40. Big Night (1996) – Tony Shaloub and Stanley Tucci (who co-wrote and co-directed) are perfectly cast as Primo and Secondo, two Italian immigrants operating a restaurant. Primo is an exacting and brilliant chef who will not compromise to give his customers what they want if he doesn’t agree with their choices. Secondo knows the business is failing, and he proposes one big event to garner publicity and save the restaurant. However, their friend fails to deliver special guest Louis Prima and all the people who gather for the best meal of their lives aren’t paying customers. I viewed this film early in the morning, which was a good idea since my mouth watered just a little less watching the dazzling array of food included in this banquet. There are plenty of names to drop here – Isabella Rossellini, Minnie Driver, co-producer/director Campbell Scott, Allison Janney, among others – but it is the relationship between the uncompromising Primo and his hopeful but desperate brother that adds to the recipe. 3½ cans, though Primo would never serve anything out of a can.
41. The Lunch Box* (2013) – Well, here’s a topic about which I knew nothing. For decades, hot lunches have been prepared in home kitchens in the suburbs of Mumbai and delivered by dabba wallahs – delivery men using bikes, trains and other forms of transportation to get the meals to office workers in the city (a very different Meals on Wheels concept). The system is highly efficient and widely praised, but, once in a while, things go wrong. In this drama, an older man, a lonely widower with a dull office job and a desire to retire, accidentally gets a delicious lunch that is not intended for him. The young woman who is the cook and whose husband doesn't even realize he isn't eating her food begins corresponding with him. Each day they put notes in the container used to transport the food. They begin a relationship via these notes, building an intimacy that leads them to want to meet. It is hard to provide more detail without revealing spoilers, so I'll just say that the movie reminded me of the lovely "84 Charing Cross Road" with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins, but this movie is about food, not books. Both are about relationships. Viewers will get a lot of insight into the Indian culture here, and the performances by the lead actors (Irrfan Khan as the office worker who really looks forward to lunch, and Nimrat Kaur as the unhappy housewife who can really cook) are winning. Skip your fast food lunch and see this movie instead. 4 cans.
42. The Buddy Holly Story (1978) – Long before he posed for some notorious police mug shots, Gary Busey won wide acclaim (and an Oscar nomination) for his portrayal of rock ‘n roll legend Buddy Holly in this biopic. Holly’s shot at fame was almost derailed by the prevailing notion that he should eschew rock in favor of the country, “hillbilly” music of his native Lubbock, Texas, but Holly marched to the beat of a different drummer. Together with his band, the Crickets (Don Stroud and Charles Martin Smith), he went from playing at the local roller rink to the height of fame before a tragic accident took his life. His place in the pantheon of rock ‘n roll legends was often cited by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as an early influence on their work. Just listening to Busey perform Holly’s songbook reminded me of how prolific and talented Holly was during a tragically short career. 4 cans.
43. Draft Day* (2014) – Kevin Costner in another sports movie cannot be bad, right? After all, this is the man who brought us “Bull Durham” and “Field of Dreams” in baseball and “Tin Cup” from the world of golf, among many others. Now he tackles football (pun intended) as Sonny Weaver, Jr., the general manager of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, on the tensest day of the year – Draft Day. No pressure: Just draft and develop the best college players into top pros and win the Super Bowl. Evaluate the talent, consider the proposed trades, check in with the owner and coach to make sure they are on board with your choices…well, maybe Sonny isn’t about to cede his power to anyone else. The man has a gut feeling, and he goes with it. The movie is visually intriguing, as director Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters” and other classic comedies) uses split screens and overlapping shots to show us conversations. I loved the flyovers of all of the real NFL stadiums and the trash talk among the men in charge. Jennifer Garner is aboard as Sonny’s salary cap expert, a lawyer whom he has been secretly seeing outside of work, a secret that everyone knows. While she doesn’t have a great part, she does get the best line in the movie: “Sometimes the correct path is the tortured one.” This wasn’t a great movie, but it was worth a 3rd round draft pick. 3½ cans.
44. The Address* (2014) – This is a Ken Burns documentary, so you know that the address isn’t going to be “1313 Mockingbird Lane.” No, this is about a boys’ school in Vermont, where middle school and high school boys have to memorize and deliver the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln’s two-minute oration from 1863. This small school caters to boys with learning issues. Many are ADHA or dyslexic or have speech impediments or emotional problems. They have been bullied in many cases and feel either stupid or incapable of learning. Yet there are also musicians and Rubix Cube phenoms among the population, and, when challenged to do something they considered impossible, they rise to the occasion. The impact of this exercise is significant in the boys’ lives, and it’s clear that Lincoln’s speech is as meaningful to them and to the thoughtful, skilled teachers who encourage them, than Lincoln himself could have imagined. 4 cans.
45. The Remains of the Day (1993) – If you love “Downton Abbey,” this classic Merchant-Ivory production about an English estate and the staff that runs it is for you. Anthony Hopkins shines more than silverware as Mr. Stephens, the butler, whose mission in life is to make everything at Darlington House perfect. He is aided by Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton, the housekeeper, whose interest in Stephens goes beyond place settings. Stephens is wedded to service, and carefully masks any emotions he may harbor. The movie takes place in the decade prior to World War II, with Lord Darlington convening other gentlemen and political figures at the estate to discuss the changing political situation. A virile and impossibly handsome Christopher Reeve is an American Congressman who realizes these men are amateurs when it comes to resolving world issues. But the real story here is the relationship between Mr. Stephens and Miss Kenton, which is beautifully played out. Rent it, borrow it – please, just watch it. 4½ cans.
46. Made* (2001) – There is undeniable chemistry between director-writer Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, both of whom starred in Favreau’s earlier “Swingers.” There they were on the make for “honeys,” and here they are on a mission they know nothing about to get money for a mob guy in LA (Peter Falk). The plot is minimal and the dialog is fast and furious. Favreau’s Bobby is the responsible one, while Vaughn’s Ricky is a fast-talker who can be charming when he isn’t driving everyone around him crazy. If you love the actors, you might like the movie, but I’ve had my fill of these two buddies. 2 cans.
47. Inside Llewyn Davis* (2013) – I’m not sure I want to know Llewyn Davis. A talented musician but an irresponsible man who crashes on the couches of friends, Davis is always broke and cannot get out of his own way. He can’t even take care of a friend’s cat. The story takes place in New York in 1961, just at the birth of the folksinger movement that Davis disparages even as he emulates it. All he needs is one big break, but he’s doing so badly he’s resigned to going back into the Merchant Marines. He can’t even succeed at that. Unusual for a Coen brothers movie, this film lacks a sense of the absurd they do so well. Oscar Issac is good in his thankless role as Llewyn, and I liked the music, though not enough to download it. I was told I probably wouldn’t like this movie, and my friends were right. 2½ cans.
48. The Way Way Back* (2013) – Poor Duncan (Liam James) is a misfit. He’s 14 and stuck living with his divorced mother (Toni Collette) and her insufferable boyfriend (Steve Carell) for a vacation at the beach. Sullen and lonely, he turns up at a local water park, where he is befriended by the wacky staff, particularly by Owen (Sam Rockwell). This movie had shades of “Lifeguard,” “The Flamingo Kid” and “Stand By Me,” all coming-of-age movies of a sort. Duncan is overlooked by his mother and bullied by her boyfriend. But Owen is friendly and funny and makes him feel like a normal kid, or at least better about himself. I wanted to love this movie because it had all the hallmarks of that kind of experience, but I will settle for slightly better than average. 3½ cans.
49. Laura* (1944) – A film noir murder mystery, Laura is the story of a smart and popular woman (Gene Tierney) who is killed. Her murderer could be any of the people in her life – Shelby, the man she is supposed to marry (Vincent Price, not looking at all like Vincent Price); Diane, her rival for Shelby; and her older friend, Waldo Lydecker (a great name, here played by Clifton Webb), a wealthy man who squires Laura around town. Red herrings are everywhere as Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) pours through Laura’s letters and personal effects trying to establish a motive and nab the killer. Everyone – including her maid – loves Laura, so who would want to kill her? McPherson is enamored with her portrait and her life, and is determined to solve the crime. Otto Preminger directed this slick and suspenseful film, and I’m glad I finally caught up with it. 4 cans.
50. Goodbye Columbus (1969) – Ali McGraw plays spoiled Brenda Patimkin, a rich bitch Radcliffe girl enjoying her summer at home in Westchester. She meets a boy from the Bronx, Neil (Richard Benjamin), who is decidedly beneath her social status – much to the dismay of her parents (Jack Klugman and Nan Martin). He is unambitious, not impressed by money and totally smitten by Brenda, despite his utter disdain for her family’s nouveau rich lifestyle, where, if you don’t like your nose, you get it fixed, etc. This comedy-drama takes on societal mores and class differences that you know ultimately will doom the Brenda-Neil coupling. She’s rich, he feels inferior and insulted most of the time. It has been a long time since I last watched this movie and I relished it. The scenes from the wedding of Brenda’s dim-witted but good-natured brother are spot on: The crazy relatives out on the dance floor, the decapitation of chopped liver in the shape of a rooster, the uncles in the carpet business pacing off the size of the banquet room – all are priceless. This was McGraw’s first movie, and she made a memorable debut. Welcome back, Columbus. 4 cans.
51. M*A*S*H* (1970) – As soon as you hear the opening verse of the song “Suicide Is Painless,” you know that this is no conventional war movie. The irreverent surgeons, nurses and staff of the 4077 Army medical unit engage in a myriad of outrageous hijinks. They aren’t there to fight the war but to stop the bleeding, to make fun, not war, and to try and find coping mechanisms that will get them through the blood and gore that they face daily. Nothing is off limits for these far-from-regular soldiers during the Korean War. The merry band of lunatics is led by surgeons Captain Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Captain John McIntyre (Elliot Gould, sporting a mustache that should have gotten its own billing). They like women, drinking and generally poking fun at anything or anyone who reeks of authority. Director Robert Altman specializes in episodic movies with large casts, and he manages this talented group with aplomb (Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Tom Skerritt and the original and only Radar O’Reilly, Gary Burghoff). Though I liked the TV show better, that is because it was on the air so long that we really got to know these people and see the value of human life in more depth. 4 cans.
52. Leaving Las Vegas* (1995) – I’m not much of a Nicholas Cage fan (the only movie he’s made that I like is “Moonstruck”) but I’ll give him credit for being able to gulp down mass quantities of liquid in his role as alcoholic writer Ben. Ben is lonely, horny and desperate enough to decide to leave Hollywood and drink himself to death in Las Vegas. I’d be OK with his plan, but his progress toward that end is somewhat interrupted when he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a prostitute with not quite the proverbial heart of gold, but who inexplicably (because they are both desperate and lonely) falls for him. How she can get near him after he’s been drinking for hours is puzzling to me. Shue looks too wholesome to be a hardcore hooker, but Cage looks desperate enough to do anything. This movie was well reviewed when it was released, but there’s not a lot here that’s likeable, so I’ll give it 3 cans for the acting and not the distasteful story.
No comments:
Post a Comment