In mid January my legal pad of all the films I'd seen in November, December and January--and all the notes and comments I'd made strangely disappeared. I looked for over a month for this pad, and finally decided to start all over since winter is fleeting by, so the comments will be briefer and hopefully just as profound. Hopefully I've not forgotten any titles since I have a smaller notebook mostly keeping track.
NEWER FILMS
THE FABLEMANS--Steven Spielberg at his best, and (SHINDLER'S LIST aside) his most personal. He deals with his Jewishness and his parent's scandal and his awakening to cinema in a mature and thoughtful manner. GRADE------A
THE WHALE--Brendan Fraser has the role of a lifetime as the obese teacher trying to reconnect with his estranged teen age daughter. He's likely to win the acting Oscar and the film may win for makeup. Check out his long list of big films and be impressed at his range. He's also the comeback favorite surviving the death of his mother, physical injuries from acting requiring surgery and recuperation, and sexual abuse from a man who when rejected, tried to ruin Fraser's career. GRADE------A
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN--Two best friends are suddenly at odds when the elder decides he no longer wants to be friends with his younger mate, and will not give a logical reason. Things get weird as the younger man becomes desperate with loneliness and the elder becomes extremely stubborn. Nominated for 4 acting Oscars and best picture, director and script. GRADE---------A
CLOSE--A Belgium film (in French) and nominated for best foreign language film, this sensitive film is about two 12 year old boys who are best friends in everything--school, work, play, sleepovers. When some careless comments causes one boy to pull away from the friendship, the relationship takes a tragic turn. Beautifully rendered. GRADE-----------A
AVATAR: WAY OF THE WATER---Beautiful to watch sequel to original film AVATAR from 2009 about a family that must leave their home for a watery replacement to escape capture from the earthly forces that wish to take over the Pandora planet. This is a pleasure to watch although the plot is a bit predictable. It has a best picture nomination and lots of technical nominations, which it seems likely to win. Strong family values of love, loyalty, honesty and trust give the film much gravitas. GRADE-----------A-
THE GLASS ONION---A sequel to the mystery thriller KNIVES OUT with Daniel Craig as the most famous detective in the world and featuring a killer cast including Edward Horton, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn and others. The plotting is very twisty and probably too complicated for it's own good but it is very entertaining and worth multiple viewings. GRADE------------A-
THE MENU---Guests invited to a high end restaurant on a private island soon realize that their host chef may be wanting to murder them, in this stylish, clever, funny, witty mystery drama, with Ralph Fiennes (THE FORGIVEN earlier this year), Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau (THE WHALE). GRADE------A-
SPOILER ALERT--A male couple spend a dozen Christmas's together before a tragic illness threatens their happiness--a happy tearjerker, with Jim Parsons (BIG BANG THEORY), Ben Aldridge (FLEABAG), Sally Field, Bill Irwin and Antoni Porowski (QUEER EYE). Based on a true story, and the screenplay was co- written by local (Seattle) writer Dan Savage. GRADE------A-
R R R--Indian Hindi film about revolution started when rich aristocratic British couple kidnap a small village child as their own, and the village has a super man who seeks her out, putting him in conflict with the strong Indian man who works for the British couple. These two powerful men become fast friends because they don't know the background of each other--but it is fireworks when they realize they are on opposite sides of the law. Exaggerated scenes of violence and torture and action and drama and the film feels longer than it should be (it is 3hours and 1 minute), but there are plenty of visuals and eye popping scenery and energy and music and dancing to entertain you. Oscar nominee for best song during outdoor party scene (nearly half way through)--it has the energy to win! GRADE----------B+
OF AN AGE--Australian film about a flaky girl and her young semi professional dance partner and her gay older brother. The two men connect one evening in a sexual liaison, just as the older one is leaving for a graduate program in South America, and don't meet up again for 10 years for the wedding of the sister. The actors are brilliant as they relate to each other and the later meet up is full of longing, regret, change and maturity. The story is filmed with a lot of extreme close ups and hand held camera (not my favorite technique) but may be easier to watch on a TV screen. GRADE-----------B+
SHE SAID--Based on a true story when Miramax head Harvey Weinstein was widely accused of sexual harassment of dozens of young actresses over a number of years, the film is a powerful and fascinating account of how he was brought to justice by two dogged female reporters of the New York Times. The two reporter's story is almost like a thriller--and there are no reconstructed scenes to contend with. GRADE---------------B+
M3GAN--Surprisingly entertaining thriller about an artificial intelligence child doll built as a companion for a lonely parentless girl, but as usual, things start to go wrong and the A.I. starts thinking for herself and becomes murderous. I had fun with this one. GRADE-----------------B+
EMPIRE OF LIGHT--As usual, Olivia Coleman delivers a radiant portrayal of a mentally unstable woman who manages a dying movie palace in the early 1980s during a time of turbulent and violent times of racial and political protest in a small coastal British town. Directed by Sam Mendes, the film may be ponderous for some but the photography is splendid (Oscar nominated) and Coleman pulls us in. GRADE----------B+
ARMAGEDDON TIME --This simple chamber drama focuses on a close knit Jewish family in the 1960's when racial justices and family values were starting to change. Two preteen boys, schoolmates, become friends, but the white boy's parents throw up objections towads the black kid. Only the old grandfather (Anthony Hopkins) can calm the parents and child. It's a personal story from writer/director James Gray, nicely done GRADE--------B+
BABYLON--This film, nearly as chaotic as the trailer, covers movie making's early years from the silent years to the early talkies. There's a mixture of romantics, slapstick, pathos, decadence, humor and music. General audiences may not get it or like it, but for movie buffs and historians, the film is fascinating and mostly moving. GRADE---------B
YOUR CHRISTMAS OR MINE--It's a modest comedy romance about college kids in love at a London train station, each leaving for a Christmas holiday break with their own families. At the last second they each (unbeknownst to each other) jump from their own train to each others, only to arrive without their love at the home of their partners parents--and two very different experiences ensue. Asa Butterfield (TV's SEX EDUCATION) and Cora Kirk are charming as the students, and the relatives they encounter are finely portrayed by stalwart British actors. This is a pleasing holiday film on Prime. GRADE-------B
A MAN CALLED OTTO--Satisfying remake of Swedish film A MAN CALLED OVE (2015) with Tom Hanks as the cranky, suicidal widow, whose life is changed by a noisy, nosy neighbor who moves in next door. (a charming MVP Mariana Trevino.) In flashbacks, the younger Otto is played nicely by Tom's son Truman Hanks. GRADE--------------B
AMSTERDAM--Director David O. Russel's busy, overstuffed comedy/drama/thriller, partly about Nazi's in NYC after WWII (I think) at least offers a strong cast including Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Robert DeNiro, Chris Rock, Rami Malek, Alexandro Novola and many others. GRADE---------B
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER--This continuation of the sci-fi epic BLACK PANTHER is steeped in sorrow and mourning for the passing of lead actor Chadwick Boseman last year. I felt it was laid on a bit thick. This new film was not as fun or exciting for me as the first one, but there are some great effects and terrific plotting at times. GRADE-----------B
OPERATION FORTUNE: RUSE DE GUERRE--It's an unfortunately long and boring title for what is a perky low budget James Bond style film with gun battles, car chases, fist fights, witty lines of pithy dialogue and spy vs spy intrigue. The cast is all in on the fun, including Jason Stratham, Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, Josh Harnett, and especially Hugh Grant. It's been a long time coming for director Guy Ritchie--one of his best in a while. GRADE--------B
SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW--Many scenes were shot in and around Leavenworth WA, this rom-com about a busy L.A. producer who returns home and begins a relationship with an old flame, only to meet his bride to be--she begins to think about who she is and what she wants. Alison Brie, Jay Ellis, Kiersey Clemons, Haley Joel Osmet and Julie Hagerty are in the cast, and they help make this familiar story feel fresh and funny. Streaming on Prime/Amazon. GRADE----------B
MY POLICEMAN--Starting in the late 1950's and lasting for several decades, MY POLICEMAN tells of a married man in London who starts a relationship with a gay museum worker and the film shows how it affects his wife and his life up to the 2000's. Harry Styles is the main character and two actors play each character in different stages of their life. That casting is very fine. GRADE----------B
THE WONDER--1862 in Ireland, a young girl stops eating yet survives for months. A nurse arrives to monitor her to make sure she is not taking any food and to verify this "miracle." This low key psychological thriller is well made but the ending left me unimpressed. GRADE------B
COCAINE BEAR--You get exactly what you think you're going to get,-- this strange, funny thriller has suspense, humor, gore, violence, satire, action, and one very strung out crazy bear. I felt oddly satisfied by the end. A solid directorial first film from actor Elizabeth Banks. GRADE----------B-
EMILY--Based on the life of Emily Bronte who wrote Wuthering Heights in 1847 and her relationship with her sisters and brother, who was addicted to drugs. The film uses natural lighting (candles and fireplaces and buildings and some daytime scenes, and is somber and slow to start, but the film grew on me and by the end I was intrigued enough to read about her life when I got home. GRADE------B-
THE NOEL DIARY--A now famous novelist hasn't been home for 20 year, but when he comes home to clear out his mother's house, he finds a diary that might answer some questions from his past, and happens to meet a stranger who is on her own journey, and that diary might hold answers for her as well. It's a peasant film with a holiday theme. Streaming on Netflix. GRADE---------B-
WE HAVE A GHOST--Netflix film that could have been a lot better, but makes the ghost haunting the new family house a very friendly and empathetic ghost--played by David Harbour. Tig Notoro, Anthony Mackie and Johi Winston are featured, but Jennifer Coolidge, who is having a very hot year right now, steals the brief couple of scenes she is given. GRADE------------B-
ROALD DAHL'S MATILDA THE MUSICAL--Now showing on Netflix, this odd musical has okay music and the characters are well played, although a major role by Emma Thompson is quite exaggerated and becomes not so funny as bizarre. GRADE--------------B-
A CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS--This HBO film is a sequel to A CHRISTMAS STORY from 1983 with Peter Billingsley still as Ralphie but now 20 years older with a wife and kids of his own. I never much like the original that much (too slow and belabored) and the first 40 minutes of this new version I nearly turned the station, but it does pick up during the last 45 minutes and by the end I found it quite moving. GRADE------------C+
SOMETHING FROM TIFFANY'S--From Prime--this Christmas themed film has two men who bump into each other while leaving Tiffany's New York City store and accidentally pick up the wrong package, causing misunderstanding with the receivers of each gift. You can sometimes figure out where each scene is going, but the film is pleasant to watch for the undemanding. GRADE-------------C+
MY HAPPY ENDING--This British/Israeli film is based on a stage play, and features Andie MacDowell as a famous actor with stage four colon cancer who is trying to start chemotherapy without anyone knowing about it. She bonds with three other women in her unit, but because she is vain and insecure she tries to stop her treatment in the middle of the procedure. The film makes some good points and has some humor, but I really just wanted to shake the main character and slap her hard across the head and scream "snap out of it." The lovely MacDowell is the main reason for watching this one. GRADE-----------C+
OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS--This shorts program was a pretty sorry example of worldwide shorts. The only one I liked was THE RED SUITCASE about a young woman sent off to America from the middle east as a bride by her father, and her attempts to avoid her groom at the airport. GRADE-------C+
PUSS AND BOOTS: THE LAST WISH--I'm not sure even kids would like this convoluted and chaotic animated feature with Antonio Banderas as the cat voice. GRADE-------------C
PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING--Silly and unfunny comedy about a dysfunctional family wedding. Alison Janney, Kirsten Bell and Ben Platt are all wasted and I don't remember much about it after two months. GRADE-----C
VIOLENT NIGHT--There are moments of humor in this black Christmas themed comedy, but the film has a nasty violent streak that ruins a lot of humor. GRADE----------C
VINTAGE FILMS
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946--Frank Capra's classic story of an angel sent to earth to help depressed man find out what life would have been like if he'd never been born. Jimmy Stewart, Henry Traers, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Gloria Grahame--and all the cast are perfection. GRADE------A
AVATAR 2009--Director James Cameron's original about humans trying to relocate to Pandora. GRADE-------A
ONE TWO THREE 1961--Hilarious comedy by director Frank Capra (again) set in Berlin .. about ambitious company manager forced to babysit the teenager daughter of his boss while hoping to become promoted. The teen runs off and gets married to a communist. James Cagney gives powerhouse performance and the sparkling cast includes Pamela Tiffin, Horst Buchholtz and Arlene Francis. GRADE--------A
MIRACLE ON 34th STREET--Maureen O'Hara plays a single mother who hires an older man to play Santa Claus at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but he insists he really is Santa Claus. Charming holiday film, includes John Payne, Edmund Gwenn and a very young Natalie Wood. GRADE-----A-
HUNTED--aka THE STRANGER IN BETWEEN 1952--British film noir with Dirk Bogade who kidnaps a young boy when he think the boy may have witnessed his murder of another man, and the police chase them through England. GRADE---------------B+
AUTUMN LEAVES 1956--Robert Aldrich directed this soap opera about an older woman (Joan Crawford) who becomes involved with a younger man (Cliff Robertson) who suffers from mental illness. Also features Vera Miles and Lorne Greene. GRADE-----------B+
THE STORY OF ESTHER COSTELO 1957--This soap opera features Joan Crawford as a wealthy American woman who adopts a young teen living in poverty who is parentless and blind and mute do to an explosion years before. She teaches the girl Braille and things are going fine until Crawford's ex comes back into town and tries to exploit the girl for money. With Rosano Brazzi and Heather Sears. GRADE------------B+
All below rated B
PIECES OF APRIL 2003--Free spirit Katie Holmes tries to make a Thanksgiving dinner for dysfunction family and her dying mom. With Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke and Sean Hayes.
SUDDEN FEAR 1952--Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame
THIS HAPPY BREED 1944--Noel Coward script about how WWII changed everything.
REVENGE OF PINK PANTHER 1978--Peter Sellars against many different assassins. Funny.
DEAR MR. PROCHACK 1949--Dirk Bogarde and Glynis Johns play lovers-but Bogarde steals her husband and they remained partners for decades in real life.
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT 1942--Bogart and friends find Nazis all over Manhattan.
ACROSS THE PACIFIC 1942--Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet find treason at start of WW2.
ACTION IN NORTH ATLANTIC 1943--Bogart and Daniel Massey try to avoid German subs while transporting goods to their allies on freighters.
PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE 1944--Bogart and friends try to escape from Devil's Island back to France during WW2. Plot reads a lot like story of PAPILLION. Director Michael Curtis with Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre---all from CASABLANCA.
CRAIG'S WIFE 1936--Based on Pulitzer Prize winning play with Rosalind Russell--a domineering wife of John Boles, who loves her but slowly realizes she's only in it for the money.
HARRIETT CRAIG 1950--Remake of CRAIG"S WIFE with Joan Crawford and Wendell Corey. Modest changes don't seem to take away power of the drama.
OSCAR SHOW SUNDAY MARCH 12th 500PM Pacific time
Here's some random thoughts--EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE is not my favorite film--it was so chaotic and exhausting to watch, but I did enjoy Michelle Yeoh. For years she's been in Chinese films and always a pleasure to watch. Even though the action was weird, she managed to come across as intelligent while doing and saying the strangest things. Cate Blanchett in TAR certainly gives the strongest, most dramatic performance, but she has won before and this is Michelle Yeoh's year. Key Huy Quan gives a loveable supporting performance and is a child actor finally making good after Spielberg's INDIANA JONES AND TEMPLE OF DOOM (a film I disliked) and THE GOONIES, so he will probably win because EEAAO is on a winning streak. If he doesn't, I liked Judd Hirsch from THE FABLEMANS because he has only a few short scenes but he really hit the emotional points. Riding the coattails of EEAAO is Jamie Lee Curtis, whose been around a long time with solid performances, and her parents are Hollywood royalty (Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis) so even though her role was crazy way over the top for me, she has the wind at her back, and I'd applaud her win for supporting actress. My vote would be for Hong Chau (THE WHALE)--another actress whose been around for a dozen years--finally getting some recognition.
THE FABLEMANS has Speilberg in top form, but EEAAO seems to have the steam, but he might pull off best direction, but the two Daniel's from EEAAO seem to have the edge.
I wasn't sure about best actor until I saw THE WHALE. Wow, what an experience. It is the best and most definitive role Brendan Fraser has ever had, and he deserves it. Colin Farrell is good but has to give much credit to BRENDAN Gleeson in BANSHEES OF INSHERIN--his co star and equal. Austin Butler does a good imitation of ELVIS, but he's young yet and doesn't have the gravitas as FRASER .
Spielberg and Kushner might take the original writing for FABLEMANS, but this is a strong strong category, so TAR or EEAAO or BANCHEES might win--anyone would be lovely. Adapted writing may go to Rian Johnson for GLASS ONION--it seems the strongest in this category for me, and it is a clever film.
Animated film--PINOCCHIO
Documentary feature--FIRE OF LOVE was pretty hot--volcanoist couple die together in volcano.
Makeup--THE WHALE
International Film--I've only seen one--CLOSE which was excellent, so who knows?
For live action short film--I saw them all--the only one I liked was THE RED SUITCASE. Young woman sent to the US from middle east and tries to hide from groom sent to pick her up at airport.
AVATAR: WAY OF WATER should pick up some technical awards--fine with me.
