This is a transitional movie going month for me, where I see the left over films from 2015, and start seeing new 2016 films (DEAD POOL, RACE, HAIL CAESAR!). I also note my FAVORITE FILMS OF 2015 and comment on the OSCAR nominations below.
I put off seeing the new STARS WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS for two months due to low or at least ho-hum expectations, but I'm happy to report that this new film is terrific, help immeasurably by a great script and snappy direction by J.J. Abrams, and an exciting new cast led by Daisey Ridley and John Boyega, a young independent white woman and a smart young black man. They give this new modern update a much needed contemporary feel. Also, welcome back to the wonderful characters Hans Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca (played by the original Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher) and the film is a real treat. Finally I'm looking forward to the inevitable sequel that will likely feature the return of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill, seen briefly at the end of this film.) Can't wait. GRADE------------A-
Last year's Oscar winning director for BIRDMAN--Alejandro G. Inarnitu is back with another strong film, brimming with existential realism and powerful but depressing images of horrific survival. Fueled by a commanding performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is nearly silent through much of the film, THE REVENANT is fascinating, horrific viewing, which means you cannot stop watching no matter what is happening on the screen. In a stunning sequence early in the film, the trapper DiCaprio is violently attached by a bear (a remarkably shot episode), then left for dead by his partner played by Tom Hardy. He spends the rest of the film trying to get out of the cold, barren wilderness alive, with revenge on his mind. The plot isn't terribly original, but the film making is of the highest quality, with the sound, music, cinematography, editing and direction most superior. May be too brutal for some viewers, but it's an impressive film and I loved how it incorporated the spirit of the Native People with the cruelties of nature. GRADE----------B+
THE LADY IN THE VAN is based on a true story that happened to writer Alan Bennett, who let a homeless woman park her van in his driveway for a few weeks, and she stayed for 14 years. The film is not too likable, because the woman, played by the indomitable Maggie Smith, is cantankerous and stubborn, yet you can't help admiring the commitment to the role that Maggie Smith commands. Winner of two Oscars (PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE 1969 and CALIFORNIA SUITE, 1978) and nominated for several more, this is perhaps her greatest, most difficult role, and one wishes she was nominated for this one too, as a career topper. GRADE-----B
Michael Moore is up to his tricks in the decidedly positive and funny WHERE TO INVADE NEXT. He visits other countries and picks up the good for society issues that he thinks America could really use, such as the great school system in Finland, considered the best in the world. WHY? Because the kids have NO HOMEWORK. In Norway, the prisoners are treated humanly, without locks on the doors! and in Portugal, drug use is treated as a sickness, not illegal, so the prisons are not used for drug abuse, and druggies are NOT arrested. There are a number of other astoundingly brilliant ideas that he espouses, many profound, some funny, and most just plain common sense! My only complaint----he spreads out so many ideas that he can't really go into a lot of detail. It feels like a bunch of episodes from 60 Minutes. GRADE-------B
A smart, snappy comedy with a bit too much intelligence that distracts from the goofy song and dance numbers, HAIL, CAESAR! is an insider's comedy about the Hollywood studios in the 1950's that features a big cast which includes a goofy George Clooney, a cutie pie Scarlett Johansson, a haggard studio boss Josh Brolin, a stuffy director Ralph Fiennes, a flamboyant dancer Channing Tatum and many many more. It is clearly a Coen brothers film, loaded with political diatribe that cuts down on the laughs, perhaps concentrating more on satire. I wanted more laughs and goofiness. GRADE---------B
Based on the true story of Olympian racer and winner of four gold medals during Hitler's 1936 reign, RACE tells the Jesse Owen's story in a straight forward, if uninspired telling in a compelling, competent manner. As one of the first black athletes in track and field, he was under pressure to boycott the Olympics due to the poor treatment of Jews and others minorities in pre WW2 Germany. Well acted by newcomer Stephan James and easy to watch, I was uneasy in the almost heroic portrayal of film maker Leni Riefenstahl in the "good guy" role who supposedly defies Goering's demands to not film Owen's achievements. I also felt Owen's college coach, as played by comedian Jason Sudeikis, had no gravitas---I really disliked his performance. Still, it's an interesting piece of history, and an eye opener in many ways. GRADE-----B-
Charlie Kaufman's newest film is a stop action animated film with an introspective theme about a lonely depressed man on a business trip who stumbles into an affair with a stranger who he suddenly sees with different eyes and ears, as all the other characters have the voice of a man except his new lover. The film, ANAMOLISA, is not always easy to watch, and it doesn't always work in a new way (the plot depends on the mid life crisis of a middle aged man) although the look is provocative and at times intimate. But the idea is there, and you have to give him kudos for the creativity. GRADE-----------B-
The latest Marvel comics film DEADPOOL features a sarcastic anti hero in a red suit where you can't see his face at all---his mouth is covered in red, and the eyes are blanked out white. This is because the character has been badly burned and scarred by an insane doctor doing experimental treatments in a very unsanitary looking warehouse. Ryan Reynolds plays the character with enough vulgar, rude sarcasm to appeal to the basest Donald Trump supporter, and the film has so much nasty violence that I needed a bath after viewing. I was modestly amused, but have no desire to see another installment. GRADE------B-
Viewed on DVD------------------------
SHORT CUTS (1993)---Robert Altman masterpiece based on several Raymond Carver stories all set in Los Angeles, and featuring an all star cast including Julianne Moore, Matthew Modine, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Lori Singer, Annie Ross, Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lyle Lovett, Fred Ward and many others. The main story line features Tomlin as a waitress who hits a small boy in her car. The boy says he is ok, and goes home to his parents MacDowell and Davison, but later falls into a coma, unbeknowst to Tomlin and her boy friend, the alcoholic Waits. In the meantime, fisherman buddies find a dead woman in at their fishing hole that they have hiked into and leave her there until returning home several days later to report it then. This angers Ward's wife, who is trying to make new friend of artist Moore. Every character gets some big scenes, and stories interweave masterfully, with the usual sound overlapping that Altman is known for. GRADE--------A-
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY (1936)--Superior telling of classic tale has an American child (Freddie Bartholomew) sent to live with his cranky grandfather in England because he is the missing heir. His mother is ignored by this rich old man. Or course, he melts the heart of the old man, and his friends come to England to help him out when a false heir appears. I recognized the tall, distinguished character actor with the stiff upper lip who plays the grandfather so well, as C. Aubrey Smith (1863-1948). I've recently seen him in ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939), REBECCA (1940), BILL OF DIVORCEMENT (1940) and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945). GRADE-------A-
MURDER SHE SAID (1961)--Two films made from books by Agatha Christie and featuring the
MURDER MOST FOUL (1964)--delightful Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, who solves murders by being a charming snoop. MURDER SHE SAID is based on the book 4:50 FROM PADDINGTON, where Miss Marple sees a murder through the window of a passing train. The police can't find any body, so they don't believe her, so she sets out to search the area herself, finding the likely body was thrown off the train at a large estate, where she takes a job as a maid. MURDER MOST FOUL has an amateur actress murdered, so Miss Marple takes a position as an actress in the company where the woman most recently was associated. It's based on the novel MRS. McGINTY'S DEAD. There were two more films made with Rutherford, who in my opinion was the funniest Miss Marple ever, and I plan to revisit them soon, as all four are minor classics to me. GRADE-----------each film is B+
COME LIVE WITH ME (1941)--Comedy/drama featuring a very young Jimmy Stewart as a down on his luck writer who gets picked up by the alluring Hedy Lamarr as a woman needing to marry to stay in the USA so she can marry a rich man she assumes will divorce his wife to marry her. This is a familiar story today, but back then it must have been rather provocative. Lamarr marries Stewart in a financial agreement while she pursues her married man. It's is easy to predict the ending, but there are some lovely moments as she finds her affections being redirected. GRADE-------B
ST VINCENT (2014)--Reviewed this comedy featuring Melissa McCarthy and Bill Murray, who plays his familiar crusty character, a cynical veteran with an alcohol and gambling issue, who becomes a child sitter to McCarthy's young boy. Naomi Watts plays his eastern European prostitute friend. Murray is a national treasure with his pessimistic sarcasm that always gets a laugh. GRADE-----------B
TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (2005)--An ambitious and serious sea faring epic that played on the BBC in England--it's a three part, four and a half hour series about a young man (Benedict Cumberbatch) on his way to Australia for a government position in the early 1800's, who during the nearly year long voyage experiences other characters and different life styles that change and challenge his philosophy of life. He seduces a woman he thinks is the daughter of an older couple, but finds they are only a manage-a-trios. The chaplain is humiliated by the captain, becomes drunk and becomes involved in a sexual situation with (apparently multiple) crew members. A rebellious older friend injures his leg, then marries another woman teacher, testing the hero's faith. And Cumberbatch himself falls for a visiting young woman, only to have her ship sail away the next day. There are also the usual doldrums, storms, suicides, lost at sea situations, funerals, fires, illnesses, etc. GRADE-------B
MAGIC MIKE (2012)--Based on some situations from Channing Tatum's past male stripper life, this laid back film tells of Tatum's friendship and training of a new young kid into the stripping life. The kid is immature and doesn't know how to handle life or money and soon becomes out of control. Directed by Steven Soderberg in an easy, likable manner. GRADE-----------B-
CHILD 44 (2015)--Mystery thriller set in Stalin era Russia about a security officer (Tom Hardy) who discovers a serial murderer, of children, but according to his superiors, no such activity can exist in a perfect Stalin state, so he is demoted with his wife (Noomi Rapace), but he continues to work on the crime when a murder takes place where he has been sent to. His new commander (Gary Oldman) helps him a little. The film is grim and relentlessly dark. It looks effective, the actors are fine, and the sets are appropriately depressing. The mystery fells muted, however, and the result is not too dramatic. For a mystery thriller, there's hardly any thrill. GRADE----------------C
BIRD OF PARADISE (1932)--A young sailor (a very very young Joel McCrea) on a pleasure cruise jumps ship because he is taken by a local Polynesian maid, who happens to be the chief's daughter.
She is played by the exotic Delores del Rio, who jabbers in Polynesian (?) and gestures a lot with her hands, while amazingly her only top, a modest lei, stays securely in place, even while swimming and running! I read she had a "meteorite" career in films until sound became popular, and then started working again in Mexico because her English was not so good, although she did look exotic in this film. More campy than tragic--glad I saw it, but never again. GRADE------- C
MAYBE BABY (2000)--British BBC comedy with cast including Hugh Laurie, Joelly Richardson,
Rowan Atkinson, Joanna Lumley and others, about a couple trying to conceive. I found this film to be insulting to infertile couples (or any couple, actually) and completely unfunny, with scene after dull scene full of cliches. I know why this never played in theatres in the US. Don't waste your time.
GRADE-----------D
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TOP FILMS OF 2015
1. Spotlight
2. Brooklyn
3. The Revenant
4. Carol
5. Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Tom at the Farm
7. Room
8. Dark Horse
9. Mistress America
10. Star Wars: Force Awakens
11. 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets (docu)
12. Best of Enemies (docu)
13. The Big Short
14. Truth
15. Bridge of Spies
16. Spy
17. Trainwreck
18. Sicario
19. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
20. Tangerine
BEST GUILTY PLEASURES----TANGERINE, SHAUN THE SHEEP, ANT MAN, AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, THE MARTIAN, TAB HUNTER: CONFIDENTIAL, KINGSMAN:SECRET SERVICE, THE OVERNIGHT, AMERICAN ULTRA, SAN ANDREAS, GUIDANCE. PITCH PERFECT 2, and 7 CHINESE BROTHERS.
DECENT RUNNERS UP FOR TOP FILMS---------MR HOLMES, LOVE AND MERCY, JOY, FURIOUS 7, ODE TO MY FATHER, EX MACHINA, TRUMBO, INFINITELY POLAR BEAR, DANISH GIRL, LADY IN THE VAN, DAIRY OF A TEENAGE
GIRL, MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., GRANDMA, BLACK MASS, SPECTRE, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE:ROGUE NATION, JURASSIC WORLD, WHILE WE'RE YOUNG, CINDERELLA, 2ND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, FAR FROM MADDING CROWD, PEOPLE PLACES THINGS, BLACK MASS, EVEREST, CRIMSON PEAK, PEANUTS MOVIE, TESTAMENT OF YOUTH
GREAT ACTORS---CASTS OF SPOTLIGHT, ROOM, CAROL, BIG SHORT, REVENANT, LOVE AND MERCY, BROOKLYN, SICARIO, MR HOLMES, TRUTH, INFINITELY POLAR BEAR, DAIRY OF TEENAGE GIRL, PEOPLE PLACES THINGS, GRANDMA, END OF TOUR, RICKI AND THE FLASH, WALK IN THE WOODS, ROCK THE KASBAH, TRUMBO, I'LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS, LEARNING TO DRIVE, THE DANISH GIRL, LADY IN THE VAN, JOY, TESTAMENT OF YOUTH
BAD, DISAPPOINTING FILMS---- SISTERS, SELF/LESS, KUNIKO: TREASURE HUNTER, SAINT LAURENT, TAKEN 3
Heart in the right place, but I wish they were better----Stonewall, Our Brand is Crises, Black Sea, In the Heart of the Sea, Secret in Their Eyes, Sleeping with Other People, Manglehorn
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OSCARS are presented on SUNDAY 28th FEBRUARY at 4pm.
Here are some of my predictions.
Best Picture.....Spotlight and Revenant seem to be in a neck to neck race. I like them both for very different reasons, but I'd really be thrilled if Brooklyn pulled off a shocker win.
Best Director-----Usually goes to the Best Picture winner, so expect either the above to win.
Best Actor-----No contest here----Leonardo Di Caprio is the big favorite, and why not.
Best Actress--Brie Larsen for Room is strong choice, but Cate Blanchet for Carol and Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn could pull off a surprise. I loved them all.
Supporting Actor--Sylvester Stallone for Creed is the popular choice, but I liked Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies and Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight.
Supporting Actress--Toughest category. I think Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl has had a strong year (see also Ex Machina and Testament of Youth) but Kate Winslett has gotten raves for Steve Jobs (missed that one) and Rooney Mara for Carol is also super.
Inside Out should win in the Best Animation feature category
Son of Saul is on a winning streak for Foreign film, but Mustang and A War are coming on strong.
Best Original Script---Spotlight
Best Adapted Script---could be a 4 way tie for Room, Carol, Brooklyn and Big Short, which will probably be it's only award so that has the edge. All are worthy.
Best musical score--Probably long time favorite who's never won before--Ennio Morricone for Hateful Eight.
Technical awards--most will go to the thrilling action picture Mad Max : Fury Road, although Star Wars may sneak out one or two.
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Short Cuts was based on the short stories of Raymond Carver, widely regarded as one of the greats and a native to the NW.
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