Vice (2018)

Amy, Jack, and I loved this satirical bio-pic of Dick Cheney, though it made us liberals sigh and groan, watching the VP and his wife control the country with politics and goals so divergent from our own.

Christian Bale (last blogged, and Oscar-nominated, for The Big Short) completely disappears into the role of Cheney, with his much-reviewed 45 pound weight gain and top-notch hair and makeup. As his wife Lynne, Amy Adams (most recently in these pages for Nocturnal Animals) brings passion and power to the woman behind the man who, in later times, might have become influential in her own right. Sam Rockwell's (last in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri for which he won his first Oscar) George W. Bush and Steve Carell's (most recently in Beautiful Boy) Donald Rumsfeld are terrific as well, with hair, makeup, voice inflection, and even humor. It's a huge cast, but they are the highlights.

Director/writer Adam McKay (won his first Oscar for co-writing The Big Short and was nominated for directing it) is nominated for Golden Globes directing and writing here, among the picture's six Globe nominations--Bale and Adams are also nominated for SAG awards. See my list here. I predict a Best Makeup Oscar nomination as well.

Bale studied up on heart disease for the role. So when McKay had a mild heart attack during post production, he remembered Bale's method acting which may have saved his life (watch this short video). Black and white footage of McKay's heart stent surgery is in this movie--he calls it his cameo.

The music by Nicholas Britell (last blogged for Battle of the Sexes) can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music. I don't remember the songs, other than America from West Side Story playing over the credits (here's a clip from the WSS movie).

Another bit of trivia is that a musical number was produced and shot but eventually cut because it didn't work with the narrative.

There's a very funny "crazy credits" gag, too, before America, reminding us that this is a satire, even though so much of it is true (the gag is clearly not). And another one at the very end, so don't rush out before the movie is completely over.

The cinematography by Greig Fraser (after his Oscar nomination for Lion he shot Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) may cause Motion-Picture-Motion-Sickness or MPMS (see my running list here) in sensitive people. I think. I have been bingeing movies this week and they're beginning to run together.

We three saw this in a matinee on Christmas day (the 14th year of this particular family tradition), which was opening day in this case. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are now averaging 64 and 57%, respectively.

Three from the Jewish Film Festival 2018

I enjoyed the 2017 releases Monkey Business, The Cakemaker, and The Last Suit, parts of the festival several weeks ago.

Of the three, my favorite was Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators, a delightful documentary about Margret and Hans Rey, who authored the beloved children's books.

Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki makes her feature debut, as does Erin Sanger, who wrote Sam Waterston's (best known for 368 episodes of Law & Order (Jack has probably seen them all), Golden-Globe nominated as Most Promising Newcomer for The Great Gatsby (1974), his work that I've enjoyed also includes Interiors (1978), Hopscotch (1980), The Killing Fields (1985) (Oscar-nominated), September (1987), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), The Man in the Moon (1991), Serial Mom (1994), Nixon (1995), 25 episodes of The Newsroom, and 55 episodes of Grace & Frankie) narration. I find that this movie started as a Kickstarter campaign. The link previews the animation used to tell the Reys' story from escaping the Nazis and beyond.

I don't remember much about Jason Cummings' (it's his second feature and his first was also a documentary) music and it's not available online, so you'll just need to rent or buy the movie. Here's the iTunes link.

Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have enough reviews to give it any averages, but don't let that deter you from seeing it.

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The Cakemaker, about a German pastry chef stalking the wife and son of his dead lover in Jerusalem, is going on my list of food movies. Everything looks yummy and the story is good, too.

Stars Tim Kalkhof and Sarah Adler are new to me, despite being experienced. This is director/writer Ofir Raul Graizer's first feature.

Dominique Charpentier's (her first feature, too) lovely piano solos can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music.

The movie has a number of nominations and wins and Rotten Tomatoes' critics are eating it up, averaging 98%. Its audiences average a tasty 81. Watch it on Netflix.

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In The Last Suit (AKA El último traje), an 88 year old tailor runs away from Buenos Aires to Poland to look for an old friend he knew in WWII. Miguel Ángel Solá is the cantankerous Abraham Burzstein and Ángela Molina is María. Pablo Solarz directs and wrote the screenplay. I'm not familiar with any of them.

I made a note after seeing it that the screening had terrible sound, even though we were promised a great soundtrack by Federico Jusid (scored Neruda and much more). Some of his music can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a buttoned up 78% but its audiences are looser at 92. I don't see anywhere to stream it, however. There are DVDs for sale but I wouldn't buy it, especially at those prices.

Decoding Annie Parker (2013)

Amy and I didn't hate this story of a determined cancer patient interwoven with the work of the scientific team who discovered the BRCA gene. We watched it at home Christmas Eve because Phil had told me days before about the website and app Kanopy which allows us to stream movies with a library card account number. It is based on the true stories of Parker and Dr. Mary-Claire King and was, as you may have noticed, released theatrically four and a half years ago.

Samantha Morton (last blogged for The Messenger in 2009) is terrific in the emotional title role as is Helen Hunt (most recently in these pages for 2012's The Sessions which earned her an Oscar nomination) as the businesslike scientist King. Aaron Paul (last blogged for Smashed a few months before this movie's release) has been, like Morton and Hunt, recognized for his work in this picture.

This was director/co-writer Steven Bernstein's (cinematographer on Monster (2003)) first time directing a feature (another one followed), and the debuts of co-writers Adam Bernstein and Michael Moss as well. The timeline can be hard to follow (her hairstyles don't help). It was helpful to read later that Annie was born in 1951.

Steven Bramson's (new to me) pleasant soundtrack can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music.

Clearly we didn't check Rotten Tomatoes, with critics averaging 56% and audiences at 41, before watching this. But we weren't sorry we did.

Roma (2018)

Amy and I enjoyed this languid story of a maid and her employers in a Mexico City neighborhood called Roma, taking place over ten months in 1970-71. Directed, written, filmed, and co-edited by Alfonso Cuarón (he won two Oscars and more for directing and editing Gravity), this movie is based on his memories and the protagonist Cleo is based on his family's maid Libo.

Yalitza Aparicio plays Cleo with no previous acting experience and, apparently, she and the other cast members got their scene pages right before shooting (the same day) so their reactions could be fresh. Marina de Tavira (she has a few dozen credits, including Nora's Will), as the lady of the family, is the exception in the cast, being a seasoned actor.

This Netflix original has no composer, but a long list of songs, about half of which can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music.

On most critics' short lists for Best Foreign Film and all-around Best Picture, this also has the amor of Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 96% and 83 from its audiences.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

This Coen Brothers' Netflix original is a bit uneven, with six distinct chapters, each with different casts and stories, but all old west themed. Typical of a Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen were most recently in these pages for writing and directing Hail, Caesar! and they do the same here) project, there is much parody and some cringing.

Jack and I watched it separately on different days. The first chapter, starring Tim Blake Nelson (last blogged for Colossal) in the title role as a singing sharp-shooting cowboy, is Jack's favorite and it definitely has the most humor. The second features James Franco (since The Disaster Artist I will soon have seen him in every episode of the HBO series The Deuce) as a bank robber. The third stars Liam Neeson (just seen in Widows and several trailers for movies coming soon) as an impresario. The fourth is based on a Jack London story about a prospector played by Tom Waits (most recently in these pages for The Old Man & The Gun). My favorite is the fifth, with Zoe Kazan (last blogged for The Big Sick and worked in three episodes of The Deuce) as a young wife in a wagon train, inspired by a story by Stewart Edward White. Lastly, we have Tyne Daly (after Spider-Man: Homecoming she's been in thirteen episodes of the new Murphy Brown show) as a lady on a stagecoach. The cast is huge but I'm not going to go through each one.

Carter Burwell's (last blogged for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) score can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music. The theme is clearly based on The Streets of Laredo (wiki).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are singing its praises, averaging 92%, while its audiences are a bit more reserved, at 77. With a Netflix subscription you can stop and start and decide for yourself.

Leave No Trace (2018)

Jack and I liked this story of a father and daughter living in the woods of Portland, Oregon. Ben Foster (last blogged for Hell or High Water) and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (now 18 years old, she's new to me) are terrific as the pair who make occasional trips to town but yearn for their solitary life. Dale Dickey (most recently in these pages for Being Flynn) makes an appearance in the second act.

Director Deborah Granik co-wrote the script with Anne Rosellini (they performed the same duties on Winter's Bone). The movie is based on the 2008 novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock, which, in turn, is inspired by a pair found in Forest Park, Portland, in 2004.

Cinematographer Michael McDonough (last blogged for Darling Companion, which was shot in mountainous Utah and Colorado; he also shot Winter's Bone) gives us gorgeous pictures of Eagle Fern Park in Eagle Creek OR.

Though he hasn't yet shown up in this blog, I've heard the music of composer Dickon Hinchliffe  in Married Life (2007), Last Chance Harvey, Cold Souls, and Winter's Bone, among his several dozen projects. You can stream the score to this movie on spotify and Apple Music.

We've seen versions of this story before, e.g. Captain Fantastic, but this is really good. Even before noticing that it has a perfect 100% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (and 82 from audiences), we streamed it a couple of weeks ago due to its availability (scroll down on this page) and its number of nominations on my running list.

Private Life (2018)

Jack and I loved this cringey dramedy about an awkward 40-something couple desperate to have a baby. Kathryn Hahn (after Bad Moms she was in 24 episodes of Transparent and eight of I Love Dick) and Paul Giamatti (after Straight Outta Compton he's been in 36 episodes of Billions) are perfectly cast as the volatile Rachel and frustrated Richard. I particularly laughed at Rachel's public outbursts, considering the title.

Kayli Carter (new to me) comes on strong in the second act as their niece Sadie and Molly Shannon (most recently in these pages for The Little Hours) and John Carroll Lynch (last blogged for The Founder) are Sadie's bewildered parents.

I'm going to guess that director/writer Tamara Jenkins (profiled in Juliet, Naked, which she co-wrote) has had some experience, first- or second-hand, with in vitro fertilization, because there's a lot of science in this movie.

There is no composer, only an eclectic mix of songs, listed here, including Quicksilver Girl in its original 1968 version by The Steve Miller Band and a cover by Nellie McKay.

Two weeks ago we picked this from my list of nominees and winners and watched it on Netflix because it looked interesting. Rotten Tomatoes' critics agree with us, averaging 94%. Its audiences are a bit cooler at 79. It's not for everyone but is right in our wheelhouse.

At Eternity's Gate (2018)

Visually magnificent, this depiction of Vincent van Gogh's artistry and descent into madness also features a Golden-Globe nominated performance by Willem Dafoe (last blogged for Murder on the Orient Express after his Oscar nomination for The Florida Project) as the troubled painter.

The synopsis on the movie's official website is so good I'll quote it: it's "a journey inside the world and mind of a person who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world’s most beloved and stunning works of art. This is not a forensic biography, but rather scenes based on Vincent van Gogh’s letters, common agreement about events in his life that present as facts, hearsay, and moments that are just plain invented."

Director/co-writer Julian Schnabel is also a multi-media artist, which explains the marvelous depictions of the van Gogh painting. Schnabel has directed four features before this, and I've seen and loved three--Basquiat (1996), Before Night Falls (2000), and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), all of which he co-wrote. The screenplay was co-written by Jean-Claude Carrière (co-wrote and was Oscar-nominated for The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1973), That Obscure Object of Desire (1978), and The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1989); in his 87 years and 146 credits some noteworthy credits are Taking Off (1971), The Tin Drum (1979), The Return of Martin Guerre (1982), Valmont (1989), and Birth (2004)) and Louise Kugelberg (her debut).

The supporting cast includes Rupert Friend as loving brother Theo van Gogh and Oscar Isaac as fellow painter Paul Gaugin (most recently in these pages for The Death of Stalin and Annihilation, respectively). Stella Schnabel (worked with her father on Basquiat and Before Night Falls) as Gaby and Emmanuelle Seigner (the love interest in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) as Madame Ginoux are the women in van Gogh's life, among the several people telling him what he should do.

Shot on location in Arles, Buches-du-Rhône, and Auvers-sur-Oise, France, the stunning photography by Benoît Delhomme (last blogged for The Theory of Everything) will cause Motion Picture Motion Sickness or MPMS for us sensitive individuals (here's the list so far). Jack doesn't get ill from the jumpy camera moves but he thought it was excessive in this case. I did have to look away from time to time.

I enjoyed the music by Tatiana Lisovkaia (spelled this way on imdb, where she has one other credit, and Lisovskaya on the album) more than Jack did. You can stream it on YouTube or Apple Music and decide for yourself.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 82%, are much more enthusiastic than its audiences at 53. Not for everyone, the movie has a few long, dreamy sequences that may make some impatient. I loved it.

Boy Erased (2018)

We found this disturbing story about gay conversion therapy in the bible belt very good, with well-meaning yet wrong-headed adults trying to change their gay kids' orientation. Lucas Hedges (last blogged for Mid90s) is Golden-Globe nominated for playing Jared, a Texas teenager who truly believes he can "pray the gay away." Russell Crowe (most recently in these pages for The Nice Guys) is totally believable as Jared's Baptist minister father Marshall and Nicole Kidman (before we saw her cameo in How to Talk to Girls at Parties I wrote about her in The Beguiled) just wonderful as his loving, pious mother with the bouffant platinum 'do and ever-changing manicures. The boy Gary with the bleach-blond hair is played by singer and model Troye Sivan, who co-wrote and performed the song Revelation, the movie's other Golden Globe nomination.

Joel Edgerton (last blogged for Loving) directs, co-wrote, and stars as Mr. Sykes, the leader of the conversion camp, who is not depicted as a monster. It's Edgerton's second time directing and sixth time co-writing a feature. His co-writer this time was Garrard Conley, who wrote the 2016 memoir on which the movie is based. When we saw photos, at the end of the movie, of Conley and his parents, we thought how happy his mother must be to have Kidman play her in the movie.

Some time ago, I heard an NPR commentator who opined that the one good thing about gay conversion camps is to give these kids a community they didn't know existed. That happens in the comedy But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), too.

Edgerton, Kidman, and Crowe are all Australian and have not, I think, ever worked together before this. Kidman and Crowe were set to be in a 2005 project that fell through and had been hoping for another ever since. Their US southern accents are just fine, too.

The haunting music by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrianns (most recently in these pages for scoring Complete Unknown), as well as Sivan's song, can be streamed on spotify, Apple Music, and more.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 81% and its audiences a respectable 77. With only a few local screenings now in this neck of the woods, the movie will be available for streaming January 15, 2019 and for sale two weeks later. It may make you angry but it's uplifting as well.

The Favourite (2018)

Jack and I loved, as expected, this costume dramedy of two women vying for the attention of England's Queen Anne. Based on fact, it adds much absurdity to the pathos of the addled and ailing 18th Century Queen and the mean-spiritedness of the rivals.

Olivia Colman (last blogged for The Lobster) is wonderful as Anne and Rachel Weisz (most recently in these pages for Disobedience) and Emma Stone (last blogged for Battle of the Sexes) are delightfully vicious as the scheming Sarah and Abigail, respectively.

There was something quite disturbing in director Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster and I chose to skip his next project, but we both enjoyed the trailer for this one so much we knew we had to see it. Lanthimos works from a screenplay written by Deborah Davis (her debut) and Tony McNamara (new to me despite two other features and a number of TV episodes)

Even without the terrific acting and crazy story, the look of this picture is marvelous. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan (after Ginger & Rosa I saw his American Honey and The Meyerowitz Stories, to name just a few of his credits) uses wide angle and occasionally fish-eye lenses, all the better to show us the magnificent production design by Fiona Crombie (I did see her work in Truth and six episodes of Top of the Lake) and intricate costumes by Sandy Powell (I singled out her work in Carol and she was Oscar-nominated for it).

This movie cleaned up at the British Independent Film Awards, winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress for Colman, Best Supporting Actress for Weisz (Stone was also nominated and all three have been nominated for everything so far), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Makeup & Hair, and Best Casting. I've made a list of selected nominations and awards sorted by title.

No composer is credited. Instead the music is classical orchestral works and an Elton John instrumental on harpsichord, all of which you can stream from this spotify link. I recently subscribed to Apple Music and most of the songs are there, too, except for Didascalies by Luc Ferrari (stream on youtube). It starts very quietly but gets louder and more insistent and I turned it off. In the movie, that discordant music, blessedly in short spurts, promotes the discord of the action.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are favouring, er, favoring, this one, averaging 94%, as opposed to is audiences at 63. We suggest you see it on a big screen before the Oscars.

The Front Runner (2018)

Jack and I enjoyed this tale of Gary Hart's failed 1988 presidential campaign and looked forward to seeing it despite its tepid reviews. Hugh Jackman (last blogged for The Greatest Showman) is perfect as the charismatic and confident Hart and Vera Farmiga (after writing about her in The Judge, I thought we saw her in Boundaries (2018), but I didn't write about it) is also good as his cool and calm wife Lee. The cast is huge, and most characters have defined personalities. Some noteworthy ones are J.K. Simmons (most recently in Zootopia) as campaign manager Bill Dixon, Mark O'Brien (last blogged for Arrival) as staffer Billy Shore, Sara Paxton (new to me despite many credits) as Donna Rice, Mamoudou Athie (after his first appearance in these pages for Patti Cake$ he was in eight episodes of The Get Down as Grandmaster Flash) as reporter AJ Parker, and Alfred Molina (after I wrote about him in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot he was in eight episodes of Feud: Bette and Joan) as Ben Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post.

Director/co-writer Jason Reitman (last blogged for Tully) keeps everything moving with the story based on the 2014 book All the Truth Is Out by Matt Bai and the screenplay cowritten by Bai (his screenwriting debut; he played himself on one episode of House of Cards) and Jay Carson (also a debut and he was co-producer of 39 episodes of House of Cards).

We liked the Colorado locations but, apparently it was shot in Georgia. Also, one goof is a card on the screen that reads "Four years later" after 1984 but it actually cuts to three years later in 1987.

Composer Rob Simonsen's (after Tully he scored 58 episodes of Life in Pieces) work can be streamed on both spotify and Apple Music. Fourteen songs are listed on imdb, including Dave Brubeck's Unsquare Dance, a personal favorite with now three mentions in this blog in a year and a half. Note that Farmiga does her own classical piano playing in the movie.

As I said, tepid, with Rotten Tomatoes' critics averaging 58% and its audiences 52. Gone from big screens in these parts (we saw it two and a half weeks ago), the movie is scheduled for DVD release and streaming in February 2019. It won't waste your time, especially if you remember the events, are an unabashed liberal, or a big fan of any of the cast.

Blindspotting (2018)

Jack and I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a man, days from the end of probation, who witnesses a heinous police shooting and is tempted in other ways to jeopardize his freedom. Like Green Book, it's a drama about a serious subject with plenty of humor. We need a new term because dramedy is too light for this content.

Daveed Diggs (original cast of Hamilton, ten episodes of The Get Down, three of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, ten of Black-ish, and a rap song in Zootopia) and his lifelong friend Rafael Casal (new to me) wrote the script and star as Collin the felon and Miles his lifelong friend and loose cannon. The cast includes Janina Gavankar (her face is familiar because we saw all 38 episodes of The Mysteries of Laura) as Collin's ex-girlfriend and employer Val and Jasmine Cephas Jones (real life girlfriend of Anthony Ramos, Diggs' Hamilton castmate, and daughter of Ron Cephas Jones who plays Randall's father on This Is Us) as Miles' wife Ashley.

This is the second feature for director Carlos López Estrada. The movie was nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Diggs is nominated for Best Male Lead at the Spirit Awards.

Diggs and Casal are proud Oakland natives and the location shots are spectacular.

The movie has many many songs (here's a list) in addition to a score by Michael Yezerski (he's worked on over a hundred projects, none of which I've seen). There are clips of his work on his website. I think I liked the music but it's been two weeks since we saw it.

We streamed this on iTunes, in part because of Diggs' Spirit award nomination and more because of his interview on WTF with Marc Maron. Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average of 93% and its audiences' of 86 should lead you to watch it as well.