Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Jack and I found this goofy sci-fi action picture a fun way to spend a couple of summer hours. Chris Pratt is a humble, handsome hero well-suited to this slapstick Marvel movie. Last blogged in Her, he carries all of his scenes as a man who was abducted from earth as a boy in the 1980s, his only tangible reminder a cassette called "Awesome Mix Vol. 1." The opening credits are pretty awesome, too, as Pratt dances around to the first song on the cassette (Come and Get Your Love by Redbone, released in 1974). More on the music in a moment.

Pratt is supported by, among others, Zoe Saldana (most recently in Star Trek: Into Darkness), covered in green makeup, and the voices of Bradley Cooper (last in American Hustle) and Vin Diesel, as a talking raccoon and a walking/talking tree, respectively. And wrestler Dave Bautista's character Drax, who "can't do metaphors," has recently been in the news because a blogger's autistic brother loved seeing the screen version of his own inability with metaphors.

Directed and co-written by James Gunn (the only other of his work we've seen is a segment of Movie 43, the deserving Razzie Worst Picture winner last year), this project clearly shows that Gunn has promise.

Despite Marvel writer Stan Lee's lack of contribution to the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, the producers were wise to include him in a cameo, as the Xandarian Ladies' Man.

The soundtrack album "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1" reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, the first film soundtrack ever to reach number one without a single original song. The preceding sentence is directly plagiarized from the 104 items in imdb's trivia page for the movie, recommended for fanboys and -girls to read after seeing the movie. Also recommended are this one about so-called Easter Eggs (and here's a definition) and this one about the music.

Speaking of the music, although I enjoy listening to soundtracks while writing, I can't compose sentences while listening to Awesome Mix Vol. 1. I would be too caught up in singing along! All twelve songs on the album (for sale on amazon and iTunes) are available for you to stream for free:
I'm Not in Love, performed by 10CC
Come and Get Your Love, performed by Redbone
Go All the Way, performed by The Raspberries
Hooked on a Feeling, performed by Blue Swede
Escape (The Pina Colada Song), performed by Rupert Holmes
Moonage Daydream, performed by David Bowie
Fooled Around and Fell in Love, performed by Elvin Bishop
Cherry Bomb, performed by The Runaways
Ooh Child, performed by The Five Stairsteps
Ain't No Mountain High Enough, performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
I Want You Back, performed by Jackson 5

What I have been listening to as I write is this playlist of the original score by Tyler Bates (blogged in Killer Joe). It's pretty typical of action movie soundtracks. This experience would have been many times less enjoyable with only the Bates soundtrack, but it fits where it's used.

Number one at the box office after its fourth week of release, rated 92% by Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 95 by audiences, this movie doesn't need our recommendation. If you like the genre, go see it. Oh yeah, there will be a sequel, already listed on imdb for 2017.

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Philip Seymour Hoffman is terrific as a German espionage agent tracking Muslim activity in Hamburg in this thriller based on the John Le Carré novel, but Mary Ellen, Isaac, and I checked the time frequently during the second hour. Hoffman (last blogged in A Late Quartet) is supported by Grigoriy Dobrygin, Rachel McAdams (most recently in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) whom we didn't believe as a German national, Homayoun Ershadi (starred in The Kite Runner (2007) and was in Zero Dark Thirty), Willen Dafoe (last in The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Robin Wright (most recently blogged in Moneyball, before her tour de force in House of Cards). I do want to mention Daniel Brühl, who had almost no lines as a German spy in this movie, but starred in a hilarious comedy about Germany post-Berlin Wall called Goodbye Lenin! (2003).

Director Anton Corbijn's last picture, The American, is one I didn't like one bit, so this is a step up. The shadowy cinematography by Benoît Delhomme (One Day) and music by Herbert Grönemeyer (he also scored The American and has a small part in this one) are perfectly acceptable. Clips from the soundtrack are available on its amazon page.

Hoffman, who died of an overdose in February, will appear in two more Hunger Games movies, so this is not his last project. But it's not the one I'll remember him by. That said, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are coming in at a whopping 91. Audiences are more in line with me at 71.

Calvary (2014)

Powerful and thought-provoking, this tale of an Irish priest whose life is threatened in the opening scene isn't devoid of laughs, but it's by no means a comedy, centering more on faith and forgiveness. Brendan Gleeson (last blogged in The Company You Keep) is terrific as Father James, who joined the priesthood after his wife died. Kelly Reilly (most recently in Flight) plays his troubled daughter to perfection. Everyone in the cast is wonderful, especially Chris O'Dowd (last in The Sapphires) as the local butcher; Isaach De Bankolé (his face is familiar, probably from Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), and Battle in Seattle. And I have to mention a movie title in his credits that made me laugh. In English it's How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (1989)) as the village's only non-white resident; and Gleeson's son Domhnall Gleeson (starred in About Time), nearly unrecognizable with his ginger hair dyed black.

Director/writer John Michael McDonagh's first feature The Guard, was very funny, and, as noted above, one gets glimpses of his comic touch here and there. Just listen to the swelling orchestrations and lovely vocals of the music by Patrick Cassidy in this youtube playlist, and you'll get an idea of the movie's tone.

The breathtaking locations in County Sligo, Ireland, were shot by Larry Smith (The Guard and more). Don't run out as the credits begin. You'll be treated to more location photography.

This is really good and will inspire discussion. You don't have to trust only Jack and me. Rotten Tomatoes' critics average 89% and audiences come in at 83.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Jack and I enjoyed Woody Allen's story about 1920s magicians trying to discredit a psychic medium in Europe. Colin Firth's Stanley is an arrogant Englishman and Emma Stone's Sophie an adorable American, as usual for her. As usual for Allen, the movie has luxurious locations and set dressing, Dixieland jazz, and talky characters, not to mention wonderful wardrobe and picture cars, including an awesome Alfa Romeo.

Firth (last blogged in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) demonstrates his comedy chops as he performs in yellow face (reviled by some Asian groups today, but not uncommon for the period) and cruises around the French Riviera in the aforementioned autos. Stone (most recently in The Amazing Spider-Man 2), no stranger to comedy, is "a visionary and a vision," as quoted by the besotted Brice, played by Hamish Linklater (last in these pages in The Future), who has some wonderful bits. Many other stars fill out the cast, too numerous to mention.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji (lauded in my post on The Immigrant) deserves mention for more beautiful images. Another Allen standard practice applies here--songs but no music composed specifically for the picture.

I caught only one instance of the customary carping that Allen often writes for one female character, but now, two weeks later, I can't remember exactly when or who.

Allen's big hit last year was Blue Jasmine, for which he was nominated for writing. Although highly regarded in our local newspaper for a change, this one wasn't well received by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who average 48%, with audiences only a little better at 58. We liked it a lot and recommend it for date night or any escapist entertainment.

Boyhood (2014)

It's a brilliant gimmick--watching a group of actors, especially the kids, literally age over 12 years--but even without the gimmick this is a wonderful coming of age story which we loved, most people loved, and I doubt anyone will hate. Ellar Coltrane, who will be 20 on August 27, was six when the cameras started rolling in 2002 and is perfectly believable as he navigates a world with his here-today-gone-tomorrow father, his mother's choices of relationships, his moody older sister, and growing up. The director/writer's daughter Lorelei Linklater, who is actually only three months older than Coltrane, apparently insisted on being in the movie, and she's a hoot in her live-action screen debut (she had a small part in her father's animated Waking Life (2001)--here's a publicity photo from that year of Ethan Hawke with Richard and Lorelei Linklater). After a few years Lorelei became bored with the project and asked her father to kill off her character but he declined, saying it wasn't that kind of movie. She regained her enthusiasm eventually. 

Richard Linklater (last blogged in Before Midnight) frequently works with Hawke (ditto), and wrote the parents' divorce because Hawke wouldn't be available every year for production. Patricia Arquette (she first came to my attention in the wonderful True Romance (1993), then co-starred in one of my all-time favorites Flirting with Disaster (1993). I also liked her in David Lynch's crazy Lost Highway (1997), Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's crazy Human Nature (2001), Linklater's Fast Food Nation (2006), and seven episodes of Boardwalk Empire. I didn't see Medium) was more available and she shows up every year, with various hairstyles (though most often the pageboy from Medium). They are far from perfect parents, making it all seem real. There are dozens of other actors in the movie and it's all good.

It's fun to see the technology evolve (video games, for example) and know that there aren't anachronism errors based on the filmmakers' faulty memories because they were actually shooting during the years depicted.

There are 11 songs listed on imdb, and 16 on the CD, which you can stream for free from this link. No composer is credited for anything else.

I don't know if it's unprecedented, but metacritic (47 reviewers) has given Boyhood a perfect 100, and my usual reference, Rotten Tomatoes, averages 99% from critics and 91 from audiences. Try it, you'll like it.

Four summer movies

In order of how much Jack and I liked them, from better to worse: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), Jersey Boys (2014), Tammy (2014), Third Person (2013). It just so happens that's also alphabetical. Go figure.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) is cute, just like the first one, but not that different. Maybe I had an attitude because I was disappointed because I had wanted to see Tammy that day but got the times wrong (you'll see below that we actually made the right choice). Same director/writer Dean DeBlois, and composer John Powell. All the original voices (Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, T.J. Miller) are back, too, with the addition of Djimon Hounsou (Oscar-nominated for In America (2002) and Blood Diamond (2006), was also in Amistad (1977) and Gladiator (2000), among others) throughout and Cate Blanchett (last blogged in The Monuments Men) arriving in the second act. Still fun for the kids but not too young, in my perhaps over-protective opinion, because there is peril. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are in love, both averaging 92%. We saw it before the holiday fireworks four and a half weeks ago. Ironically, this is the one of these four we least anticipated and it was by far the best of the lot.

Jack and I were excited to see Jersey Boys (2014) after seeing the stage musical twice, but it didn't pack the punch we hoped. We can't quite figure out why, even under the experienced hand of Clint Eastwood (last blogged as a director in J. Edgar). John Lloyd Young, who played Frankie Valli in the original Broadway cast, kind of left me cold on the big screen. Vincent Piazza (Lucky Luciano in Boardwalk Empire, some episodes of Rescue Me, and the angry brother in Rocket Science (2007)) as Tommy DeVito and Erich Bergen (performed in the touring show for years and has done some TV) as Bob Gaudio try very hard. And then there's an egregious example of my Rule #8, that says Ohio is a place for hicks only. The Four Seasons performed at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus in 1965. Eastwood and his team purposely not only moved the movie Fair to Cleveland (it's been in Columbus since 1851), apparently to parallel something else that happened in Cleveland, but had the Fair audience standing on grass with a cow in their midst. I'm still mad about that six weeks later, especially since they were so meticulous about other facts. Christopher Walken (most recently in Seven Psychopaths), however, turns in his usual brilliant performance. Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes are happier at 69% than its critics at 54.

Two days after training the dragon we did get to see Tammy (2014). What a let down. Not enough slapstick, too much emoting, and Melissa McCarthy (last in The Heat) and Susan Sarandon (most recently in Robot & Frank) caught in the middle. Director Ben Falcone (Enough Said) co-wrote with McCarthy, who is his wife, and they squandered so much star power, including Kathy Bates (Midnight in Paris), Allison Janney (Bad Words), Toni Collette (Enough Said), Sandra Oh (Rabbit Hole), and more. Rotten Tomatoes: 25% critics, 39 audiences.

Third Person (2013) is another one we expected to love and did not. Not one little bit. More squandering of star power, including Liam Neeson (A Million Ways to Die in the West), Olivia Wilde (Better Living Through Chemistry), James Franco (Palo Alto), Mila Kunis (Oz the Great and Powerful), Maria Bello (Prisoners), Adrien Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Moran Atias (the TV version of Crash), in an ensemble picture that leaves many questions, and not in a good way. Director/writer Paul Haggis won Oscars for co-writing the ensemble picture Crash (2004) and co-writing Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004), which won Best Picture in consecutive years. I loved both of them. I think Jack did, too, though we hadn't yet met, and I can't ask him now because he's asleep, like a normal person. I, for one, expected a lot. We should have heeded Rotten Tomatoes for its then 21% critics and 42 audiences (today, three and a half weeks later, it has soared to 24 and 47). But we seldom do.

Snowpiercer (2013)

Brutal but beautiful. In 2031 a failed global warming mitigation has frozen the earth and all survivors are divided by class on a train. Then the underprivileged people in the back think about staging a coup.

Chris Evans (last blogged in Captain America: The Winter Soldier--how appropriate!) stars as the reluctant but passionate leader of the downtrodden, though it took me at least half hour to recognize him with that black hat, hair, and beard. John Hurt and Tilda Swinton (both most recently in Only Lovers Left Alive) support as the elder of the tribe and the prissy communications director from first class, respectively. She is hilarious, in a role originally intended for a man. Others in steerage include Jamie Bell (last in Defiance) whose character I found quite annoying, Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station) as a distraught mom, Ewen Bremner (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger) as a wild-eyed crazy (as usual for him), and Kang-Ho Song (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) as a crafty addict with a criminal past, whom we understand through subtitles and a mechanical translating machine. Ed Harris makes an appearance in the third act (I'll wait until he stars in something to profile him, as his recent work was pre-blog).

Based on a graphic novel Le Transpierceneige by Jean-Marc Rochette (some of whose drawings are in the movie), this is Korean director/co-writer Joon-Ho Bong's (AKA Bong Joon-Ho in the customary Asian manner of surname first) (I've heard of him but not seen any of his previous work) first English language movie. The dark cinematography is by Bong's frequent collaborator Kyung-pyo Hong.

The intense score, by Marco Beltrami (The Sessions) can be streamed from a playlist on youtube.

We saw it about three weeks ago, drawn by its 95% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (77 from audiences). Not for the faint of heart, this is nonetheless good filmmaking.

Obvious Child (2014)

Jack and I really liked this story of a 20-something stand-up comic who gets pregnant after a drunken one night stand. It's funny, cringey, pro-choice, warm, and just plain smart. Jenny Slate (22 episodes of Saturday Night Live, seven as Mona-Lisa on Parks and Recreation, nine as Doug's wife on House of Lies, ten as Jess on Married (not all have aired yet), five on Bored to Death, and she co-wrote and provided the voice of the youtube hit Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) is adorable and awkward in the lead role of Donna. Donna's roommate and best friend Nellie, played by Gaby Hoffmann (she started acting when she was a child and some of my favorites of her work are Field of Dreams (1989), This Is My Life (1992), The Man Without a Face (1993), Now and Then (1995), Everyone Says I Love You (1996), You Can Count on Me (2000), Life During Wartime, and four decidedly unchildlike episodes of Girls), demonstrates the importance of female friendship to this plot. More warmth is delivered by the strong relationship Donna has with her parents, played by Polly Draper (best known for 85 episodes of thirtysomething and last mentioned in these pages in Side Effects) and Richard Kind (most recently in A Serious Man). We mustn't forget Jake Lacy, about whom Jack and I whispered until we finally remembered his playing Pete in the final 21 episodes of The Office (the American version), as the one night stand Max.

Director/co-writer Gillian Robespierre fleshed out her 2009 23 minute film into this 84 minute feature, both co-written by Anna Bean and Karen Maine (the latter was in the short but not the feature). Elisabeth Holm has a credit for the story along with Maine.

The title is taken from the Paul Simon song, but, even after reading the lyrics, I don't know why. Because it's been almost five weeks since we saw it, my memory of the music is a bit sketchy. However, a little detective work turned up this list of musicians featured in the movie. There's a free download from the first link. While writing I've been enjoying the instrumental stylings of Frank LoCrasto from that list (skip the first one with the out-of-tune piano).

Rotten Tomatoes critics are favorable, averaging 87% to audiences' 77. Check out the video when it's released October 7, 2014. I feel bad that we let the ticket seller talk us into seeing They Came Together instead of this during Amy's brief visit in June. Sorry, honey! Get the DVD in the fall.

They Came Together (2014)

Silly slapstick, in the style of Airplane (1980), this is a spoof of romantic comedies, chock full of clichés. Jack liked it a lot. Amy and I, not so much, even though we love stars Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd.

Poehler (best known for Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation, she's done a fair number of movies, including Blades of Glory (2007), Baby Mama (2008), and a voice in the US version of The Secret World of Arietty) and Rudd (last blogged in Anchorman 2) are game for this genre and they work hard. In my post about Prince Avalanche I wrote, "Jack and I would watch Paul Rudd in almost anything." This and Anchorman 2 seem to fall into the category of "almost."

Director/co-writer David Wain (profiled in Wanderlust) also gives his all but it left me pretty cold when we saw it five weeks ago. DVD release is set for September 2. Rotten Tomatoes critics are now at 68% and audiences at 50%.  Poehler and Rudd fans can get it on netflix and fast forward, especially that scene in the bar.

Despite my negative views on this one, here's a milestone: this is the 700th movie presented on this blog (despite the long summer break, five more in draft form, and many on my must see list)!

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

This very satisfactory specimen of a summer blockbuster has action, science fiction, humor, and redemption as a military PR guy gets thrown into combat, is killed, and wakes up the morning he arrived at the front, over and over again. Jack and I prefer the tag line "Live, Die, Repeat" to the actual title. Tom Cruise (most recently in Rock of Ages) stars along with Emily Blunt (last blogged in The Wind Rises) under the direction of Doug Liman (most recently in these pages for helming Fair Game).

The comparisons to Groundhog Day (1993) are inevitable, but this one is adapted from a Japanese manga (graphic novel) with a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie (won Oscar for The Usual Suspects (1995) and wrote Valkyrie, which also starred Cruise) and brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, who wrote Fair Game for Liman.

You can stream a few tracks from the soundtrack by Christophe Beck (last blogged in The Guilt Trip--happily he's back on track) at his website.

Averaging 90% from critics and 92 from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, this was #10 at the box office ten weeks after release. We saw it over six weeks ago. Not the only movie you must see all summer, but a fun one nonetheless.