The 2015 Seattle International Film Festival is officially over, but many films are now showing up for regular runs, and I'm catching up on some I missed. The brilliant comedy adventure film from the 2014 SIFF called THE 100 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED is a witty Swedish film based on an international best seller that packs a lot of laughs and adventure and entertainment into its two hours, and its still playing at the Crest this week.
The intriguing, if flawed, THE WOLFPACK is at SIFF EGYPTIAN, and ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is playing all over town. Here's what I've seen in the last couple weeks.
When the script is good, Melissa McCarthy works her special magic, and this film, SPY, a spoof of secret agent thrillers, allows her to create some of the funniest moments she's ever been in. She works for the CIA inside on a computer helping field agents escape from danger--her favorite is a spy played by a suave Jude Law. When he goes missing, she volunteers to go deep undercover, since she is the only uncompromised agent left on the team. No one is going to suspect an overweight, middle aged "housewife" as a field spy, and many laughs are milked from that situation. Fortunately, director Paul Feig (BRIDESMAIDS) has a great story and script to back up the situations Allison Janney is a hoot playing her boss, Miranda Hart (CALL THE MIDWIFE) is her goofy best friend, Jason Stratham spoofs his own tough guy image with some hilarious incompetence, and Rose Byrne plays a nasty baddie--all of them to great effect. SPY is a most satisfying and funny spy thriller. GRADE------B+
SIFF 2015 closed with an edgy adult sex comedy that I missed, but recently saw at a screening. It is very challenging for most audiences, to be sure. There were moments when people were squirming all around me as THE OVERNIGHT was playing. I loved the fact that it takes you places that most "sex" comedies refuse to go, dealing with swinging sex, homosexuality, full frontal nudity, masturbation, anal sex discussions and other "no-no's" for normal movie goers. I enjoyed it for being right out there without resorting to gross juvenile humor. Two couples each with a young child get together for a dinner that lasts all night, and what a night it is. NOT FOR EVERYONE, but if you are game, it is witty, clever fun. GRADE--------B+
The good news and the bad news: As interesting as she is in the new version of FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, Carey Mulligan IS NO JULIE CHRISTIE, who starred in the superior 1967 version directed by John Schleshinger (MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969). In fact, although they all have their moments, sheep farmer Matthias Schoenaerts looks good but lacks gravitas, the mature suitor Michael Sheen falls to spark, and good looking soldier Tom Sturridge is just a pretty face. They are no match for the powerful men from 1967--Alan Bates, Peter Finch and Terrance Stamp. Part of the problem may lay in the new script which quickly streamlines the novel into 2 tight hours, deleting many small details and plot turns, and makes it hard to realize the passage of time. In 1967, the film clocked in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, which included more details and more interesting characterizations that made it more powerful. If you have never seen the Christie version, or the BBC TV version from a few years back, either, this MADDING CROWD is still worth seeing for some lovely photography and some different characterizations, and the Thomas Hardy classic story is still quite powerful. GRADE--------B
The special effects are even more awesome, and watching people getting eaten by dinosaurs is still a thrill, but as hard as JURASSIC WORLD works to impress you, it is still the same old story from JURASSIC PARK and its two sequels--innocent folks disobey rules and find themselves threatened by out of control dinosaurs. One of those dinos is a genetically altered, larger and smarter than usual creature who is basically just a killing machine. Goodbye bad guys, goodbye stupid guys. Vincent D'Onofrio and Bryce Dallas Howard have their moments, but beefy Chris Pratt commands control of the picture by a mile. If you get a large popcorn to go with it you will have some fun, in spite of some "seen it all before" moments. GRADE--------B-
PITCH PERFECT 2 tries hard to be different from the original PP 1, and in many ways it is, with some great gags, clever singing and zinger jokes. But again (see JURASSIC WORLD above) we have seen it all before. So just set your sights low, buy the giant popcorn, and enjoy on that level. I did especially like Rebel Wilson, who also manages to steal this movie as well as the first. I would love to see her headline her own comedy. GRADE---------B-
The cast is decent and the special effects and photography are excellent, but SAN ANDREAS is full of faults, pun intended. Dwayne "THE ROCK" Johnson stars as a search and rescue helicopter pilot who spends the first 10 minutes trying to rescue a young woman who was a bad bad driver to begin with and manages to fly over the cliff while being distracted by her cell phone. When the earthquakes begin in earnest in Los Angeles, what does Johnson's character do? He spends all his time trying to rescue his nearly ex wife from the roof of a high rise that amazingly, is still barely standing amidst the flattened downtown LA scene, then high tails it to San Francisco to try to find his missing daughter amidst the devastation and flattened buildings there. She, in the meantime is busy trying to save and protect a rather dubious possible "date" and his younger brother--the two brothers seeming to have zero survival skills. Yes, the plot is a big problem in this disaster film, but if you relish seeing LA and SFO slipping away towards the Pacific, than this is the (popcorn) film for you. The film ends with a splendid, appropriate version of California Dreamin'. GRADE-----C+
What should have been a wild, decadent, colorful film of his life in fashion, becomes a draggy, dull, druggie film about his life of drug addiction in SAINT LAURANT. The lead actor Gaspard Ulliel certainly looks and acts right, but the film is presented almost in a haze, with no clarity, point of view or irony. Back in 1970, Helmut Berger (GARDEN OF FINZI-CONTINIS, SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY) was a young handsome hunk similar to Ulliel, and here he plays Yves Saint Laurant as an old man--hardly recognizable and completely uninteresting. The fashion highlight comes with a fashion show from the 1970's, but is presented in split screen---possibly 8 to 12 small images at the same time, and I couldn't see what any of them were about. I knew so little about him, and after 2 1/2 hours of film I still don't know him or like him. What a wasted effort. GRADE------D+
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Viewed on DVD or TV------
Back when I was about 11 or 12, I remember watching with my father on TV, a film THE SEARCH (1948) and we were both mesmerized by this moving, simple story of a young boy being helped in his search to find his mother after World War II by a soldier in Germany played by Montgomery Clift. I finally saw it again last week and I'm grateful that after more than 50 years, to realize that back then, I had such good taste in film. Director Fred Zimmerman was an Oscar nominee, as was Clift, and the film ended up winning the Oscar for best story, and a special Oscar for child actor Ivan Jandl. Born in Czechoslovakia, he suffered from polio at a young age, before finally being selected by Zimmerman to star in the film. Politics prevented him from continuing his film career in the US, despite many offers, and he made only 3 other Czech film after that as a young teen. He died at the age of 50 from complications of diabetes. It's a moving and memorable film, and I hope you will take the time to track it down from Netflix or your library (where I rented it). GRADE--------A
It seems now to be ahead of it's time, but a recent viewing of THE GROUP (1966) based on a novel by Mary McCarthy about six college graduate friends who splinter off after a 1933 Vassar graduation to vastly different careers and life styles proved to be compelling and profoundly effective soap opera. Director Sidney Lumet gives them all nearly equal time to tell their stories, although some are more effective than others. Joanna Pettet is the first to marry, and along with her philandering playwright husband Larry Hagman get much of the screen time until tragedy affects their story. Joan Hackett and Shirley Knight make the most of their dramatic scenes, both of them involved with untrustworthy men. Jessica Walter plays a flamboyant gossip writer, and Elizabeth Hartman plays a mousy housewife. The strongest character is played by Candice Bergman as a secure, proud lesbian, but it feels like the majority of her part, relegated to the first few scenes and the last few, were cut from the film. Still, she dominates in the finale. Although it is 2 1/2 hours long, the film zooms by and kept me engaged to the end. GRADE-------B+
The film noir thriller MYSTERY STREET (1950) directed by John Sturges features a young Ricardo Montelban as a detective trying to discover, in documentary style, the identity for the bones discovered on the beach. The trail leads to an innocent man and a crafty land lady (Elsa Lanchester). Nice style, photography and story. GRADE----B+
Film noir thriller 99 RIVER STREET (1953) has John Payne as an ex boxer, now a taxi driver, who discovers his wife is having an affair with a jewel thief. Effective Evelyn Keyes is a friend trying to help him, and the film generates lots of suspense when the wife turns up dead. GRADE----B+
Complex thriller BORDER INCIDENT (1949) about illegal Mexicans trying to escape to the US (shockingly contemporary!) has Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy as special Mexican and U.S. agents trying to close down the organization that prey on these illegals. Anthony Mann directs in a solid, forthright manner, and there are some cruel, violent scenes. GRADE-------B
Lightweight, charming film THE MATING OF MILLIE (1948) has Evelyn Keyes playing a stern, single Human Resources director of a large department store, who finds she wants to adopt an orphaned child in her apartment complex, but first she must find a husband. Enter Glenn Ford, who is determined to remain single, but is willing to help her loosen up. Ending is no surprise, but the characters are delightful. GRADE-------B-
Joan Crawford is the over baked star of this melodrama QUEEN BEE (1955) about a Southern aristocrat who tries to manipulate those family members and friends around her. Not campy enough to be amusing, not good enough to be a minor gem, but the actors, including Barry Sullivan, John Ireland, Betsey Palmer and Fay Wray, as well as Crawford, keep it watchable. GRADE----C+
DON'T MISS top films from 2015 SIFF----see previous blog.
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