Every bit as powerful as we expected, the story of the first lady's perspective on the assassination of JFK is brilliant, though hard to watch, especially for those of us who lived through it. That said, there are a number of uncomfortable laughs, as a brittle Jackie is interviewed by a journalist afterwards.
Natalie Portman (last blogged for Thor: The Dark World) has earned her third Oscar nomination (nominated for Closer (2004), she won for Black Swan) with careful study of the accent and body language of the title character. She is in almost every scene but there is solid supporting work from Billy Crudup as the journalist (said to be based on an actual interview with Theodore H. White for Life magazine, one week after the assassination) and Greta Gerwig as White House Social Secretary Nancy Tuckerman (Crudup and Gerwig were both in 20th Century Women). Peter Sarsgaard (last in Blue Jasmine) is a dashing Robert Kennedy and John Hurt (most recently in Snowpiercer) a thoughtful priest. Oh no! Hurt died yesterday, the day we saw it, just after his 77th birthday, of pancreatic cancer. I even turned to Jack and said how comforting it was to see him on screen, when I had no idea of his passing.
As a short person, I notice heights, and I know Portman is petite (5'3", according to imdb), dwarfed at times by John Carroll Lynch (first came to my attention in 73 episodes of The Drew Carey Show (1997-2004) but he has over 100 other credits, including Gran Torino, Shutter Island, Crazy, Stupid, Love. and two episodes of House of Lies, plus he's in the movie I'll be writing about next) who, at 6'3", is close to Lyndon Johnson's 6'4" and has LBJ's glowering expression down pat in one scene. Danish actor Caspar Phillipson (new to me) doesn't have many lines but his face looks a lot like JFK's. When he and Portman dance together, his height of 5'8" works with hers, just as the real Jackie's 5'7" worked with her husband's 6'0".
I thought I had heard of Chilean director Pablo Larraín, perhaps for his 2012 Foreign Film nominee No, but I didn't see it. I must have seen the trailer. And he has another movie coming out soon in the heartland (we hope), about Pablo Neruda. With the original screenplay by Noah Oppenheim (co-wrote two others before this, and has senior-produced 643 episodes of the Today show), and the fingerprints of producer Darren Aronofsky (he didn't produce Black Swan, which he directed, but did produce The Wrestler, and Noah, which he directed, and The Fighter, which he didn't, among others) all over it, this movie immerses us in the trauma, the responsibility, and the sense of duty so important to this first lady, and there are quite a few poignant lines I hope to remember. Apparently Aronofsky was originally slated to direct it and his ex-fiancée/baby mama Rachel Weisz to play the lead.
The screenplay was on the 2010 Black List (best unproduced screenplays of the year). I usually mention this fact about movies when I write about them. Here's their website.
Another of the movie's three Oscar nominations went to costume designer Madeline Fontaine, and she was also nominated for this by her peers in the Costume Designers Guild. Some of her work that I've appreciated are Babel (1999), Amélie (2001), and Micmacs. Mention must be made of the excellent production design team, headed by Jean Rabasse (Paris 36 and more).
You will notice when you see the movie that it is not in the usual modern 16:9 aspect ratio (our new televisions and movies are like this) but a narrower, more old-fashioned super 16mm format. So don't worry if you think you're missing the sides of the picture. Cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (no relation to the costume designer, he also masterfully shot What Just Happened, A Prophet, Rust and Bone, Captain Fantastic, and Elle, to name a few) used new cameras in the old ratio and an old camera that Larraín had from shooting No in 2012.
The final Oscar nomination went to another woman, composer Mica Levi, for her second soundtrack (the first was Under the Skin) and I have been streaming the eerie score from this link. Under her professional name Micachu she has released four albums besides those soundtracks. Included in the movie are clips from Richard Burton singing the original score to the 1960 musical Camelot, which I believe I saw on Broadway when I was very young. My family definitely played the record in our living room because I know the songs by heart.
With all of its press (there are many more nominations and my list is up to date), this movie's Rotten Tomatoes averages of 89% critics and 70% audiences don't really matter. Just see it, unless you have just lost a spouse.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
20th Century Women (2016)
Jack and I thought we'd like it, and we loved it. Funny and touching, it's the story of a 15 year old boy and his single mother, free-spirited yet occasionally traditional, trying to relate to each other, and two other women in their lives. Annette Bening (last blogged for Rules Don't Apply) is marvelous as Dorothea, who wants to have an open mind but sometimes that's asking too much of 1979 55-year-old. Greta Gerwig (most recently in Wiener-Dog) continues her career path of outsider girls as 20-something punk feminist photographer Abbie with hair dyed the color of red bougainvillea. Elle Fanning's (after Ginger & Rosa she played the daughter in Trumbo, though I failed to mention her) Julie has a great deal of depth and, back in the day, I knew many guys like Billy Crudup's (last in Thin Ice) William--handsome, earthy, unable to commit. Lucas Jade Zumann (one other feature and three TV episodes) is terrific as Jamie, trying to cope with puberty and his mom's eccentricities.
This is the follow-up to director/writer Mike Mills' Beginners, which was about his father's coming out at age 75. 20th Century Women is semi-autobiographical, too, although Mills gave Bening a lot of freedom in her interpretation of his mother.
The Santa Barbara establishing shots are quite fun, as is the under-construction mansion in which Dorothea, Jamie, Abbie, and William live. Jack, who has owned several vintage VW Beetles, particularly enjoyed the cars.
The score is by Roger Neill (most recently in these pages for composing Don't Think Twice), and you can stream some of the tracks by playing this one and going on to others with the same picture. However, you're more likely to remember the excellent songs, both of the 70s and earlier, that you can read here or listen to a spotify playlist from here.
Planned Parenthood figures in the plot two times, providing, as they do, basic health care for women.
Starting to rack up nominations--no wins yet, but it's early--this movie is definitely worth your time. Rotten Tomatoes' critics agree, with an average of 90% and its audiences coming in at 82. Parents' advisory: there's frank talk about sex and a little nudity. Your teenagers may be embarrassed if they sit with you to watch it.
This is the follow-up to director/writer Mike Mills' Beginners, which was about his father's coming out at age 75. 20th Century Women is semi-autobiographical, too, although Mills gave Bening a lot of freedom in her interpretation of his mother.
The Santa Barbara establishing shots are quite fun, as is the under-construction mansion in which Dorothea, Jamie, Abbie, and William live. Jack, who has owned several vintage VW Beetles, particularly enjoyed the cars.
The score is by Roger Neill (most recently in these pages for composing Don't Think Twice), and you can stream some of the tracks by playing this one and going on to others with the same picture. However, you're more likely to remember the excellent songs, both of the 70s and earlier, that you can read here or listen to a spotify playlist from here.
Planned Parenthood figures in the plot two times, providing, as they do, basic health care for women.
Starting to rack up nominations--no wins yet, but it's early--this movie is definitely worth your time. Rotten Tomatoes' critics agree, with an average of 90% and its audiences coming in at 82. Parents' advisory: there's frank talk about sex and a little nudity. Your teenagers may be embarrassed if they sit with you to watch it.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Silence (2016)
Wow. This harrowing story of two Jesuit priests fighting brutal religious persecution in 17th century Japan has magnificent photography, nominated, so far, by the American Society of Cinematographers. At 2:41 it's too long by 45 minutes but the pictures mitigated my fidgets somewhat. That said, it is also one of the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films of 2016 and won that board's Best Adapted Screenplay award. Here's my running list of awards--Oscar nominations will be released on Tuesday morning.
Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver (last blogged for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) give their all (including about thirty pounds lost each) as the younger padres searching for their mentor, played by Liam Neeson (most recently in Third Person), who also emaciated himself (can I use that as a verb? I just did). Issei Ogata, Yôsuke Kubozuka, and Tadanobu Asano (all new to me, though the latter was in Thor and Thor: The Dark World) are all good as the mercurial Inquisitor, the informant Kichijiro, and the interpreter.
Jack and I have seen almost every Martin Scorsese-directed movie (most recently The Wolf of Wall Street) and decided we should not miss this one, despite its violence. Scorsese co-wrote the script with Jay Cocks (Oscar-nominated with Scorsese for The Age of Innocence (1993) and with others for Gangs of New York (2002); also wrote Strange Days (1995) and De-Lovely (2004)), adapted from the 1966 novel by Shûsaku Endô. In fact, they started work on it in the 1990s, and by pushing it to be made later and later, caused many legal problems which resulted in poor advance work.
Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (last shot Passengers) really loves fog, overhead shots, and slats, but none of it seems hackneyed. It truly is one of the most beautiful movies ever, other than the little matter of frequent and imaginative torture.
Scorsese clearly likes matters of religion (The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) caused a big stir) and many of what I considered extraneous minutes were devoted to the Catholics' agonies of faith despite silence from their higher power. I'm far from a religious expert but I understand the golden rule, and it's just as wrong that these Japanese Buddhists might have tortured Christians as it is that Spanish Christians may have tortured others two centuries earlier.
The music is quite wonderful and though the end credits promise a soundtrack album, its planned release is over a month away. The only track I can find online tonight is this one. Kathryn Kluge and Kim Allen Kluge (wife and husband) are credited as composers and a version of this long list of songs is in the credits.
Speaking of credits, imdb lists 29 producers, which earns the tag of producers plethora (I made a list), but I counted more than that today as the names scrolled down.
83% from critics and 71% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes will not be what convinces you to go or skip it. Instead it will be your tolerance for brutality and your desire to see the cinematography nominees.
Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver (last blogged for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) give their all (including about thirty pounds lost each) as the younger padres searching for their mentor, played by Liam Neeson (most recently in Third Person), who also emaciated himself (can I use that as a verb? I just did). Issei Ogata, Yôsuke Kubozuka, and Tadanobu Asano (all new to me, though the latter was in Thor and Thor: The Dark World) are all good as the mercurial Inquisitor, the informant Kichijiro, and the interpreter.
Jack and I have seen almost every Martin Scorsese-directed movie (most recently The Wolf of Wall Street) and decided we should not miss this one, despite its violence. Scorsese co-wrote the script with Jay Cocks (Oscar-nominated with Scorsese for The Age of Innocence (1993) and with others for Gangs of New York (2002); also wrote Strange Days (1995) and De-Lovely (2004)), adapted from the 1966 novel by Shûsaku Endô. In fact, they started work on it in the 1990s, and by pushing it to be made later and later, caused many legal problems which resulted in poor advance work.
Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (last shot Passengers) really loves fog, overhead shots, and slats, but none of it seems hackneyed. It truly is one of the most beautiful movies ever, other than the little matter of frequent and imaginative torture.
Scorsese clearly likes matters of religion (The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) caused a big stir) and many of what I considered extraneous minutes were devoted to the Catholics' agonies of faith despite silence from their higher power. I'm far from a religious expert but I understand the golden rule, and it's just as wrong that these Japanese Buddhists might have tortured Christians as it is that Spanish Christians may have tortured others two centuries earlier.
The music is quite wonderful and though the end credits promise a soundtrack album, its planned release is over a month away. The only track I can find online tonight is this one. Kathryn Kluge and Kim Allen Kluge (wife and husband) are credited as composers and a version of this long list of songs is in the credits.
Speaking of credits, imdb lists 29 producers, which earns the tag of producers plethora (I made a list), but I counted more than that today as the names scrolled down.
83% from critics and 71% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes will not be what convinces you to go or skip it. Instead it will be your tolerance for brutality and your desire to see the cinematography nominees.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Passengers (2016)
We liked this sci-fi adventure in which Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence have awoken too early from suspended animation on a 120 year journey to a new planet. The acting is believable and the special effects are great, especially a scary one about halfway through. Pratt was last blogged for Jurassic World and Lawrence for Joy and their chemistry is fun, Michael Sheen (mentioned for his cameo in Nocturnal Animals and linked in Far from the Madding Crowd) and Lawrence Fishburne (blogged in Man of Steel) have small but pivotal roles. No need to link fifth-billed Andy Garcia to his last appearance in this blog since he's on screen literally less than a minute in the final cut.
This is Norwegian director Morten Tyldum's follow-up to The Imitation Game and it's got a very different wow factor. The writer is by Jon Spaihts (co-wrote Doctor Strange) and you can hear him as the voice of "Autodoc." This screenplay was featured in the 2007 Blacklist, the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year. Usually I can identify three acts in a movie but this has four very distinct parts. Richard Brody, writing for the usually spoiler-ridden New Yorker, agrees with me that one plot point should not be revealed in advance (yet my local newspaper has printed that exact point in its one-line summary of the movie every Thursday--argh--read at your own risk).
The beautiful photography by Rodrigo Prieto (most recently in these pages for The Homesman) is surpassed by the effects and the production design of Guy Hendrix Dyas (nominated by his peers in the Art Directors Guild for this, Superman Returns (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008); he won an ADG award for Inception, as well as an Oscar nomination, and also designed Steve Jobs).
Exciting Thomas Newman (last blogged for Spectre) music keeps us engaged and you can stream over an hour of it from this link. Here's a list of songs.
The critics of Rotten Tomatoes are averaging a hateful 31% while its audiences are warmer at 68. We saw it a week ago on a big screen because we like the stars. There are probably better movies to see this awards season but we're not sorry we saw this one.
This is Norwegian director Morten Tyldum's follow-up to The Imitation Game and it's got a very different wow factor. The writer is by Jon Spaihts (co-wrote Doctor Strange) and you can hear him as the voice of "Autodoc." This screenplay was featured in the 2007 Blacklist, the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year. Usually I can identify three acts in a movie but this has four very distinct parts. Richard Brody, writing for the usually spoiler-ridden New Yorker, agrees with me that one plot point should not be revealed in advance (yet my local newspaper has printed that exact point in its one-line summary of the movie every Thursday--argh--read at your own risk).
The beautiful photography by Rodrigo Prieto (most recently in these pages for The Homesman) is surpassed by the effects and the production design of Guy Hendrix Dyas (nominated by his peers in the Art Directors Guild for this, Superman Returns (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008); he won an ADG award for Inception, as well as an Oscar nomination, and also designed Steve Jobs).
Exciting Thomas Newman (last blogged for Spectre) music keeps us engaged and you can stream over an hour of it from this link. Here's a list of songs.
The critics of Rotten Tomatoes are averaging a hateful 31% while its audiences are warmer at 68. We saw it a week ago on a big screen because we like the stars. There are probably better movies to see this awards season but we're not sorry we saw this one.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Elle (2016)
This psychological thriller is very good but hard to watch--it opens with the assault and rape of a 60-ish woman and the plots twists and turns from then on. Isabelle Huppert's Michèle is a tough gal who designs violent video games with her best friend/business partner Anna, played by Anne Consigny (they were last blogged for The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them and Wild Grass, respectively). Support is provided by Charles Berling (most recently in these pages for Summer Hours) as Michèle's ex-husband, Laurent Lafitte (Tell No One (2006) and many more) as her neighbor, and Jonas Bloquet (new to me) as her son, among others.
The movie is in French, set in Paris, with actors from France, Germany, and elsewhere. Director Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop (1987), Basic Instinct (1992), Black Book (2006), and he removed his name from the disastrous Showgirls (1995)) is Dutch. American writer David Birke adapted the 2012 French novel Oh... by Philippe Djian and, apparently, it was to be an American movie until Huppert came on board. Then a translator was hired. Birke has said that his words are on screen in the subtitles (I did notice, with my high school French training, that everything wasn't translated exactly but close enough).
The moody music by Anne Dudley (was in the band The Art of Noise, won an Oscar for The Full Monty (1997), also scored, among others, Say Anything... (1989), The Crying Game (1992), Pushing Tin (1999), and Black Book (2006)) is just right (here's a track).
The movie won two Golden Globes the other night, for Best Foreign Film and Best Actress, and has more nominations and wins in the pipeline, some of which are listed here.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging 88 and 77. If you have the fortitude for this sort of thing, you should see it.
The moody music by Anne Dudley (was in the band The Art of Noise, won an Oscar for The Full Monty (1997), also scored, among others, Say Anything... (1989), The Crying Game (1992), Pushing Tin (1999), and Black Book (2006)) is just right (here's a track).
The movie won two Golden Globes the other night, for Best Foreign Film and Best Actress, and has more nominations and wins in the pipeline, some of which are listed here.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging 88 and 77. If you have the fortitude for this sort of thing, you should see it.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Allied (2016)
We quite liked this glossy story of a couple of World War II spies who meet on a mission and stay together. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard make a handsome couple and the production values are high. They were last blogged in 12 Years a Slave and Two Days, One Night, respectively. There's a big cast but I'll just cite appearances by Jared Harris (after I mentioned him in Certain Women he had a major part in the first season of The Crown) and Lizzy Caplan (profiled in Now You See Me 2).
Robert Zemeckis (last directed The Walk) is very good at big Hollywood pictures and does not disappoint, working from a script by Steven Knight (most recently in these pages for writing Burnt).
We saw it 2½ weeks ago but my notes remind me that Jack said he could have done with fewer mirror shots, while the former film student in me rather liked them. Blame or credit go to Zemeckis and cinematographer Don Burgess (last shot 42). I'll be interested to see if the American Society of Cinematographers nominates Burgess when the announcement comes out Tuesday. Here's another plug for my running list of this year's nominees and winners.
Before we saw it I noted that it had been nominated for a Critics Choice Costume Design award (didn't win), so I watched for the wardrobe and Cotillard's outfits are, indeed, spectacular, thanks to Joanna Johnston (Oscar-nominated for Lincoln, also designed Forrest Gump (1994), About a Boy (2002), Valkyrie, Pirate Radio, The BFG, and many more).
Alan Silvestri, who scored The Walk for Zemeckis, composes good mood music which can be streamed in its entirety here (or at least until it's taken down for copyright infringement).
The movie has left all big screens in these parts, but the DVD release is estimated for next month. Rotten Tomatoes' averages of 61% from critics and 68% audiences are pretty tepid but we liked it.
Blog housekeeping notes: I found drafts of two old compilations of Oscar-nominated shorts that I didn't write about and have no notes. I'm adding them to the count of movies seen since I began the blog but can't tell you anything about them. I know, nobody else cares. But I strive for accuracy in numbers. That also means I've blown by my milestone of 900 movies seen (the count is now 904) and 923 summarized in these many, many pages since September 3, 2008. It certainly is late. You be the judge of whether it's better than never.
Robert Zemeckis (last directed The Walk) is very good at big Hollywood pictures and does not disappoint, working from a script by Steven Knight (most recently in these pages for writing Burnt).
We saw it 2½ weeks ago but my notes remind me that Jack said he could have done with fewer mirror shots, while the former film student in me rather liked them. Blame or credit go to Zemeckis and cinematographer Don Burgess (last shot 42). I'll be interested to see if the American Society of Cinematographers nominates Burgess when the announcement comes out Tuesday. Here's another plug for my running list of this year's nominees and winners.
Before we saw it I noted that it had been nominated for a Critics Choice Costume Design award (didn't win), so I watched for the wardrobe and Cotillard's outfits are, indeed, spectacular, thanks to Joanna Johnston (Oscar-nominated for Lincoln, also designed Forrest Gump (1994), About a Boy (2002), Valkyrie, Pirate Radio, The BFG, and many more).
Alan Silvestri, who scored The Walk for Zemeckis, composes good mood music which can be streamed in its entirety here (or at least until it's taken down for copyright infringement).
The movie has left all big screens in these parts, but the DVD release is estimated for next month. Rotten Tomatoes' averages of 61% from critics and 68% audiences are pretty tepid but we liked it.
Blog housekeeping notes: I found drafts of two old compilations of Oscar-nominated shorts that I didn't write about and have no notes. I'm adding them to the count of movies seen since I began the blog but can't tell you anything about them. I know, nobody else cares. But I strive for accuracy in numbers. That also means I've blown by my milestone of 900 movies seen (the count is now 904) and 923 summarized in these many, many pages since September 3, 2008. It certainly is late. You be the judge of whether it's better than never.
Every Tuesday: A Portrait of the New Yorker Cartoonists (2012) and Art Spiegelman, Traits de mémoire (2010)
As a fan of comics and cartoons, I'm sure I liked these two documentary shorts, seen over three years ago. The first (watch it here) is about four cartoonists at the magazine and the latter (here's the trailer), which was then called The Art of Spiegelman, is about the cartoonist who created the holocaust graphic novel Maus.
I just finished browsing through my drafts folder and have now finished updating!
I just finished browsing through my drafts folder and have now finished updating!
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Hidden Figures (2016)
As expected, Jack and I loved this true story of three brilliant African-American female mathematicians breaking race and gender barriers to work in NASA's space program in the early 1960s. When we know there's a happy ending--including a successful launch and the abolition of that organization's "colored" rest rooms--it's even more satisfying.
The stars have the power to portray the brave women. Oscar nominee (for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Taraji P. Henson (after I wrote about her in Larry Crowne she's been in, among others, 40 episodes of Empire) is top billed as Katherine Goble Johnson, who was in the room when her calculations helped John Glenn become the first human to orbit the earth in 1962. Oscar winner (for The Help) Octavia Spencer (last in these pages for Black or White) brings her reliable strength to the part of Dorothy Vaughan, whose talents extended from math to management. Janelle Monáe (just seen in Moonlight) is Mary Jackson, the brashest one of the group, with delightful form-fitting wardrobe (her figure isn't hidden), designed by Renee Ehrlich Kalfus (some of my faves of her work are What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999), Chocolat (2000), Baby Mama (2008), and The Joneses).
Supporting strength comes from Kevin Costner (co-starred with Spencer in Black or White), Jim Parsons (last blogged for The Big Year but is, of course, best known for 221 episodes of The Big Bang Theory), Kirsten Dunst (after On the Road she starred in all ten episodes of Fargo's first season), and Mahershala Ali (also just seen in Moonlight), whose wardrobe is also nicely form-fitting. To quote Mary Jackson in the movie,"It's equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color."
Margot Lee Shetterly's book proposal for a Katherine G. Johnson's story was optioned and the movie was made concurrently with her writing the book (the latter, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, was released in September 2016 and the movie came out on the coasts on December 25).
Theodore Melfi (directed the wonderful St. Vincent) immersed himself in the world of NASA along with his co-writer Allison Schroeder, who didn't need to, since her parents and grandparents actually worked for NASA. They both interviewed Johnson, now 97, and are nominated for the prestigious adapted screenplay award from the Writers Guild of America. Here are my running tallies of awards and nominations sorted by movie.
My regular readers know that Jack and I love to see old cars in movies from previous eras and this is no exception. In fact, the Art Directors Guild just nominated Production Designer Wynn Thomas (I loved his work in, among others, She's Gotta Have It (1986--his feature debut), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), Analyze This (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Inside Man (2006), and All Good Things) for this movie in the Best Period Film category.
Benjamin Wallfisch (not a novice but new to me) is top billed of three for the music. Pharrell Williams (his song Happy was Oscar nominated for the movie Despicable Me 2 (2013)) is one of the producers and provides several songs (here is the album for your streaming pleasure). His tune Running from this movie is nominated for a Golden Globe so far. We boomers enjoyed the pop and jazz tunes of the era as well as a little music by esteemed composer Hans Zimmer (last blogged for Freeheld). Here's the only Zimmer track I could find online.
With its SAG Best Ensemble nomination, this movie is likely to get a Best Picture Oscar nomination at the very least. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are aligned with us on this one, averaging 93 and 94%, respectively. You're going to want to see this before the Oscars and you can bring the kids--it's PG.
The stars have the power to portray the brave women. Oscar nominee (for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Taraji P. Henson (after I wrote about her in Larry Crowne she's been in, among others, 40 episodes of Empire) is top billed as Katherine Goble Johnson, who was in the room when her calculations helped John Glenn become the first human to orbit the earth in 1962. Oscar winner (for The Help) Octavia Spencer (last in these pages for Black or White) brings her reliable strength to the part of Dorothy Vaughan, whose talents extended from math to management. Janelle Monáe (just seen in Moonlight) is Mary Jackson, the brashest one of the group, with delightful form-fitting wardrobe (her figure isn't hidden), designed by Renee Ehrlich Kalfus (some of my faves of her work are What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999), Chocolat (2000), Baby Mama (2008), and The Joneses).
Supporting strength comes from Kevin Costner (co-starred with Spencer in Black or White), Jim Parsons (last blogged for The Big Year but is, of course, best known for 221 episodes of The Big Bang Theory), Kirsten Dunst (after On the Road she starred in all ten episodes of Fargo's first season), and Mahershala Ali (also just seen in Moonlight), whose wardrobe is also nicely form-fitting. To quote Mary Jackson in the movie,"It's equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color."
Margot Lee Shetterly's book proposal for a Katherine G. Johnson's story was optioned and the movie was made concurrently with her writing the book (the latter, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, was released in September 2016 and the movie came out on the coasts on December 25).
Theodore Melfi (directed the wonderful St. Vincent) immersed himself in the world of NASA along with his co-writer Allison Schroeder, who didn't need to, since her parents and grandparents actually worked for NASA. They both interviewed Johnson, now 97, and are nominated for the prestigious adapted screenplay award from the Writers Guild of America. Here are my running tallies of awards and nominations sorted by movie.
My regular readers know that Jack and I love to see old cars in movies from previous eras and this is no exception. In fact, the Art Directors Guild just nominated Production Designer Wynn Thomas (I loved his work in, among others, She's Gotta Have It (1986--his feature debut), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), Analyze This (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Inside Man (2006), and All Good Things) for this movie in the Best Period Film category.
Benjamin Wallfisch (not a novice but new to me) is top billed of three for the music. Pharrell Williams (his song Happy was Oscar nominated for the movie Despicable Me 2 (2013)) is one of the producers and provides several songs (here is the album for your streaming pleasure). His tune Running from this movie is nominated for a Golden Globe so far. We boomers enjoyed the pop and jazz tunes of the era as well as a little music by esteemed composer Hans Zimmer (last blogged for Freeheld). Here's the only Zimmer track I could find online.
With its SAG Best Ensemble nomination, this movie is likely to get a Best Picture Oscar nomination at the very least. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are aligned with us on this one, averaging 93 and 94%, respectively. You're going to want to see this before the Oscars and you can bring the kids--it's PG.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Great special effects but I think I like "star" more than "wars" nowadays. So many battles, especially dogfights in the air, as a young woman fights to clear her father's name in a plot way too complicated to boil down to one sentence. Felicity Jones (last blogged in The Theory of Everything) gets to kick ass as Jyn, accompanied by Diego Luna (most recently in Elysium), as her sidekick and occasional bodyguard Cassian in a Han Solo leather jacket. Alan Tudyk (last in 42) provides the voice of K-2SO, an R2-D2-type robot. Riz Ahmed (most recently seen in Nightcrawler) is the pilot, and Forest Whitaker (last in Arrival) looks good with a big head of gray hair. I liked the character of the blind monk, played by Donnie Yen, an actual martial arts guy, whose many credits are all unknown to me. I'm going to stop here, because there are over 100 members of the cast.
Gareth Edwards (new to me) directs from a script by Chris Weitz (A Better Life) and Tony Gilroy (Duplicity) with story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta (both new to me), with credit going, of course, to George Lucas for creating the series; the last one was Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
Locations are pretty great, including Jordan, Iceland, Maldives, and England, shot by Greig Fraser (Lion). I couldn't get through the 133 trivia items--have fun if you do.
Michael Giacchino (last scored Doctor Strange) channels John Williams' score (with Williams receiving credit) in his soundtrack, available to stream here.
You don't need us to tell you whether or not to see it. Fan-girls and -boys have already made up their minds (Rotten Tomatoes' critics are at 85% and its audiences 85) and the rest of us have the award nominees and winners to watch.
Gareth Edwards (new to me) directs from a script by Chris Weitz (A Better Life) and Tony Gilroy (Duplicity) with story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta (both new to me), with credit going, of course, to George Lucas for creating the series; the last one was Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.
Locations are pretty great, including Jordan, Iceland, Maldives, and England, shot by Greig Fraser (Lion). I couldn't get through the 133 trivia items--have fun if you do.
Michael Giacchino (last scored Doctor Strange) channels John Williams' score (with Williams receiving credit) in his soundtrack, available to stream here.
You don't need us to tell you whether or not to see it. Fan-girls and -boys have already made up their minds (Rotten Tomatoes' critics are at 85% and its audiences 85) and the rest of us have the award nominees and winners to watch.
Why Him? (2016)
After a few Oscar contenders we went for a silly comedy a week ago. It has plenty of laughs, as a serious middle-class dad tries to accept his daughter's crazy boyfriend, a dot-com billionaire ten years her senior. Bryan Cranston (last blogged in The Infiltrator) never disappoints as Ned, the father, mostly a straight man to the many gags. James Franco (he has made 24 movies (not counting TV) and has 18 in progress since Third Person) is over the top as the boyfriend Laird. Good choice casting Megan Mullaly (after I wrote about her in Smashed she made a few movies and a lot more TV, including a series arc on Parks and Recreation and co-starring in You, Me and the Apocalypse as a white supremacist convict) as the mom. Zoey Deutch (the daughter of Lea Thompson and Howard Deutch, she is no stranger to show biz, but I haven't seen her in anything) is cute as daughter Stephanie. I was tickled to see Keegan-Michael Key (last in Don't Think Twice) in more than a cameo as Laird's German personal assistant Gustav.
John Hamburg (co-wrote Little Fockers and directed/co-wrote I Love You, Man) directs from a script by him and Ian Helfer (new to me) with story credited to both of them plus Jonah Hill (his first story or writing credit in these pages).
Rotten Tomatoes' critics average 40% and its audiences 63. Definitely not a must-see for anyone but the most devoted Franco (or Hill) fans, but if you happen to catch it for free sometime you might laugh.
John Hamburg (co-wrote Little Fockers and directed/co-wrote I Love You, Man) directs from a script by him and Ian Helfer (new to me) with story credited to both of them plus Jonah Hill (his first story or writing credit in these pages).
Rotten Tomatoes' critics average 40% and its audiences 63. Definitely not a must-see for anyone but the most devoted Franco (or Hill) fans, but if you happen to catch it for free sometime you might laugh.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
La La Land (2016)
I loved every minute of this romantic original musical about two kids struggling to make it (their careers as an actress and a jazz pianist and their love for each other) in LA. Jack and Amy liked it, too. The opening production number, taking place during a freeway traffic jam with hundreds of singers and dancers, or so it seems, is alone worth the price of admission. The title is clever--La La Land is a derisive nickname for Los Angeles that many who inhabit that city have come to embrace.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (last blogged for Irrational Man and The Nice Guys, respectively) are terrific as Mia and Sebastian. Their singing is literally pitch perfect and I'm a harsh critic. I found videos of each singing as kids (Emma singing the Meredith Brooks song Bitch and Ryan in a Disney Channel boy band--he has a solo at about 1:30) just to prove this is no fluke. And they dance--oh, do they dance. Yeah, it's a little corny. If you don't like musicals, stay home.
Apparently the Oscar for Best Picture almost always goes to movies whose cast is nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Award. This was not nominated (Oscar nominations will be announced on the 24th) because, despite the 200 or so players, the movie is all about Stone and Gosling, with small support from Rosemarie DeWitt (most recently in these pages for Men, Women & Children) as Sebastian's sister, J.K. Simmons (last blogged for The Accountant) as his boss, and John Legend as a jazz-rock fusion musician friend--Legend wrote and performs the song Start a Fire (he won an Oscar for his song in Selma, produced Southside with You and this one).
However, this movie has won eight Critics Choice Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay (tied with Manchester by the Sea), and Score. See my list of awards and nominations sorted by title here.
Director/writer Damien Chazelle (co-wrote 10 Cloverfield Lane, directed and wrote the much acclaimed Whiplash) had been working with his Harvard classmate, composer Justin Hurwitz, on this project for many years. They couldn't get it off the ground so took time off to make Whiplash together. Good move. Here's a playlist of many of the songs from La La Land. While writing this, however, I'm listening to an instrumental playlist of Hurwitz's compositions and piano solos from the movie.
The look of the picture is lush with cinematography by Linus Sandgren (last shot The Hundred-Foot Journey) and swinging retro dancing dresses credited to costume designer Mary Zophres (Hail, Caesar!).
As a former Angeleno, I appreciated the fabulous locations, including Griffith Park observatory. Here's an article about the locations. And as a lover of jazz, I enjoyed Sebastian's preaching about improvisation early on.
More love from Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 93%, and audiences, weighing in at 89. As I said, if you don't like musicals, skip it. Everyone else, just show up, as we did on Christmas day, the eleventh year the three of us have gone to a movie before celebrating with family. Sufferers of MPMS-Motion Picture Motion Sickness, sit in the last row for occasional swinging camera moves.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (last blogged for Irrational Man and The Nice Guys, respectively) are terrific as Mia and Sebastian. Their singing is literally pitch perfect and I'm a harsh critic. I found videos of each singing as kids (Emma singing the Meredith Brooks song Bitch and Ryan in a Disney Channel boy band--he has a solo at about 1:30) just to prove this is no fluke. And they dance--oh, do they dance. Yeah, it's a little corny. If you don't like musicals, stay home.
Apparently the Oscar for Best Picture almost always goes to movies whose cast is nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Award. This was not nominated (Oscar nominations will be announced on the 24th) because, despite the 200 or so players, the movie is all about Stone and Gosling, with small support from Rosemarie DeWitt (most recently in these pages for Men, Women & Children) as Sebastian's sister, J.K. Simmons (last blogged for The Accountant) as his boss, and John Legend as a jazz-rock fusion musician friend--Legend wrote and performs the song Start a Fire (he won an Oscar for his song in Selma, produced Southside with You and this one).
However, this movie has won eight Critics Choice Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay (tied with Manchester by the Sea), and Score. See my list of awards and nominations sorted by title here.
Director/writer Damien Chazelle (co-wrote 10 Cloverfield Lane, directed and wrote the much acclaimed Whiplash) had been working with his Harvard classmate, composer Justin Hurwitz, on this project for many years. They couldn't get it off the ground so took time off to make Whiplash together. Good move. Here's a playlist of many of the songs from La La Land. While writing this, however, I'm listening to an instrumental playlist of Hurwitz's compositions and piano solos from the movie.
The look of the picture is lush with cinematography by Linus Sandgren (last shot The Hundred-Foot Journey) and swinging retro dancing dresses credited to costume designer Mary Zophres (Hail, Caesar!).
As a former Angeleno, I appreciated the fabulous locations, including Griffith Park observatory. Here's an article about the locations. And as a lover of jazz, I enjoyed Sebastian's preaching about improvisation early on.
More love from Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 93%, and audiences, weighing in at 89. As I said, if you don't like musicals, skip it. Everyone else, just show up, as we did on Christmas day, the eleventh year the three of us have gone to a movie before celebrating with family. Sufferers of MPMS-Motion Picture Motion Sickness, sit in the last row for occasional swinging camera moves.
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