Jack and I loved this story of the friendship between the elderly Queen of England and a young Muslim servant from India at the end of her life. Dame Judi Dench is spectacular in this "unofficial sequel" to Mrs. Brown (1997), which I highly recommend, too. More on that in a moment.
Dench (last blogged for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Ali Fazal (new to me) have good chemistry in their platonic relationship. Many good laughs are provided by Adeel Akhtar (The Dictator, Kumail's brother in The Big Sick, lots of TV, more), who plays Abdul's countryman Mohammed. As for the Brits, Tim Pigott-Smith (over 100 credits, including the title role in the Masterpiece Theatre TV-movie King Charles III, about current Prince Charles ascending to the throne. Pigott-Smith died in April 2017 and his passing and that of production designer Alan MacDonald are observed in the credits) is notable as Sir Henry Ponsonby, the queen's private secretary, as is Eddie Izzard (a stand-up comedian, he's been good in Velvet Goldmine (1998), The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin, Romance & Cigarettes, Ocean's Twelve and Thirteen (2004, '07), Valkyrie, and the wonderful series The Riches, among others) as "Bertie," Prince of Wales. Simon Callow (last in Viceroy's House) has a cameo as opera composer Giacomo Puccini, who, according to Jack, was a bad singer so Callow's performance is spot on.
Director Stephen Frears (last helmed Florence Foster Jenkins, about a notoriously bad singer) brings to life the screenplay by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot (2000) and War Horse) adapted from the 2011 book by Shrabani Basu.
Cinematographer Danny Cohen and late production designer Alan MacDonald both worked with Frears on Florence and the work is beautiful here as well.
The entire soundtrack by Thomas Newman (most recently scored Passengers) can be streamed from this link.
For back story, do check out the movie Mrs. Brown (stream the whole movie from this link or rent from amazon if the link fails) from 20 years ago, wherein Dench's Victoria (1819-1901) is mourning the 1861 death of her husband and in 1863 becomes close friends with John Brown, a Scottish servant, played by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. Dench was Oscar-nominated for that role.
References are made to John Brown, especially one particularly clever line, in this movie which begins in 1887 with her Golden Jubilee (i.e. 50 years on the throne), four years after Brown's death. In both cases, the queen is lonely and disconsolate after losing her man and the new one cheers her up. For further youthful Vicky viewing, check out The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt, and the PBS series Victoria (you have to be a certain level of donor to stream episodes from their official site), with season 2 coming in January.
Jack wanted me to check two things. As he suspected, the statue shown at the end of the movie isn't actually where the filmmakers show it. And, although, many have written about Queen Victoria's lust for food, her fast eating, the rule that others at the table must stop and have their plates removed when the Queen is finished with her course, and her 50 inch waist (there are some bloomers in a museum somewhere to prove it) on her 4'11" frame, I couldn't find any research proving that she ate with her fingers at royal banquets. It does make for a good scene.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are on the cool side for this, averaging 66 and 72% respectively. We think it's wonderful.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Brad’s Status (2017)
Jack and I really liked this cringe-inducing comedy about a father, played by Ben Stiller, verging on a nervous breakdown while taking his son college visiting. If that doesn't make you want to run screaming from the room, you might like it too.
Stiller (after I wrote about him for While We're Young he had a cameo in Don't Think Twice) is a master at playing neurotic and narcissistic and this is no exception. Jenna Fischer's (best known for 188 episodes of the American version of The Office, she has dozens of other credits, including all ten episodes of You, Me and the Apocalypse and three of The Mysteries of Laura, to name just a few) Melanie is a nice foil to Brad's intensity as his easy-going optimistic wife, and Austin Abrams (at age 21 he's got a number of credits but I don't think I've seen any) is a strong, silent type as son Troy.
Brad's old college buddies, all wealthy, inspire much jealousy even though Brad has chosen to work in nonprofits. Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement, and Luke Wilson (last blogged for Home Again, The BFG, and The Skeleton Twins, respectively) are great as those men.
Director/writer Mike White (covered in my blog post for Beatriz at Dinner, which he wrote) makes his feature directing debut here after six episodes of Enlightened and a TV movie and onscreen plays another now-wealthy college buddy.
We saw this over three weeks ago but I think we liked the music by Mark Mothersbaugh (scored Beatriz) but, like that soundtrack, none is available online. Here's a partial list of songs.
Clearly, most of Rotten Tomatoes' critics didn't want to run screaming from the room, averaging 81% instead of its audiences who were edging towards the exits at 59. As an Amazon production, it's likely to be found on some of your streaming devices soon.
Stiller (after I wrote about him for While We're Young he had a cameo in Don't Think Twice) is a master at playing neurotic and narcissistic and this is no exception. Jenna Fischer's (best known for 188 episodes of the American version of The Office, she has dozens of other credits, including all ten episodes of You, Me and the Apocalypse and three of The Mysteries of Laura, to name just a few) Melanie is a nice foil to Brad's intensity as his easy-going optimistic wife, and Austin Abrams (at age 21 he's got a number of credits but I don't think I've seen any) is a strong, silent type as son Troy.
Brad's old college buddies, all wealthy, inspire much jealousy even though Brad has chosen to work in nonprofits. Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement, and Luke Wilson (last blogged for Home Again, The BFG, and The Skeleton Twins, respectively) are great as those men.
Director/writer Mike White (covered in my blog post for Beatriz at Dinner, which he wrote) makes his feature directing debut here after six episodes of Enlightened and a TV movie and onscreen plays another now-wealthy college buddy.
We saw this over three weeks ago but I think we liked the music by Mark Mothersbaugh (scored Beatriz) but, like that soundtrack, none is available online. Here's a partial list of songs.
Clearly, most of Rotten Tomatoes' critics didn't want to run screaming from the room, averaging 81% instead of its audiences who were edging towards the exits at 59. As an Amazon production, it's likely to be found on some of your streaming devices soon.
Home Again (2017)
This fluffy comedy about a separated 40-something woman moving home to LA, having an affair with a much younger man living in her guest house with his colleagues, and trying to keep herself, her girls, and her mother happy felt old school, especially since we saw it in a historic Westwood theatre while visiting Los Angeles five weeks ago. But probably some of that old school feel is owed to the heritage of its director/writer Hallie Meyers-Shyer (her debut for both), the daughter of veteran rom-com couple Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer (Meyers was last blogged for It's Complicated, she last worked with her now-ex-husband Shyer on The Parent Trap 1998 remake, and is a producer on this project).
Reese Witherspoon (after I wrote about her in Inherent Vice, she co-starred and co-produced the terrific mini-series Big Little Lies) is a great choice for the conflicted Alice. An even better choice is Candice Bergen (her glorious career has earned her an Oscar nomination for Starting Over (1979), and several Emmys and Golden Globes for her 247 episodes of Murphy Brown; and other highlights include Carnal Knowledge (1971), Rich and Famous (1981), Ghandi (1982), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), 91 episodes of Boston Legal (2005-08), the not-very-good remake of The Women, and a cameo in Rules Don't Apply) as Alice's former movie star mother, complete with lovely old photos of Bergen.
The three young men are played by Nat Wolff (last blogged for Grandma), Jon Rudnitsky (21 episodes of Saturday Night Live which, apparently, I did not see), and the impossibly handsome Pico Alexander (new to me) as Alice's paramour. Michael Sheen (most recently in these pages for Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer) is credible as Alice's estranged husband, and Lake Bell (last blogged for Million Dollar Arm) has a hilarious bit as a spoiled trophy wife.
John Debney (most recently scored The Jungle Book) wrote some music but I can't remember it nor find it online. It doesn't help that he wrote a song called Home Again for a sci-fi movie called Zathura. But I recall enjoying the songs. Here's a list of some of them.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hating on this one, averaging 31% to its audiences 52. It's definitely not great art. But we picked it because we wanted something light on vacation. If you want to see it, it'll be available to stream in November and rent or buy in December at the usual outlets.
Reese Witherspoon (after I wrote about her in Inherent Vice, she co-starred and co-produced the terrific mini-series Big Little Lies) is a great choice for the conflicted Alice. An even better choice is Candice Bergen (her glorious career has earned her an Oscar nomination for Starting Over (1979), and several Emmys and Golden Globes for her 247 episodes of Murphy Brown; and other highlights include Carnal Knowledge (1971), Rich and Famous (1981), Ghandi (1982), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), 91 episodes of Boston Legal (2005-08), the not-very-good remake of The Women, and a cameo in Rules Don't Apply) as Alice's former movie star mother, complete with lovely old photos of Bergen.
The three young men are played by Nat Wolff (last blogged for Grandma), Jon Rudnitsky (21 episodes of Saturday Night Live which, apparently, I did not see), and the impossibly handsome Pico Alexander (new to me) as Alice's paramour. Michael Sheen (most recently in these pages for Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer) is credible as Alice's estranged husband, and Lake Bell (last blogged for Million Dollar Arm) has a hilarious bit as a spoiled trophy wife.
John Debney (most recently scored The Jungle Book) wrote some music but I can't remember it nor find it online. It doesn't help that he wrote a song called Home Again for a sci-fi movie called Zathura. But I recall enjoying the songs. Here's a list of some of them.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hating on this one, averaging 31% to its audiences 52. It's definitely not great art. But we picked it because we wanted something light on vacation. If you want to see it, it'll be available to stream in November and rent or buy in December at the usual outlets.
Battle of the Sexes (2017)
As expected, Jack and I liked very much this dramatization of the 1973 Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs tennis match, the personal lives of the players, and the social challenges of the time. Emma Stone (last blogged for La La Land) and Steve Carell (most recently in these pages for Café Society) are terrific as King and Riggs. So are Andrea Riseborough (last in Nocturnal Animals) as the tour hairdresser Marilyn who plays a pivotal part, Sarah Silverman (most recently blogged for The Book of Henry) as the women's tennis spokesperson Gladys Heldman, and Elisabeth Shue (Oscar-nominated for Leaving Las Vegas in 1995, she was also good in The Karate Kid (1984), Cocktail (1988), Back to the Future parts II and III (1989 and '90), Mysterious Skin (2004), and, as herself, Hamlet 2, among others) as Riggs' wife.
Originally Danny Boyle was set to direct from a script by Simon Beaufoy (last blogged for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen). When Boyle had a scheduling conflict with T2 Trainspotting, he stayed as producer and brought in the married directing team of Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (most recently in these pages for Ruby Sparks, they directed Carell in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). Good choice. It all feels pretty authentic, including the use of historic footage, although apparently the filmmakers took some liberties with various timelines. After seeing the movie, you may want to read this analysis.
Before his birthday in August, Carell and Stone, at 54 and 28, mirrored the age difference between Riggs and King (55 and 29) in 1973. No big surprise that there were tennis-playing doubles for both of them, with Stone's and Carell's faces added in post-production.
We enjoyed hearing the hits of the 70s, listed here with clips, as well as the original soundtrack by Nicholas Britell (last blogged for his Oscar-nominated score for Moonlight), which you can stream from this playlist.
I can't find the exact quote, but I heard King say (or read that she said) that, despite her record twenty Wimbledon titles, including six for singles, and many other accomplishments in the sport, she is best known for this match which was more about entertainment than athleticism.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 84 to its audiences' 76%. Just go see it to remind yourself that we've come a long way, baby (in some ways but not in others)!
Originally Danny Boyle was set to direct from a script by Simon Beaufoy (last blogged for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen). When Boyle had a scheduling conflict with T2 Trainspotting, he stayed as producer and brought in the married directing team of Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (most recently in these pages for Ruby Sparks, they directed Carell in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). Good choice. It all feels pretty authentic, including the use of historic footage, although apparently the filmmakers took some liberties with various timelines. After seeing the movie, you may want to read this analysis.
Before his birthday in August, Carell and Stone, at 54 and 28, mirrored the age difference between Riggs and King (55 and 29) in 1973. No big surprise that there were tennis-playing doubles for both of them, with Stone's and Carell's faces added in post-production.
We enjoyed hearing the hits of the 70s, listed here with clips, as well as the original soundtrack by Nicholas Britell (last blogged for his Oscar-nominated score for Moonlight), which you can stream from this playlist.
I can't find the exact quote, but I heard King say (or read that she said) that, despite her record twenty Wimbledon titles, including six for singles, and many other accomplishments in the sport, she is best known for this match which was more about entertainment than athleticism.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 84 to its audiences' 76%. Just go see it to remind yourself that we've come a long way, baby (in some ways but not in others)!
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Columbus (2017)
I loved this dreamy movie filmed on location in Columbus, Indiana, for its gorgeous photography and magnificent modernist locations. This darling of Sundance is about a high school graduate, with no plans to leave her beloved hometown and its architecture, who meets an Asian visitor and shows him around.
Every synopsis I've read starts with Jin, played by John Cho (after I profiled him in Star Trek Into Darkness he was in its sequel and Grandma), who has to leave his job in Korea when his father becomes ill in Columbus. But it's really Casey's (Haley Lu Richardson, who played the best friend in The Edge of Seventeen) story, with her devotion to her city and her mother (Michelle Forbes was terrific in Kalifornia (1993), Swimming with Sharks (1994), 31 episodes of Homicide, a lot more TV, and a few more movies). Supporting players include Parker Posey (last blogged for Café Society) and Rory Culkin (Macauley's youngest brother, now 28, covered in Lymelife).
First time director/writer Kogonada (it's a pseudonym) has already begun racking up awards and wins for this movie. Before this he edited video essays about movie directors (especially Japanese ones) and artfully edited this movie as well. Many scenes have no cuts at all. Like Cho, he was born in Korea but raised in America, and is now living in Knoxville TN, down I-65 from Columbus.
Cinematographer Elisha Christian clearly captures the director's vision--they are enamored of passageways and often return to the same ones at different times during the movie.
The soundtrack by Hammock (Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson of Nashville) is terrific but not available to stream. You can hear other works by the duo on youtube.
Mike Pence was born and raised in Columbus, Indiana. Don't hold that against this movie.
I know Jack would have loved this had he been available to join me Thursday. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences sure do, averaging 97 and 85% respectively. I followed its official Facebook page and learned that it's now (October 4, 2017) available for pre-order on iTunes. If you read this later, there will be other options. Do see this!
Every synopsis I've read starts with Jin, played by John Cho (after I profiled him in Star Trek Into Darkness he was in its sequel and Grandma), who has to leave his job in Korea when his father becomes ill in Columbus. But it's really Casey's (Haley Lu Richardson, who played the best friend in The Edge of Seventeen) story, with her devotion to her city and her mother (Michelle Forbes was terrific in Kalifornia (1993), Swimming with Sharks (1994), 31 episodes of Homicide, a lot more TV, and a few more movies). Supporting players include Parker Posey (last blogged for Café Society) and Rory Culkin (Macauley's youngest brother, now 28, covered in Lymelife).
First time director/writer Kogonada (it's a pseudonym) has already begun racking up awards and wins for this movie. Before this he edited video essays about movie directors (especially Japanese ones) and artfully edited this movie as well. Many scenes have no cuts at all. Like Cho, he was born in Korea but raised in America, and is now living in Knoxville TN, down I-65 from Columbus.
Cinematographer Elisha Christian clearly captures the director's vision--they are enamored of passageways and often return to the same ones at different times during the movie.
The soundtrack by Hammock (Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson of Nashville) is terrific but not available to stream. You can hear other works by the duo on youtube.
Mike Pence was born and raised in Columbus, Indiana. Don't hold that against this movie.
I know Jack would have loved this had he been available to join me Thursday. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences sure do, averaging 97 and 85% respectively. I followed its official Facebook page and learned that it's now (October 4, 2017) available for pre-order on iTunes. If you read this later, there will be other options. Do see this!
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Viceroy's House (2017)
Jack and I really liked this story of the end of the British Empire in India, in 1947, with a love story subplot and lots of politics. Hugh Bonneville (last blogged for The Monuments Men) is stately Lord "Dickie" Mountbatten, tasked with making a peaceful exit, and Gillian Anderson (best known as Agent Scully in 217 episodes of The X-Files, she was most recently in these pages for How to Lose Friends & Alienate People and the Oscar-nominated short Room on the Broom) is his liberal, kind wife and partner Edwina. The love story is between the radiant Huma Qureshi (new to me) and Manish Dayal (after The Hundred-Foot Journey he was in eight episodes of Halt and Catch Fire) as Aalia and Jeet. Om Puri, who was also last blogged for The Hundred-Foot Journey, plays Aalia's father.
There's a huge cast, so I'll mention only veteran British actors Michael Gambon (most recently in Quartet) as General Ismay and Simon Callow (A Room with a View (1985), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998), among many credits) as Cyril Radcliffe.
Director/co-writer Gurinder Chadha (last blogged for the same jobs on Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) gives tribute at the end to her grandmother who was part of that history. Co-writer Paul Mayeda Berges also co-wrote Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and co-writer Moira Buffini is new to me. Between them they keep the pace moving.
Cinematographer Ben Smithard (most recently in these pages for shooting The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) brings us gorgeous pictures, all shot on location in India.
Another connection with The Hundred-Foot Journey is composer A.R. Rahman, whose lilting tunes can be streamed on youtube by starting with this link and progressing by number.
Critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes aren't as warm as we are, averaging 71 and 66%, respectively. We recommend seeing this on a big screen.
There's a huge cast, so I'll mention only veteran British actors Michael Gambon (most recently in Quartet) as General Ismay and Simon Callow (A Room with a View (1985), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998), among many credits) as Cyril Radcliffe.
Director/co-writer Gurinder Chadha (last blogged for the same jobs on Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) gives tribute at the end to her grandmother who was part of that history. Co-writer Paul Mayeda Berges also co-wrote Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and co-writer Moira Buffini is new to me. Between them they keep the pace moving.
Cinematographer Ben Smithard (most recently in these pages for shooting The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) brings us gorgeous pictures, all shot on location in India.
Another connection with The Hundred-Foot Journey is composer A.R. Rahman, whose lilting tunes can be streamed on youtube by starting with this link and progressing by number.
Critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes aren't as warm as we are, averaging 71 and 66%, respectively. We recommend seeing this on a big screen.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Patti Cake$ (2017)
Jack and I enjoyed this story of a white, plus-size, female rapper hoping for fame and fortune to escape her hard New Jersey life. Danielle Macdonald (new to me but not to the business) is terrific as Patricia AKA Killa P. From Australia, she had to learn a Jersey accent and to rap but we never guessed from seeing her on screen. Comedian/cabaret singer Bridget Everett (five episodes of Inside Amy Schumer, Trainwreck) is also wonderful as P's mean mom Barb. There's a mention in the movie of Precious, as a taunt about P's weight, but it made me think of the similar casting, with comedienne Mo'Nique as an even meaner mom. Everett uses her singing skills in this movie to great effect. You can hear her chops in this clip from Jimmy Fallon's show (first an interview, then at 4:32 a preview from this movie, then at 6:00 she belts out Piece of My Heart to a standing ovation--I literally got chills listening).
Siddharth Dhananjay, a rapper/singer in his own right making his movie debut, plays P's best friend and bandmate Jheri. Here's some back story on the actor and a video of him. Cathy Moriarty (nominated for Best Supporting Actress in her first ever gig Raging Bull (1980), then I liked Soapdish (1991), Forget Paris (1995), Gloria (1999), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), and Analyze That (2002), to name a few) brings life to P's Nana and Mamoudou Athie (new to me despite two series and more) is good as the mysterious Basterd. Anthony Ramos (from the original cast of Hamilton and soon to star in the Netflix series based on Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It (1986)) plays a recording engineer in a cameo. I have submitted two corrections to imdb: as of today Athie's character is unnamed and Ramos isn't mentioned.
This is the feature debut of director/writer Geremy Jasper, and he and his movie were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and the Golden Camera at Cannes, among other wins and and nominations. A New Jersey native, he wrote all the rap lyrics.
For us sensitive people, this movie will cause Motion-Picture-Motion Sickness or MPMS. It's going on my running list. I advise medication, watching from the last row, looking away from the screen occasionally, waiting for its digital release (estimated November 2017), or all of the above.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences like this one, too, averaging 83 and 80%. If you don't hate rap you'll like this movie.
Siddharth Dhananjay, a rapper/singer in his own right making his movie debut, plays P's best friend and bandmate Jheri. Here's some back story on the actor and a video of him. Cathy Moriarty (nominated for Best Supporting Actress in her first ever gig Raging Bull (1980), then I liked Soapdish (1991), Forget Paris (1995), Gloria (1999), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), and Analyze That (2002), to name a few) brings life to P's Nana and Mamoudou Athie (new to me despite two series and more) is good as the mysterious Basterd. Anthony Ramos (from the original cast of Hamilton and soon to star in the Netflix series based on Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It (1986)) plays a recording engineer in a cameo. I have submitted two corrections to imdb: as of today Athie's character is unnamed and Ramos isn't mentioned.
This is the feature debut of director/writer Geremy Jasper, and he and his movie were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and the Golden Camera at Cannes, among other wins and and nominations. A New Jersey native, he wrote all the rap lyrics.
For us sensitive people, this movie will cause Motion-Picture-Motion Sickness or MPMS. It's going on my running list. I advise medication, watching from the last row, looking away from the screen occasionally, waiting for its digital release (estimated November 2017), or all of the above.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences like this one, too, averaging 83 and 80%. If you don't hate rap you'll like this movie.
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