3 Strong Male Actors--THE DECENDENTS, Eastwood's J.EDGAR, MONEYBALL, plus Scorsese's HUGO,and NETWORK, MAD X4 WORLD

There's starting to be a deluge of movie openings, and already I'm behind, but I'll do my best to get caught up on the end of the year. Here's whats been seen this past week.

Alexander Payne's last film was the superb SIDEWAYS (2005), and his new film, although quite different, does not disappoint. George Clooney stars in THE DESCENDANTS, and he really has a full plate of emotional issues to deal with, including being the executor of the family estate--a huge chunk of prime undeveloped land in Kauai must be sold or developed or something with in the next 7 years, and he must steer the large family descendants through decisions and legal choices. Also on his plate are two surly, angry daughters that he doesn't quite know how to deal with, and a wife who now lies comatose in a hospital bed due to a boating injury. Plus he has just found out that she was cheating on him. Well, his life is a mess, and it is fair to say that Clooney plays it subtly straight. In fact, the only bits of humor come from well meaning people saying something ghoulish about his dying wife, and the presence of his older daughter's stoner boy friend. Thank God for that, because otherwise we'd be leaving the theatre in an overwhelming state of depression. But the film is very smart in combining the tragedy with the humor, and there are many excellent scenes that get to the truth of each situation. GRADE-------A-

A film about baseball doesn't normally make my heart skip a beat, and a film about the finances of baseball was not high on my list of things to see, so maybe it was with low expectations that I saw MONEYBALL and found myself quite fascinated by the politics and maneuverings that make up the Oakland A's (true story) team in the 1990's. Brad Pitt gives an excellent understated performance as the general manager who succeeds in turning around the team with perhaps the smallest about of money to work with in the whole American and National leagues combined. This David vs Goliath story may not have the emotional punch as some sports stories--indeed, players were traded so casually and inconsequentially in some cases that the viewer grows quite numb to the notion--but the film is skillfully directed by Bennett Miller and acted by Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill (who provides a lot of deadpan humor) that it is a pleasure to watch. GRADE------------------B+

The always dependable Clint Eastwood has directed an engaging biographical picture that has a lot of engrossing details about that old rascal J. EDGAR Hoover, head of the FBI since it's inception (as the Bureau of Investigation) in the 1920's until his death in 1972. The film covers the controversies about his secret files on famous people he didn't like, his obsessions against communism and anti-patriotism, and his struggles to form a data base for fingerprints, and to reform the science of criminology. It also shows his efforts to find the kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby, and his crusade to stop infamous criminals during prohibition and later. It also dispels some events that Hoover built up about himself. Some well known actors have portrayed Hoover in the past, including Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Warden, Treat Williams, Bob Hoskins, and Kelsey Grammer, but I think perhaps the most effective is the excellent turn by Leonardo DiCaprio in J. EDGAR. Unfortunately the film jumps back and forth between 3-4 time periods with what I feel was unnecessary energy, sometimes destroying whatever emotional truths that were being developed. The film also insinuates strongly that Hoover had--if not an explicit physical relationship--a strong emotional relationship/dependency on his assistant Clyde Tolson. In fact, the emotional center of the film rests solely on this homosexual relationship that seemed to last for nearly 50 years. In some ways, it is the strongest cinematic portrayal of gay love since BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN(2005). GRADE--------------B+

With amazing art and set designs, beautiful musical score, strong fluid cinematography and direction, and charmingly memorable characters (and actors, especially Sacha Baron Cohen), the new film HUGO by Martin Scorsese is always a pleasure to watch. But what bothered me about this one was the script, which at times seemed cloying and inconsistently paced. At later times I also felt like I was being lectured to about the greatness and importance of Georges Melies, one of the early great directors of fantasy (and special effects) films who filmed over 500 movies--most are lost today. Centering the point of view and story on a child, 10 year old HUGO, brings the expectation of a family film full of lyrical fantasy. This is really a charming, leisurely adult film, and I doubt most children except for older and more mature kids, will find much to please them. GRADE----------B


DVD Choices below......

I haven't seen it since 1977, but the film NETWORK (1976) has stuck so strongly in my mind that I anticipated every scene (and much of the dialogue) on this fairly new Blu-Ray dvd. The script by Paddy Chayefsky still crackles with wit, shock, sarcasm and truth, and unfortunately, nothing has changed much in network television. The actors have never been better---Oscar wins for Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Beatrice Straight and Chayefsky were well deserved, and William Holden, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty and director Sidney Lumet were all working at their prime. This is a contender for one of the best films of all time. (Oddly, it lost best picture that year to...........ROCKY!?!) GRADE--------A

Say what you will about the silly slapstick comedy IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963) but it is nonetheless a funny film if you are in the mood, and I think I watch it once every 5 years or so. This time I was especially impressed with Jonathon Winters as the bear of a man who can only handle conflict by knocking down a building or person.....the brassiness of Ethel Merman, who managed to keep a straight face while being insulted by nearly every other actor on the set.....the toothy Britishness of Terry-Thomas, who I used to think was boring......the absent mindedness of Paul Ford (see the cut scenes for even more laughs) who managed to get tangled in the microphone wires while trying to talk down a civilian in a pilot less airplane.....Jim Backus as the sleepy, drunk rich man.....and Jimmy Durante who kicks the bucket like nobody's business. GRADE---------B

I had recently seen Howard Hawk's classic western RED RIVER (1948) in the last couple years, and my reaction this time was---why is it so honored? The plot seemed to be a hoary collection of cliches-----John Wayne and his group leave the wagon train just hours before the rest are attacked by Indians, leaving behind his true love to be slaughtered. Later they come across a wandering (?) wagon train of what--circus performance, women, misfits---just as they are being attached by Indians. Wayne's mother's bracelet gets passed around a lot. Wayne acts cranky and severe, and the film echos MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY as his "adopted son" Montgomery Clift seizes control to prevent total mutiny. Then Wayne declares that he will kill Clift when he catches up to him. Who is he kidding, since they have declared their love for one another several times, and this has been noted by most of the other characters in the wagon train. And crusty Walter Brennan is Wayne's right hand man and cook, who gets to toss off the best lines through-out the film. I guess it's great because it is so damned entertaining in spite of the cliches. GRADE-----B

Preston Sturges THE LADY EVE (1941) has one of the best first halves of any comedy. Straight laced Henry Fonda falls for card-shark Barbara Stanwyck on a cruise from South America back to New York, and after a witty couple of days they fall deeply in love, but holding back her secret shady past (as a gambler) causes a misunderstanding, and they fight and separate. This is handled so very well with clever lines and humor, that when they do separate, it hurts us just as deeply. The second half has Stanwyck pretending to be British royalty to seduce and abandon Fonda in an illogical revenge scheme. It is all very entertaining and the leads are effortlessly charming. GRADE----------B

The year 1939 was a great year for films (WIZARD OF OZ, GWTW, GOODBYE MR CHIPS etc) but MADE FOR EACH OTHER is a bit disappointing, mainly for the plotting. Jimmy Stewart is a struggling lawyer and Carole Lombard is his just married spouse. They live in a small New York apartment with mother-in-law and new baby and pay cuts, etc., and the first half is comic and sensible. Then, on New Year's Eve the baby comes down with pneumonia and the only serum available is in Salt Lake City--which is being hit by a severe blizzard. Can the plane make it? Things really fall apart here with forced drama and hokey suspense. GRADE-------B-

I was hoping that the film THE BETSY (1978) based on the trashy novel by Harold Robbins would be good smutty fun. Instead it is laborious soap opera with a lurid sub-plot involving patriarch Lawrence Olivier (hamming it up in a fun way) sleeping with several women including his daughter-in-law (Katharine Ross) over the course of several years, all the while trying to build a new eco-logical car named after his granddaughter, Betsy, who likes to get naked with the young racer (Tommy Lee Jones) who also gets it on with the company boss'(Robert Duvall) mistress Lesley-Anne Down. Yes, it is all rather sordid and not terribly interesting, except for the fact that back in the 1970's the idea of a good car using very little gas was just as threatening to the big car makers as it still is today. GRADE-------C

Alamar, Social Network, Love and Other Drugs, more BB

A lot has been written about SOCIAL NETWORK by others as well as myself, but I want to add that this is the film to beat for the year end awards so far. I took my wife to see it on the last day of operation of the now closed Uptown Theatre on lower Queen Anne. I shall miss the Uptown because it was never hard to find parking nearby (unless there was a major event at the Seattle Center), never terribly crowed, had a nice urban neighborhood feel to it and was the closest and easiest "in town" theatre to reach for me--and right on the (single) bus line for me. I hope someone else can take over this fine theatre with three screens and get better programming for it. Seemed like they were always showing second runs and low key foreign films, and they were all held over for weeks and weeks. But as for SOCIAL NETWORK, the characterizations and actors continue to fascinate on second viewing, and the script is so sharp and literate and delivered at the fastest pace possible, that you marvel at the cleverness of it all.
GRADE-------A

Part documentary, part reality film, all dreamy ALAMAR floats by like a beautiful reverie. A young boy who lives in Rome with his mother, spends his first summer with his Mexican father and grandfather on a house built on stilts on a coral reef island off the coast of Mexico, and discovers the joys of swimming, boating, fishing, and watching a bird eat insects off the floorboards of this humble shack--in other words, communing with this lovely watery-world. He takes to it effortlessly and with great enthusiasm, and it is a pleasure to watch him discover the joys of nature. The film is unstructured--no plot to speak of, with only a little talking (subtitles), and at times the uncertain camera movements moving with the waves or in the boat can make you a little sea-sick, but if you are patient, the ethereal film becomes quite moving and affecting. GRADE-----A-

LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS benefits from having two very attractive leads (Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway) cavorting in the nude many times during this love story/sex story/disease-drama/comedy film set in the 1990-s. (They made a nice, effectively hostile married couple in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.) Unfortunately, the film wants to be all things to all viewers, so it throws in some vulgar sex jokes, dreary disease of the week cliches, satirical jabs at the medical drug industry, and unconvincing social commentary, and introduces characters only to never have them show up again. This is probably the last film of the recently deceased Jill Clayburgh, but after her first brief scene, she disappears completely from the film. It is watchable, thanks to the leads, and if they'd kept the film edgy, with the sex, nudity and relationship angles, which are the strongest aspects, then it would be much more satisfying. GRADE-----B-

The following were viewed on DVD from the library.......
The recent independent Mexican film SIN NOMBRE (2008) was quite a revelation to me. A lot of characters are introduced early in the film, but the film narrows itself quickly to a young man who is trying to break away from the violent gang life he leads when his girlfriend is callously killed by the gang leader, the newest, younger member still a child who he has pulled into the gang world and who is to become his downfall in powerful ironic terms, and a young girl who is trying to escape the poverty of Guatemala by traveling north to the United States with her father and uncle, and who finds a dangerous attraction to this ex-gang member. These characters all come together throughout the film at various times, and it makes for a fascinating socio-ethnic collision with very intense, sobering moments. The reality seemed so vivid that it's hard to believe that many of these characters were played by first time locals. GRADE------A-

A beautiful actress tries to hide her Jewish director husband from the Nazis in the basement of his theatre during occupied Paris in the low key film THE LAST METRO (1980). The film, directed by Francois Truffaut, seemed to romanticize the occupation, with many situations that could have been intense softened by humor or mugging or the glib actions of the theatre group. The final scene was particularly odd--it seemed to tack on a fairy tale ending to what could have been a tragic ending. Still, the film has some charm and interest, especially when the leads are the beautiful Catherine Deneuve and dashing Gerard Depardieu (about 100 pounds ago.) GRADE-----B

THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (1941) is a curious film, beautifully photographed in black and white, and with a great soundtrack by Oscar winner Bernard Hermann (who did many of Hitchcock's great films) and featuring a terrific supporting role for Walter Huston (as the Devil Scratch). It's the story of a struggling farmer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for some wealth and good fortune, but later comes to regret his decision. I was into this story all the way until the end, which features a not-so-convincing speech by the Daniel Webster character, and I didn't buy it. Still, oddly entertaining and well worth watching. GRADE-----B

One of Brigitte Bardot's most famous films, the once scandalous ...AND GOD CREATED WOMAN (1956) seems a bit tame by today's standards, but as usual, I found BB to be believable and enchanting as a young "wild" bride who causes havoc among her husband, his older brother and her would be older lover. This is the third BB film I've seen in the last two weeks, and in each she has some peek-a-boo nudity and some extended (!) dance scenes--in this one she dances with wild, sexual abandonment in front of all three men for what seems like 5 minutes, until finally her husband steps up and slaps some sense into her. Not too politically correct, but very watchable. GRADE------B-

Since I was in college, I occasionally have had what I call APOCALYPTIC dreams--where the world is on the brink of disaster and there I sit watching it all happen, helpless to do anything about it. Many films have exploited this theme, especially the recent 2012 where the whole world is destroyed while one (lucky?) family manages to avoid death dozens of times over while all around them are sent to fiery deaths. My dreams have witnessed the atomic mushroom explosion and cloud, the moon plunging to the earth, a fireball rolling towards me, the fall from a tall building, and many variations. Unfortunately, there are NO SPECIAL EFFECTS in the Stanley Kramer film ON THE BEACH (1959) which starts when the world has already killed off the northern hemisphere with massive nuclear attacks, and the resulting poisonous cloud has killed off everyone and is slowly making it's way to Australia, where Gregory Peck and Ava Gardener must decide whether or not they want to fall in love before they die. (He's lost his family in the US while he was in a submarine in the Pacific, and she's a drunk who's never known love). Ava's friend "Julien" has also never been in love (and possibly gay--played well by Fred Astaire) but has ambitions to be a winning race car driver (!!!!!) and submarine Lt. Anthony Perkins must deal with a young wife who can't face the reality of their grim situation. The premise is VERY SERIOUS to these characters, and there are no laughs in the story---it is handled without the hint of camp. I found it intriguing, but it made me think that I wish the story had been a bit more----LURID ? LIVELY ? SENSATIONAL ? It's thoughtful, but I missed the giant mushroom cloud heading their way. GRADE-------B-

Grade "A" films for week: Social Network, Cell 211, and Life and Death of Col. Blimp

It's always a good week when 3 of the 8 films viewed rate an A- or better, and this past week was pretty good.

The first scene from the SOCIAL NETWORK, a new film by David Fincher (FIGHT CLUB) and writer Adam Sorkin (WEST WING), features the future creator of Facebook being dumped by his angry girl friend, mostly because he is inconsiderate, clueless and arrogant, and when she is done he angrily runs back to his dorm room and blogs lots of lies about her and vents his anger at women in general by creating a "vote for the most beautiful student" by comparing two different coeds and having each (mostly) male vote between the two on what becomes a very quickly popular web site. Subject matter aside, the scene is quite startling for several reasons. The first is that the characters talk incredibly fast--double time or maybe even triple time--and you must struggle to keep up to the college jargon and the ideas that are being tossed back and forth. Second is that you know exactly why this young man is being dumped even though he is unaware--you'd dump him yourself if you were in her position. And thirdly, the scene packs in more humor, wit, sarcasm, and drama than many films have in their whole 90 minute screenplay. The good news for the viewer is that this energy and sparkling dialogue keeps right on going, with ups, downs, double-crosses, sarcasms, genius outbursts, crazy parties, betrayal, sex--well, it may not be your college life or mine, but it makes you feel that it should have been. This is an amazingly smart, funny-tragic film, and even if you can't always follow the comupter-eze lingo, it is wonderfully intelligent and entertaining. It could be the movie of the computer-age decade. GRADE----- A-

One of the top films of this year's SIFF, and winner of the Best Actor award, CELL 211 from Spain, starts off with a bang, as a new prison guard, on his first day, is left behind on his prison tour just as the prison inmates begin a violent riot to protest conditions. He must convince the inmates that he is indeed a violent criminal, because if they suspect that he is a prison guard, he will be tortured, used for ransom, and/or killed. As you can imagine, things become very intense very quickly, and the film is very high on sustained tension and drama, with some horrific plot twists and ironic plot resolutions. GRADE-------- A-

I saw two films from the Spanish Film Festival last weekend, and both were well made. The first was RABIA, about a young couple who fall in love. She works for a rich couple as a maid in a huge mansion on the outskirts of town, and he is a short tempered construction worker. When he accidentally kills his foreman, he hides out, unbeknownst to his girl friend, in the attic of the mansion where she works, using the second phone line to call her at work, and stealing food from the kitchen when no one is around. She is pregnant, and lots of tension develops from this scenario---will he make himself know to her, will she be fired for being pregnant, will he be discovered by the couple or their family....?????? As tragic love stories go, this one kept me involved until the melodramatic ending. The second film, called AFTER was about 3 young forty-somethings who have been friends for a while and get together for a night of drinking, drugging, dancing, sex and talking, and then more drugging. The story is told three times from the three different points of view to include their lives outside of this one particular night. I kept thinking that these broken characters should really be over this type of careless behavior by now, and it was rather disturbing watching them self-destruct. GRADE for RABIA------B and for AFTER----B-

The new documentary WAITING FOR SUPERMAN tries to take on the exhaustive subject matter of EDUCATION in general, and ends up focusing on quality "charter schools" --in particular, how sad and frustrating it is for the small amount of kids to get accepted by them. The final 30 minutes is especially grim, as it shows the humiliating lotteries that will pick the small 5% of qualifying kids that can attend these special schools. The first 60 minutes are all over the map with charts and graphs that try to indite principles, teachers, the government, parents, racism and other issues as the reason kids are failing so much. These are ambitious topics to be crammed into 120 minutes--and there is a lot of information here, but the final effect for me was depressing and chaotic exhaustion. GRADE------- B-

Hot young actor Ryan Reynolds stars as an American working in Iran who is kidnapped and BURIED alive in a coffin, and has air and phone service for just 90 minutes to try to negotiate a ransom of a million dollars for his life. The whole film is set in the coffin, using light from his cell phone and a cigarette lighter only, and I kept wondering what cell phone company he was using because it had excellent, clear, multi-functioning, WORLD WIDE service that took forever to wear out, and where does one get a cigarette lighter that will last for an hour and a half with a giant flame like that?!?
Otherwise, the film is a gimmick and a rather tiresome one at that, but Reynolds gives it his all and the film does create some tense, claustrophobic moments. GRADE-------C+

Top pick for the DVD's this week was an excellent British film THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP (1943) from directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger who co-directed an impressive list of films including I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING, THE RED SHOES, STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, and PEEPING TOM among others. This one covers the period from the Boar War through WWII, and during this 50 year period, charts the career and life and marriage and politics of Colonel Blimp, played with amazing skill and great humor by the remarkable Roger Livesey. Deborah Kerr delightfully plays three different women during his life, and Anton Walbrook charmingly portrays his faithful German friend. At times sentimental, funny, witty and dramatic, this three hour film is a magnificent character study of a staunch British soldier who has a hard time adjusting to "modern" times, and is the perfect example of the type of film that "they just don't make them like this anymore." GRADE------- A

Apparently one of Robert (AMC) Osborne's favorite films of the forties, ROADHOUSE (1948) left me feeling rather non-plussed. Ida Lupino plays the "singer" brought in by the psychotic Richard Widmark to draw in the crowds, but she falls for Widmark's best friend Cornel Wilde. Celeste Holm rounds out the foursome. The plotting was unconvincing, especially when Widmark frames Wilde for stealing the ROADHOUSE receipts. Lupino has a sexy, gravely singing voice and introduces the standard song "AGAIN"---and the cast is definitely the reason for seeing this film, but by the end I was rolling my eyes. GRADE-------C