Tina's September Movies 2010

I hit my 100th movie this month and finally sat down to watch the classic "Citizen Kane." But the best movie of the month was the little-known "Mao's Last Dancer." Here's what I watched, with numbering picked up from the rest of the year.

94. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (TCM) – This 1939 movie is about as old-fashioned as they come. Mr. Chipping (Robert Donat) is a teacher at a boarding school in England, where he dedicates his life to teaching generations of young boys about Latin and life. Along the way he meets and falls for the gracious young woman (Greer Garson, in her movie debut) whose very presence makes him even more adored by the boys. This slow-paced story won’t wow anyone with action and adventure, but dear old Chips is beloved by all. Goodbye, Mr. Chips, had me at hello. 4 cans.
95. Mao’s Last Dancer (@ Montgomery with Angela and Dee) – After a stop for lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant, my pool pals and I passed up a glorious day to see what turned out to be a glorious film. This movie is based on the true story of Li Cunxin, a boy plucked out of his tiny, impoverished village by the Chinese government for special training. With years of hard work and determination, he grows into an accomplished ballet dancer who has an opportunity to study with the Houston Ballet. Young Li assimilates into the American culture rapidly, much to the consternation of the Chinese officials who decide he must return to China. Should he defect and risk both the safety of his family remaining in China and the chance that he may never see them again? Or should he stay and enjoy his new-found freedom and the girl he loves? This is a wondrous ode to ballet, a harsh look at Mao’s regime and a salute to the joys of freedom and the arts. So good you want to see it again an hour later. 4½ cans.
96. The Summer of ’42 (TCM) – In the many years since I last saw this movie, I had forgotten how beautiful it is. From the opening sequence of sepia stills of the New England island where it was shot to the haunting Michel LeGrand music, this bittersweet tale is captivating. Hermie is a 15-year old boy spending his summer vacation hanging out with his goofy friends, eagerly reading about sex in a book and just as eagerly looking for an opportunity to put into practice what they have learned. But Hermie is smitten with a beautiful young woman in her 20s (Jennifer O’Neill) whose husband has shipped out to war. She and Hermie strike up a friendship that they both need to fend off their loneliness. This is the summer Hermie learns not about sex but about love, a memory that will stay with him for the rest of his life. 4 cans.
97. Tender Mercies (TCM) – Robert Duvall won an Oscar for his role as a down-on-his-luck country singer (aren’t they all?) who gets his life back in gear after he meets a good woman. His Mac Sledge hits rock bottom at a rundown Texas motel managed by Tess Harper. With no money and nowhere to go, he helps out the widow Harper and her young son, eventually giving up drinking and taking up songwriting once again. The performance by Duvall is authentic and nuanced, with a great accent (at least it sounded like Texas to me, but what do I know?) and a simplicity that makes him believable. Being in the right place – or the wrong place – at any given moment can change your life, as the characters here discover. 4 cans.
98. Get Low (Montgomery, with Dee) – I wasn’t trying to limit my viewing to Robert Duvall movies this week, but that’s the way things turned out. Here he plays hermit Felix Bush, an irascible loner who has hibernated in his cabin in the woods for 40 years, ruminating over events that changed his life. He decides he wants to plan and attend his own funeral service, enlisting the aid of town funeral director Bill Murray to book the ceremony and band and run a raffle to get the townspeople to turn out. He wants to reveal his big secret – or to have his old preacher friend handle that chore if he can’t. The secret didn’t seem all that secret to me, and the pace of this movie could justify changing the title to “Get Slow,” but it is just quirky and well-played enough to keep up interest. Sissy Spacek, who never fails to impress, also appears, but it is Duvall’s turn that most likely will garner another Oscar nomination. A strange little movie, this one gets 4 cans.
99. The Wonder of It All (TV) – Did you ever wonder what it would be like to actually walk on the moon? Between 1969 and 1972, 12 Americans did just that, and in this documentary seven of them recount their experiences. They discuss how they became astronauts (a term that didn’t exist when most of them joined a branch of the service or became test pilots), their feelings about walking on the moon, their place in history, spirituality and how their accomplishments should be remembered. For most of them, the realization of being there only hit home when they got home – and years later – because NASA had them so busy in their time on the moon. I thought the movie was a blast. 4 cans.
100. Citizen Kane (TCM) – Wealth…power…politics…scandal. No, I am not reviewing the sequel to “Wall Street” but rather the Orson Welles movie than many people consider a masterpiece. It is amazing how Welles’ themes in this 1941 movie still apply today. His megalomaniac Charles Foster Kane is larger than life, bullying those around him to get whatever he wants, yet he fails to get the one thing his money can’t buy – love. This is a stunning movie in so many ways: Welles was 25 when he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in it. He ages from a young to an old man in the course of the story and is convincing at any age. The camera angles actually make Kane look larger than life, and the silhouetted shots make him seem mysterious and frightening. I am glad I finally experienced this movie, and I admired it in many ways, though it isn’t the kind of movie I long to see again, which on my scale, doesn’t make it hit the top. 4 cans.
101. The Informant! (HBO) – Matt Damon, complete with bad hair and a cheesy mustache, plays Archer Daniels Midland executive Mark Whitacre. This movie could have been called “The Man Who Talked Too Much,” as Whitacre, dismayed at the price fixing taking place at ADM, turns FBI informant and spins a series of tales which, by the end of the movie, made my head spin. Despite his attempt to take down the company, Whitacre naively believed he would be a hero and run ADM one day. Well played, with tongue firmly in cheek, this movie reminded me of the more charming “Catch Me If You Can” with Leonardo DiCaprio. Both movies lean heavily on the lead actors, and both come through with credible performances – especially for liars. 3½ cans.