We are halfway through the year and I have seen 86 movies thus far. Movies are rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna fish, with 5 being the top rating. Numbering picks up from the previous month and movies marked with an asterisk are ones I had not seen previously.
73. Rocketman* (2019) – This biopic of the legendary performer/songwriter/singer Elton John pulls no punches in its portrayal of a man overlooked as a child by his mother and rejected by his father. His trajectory to fame and fortune, which began when he was teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin, brings him access to sex, drugs and anything else that money can buy – all addictive and sometimes life-shattering. The man who had everything was literally trying to take his own life shortly before donning yet another of his outrageous outfits and bringing down the house. When he finally comes out to his mother – who says she always knew he was gay – she tells him he will never be loved, delivering yet another rejection. In the end, she is wrong, but it took a lot of pills and anguish for Elton to find true happiness. The musical genius that is Elton John began when he was just a very young lad, and his ability to pair the moving words of Taupin with unforgettable melodies resulted in more memorable songs than you can even count, songs that will live forever. This movie gets it all right, starting with the casting Taron Egerton as Elton. He is in every scene, and his portrayal gives the story power, pain and poignancy. He is to Elton John what Rami Malek was to Freddy Mercury in last year’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” for which he won the Oscar. Throw in the soundtrack and the costumes – each a remarkable repeat of the feathers, hats, boas, platform shoes and other attire favored by John (who, early in his performing career, is urged to liven up his wardrobe from his own drab clothing) – and you have a movie what does justice to a one-of-a-kind performer. And after all his trials and tribulations, Elton John is still standing. 4 cans.
74. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) – It is so hard to watch this movie and know that Robin Williams is no longer with us. He gives a tour de force performance playing the ex-husband turned nanny/housekeeper to Sally Fields and their children. The mostly unemployed actor is looking for a job and wants to spend more time with his children. Mom Fields needs someone to look after the kids when they get home from school. So, Daniel (Williams) dons a wig and dowdy clothes, affects an old fashioned accent and gets the job. Mrs. Doubtfire is a much better caregiver than Daniel was a father, and he works his/her way into the hearts of everyone – everyone except Field’s new boyfriend (Pierce Brosnan). This movie scores really high on the charm scale, and the exceptional talent that Williams always brought to his movies makes the viewer love him and his comedy bits. Rumor has it that the movie is being turned into a Broadway musical. I’d see it for sure, but I will miss Robin Williams. 4 cans.
75. Manhattan (1979) – Woody Allen directed, wrote and stars in this ode to the city he loves. His first lines in the movie summarize the sense of it perfectly, as his character, Issac Davis, says in attempting to write a book: “Chapter One. He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion. Eh uh, no, make that he, he romanticized it all out of proportion. Better. To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin. Uh, no, let me start this over.” This black and white beauty of a movie is visually stunning. That iconic shot of Allen and co-star Diane Keaton sitting on a bench looking at the Brooklyn Bridge is gorgeous. But these days I look at Allen as an exploiter of women, a fantasizer who believes it is plausible for a 42-year old writer to have a serious relationship with a beautiful 17-year old (Mariel Hemingway) and then dump her for his married best friend’s paramour (Keaton). Or that a gorgeous Meryl Streep would ever have married this mess of a man. Streep dumps him for another woman, which is soul-crushing, especially when she writes a book about their relationship. Typical of Allen films, he plays a neurotic who always gets the girl. He is an intellectual bully, always playing smarter than everyone else and barely tolerant of those he considers to be beneath him. But it is a visually arresting movie and there are some good lines. 3½ cans.
76. Terms of Endearment (1983) – This movie has been in the top 5 of my all-time favorite movies for years. According to IMDB, the movie website, it “follows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love, and her daughter’s family problems.” Talk about understatement! It IS about love – between a mother and daughter (Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger), a husband and wife (Winger and Jeff Daniels) a more mature couple (MacLaine and the man with the killer smile, Jack Nicholson), between two girlfriends (Winger and Lisa Hart Carroll), between a young mother and her children, and it remains as captivating and full of memorable lines as ever (“Give my daughter her medication!” “I was this close to a clean getaway.”) Rumor has it that Winger and MacLaine did not get along, but their sparring parts contain so much love that they had to be great actresses to pull it off. If you have never seen this movie, I implore you, watch it – NOW! 5 cans.
77. Late Night* (2019) – TV host Katherine (Emma Thompson) and her show are way past their prime, with the formidable Katherine refusing to realize that she needs to shake things up – until the network president tells her that she is going to be replaced. Along comes the earnest Molly (Mindy Kaling), straight from her QA job at a chemical plant, who becomes the first woman in the all-white male writer’s room. She is not quickly accepted, and with a dearth of real experience in comedy, her hiring seems more than a little preposterous. But she gets it, and she’s not afraid to share her thoughts with her icon boss. Thompson is not playing her character from “Remains of the Day” here; she seems like Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada,” over-the-top bossy and unyielding. But you know she’s going to soften, and that the rookie will save the day (more or less). This workplace comedy – written by Kaling, who knows a bit about the subject from her years on “The Office” – is about the best we can expect these days as far as funny movies are concerned. No great and memorable lines we will quote in 20 years, just arrogance from the fraternity of writers and the star herself and warmth and toughness from the new writer. I wish funny movies were funnier. Bring back “When Harry Met Sally!” 3½ cans.
78. Murder Mystery* (2019) – When you go to Netflix, this new movie will be among the first things you see. Do yourself a favor and don’t watch it. Jennifer Anniston is a good comic actor, but she plays her part just like the way she played Rachel on “Friends” or every other comedic part she’s had. Here she is married to a police detective (Adam Sandler) who can’t even shoot straight, and the two abandon their long-delayed honeymoon to accept an offer to join a large group on a private yacht. Immediately, the patriarch of the family is stabbed to death, setting off a chain of events in this “Murder on the Orient Express” type plot. Anniston is average, and Sandler is just as annoying as he always is to me. No worries about spoilers here: After waking up from an hour-long nap during the movie, I rewatched the majority of it and then decided it wasn’t worth a minute more of my time. Think of how much of your time I just saved you. 0 cans for an incomplete.
79. The Wife (2018) – I can’t believe that Glenn Close did NOT win the Oscar for her performance as a wife seething with resentment and disdain for her acclaimed author husband who has just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. She is the wife, the woman who carries his extra glasses and reminds him to take his pills. He publicly professes his love for her. And then he hands her his coat to hold. Underneath her placid exterior is an intelligent, talented woman simmering with disappointment bordering on rage. There were moments when I thought she (Glenn Close) would start to display some of the character she played in “Fatal Attraction.” Close gives an outstanding performance as the wife. Jonathan Pryce plays her renowned but hapless (in so many ways) husband, a proud and priggish man who thinks public proclamations of his adoration of his wife Joanie are enough. Christian Slater is a man trying to win both of them over so he can write the writer’s biography. Slater can be a smarmy sort, which fits this character perfectly. I can’t say more without giving away the plot, but I will reveal that no rabbits were boiled in the making of this film. 4 cans.
80. My Dog Skip (2000) – I took my then 7-year old nephew to the movies to see this film when it was originally released, and by the end, the poor kid had to pat my back and comfort me to get me to stop sobbing – and I don’t even like animals! Frankie Munoz plays Willie, a 9-year old boy who doesn’t quite fit in with the other kids in his small Mississippi town, an only child whose best friend is the star high school athlete next door. When Dink (Luke Wilson) goes into the Army, Willy’s parents get him a puppy, whom he names Skip. Soon Skip has the run of the town, trotting over to the grocery store for a piece of bologna and eagerly accompanying young Willie as he goes through the joys and experiences of growing up. Watching this today for the first time since 2000, I found myself sobbing once again. Diane Lane and Kevin Bacon play the parents, and there’s no need to reveal the plot since it is a slice of life story that needs to be seen. I don’t think I can watch it again, but I am glad I took the time for this boy and his dog. 4½ cans.
81. Sunrise at Campobello (1964) – Having just visited the Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park in May, I was interested in seeing this drama about President Franklin Roosevelt’s coping with the infantile paralysis that crippled him as it is portrayed in this movie. Ralph Bellamy plays a strapping FDR, roughhousing with his bunch of kids at Campobello and driving Eleanor (the gorgeous Greer Garson has been somehow de-beautified – especially with bad teeth) a little crazy. The diagnosis of his paralysis is devastating to a man with great political ambition. Would the public vote for someone in a wheelchair to be president? FDR’s advisor Louis Howe (Hume Cronyn) stays by his side, directing the comeback, until FDR can literally stand on his own. This is a dramatic – perhaps overly dramatic – account of the first steps taken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on his path to the presidency. 3½ cans.
82. Erin Brockovich (2000) – Julia Roberts portrays the real-life title character, an unemployed single mother with bills to pay and a failed lawsuit resulting from a car accident. Desperate, she talks her way into a job with her lawyer, and through dogged determination (and considerable use of her trashy wardrobe), she unearths a connection between real estate deals and medical issues related to pollution in California. Untrained as a lawyer or investigator, Erin talks to the victims and draws out the thread that ties together the neighbors and cancer. She and her boss (Albert Finney) go after Pacific Gas & Electric for dumping hazardous waste into the local water supply in a landmark case. Roberts took home the Oscar as Best Actress. 4 cans.
83. Echo in the Canyon* (2019) – This delicious documentary was playing at my favorite theater, Montgomery Cinema, and as soon as I saw the previews, I was hooked. The movie is a love letter to all those hip, cool musicians who took folk music and rock and created that iconic California sound, equal parts melody, poetry and a little free love and weed. Jakob Dylan serves as the tour guide and plays some of the tunes that made the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Cosby Stills and Nash and the Mamas and Papas the influential artists that inspired others and each other. But nobody inspired all of them as much as the Beatles, who begat Roger McGuinn, who influenced the so many more, and on and on we go. And then there was Brian Wilson, the musical genius behind the Beach Boys. They say Wilson’s iconic album “Pet Sounds” led to the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper, which stayed on the charts for three years. All of this music emanated from the windy road of Laurel Canyon, where these artists flocked and would show up with their guitars to play for and with each other. If you like the harmonies, melodies and lyrics of songs from the early to late 60s, this song’s for you. And you get to see the late, great Tom Petty being interviewed by Dylan. 4 cans.
84. Eight Days a Week - The Beatles on Tour*(2016) – Speaking of memorable music, this look at the Beatles on tour is a fantastic collection of their work just as they hit it big in the early 60s. Director Ron Howard stitches together tons of footage that shows them evolving from the lovable lads of Liverpool to truly accomplished composers and musicians. As they took on large and larger venues, they began to sacrifice their personal time and places to create new music in favor of performing – because their record deal was not as lucrative as the proceeds from touring. So much of the era’s best work is on display here, along with interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. It is just a shame they lasted such a short time together, but their prolific body of work will live forever. You can catch this film on PBS. 4 cans.
85. Nothing Left Unsaid; Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper (2016) – Some things you just can’t make up, and the life of Gloria Vanderbilt, the “poor little rich girl,” is at the top of that list. As a child, she was already an heiress of the Vanderbilt fortune when she became the object of a custody dispute between her very young mother and her aunt. She grew up, married and divorced many times, had children, became a fashion icon, a painter and an actress. And let’s face it, most of us wore her famous jeans – in fact, I still do. This documentary (aired on HBO), a series of talks between Vanderbilt and her son, journalist Anderson Cooper, covers it all, from her childhood to his. The toughest part to watch is her recounting how her son Carter, Anderson’s older brother, jumped from the window of his mother’s NYC penthouse to commit suicide. Gloria ust died in June, and this film recounting her engrossing life story was my way of paying homage to this unusual and fascinating woman. 3½ cans.
86. Fracture (2007) – If you like stylish, suspenseful murder mysteries, you can start with this one. Anthony Hopkins is aeronautics engineer who comes home early one day and shoots his wife in the head. Ryan Gosling is a hotshot prosecutor with one foot out the door, on his way to a cushy job at a fancy law firm, when he gets what seems to be a can’t-lose case. Except that the alleged shooter is annoyingly clever and gets under his skin. For some reason, the movie has never seemed to achieve the acclaim in deserves. Watch it and judge for yourself. 4 cans.
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