Sunday, February 1, 2015

Tina's January 2015 Movies

I started the year off with a bang, seeing 18 movies in the first month.  With the Oscars coming up, I knocked off a few of the nominees.  Movies I had not previously seen are marked with an *, and all movies are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 being the highest rating.

1.  The Paper Chase (1973) – The first year of law school is challenging enough, but having to contend with Contract Law under the intimidating Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman) is enough to send even the most diligent student over the edge.  Add the complicating factor of a girlfriend who happens to be the daughter of the iconic prof (Lindsay Wagner) to occupy what would otherwise be a life devoted solely to studying and an occasional swim, and James Hart (a perfectly cast Timothy Bottoms) seems in over his head.  Hart must find a way to reconcile his fear of the dominating professor and his respect for the Harvard Law School legend.  It was ironic to see Edward Herrmann in a part as a classmate of Hart’s on the day after his death was announced.  He was a very fine actor.  4 cans.
2.   The Imitation Game* (2014) – Imagine being brilliant enough to invent and build a computer to decode German messages during WWII and then being smart enough to realize that it must remain a secret or the Germans will know you are on to them.  And then imagine having to fight an overwhelming prejudice against you just because you are gay.  Britain’s Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) faced all of those challenges, from being bullied at boarding school to be persecuted as an adult.  A noted mathematician, Turing is recruited for this secret squad to crack “Enigma,” the German code used to send messages about the war.  His partners are identified by their ability to do crossword puzzles, including one brilliant young woman (Kiera Knightly) who is nearly dismissed strictly because she is a woman.  This movie is based on a true story that remained a secret for 50 years.  It will probably end up in my list of the Best Movies of the Year.  4 cans.
3.  Strangers On a Train* (1951) – Tennis player Guy (Farley Granger) is on a train when he is recognized by friendly but odd Bruno (Robert Walker), who seems to know a lot about the athlete’s life.  He knows he is unhappily married and trying to get a divorce so he can marry someone else.  So Bruno, who is the son of a very wealthy man he abhors, makes a proposal: I’ll kill your wife and you kill my father.  Guy is aghast, and politely demurs, trying to brush off this aggressive stranger while still on the train.  But Bruno is a cagey and determined guy, and after their time on the train ends, he tracks down Guy’s wife and kills her, kicking off a chain of events.  This movie is a Hitchcock murder mystery, so there is plenty of suspense – and lot of fedoras are worn.  The title is apt not just because of the initial encounter, but because Bruno is one strange guy.  3½ cans.
4.  Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) – I remember being so enamored with this movie about a dedicated teacher in a small New England town when I first saw it – probably on “Million Dollar Movie” (remember that?) – about 50 years ago.  I’ve aged, it has aged but it is still an earnest tale of a prim and proper teacher (Jennifer Jones) whose influence on the children of her town is profound.  Many of us can recall teachers who were very strict, the taciturn and tough figures of authority who initially terrified us and later whom we came to appreciate (the exception being one Moose Malefsky, Somerville Junior High, a mean and nasty man on a power trip whose classroom antics resembled those of Captain Queeg).  That’s Miss Dove’s impact, and, when she becomes ill and is cared for by one of her former students (Robert Stack), we see through flashbacks how she helped her students gain self-esteem with her encouragement.  Like “Remember the Day,” this movie is corny and dated, but if it is on TCM once a year, I’ll probably watch it.  3 cans.
5.  Rush* (2013) – This movie about race car drivers James Hunt and Nikki Lauda is not your typical Tina choice.  In fact, the last racing movie I can recall seeing is  1969’s “Winning,” and that’s largely because it starred Paul Newman and Robert Wagner, pretty poster boys of the 1960s.  This movie offers the same eye candy in the form of hot and hunky Chris Hemsworth as the Brit Hunt, a brash and confident driver who lives the high life.  His arch rival is the more methodical and professional Lauda, played by Daniel Bruhl, and neither approves of the way the other lives.  They go head to head in many races, but none as important as the 1976 race that will determine the World Championship of Formula One racing.  The action scenes are heart-stopping and probably would have been even better seen in a movie theater instead of on a 35 inch, non-HD television.  But much of the drama is the relationship between the two drivers and the mutual respect that somehow develops after the initial disdain.  The fact the Ron Howard directed this movie was a factor in my decision to watch it, but it will probably be another 45 years before I watch another movie on this topic.  3½ cans for the movie and 5 for just letting me look at Chris Hemsworth for two hours.
6.  Life Itself* (2014) – It feels a bit ironic to offer a review of a movie about the man who was no doubt one of the two best-known movie critics in this country, Roger Ebert.  I started reading his story in his autobiography of the same name but found it ponderous in detail.  Watching this meticulously made documentary by Steve James, director of “Hoop Dreams” (a film Ebert himself lauded greatly), brought Roger’s story to life.  He was a beautiful writer, taking over as film critic for the Chicago Sun Times while in his early 20s and he won a Pulitzer Prize for his work.  Opinionated – and isn’t that the job of a critic, after all? – a bit full of himself (so says the wife of his late partner, Gene Siskel), but really someone who spoke for the people, Ebert gained national acclaim and celebrity when he teamed with rival critic Siskel first on the PBS series “Sneak Previews” and later in the syndicated series, “Siskel & Ebert at the Movies.”  Both were appointment television for me.  Ebert didn’t hesitate to speak his version of the truth, even when he was disappointed in the work of directors like Marin Scorsese, whom he admired greatly.  The iconic show could make or break a movie and Ebert acknowledged its limitations compared with lengthy critiques offered by print writers (see Corliss, Richard).  This movie covers Ebert’s Chicago background and career, his late marriage and love of his wife Chazz, his relationship with sparring partner Siskel and the bouts of cancer which, in an ironic twist, resulted in surgery that rendered him unable to speak at all.  This is a sad story, but all of us who love movies owe a great debt to Roger Ebert for helping us decide which films to see – whether independent movies or studio spectacles – and which to avoid.  In the end, thumbs up – way up – for Roger Ebert.  4 cans.
7.  The Family Stone* (2005) – Why did it take me 10 years to finally see this movie?  Sarah Jessica Parker is Meredith, a buttoned-up, humorless, self-centered woman who is dragged to the home of her soon to be fiancé, Everett (Dermot Mulrooney) to meet the family at Christmas, and the tension is as tight as the hair pulled back on her head.  The family is a big, laid-back group, headed by mother Sybil (Diane Keaton) and father Kelly (Craig T. Nelson).  Everett’s sister Amy (Rachel McAdams) takes a quick dislike to Meredith, who is clearly the square peg here (extra points to any of you who get THAT reference), but brother Ben (Luke Wilson) wants to help her out.   Complicating matters is the arrival of Meredith’s sister Julie (Clare Danes), the friendly and fun sister of the two, who hits it off bigtime with Everett.  The plot doesn’t thicken as much as it slides toward the inevitable, but it is worth the ride.  Parker is particularly good as the uptight guest.  4 cans.
8.  Begin Again* (2014) – Director John Carney apparently felt that “Once,” his previous movie about singers trying to succeed, was not enough.  Here talented songwriter but reluctant performer Gretta (Keira Knightly, who actually can sign) arrives in New York as her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) hits it big.  His success leads him astray, causing Gretta enough angst that she pens a tune and performs it at a club frequented by music producer Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a married man who falls for Gretta’s songs.  The music is good, the romance between Dan and Gretta never gets past first base but there is plenty of chemistry between the two leads, and Levine, in his acting debut, makes a good start.  I liked this movie better than “Once,” which was made in Scotland or Ireland and so I never understood the dialog.  Ruffalo is good in pretty much anything he does and Knightly (see “The Imitation Game” above) is growing on me.  I liked the music, the NYC settings and the story, but not enough to give it more than 3 cans.  Maybe if I hadn’t seen it on a moving bus with a bad sound system I could have enjoyed it a bit more.
9.  Jersey Boys (2014) – I love “The Four Seasons” and really enjoyed this movie when it was released last year despite my hesitation about Clint Eastwood’s role as the director of a musical.  I gave it 4 cans then and I’m sticking to that now.  For the full review, please go to http://randomthoughtsbytina.blogspot.com/2014/07/tinas-july-2014-movies.html.
10.  Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969) – If a movie about gunfights and bank robberies can be charming, this is the one.  The ultimate buddy-movie, this George Roy Hill classic pairs the laconically charming Paul Newman with a largely untested but ascendant Robert Redford, and the chemistry is palpable.  Whether Newman is showing off for Katherine Ross on a new-fangled bicycle to “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” or Redford is informing Butch that he can’t swim, the appeal of this pairing more than makes up for long sequences where they are being chased by a posse for once again robbing a train.  The sequence of our boys trying to learn to how to say “This is a robbery” in Spanish so they can succeed in their newly adopted country, Bolivia, is comical.  True confession: A poster of Redford as Sundance hung on the wall of my bedroom even in college.  Loved it then, love it now.  4 cans.
11.  The Theory of Everything* (2014) – This movie is to Eddie Redmayne (who plays renowned real-life physicist Stephen Hawking) what “My Left Foot” was to Daniel Day Lewis – enough to get an Oscar nomination and a chance to take home the statue itself.  Despite being stricken with a severe neurological disease that robs him of his ability to walk and get around without a motorized wheelchair and the help of his devoted wife Jane (Felicity Jones), Hawking nonetheless teaches, writes and expounds on his theories of the origins of the universe.  When he gets pneumonia and has to go through a tracheotomy to emerge from his coma, he is no longer able to speak.  However, with the advent of voice technology, Hawking can use a small device that speaks words for him.  Though confined to a wheelchair with his body contorted, he thinks his family of three children and a wife is perfectly normal, while she is charged with the responsibility of his care until she gets help first from a handsome choir director and later from a paid assistant.  If you think you’re having a bad day and life is too challenging, think about a brilliant mind trapped in a useless body and a man who thinks that those conditions are just another day.  My theory is that with the success of this movie and the popularity of TV’s “The Big Bang Theory,” physicists have become the hot guys in Hollywood.  Redmayne triumphs, as does Hawking.  4 cans.
12.  My Left Foot (1989) – And speaking of actors who give dazzling performances, Daniel Day Lewis won the Oscar for his portrayal of true-life Irish artist and writer Christy Brown.  Brown was born with a severe case of cerebral palsy, and though his large family was so poor that he didn’t have a wheelchair until his late teens, they were a loving lot who treated Christy the same as the rest of the brood, except for the physical care he required.  They loaded him in a cart and let him play in the street with the rest of the neighborhood kids.  Early on they discovered that he could use his left foot to write, paint, draw and later, even type.  He won wide acclaim for his work but he wasn’t an angel.  He drank and cursed and could deftly manipulate others to assist him.  This virtuoso performance was matched by Brenda Fricker, who plays Christy’s mother (and reminded me of Mrs. Patmore on “Downton Abbey.”)  4 cans.
13.  Narrow Margin (1990) – Talk about a bad blind date!  Carol Hunnicutt (Anne Archer) meets a lawyer on a blind date and is in the bathroom of his hotel room when two men enter the suite and murder him.  They don’t know she’s in the room, but the deputy district attorney Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman) finds out, and he tracks her down in a remote cabin in Canada to bring her back to Los Angeles to testify against the underworld boss who is responsible for the murder.  No one knows where she is except Caulfield – and the bad guys.  Hunnicut and Caulfield somehow manage to evade the helicopter with the gunman firing at them and make it onto a train bound for Vancouver so she can get out safely. This suspenseful drama uses a convention I have always liked but not always been able to reconcile – trying to evade someone while in a confined space (think of “Air Force One,” which took place on – well, you can figure that one out, right?).  Can Caulfield protect his star witness and get her to testify?  Where do you hide on a moving train?  Hackman is convincing as the lawman and I’ve always wondered why Archer didn’t have a bigger career (I’ve liked her since the TV show “Family Tree,” and, of course, as Michael Douglas’ wife in “Fatal Attraction”).  I saw this movie 25 years ago and have wanted to see it again for a long time.  It’s a bit improbable, but I liked it regardless of the need to suspend my sense of reality.  3½ cans.
14.  Gleason* (2002) – Physically imposing comedian Brad Garrett takes on the role of larger-than-life comedian Jackie Gleason in this biopic of Gleason’s good and bad times.  Born poor in Brooklyn, Gleason yearned for something more, especially after his father abandoned the family when Jackie was a kid.  The film traces Gleason’s forays into stand-up comedy – where he freely appropriated other comics’ material – his unsuccessful stint on a movie for Warner Brothers, who fired him, and his habit of chasing women even while married to his first wife.  But Gleason had a rare gift for understanding the audience and gracefully performing physical comedy, even for a very large man.  He created the classic sitcom “The Honeymooners,” which quoted lines directly from his own life.  His problem was control.  He wanted to control all aspects of his work but couldn’t control himself. He represents the classic sad clown aspect of a comic’s life.  Garrett was born to play this role.  3 cans.
15.  American Sniper* (2014) – If you like your movies intense, run, don’t walk, to see this one.  A bulked up Bradley Cooper plays real-life Navy Seal sharpshooter Chris Kyle, who served four tours in combat and was responsible for killing countless enemies while protecting legions of servicemen in combat.  His precision with a rifle and his instincts led his comrades to refer to him as “The Legend.”  Blessed with a beautiful wife and small children, Kyle had less success in between tours of duty, trying to adjust to civilian life as a husband and father.  Sienna Miller plays his anxious wife – worried about the effects of combat and frustrated by his outward lack of emotion.  Cooper does an excellent job in a role that doesn’t have a large amount of dialog, so he has to convey his thinking through his body and face.  I don’t normally go for action-type movies, but this one was worth experiencing in a theater.  4 cans.
16.  This Is Where I Leave You* (2014) – And this is exactly the opposite of the movie above, except for the shared dysfunction.  Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) finds his wife in bed with his boss, so when his sister (Tina Fey) calls to say their father is dead, he’s really not having a good time.  Judd returns to the family home, where his author-mother (Jane Fonda) insists he and his siblings (Adam Driver and Corey Stoll) sit Shiva for seven days despite the fact that their father was an aetheist.  The ruse is to get them to spend time together, but these sibs, along with their significant others, cannot stay in a room without arguing over something or revealing confidences.  Despite the fact that I like Jason Bateman and Tina Fey, there is nothing truly likeable about this movie.  For the rest of the plot, see it – on don’t.  I’m just glad I saw it for free, thanks to a Redbox coupon, because that’s about what it was worth.  2 cans.
17.  Get On Up* (2014) – Chadwick Bozeman gives a bravura performance as the dynamic entertainer James Brown in this biopic of the life of “The Godfather of Soul.”  He’s got the moves, the swagger, the barely controlled rage – call it passion if you wish – that define a man who grew from an impoverished and abandoned boy to one of the world’s funkiest and foremost entertainers.  Along the way, there is a stint in jail, living at his aunt’s brothel, getting into music via the church, and the women, the songs and the sidemen who Brown liked to control.  Nearly everyone had to call him “Mr. Brown,” and he was clearly in charge of the show, even imposing fines on his band members if they didn’t play to his standard of excellence.  Bozeman – who was equally effective as Jackie Robinson in the movie “42” – is in just about every scene, and he really delivers, whether pulsating with spins and splits on stage or bullying those around him.  I’ll give the movie 3½ cans, but Bozeman gets 4½.
18.  Still Alice* (2015) – Actress Julianne Moore is getting well-deserved praise (and an Oscar nomination) for her portrayal of a vibrant 50-year-old woman who experiences early-onset Alzheimer ’s disease.  A noted linguist with three grown children and a devoted husband, Alice notices that something isn’t quite right when she starts forgetting words or gets lost in familiar territory.  A trip to a neurologist and a few tests and months later, she is diagnosed with a disease that promises only to get worse, robbing her of her memory and her ability to perform the everyday tasks she could once do without thinking.  This sensitive and moving story shows how she begins to deteriorate, having good days and days where she puts the skin cream in the refrigerator.  The scene where she records a message for herself to view in the future is especially touching.  Alec Baldwin as the loving husband does a nice job but Moore is the one who stands out in the crowd, going from a sharp-eyed woman to one with a vacant look on her face, as the cloud she lives in settles in more and more.  By the end, you’d have to say that Alice doesn’t live here anymore.  4 cans and a likely Oscar for Moore.



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