are obvious.

Directed by Paul Feig (last helmed Spy) from a script written by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation, MadTV, and The Heat) and him, this movie zooms right along. And though New York is important to the plot, this was actually shot almost entirely in Massachusetts.

The original Ray Parker Jr. version of the title track is right at the beginning and the rest of the music is by Theodore Shapiro (most recently composed Trumbo). You can listen to Shapiro's score here, and read a list of songs here. There are two dance numbers during the movie and I expected one scene to turn into a third. It does, but not until the credits are rolling.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics liked this more, averaging 73%, than its audiences at 58. We had a good time  when we saw it three weeks ago and, naturally, we stayed for the bonus after the credits.

Wiener-Dog (2016)

Jack and I like the sick and twisted work of Todd Solondz (last blogged for Dark Horse), including his latest: four shorts with one dachshund in common. Its slow pace and script will make many folks uncomfortable and I believe that's the goal of director/writer Solondz.

Four (identical to us) dogs portray the title character, all with lustrous brown coats. We first meet Wiener-Dog as she joins the dysfunctional family of Tracy Letts (he had a small part in Elvis & Nixon and 24 episodes of Homeland as Andrew Lockhart), Julie Delpy (most recently in Before Midnight), and their young son, played by Keaton Nigel Cooke, with a beautiful face that somehow reminded me of Heather Matarazzo, who played Dawn Wiener in Solondz' breakout Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995). Dawn was taunted with the nickname Wiener-Dog by her middle school classmates. Matarazzo was offered the role of a grown-up Dawn in this movie, but turned it down. Greta Gerwig  (last in Maggie's Plan) stars in chapter two as Dawn and makes some bad choices with Kieran Culkin (most recently in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).

Chapter three features Danny DeVito (last in these pages in A Solitary Man) as an angry and depressed professor, and in the final chapter the pooch is adopted by Ellen Burstyn (most recently in Interstellar), also angry, who is visited by her granddaughter Zosia Mamet (after The Kids Are All Right she had series arcs on Parenthood and Mad Men and, of course, her 43 episodes of Girls. Season 5, episode 3, entitled Japan, stands out for Mamet's fabulous performance). Fun fact: her name is pronounced ZAH-shah ("like Sasha with a Z," she says).

Composer James Lavino's youtube channel doesn't have this movie on it, but I think I liked the soundtrack when we saw this four weeks ago.

I'm guessing that Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 73%, knew what they were getting into when they saw this, as opposed to its audiences, coming in at only 46.

Remember--sick and twisted. Don't take your kids to see the sweet puppy! And some sensitive adult animal lovers may be distressed as well. Jack and I, well, we're not so sensitive, and we laughed quite a bit. If you also like this sort of thing, its DVD release is set for August 23, 2016.

Captain Fantastic (2016)

Jack and I loved this movie wherein a single father and his six home-schooled kids are suddenly forced to leave the wilderness and come to grips with civilization. Viggo Mortensen (last blogged in On the Road) teaches his merry band of four teenagers (George MacKay, most recently in Pride; Annalise Basso; Samantha Isler; and Nicholas Hamilton) and two little ones (Shree Crooks and Charlie Shotwell) (all six are terrific, experienced actors) to hunt and grow their own food, read extensively, and "stick it to the man!" "The man" is represented by Frank Langella (last in these pages for Draft Day) as the the kids' grandfather. His kinder, gentler wife is well done by Ann Dowd (wonderful in Olive Kittredge and Masters of Sex).

This is the second movie directed and written by Matt Ross, best known to me for playing Alby on Big Love and Gavin on Silicon Valley (both characters were sociopaths, by the way). Here he has crafted a moving story and paced it just right.

The sometimes trippy music is by Alex Somers, a visual artist who occasionally plays music with his life partner Jon Thor (Jónsi) Birgisson (of the Icelandic band Sigur Rós) under the moniker Alex & Jónsi. You can sample the entire soundtrack from this link, as I am doing as I write. If you have an hour, listen to the whole thing on soundcloud.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are warmly appreciating the merits of this, averaging 78 and 85%, respectively. We highly recommend it.