Movie Reviews 2016
My Best of 2016:
Lion
The Edge of Seventeen
Hacksaw Ridge
Hidden Figures
Hell or High Water
Fences
Jackie
Moonlight
Deepwater Horizon
Manchester by the Sea
Elle
My Best of non-2016 films:
The Battered Bastards of Baseball
Best of Enemies
LION: This was the last of the nine Best Film movies we saw, and I think it was the best of the bunch (taking nothing away from almost all of the others). Young Saroo is wonderfully played as a small child (five years old) by Sunny Pawar, then later by Dev Patel (best known for Slumdog Millionaire). He gets separated from his older brother at a train station in Calcutta, hops aboard a train as he searches for his brother, which leaves the station and heads west for hundreds of miles. By the time he gets off, poor Saroo doesn't even speak the local dialect and, when asked by a social worker the name of his mother, he replies, "Mum!" Efforts are made to find his mother, but with little evidence of where Saroo is from, the search is fruitless.
Into the system he goes; he's luckily soon rescued by a well-meaning Australian couple (Nicole Kidman & David Wenham) who adopt him and move him to their home in Tasmania. He's raised along with another Indian boy who suffers from a mental disease. When Saroo heads into his 30's, he's consumed by finding his birth mother and brother, whom he believes are still searching for him; however, he doesn't want to disappoint his adoptive parents. After an exhaustive research adventure, Saroo returns to India, hoping to find his relatives.
This is based on a true story; it is uplifting and sad; heroic and touching. It's a must-see even if you have to rent it on DVD; put it near the top of your Netflix queue.
9½ stars
ARRIVAL: Amy Adams likely finished just out of the running for best actress; she's great as a university linguistic professor who's brought onto a secret government team confronting one of a dozen pods of aliens who have landed around the world. The film, however, did nab a best film nomination; it won an Oscar for best sound editing.
The U.S. military has no clue how to interact with the aliens, and different countries have various theories on how to deal with the threat. That puts extra pressure on Adams and her crew (USA to the rescue!). A slow moving film with confusing side stories but a fine support cast: Jeremy Runner plays a competing scientist who falls for Adams; Forest Whitaker plays an Army colonel.
This film is proof that a science fiction doesn't need silly special effects to succeed. But it is full of holes and difficult to follow.
7½ stars
ELLE: The "Meryl Streep of France," Isabelle Huppert (a doppelgänger, in my opinion, for Calista Flockhart), stars in this sick and twisted mystery/thriller/comedic tale of dysfunction.
Huppert is outrageously cool after suffering through a violent rape in her home by a masked intruder, going about her business as the co-owner of a violent video game company. She was correctly honored with an Academy nomination for best actress; she was brilliant as she juggled her company, nerdy workers, affairs and a mom and dad that wouldn't make any of us proud. Her father is in prison after having murdered 27 people in one day when Elle was a child; clearly, it scarred her for the rest of her life. She handles violence - both personally and professionally - in a detached manner, just as she has tried to distance herself from the horrific acts committed by her father. Her Botoxed mother is about to marry a man 50 years her junior; her son, who relies mightily on Elle's wealth, is in a relationship with a pregnant psychopath.
This is a troubling movie, hardly meant for most of you. But it's difficult to underplay Huppert's brilliance in spite of the subject matter. An excellent ensemble cast leaves no wrong doing unturned.
French subtitles makes this film easy to follow even if the action on screen does not. Yet it's difficult to look away. Critics loved it (Metascore = 89.)
8½ stars
JACKIE: A gut-wrenching, harrowing portrayal by Natalie Portman of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's personal trauma in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of her husband. Having watched the post-assassination coverage as a young teenager in the D.C. area, this was history I remember well. One regret I have is we did not make an effort to participate in any of the funeral activities; instead, I was glued to the television set for several days, even witnessing the on-air murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Portman made you believe she was Jackie, and it's no surprise she's one of five up for an Academy award. What is a surprise is the film was not Oscar-nominated, although it has received 117 other nominations.
Peter Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy, Greta Gerwig as Jackie's aide and Billy Crudup as a journalist interviewing Jackie help make this film one to watch.
8½ stars
MOONLIGHT: A poignant film about a young African-American trying to survive in Miami with little help from his drugged-out mom and bullying classmates. Little/Chiron/Black is played by three actors as we follow his life as an adolescent, a teenager, then a young man: Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders & Travante Rhodes. Each brought deep emotion to the role.
This film has received 252 award nominations, including eight Oscar nods. Mahershala Ali (the very striking Remy in Kevin Spacey's House of Cards) is a strong contender for best supporting actor; he played a drug dealer in the first part of the film who becomes a father figure to Little. Naomie Harris was outstanding as Little's mother; she's up for best supporting actress.
Little is confused in life; classroom bullies paint him as effeminate, and he's not sure if he's gay or not. His best friend Kevin in a more limited role fights his sexuality even more, at one time joining in the bullying.
The Metascore for this film is off the charts (99!); expect this to do well on Oscar night. Good luck finding it at a theatre near you; it finally came back to Sacramento, and we're glad we made the effort to see it.
8½ stars
HACKSAW RIDGE: War is Hell; and Mel Gibson did an excellent job bringing that sentiment to the big screen in this highly- acclaimed World War II movie set on Okinawa in 1945 (six Oscar nominations).
Andrew Garfield (as Desmond Doss) pulled off an Academy-worthy performance as an Army medic/conscientious objector - a Seventh Day Adventist - who refused to carry a weapon into battle and was brought to a court-martial for disobeying a superior's order to undergo weapon training. Not surprisingly, he was treated badly by his fellow soldiers who saw him as a coward.
But this true-life hero proved to be no coward on the battlefield, saving as many as 75 wounded soldiers and proving to be an inspiration to his fellow comrades. Even though he never fired a shot, Doss was awarded a Medal of Honor by President Harry S Truman.
This is a brutal film that spares no sensibilities; you feel you're in the middle of the action, dodging bullets. There were sappy moments, of course, and I thought Vince Vaughn was mismatched as the company sergeant. Too old and too out of shape to pull it off; he even tried to throw in some one-liners to remind you of his comedic side.
Worth a trip to the theatre if your stomach can handle it.
9 stars
THE FOUNDER: Man, Michael Keaton can act! Here, he's very believable as the persistent and double-dealing Ray Kroc, who turned the McDonald's fast-food franchise into a worldwide conglomerate.
Kroc is 52 when he drives to San Bernardino to figure out why a hamburger stand has ordered six - make that eight - multi-making milk shake machines when he has trouble selling them in the Midwest. There he finds the McDonald brothers (Nick Offerman in a very subdued role and John Carroll Lynch) who give him a "tour" of their innovative fast-food making business. Kroc returned to his native Illinois very impressed, trying to figure out how to turn their idea to his benefit.
Franchise the idea! "We tried that; it didn't work," the McDonald brothers replied, "We lost quality control." So Kroc enters into a business relationship with the quality-obsessed brothers, but he finds himself butting heads with his partners most steps of the way. They clearly do not share the vision of grandeur that Ray Kroc has in mind.
This is not a glowing portrayal of Ray Kroc, but it's a pretty honest one. He's a good ol' boy Midwesterner who believes in himself and his ideas for success.
Besides the outstanding performance by Keaton, and a great medley of the McDonalds' early journey to success, this is a film that jerks around, unclear of where to land. Laura Dern plays Kroc's first, semi-supportive wife. While still married, Ray meets a lovely Joan Smith, but she's married to one of his soon-to-be-franchisees; how she becomes his third wife is never explained. This film - and others we've seen - do a poor job of letting you know where they stand chronologically.
At least Netflix this when it's time; it's a good story of an iconic franchise.
7½ stars
HIDDEN FIGURES: I went in with high expectations and came out very pleased. This is the story of a number of women who worked in Langley, Virginia for the emerging U.S. space program in the early 1960s. The fact that the three stars of the show were not your basic secretaries was revolutionary enough - they were a mathematician, a budding engineer and a computer programmer - but that they were colored was nothing short of mind-blowing to their fellow workers. And that they had a hand in the early exploration of space is historic and newsworthy.
There was Hollywood schmaltz, of course, but Taraji P. Henson (as Katherine Johnson), Octavia Spencer (Dorothy Vaughan) & Janelle Monae (Mary Jackson) played powerful women with smarts, and their collective stories are worthy of the big screen. And, unlike Loving, this movie showed more of the gritty side of Southern segregation and discrimination of 1960s Virginia. (I lived in a Virginia suburb of D.C. from late 1961 to mid-1964; it was lily white where I went to public school. Also, there was a reference in the movie to school kids practicing "duck and cover" in their schools in 1961; I don't recall doing that until the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.)
Kevin Costner did a good job as the head of the scientists in charge of the space program, and Jim Parsons (of The Big Bang Theory fame) was a bit pedestrian as the misogynist head engineer. Kirsten Dunst was almost unrecognizable as a secretary supervisor (with little sympathy for the plight of the African American female workers). The guy who played a young John Glenn (Glen Powell) was far too young (Glenn was 41 when he first went up in space), but he was very attuned to the mathematic skills of Katherine Johnson, which I've read is pretty accurate. Unfortunately, Sen. Glenn did not live long enough to see the film. (He lived across the street from my junior high school in Arlington.)
But the African American women were the stars, and they did not disappoint.
Side note about our favorite movie site, imdb.com. It's clear that you don't actually have to go see a movie to vote on movies, because it is pretty close to impossible for 6.4% (down from 9.7% when I looked three days ago) of the reviewers to give this movie a 1 rating (the lowest). Oh, well; trolls are everywhere these days.
Worth a trip to the theatre prior to the Academy show.
9 stars
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT: I figured this was going to be a M.A.S.H.-like comedy with one of my favorites, Tina Fey, playing a wisecracking war correspondent. It got crummy reviews (Metascore = 57), so we put it aside until it popped up on our Netflix queue. It was then that I discovered, voila!, that it's not a comedy at all. Sure, it tries for a laugh here and there, but it's not meant to be funny in spite of its title: W.T.F.
Tina plays a low level, behind the scenes reporter at a news station who volunteers to go to Afghanistan for three months to report on the war. Get some real action. Months turned into years as Ms. Fey stayed the course working to get the right stories. From there it becomes a true-life story of a war gone bad in a country where we weren't the most popular. Worse, for Ms. Fey, the U.S. public so wanted to "support the troops," but they really weren't interested in seeing the same ol' war sh#t night after night on their news stations.
Margot Robbie as a competing television journalist and Billy Bob Thornton as a no-nonsense general add heft to the story.
This is an unloved and under-estimated film that deserves a place on your Netflix queue, too. Just don't expect many laughs.
7½ stars
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY: For Star Wars fans, this one does not disappoint. Felicity Jones does a fine job carryng this 'tweener (a prequel to the first three episodes (#4-6), but a sequel to the second three (#1-3)). If you are uncertain, the haunting appearance of Carrie Fisher in the final scene sets this one up for another sequel that, too, will precede episodes #4-6. This is not to mention the "sequel trilogy" (episodes 7-9), which ended with Luke Skywalker on a mountain pass; I was expecting a sequel to that, but they have decided to have this "anthology series" first. Money, money, money.
(If you are thoroughly confused by now, this one is not for you.)
Here, Felicity plays the daughter of a research scientist who is forced by the Imperial to finish their Death Star; Felicity, years later, joins the Rebel Alliance with the intent of stealing her father's Death Star plans, assured it will include a way to destroy the star. We'll have to wait for the sequel to discover if, in fact, it does. Expect Princess Leia to appear in this one as well (as well as the next) because she already has shot all of her scenes.
As my friend Steve said (it was good to view this one with three who take this series far more seriously than I do). they even resurrected the character (Gov. Tarkin) played in the original 1977 film by Peter Cushing, who died in 1994. And they played off the original cantina scene from the original movie with similar characters.
A good plot; I still have trouble telling the good guys from the bad, especially when they're flying around. A good ensemble cast supporting Jones. Worthy of a look if this is your passion.
8 stars
FENCES: Denzel Washington and Viola Davis are well-deserving of the Academy buzz from their performances in this talkie film set in Pittsburgh in the mid 1950's. Denzel is a garbageman bitter about having missed baseball fame by being too old once the color barrier was broken; his bitterness defines his life. Viola is a loyal wife and mother of two sons - one born before Denzel spent 15 years in prison, the other still living at home and trying to impress his father with his football prowess. You learn all of their history through dialog between each other, with Denzel's good friend Bono (Stephen Henderson) and with their two sons.
This is an intense family drama (adapted from a Broadway play) that will get a lot of Academy attention; it's a bit much at times, but Washington & Davis are so good you let it slide. (One boo-boo I noticed: The younger son invoked Sandy Koufax's prowess - in the mid-1950's?)
Worth seeing at a theatre near you.
8½ stars
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: This is a quirky independent film about a family of lefty survivalists (dad and six kids) who live in the woods of northern Washington, near Mt. Baker. Viggo Mortensen plays the very serious and dedicated survivalist father who trains his children daily on survival skills while home-schooling them. When they learn that his wife (and the children's mother) has died while in a hospital, they set out to attend her funeral in New Mexico, hoping to carry out her after-life wishes. They inevitably clash with Viggo's sister and brother-in-law, then with his deceased wife's parents, especially Frank Langella.
The trip back to civilization brings tension to the tight-knit family. While it's corny in plenty of places, it's a watchable film that needs a place on your Netflix queue.
7½ stars
PASSENGERS: I so wanted Jennifer Lawrence to rescue this critically UNacclaimed space romance (Metascore = 41); she did not. Actually, her best acting job was when she learned Chris Pratt's dark secret - and it was that secret that defined the whole movie.
The premise is both are on a 120-year flight from earth to a new planet, but all flight crew and passengers are sleep-frozen. An accident in space inadvertently opens Pratt's sleep chamber, and he finds himself alone on the flight. For a full year, he tries to entertain himself, ofttimes with the real star of the movie, Michael Sheen, a critically acclaimed British actor, who nailed it as the robot bartender. Then, on the verge of suicide, Pratt's makes the decision that brings Lawrence back to life.
Not that it's a terrible movie; it's just all based on a creepy lie, with less than stellar acting. Some very good special effects, especially the one pool scene toward the end of the movie.
This can certainly wait for DVD; even then, it won't be any less creepy.
5 stars
LA LA LAND: My expectation level for this jazzy, Academy-hyped film was low; I was not disappointed.
Admittedly, my tolerance level for musicals is low, but I've been surprised before (e.g., see Chicago). But I simply don't understand the Academy buzz on this one (Metascore = 92). I like both leading actors - Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone - but they (especially Stone) seemed ill-cast for this show. I was not impressed with the songs, and I was less impressed with the stars' voices (with an obvious exception for John Legend's singing). They made Gosling look like a virtuoso on piano, but that did not overcome the blandness of the film.
If this is your thing, go for it. If not, don't hold out hope that it might surprise you.
3 stars
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA: It was, perhaps, an unhappy coincidence that we were experiencing plumbing problems at home when we sauntered out to watch this highly-acclaimed movie. That and we went to a newly-rehabbed theatre complex in town that charged far more than we're used to for Sunday morning movies. But we got leg rests!
This was a dreary movie, through and through. Casey Affleck does an Academy worthy performance as a handyman/janitor for several apartment buildings south of Boston; unfortunately, his internal anger issues - sparked by a traumatic event in his life - get in his way, and he seems destined to live life as a quiet but angry man in a dead-end job. Then tragedy strikes (again), and he is forced back to his hometown (Manchester, just north of Boston) to deal with the death of his older brother. Worse, Casey is named as the guardian for his 16-year old nephew. Casey knows he can barely take care of himself, much less be responsible for his hormone-raging nephew.
An excellent ensemble cast, including the always talented Michelle Williams as Casey's ex-wife. Even Mathew Broderick makes an appearance in a limited role.
The critics loved this (Metascore = 96) and already have given Affleck an Academy nomination. Perhaps. It clearly is a movie worth seeing; just make sure all of your home plumbing is intact.
8½ stars
THE LADY IN THE VAN (2015): On the heals of her show-stopping performance as the irascible Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, Maggie Smith nails it as the sorta crazy old homeless woman in the van who parks it on the streets in suburban London. She's just charming enough to get people to do things for her, and she doesn't hesitate to take advantage when it suits her purposes.
Enter a playwright, Jim Broadbent, who is cajoled into allowing Maggie to park her van in his small driveway. Broadbent plays two roles, equally well. He's the desk-sitting playwright; his alter-ego is concerned about Maggie and her ordeals while he witnesses the slow decline of his mother who lives on the English coast a ways out of London. His guilt about not having his mother live with him haunts him enough to let Maggie push him around.
This could have been better, but it's worth a look on DVD while watching at home in much cheaper seats.
7½ stars
MARGUERITE (2015): Not to be confused with Meryl Streep's/Hugh Grant's Florence Foster Jenkins, which is a more recent movie about the exact same real-life situation. Marguerite is a French-made film based on the Florence Foster Jenkins character; it wasn't until they began filming did its director, Xavier Gianolli, learn of the intentions of the American version (directed by Stephen Frears).
Marguerite is a wealthy philanthropist whose dedication to her music (opera) extends to her belief that she, too, is a talented performer. Because of her place in society, and the willingness of others (especially her husband and immediate man servant) to accept her subpar talents without being honest with her, she performs at local social/fundraising events in the company of her friends. Sort of like, 'Who's gonna tell the Emeror he has no clothes?"
When a young local journalist entranced by her perfomance writes glowingly of her abilities, Marguerite's belief in her abilities mushrooms, much to the chagrin of her husband, but much to the support of her man-servant.
This is a fun, subtle stroll with a delightful ensemble cast (none of whom I have heard of; perhaps you are more sophisticated in French film nuances). It's slow (2:07 and sub-titled), but there are laugh out loud moments just watching the faces of those who are made to listen to Marguerite's pretentious voice.
(Side story: My friends Paul & Claudia saw this at last year's Telluride Film Festival - they sat next to Laura Linney in the audience and had a nice conversation with her before the showing. Thanks to Paul for his write-up on this film and the further information about the two similar films; if you were on my movie list last fall, I sent you their film festival summary. When the two went to a local Italian restaurant the night after the film, the waitress, after some discussion, informed them that Ms. Linney and Meryl Streep had sat at the table right next to theirs the night before; that gave Paul the ability to say., "Oh, yes, we're here precisely because Laura had recommended it." He then made sure she knew he wasn't name-dropping - Ms. Linney lives in Telluride - and that they just so happened to sit next to her the previous evening.)
It's worth a try on DVD.
7 stars
LOVING: This is the story about the Supreme Court's ultimate rejection of the state of Virginia's anti-miscegenation law (The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 that outlawed interracial marriage). The fact that the law was not overturned until 1967 seems staggering today, but Jim Crow laws still ruled much of the South.
Richard Loving and his pregnant African-American wife Mildred drove 75 miles north to Washington, D.C. in 1958 to wed, then settled back near their supportive families in rural Virginia. Soon afterward, they were arrested and charged with violating state law; they were each "allowed" to plead guilty and given a one year suspended sentence, provided they leave the state for at least 25 years. They re-located to D.C.
Mildred took the lead by writing to U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy about the injustice of their case, who passed it along to an ACLU lawyer. With the help of another lawyer, the case against Virginia wound its way to the Supreme Court after each state court ruled against the couple.
Joel Edgerton did a very good job as Richard Loving, an awkwardly shy, hard-working brick-layer, but it's the performance by Ruth Negga as Mildred that catches your eye; she's clearly in the running for an Academy nomination.
This was a low-keyed, understated film (Timothy Dutton, Lela Rochon & Ruby Dee's 1996 small screen effort in Mr. & Mrs. Loving apparently wasn't very accurate, according to the real Mildred Loving); unfortunately, that might have been its biggest flaw.
Perhaps it was simply too understated. Maybe I expected more push-back against the Lovings from rural whites in Virginia. Maybe I expected more chemistry between the Lovings (they did have three children, so there must have been some biology, if not chemistry). Or maybe they were just ordinary folks caught up in an extraordinary event. They just wanted to be accepted for what they were. Sound familiar?
7½ stars
ALLIED: The eyes have it: Marion Cotillard's and/or Brad Pitt's (your choice). Too bad the material just wasn't as good as advertised.
Pitt plays a Canadian Army pilot/spy in World War II and is sent to Casablanca to assassinate the German ambassador, with help from Ms. Cotillard, who is already embedded there. After their successful mission, he convinces her to emigrate to England, where he's assigned a desk during the German blitzkrieg of London. They marry, she has a child and they settle in. Then Pitt is gut-punched: He's told the authorities believe that Ms. Cotillard is an enemy spy, impersonating a former French freedom fighter. Pitt, of course, doesn't believe them and, against orders, works to prove them wrong.
In spite of the star power, they forgot to make the movie much of a thriller. It's fairly benign. It can certainly wait on your Netflix DVD list.
6 stars
JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK: Maybe I'm still not convinced that Tom Cruise can play 6'5", 260 pound Jack Reacher, author Lee Child's creation. Or maybe this one was so shallow - Cobie Smulders (of How I Met Your Mother fame) as Reacher's sidekick didn't contribute much - that nothing could have helped it.
If Cruise is your go-to guy (and he can play a convincing rough and tumble role), then tee it up on your DVD. Otherwise, you can do better.
5 stars
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS: An odd, dark thriller starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal - a novel within a movie.
Adams is a successful, yet self-doubting, artsy-fartsy gallery owner who receives a manuscript and note from her ex-husband of 20 years asking that she please be the first to read his novel and contact him when she finishes. You can tell she still has a place in her heart for her ex - she also suspects her current husband is stepping out on her - so she dives into the novel.
In it, the husband (Gyllenhaal) is terrorized along with his wife and daughter on a lonely highway in West Texas by a gang of thugs. The movie and novel flit back and forth as Adams realizes unsettling comparisons between the novel and her own life.
Gyllenhaal is great; Adams is purposely understated; and Michael Shannon is terrific as the Texas sheriff helping the husband locate his family. Unfortunately, the film falls short of what I expected.
(Rarely would I suggest you miss the start of a movie, but here I recommend you linger at the concession stand as the opening credits roll. No blood, no guts, just odd art forms "displayed" at the opening of Adams' gallery.)
A good movie, but nothing that you need to rush out to see. At least at home on DVD you can fast-forward through the opening (you're welcome).
6½ stars
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN: Hailee Steinfeld (she of Jeff Bridges' True Grit fame) is delightfully weird as the socially-awkward protagonist (Nadine) in this easy to watch coming of age film.
Nadine has been a nerdy wreck most of her life, having to live up to the perfection that is her one-year older brother. But by the third grade she gloms onto a kindred spirit, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), and they stay close right up to their junior year. Then disaster strikes. Krista hooks up with, then begins to date, Nadine's worst enemy: her brother! Nadine's life splits at the seams, and her mother (Kyra Sedgwick) is little help because she dotes on her brother. Instead, Nadine leans on her high school history teacher, subtlety played by Woody Harrelson, and a shy classmate (Hayden Szeto), a budding artist and filmmaker.
A good story line, rapid-fire dialog and a fine ensemble cast led by a very strong performance by the 19-year old Steinfeld. It's set in Oregon; filmed in Vancouver. Worth a look.
8½ stars
DR. STRANGE: This is a very popular and acclaimed Stan Lee Marvels Comics movie which only goes to show why you shouldn't look to me for reviews of this type of SyFy syllynyss (I think they lost me when science fiction went from SciFi to SyFy).
The graphics and special effects are incredible, and clearly it's a showcase to show off what they are capable of doing. But to me it was one huge bore: Dr. Strange fighting an arch-enemy time after time after time, with no one really getting hurt, until the final scene, of course. Benedict Cumberbatch is the latest serious actor to lower himself to skin-deep fantasy; and, yes, there is a sequel on the horizon. Can't wait.
Cumberbatch plays Dr. Stephen Strange, an egotistical and talented neurosurgeon who decides it's smart to drive recklessly on a slick, winding road while interpreting medical MRIs on his smart tablet. Really? That's what brilliance and egotism get you? The subsequent crash leaves his hands a holy mess, and he struggles to get back to his former self. That journey leads him to a mystic in Nepal (strangely played by non-Asian Tilda Swinton), where he learns a super power, which he then uses to save the world. Stop me if you've heard it before. Even Rachel McAdams can't save this one.
If this is your cup of tea, go for it. At least I enjoyed a good night out with the boys (Tracy never would have come within a dozen theatres of this).
5 stars (generous)
INFINITELY POLAR BEAR (2014): This one was surprisingly good. Mark Ruffalo (I'm a fan) does an excellent job playing a bi-polar dad who has trouble keeping it together. But then his wife, the lovely Zoe Saldana, decides she needs to go to New York to get an MBA degree, leaving Mark back in Boston to look after their two darling, but high-spirited girls. Mark, a Harvard dropout, is not quite as limited as Sean Penn was in I Am Sam, but it does become a challenge for him.
Good for a DVD rental; have tissue paper handy.
8 stars
DEEPWATER HORIZON: Based on a New York Times article, Kurt Russell & Mark Wahlberg star in this realistic depiction of the blowout of the oil-drilling rig that precipitated the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico British Petroleum oil spill of 2010. The special effects are worth the price of admission. It's a harrowing episode, and it gives you a greater appreciation for the work done on the off-shore rigs. Eleven men died; it's surprising there weren't more.
John Malkovich is believable as the cost-cutting BP on-site executive (manslaughter charges against him were later dropped); Kate Hudson plays Wahlberg's wife.
You might be able to still catch it before it leaves the theatres. If not, it's a worthy addition to your DVD queue.
8½ stars
JASON BOURNE: This is Matt Damon's fourth film as the elusive, rogue CIA agent, and the evil CIA director, Tommy Lee Jones, is out to stop Bourne with help from his just-as-evil "asset." Damon is born for this role, no pun intended, because he's a natural as the super-sleuth, whether it's in hand-to-hand combat, maneuvering a motorcycle through riotous streets or chasing the CIA bad guy (the "asset") in a car through crowded Vegas streets. One of Cobb's assistant, Alicia Vikander, is convinced it's better to bring Bourne in than eliminate him, so it's a race to see who wins out.
It's a nice romp - expect a fifth Bourne film some time in the future..
You'll probably have to wait for DVD because we saw this at our local last-resort cinema.
8 stars
HELL OR HIGH WATER: Borrowing a bit from Bonnie & Clyde (1967), Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969) and Thelma & Louise (1991), this features Ben Foster and Chris Pine (those eyes!) as brothers on a small-time bank robbing spree to save their parents' West Texas ranch. Hot on their trail is Jeff Bridges as a soon-to-be-retired sheriff. All are quite believable in their roles; Foster plays the ex-con bad boy brother, helping his more innocent younger brother to raise enough money to beat the clock before the local bank forecloses on their parents' property.
Beautifully filmed in hardscrabble West Texas - oh, wait, it actually was filmed in New Mexico! - it depicts a hard life in an oil-recessed economy. Good story; great character development.
The only thing that surprised me was that Larry McMurtry didn't write the screenplay. This is his territory!
9 stars
MONEY MONSTER: Hard not to like a George Clooney-Julia Roberts flick, especially when they make fun of the idiotic TV flim-flam artists who pretend to give us "financial news." And this one has a bit of a thriller theme that at least makes it watchable.
Clooney is a TV clown, giving financial advice as entertainment, until a disgruntled viewer/lowlife barges in on the set a bit peeved that he sunk his life savings/inheritence ($60k?) into an investment that Clooney had called rock solid, unaware that the guy heading the fund was a crook - in spades. So in a matter of hours, the Clooney-Roberts crack staff pursue the hedge fund manager, all the while a gun is pointed at various parts of Clooney's anatomy.
The silliness toward the end brings to mind O.J.'s white bronco escapde, but worse.
But, as I said, Clooney-Roberts keep you interested even if the movie falls short. Not bad for a DVD rental, but don't waste any popcorn money.
6½ stars
THE NICE GUYS: This one easily could have bombed, and early on it appeared it was heading that way. But Rusell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in odd buddy-private investigator roles kept pulling it back from the brink. It became quite watchable - and laugh out loud funny - as the two team up to figure out what really happended to a 1970s porn star. Dead? Missing? Great recreation of 1970s Los Angeles.
Not award worthy, but worth a Saturday night at home with a tub of home-popped corn!
6½ stars
BEST OF ENEMIES (2015): An excellent documentary of the 10 iconic William F. Buckley, Jr-Gore Vidal debates that ABC aired during the 1968 conventions. Buckley was the conservative conscience of his time, and Vidal a renowned liberal. Both were intellectually superior to most Americans.
ABC was a relatively minor television station at the time - their CBS & NBC rivals had, respectively, Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinckley and did wire-to-wire convention coverage - so the decision was made to have Howard K. Smith narrate debates between the two jousting lions.
Buckley was asked whom he would not debate. After some consideration, Buckley responded, "a communist...or Gore Vidal." What he had against debating a communist is beyond me, but ABC made the wise choice.
Great old footage and wonderful commentary. Whether you were around during the contentious 1968 conventions (think Nixon-Reagan and Humphrey-McCarthy and the Chicago 8) or missed it entirely, this one is worth seeing.
9 stars
LOVE & MERCY (2014): I knew this was about the life and times of Brian Wilson of Beach Boys fame, but I was unaware that it was about the troubled life and times of one of the greatest song writers and musicians of my youth. Skipping back and forth between the Brian Wilson in his young prime (eerily played by Paul Dano) and later during his psychotic stages (a subdued John Cusack), this is an excellent portrayal of a brilliant yet troubled man.
Many of his later troubles came thanks to the care of a deranged quack of a psychiatrist (wonderfully played by the great Paul Giamatti - in a bad wig) - but who wouldn't want to be rescued by the likes of Elizabeth Banks (who would bear him five children before all was said and done)? The resurrection of Brian Wilson is on-going as he continues to tour with some of the players who were part of the Beach Boys over the years.
Even though it drags you into the despair of Brian's world, it's a very well done bio-pic. The sound track, as you would expect, leaves a lot to be desired. (not)
8½ stars
RACE: This was a very good made-for-TV movie about the fascinating story of the excellence of Jesse Owens and his rise to become one of the greatest Olympic stories of all time, competing in the controverial 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Berlin; the mistake was thinking the movie, as opposed to the subject matter, was worthy of the big screen. Nothing much to complain about, but nothing much to write home about, either.
Stephan James played a fine Owens; Jason Sudeikis was somewhat plausible as his college and Olympics coach. Jeremy Irons was excellent as the shady Avery Brundage, eventual head of the U.S. Olympic organization. Interesting side story (one that you are aware of if you read The Boys in the Boat) was the struggle between Joseph Goebbels (icily played by Barnaby Metschurat) and Hitler's cinemetographer of the Olympics, Leni Riefenstahl (flauntedly played by Clarice van Houten).
If you missed this at the theatre, it's worthy of a place on your Netflix queue.
8 stars
TRIPLE 9: This was an oddly filmed (as in difficult to follow) movie about an elaborate conspiracy between Russian mobsters and dirty cops (why do directors think making dirty cops "likeable" somewhat makes them less dirty?) to obtain information to benefit a convicted Russian mob boss. The plot was very difficult to follow, and I left the theatre wondering if I had slept through most of it. Was it a frustration dream of mine, or just a confusing movie?
A very good cast made me wonder whether they'd read the whole script before signing on: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul & Kate Winslet.
Good luck if you watch this at the theatre or, better, at home when it comes out on DVD.
5 stars
THE BOOK THIEF (2013): A poignant and uplifting story (if that's possible during the chaos of war-torn Nazi Germany) of a young girl raised by foster parents after her mother is forced to abandon her, then as an illiterate student who must assimilate into a new neighborhood. Sophie Nelisse is darling as the young girl who becomes obsessed with reading – during a time when the Nazis are burning books. Her new papa, Geoffrey Rush, is understated in his role as father, friend and confidant.
A pleasant diversion to add to your Netflix queue if you, too, missed it when it was in the theatres.
8 stars
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015): This genre of movie clearly does not have me in mind as its intended target audience. Starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron as rebels from the post-apocalyptic future thrown together - Hardy is avenging his past while Theron is searching for hers - in what they eventually realize is a common goal. This movie is basically a two-hour chase scene over barren, hostile territory with strange weaponry and even stranger characters.
The reviewers loved it (8.2), the meta-critics adored it (89) and the Academy awards slobbered all over it with TEN award nominations, including Best Picture (I'd nominate The Hateful Eight before this!). It's not surprising, though, that neither Hardy nor Theron are up for an award. Me, I'm happy just to have watched it on DVD, not wasting popcorn money or my time at a movie theatre. But if this is your thing, have at it.
2 stars
THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL (2014): This was an excellent documentary about Bing Russell - Bonanza's Sheriff Clem ("I was the sheriff there for 17 years and never solved a case.") - who threw Hollywood to the side and moved to Portland to start an independent baseball team, the Portland Mavericks. The former AAA Portland Beavers upped and moved to Spokane in 1972 because of failing attendance, so how could Russell (with chid actor/son Kurt in tow) expect a mish-mash of unwanted players to draw crowds back to the ballpark?
Within four years, the team outdrew every other minor league team in the country, finished with the best record in the Single A Northwest League...and Major League Baseball was not pleased; Russell was doing it independently of every major league team (the only in the country at the time) and rubbing their noses in it. So unhappy was MLB that the powers that be decided to relocate a Triple A team to Portland in 1978, offering the usual $5,000 buyout to Russell.
Washed-up and blacklisted pitcher Jim Bouton (he of Ball Four fame), Big League Chew, the first female general manager in baseball - it all happened in Portland from 1973-77, and I am embarrased to say we lived 90 minutes down the road for the last two of those years and never made it to a single game.
As Bouton was later to opine, "The Mavericks were the only team to ever make sense." They did it for the love of the game.
Check it out; you might have it do so through Netflix streaming. Fun watch.
9½ stars