I loved this documentary about the entertainer (1925-1990) who broke ground in so many ways. Here's a short trailer and a longer one.
Director Samuel D. Pollard has a long list of credits and the work here is exemplary. I was lucky enough to see it in a big festival crowd where Pollard made an appearance.
You can't see it in theatres but in February 2019 it will be on the American Masters series on PBS. Passport Level PBS donors will be able to stream it after that. Donate (contact your local station--it needs your support) and then watch it!
Friday, November 23, 2018
Monday, November 19, 2018
Widows (2018)
Jack and I liked this thriller about women who complete their late husbands' botched heist. The enormous cast is headed by Viola Davis and Liam Neeson (last blogged for Fences and Silence, respectively). The other women thieves are Michelle Rodriguez (she was in 26 episodes of Lost, Battle in Seattle, and plenty more that I haven't seen), Elizabeth Debicki (most recently in The Great Gatsby), and Cynthia Erivo (her babetteflix debut was for Bad Times at the El Royale).
The rest of the starring men are played by Colin Farrell (last in Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Robert Duvall (in The Judge four years ago), Brian Tyree Henry (best known to me as Paper Boi in 17 episodes of Atlanta), and Daniel Kaluuya (Oscar-nominated for Get Out and last blogged for Black Panther). All seven of the above are on the poster.
Director/co-writer Steve McQueen (Oscar-nominated for directing 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Picture in 2014) is featured in a cute little short before the feature, thanking us for coming out to the movies in person. He and co-writer Gillian Flynn (who adapted her own novel into the screenplay for Gone Girl) based the script on the 1983 British TV series written by Lynda La Plante. There are plenty of twists and turns in this version, and, although Jack found it a little contrived, we both thought it quite entertaining, though violent.
Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (last blogged for Queen of Katwe), does marvelous work with contrast, especially Davis' chocolate complexion with her snow white apartment, wardrobe, and matching dog Olivia (here's an article about this adorable bitch).
Hans Zimmer (last in these pages for scoring The Boss Baby) provides exciting music, 22 minutes of which you can stream on youtube.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 91%, are much more enthusiastic than its audiences at a lukewarm 65. It's very likely to rack up a nomination or two. I have begun my yearly summary of nominations sorted by title. The link is to the right if you're on a computer. Otherwise, go here.
The rest of the starring men are played by Colin Farrell (last in Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Robert Duvall (in The Judge four years ago), Brian Tyree Henry (best known to me as Paper Boi in 17 episodes of Atlanta), and Daniel Kaluuya (Oscar-nominated for Get Out and last blogged for Black Panther). All seven of the above are on the poster.
Director/co-writer Steve McQueen (Oscar-nominated for directing 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Picture in 2014) is featured in a cute little short before the feature, thanking us for coming out to the movies in person. He and co-writer Gillian Flynn (who adapted her own novel into the screenplay for Gone Girl) based the script on the 1983 British TV series written by Lynda La Plante. There are plenty of twists and turns in this version, and, although Jack found it a little contrived, we both thought it quite entertaining, though violent.
Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (last blogged for Queen of Katwe), does marvelous work with contrast, especially Davis' chocolate complexion with her snow white apartment, wardrobe, and matching dog Olivia (here's an article about this adorable bitch).
Hans Zimmer (last in these pages for scoring The Boss Baby) provides exciting music, 22 minutes of which you can stream on youtube.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 91%, are much more enthusiastic than its audiences at a lukewarm 65. It's very likely to rack up a nomination or two. I have begun my yearly summary of nominations sorted by title. The link is to the right if you're on a computer. Otherwise, go here.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Jack and I enjoyed this bio-pic about Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the band Queen, leading up to its 1985 Live Aid performance. The movie should have been shorter, and there are some glaring mistakes in the chronology--not that I would have known. What I did learn from watching the movie is that I'm a fan of the band Queen despite never having bought any of their albums—their songs are so good!
Rami Malek (I haven't seen any of his starring roles, but he had small parts in Night at the Museum movies in 2006, 2009, and 2014, Larry Crowne, The Master, and Ain't Them Bodies Saints) is pretty great as Mercury. Malek is of Egyptian background, and Mercury (birth name Farrokh Bulsara) was from Zanzibar, an island off the coast of what's now known as Tanzania. Almost all the music is pure Queen, though, at times, Malek's voice is mixed with Mercury's and that of singer Marc Martel (credited for additional vocals). Malek also had to learn to talk with the buck teeth prosthetic. I'm not familiar with the actors who play the other three members of Queen, though none is a novice: Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon. Mazzello looked familiar to me, and research turned up his appearance as a kid in Jurassic Park (1993) (here's a photo) and as a young adult in The Social Network (another photo).
Supporting cast includes Lucy Boynton (after I called her luminous in Sing Street, she was in the ensemble of Murder on the Orient Express) as Mercury's friend Mary, Allen Leech (last blogged for The Imitation Game) as groupie Paul, and Mike Myers (most recently in these pages for a cameo in Inglourious Basterds, plus several listings for Razzie Awards) as the permed record producer with sunglasses. In Myers' Wayne's World movies, the Wayne and Garth characters banged their heads to Bohemian Rhapsody--Myers threatened to quit if the song wasn't included--and it helped reestablish Queen's popularity after Mercury's death in 1991. Now that you know about this cameo, pay attention to the dialogue in his scene.
Director Bryan Singer (last blogged for X-Men: Days of Future Passed) was fired two weeks before the end of production. Various reasons have been given: absences from the set? Health problems? Ill parents? He threw something at Malek? Singer was replaced by Dexter Fletcher (his fourth feature) but Singer has the Directors Guild credit for this movie. The screenplay is by Anthony McCarten (most recently wrote Darkest Hour) with the story by McCarten and Peter Morgan (last penned Hereafter).
Surviving Queen bandmates May and Taylor were creative consultants and former Queen manager Jim Beach was a producer. Perhaps their control had something to do with why Mercury's drug use, his promiscuity, and even his homosexuality were glossed over.
Mercury's flamboyant costumes are great fun and I suppose they're accurate. The wigs, however, are distracting. We're so used to the fabulous wig work in Saturday Night Live that anything less stands out.
The movie opens and closes with Queen's appearance at Live Aid. The 20 minute set was shot in its entirety, before everything else. There's a rumor that it will be released separately. Here's video of the original 1985 performance and an article about the re-creation. Imdb has pages and pages of trivia, some items of which are above. One of my favorites is that the filmmakers requested recordings of people singing along with Queen. They got thousands and mixed them all into the movie. There are goofs and spoilers on that site, too. Just follow the links.
As expected, there is no soundtrack composer. The soundtrack album is available to stream from this link and there are other songs listed on this page.
Though Rotten Tomatoes' critics are not rhapsodic, averaging 62%, its audiences are, coming in at 93, #2 at the box office its second weekend of release. We saw it in IMAX. The bad news is there were no closed captions available in that format. The good news is that the sound was great.
Rami Malek (I haven't seen any of his starring roles, but he had small parts in Night at the Museum movies in 2006, 2009, and 2014, Larry Crowne, The Master, and Ain't Them Bodies Saints) is pretty great as Mercury. Malek is of Egyptian background, and Mercury (birth name Farrokh Bulsara) was from Zanzibar, an island off the coast of what's now known as Tanzania. Almost all the music is pure Queen, though, at times, Malek's voice is mixed with Mercury's and that of singer Marc Martel (credited for additional vocals). Malek also had to learn to talk with the buck teeth prosthetic. I'm not familiar with the actors who play the other three members of Queen, though none is a novice: Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon. Mazzello looked familiar to me, and research turned up his appearance as a kid in Jurassic Park (1993) (here's a photo) and as a young adult in The Social Network (another photo).
Director Bryan Singer (last blogged for X-Men: Days of Future Passed) was fired two weeks before the end of production. Various reasons have been given: absences from the set? Health problems? Ill parents? He threw something at Malek? Singer was replaced by Dexter Fletcher (his fourth feature) but Singer has the Directors Guild credit for this movie. The screenplay is by Anthony McCarten (most recently wrote Darkest Hour) with the story by McCarten and Peter Morgan (last penned Hereafter).
Surviving Queen bandmates May and Taylor were creative consultants and former Queen manager Jim Beach was a producer. Perhaps their control had something to do with why Mercury's drug use, his promiscuity, and even his homosexuality were glossed over.
Mercury's flamboyant costumes are great fun and I suppose they're accurate. The wigs, however, are distracting. We're so used to the fabulous wig work in Saturday Night Live that anything less stands out.
The movie opens and closes with Queen's appearance at Live Aid. The 20 minute set was shot in its entirety, before everything else. There's a rumor that it will be released separately. Here's video of the original 1985 performance and an article about the re-creation. Imdb has pages and pages of trivia, some items of which are above. One of my favorites is that the filmmakers requested recordings of people singing along with Queen. They got thousands and mixed them all into the movie. There are goofs and spoilers on that site, too. Just follow the links.
As expected, there is no soundtrack composer. The soundtrack album is available to stream from this link and there are other songs listed on this page.
Though Rotten Tomatoes' critics are not rhapsodic, averaging 62%, its audiences are, coming in at 93, #2 at the box office its second weekend of release. We saw it in IMAX. The bad news is there were no closed captions available in that format. The good news is that the sound was great.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
We loved this true story of a woman who forged and stole letters by literary icons and sold them when she had rough times in 1990s New York.
Melissa McCarthy (last blogged for Ghostbusters) is a triumph in a departure from her usual slapstick roles. I would say she "played it straight," but her character Lee Israel is an alcoholic lesbian, wearing ill-fitting men's jackets on her curvy frame. As Israel's friend Jack Hock, Richard E. Grant (most recently in Their Finest) is a delightful foil to her witty petulance. Dolly Wells (her actual friendship with actress Emily Mortimer was parodied in twelve episodes of Doll & Em (2013-15), among Wells' many credits) is sweet as one of the buyers duped by Israel, and Jane Curtin (last in The Spy Who Dumped Me) is terrific as Israel's socialite agent.
Director Marielle Heller (most recently helmed The Diary of a Teenage Girl) works from a screenplay, adapted from Israel's 2008 memoir, by Nicole Holofcener (last wrote (and directed) Enough Said) and Jeff Whitty (his screenwriting debut -- he wrote the book for the Broadway musical Avenue Q, and more). Not having read the book, I can't tell you how many witticisms were written by Israel and how many by Holofcener and Whitty, but the script sparkles.
The New Yorker magazine's review (as always, filled with spoilers) mentions the various Manhattan locations reflecting the time and place, including bookstores (Argosy, Westsider, the Housing Works Bookstore Café, and Logos) and a gay bar (Julius').
There are lots of songs (listed here) as well as original music by the director's brother Nate Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl). The 15 track album is available at all the expected outlets and can be streamed on spotify.
You don't need Jack and me to recommend this Oscar bait when Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 98% and its audiences 86.
Melissa McCarthy (last blogged for Ghostbusters) is a triumph in a departure from her usual slapstick roles. I would say she "played it straight," but her character Lee Israel is an alcoholic lesbian, wearing ill-fitting men's jackets on her curvy frame. As Israel's friend Jack Hock, Richard E. Grant (most recently in Their Finest) is a delightful foil to her witty petulance. Dolly Wells (her actual friendship with actress Emily Mortimer was parodied in twelve episodes of Doll & Em (2013-15), among Wells' many credits) is sweet as one of the buyers duped by Israel, and Jane Curtin (last in The Spy Who Dumped Me) is terrific as Israel's socialite agent.
Director Marielle Heller (most recently helmed The Diary of a Teenage Girl) works from a screenplay, adapted from Israel's 2008 memoir, by Nicole Holofcener (last wrote (and directed) Enough Said) and Jeff Whitty (his screenwriting debut -- he wrote the book for the Broadway musical Avenue Q, and more). Not having read the book, I can't tell you how many witticisms were written by Israel and how many by Holofcener and Whitty, but the script sparkles.
The New Yorker magazine's review (as always, filled with spoilers) mentions the various Manhattan locations reflecting the time and place, including bookstores (Argosy, Westsider, the Housing Works Bookstore Café, and Logos) and a gay bar (Julius').
There are lots of songs (listed here) as well as original music by the director's brother Nate Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl). The 15 track album is available at all the expected outlets and can be streamed on spotify.
You don't need Jack and me to recommend this Oscar bait when Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 98% and its audiences 86.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Beautiful Boy (2018)
Not for the faint of heart, this story of a meth addict's effect on his family is based on memoirs by the addict and his father. Jack and I liked it. Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet are terrific (last blogged for Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show and Call Me by Your Name, respectively) as the father David Sheff and son Nic Sheff, especially the latter, going through all the mood swings of drug use. Maura Tierney (some of her best work was in White Sands (1992), 97 episodes of NewsRadio (1995-99), 189 of ER (1999-2009), Scotland, Pa. (2001), nine episodes of Rescue Me (2009-11), and seven of The Good Wife (2012-13)--I haven't watched any of her 43 of The Affair) and Amy Ryan (most recently in these pages for Bridge of Spies) are in the background as David's second wife Karen and first wife Vicki. Coincidentally, Tierney was in one episode of The Office with Carell, and Ryan was in 17 earlier ones, with her character Holly dating Carell's Michael in many of them.
Director/co-writer Felix van Groeningen did the same on the moving The Broken Circle Breakdown though I failed to say so in the blog. Van Groeningen and Luke Davies (Davies adapted the book that became Lion) adapted David Sheff's Beautiful Boy and Nic Sheff's Tweak, both published in 2008.
The title comes from the John Lennon tune of the same name, written for his second son, Sean Ono Lennon. I can't help but remember that his firstborn, Julian Lennon, got little, if anything.
There's no composer on this movie. I counted about thirty songs in the credits when we saw it Friday. Fourteen are on this spotify playlist and 25 on the imdb list, including Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof, sung by Perry Como.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are lukewarm on this, averaging 69%, and, apparently, not enough viewers have weighed in to give an audience average. Instead, 95% of viewers who voted clicked "want to see." You should probably see it too.
Director/co-writer Felix van Groeningen did the same on the moving The Broken Circle Breakdown though I failed to say so in the blog. Van Groeningen and Luke Davies (Davies adapted the book that became Lion) adapted David Sheff's Beautiful Boy and Nic Sheff's Tweak, both published in 2008.
Trivia: the crazed drawings of Nic's in the movie were actually drawn by Jasper Sheff, David and Karen's now 24 year old son, whose birth and young life are depicted in the movie.
There's no composer on this movie. I counted about thirty songs in the credits when we saw it Friday. Fourteen are on this spotify playlist and 25 on the imdb list, including Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof, sung by Perry Como.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are lukewarm on this, averaging 69%, and, apparently, not enough viewers have weighed in to give an audience average. Instead, 95% of viewers who voted clicked "want to see." You should probably see it too.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
Jack and I loved this wise-cracking, road-trip, buddy picture, with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte hiking the Appalachian Trail. It's based on Bill Bryson's memoir of the same name, but had to be adapted, since Redford and Nolte were in their 70s when this was shot and Bryson and his friend Steven Katz were 44 when they hiked. Paul Newman was supposed to co-star but he died in 2008.
Redford (last blogged for The Old Man & the Gun) and Nolte (most recently in these pages for The Company You Keep, which also starred Redford) are pretty funny as the determined writer Bryson and the out of shape Katz. Women making notable appearances are Emma Thompson (last blogged for The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected (2017) as Bryson's wife, Kristen Schaal (since Sleepwalk with Me, she was in eleven 30 Rock episodes, three of Wilfred, 66 of Last Man on Earth, and more) as a fellow hiker, and Mary Steenburgen (most recently in these pages for Book Club) as the proprietress of a motel along the trail.
Director Ken Kwapis (covered in He's Just Not That Into You) works from the screenplay adapted by Bill Holderman (co-wrote and directed Book Club, which I panned) and Michael Arndt (when I wrote about his work in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, I said I wanted to see his latest, A Walk in the Woods). Arndt is credited under the pseudonym Rick Kerb, which wikipedia says he uses for script revisions.
We stayed home for Tuesday movie day and watched this on Amazon Prime, in preparation for seeing author Bryson at an event this weekend. While watching, I complained that I wanted to follow along on a map and I wanted to know how old they were supposed to be. After reading the trivia background for this, I understand why those parts were omitted. Because of the actors' age disparity with the source material, they didn't want to talk about ages. And the filmmakers chose to show McAfee Knob in Virginia (wiki) out of order geographically. Also, some math in the middle determines the year the movie takes place as 2014 (and a character sings a 2013 song, Get Lucky), but something at the end says it's 2005.
McAfee Knob is spectacular, as is the Fontana Dam in North Carolina (wiki), and the photography by John Bailey (of his dozens of credits I appreciated his work in American Gigolo (1980), Ordinary People (1980), Continental Divide (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1985), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Groundhog Day (1993), As Good As It Gets (1997), The Anniversary Party (2001), The Producers (2005), He's Just Not That Into You, The Way Way Back, and more) is magnificent, both from the air and on the ground. The filmmakers must have had so much fun shooting on location. We certainly enjoyed seeing those locations!
Nathan Larson is credited as composer (as he was on Juliet, Naked) and the band Lord Huron is "featured" for their five songs, all of which are on this spotify playlist, along with two from Larson.
Rotten Tomatoes has certified this rotten, with a critics' average of 46 and audiences' 48%. We thought it was a delightful way to spend a couple of hours on the couch.
Redford (last blogged for The Old Man & the Gun) and Nolte (most recently in these pages for The Company You Keep, which also starred Redford) are pretty funny as the determined writer Bryson and the out of shape Katz. Women making notable appearances are Emma Thompson (last blogged for The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected (2017) as Bryson's wife, Kristen Schaal (since Sleepwalk with Me, she was in eleven 30 Rock episodes, three of Wilfred, 66 of Last Man on Earth, and more) as a fellow hiker, and Mary Steenburgen (most recently in these pages for Book Club) as the proprietress of a motel along the trail.
Director Ken Kwapis (covered in He's Just Not That Into You) works from the screenplay adapted by Bill Holderman (co-wrote and directed Book Club, which I panned) and Michael Arndt (when I wrote about his work in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, I said I wanted to see his latest, A Walk in the Woods). Arndt is credited under the pseudonym Rick Kerb, which wikipedia says he uses for script revisions.
We stayed home for Tuesday movie day and watched this on Amazon Prime, in preparation for seeing author Bryson at an event this weekend. While watching, I complained that I wanted to follow along on a map and I wanted to know how old they were supposed to be. After reading the trivia background for this, I understand why those parts were omitted. Because of the actors' age disparity with the source material, they didn't want to talk about ages. And the filmmakers chose to show McAfee Knob in Virginia (wiki) out of order geographically. Also, some math in the middle determines the year the movie takes place as 2014 (and a character sings a 2013 song, Get Lucky), but something at the end says it's 2005.
McAfee Knob is spectacular, as is the Fontana Dam in North Carolina (wiki), and the photography by John Bailey (of his dozens of credits I appreciated his work in American Gigolo (1980), Ordinary People (1980), Continental Divide (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1985), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Groundhog Day (1993), As Good As It Gets (1997), The Anniversary Party (2001), The Producers (2005), He's Just Not That Into You, The Way Way Back, and more) is magnificent, both from the air and on the ground. The filmmakers must have had so much fun shooting on location. We certainly enjoyed seeing those locations!
Nathan Larson is credited as composer (as he was on Juliet, Naked) and the band Lord Huron is "featured" for their five songs, all of which are on this spotify playlist, along with two from Larson.
Rotten Tomatoes has certified this rotten, with a critics' average of 46 and audiences' 48%. We thought it was a delightful way to spend a couple of hours on the couch.
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Jack and I liked this noir, violent dramedy about strangers with secrets who meet in a 1969 (probably) motel on the California-Nevada state line. With a kick-ass soundtrack, a good cast, and terrific production design, it's quite entertaining for most of its 2:22 running time (but could have been shorter).
Jon Hamm (last blogged for Nostalgia) shows his comedy chops as the brash salesman and Cynthia Erivo (I love briefly seeing her athleticism in the trailer for her upcoming movie Widows; she won the 2016 Tony for originating the role of Celie in The Color Purple on Broadway) beautifully sings her own songs as her character Darlene rehearses in her room. Jeff Bridges (most recently in these pages for Hell or High Water) is convincing as the addled priest and Dakota Johnson (last blogged for A Bigger Splash) is radiant as the foul-mouthed hippie Emily. The hapless hotel clerk is Lewis Pullman (the son of Bill Pullman, he played Bobby Riggs' son in Battle of the Sexes) and the handsome and usually bare-chested cult leader is Chris Hemsworth (most recently in Avengers: Infinity War).
Director/writer Drew Goddard (who adapted The Martian's screenplay from a novel) directs his second feature and writes his fifth. I read somewhere before we saw it last week that a big studio movie from an original screenplay is a rarity these days. It's been said that the year is 1969 because of a clip of President Nixon on a TV. The motel, with the state line running right down the middle, is inspired by the Cal Neva Resort at Lake Tahoe (here's the wiki article).
We can thank Martin Whist (art director on Down with Love (2004) and A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) and production designer on other movies I haven't seen) for the wonderful production design, including many loving shots (we loved it, anyway) of a Wurlitzer jukebox.
I found two links for the songs, tunefind and spotify, and they're lots of fun, especially for us folks of a certain age. You may not even notice the original score by Michael Giacchino (composed the soundtrack for Coco) but I'm enjoying streaming it from this link while I write.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences, averaging 73 and 76%, respectively, are somewhat cool on this. We think it's worth watching.
Jon Hamm (last blogged for Nostalgia) shows his comedy chops as the brash salesman and Cynthia Erivo (I love briefly seeing her athleticism in the trailer for her upcoming movie Widows; she won the 2016 Tony for originating the role of Celie in The Color Purple on Broadway) beautifully sings her own songs as her character Darlene rehearses in her room. Jeff Bridges (most recently in these pages for Hell or High Water) is convincing as the addled priest and Dakota Johnson (last blogged for A Bigger Splash) is radiant as the foul-mouthed hippie Emily. The hapless hotel clerk is Lewis Pullman (the son of Bill Pullman, he played Bobby Riggs' son in Battle of the Sexes) and the handsome and usually bare-chested cult leader is Chris Hemsworth (most recently in Avengers: Infinity War).
Director/writer Drew Goddard (who adapted The Martian's screenplay from a novel) directs his second feature and writes his fifth. I read somewhere before we saw it last week that a big studio movie from an original screenplay is a rarity these days. It's been said that the year is 1969 because of a clip of President Nixon on a TV. The motel, with the state line running right down the middle, is inspired by the Cal Neva Resort at Lake Tahoe (here's the wiki article).
We can thank Martin Whist (art director on Down with Love (2004) and A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) and production designer on other movies I haven't seen) for the wonderful production design, including many loving shots (we loved it, anyway) of a Wurlitzer jukebox.
I found two links for the songs, tunefind and spotify, and they're lots of fun, especially for us folks of a certain age. You may not even notice the original score by Michael Giacchino (composed the soundtrack for Coco) but I'm enjoying streaming it from this link while I write.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences, averaging 73 and 76%, respectively, are somewhat cool on this. We think it's worth watching.
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