My 12 Favorite or Best 2017 Movies/Programs (including the number on the list so you can read my review):
12. Lion
18. The Florida Project
20. Moonlight
37. Newtown
60. The Keepers
67. Churchill
76. Wonder Woman
126. Wonder
133. Lady Bird
134. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
142. I, Tonya
148. The Crown
December Movies
131. Newspaperman – The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee* (2017) – If you remember Watergate, you’ll recognize the name Ben Bradlee. As executive editor of The Washington Post, Bradlee presided over the newsroom and the reporters (notably Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) who doggedly pursued the story later presented as the movie “All the President’s Men.” Bradlee was a tough, no-nonsense guy who insisted on having the facts to tell the story. A veteran reporter and foreign correspondent, he stayed at the Post for 29 years. This HBO documentary recounts the stories of his career and his life, revealing some things I didn’t know (his 3 marriages) and some things I had forgotten (the Post scandal over the fraudulent reporting of Janet Cooke). Well done. 4 cans.
132. Final Vision* (2017) – Not to be confused with “Fatal Vision,” this movie is the story of Joe McGuiness, author of the aforementioned book on the Jeffrey McDonald case. McDonald was a Green Beret, a doctor, whose young wife and children were murdered in their North Carolina apartment by what the Colonel insisted were hippie intruders. McDonald was eventually charged with their murders and convicted of the crime. Here, Scott Foley plays McGuiness, the author drafted by McDonald to tell his side of the story. And in the beginning, McGuiness feels sure McDonald is innocent. Given complete access to the doctor and all of his files, the author researchers the case thoroughly, and begins to have his doubts. I guess you could say this was a story about a story. The original book and TV movie (as was this film) with Gary Cole as McDonald, is far superior. 3 cans.
133. Lady Bird* (2017) – If you thought this movie had anything to do with Lyndon Johnson’s wife, you would be wrong. Christine (Saorise Ronan) has declared herself “Lady Bird,” calling it her given name since she gave it to herself. A high school student in Sacramento, she sees things just a little differently from her domineering (and annoying but means well) mother (Laurie Metcalf) and father (Tracy Letts). She needs to grow, to get out of her small environment and move to a larger stage. This is surely a coming-of-age film, with the young woman going through all the usual teenage experiences with boys, sex, friends (notably her BFF, played with a real sparkle by Beanie Feldman), parents and college applications. Though this path has been trodden before in many movies, Lady Bird brings a fresh approach and exemplary acting by all. 3½ cans, though I could be persuaded to go to 4.
134. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* (2017) – Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is angry. Her daughter was raped and killed and no one in the police department in her small town seems to be doing anything to solve the crime. Rather than adopt the vigilante route, Mildred decides to harass the local chief of police, William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) to force him to reopen the case. She rents three billboards on a little used road to remind people of the crime and excoriate Willoughby. Working on the case is the immature and volatile Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), who is part Momma’s boy and part gun-toting nut case. As one character says, “Anger begets anger,” and Mildred’s anger, Willoughby’s inability to solve the case and Dixon’s penchant towards beating up anyone in his way leads to bloodshed and death. People turn on each other, new alliances are formed, and the movie moves along unpredictably. There is a violent crime drama here, yet there is a degree of humor that is unexpected. McDormand gives another great performance, showing loss, anger, resolve, revenge and every now and then, a real heart. I really liked this crazy story. 4 cans.
135. The Only Living Boy in New York* (2017) – It is a challenge to explain this movie without giving away the plotline. Thomas Webb (Callum Turner), looking a bit like a young Richard Gere (but a more nerdy version), lives in Brooklyn and is trying to make his way in the world. The girl he adores is with someone else, his parents’ (Pierce Brosnan and Cynthia Nixon) marriage is on life support and he is afraid his mother will crack and his father is sneaking around with an attractive, seductive woman (Kate Beckinsale). Jeff Bridges plays his whiskey-drinking, world-weary but wise new neighbor, who takes the young man under his wing and becomes his confidant and sounding board. You have to see how this all ties together. So much of this movie reminded me of my all-time favorite movie, “The Graduate,” with Simon and Garfunkel music, a scene shot in the rain, a bedroom scene that reminded me of Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, and even a scene when Thomas has to run down the streets of New York. I found this one on Amazon, not in the movies, so if you have Prime, watch it. 4 cans.
136. A Christmas Story Live* (2017) – Let’s face it, these live, televised productions of old favorites (“The Sound of Music,” “Grease,” Peter Pan,” etc.), while admirable in their zeal to capture a classic, always come up short. In this case, I am thankful that I never shelled out money to see the Broadway production of one of my favorite Christmas movies, stuffed with forgettable music and translated to the stage. This telecast delivered that stage musical, and while the most memorable moments were included (the leg lamp, Ralphie and his determination to get that Red Ryder rifle, the tongue frozen to a metal pipe, among many others), I found the musical numbers to be a distraction. With a running time of 3 hours (including the commercials I skipped by wisely recording the program and watching it from the DVR commercial-free), it seemed interminable. When I watch the 1983 movie version on Christmas Eve, which I always do, I will appreciate it even more. The one thing I can say I enjoyed in this otherwise valiant but failed version was Jane Krakowski’s tap dance number with kids. That had to be challenging to pull off on live TV. Kudos to the cast and crew, but I thought this version was more dead than alive. 2 cans.
137. Singing in the Rain (1952) – Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Need I say more? Whether they are dancing or singing or acting, these three bring plenty of star power to the screen in this classic musical pastiche celebrating the end of the silent movie era and the start of “talkies.” Kudos to Cyd Charisse for a dance number with Kelly that has nothing to do with the plot (but everything to do with Kelly’s power as a star and choreographer), and to Jean Hagen for her part as the actress with a voice that sounds like the brakes on a train. The music is memorable and the dancing sublime. Considering that Debbie Reynolds was 19 and had no real dance experience, the outcome of this movie is truly amazing. Kelly brings athleticism and grace to the screen, and he is matched by O’Connor. One of the best Hollywood musicals in the history of film. 4½ cans.
138. Love Story (1970) – “What can you say about a 25-year-old girl who died?” Since that is the opening line in the movie, it’s not like I can spoil it for any of you who somehow have missed seeing this classic tear-jerker (stop reading now if you haven’t seen it but plan to watch one day!). Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) falls in love with fellow Harvard student Jenny Cavalieri. He is from a rich family, she is from a poor family, she loves her father, he has nothing but contempt for his father, they graduate, get married, live a poor life as he goes to law school and she gives up her dream of going to Paris to study music. When they try to have kids she suddenly comes down with a fatal bout of movie star disease and, well, if you read that first line…O’Neal and McGraw are gorgeous together, so attractive that you can’t take your eyes off them as they frolic in the snow and everywhere else, but neither of them can act. You may find this movie beyond sappy, or you may cry every time you see it. For me, having seen it as an emotional 20-year-old college student, it conjures up lots of memories, and I fall somewhere in between. If I did spoil it for you, remember that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” 4 cans and a box of tissues.
139. The Zookeeper’s Wife* (2017) – As the Germans begin their takeover of Poland in 1939, Jews living in Warsaw are being rounded up by the Nazis. The local zoo, run by Antonia and Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenberg), becomes a refuge for the escaped Jews, whom Jan helps bring to the basement of their home on the zoo grounds and where Antonia cares for them, along with her own son. As reality closes in, it becomes impossible for the Jews to leave the country forcing Antonia to use her supposed friendship with a Nazi officer to buy them time. Like any movie that I have ever seen about the Holocaust, I know I can only watch this story once. Daniel Bruhl is excellent playing the unctuous Nazi whose mind is not always on der Fuhrer or animal husbandry. Lots of tension, especially because we know this is based on a true story. 4 cans.
140. A Christmas Story (1983) – The real deal. I’ll take Ralphie nearly shooting his eye out by his Red Ryder Rifle any day in this original version over that disastrous live version listed above. There are so many funny lines, crazy scenes and warm memories. I know this is not everyone’s favorite, but I look forward to seeing it every year. 4 cans.
141. All the Right Moves (1983) – Stef Djordjevic (an early Tom Cruise role) is a big-time football player in a small, Pennsylvania steel town, and he knows that his only ticket out of this place is to get a football scholarship. But Stef and his coach (Craig T. Nelson) butt heads, with the Coach holding the cards on the kid’s future. Cruise went on to play similar angry, earnest young men in several other films. Lea Thompson is his high school girlfriend, who just wants to love Stef and study music. Much of this movie reminded me of one of my favorite TV series, “Friday Night Lights,” since both this movie and TV show revolve around high school football, where teenagers become gods in their small towns, playing football, getting the cute girls, drinking and counting on football and football alone to secure their futures. Even Stef’s number, 33, is the one worn by bad boy Tim Riggins in the TV show. 3 cans.
142. I, Tonya* (2017) – And now for a completely different kind of Christmas movie, here is the dramatic version of the story of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), who made headlines when her estranged husband, Jeff Gilhooly (Sebastian Stan) masterminded a plot to take out Tonya’s skating rival, Nancy Kerrigan just before the 1992 Winter Olympics. Mastermind is probably an overstatement, since Jeff counted on moronic “bodyguard” Shawn, who hired an equally inept henchman who bashed Kerrigan in the knee. Harding is one of those people who cannot get a break. Her foulmouthed mother Lavona (Allison Janney in a terrific performance) bullies and beats her, claiming that every cent she makes goes for Harding’s expenses (from age 4 on). Tonya marries Gilhooly just to get out of the house, and he beats her, too. Harding is clearly gifted on the ice, where she can do a jump no one else in the world can do, but she lacks the grace and style we demand of our skating icons (think Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill). The movie is told “mocumentary-style” (not quite on the level of “Spinal Tap,” but of that ilk), with the actor “characters” today reflecting back on the events and Harding hard life. As a fan of Olympic skating, I remember the whole Harding-Kerrigan rivalry and the attack on Kerrigan well. She eventually healed from her injuries, but Harding lapsed into a life-long sentence of notoriety that she will never overcome. I just want to know if Robbie really skated some of those routines. Greatly entertaining film. 4 cans.
143. The Holiday (2006) – Let’s start with the fact that Jude Law has NEVER looked better than he does in this charmer. Amanda (Cameron Diaz) has thrown out her live-in boyfriend in LA, while a continent away, perpetually sad Iris (Kate Winslet) learns that her erstwhile boyfriend is engaged to someone else. Amanda finds that Iris’ cozy cottage in Surry, England, is available for a house swap, and, before you can say, “Where’s my passport?” the two women are trying out living in a new place and hoping to find their own peace. Amanda gets the best part of the swap when Iris’ older brother Graham (Jude Law) drops in, not knowing his sister is in LA. Meanwhile, at Amanda’s sprawling Hollywood home, Iris is happy to swim in the pool, make friends with the elderly screenwriter next door (Eli Wallach) and meet Miles (Jack Black), a colleague of Amanda’s. This movie is a Christmas rom-com at its best, with appealing characters, a plot good enough to keep me interested, and an inevitable ending that just made me smile. 4 cans.
144. Love, Actually (2003) – Who ISN’T in this British movie? There’s Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy…only missing British actors were Helen Mirren and Dame Judi Dench. This is a conglomeration of overlapping love stories, with Neeson trying to recover from his wife’s death, Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister with a crush on a staff assistant, Rickman flirting with an affair…no point in trying to name them or all the plotlines. Just see it and enjoy it and remember that love is all around. 4½ cans.
145. The Darkest Hour* (2017) – Winston Churchill is making quite a comeback of late, appearing in this account of the German invasion threat to Britain in 1940 as well as “Dunkirk” from earlier in the year, and a triumphant first season on Netflix’s “The Crown” (thanks to a great performance by John Lithgow). Here Gary Oldham takes on the glowering Prime Minister, who, at the beginning of the movie is not the favored candidate for the job. He becomes the PM because of his perceived ability to work in collaboration with the two parties in the British House of Lords, and, despite some genuine doubts about him (he naps during the day and drinks much more than he should), he fronts a formidable posture and determination that will not permit the Brits to negotiate with Germany or give up fighting even with the odds against them. This movie moved a little slowly for me, but the warm touches throughout (at one point Churchill notes that all babies look like him, which I’ve always believed was true!) bring in some humor in an otherwise serious story. Oldham’s make-up is remarkable and should earn some recognition in the upcoming awards season, as should the actor himself. 3 cans.
146. Marjorie Morningstar (1958) – A favorite film from my teenage years, this melodrama stars Natalie Wood as Marjorie Morgenstern, a Jewish girl who aspires to be an actress. At a summer resort, she meets much older Noel Airman (Gene Kelly), a charismatic performer who captures her under his spell. Her parents don’t approve of him or of her falling in love with him, and Noel, while much older, is smitten with the beautiful young woman. Marjorie comes from a wealthy family and is accustomed to getting what she wants, and she wants Noel, whose height of success seems to be stuck at South Wind, the summer camp where they met. When his former assistant, Wally (Martin Milner) scores big on Broadway, Noel feels even more pressure to have a hit show. Will he change his life, marry Marjorie, and will she become a successful actress? This movie captivated me as a teenager and still held my interest, corny though it may be. My only real complaint is that they play the theme song, “A Very Precious Love,” about every 10 minutes. 3 cans.
147. Call Me By Your Name* (2017) – It’s summer, it’s Italy, and young Elio (Timothee Chalomet) gets to lounge around his family’s gorgeous estate, playing and studying music in a magical setting. And then Oliver (Armie Hammer) turns up, a strapping, impossibly handsome American who is there to work with Elio’s father, an archaeology professor. Everyone immediately loves the confident, easygoing Oliver, who is charming, wise and friendly. And Elio, who is exploring the boundaries of his sexuality with a local girl, is drawn to the 20-something (who, to me, looked at least late 20s) in a way I’m not sure he expected. As the intern to the father, Oliver initially resists the 17-year old’s advances, but he is interested. There is a lot of cinematic foreplay before these two take the plunge – and I don’t mean in a nearby pond. Oliver is old enough to deal with the budding relationship, while Elio’s feelings are stronger and less realistic. The sensuality of their relationship and the lushness of the settings give the story a languorous sense that makes you feel a little voyeuristic. The two men seem much less desperate about their nascent affair than the lovers did in “Brokeback Mountain,” but this film is more of a coming of age story. Beautifully shot and sensitively presented. 3½ cans.
148. The Crown* (2017) – No, it is not a movie, but this 10-episode second season of the Netflix series remains worthy of inclusion and recommendation. Last year we watched as the young Elizabeth (Claire Foy)ascended to the throne and had to learn about being the sovereign with some on-the-job training by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and others. This year she has her sea legs and can stand on her own, dealing with political crises, a succession of Prime Ministers, the wandering eye of her husband, Phillip, the occasional embarrassments of her sister Margaret, and the birth and development of her children. There was much here that I did not know, especially about Prince Phillip (Matt Smith), and it is handled deftly. While The Crown is not quite up to the standards of the late, great Downton Abbey, it is smart, lavish and wonderful to watch. Thanks, Netflix, for my new British obsession. 4 cans.
149. Spencer’s Mountain (1962) – Henry Fonda stars in this warm family drama written by Earl Hamner, the creator of the Waltons. He heads a large family, living modestly (at best) but full of love and fun. James MacArthur plays his son, Clayboy (and similarities with the TV version John Boy are purely intentional), who does not want to stay on the mountain only to end up working at the local quarry with his father and passel of uncles. He qualifies to go to college, but will there be money to send him (this point qualifies as suspense in this movie). Honestly, I wouldn’t have watched this movie but I got it mixed up with “Shenandoah,” with James Stewart, and should have watched that one. Oh, well. 3 cans.
150. New Year’s Eve* (2011) – Taking the formula of the much superior “Love Actually,” this film boasts a bunch of familiar faces in small roles as everyone in the film is counting down to New Year’s Eve in New York. There are overlapping stories and characters in multiple vignettes, including a rock star and a chef (Jon Bob Jovi and Kathryn Heigel), a nurse and an elderly patient (Holly Berry and Robert DeNiro), a man looking for his dream girl (Josh Duhmel), a TV producer hoping the ball will work (Hillary Swank), a young man helping an older woman live out some dreams (Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer)…too many others to mention. This was a pleasant diversion on a snowy day and appropriate for the day before NYE. 3 cans.
151. Stronger* (2017) – Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is just an average guy from Boston who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Going to see his on-again, off-again girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany) run in the 2013 Boston Marathon, he is near the finish line when a bomb explodes, severely injuring his legs. Bauman is the epitome of the stereotype we associate with guys from Boston – a guy who loves his Red Sox, drinking with his boys and hanging with his family. When his legs are amputated because of the injuries, he must go through the grueling process of rehab, and he needs all of the help and support he can get. Because he was close enough to the bomber to describe him to authorities, Bauman becomes a reluctant hero, but he suffers from flashbacks and would just as soon be left alone. The movie does an excellent job of showing the everyday challenges he must endure doing the activities of daily living that we all take for granted. I’m not sure how they shot this movie to make it appear that Gyllenhaal had no legs below his knee, but that effect was very convincing, as was Gyllenhaal as the angry, bitter victim. 3 cans.
152. Goodbye, Columbus (1969) – Before she played a Harvard student from a poor family, Ali McGraw played Brenda, a Radcliffe girl from a rich family who has a fling with Neil (Richard Benjamin), a nice enough Jewish boy but not the kind you take home to your Patimkin parents. He’s from the Bronx, she’s from Westchester, the daughter of a hard-working father (Jack Klugman, who is terrific) who earned his way into the upper class and delights in spoiling his children. This movie is much more than a “love story;” it is an indictment of the values of the nouveau rich, the way they judge and treat others they perceive as not in their class. She is infatuated, is gorgeous and adventurous, which Neil finds attractive even though he knows her family frowns on his job as a librarian and his lack of ambition. Neil is equally judgmental, taking measure of everything they do or say, but he is too smitten to give her up. There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, with the best being the wedding of Brenda’s meathead (but nice) brother. If you’ve never seen a horde of people storm a buffet table and scoop the head off a rooster made of the chopped liver, you will here. I hadn’t seen this movie in years and I had forgotten the specifics of the social commentary, which is accurately depicted. 4 cans and a big scoop of chopped liver.
The Full 2017 List:
JANUARY
1. Hidden Figures* (2016) – Who knew a
movie about math could be so engrossing? Not since “A Beautiful Mind” and
“Apollo 13” has Hollywood paid this much attention to mathematics or to the US
Space Program. Here, NASA is preparing for the launch of the first manned
spacecraft, and all those white men in white shirts are in charge of the
important, smart stuff. Except there is a separate building that houses a
bunch of really smart Black women who do the behind-the-scenes calculations
that will ultimately enable John Glenn to orbit the earth. Dorothy Vaughn
(Octavia Spencer) is the de facto supervisor; she runs the unit but without the
official title of supervisor, and she can figure out how to get a computer
running without a manual. Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) is the math
genius who is asked to join the white male math nerds, and she can put those
men to shame. That is when she isn’t literally running a half mile back
to her old building so she can use the bathroom designated for “colored
women.” Their friend and co-worker Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) has the
temerity to dream of being an engineer. There are lots of examples of the
routine discrimination exercised by her white cohorts, both men and
women. This movie is based on the true story of these brilliant, unsung
heroes, without whom the race to space would have been lost. The outrage
is why this story went untold for decades! 4 cans.
2. Bright Lights* (2016) – HBO’s portrait
of Hollywood mainstay Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher went from
interesting to poignant with the December deaths – within 24 hours – of first
Carrie and then her mother. Debbie was
Hollywood royalty, co-starring with the legendary Gene Kelly in “Singing in the
Rain” at age 19, and continuing to perform until just before her death at
84. Her brilliant, witty daughter
Carrie, best known for her star turn as iconic Princess Leia in “Star Wars, her
sardonic wit and her battle with mental illness, lived next door in Beverly
Hills and maintained a close relationship with her mother after many rocky
years. But this documentary doesn’t
reexamine their careers as much as it presents their lives, each worried about and
caring for the other. Carrie tended to
her mother’s frailties, but after her many years of substance abuse, the younger
Carrie wasn’t in great shape herself. Older
here, cigarette in one hand, Coca Cola in the other, she spends a lot of time caring
for her mother, and even manages a visit to her father, renowned crooner Eddie
Fisher. Just the Debbie Reynolds-Eddie
Fisher-Elizabeth Taylor conundrum could occupy a documentary, but this one is
broader than that. There’s no people
like show people. They smile when they
are low, and all of these folks have their rock bottom moments. Nevertheless, the show must go on, so Debbie
dons the sparkles, spangles and beads and hits the stage while Carrie makes
sure there is a place for her mother to rest.
The fact that they died within 24 hours of each other is testament to
their bond. This is a moving program and
very revealing about show business and a special mother-daughter
relationship. 4 cans.
3. The Founder* (2016) – I’ve never been
much of a McDonald’s fan, and, after seeing this movie, my disdain for the fast
food franchise remains intact. The
McDonald Brothers started a fast food business – not a chain, at least not yet
– with a few “restaurants” (their term) in the San Bernardino, California, area
in the 1950s. Traveling salesman Ray
Croc finds out about them when they order an unprecedented 8 milkshake machines
from him, and, after a tour of their restaurant by the brothers, he is hooked,
both on the food itself and the potential for this business as a
franchise. The food is fast but it is
good under the McDonalds, who insist on high standards, cleanliness and real
milk in the milk shakes. Where they
stress quality, Croc is more interested in the growth potential of the modest
enterprise. They strike a deal with
Croc, who proceeds to find more and more franchisees to expand the business,
but whose money issues slow down his efforts to conquer the hamburger
world. Michael Keaton dominates the
movie as the persistent, indefatigable and scheming Kroc. Soon he realizes that the profits are in the
real estate, and he flips the franchise model, angering the original owners and
consigning them to non-founder status.
I’m not going to tell you how it ends, but Keaton portrays Kroc as a
shyster with little integrity, lots of brashness and considerable smarts. I’ll give this one 3½ burgers and a side of
fries.
4. Gleason* (2016) – You may never have
heard of Steve Gleason, a former NFL football player who was stricken with
ALS. This documentary on his life as an
athlete with a big heart and an undersized frame starts before he gets his
diagnosis. He is a free spirit, in love
with his wife, and retired from football when he starts to exhibit signs of a
neurological problem that leads to his ALS diagnosis. Most successful sports movies contain a heavy
dose of tragedy, but in many of them, it is overcome by our hero. Not here.
Team Gleason was his charity, set up to fund equipment – such as voice
systems activated by eye movement – for ALS patients, who, like Gleason,
eventually lose their ability to speak.
But the heart of this movie rests with Gleason’s attempts to build a
lasting relationship with his baby son before he is just a memory. He works diligently at communicating with his
son via a series of video journals recorded while he can still speak, and,
after that ability is gone, he plays with his son and makes memories he hopes
will be lasting. This movie is painful
and powerful. There is still so much to
be done to combat this dreaded disease, and Gleason will be remembered for
fighting the good fight when his time is done.
3½ cans.
5. Beaches* (2017) – When Bette Midler
stomped through the part of CC Bloom in the original version of his chick flick
about two long-time friends, you probably felt she was born to play the part
and that no one else should ever attempt to tackle that role. And you would be right. This new Lifetime TV version, starring Idina
Menzel as CC and Nia Long as Hillary (the part originated by Barbara Hershey)
has a tall order and comes up short.
Menzel can sing – she can belt out “Wind Beneath My Wings” with
conviction – but Bette is one-of-a-kind.
This remake isn’t as bad as I feared it would be, but it made me think
about the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Go watch the original. 3 boxes of tissues.
6. Is OJ Innocent?* (2016) – I have now
completed the OJ Simpson trifecta, having previously watched the documentary
series about him and the American Crime dramatization (as if it had to be
dramatized) that aired last year. This
investigative miniseries speculates that OJ may be innocent of the murders of
his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman and that his son Jason is the
actual killer. Several investigators
examine evidence that was not included in the criminal case and use footage
from the civil case brought by the families where OJ was convicted. There’s plenty of blood evidence, a knife, a
purported eyewitness, a time card and plenty of other items to once again stir
the pot. The producers urge the viewers
to come to their own conclusions all while offering some credible and some
not-so-credible facts and theories. In
the end, you either believe he did it or you don’t. I believe he did it. Two bloody gloves.
7. Patriots’ Day* (2017) – It is always a
challenge to make a movie that is suspenseful when everyone is familiar with
the real-life story on which it is based.
Director Peter Berg takes on the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon and
makes it engrossing. The footage tends
to be graphic at times, which lends to the authenticity of the tragic
event. There is plenty of blood, two
determined but not so smart bombers and the tough as nails police department
and residents of the greater Boston area, who are justifiably proud of their
community for its support. Mark Wahlberg
is Tommy, a cop with an attitude about authority but a man devoted to his work.
Kevin Bacon plays the FBI agent assigned
to the case and John Goodman is the police commissioner. There are lots of bombs and gunfire and
plenty of help from the people whose city has been attacked. A little too much violence to suit me, but
considering the topic, it is to be expected.
3½ cans.
8. 20th Century Women* (2016) –
When you go to a movie with a friend and you stop at ShopRite to pick up a few
things afterwards and the shopping is the highlight of your trip, that doesn’t
speak well for the movie. Annette
Benning plays an eccentric single mother in her 50s who doesn’t mind writing
creative notes to excuse her 15-year old son from school. A child of the Depression, she isn’t sure she
can teach Jamie everything she thinks he needs to know in the feminist 70s, so
she enlists the aid of a punk artist (Greta Gerwig) and Jamie’s 17-year old
best girlfriend (Elle Fanning) to teach him all about women – as if these two
flakey women have cornered the market on wisdom. There are uncomfortable scenes where a dinner
party is interrupted with a discussion on menstruation, where Jamie gets beaten
up by a friend while discussing the female anatomy, and more too numerous to
mention. The movie is based on the real
life of screenwriter/director Mike Mills.
I wish we had stayed strangers.
While it is good to see another perspective on parenthood and feminism,
all I could think about was when this movie would finally end. Can you tell I didn’t like it? 1 can.
FEBRUARY
9. The Notebook (2004) – I haven’t watched
this movie in a long time, and you know that I love me some Ryan Gosling. I’m not going to give you the story, because
who doesn’t already know it? This
romance is so heartwarming, so romantic, and oh, that kiss in the rain with
Rachel McAdams! Also aboard are James
Garner and Gena Rowlands. Good story,
great cast, and did I mention Ryan Gosling?
4½ kisses in the rain.
10. Becoming Warren Buffett* – Warren Buffett
is not your average octogenarian multi-billionaire. The so-called “Oracle of Omaha” is a fairly
average guy, just one who is much smarter and more patient than most people
when it comes to investing. His wealth
came from his management of Berkshire Hathaway, and his philosophy has been
simple and consistent: Buffett believes
in compounding. Invest a dollar and let
it grow. That’s why his BH stock has
gone up so much, without stock splits and without rapid turnover. He lives his life in the same way, constantly
reading about the financial markets, retaining the same core group of employees
(about 25 of them have been with him for decades), operating out of the same
office building and living in the first house he purchased. If the market is up, he allows himself the
more expensive McDonald’s breakfast on his way to work. It is a formula that has succeeded, as
evidenced by his estimated $67 billion net worth. Friends like fellow billionaire Bill Gates
set the standard for philanthropy, and they have inspired Buffett to leave the
bulk of his fortune to the Gates Foundation, where his money will help millions
of people around the world. This is an
engrossing story about a fascinating man and well worth investing 90 minutes to
watch on HBO. 4 cans.
11. Fracture (2007) – It looks like a slam
dunk case of attempted murder for assistant prosecutor Willy Beachum (Ryan
Gosling; yes, I’m on a Gosling roll this month). Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is arrested in
his own house for the shooting of his now-comatose wife. The authorities have his signed confession
and there is a witness who heard the shot.
But the murder weapon can’t be found and the arresting officer was
having an affair with the victim. And
then there is the accused, a brilliant, manipulative man who decides to act as
his own attorney. Willy catches this
case a week before he is scheduled to leave the prosecutor’s office for a much
more prestigious and lucrative job in a big, cushy law firm. What could happen? This movie is suspenseful, intriguing and
arresting (in a sense…). Watch it
carefully because you won’t see the twists and turns coming. 4 cans.
12. Lion* (2016) – Remember “The Girl on
the Train?” Well, this movie is “The Kid
on the Train.” In a desperately poor
region of India, five-year old Saroo tags along with his older brother as Guddu
attempts to find some money-making activity.
He leaves Saroo on a bench in the train station until he can return, but
Saroo awakes, finds himself all alone, and disobeys his brother’s instructions. He boards an out-of-service train that takes
off for a long journey with this poor lost child. Living on the street in an area thousands of
miles from home – and where the people speak a different language – he uses an
incredibly astute sense of danger to protect himself. Eventually, he winds up in an orphanage with many
other lost or abandoned children. But
Saroo is one of the lucky ones, as he is adopted by a loving couple (Nicole
Kidman and David Wenham) who take him to Tasmania to live. He grows up (played by Dev Patel) haunted by
his past and yearning to reunite with his birth family. But how can he find them, so many years
later? This film is heartwarming and
harrowing at the same time. The little
boy (Sunny Pawar) who plays young Saroo is a revelation. This movie is based on a true story, which is
amazing. 4 cans.
13. The Nice Guys* (2016) – Even watching Ryan
Gosling on a snow day couldn’t save this movie.
Gosling and Russell Crowe team up – when they aren’t beating each other
up – as private investigators in search of an actress who may or may not be
dead and a porn movie that may or may not exist. This film is supposed to be of the “film
noire” genre, which I believe is the French phrase for “everything is dark and
hard to see.” When they are not engaged
in machine gun fights and falling off balconies and other mayhem, the two leads
do have a good degree of chemistry, but you could have left this one in the
chem lab. Sorry, Ryan, you were good,
but the movie? Not so nice. 2 cans.
14. The Good Guy* (2010) – This
contemporary drama looks at the lives of some young, hip New Yorkers. Tommy (Scott Porter) is always under pressure
at the Wall Street bank where he works, and Daniel (Bryan Greenburg), a
genuinely nice guy (no relation to the movie listed above) is hired to be a
replacement for one of the guys on Tommy’s team. These guys are young, rich, aggressive and
misogynistic when it comes to women.
Tommy’s very nice girlfriend, Beth (Alexis Bledel) believes him and
believes in him – and she shouldn’t, because Tommy is a cheating, lying
scumbag. In my opinion, of course. Daniel, on the other hand, is not, and you
root for him NOT to become like the guys in the office. Not a great movie (not even a good title),
and proof again that Alexis Bledel will never exceed the limited acting ability
she demonstrated in “Gilmore Girls.” 3
cans, at best.
15. The Impossible* (2012) – The Impossible
would be “The Improbable” if I didn’t already know that this movie about the
deadly 2004 tsunami in Thailand was true.
Kudos to the director, J. A. Bayona, and the tech crew for a terrifying
reenactment of the tsunami hitting a hotel where Henry and Maria (Ewan McGregor
and Naomi Watts) are vacationing with their three young children. Maria is swept away but manages to stay with
her oldest son, who turns into the caretaker for his seriously injured mother. The audience doesn’t know initially whether
she will survive or whether the rest of the family has been killed. The aftermath of the tsunami is equally
harrowing, as people desperately search for their loved ones. This film is a celebration of the human
spirit, not just among the injured, but also among those who love them and help
each other. 3 cans.
16. The Great Santini (1979) – Bull Meechum
(Robert Duvall) is neither great nor is he named Santini. But the Marine fighter pilot is the alpha
male to his squadron, the first one to gather the guys for drinks and pull
outrageous stunts, to defy authority even while he enforces it menacingly at
home. He demands respect from his wife
(Blythe Danner) and kids, the oldest of whom is a teenager coming of age and
beginning to question his father’s authority.
Bull is relentless, whether he is moving his military family from place
to pace or playing any kind of game with the kids. He sees himself always as a winner. There is a famous scene where his son
(Michael O’Keefe) beats him in basketball for the first time ever, despite
Bull’s attempt to change the rules to slither out of the loss. When the son won’t comply, Bull starts
throwing the ball at his son’s head, as if to shake a change of mind out of
him. The action takes place in the South,
and there are subplots regarding racism and white supremacy that help show that
O’Keefe’s character has somehow developed the empathy his father lacks. Duvall is at his military best here, prepping
for his part in “Apocalypse Now” to some extent. Not a fun movie to watch, but well made from
a novel by Pat Conroy. 3½ cans.
17. Catch Me If You Can (2002) – As the
Sinatra song goes, “I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and
a king.” Frank Abagnale Jr. wasn’t quite
ALL of those things, but substitute in airline pilot, doctor and lawyer and you
get the background of a very young man who bluffed his way through multiple careers
while cashing in on check fraud, eluding the frantic attempts of his personal
Jauvert, an FBI agent named Carl Hanratty (trusty Tom Hanks), to capture
him. Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an
earnest and charming teenager when he figures out how to dupe older and less
wise adults, talking himself into jobs, passing the bar and posing at a
pilot. He studies his craft, gleaning
information from people in his chosen professions who are all too willing to
share. And he proves himself to be a
more-than-worthy opponent to the FBI as he dupes Hanratty the first time they
face off. This movie is based on the
true story of Abagnale, who was a clever and cunning con man. Catch it if you can. 4 cans.
18. Paterson* (2017) – I asked a friend of
mine who had already seen this movie whether it was good. She described it as “a week in the life of a
bus driver,” and that pretty accurately sums it up. Adam Driver plays a pleasant guy who wakes up
early every morning, kisses his wife (Golshifteh Farahani), eats his Cheerios,
grabs his Stanley lunch pail and walks to the bus depot to start driving
passengers around Paterson, NJ. If you
didn’t know anything about Paterson before, it is more than just the
spectacular Great Falls. It is the home
of poet William Carlos Williams, a man much admired by Paterson the bus driver,
himself a poet. The driver comes home
each night for dinner, dutifully walks his dog and heads to the local bar for
one beer. His supportive wife encourages
him with his poetry and fancies herself a bit of an artist, always painting
designs on the furniture and her clothing.
I hope I didn’t ruin the plot, because that is essentially the entire
movie. It is a quiet, sweet little
story, the kind of movie where if you happen to fall asleep for a few minutes,
you won’t miss much. Roses are red,
violets are blue, the most tuna cans I can give this movie is 2.
19. Hell or High Water* (2016) – This buddy
movie/road movie/chase movie/cops vs. bank robbers movie is not your typical
good guys vs. bad guys story. In some
ways, the bad guys are actually good guys, but to reveal more wouldn’t be fair
to the screenwriter or the viewer. Let’s
just say that Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), a crusty old Texas Ranger who is
about to retire, catches this case and in his laconic but experienced way he
sets out to capture the crooks, brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben
Foster). They are clever enough to elude
him at first, but this IS his last go-around, which gives him more
motivation. The dialog here is sparse
but meaningful. You get the picture of
the economics in these dusty Texas towns, where robbing a bank this easily
hasn’t been done since Bonnie and Clyde.
I definitely had not seen this story before, but it was worth the $5.99
rental to keep me busy on a Saturday night.
4 cans.
20. Moonlight* (2016) – This movie is a
powerful look at a very lonely man, taunted for his homosexuality as a boy, who
grew up poor, neglected and very much alone in life. Mahershala Ali plays Juan, a local drug
dealer who finds young Chiron as he hides from taunting bullies. Chiron is so quiet that Juan isn’t sure
whether he can actually speak. Juan
becomes a friend to the boy, teaching him to swim and introducing him to his
girlfriend Teresa, who becomes a lifeline for him when he needs to flee from
his drug addict mother and just find peace somewhere. We see Chiron as a young boy, then a high
school student, and finally, as an adult.
His life is consumed with loneliness, the only respite coming from a
brief sexual encounter in high school with Kevin, a macho classmate who hides
his homosexuality. This heartbreaking
film is not easy to watch but it is a sobering look at isolation, forcing the
viewer to experience the pain of not being able to acknowledge one’s own
identity. Chiron is trapped in a world
without relief from suffering, where he is tagged as gay and traumatized
throughout his formative years. 4 cans.
21. Three Days of the Condor (1975) – Joe
Turner (Robert Redford) reads books for a living. His employer?
The CIA. He and the others in his
non-descript office become targets when he uncovers a terrorism plot that the
CIA does not want disclosed. Luckily for
Turner, he is out to lunch (literally) when intruders invade the office and
murder all of his co-workers. The look
on Redford’s face throughout most of the film is one of fear and confusion, as
he tries to figure out what happened and why, and while he has to protect
himself from a paid assassin (Max von Sydow).
He drafts a random woman (Faye Dunaway) to assist him, threatening her
with a gun and holding her captive.
Personally, I would have gone with him willingly, but I’m not in the
movie. This movie offers plenty of suspense
and a commentary on government agencies and their abuse of power. It may be old, but it remains timely. 3½ cans.
22. The Armstrong Lie (2013) – We’ve seen
great examples lately of people telling lies so loudly, so often and so
vehemently that their falsehoods almost sound true. This was the case with revered cyclist Lance
Armstrong, who suffered a huge fall from grace when he finally admitted that
his Tour de France victories were achieved at least in part because he was
using banned substances, doping, whatever you want to call it. He cheated.
Only he doesn’t think so, because so did all of his competitors, which
is borne out by evidence. It was a
question of keeping the playing field even, according to Armstrong. OK, big deal, right? Except it was, because Armstrong duped the public,
the cycling leadership and the US government, who paid him through the
sponsorship provided by the USPS. He
made enough money to fly private jets, live a lavish lifestyle and employ a
well-known doctor who created a “program” intended to keep Armstrong fit and
healthy, with a little help from his pharmacological friends. And he got away with it for a long time,
demanding acquiescence by his teammates and outfoxing (with the help of his
doctor) all available tests designed to detect banned substances. Yes, he raised millions for cancer through
his Livestrong Foundation (remember those ubiquitous yellow rubber
wristbands?), and yes, he persevered and overcame cancer to win the Tour 7
times. But now, those titles have been
stripped from him, his sponsors have dropped him, and he cannot compete in any
sport where the Anti-Doping Agency has jurisdiction. This is a hard look at an impossibly driven
and arrogant guy who wanted to win at any cost, who defamed others in the
course of protecting himself, and whose rise was followed by the inevitable
fall. I see a parallel here. 4 cans.
MARCH
23. At All Costs* (2015) – As a sports fan,
it pains me to think about the business aspects of athletics, but that is the reality
of athletics at ANY level. This
documentary about boys’ AAU basketball gives an inside look at “amateur”
athletics, where basketball players as young as pre-teens are tracked and
rated. But the all-consuming monsters
here are the AAU teams and leagues, funded generously by shoe companies and
headed by well-meaning coaches who preside over their young charges with
authoritarianism and the promoting the dream of a D-1 scholarship and an NBA
career. The coaches establish a rapport
with the players and their families, but their altruism is tempered by their
need to win, thus insuring future financial support. The players criss-cross the country to play
in showcase tournaments, elevate their visibility and garner that
scholarship. Gone are the days where
allegiance to the hometown high school team was enough of a motivator. According to this movie, the high school
coach is a minor influence, supplanted by the AAU coach and organization. Yes, some good can come of this in the form
of educational opportunities, but with that comes more games and more chances
to blow out a knee and miss out on a future so fervently desired. Such are the demands of the meat market that
is college athletics. 3½ basketballs.
24. The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms*
(2015) – Let me start by saying that math is not my forte. So why on earth
would I be drawn to a documentary on algorithms? Well, I like anything logical, that shows how
things work, and algorithms – which are a process or set of rules to be followed in
calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer –
are behind much of what we demand in today’s society. That includes everything from internet
searches to calculating directions to managing warehouse operations to on-line
dating, where algorithms work behind the scenes to match and sort huge volumes
of data very quickly to provide answers.
Google was built on a search algorithm.
The host of this BBC documentary does a masterful job of illustrating
how algorithms work for us and highlighting how they help get information we
depend on for everyday life. I can’t
explain algorithms in much detail, but I’m happy they are around, and I’m happy
I stumbled on this demonstration of their importance. 3 cans.
PS – I know few people who would watch this movie but many people who
would question my sanity and interest in it.
25. Don Jon* (2013) – I thought I was watching
an episode of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” with this movie. Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who also wrote and
directed), is a “player,” an Italian stud whose mission in life is to score
with the hot ladies and keep his apartment, car and himself clean and tidy in
between sexual conquests. He goes to
church and the gym, works out religiously while chanting his Hail Marys as
penance for the porn obsession that he confesses each week to his priest. That’s until he’s hit with the thunderbolt
that is Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a gum-chewing Jersey girl with all the
physical requirements he demands. Yet no
one and nothing can match the fantasies of the thrills he gets from watching
porn. When Barbara discovers that Jon’s
sex life often does not need her, she dumps him. After mourning for at least a few minutes, he
strikes up a relationship with pot-smoking Esther (Julianne Moore), a much
older classmate, who leads him into a better kind of existence. Jon seems like a self-centered meathead who
will never be satisfied with an actual woman and who will continue to indulge
himself. The only reason I watched this
movie is that I couldn’t find anything else on a snowy day and that I like
Gordon-Levitt (no relation) – but not so much here. 2 cans.
26. The Railway Man* (2013) – The movie is
based on the true story of British WWII veteran Eric Lomax (Colin Firth), a man
who loves railroads. He meets a young
woman Patti (Nicole Kidman) while riding the train, and they get married
quickly – before she really gets a chance to know him. Soon she finds out that while serving as an
officer in the British Army in Japan, Lomax was taken as a prisoner of war and
tortured. Ironically, he and his cohorts
are forced into the hard labor of building a railroad line. Years later, he feels drawn to return to the
place where he was captured and to confront his torturer, a man named Nagase
(Hiroyuki Sanada). This is a moving tale
of a man trying to reconcile his past and his present. 3½ cans.
27. Mr. Church* (2016) – This quiet little
melodrama stars Eddie Murphy in a role diametrically opposed to his more
well-known turns in “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Trading Places.” Here he is a man hired to cook for a little
girl and her mother, a young woman who is dying of breast cancer. He is a great cook, and soon becomes a
treasured part of the family, but in a dignified, proper way, always called
“Mr. Church” by his employer and her daughter Charlie. Although the dying woman only has 6 months to
live, she far exceeds her grim prognosis, and Mr. Church is always there for
her and Charlie. The movie builds through
their unconventional relationship, which lasts for years. It’s not possible to say more her without
giving away the story. There are
numerous plot holes and a bit of maudlin play.
This movie reminded me in a way of “Driving Miss Daisy,” depicting
caring black people in subservient roles, but Mr. Church himself kowtows to no
one. 3 cans.
28. Sunset Boulevard (1950) – Picture it:
Faded silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) easing down that long
staircase and sneering into the camera.
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” Now try NOT to picture Carol Burnett in the
role, which she did as a memorable send-up on her hilarious TV show. In this, the classic Billy Wilder film, Norma
is desperate to regain her position as the Queen of Hollywood, a part she
hasn’t played since silent movies became extinct. She is holed up in a decaying mansion on, yes,
Sunset Boulevard, reliving her glory days as her faithful servant Max caters to
her every whim. Then along comes
screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden), who accidentally arrives there and is
almost immediately drawn into the hands of the manipulative and exceedingly
generous Madame Desmond. But they are
manipulating each other, he because he needs the work she offers (and doesn’t
mind her lavish gifts) and she because she is used to being in charge. Will Joe ever reclaim his real life? Will Norma once again shine on screen? There are signs of dementia as the
increasingly demanding and desperate Norma tries to romance the much younger
writer, who is torn between helping himself and saving her. I watched as a pre-requisite to the Broadway
musical with Glenn Close that I saw the next day. The movie gets 4 cans. The Broadway show was outstanding and gets 5
cans.
29. Nights in Rodanthe (2008) – I guess if
I were going to watch a movie with two of my favorite actors as the leads
(Richard Gere and Diane Lane), I should have picked their much superior co-starring
stint in “Unfaithful.” This is your
typical Nicholas Sparks story of two great-looking people in North Carolina. They meet by accident and fall madly in love
during a nasty storm. Adrienne Willis
has a troubled marriage. Dr. Paul
Flanner is divorced, estranged from his son, and, oh, by the way, a local
resident died on his operating table and the family wants to sue him. She’s tending her friend’s inn and getting
away from her errant husband, and Flanner, the only guest, is in town to
apologize to the family of the woman who died.
It rains – hard – and they have to batten down the hatches before they
can fall in love. This is a trite and
manipulative story that I cannot reveal more of without giving away the
ending. Their attraction is immediate
and their love is sudden; it rains and he goes away. Watch it to find out the whole story. One bonus – Viola Davis plays Adrienne’s
BFF. 2½ cans.
30. More Than a Game* (2008) – I admire
people who are prescient enough to seize opportunities to record events and
news before they become significant. In
this case, the filmmakers tracked the athletic success of a basketball team in
Akron, Ohio, BEFORE its members were even in high school, when they played in
an old community center. And, as good
fortune would have it, one of the members of that team became NBA superstar
LeBron James. James even as an
adolescent was clearly a superior talent.
Together with several of his childhood friends and dedicated coaches,
the kids had a chance to win a championship.
It took them until James’ senior year to move to the top of the national
high school rankings and become the national champions, playing all-comers and
flying around the country to do so. As a
basketball fan, I find this stuff fascinating.
James often looked like a man among boys, his body maturing faster and
his strength evident while at least one of his teammates hadn’t cracked five
feet tall yet. I think this documentary
also shows the influence that dedicated coaches have not just on developing
winning teams, but also on the development of boys to men, and good men. The young men in the movies remain LeBron’s
best friends even today, while he was gone on to a career that puts him among
the elite players in the game. 3 ½ cans.
31. Redwood Highway* (2013) – Shirley
Knight is one of those actresses who always come across as believable,
effortless. Here she escapes her assisted
living facility to hit the highway – on foot – determined to spite her
interfering son and walk 80 miles to attend her granddaughter’s wedding. Along the way she is lucky enough to
encounter people who help her on her mission, providing food, tips and even
medical help when needed. That’s where
the story – to me – begins to unravel a bit.
She walks through a redwood forest to get to Oregon, where many years
back she married her late husband, a man killed at a young age while in the
Service. She fantasizes a bit and
demonstrates some possible signs of dementia, but she is determined and
stubborn. Nothing explodes, nobody gets
hurt, and this is a bittersweet little movie worth seeing if only for Knight’s
performance. 3 cans.
32. Woman in Gold (2015) – I am intrigued
by the premise here, so much so that I have seen two other movies on this theme
and have visited the museum where the painting of the title is on display. The superb documentary “The Rape of Europa”
covered the seizure of art from Jews by the Nazis in the period leading up to
and during WWII. George Clooney’s “The
Monuments Men” tried to inject some humor in the story of a team of men trying
to recapture these treasures and return them to their rightful owners. That’s where this story picks up, with Maria,
having moved to the United Sates to flee Austria during the war, trying to
reclaim the “Woman in Gold” painting of her aunt by the famous artist Gustav
Klimpt. But the Austria Museum where the
painting has long resided claims its ownership, so Maria (Helen Mirren,
terrific as always) teams up with a young attorney whose family she knows
(underplayed beautifully by Ryan Reynolds) to bring a lawsuit first in Austria
and then in the US to get the painting back.
The odds are long and the legal angles can be a little hard to follow,
but this pair is ready to pull out all the stops. 4 cans
33. Return to Me (2000) – This endearing
movie is about a broken heart. Grace
(Minnie Driver) has lived her whole life with a bad heart and is failing when
she is the lucky recipient of the heart of a woman killed in a car accident.
The victim’s loving husband, Bob (David Duchovny) is devastated, until he meets
Grace, having no idea that her good health is thanks to his wife’s heart. When she figures it out, can she tell him,
and will it change things between them?
Grace is surrounded by family and friends (including Bonnie Hunt,
Carroll O’Connor as her grandfather, Jim Belushi) and has plenty of love and
support, but can she give her heart of Bob once she knows it once belonged to
him? If I could pick someone to be
friends with, Bonnie Hunt, who co-wrote and directed this charming gem, would
be high up on my list. This movie is charming
and will make you smile. Let’s just say
it has a lot of heart. 4 cans.
34. Custody* (2015) – Sorry, Viola Davis,
but if I see that you are in a movie, I expect a very high standard. Not that Davis’ performance is anything other
than stellar, but the movie? The only
real reason to watch it is Davis herself, playing a stoic judge who runs a
tight family courtroom and presides over a case with Sara, a young mother (Catalina
Sandino Moreno) who is in trouble with the law but fighting desperately to
retain custody of her two young children.
Davis may control her courtroom, but in real life, her marriage is
falling apart and there are issues with her college student son. Meanwhile, Sara’s public defender Ally
(Hayden Panetierre) has her own issues – personally and professionally. Too much time is spent on the arcane rulings
of the court and not enough on the problems faced by these women, each of a
different socio-economic class and each facing stereotypes. Well done, but I wanted better. 3½ cans.
35. Driving Lessons* (2006) – Not to be
confused with “Learning to Drive,” this British movie is about 17-year old Ben
(Rupert Grint), a socially awkward boy living with his religious parents and
ready to break free. He takes a job (at
his mother’s urging; his mother is Laura Linney) as an assistant to Evie, an
elderly actress (Julie Walters) who is as eccentric as you expect of older
actresses in this kind of movie.
Although he’s not quite sure how to assist Evie and he’s not all that
resourceful, he soon becomes essential to her existence. This is a coming of age movies, as Ben must
learn to drive and to deal with the demands of the women in his life. Some of the situations are far-fetched, but
the relationship between the demanding actress and her young charge is mostly
heartwarming. 3 cans.
36. The Loving Story* (2011) – Love is
love, right? Well, not in Virginia in
1958, when Richard Loving, a white man, married Mildred Jeter, a woman of black
and Cherokee heritage, in Washington, DC.
After the wedding, the young couple returned to their home state to
live. Several weeks later, they were
arrested, charged and convicted pf miscegenation, a law designed to prohibit
the mixing of races. Virginia was one of
21 states with miscegenation laws on the books then. The Lovings had no idea they were violating
the law and moved to Washington to avoid jail.
But their respective families lived in Virginia and they wanted their
kids to grow up there, so they wrote a letter to then-Attorney General Bobby
Kennedy, asking for his help. He
recommended they contact the American Civil Liberties Union, which they
did. The Lovings were not activists, and
they were not looking to end up in front of the Supreme Court to make their
case. They just wanted to enjoy their
married lives together in their home state.
I missed the dramatization of this case in the move that came out in
2016 (“Loving”), but this HBO documentary covers the ground in a factual,
low-key way. It is truly abhorrent to remember
that there were laws like this around as recently as 2000, when Alabama became
the last state to drop its. You can’t
help but think about the irony of the name of this film – Loving – which well
reflects the couple’s devotion to each other, to their families and to the
State of Virginia at a time when state governments made it illegal for them to
do just that. 4 cans.
APRIL
37. Newtown* (2017) – This devastating
documentary aired on PBS’ Independent Lens series. It recounts the grim story of the school
massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, where 20 innocent 6-7 year old
children were killed along with 6 adults – including teachers and the mother of
the deranged shooter. Much of the film
focuses on the parents of just a few of the children. The shared not only their memories of the
loves they lost but also their hopes to ban assault weapons from private
use. Why anyone needs an assault weapon
is not within my realm to understand. I
find it ironic, however, that under the current administration, the new
secretary of Education thinks that weapons should be allowed in schools in case
of an attack by a bear. Let’s count the
26 lives lost on that fateful day and compare that number to all of the lives
ever lost to an incident in a school caused by a bear. This tragedy should NEVER be forgotten or
repeated. Those poor kids and teachers
died for no reason, and others will, too, until we come to our senses in this
country and enact real gun control. And
bear in mind, that once funding for public television disappears, you won’t
find programs like this one available again. 26 cans.
38. Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery*
(2017) – The only real mystery in this documentary miniseries is why Casey
Anthony was not convicted of killing her two-year-old daughter, Kaylee. Back in 2008, the young Florida mother
admitted that her daughter had been missing for 30-days but insisted she was
abducted by her nanny. She proceeded to
lead the authorities down countless blind alleys while her parents and the rest
of the country sat back amazed by her audacity and prayed for Kaylee’s return. You might remember the details – the abandoned
car with the stench of a dead body coming from the trunk, the images of Casey
partying while no one knew her daughter was missing, her computer searches for
chloroform, courthouse visits between Casey and her parents – all recorded and
played out on national TV (thank you, Nancy Grace). All this and more details turn up in this
examination, and all of the evidence points straight to Casey, portrayed as a
young, pathological liar who must be the murderer. But the one smart thing she did was hire an
attorney who deflected the attention everywhere else. In the end, Casey apparently got away with
murder. But while she is not in an actual
prison, the erstwhile “Tot Mom” will never escape the notoriety and disdain of
the American public. Truth is stranger
than fiction. 4 cans.
39. The Wedding Singer (1998) – I’m not
much of an Adam Sandler fan, but this lighthearted story about Robby (Sandler),
a wedding singer who falls for Julia, a waitress (Drew Barrymore), even though
she is engaged to another guy – a creepy womanizer (Matthew Glave) -- is sweet
in its simplicity. Robby is engaged,
too, but he is left at the altar by his fiancée and becomes friends with Julia
and helps her with her wedding plans. Of
course they fall in love, but she’s engaged, he’s honorable, and what happens
is as unlikely as it is predictable. And
I was charmed anyway. 3 cans.
40. Bull Durham and 41. For
Love of the Game (1999) – As baseball season arrives, what better
doubleheader to see than two Kevin Costner movies about life on and off the
diamond? In Bull Durham, Kevin play
Crash Davis, a career minor-league catcher whose highlight was a brief “cup of
coffee” in the Major Leagues – or, as he calls it, “the show.” Crash is signed by the Bulls mainly to tutor
young pitching phenom Calvin “Nuke” Laloosh, a kid with plenty of potential but
who doesn’t understand or respect the game the way Crash does. His tutoring extends beyond the mound to
Nuke’s budding relationship with baseball groupie Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon),
who has reached home plate with many a ball player in her time. She finds Crash appealing, he finds her
intriguing, but she has committed her summer of love to studly young Nuke. This wonderful, funny movie captures minor
league life on the road, the platitudes of baseball, the camaraderie of the
clubhouse, and the difference between a relationship with a boy and with a
man. In For Love of the Game, Costner is Billy Chapel, 40-year old renowned
pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, a future Hall of Famer who is still performing
well on the field but facing a future without baseball. The Tigers are in New York to play the
Yankees often enough for Billy to meet and court Jane (Kelly Preston), a writer
with a teenaged daughter. Most of the
action takes place off the field, focusing on the relationship between Billy
and Jane, until Billy has the unique chance at pitching a perfect game. And what good is fame and fortunate when
there is no one beside you to enjoy it?
Bull gets 4 baseballs and Love gets 3½.
Bring on “Field of Dreams!”
42. Gifted* (2017) – I get all the various
actors named Chris confused – Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans – and I do
like them all. Here, Chris Evans is
Frank Adler, the uncle/caregiver of an enormously bright little girl, the
daughter of his late sister. Little Mary
(McKenna Grace, the owner of the longest eyelashes this side of Christine from
“Flip or Flop”) is 7 and has never gone to school, having been taught by her
uncle. But he wants Mary to be a real
kid, to make friends and to do what other kids do, so he enrolls her in the
local elementary school. Bored by the
simple math problems her teacher gives the class (“How much is one and one?”), she
immediately dazzles Ms. Stevenson by calculating a tough multiplication problem
in her head – and adding the square root.
What 7-year old can do this? Mary
is offered a spot at a prestigious school for advanced students, but neither
she nor Frank wants her to go. Frank’s
British mother, Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), herself an accomplished mathematician,
disagrees and sues for custody. I won’t
reveal the case, but the central themes are the strong bond between Frank and
Mary (and her one-eyed cat, Fred) and the concern of everyone: What’s best for
this brilliant little girl? Octavia
Spencer has a small part as the landlady in Frank’s community who doubles as a
friend/mother figure to Mary. The movie
is predictable in parts but full of love and very touching. 3½ cans.
43. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks*
(2017) -- Oprah Winfrey produced and stars in this screen version of the
best-selling book by Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne) about Henrietta Lacks, a woman
whose cancer cells were harvested and used without her knowledge or permission
(she wasn’t asked). Winfrey plays Debra,
Henrietta’s daughter, a woman desperate to know more about her mother who
agrees to help Skloot uncover the mystery behind her mother’s cells. A poor woman, Henrietta is treated for
cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1951. All we glean from the movie version of the
much more detailed book is that Henrietta died, but her cells lived on and
helped medical researchers in their work on a variety of diseases. Debra, who seems to suffer from some form of
mental illness, sometimes reluctantly and sometimes enthusiastically works with
“her reporter” – as she refers to Skloot – to find out what really
happened. There is a good deal of
resentment by the family for not being informed about her mother’s cells or
medical records. This movie, while
interesting, is not nearly as engrossing as the book. I never thought I’d hear myself saying that I
needed more science, but that’s what the book provided that the movie lacks –
so to speak. Oprah does a credible job
in her role, but she is so much larger than life that it is difficult to
separate the celebrity from the actress.
Byrne brings a little too much enthusiasm to the part. I loved the book – which spent years on the
best-seller list – much more than the movie.
3½ cells.
44. Castaway (2000) – What can I say about
this movie that I haven’t said before?
There are vast periods of utter silence, as Chuck Noland (the
redoubtable Tom Hanks) finds a way to survive alone on an island after drifting
ashore following the crash of his FedEx plane.
Chuck leaves behind his beloved girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) to take
the ill-fated flight, with only her picture in an heirloom locket giving him
strength to survive. His only company is
Wilson, a volleyball that becomes his BFF.
But the part I love the most is that he does survive and he gets to see
Kelly again, and she tells him, “You are the love of my life.” The lump in my throat is bigger than Wilson
the volleyball. The only other thing I’d
say is never to travel with Tom Hanks.
“Castaway,” “Apollo 13,” “Sully” and “Captain Phillips” prove that he could
be dangerous to your health. 5 cans.
45. Hello Dolly (1969) – Budding superstar
Barbra Streisand was just 25 when she was tapped for the title role in the
movie adaptation of the Broadway musical made famous by Carol Channing’s iconic
performance. Let’s face it – this is NOT
a great movie. There is a lot of
slapstick silliness, and we are induced to believe some sort of romance between
Streisand’s Dolly Levi, matchmaker extraordinaire and young widow, and the much
older and completely irascible Horace Vandergelder, played by Walter Matthau
with more than a tad of reluctance.
Presumably he cheered up when the check cleared. The story is simple: She’s a matchmaker,
looking for a wife for the grumpy old man, and decides she is the best
candidate for the job. All she has to do
is convince him, which takes us through innumerable musical numbers and
extraneous characters. This movie is an
overblown pastiche of a musical, despite a few memorable songs and one dynamite
cameo by Louis Armstrong himself. So why
watch? Because this week I am going to
see the Broadway revival, starring the Devine Miss M herself, Bette
Midler. The whole point of the show is
to provide an actress like Channing, Streisand or brassy Bette with a star
turn, and I have no doubt Bette will more than hold her own. As for this production? You can let this parade pass you by. 2½ cans.
46. Parenthood
(1989) – This Steve Martin comedy became the loose basis of a TV show I loved,
and although the movie can only cover so much ground in two hours compared to a
TV series that lasted for about 7 years, the movie is nonetheless entertaining. Although I don’t have kids, I certainly
laughed my way through some of the trials and travails of the Buckman
family. Martin is Gil, the main
character, trying his best with wife Karen (Mary Steenbergen) to be a good
father. When Cowboy Dan doesn’t show up
for his son’s birthday, Gil fashions a cowboy outfit complete with “chaps” made
from the bathroom throw rugs. Meanwhile,
his sister Helen (Dianne Wiest) is flummoxed by her daughter Julie (Martha
Plimpton) and her choice of boyfriend, or, as she calls him, “that Tod” (Keanu
Reeves in a part essentially similar to his role in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent
Adventure.”) When mom accidentally gets
Julie’s pictures from the local Fotomat (this movie is OLD), she is amused and
outraged by the casual sex between the two young lovers. “You can almost see his face in this one,”
she says. Parenthood is a tough job, and
this movie reminds the viewer of much of the joy, some of the disappointment
and all of the fun. 3½ cans.
47. My Blue Heaven (1990) – In a completely
different role, here Steve Martin is mobster Vinnie Antonelli, a fish
completely out of water as a native New Yorker forced to move to San Diego as
part of the witness protection program.
He only stands out from the neighbors in his new community when he mows
the grass in his sharkskin suit, teaches his FBI agent Barney (Rick Moranis)
how to merengue and tips everyone in sight.
Martin’s trademark white hair may be gone, but his smile and silliness
are intact. Barney is charged with the
job of keeping Vinnie alive and making him fit in while awaiting his testimony
in a New York mob case. But trying to
get Vinnie to keep a low profile – and alive – is a real challenge. Nothing earthshaking here, but good for a few
grins. Martin is terrific. 3 cans.
MAY
48. Legally Blonde (2001) – Reese
Witherspoon bursts onto the screen in this movie about a sorority girl who
decides to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School and enroll to win him
back. Blessed with a 4.0 average and a
way to win over recruiters, her Elle Woods has no problem gaining admission. Getting adjusted is a bit more of a
challenge, but Elle is more than just adorable.
She is plenty resourceful and smarter than even she knows. Will she win the boyfriend back, and does she
really want to settle for someone who dumped her because she is “too
blonde?” There is nothing profound here,
but it is great fun to watch Elle Woods in action. 3½ cans.
49. Harry Benson: Shoot First* – Imagine
being on the scene, armed with a camera, at some of the most memorable moments
in history. Harry Benson was a
photojournalist who became a celebrity photographer – not one of the unpopular
paparazzi, but an invited guest brought in to record history in the
making. From his pictures of the Beatles
landing in the US to his photos of President Nixon waving from the helicopter
as he departs the White House to his shot of Senator Bobby Kennedy on lying
shot on the floor of a hotel in California, where he was assassinated, Benson
was there, adding his skill to capture the moment memorably and build our
collective retrospective of iconic moments.
He took pictures of every famous person you can name, from chess master
Bobby Fischer to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, with the great Muhammad Ali,
and all four of the Beatles fooling around together. These are legendary photos of legendary
people taken by one of the most legendary photographers of his time. 4 cans of film.
50. Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall
of a New York Fixer* (2017) --
Richard Gere is the title character, Norman, a “fixer” – more like a
fixer-upper, really – whose work is to forge connections between people of
influence. In this case, Norman somehow
aligns himself with the man who a few years later becomes the Prime Minister of
Israel, closing the deal on their friendship by buying him a pair of very
expensive shoes. Norman is not above
stalking his prey on the street where they live or where they run, all trying
to broker relationships and deals between them.
He overplays and overstates his own importance, so when his synagogue
needs $14 million to save its building from destruction, he “seems” to have an
anonymous donor for half the needed funds.
It’s hard to pin Norman down, to have him explain exactly what he does
as a businessman/consultant. I found him
brash and desperate, not quite on the “Glengarry Glen Ross” scale, but clearly
losing his influence or unable to reach the people he needs to keep playing the
game. At least here, Gere is no longer
the sexy young man or the handsome, silver fox.
He appears smaller and with much less charm and power than ever
before. Maybe it is my distaste for
power brokers and people who seem to generate nothing of real value, but I
found the movie unduly complex and somewhat annoying. Bring back that gorgeous Gere I used to
love. 2½ cans.
51. The Great Gilly Hopkins* (2015) –
Sometimes she is a sullen teenager, and other times she is a feisty but caring
young woman truly lost in life. Gilly
(Sophie Nelisse) never knew her mother and has bounced around foster homes, so
she is naturally suspicious and withdrawn when she arrives on the doorstep of the
relentlessly cheerful and devout Mrs. Trotter (Kathy Bates), a veteran foster
mother who already has a young boy living in her house. Gilly can be nasty and she certainly doesn’t
take any guff. Her goal is to find her
birth mother, and she sends a note disparaging her current living situation as
she runs away to reunite with her long-missing mom. When her grandmother (Glen Close) arrives to
reclaim her, she realizes that the Trotter house is her home and these people
(including the blind next door neighbor who comes for dinner every night) are
the family she craves. Gilly is a tough
kid to love, and she has faced so much adversity in her short life. Will she be able to stay with the people who
love her? I liked this movie despite its
sometimes overwrought moments. 3 cans.
52. The Bridges of Madison County (1995) –
Every now and then, I just HAVE to see this perfect little movie. The plot is simple: A photographer (Clint Eastwood) passing
through Iowa to take pictures of bridges meets housewife and mother Francesca
(the glorious Meryl Streep) and over a four-day period, they fall deeply in love. But she can’t abandon her family (which is
conveniently out of town when they meet) any more than she will ever forget
that brief interlude when she stopped being a mother/wife and reclaimed her
status as a woman. Beautifully shot,
this movie is all about subtlety – a small hand gesture here, a bowed head
there. As her grown children go through
Francesca’s belongings after her death, they learn about this unknown chapter
in their mother’s life and it forces them to not only reconsider her but to reexamine
their own lives and relationships. Meryl
can do no wrong. 5 cans.
53. The Color of Money (1986) – Fast Eddie
Felson (Paul Newman) isn’t quite so fast anymore. The former pool shark now shills for other
players, and Vincent (Tom Cruise) is his prodigy. But Vincent has an ego as big as his towering
head of hair, and he doesn’t want to lose, despite Eddie’s advice that you have
to lose sometimes in order to set up the next score and win big. In pool, it is all about the con, the hustle
and the dump to raise the stakes for a better payoff. Eddie’s wisdom faces off against Vincent’s
braggadocio, and who will really be the hustler here? The coolest thing about this movie is the
range of pool shots these guys make.
How’d they do that? 3½ cans.
54. Passengers* (2016) – I’ll admit right
up front that I have trouble suspending my sense of reality (I could barely
tolerate watching “Gilligan’s Island”), so watching this science fiction film
seems like an unlikely choice for me.
However, Chris Pratt is one of the Chris stars I like, and Jennifer
Lawrence is everywhere these days, so I decided to give it a try. The premise is that a contingent of
passengers have left earth to travel on a spaceship bound for a new home. They are in suspended animation during the
trip, which is scheduled to take decades.
But the sleep pod containing Pratt’s Jim malfunctions, and he wakes up
90 years early (I feel ya, man). Alone
on the ship, surrounded by other humans in their sleep pods, he makes friends
with the automaton bartender (Michael Sheen) and tries to keep himself
busy. But the sleeping beauty Aurora
(Lawrence) is too tempting, so he finds a way to interrupt her beauty sleep
and, as you can guess, they bond. The
spaceship is pretty cool, and somehow is stocked with all of the clothes (and,
in Aurora’s case, make-up and jewelry) that one would need during interstellar
travel. I won’t give anything away,
except to say that despite my inability to suspend my sense of reality, I found
this view of life in space a blast. 3½
cans.
55. A Walk on the Moon (1999) – Start with
Diane Lane, an actress that I love. She
plays Pearl Kantrowitz, and she, her mother-in-law (Tovah Feldshah) and her
kids are spending the summer of 1969 at a very modest camp/resort in the
Catskills while hubby Marty (Liev Schreiber) schelps back and forth to the city
to his job repairing TV sets. Pregnant
at a very early age, Pearl now feels bored and trapped in her role as wife and
mother, so when the Blouse Man (Viggo Mortensen) shows up in his magic bus,
she’s receptive to flirting. She is
living at a time when feminism is making women rethink their roles, a time when
Neil Armstrong lands on the moon, and when the Woodstock music festival is
taking place nearby. Both Pearl and her
teenage daughter are curious about what else there is for them as women and
eager to stretch their wings. I love this
movie, with its authenticity about the era, the sexual awakening of the two
women, the fear of growth and of loss. I
love the announcements about the arrival of the knish man (voiced by Julie
Kavner, of Marge Simpson and “Rhoda” fame), I love the acting and seeing the
characters watch in awe as Armstrong takes that giant leap for mankind (and
Pearl takes a pretty major step of her own).
What a time in history, and what a
way to combine that era and these characters!
4 cans.
56. The Wizard of Lies* (2017) – This HBO
dramatization of the real story of disgraced investment mogul Bernie Madoff
doesn’t break new ground, but it provides a deservedly harsh look at a man
whose Ponzi scheme cost his investors millions of dollars. For years, Madoff (Robert DeNiro) persuaded
people to give him their money so he could invest it for them. His firm employed his own sons, who were
unaware of the fact that the trades, the statements – everything – were
lies. His elaborate fraud went
undetected for years, as investors enjoyed better than average returns, never
realizing that he was using the new money to pay off the earlier
investors. Madoff was a genius when it
came to making people beg him to take their money. The many victims here lost their life savings
thanks to his greed and hubris – he did not want to lose – ever. In the end, he lost it all. And even as he pleaded guilty, he maintained
that the investor themselves were responsible at least in part because of their
own greed. He destroyed lives, including
that of his family, and ended up in jail, where he will finish his days alone. Well done, Bernie. 4 cans.
57. About Alex* (2015) – A cast of
20-somethings attempts to recreate the angst and vibe of the classic “The Big
Chill” here but comes up short. A group
of college friends with varying relationships gathers after the suicide attempt
of one of their own. Alex (Jason Ritter)
– the same name as the successful suicide friend in TBC – is lonely and needs
his friends, all of whom show up when his attempt to kill himself doesn’t
work. There are couples and would-be
couples and plenty of history between and among the group here, none of whom
are as established as the crew in “The Big Chill.” They aren’t as interesting, either. And the soundtrack from “The Big Chill”
stands alone. Sorry, but I found it
impossible to watch this movie without referring back to a much better and
previous telling of a very similar story.
That one gets 4 cans. This
one? 2 cans.
58. Princess Diana – Her Life, Her Death and
the Truth* (2017) – It is hard to believe that nearly 20 years have passed
since the shocking death of Princess Diana of Great Britain. This CBS program examines her
less-than-charmed life, marrying England’s most eligible bachelor, Prince
Charles, having two sons, and enduring the humiliation of his affair with
Camilla Parker Bowles. But the heart of
this program is the examination of Diana’s death, along with the man she was
dating at the time, Dodi El-Fayed, in a suspicious crash in a tunnel in
Paris. Fleeing paparazzi and traveling
far above the speed limit, their car sideswiped a vehicle as it entered the
tunnel and crashed into a barrier, killing Diana and Dodi along with their
driver Henri Paul. Tests later proved
that Paul was drinking drunk, and that the accident was not a conspiracy by the
Royals who forsook Diana after her divorce from Charles. The show looks at her life, her
relationships, how she became a Princess, her ancestral home, and her kindness
and generosity to the afflicted and underprivileged, traits that are continued by
her sons. I forgot how simply beautiful
she was, and how unhappy. 3½ cans.
59. Dirty Dancing* (2017) – The big
question here is why. Why remake a
classic? Why make us endure it for three
hours? And why cast someone (Abigail
Breslin) so completely unsuited for this role?
Breslin plays the Jennifer Grey part of “Baby” Houseman, a bright but
unworldly girl who falls in love with Johnny Castle (Cole Prattes), the dance
instructor at Kellerman’s Catskills resort.
The appalling casting casts a pall over the entire movie because there
is no chemistry between the leads, because she looks much younger than 18 (and
is dressed in such dowdy clothes that her wardrobe looks 45) and because his
falling for her is about as likely as Ryan Gosling actually being my next
husband. There are a few differences in
the plot here, which we all know so well.
Baby’s parents (Bruce Greenwood and Debra Messing) have meatier roles
than the parents in the original and they are going through marital
troubles. And Johnny himself turns out
to have gotten into enough trouble as a youth that he ended up doing jail
time. The characters also get to sing
some of the songs. The dancing overall
is OK, but Prattes is no Patrick Swayze and Breslin? Decorum prevents me from truthfully
commenting on her lack of dance prowess.
And I cannot neglect to mention the most egregious faux pas of all, when
the waiter in the dining room of Kellermans’s offers Baby’s father a pastrami
sandwich, which he says they serve with cole slaw and mayo. Mayo?
On a pastrami sandwich? No
respectable Jewish joint would EVER serve pastrami with mayo. Sacrilegious!
The only saving grace here was that I watched it with a friend, and
together we had the time of our lives. We
just didn’t do the lift. And when Baby
and Johnny do it, she looked like she was about to bowl him over and flatten
him. This movie wasn’t as good as
“Sharknado,” no less the original Dirty Dancing. 1 can.
60. The Keepers* (2017) – This engrossing
series comes from Netflix, the folks who offered up an equally compelling
documentary last year, “The Making of a Murder.” Like the earlier series, this 7-part program
tackles a murder. In 1969, a young nun
teaching at Archbishop Keogh High School near Baltimore goes missing and two
months later her murdered body is found.
The case remains unsolved, but two of the now-grown women who were
students at the school, Abbie Schaub and Gemma Hoskins), join forces to examine
the case. They sort through newspaper
articles and TV clips, determined to unearth the truth. They interview anyone involved with the
victim and the school. It turns out that
the attractive young woman, Sister Cathy Cesnick, might have been about to blow
the whistle on the school counselor, a priest named Father Maskell, who was
abusing a number of the girls in the school.
For years, the murder went unsolved, and Maskell continued his
horrifying acts with young Catholic girls who were too afraid and too ashamed
to come forward. This documentary covers
the case and their stories in great detail – almost too much detail. It wasn’t until years later, in the 1990,
that one of the young victims of the abuse starts to recall the memories of the
trauma she suffered and, along with another victim, turns to the courts. Old crimes are hard enough to prove, but
given the power of the Catholic Church in Baltimore, this case was almost
impossible. The amateur investigators
start a Facebook page that ultimately opens the door to many other former
students who suffered at the hands of the abusive priest. As in the Oscar-winning movie “Spotlight,”
the list grows, and so does the cover-up by the Archdiocese. Meanwhile, the crime, and any justice for
Sister Cathy, begins to fade. This is a
fascinating and disturbing tale of morally reprehensible people who are allowed
to continue to have access to children and who get away with their abuse by
terrorizing them into silence. I thought
this program would move along better if there had been a voiceover narrator
rather than using so many long set-up shots, but the number and depth of the
interviews with the principals in the story carries the narrative well. Not for the faint of heart. 4 cans.
61. Broken Flowers* (2005) – I always
thought that no one can do nothing better than me, but Bill Murray comes in a
close second. Here he is Don Johnston, a
computer mogul who doesn’t own a computer and who is content to sit on his
couch listening to music and doing, well, nothing. One day he receives an unsigned letter from a
former girlfriend – of whom there are many – letting him know that after they
broke up, she discovered she was pregnant.
She never told him, and she raised the son on her own. Now, she says, she thinks her son might be
looking for his father. Don is hardly
flummoxed by this news. He is so unmoved
that you’d think the letter said there was a Macy’s One Day Sale. But his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright) is
captivated by the news and plots out an itinerary for Don to visit each of his
former girlfriends who might be the author of the mysterious letter. Don visits each one, crossing all but one off
the list of potential mothers. In small
parts, they are Sharon Stone, Julie Delphy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton,
each with her own life, some of which are modestly amusing (Lange is an “animal
communicator”). With his deadpan
expression and less dialog than Tom Hanks while stranded on that deserted
island in “Cast Away,” Murray is the perfect actor for this understated
role. Which doesn’t mean I liked or
recommend the movie – unless you are a huge Bill Murray fan. I liked him better in “St. Vincent,” where he
was equally unmoved, a bit of a reprobate, but ultimately a good guy. 3 cans.
Barely.
62. The Lovers* (2017) – Michael (Tracey
Letts) is a philandering husband, constantly contacting his aggrieved wife Mary
(a hardly-recognizable Debra Winger) with excuses so he can spend time with his
paramour Lucy (Melora Walters). But Mary
seems relieved, because she is involved in an extramarital affair of her own,
with younger and hunkier Robert (Aidan Gillen).
Although Michael and Mary reside in the same house, their paths barely
cross, and both of them know this sham of a marriage is nearing an end. They – and their partners – are just waiting
for their son Joel (Tyler Ross) to come home for a visit so they can tell him
in person. But somewhere along the way
to resolution, Michael and Mary find each other again and start a fervent
romance, with each lying to their other lover to spend time together. What exactly IS fidelity anyway, you might
ask. Is it cheating if you are secretly
having an “affair” with your own spouse?
There were people chuckling in the theater, but the movie never elicited
that response from me. It was a story I
had never seen or considered before, and I felt real sadness for the characters
(particularly Winger as Mary, with lines of anguish etched into her face). Different isn’t necessarily bad, but it isn’t
necessarily good, either. 3 cans.
63. The Great Escape (1963) – No, this is
NOT a vacation flick. It is about a
group of military prisoners of war at a German prison camp in WWII who bond
together and dig their way out. Back in
the day, films used to be made that included large casts of notable names. Here we have James Garner (his war movie “36
Hours” is even better than this one), Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough,
Charles Bronson, James Coburn and many more as the imprisoned men who cleverly
manage to dig their way out of the camp and back into society. But will their escape stand? Or will their new identities hold up? This movie is based on a true story and
brings humor and humanity to an otherwise life-threatening and dismal
situation. Great performance all
around. 3½ cans.
JUNE
64. If You’re Not in the Obits, Eat Breakfast*
(2017) – Actor, writer, director, raconteur and nonagenarian Carl Reiner takes
center stage in this clever documentary about growing old but not extinct. Reiner, who created (with manic Mel Brooks)
“The 2000 Year Old Man,” is still – like Brooks himself – writing, performing
and keeping the world laughing. Reiner
is joined here by other comic entertainers, like the still-spry Dick Van Dyke,
Golden Girl Betty White, and TV and movie producer and legend Norman Lear, who
insists that he gets applause just for showing up alive. This film is a tribute not just to longevity,
but to a lifetime of laughter. When it
comes to Reiner, I’ll have what he’s having.
3½ cans.
65. Blood Ties: The Mendendez Brothers*
(2017) – If you were alive in the early 1990s, you will recall the “trial of
the century” (which it remained until the OJ Simpson trial came along). Brief summary: Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez grow up
overindulged in Beverly Hills and, thinking they will be cut off by their
wealthy parents, they brutally kill their father and mother in their own home. Their defense for this heinous crime? They both claim they were sexually molested
by their father, and they simply snapped.
That is, of course, after one brother writes a movie script depicting
the same scenario AND after they buy guns.
This story was all over the news at the time, with the two clean-cut
looking young men telling their tale to a packed courtroom as America watched
on the fledgling Court TV channel. I had forgotten much of the detail, but it has
been 25 years! Whether or not the “boys”
(as they were referred to in court and in the press) told the truth about their
motive cannot be proven, but the film recounts the details of the case in a
two-hour documentary for which there is an unending supply of footage. Later this year an eight-part series is
coming our way, so now I have finished the prerequisite for that course. It remains as compelling a case now as it was
back then. 3½ cans.
66. Shop Girl* (2005) – This Steve Martin
story is billed as a comedy, and, while it has its moments, I thought it was a
sad and underplayed movie. Mirabelle
(Claire Danes) is a lonely young woman who enjoys creating art but who supports
herself by working as a clerk in the glove department at Saks in LA. She begins dating two completely different
types of men at almost the same time.
Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) is young and sloppy and unpolished. Ray Porter (Martin) is his opposite – poised,
classy, wealthy and unable to commit to a relationship. Mirabelle seems all too eager and willing to
give herself to either of these men. And
though Ray is clear that he isn’t looking for a permanent relationship, she
can’t help falling for him. Martin is
far from the manic guy we are used to seeing, bursting with physicality. He so underplays the role that I wondered
what – besides his money – drew Mirabelle to him. No more plot points. I know this movie is based on a short novel
of Martin’s, and I always wanted to see it, but it did not live up to my
expectations. 3 cans.
67. Churchill* (2017) – It is three days
before D-Day in 1944, and the invasion of Normandy is ready to go under the
Allied command of American General Dwight Eisenhower. Not so fast, says British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill (Bryan Cox in an Oscar-worthy performance). Fearful of repeating the disaster that
resulted in significant loss of life in Gallipoli in 1915, Churchill first
counsels against the plan and then insists that he be on the first ship to land. As history shows, the plan went ahead (with
Churchill on terra ferma), enabling the Allied forces to drive the Germans out
of France and win World War II (if you can actually “win” a war…). Stooped over, shoulders hunched and
surrounded by a cloud of cigar smoke, Churchill is at once intimating yet
feeble. The war and his duty have worn
him down. With his wife getting the
brunt of his brooding, he needs support and strength. He looks defeated before the invasion
starts. But as a leader, Churchill knows
he needs to rally himself and be strong for his country. This movie is an excellent character study
and a reminder that war is hell. 4 cans.
68. Danny Collins* (2015) -- Al Pacino plays aging rocker Danny
Collins, a world-weary music headliner who spends too much time with younger
women and too much money on drugs. Once
a prodigy who claimed to be influenced by John Lennon, Danny is surprised when
his manager gives him a letter he uncovered that Lennon wrote to Danny years
before that Danny never received. Just
seeing that letter is enough to make Danny reconsider his choices and attempt
to reconnect with the now-grown son he never knew (Bobby Canavale). Danny alternates between bombastic and
charming, especially as he roosts at a New Jersey hotel and tries to win over
its manager (Annette Bening in a part not really worthy of her skills as an
actress). Danny is trying to be a dad
and a grandfather but in reality, he’s an old rich guy whose groupies are as
old as he is (hey, take a look at the crowd at a Rolling Stones concert
sometime). Pacino hasn’t been a favorite
of mine since “The Godfather,” but he plays this part well. 3 cans.
69. Definitely Maybe* (2008) – Ryan
Reynolds is Will Hayes, a political consultant with a precocious 11-year old daughter
(Abigail Breslin) who wants to know whether her mother Emily (Elizabeth Banks) is really her mother since
Mom and Dad are divorcing. With some
reluctance, Dad starts to share the story of the great loves of his life, all
of whom came along at the wrong time or were the wrong people for him. Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher are his past
girlfriends, both of whom he loved enough to marry but didn’t. This romantic comedy gets its juice from
Reynolds’ extreme likeability. Very
enjoyable for a light movie. 3½ cans.
70. The Book of Henry* (2017) – Talk about
precocious kids (see above): Henry (Jayden
Lieberher) is an 11-year old with more smarts and wisdom than most of the
adults around him, including his loving but somewhat ditzy mother (Naomi
Watts), a video game-playing waitress who wisely lets Henry manage her
money. Henry and his younger brother
(played by the adorable Jacob Tremblay, who was so memorable in “Room”) are
good kids, but when Henry suspects that his friend next door (Maddie Ziegler)
is being abused by her stepfather, he feels compelled to act. But who is going to take the word of a kid,
especially when the suspect is a cop?
This is a family story that slips into an unexpected suspense thriller
with Henry’s plotting every move. More
than one plot point was hard to believe, but the story held my attention and
the acting was terrific. 3½ cans.
71. Fracture (2007) – I’ve written about
this movie previously, but if you want to see a taut thriller with plenty of
twists and turns, try this one. Willie
Beachum (Ryan Gosling), an LA assistant prosecutor, has one foot out the door,
headed to a cushy job at a prestigious law firm, when he catches the case of a
man who has just been arrested for shooting his wife. The police have his signed confession and the
murder weapon, so the case should be a quick and easy one for young Mr.
Beachum, except that maybe they don’t.
Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a clever and sinister guy who has
plotted out his cheating wife’s shooting and has enough smarts and moxie to
derail the case against him. If you want
to spend time watching a riveting movie – really watching, not playing Candy
Crush on your phone – this is the movie for you. Plus, did I mention Ryan Gosling? 4½ cans.
72. The Departed (2006) – This intense
drama is not for the feint of heart, and you had better pay attention when you
watch it, because the action is fast and furious (oops, that’s a different
movie…). Matt Damon is a cop who is
really a mobster planted in the police department to give the inside dope
(info, not drugs!) to the mob boss played by Jack Nicholson. Leonardo DiCaprio is also a cop but recruited
by the higher ups for a secret mission that puts him in tight with the mob so
he can rat out their activities to the cops.
Lost yet? Both sides are sure
there is a mole among them, and whom can you trust? DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan even does a stint
in jail to make his background authentic enough to be trusted by the mob. Every time someone appears to be cornered and
about to have his identity revealed, they somehow slither out of it. This is a Martin Scorsese movie, the man who
gave us “Goodfellas,” so there is the requisite violence, shooting, bleeding
and murder, along with the most frequent use of the “F” word that I can ever
recall. Excellent cast, in addition to
Damon and DiCaprio, with Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg. Tough to watch but worth the time. 4 cans.
73. The Wolf of Wall Street* (2013) – And
speaking of Leonardo DiCaprio, he gives an absolutely stunning performance
again, here as Wall Street broker Jordan Belfort, a broker with a real
edge. Jordan builds a business by hiring
his childhood friends, all of whom favor bilking small investors and practicing
non-stop debauchery. And the use of the
F word proliferates here, too. Jonah
Hill is Jordan’s right hand man, empowered to hire, fire and exploit staff or
whomever is within shouting distance. I
watched this movie because it was recommended by a friend, but I found the
entire thing completely repugnant. The
sets, the fast delivery of dialog and the acting here were all outstanding, but
I absolutely hated the milieu depicted.
For once, I could not even finish the movie, so my rating will be an
incomplete.
74. Sleepless in Seattle (1994) -- The
sequel to this movie is “Sleepless in Somerset,” which accounts for why I was
up at 5 AM one morning watching this great rom-com. The fabulous Tom Hanks is Sam, a widower with
a young son, Jonah (Ross Malinger). When
Jonah calls a radio station about his lonely and grieving father, women all
over the country hear dear old dad and fall instantly in love. That includes Annie (Meg Ryan, when she
looked like Meg Ryan), a Baltimore-based news writer engaged to a boring
fiancée (Bill Pullman) who is intrigued by the man who proclaims he is
sleepless in Seattle. The story takes
its cue from the great Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr romance, “An Affair to
Remember,” with its main characters promising to meet at New York’s Empire
State Building. Hollywood has largely
abandoned the romantic comedy in favor of the “franchise” movies, from “The
Hunger Games” to all those “Star Wars” sequels and prequels, but I miss them! I’m not desperate enough to watch Lifetime or
Hallmark movies of this ilk, because the classics, like this one, “While You
Were Sleeping,” “When Harry Met Sally,” etc., were absolute charmers that
continue to bring a smile to my face.
Plus, this one has Hanks. 4 cans.
And a nap, because I really am sleepless in Somerset.
75. The Bodyguard (1992) – It is impossible
to see this movie and not feel a profound sense of loss over the premature
death of star Whitney Houston. She was
such a beautiful, talented and troubled woman, and seeing her here, lighting up
the screen as fictional actress-singer Rachel Marron, reminded me of her
extraordinary voice and promise. Rachel
is being stalked so she hires former Secret Service agent Frank Farmer (Kevin
Costner) to protect her. He’s all
business, which annoys Rachel and her entourage as he tries to set up the level
of protection he feels she needs. And
then he falls for Rachel. He is after a
stalker who seems just a little too professional, and with Rachel up for an
Oscar, protecting her in a public venue will be a challenge even for
Frank. Not a great movie, but good
chemistry between Costner and Houston.
And that voice! 3½ cans.
76. Wonder Woman* (2017) – Holy smokes,
Batman! There’s a new sheriff in town,
and her name is Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot).
Descended from the badass Amazons on an island with no men, Diana is trained
as a princess warrior, and if you catch one look at Gal Gadot, you will know
why. She’s tough and fierce and
absolutely stunning. She rescues
American spy Steve (Chris Pine), who tells her about the raging World War he is
trying to end and she’s ready to leave the island behind and roll right along
with him. Along the way she demonstrates
female empowerment, smarts, athleticism, naiveté and damn fine skills with a
shield and a sword. Loud, violent
(though not bloody in the least), inspiring, witty in parts and completely
unbelievable, this movie is everything I hate about action movies – except that
I loved it! I was cheering out loud even
while I scoffed at Wonder Woman’s quick change from a formal dress to her WW
ensemble, complete with bullet-rejecting wrist bands. Rock on with your bad self, Diana. I’m totally down for the sequel(s). 4 cans.
77. Lifeguard (1975) – Rick Carlson (Sam
Elliott) has a great life: Lifeguard on the beach in South California by day,
partying with stewardesses (this was the era before flight attendants), nurses
and all measure of attractive young women at night, tooling around in his
‘Vette. He loves his job and takes it
seriously, watching the beach, saving swimmers (he boasts a rate of “3 out of
5” when asked if he has saved anyone today), breaking up fights, and just
taking time to think. But what is enough
for Rick, now 15 years removed from his high school graduation, isn’t enough
for other people. His friend Larry wants
him to work in his car dealership, selling Porsches. And when he reconnects with his high school
girlfriend Cathy (Anne Archer) at their Reunion, his “career” comes into
question. Will he give up the surf and
the sand and get a “real” job? Is his
just being Rick Carlson enough for Cathy, a divorcee with a young son? I first saw this movie years ago and immediately
loved it. Elliott is the perfect Rick,
and when Archer looks at him, you see that she regrets the years they have been
apart and wants him to be part of a happy life with her. Kathleen Quinlan plays Wendy, a lonely
17-year old with a major crush on Rick, and you feel her pain. What is adulting anyway? I picture Rick staying at the beach for a
very long time to come. 4 cans.
78. Orange Is the New Black (2017) – OK, I
know this isn’t a movie, but my readers have told me that they want to see more
of my reviews, so I thought I would include season 5 of OITNB here. The new season picks up exactly where season
4 ended, with a riot among the inmates at Litchfield Prison, and the prisoners
have the upper hand. There’s a gun and a
shooting and major shifts in power. The
main character in OITNB started out as Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), but
she has lost much of her relevance as the story arcs of other characters have
dominated the series. It seems to me
they have to find things to incorporate her into the plotlines. I don’t want to
reveal any spoilers, but I can tell you that the entire season takes place in
just a few days this time around, and there are new alliances, revelatory looks
back on what happened to these women to get them to this awful place, and
plenty of drama and humor. There is
humanity and violence, caring and anger, all of which is reflective of our
society as a whole. The season is
perfectly set up for whole new characters and plots in Season 6 – but we have
to wait a year to get there! Special
plaudits for this year’s acting, especially to Danielle Brooks as Tastee and
Uzo Aduba as Suzanne. If it were up to
me, these characters would be in Litchfield for life, because I can’t get
enough. 5 cans.
JULY
79. Speak* (2006) – Kristen Stewart seldom
speaks in this movie about a quiet, pained teenager starting high school. She is distanced from her well-meaning but
somewhat inept parents, doesn’t associate with other kids in school very well
and barely answers questions in class. But she has a good reason for her reluctance
to verbalize her thoughts. At a party
prior to the start of high school she was raped by an upperclassman, a popular
boy who turned a deaf ear to her strident pleas as he satisfied himself with
her in a parked car. She called the
police but when they arrived to mass chaos at the party, she chickened out, not
revealing the crime to them or to anyone – friends, family, counselors. She wants it to just go away, but it hangs
over her like a heavy overcoat. She is
wounded, nearly paralyzed by her experience, and it determines all of her
relationships, fears and reluctance. The
story is a good one and timely, as rape culture is prevalent in high schools
and across college campuses. You want
her to confide in someone, but will anyone take her seriously? Stewart was well cast in a part where
resignation and vulnerability reign supreme.
3 cans.
80. Primal Fear* (1996) – Richard Gere
plays attorney Martin Vail in this legal drama about the murder of a monsignor
in Chicago. Aaron Stampler (Edward
Norton) is a 19-year old altar boy who had access to the victim’s bedroom and
is captured with blood all over him.
Although the evidence seems to point directly at this innocent looking
kid, Marty, a prominent defense attorney who once worked for the prosecution,
eagerly volunteers to take the case and add to his reputation as the best
defender in Chicago. Should he have the
kid plead innocent by virtue of insanity?
How will his opposing counsel, a woman he once dated (Laura Linney) and
who knows his many tricks, stake out her case opposing him? This legal drama had plenty of suspense, and
although I was close to figuring out the twists and turns by the end, I enjoyed
it anyway. 3½ cans.
81. The Big Sick* (2017) – Whether it is a
big Jewish family in “Goodbye Columbus” or a big Greek family in “My Big Fat
Greek Wedding,” or here, a Pakistani family, there are always parents with
expectations and always kids there to disappoint them. Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) drives for Uber when
he’s not doing standup and dreaming of the bigtime as a comic. He comes from a traditional Pakistani family
and is expected to agree to an arranged marriage, and his overbearing mother
has no shortage of young, attractive Pakistani women who just happen to “drop
by” the house when he is there for dinner.
But Kumail, who has been raised in the US, doesn’t see his future
arranged. And when he meets pretty
Caucasian Emily (Zoe Kazan), a grad student, they hit it off immediately
despite their cultural differences. He
knows that being with her will alienate him from his family. And then she gets sick. Movie star sick. Her parents (the always feisty Holly Hunter
and Ray Romano) come to town to manage her care and meet Kumail for the first
time. This movie stresses the opposites
attract vibe, but it is tasteful, intelligent and different from the pure
comedy movies mentioned above. Kumail
based the story on his own true-life experience, and it is a story worth
telling. 3½ cans.
82. The Breakfast Club (1985) – The
brilliant John Hughes delivered such classic high school movies as “Pretty in
Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles” and this one, all centered
around teenagers who are neglected and worse by their rarely-seen parents. (Of course, in “Home Alone,” the parents
accidentally abandon their young son, who is left to fend for himself and
endures hilarious hijinks.) Here we are
at Shermer High, where high school stereotypes meet for Saturday
detention. They are a delinquent (Judd
Nelson), a princess (Molly Ringwald), a geek (Anthony Michael Hall), a jock
(Emelio Estevez) and a misfit who barely speaks (Ally Sheedy), there to remain
silent and endure the oversight of teacher Mr. Vernon (Paul Gleason). Over the course of the day the unlikely
quintet with seemingly nothing in common scream at each other, defy authority,
smoke the weed stashed in Nelson’s character’s locker and come to understand
that despite their outward differences, they actually have plenty in
common. When Nelson walks away at the
end with his fist raised in defiance, the 80s generation finds a new hero. Hughes also was the force behind two of my
favorite comedies, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and “Mr. Mom,” two films
outside the teen angst arena. It is a
shame he died so prematurely, or we likely would have been treated to many more
memorable comedies. Don’t worry, John,
as the Simple Minds song goes, “Don’t you forget about me.” We won’t. 3½ cans.
83. Carole King in Concert* (2017) – After more
than a decade of co-writing such pop hits as “The Locomotion,” “One Fine Day,”
and “Up on the Roof” with lyricist and then-husband Gerry Goffin, Carole King
went out on her own in the early 1970s and created the classic “Tapestry,” an
album of such depth and beauty that it remained the best-selling album of all
time until Michael Jackson came along with Thriller a generation later. Here she poignantly reminds us to “Wake up
every morning with a smile on your face;” laments the end of a romance in “It’s
Too Late;” wonders aloud, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” and commits to the
longevity of a relationship in “You’ve Got a Friend.” I have never seen her perform live, so I went
happily to experience her wondrous music nearly first-hand. It was her first time performing the entire
album, and when it was done, she gave us a medley of some of the hits listed
above. She pounds that piano, displays
some mad guitar licks and enthralls the 65,000 people singing every word on a
beautiful London night. “Tapestry” to me
was a life-changing album that is still selling today. Carole is 74 now, her voice a bit thinner,
but her music provides meaning to generations of fans from 40 years ago until
today. I promise, Carole, I will still
love you tomorrow. 4½ cans.
84. August Rush* (2007) – Rock musician
Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meets cello player Lyla (Keri Russell) and their
instant, one night chemistry leads to the birth of a son. But Lyla’s controlling father prevents the
relationship from progressing beyond the one night stand and tells her in the
hospital that she has lost the baby.
Fast forward to an 11-year old Evan (Freddie Highmore), growing up in an
orphanage and convinced he will find his parents. Musically gifted, the young prodigy escapes
and meets “the Wizard,” a Fagen-like character (played by Robin Williams) who
aims to exploit the boy’s talent and deny him the chance of reuniting with his
parents. Love (and music) is a strong
force, however, and no one here is about to give up. Highmore turns in a stunning performance in a
heart-warming movie. 3½ cans.
85. Dunkirk* (2017) – War is hell, and if
you don’t believe that adage, go and see this epic movie about Allied Forces
trapped on the beach in France in 1940.
Producer/director Christopher Nolan has perfectly captured the action in
the air and on the seas as English soldiers wait on the beach for transport by
any and all vessels available. It is
harrowing, as the boats are targeted by bombardiers and the men aboard them
literally jump ship in an effort to survive.
I’m not typically a fan of the war movie genre, but this one is
captivating enough to move swiftly through the story. Kudos to the cast (Mark Rylance, Fionn Whitehead,
Thomas Hardy, Kenneth Branaugh, Harry Styles) for their fortitude in overcoming
challenging conditions throughout the filming.
3½ cans.
86. Maudie* (2017) – This movie is the
opposite of “Dunkirk.” It is quiet,
eschewing bombings and aerial dogfights in favor of establishing the
relationship between a woman forsaken by her family who takes a menial job as a
housekeeper to a taciturn fishmonger.
The house is barely a shack, but Maudie (Sally Hawkins in a performance
sure to garner an Oscar nomination) brightens up the interior with her
paintings. Although she is arthritic,
she is able to create cheery scenes on the walls of the modest home she shares
with Everett (Ethan Hawke). The house is
so small that there is only one bed, and Maudie is forced to share it with her
employer. One thing leads to another,
and the inevitable relationship is born.
He is a very private man and begins to resent the attention Maudie gets
when her story is told on Canadian TV.
Cold and unaccepting, Everett begins to understand he has real feelings
for Maude. I don’t want to ruin the plot
– which is based on a true story – but if you yearn for the anti-blockbuster
and don’t mind a wonder woman without superpowers, this might be the movie for
you. 3½ cans.
87. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) – Morgan
Freeman has starred in two of my favorite movies, this one and “Shawshank
Redemption.” Here he is Hoke, the man
hired by a wealthy businessman (Dan Ackroyd) in Atlanta to drive around his
irascible mother. Miss Daisy (Jessica
Tandy, in a wondrous performance), an elderly Jewish widow who remembers her
modest upbringing and is more than reluctant to have Hoke’s services. It takes him days just to get her in the car
to go to the supermarket. But over the
years, the two form an unconventional friendship amid the changing times in the
South. The mutual respect and bond they
share is the soul of this heartwarming movie.
4½ cans.
88. Diana, Our Mother – Her Life and Legacy*
(2017) – Incredibly, we are approaching the 20th anniversary of the
tragic death of Britain’s Princess Diana, an occasion marked by this
documentary of comments made by her now-grown sons – Princes William and Harry
– as well as by her friends and the people whose lives she affected with her
charitable work. Her sons admit that
dealing with her death, while appropriate to do after all of these years, is
still painful. They depict her as warm,
loving and funny and say with great conviction that she was the best mother in
the world. The program gives background
on her marriage as well as her divorce from Prince Charles and demonstrates how
harrowing her existence was as someone constantly hunted down by the
press. Her sons come across as genuine
and respectful, with William saying he talks about his mother to his own
children so will know they had another grandmother besides their maternal
one. When the light shines so brightly
on someone, it takes a long time for it to dim – if it ever does. Diana was a gracious woman whose work with
homeless people and AIDS patients reflected her kindness and empathy, traits
she appears to have passed down to her sons.
It would have been nice to see how her life progressed had she not died
in that horrible automobile accident in August of 1997. 3 cans.
AUGUST
89. Diana: Treason or Tragedy?* (2017) –
The salutes to the late Princess Diana continue with this overly-long
documentary that skips back and forth between her childhood, her marriage to
Prince Charles and her tragic death in Paris 20 years ago. The film explains Charles’ need to find a
suitable wife, and the 19-year old Lady Diana Spencer fit the bill. They had been out together barely a dozen
times before getting engaged and then married in the “wedding of the
century.” But as the fairytale
progressed, it did not have a happy ending, and they eventually divorced. Was Diana too famous to suit the Royal
Family? The theory posited here is that
the British agency equivalent to the FBI may have played a role in the accident
that claimed her life. More important is
the life she led as a warm and loving mother to Princes William and Harry, to
her charitable work and to the legacy she left behind. If this program had been two hours, I
probably would have liked it more, because the entire treason section was
without much merit. 3 cans.
90. Get Out* (2017) – If Rob Serling and
Chris Rock did a remake of “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” it would be this movie. But this one has director Jordan Peele, who
uses just the right combination of genuine creepiness, humor and social
commentary to make a whole new type of film.
Daniel Kaluuya is Chris, an African American man dating Rose (Allison
Williams), a young white woman. It is
time to meet the parents, so she takes him to her folks’ beautiful suburban
spread, where Mom and Dad are immediately overly friendly and a bit too
accepting of the relationship. Her
mother is a therapist, and, before long, she is tapping on her teacup and
hypnotizing Chris, though we don’t yet know why. We just know this situation is getting
increasingly creepy, and we all want to yell, “Get out.” All of the parents’ friends are white, and
the few African Americans around the estate appear to be robotic in their
demeanor and appearance. If Chris hangs
around long enough, will he become an automaton, too? This movie’s commentary on white privilege
and racism from people who swear they aren’t racists (the father boasts that he
would have voted for President Obama for a third term) is witty and sly, but
there is no mistaking it, since we can see it as shown from the African
American point of view. This film was
sold to me as a scary movie, but it is more harrowing to consider the reality of
marginalizing an entire race of people to exploit for nefarious means. That’s the true horror. 3½ cans, mostly because I just a wuss when it
comes to anything scary.
91. The Outsiders (1983) – If you were a
young actor in Hollywood in 1983 and you were NOT in this movie, ask yourself
what the hell happened (and did you fire your agent?). Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, C.
Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Rob Lowe (among others) star
in this S. E. Hinton story about two rival factions of young guys in an
Oklahoma town who just don’t like each other.
Ponyboy (Howell) and Johnny (Machio), under the influence of the intense
and combative Dallas (Dillon), are among the economically deprived Greasers who
rumble with the more upscale Socials.
Bodily harm ensues, there’s a death and a couple of guys are on the
lam. These kids are aimless, with no
adults in their lives, just trying to hang on.
This is the Oklahoma version of West Side Story, of the Capulets and the
Montagues – minus the romance aspect (though there are strong overtones of
homosexuality throughout, unless I’m reading that wrong…). Stay gold, everyone, stay gold. 3½ cans.
92. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) – BFFs
Julianne and Michael (Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney) make a pact to marry
each other if they haven’t found life partners by the time they are 28, but
Michael foils the plan by falling for young, vivacious Kimmy (a very cheery
Cameron Diaz) just short of the deadline.
It takes Michael’s announcement that he is getting married to make Jules
understand that Michael is really her own true love and that she needs to put a
halt to the wedding. So we spend the
next hour and a half waiting for her to say something to him, as her other BFF,
George (Rupert Everett), urges her to do.
But she can’t, or she won’t, not so much because she doesn’t want to
ruin the wedding – clearly, she’s desperate to stop it from happening – but she
can’t pull the trigger. Meanwhile,
Kimmy, who has known her for about 8 minutes, asks her to be her maid of honor
(as if Kimmy wouldn’t have a host of friends willing to serve in that role),
bringing her even more into the inner workings of the big day – and maybe
that’s Kimmy’s intention. So will she (Jules)
or won’t she? Will she step back and
allow her best friend to marry the woman of his dreams – even if that is not her? Maybe Billy Crystal’s Harry was right when he
said to Sally in “When Harry Met Sally” that men and women can never be
friends. Michael comes across as a bit
of a dolt, not recognizing the unrequited love in Jules. Diaz is exuberant and
charming in her part, while Roberts has the toughest role – to remain likeable
even as she plots to undermine her best friend’s wedding. 3½ cans.
93. Because I Said So* (2007) – The title
of this movie is a lame excuse to justify someone’s commands and, considering
the lightweight and annoying script for this film, the title seems particularly
appropriate here. Despite a cast full of
engaging actors (Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore and Lauren Graham among them), there
is little to like or invest in here.
Keaton is Daphne, mother of three grown women, who is determined to
match Moore’s character up with a suitable man for marriage. She takes out a lengthy ad on an internet
dating site and proceeds to screen the applicants. There is the expected parade of losers, but
one guy (Tom Everett Scott) turns out to be a good looking architect whom one
would think wouldn’t be swiping right to attract attention from women. Daphne helps them “meet cute” and they are
quickly smitten with each other. But Mom
also meets a musician and music teacher (Gabriel Macht) who sees the scheme
unfold and wants to be under consideration for the job. Everyone here has his/her shortcomings, and
this movie just tries too hard to make you love it. All told, it’s just not a good match. Don’t bother to watch it – because I said
so. 2 cans.
94. A Bronx Tale (1993) – It’s the mob in
the Bronx, complete with straight up shootings, plenty of violence, and cool
guys in suits who rule the neighborhood.
For young Calogero, the man to watch and emulate is not his honest
father (Robert DeNiro, who also directed), a bus driver who eschews the Mob. Instead the kid grows to idolize neighborhood
Mafioso Sonny (Chazz Palminteri, who wrote the story). The kid (Lillo Brancato) enters what in
essence is a mob training program, making himself useful to the gangsters with
the idea of entering the profession himself when the time is right. As the teenaged Calogero, Brancato looks just
like a young DeNiro and handles his part with cool and confusion. His father is the moral compass of the story,
but will his example be enough to dissuade young “C” not to become a wiseguy? This Bronx tale is well told. 4 cans.
95. Memories of Me
(1988) – Abbie (Billy Crystal) is a successful New York cardiologist who has a
heart attack and a change of heart about his father (Alan King), an “actor”
from whom he’s been estranged. Abe, who
works as an extra on the sets of films, TV shows and commercials, is a lively
and popular man about Tinsel Town. He
loves what he does, even if Abbie frowns on his father’s chosen
profession. “Any schmuck can get a
speaking part,” he insists. Instead,
he’s King of the Extras, presiding over a coterie actors who line up every day,
hoping to be cast in the background of restaurant scenes, play jurors and don
lobster outfits for a commercial or two.
These are Abe’s people and he fits in with them much better than with
his uptight and disapproving son. Abbie
can’t quite wrest his father’s attention, until Abe demonstrates signs of early
dementia and Abbie has to step in. This
movie reminds me of another one that I like better, “Nothing in Common,” with
Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason. In both,
the sons can barely tolerate the fathers they disapprove of, though here Abe is
an amiable guy and much admired by his fellow extras. He is utterly charming with Abbie’s
girlfriend Lisa (JoBeth Williams). Will
Abbie and Abe find common ground? Or is
it too late? 3 cans.
96. The Glass Castle* (2017) – I hadn’t
read this book, so I didn’t go to see this movie with any preconceived notions
about its content. It is Jeannette
Walls’ true story of her ragtag family, an unconventional group headed by her frighteningly
erratic father, Rex (Woody Harrelson).
Along with two sisters and a brother, the bright young Jeannette (Brie
Larsen) and her perennially sunny mother (Naomi Watts) are terrified of the family
patriarch. A brilliant but disturbed
man, Rex is a dreamer. When he drinks,
he loses all of his sanity, uprooting the family from whatever temporary
housing (including being squatters) in which they reside and taking them on the
road in the middle of the night. The
kids don’t go to school, since Rex claims they can learn more about life from
living it. The movie switches back and
forth from the young girl Jeannette to her adult life in the 1980s, where she
has somehow managed to extricate herself from the squalor under which she lived
as a child. The chaos of her existence
doesn’t seem to be quite gritty enough considering the conditions, and how she
transitions into a sophisticated New Yorker isn’t quite clear. I had to keep reminding myself that the story
was real, and Jeannette herself wrote the book on which the film is based. The children band together, knowing they
cannot rely on their phlegmatic father for their safety and security. And yet, Rex truly loves them in his own,
mentally disturbed way. Harrelson gives
an award-worthy performance. I’m sure
the book went into more detail, but what is on the screen is difficult enough
to watch – yet worth seeing. The human
drive to survive is truly an amazing thing.
3½ cans.
97. Whitney Houston: Can I Be Me* (2017) –
The obvious answer to this Showtime documentary about the life and death of the
transcendently talented singer is NO.
This painful program is peppered with plenty of interviews with the
people who surrounded Whitney Houston, including her mother, assistants,
family, back-up singers and hangers-on.
But the most prominent person to appear – besides her eventual husband,
singer and fellow drug user Bobby Brown – is her best friend, Robyn
Crawford. Robyn loved the signer,
protected her, and traveled with her from her days in Newark through her
triumphs as a world-renowned vocalist and star.
But was their relationship more than a friendship? And why was that a matter of such high
security? The documentary never gives
you a definite conclusion, but the friction between Robyn and Bobby Brown, both
fighting for Houston’s attention and devotion, is very clear. It seemed Whitney might still have a chance
to overcome her love of cocaine and pot, if only Robyn wasn’t ousted by Bobby
and others in the Houston camp. After
Robyn’s departure, it was a fairly quick demise for Houston, a woman with a
memorable voice, a radiant smile, and a fate so tragic. 3½ cans.
SEPTEMBER
98. Nightcrawler* (2014) – An emaciated
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou, a man living by his wits, not averse to theft or any
other means to survive. When he
witnesses an accident, he notices a phalanx of the news people who descend on
the scene to shoot video and he is fascinated by their ability to get up close
to the blood and gore and sell their footage.
A fast talker (who sounds like he has attended one too many business
seminars), he gets himself some video equipment and starts listening to a police
scanner so he can arrive early on the scene of grisly accidents and crimes and capture
footage worthy of the ratings-starved local news, a lucrative way to make
money. But that’s not enough. Instead of merely recording what he sees, he
ventures out at night, even initiating action to make a grittier piece to sell
at a higher price, ignoring the opportunity to make a 911 call to help the
victims in favor of recording them in their dying moments. Gyllenhaal plays Lou as fast and loose,
desperate, slimy and a true opportunist, in an excellent performance. Rene Russo is the woman who buys his news
footage – and more. The only
lighthearted part of this movie is Lou’s relationship with the “intern” he
hires, Rick (Riz Ahmed), whom he promises to pay once he completes the
“internship” that gets Lou his services for free. There is plenty of tension and suspense to go
with shootings, blood and gore. 3½ cans.
99. Miracles from Heaven* (2016) – Jennifer
Garner plays Christy Beam, the mother of a terminally ill 10-year old, Anna
(Kylie Rogers) with a rare intestinal illness that at first defies the
doctors. She can’t get an appointment
with the specialist in Boston but flies there from Texas anyway, hoping to get
him to diagnose and treat her daughter.
Of course, this movie being about miracles, he does. Queen Latifah got a day’s work on the set
playing a waitress who befriends the mother-daughter and shows them around her
hometown (my favorite line in the movie is when she shows them tony Beacon Hill
and says that’s where her boyfriend, Tom Brady, lives). Garner’s part requires constant consternation,
the family is going broke, the father (Martin Henderson) is left to care for
Anna’s two sisters, and despite the family’s being active in the local church,
there is nary a fundraiser or contribution provided for them. And then comes the miracle, which I won’t
spoil. This treacly tale is actually
true, so if you believe in miracles, feel free to watch for yourself. The real miracle here is that I watched this
movie to the end – despite falling asleep three times and having to rewind it
to see where I left off! 2 cans.
100. Mean Girls (2004) – Before Lindsay
Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried hit it big with other projects, they
teamed to torture each other in this movie about the bullying ways of teenaged
girls. Lohan is Cady, a former
homeschooled student entering high school after living in South Africa, and
what she doesn’t know about her classmates is dangerous. McAdams is Regina, the ringleader of “The
Plastics,” the popular, unapproachable girl who thinks nothing of randomly having
sex with guys while dating Aaron, the BMOC (Jonathan Bennett). Quickly, good girl and mathlete Cady is
caught up in the power struggle, going after Mr. Popularity while dumbing down
her math prowess. This movie, adapted by
the clever and acerbic Tina Fey from a book, is a primer for all things
teenagers do that you wish they wouldn’t.
It is an indictment of white privilege, of spoiling your kids (see Amy
Pohler’s part) and how NOT to behave – in school and life. If you can stand being part of this world for
90 minutes or so, it is a good lesson, but definitely not within everyone’s
tolerance level. It just isn’t so
fetch. 3 cans.
101. Staying Alive (1993) – Tony Manero
(John Travolta, who never looked better) still has that strut, that swagger, years
after leaving Brooklyn to hit Manhattan and seek a life as a dancer on Broadway
(in what looks like a show sure to close on opening night). Tony vacillates between his steady girl friend
Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes) and the lead in the show, Laura (Fionula Hughes), a
haughty, rich star who toys with his emotions and psyche. Tony works hard for the money and displays
much more charm here than when he was hanging with the boys from Brooklyn in
“Saturday Night Fever,” where he ruled the disco dance floor. Again, his determination to make it is
admirable, even if he looks a little lost among real dancers. Will he get the part, the lead, the girl? Well, he’s still staying alive. It amazes me that this movie was directed by
Sylvester Stallone, who knows more about the underdog coming out on top than
hoofing in a Broadway musical. 3 cans.
102. Top Gun (186) – Once upon a time,
watching Tom Cruise zoom around on a motorcycle and fly jet fighters thrilled
me. Now, after jumping on Oprah’s couch
and espousing Scientology, he just doesn’t have the same effect on me. Still, watching him as “Maverick,” a naval
pilot at Top Gun School, flying missions with his buddy Goose (Anthony Edwards,
married to Meg Ryan in a bit part), playing volleyball on the beach and
romancing instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis) for the first time in a very long
time managed to put a smile on my face.
These pilots are highly trained, but apart from their skills, they have
to have a boatload of braggadocio, enough to make each one feel like he is the
alpha male in a competitive squad. The
plot here is simple – Maverick is sure he is the Top Gun and is out to show up
anyone else vying for the top dog status.
In between chomping on gum and going after McGillis, he flies dangerous
missions where people get killed. This
movie is a cross between John Wayne and a recruitment film for the Navy, with a
little romance thrown in. I liked it –
and Cruise – much more 30 years ago. 3
cans.
103. The Disappearance of Natalie Holloway*
(2017) – Teenager Natalie Holloway famously disappeared on the island of Aruba
in 2008, making international headlines.
Last seen in the company of local playboy Joran van der Sloot, Natalie
was celebrating her high school graduation with friends when she vanished. Although all signs pointed to van der Sloot as
the culprit, the authorities could never find the body or pin him directly to
the crime. Enter Dave Holloway,
Natalie’s father, with a team of investigators, now primarily focused on what
happened to the body, according to a local man who may have been in on the
cover-up. At the time of the incident, Dave
stayed largely in the background as Natalie’s mother Beth, his ex-wife, made
the on-camera pleas for information about her daughter. But here Dave is the man behind this
excruciating look into John and a friend, Gabriel, who claims he can tie John
to the exhumation of Natalie’s remains.
This documentary, airing on the Oxygen Channel – which is now
reestablishing itself as a law and order outlet -- is repetitive, detailed,
and, frankly, boring. I think we all
want to know what happened and feel sorry for Dave, but this story, full of
false leads and sketchy characters, could have been told in 2 hours instead of multiple
episodes. Natalie deserved better. 2 cans.
104. The Sinner* (2017) – This multipart
drama is one of those compelling stories that, once you start watching, you are
hooked. Jessica Beil plays Cora, a young
wife and mother who one day seemingly snaps for no reason, viciously attacking
and killing a man on a beach in broad daylight and with a plethora of
witnesses. She immediately admits her culpability
and is ready to plead guilty. But this
is an 8-part series, so you know it can’t be wrapped up in episode one. Bill Pullman plays a seasoned, dubious cop
who wants to understand why Cora committed the crime, and he works on her
behalf to investigate. There is plenty
of strange, even kinky stuff in his background as well as Cora’s, but it is
tough to outguess the writers of this drama.
Beil is commanding in her role as Cora, a woman lost in her own past and
unsure of what she did and why. It only
takes 8 episodes to understand the truth.
As this series continued, I liked it less and less, but I stuck with
it. I already knew whodunit, but I
wanted to know why. 3½ cans.
105. American Experience – Walt Disney* (2017) – I realize this is
the third consecutive non-theatrical program I am reviewing, but each is longer
than a movie and as worthy of the attention as any film. PBS takes a long and detailed look at the
rise of ambitious Walt Disney, from his earliest days as a creator of cartoons
to his establishment of the mighty Walt Disney empire. What impressed me here was the inventiveness
of this man. If you have grown up with
Disney – watching “The Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday nights, going to
Disney movies yourself or with your kids, or taking family vacations at
Disneyland or Disney World – you can take for granted the man’s incredible gift
of creativity. He was the first person
to meld animation with music, to create long-form, animated movies like “Snow
White,” “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia” – complete with famed conductor Leopold
Stokowski leading the orchestra. He and
his brother Roy practically invented licensing of merchandise, which today
often earns more than the movies themselves.
Disney was clever, and despite early business setbacks that threatened
to put him out of business, once he and his team of talented artists created
Mickey Mouse, they were on the road to iconic stature. In part one we get through the early part of
his career and through “Snow White.”
Part two is all about expansion, including the creation of his Disney
parks, TV programs and non-animated movies.
I found it fascinating, even though I personally think we have
“disneyfied” our world a bit too much. 4
cans.
106. The Heart of the Game (2005) – Every
now and then, I just have to watch this documentary about Bill Ressler, the
girls’ basketball coach at Washington High School in Seattle. Whether he is exhorting his charges to rip
out the opponents’ hearts or look into their eyes, Ressler cajoles, supports
and teaches these young woman life lessons that go far beyond the court. Filmed over seven years by Ward Serrill, the film
focuses particularly on the immensely talented Darnelia Russell, who comes into
the gym ready to take on Ressler and the world, which is good, because she has
to. This movie has everything good and
bad about sports, and to me, it is the equivalent of the landmark “Hoop Dreams.” 4½ cans.
107. Welcome to Kutsher’s* (2012) – Hot
town, summer in the city, and for years people who were crowded into the
confines of NYC traveled 90 miles upstate to get some country air. But Jews were frequently banned from the
resorts and country clubs, so enterprising Jewish hoteliers established places
like Kutsher’s, Grossingers and the Concord to cater to them. And cater, they did, with an abundance of
activities, food, entertainment and sports.
The hotel you saw in “Dirty Dancing” exemplified Kutsher’s Resort and
Country Club, which stuck around for 100 years.
This documentary is a loving look at that era and this resort, which
ended this century as it couldn’t compete with the casinos of Atlantic City and
Las Vegas, the Poconos and cruise ships – which essentially built on the
Borscht Belt model established by Kutsher’s and others. My parents used to go to what we referred to
as “the Jewish Alps,” once a year when I was a teenager and in my 20s, and my
father had but one complaint: Too much
food. Ah, those were the days. 3 cans and a heaping helping of chopped
liver.
108. The Edge of 17* (2016) – This stage of
life is certainly not the edge of glory for awkward high school junior Nadine
(Hailee Steinfeld). Nadine lives with
her widowed mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and her perfect brother Darian (Blake
Jenner) as she muddles through her angst-ridden teenage years. She is smart and
attractive but she doesn’t fit in. She
gets by thanks to her devoted childhood best friend, Krista (Haley Lu
Richardson) – until, that is, Krista starts dating Darian. Feeling betrayed, angry and lost, Nadine
begins sparring with teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson) – a relationship that
thankfully does not go down the path I feared it might. The sardonic Mr. Bruner has just the right
amount of cynicism to deal effectively with Nadine. She also strikes up a friendship with low-key
classmate Erwin (Hayden Szeto), who clearly has a crush on the otherwise
miserable teen. This being a contemporary
movie, there is a predictable social media gaffe that almost sends Nadine in
the wrong direction. Steinfeld has just
the right approach to her character, who you can love/like one minute and can’t
stand the next. 3½ cans.
OCTOBER
109. Spielberg* (2017) – This HBO
documentary chronicles the extraordinary career of film maker Steven Spielberg,
but it is far from a mere listing of his movies. Smitten with movies from an early age,
Spielberg has used film as a writer uses prose, to express his innocence, his
character, his fears and his virtues.
From a young TV director and his landmark TV film “Duel,” Spielberg has
delivered some of the most popular, important and revered movies of all
time. You can admire the blockbusters
like “ET,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and
his first big hit, “Jaws,” or you can partake in more intellectual fare with
his epics “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan.” The list is endless and rich in visual
creativity, storytelling and innovation (see “Jurassic Park” for one of the
first forays into live action blended with animation). Steven Spielberg lives
to make movies, and the rest of us are better for it. 4 cans.
110. Beaches (1988) -- I’m not sure I have
any friends who have not seen this movie, designed to celebrate the emotional,
warm, feisty friendship between singer CC Bloom (Better Midler) and rich girl
Hillary Whitney (Barbara Hershey). They
meet on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City as kids and sustain a friendship for
decades that endures strains and misunderstandings, bouts of selfishness and jealousy,
but in the end, love wins. Hershey has
it tough here, standing in the shadow of larger-than-life Midler, but she
handles herself with a kind of patrician pride.
We all know what’s coming, but we cry anyway. This is a chick flick that I just need to see
every few years (the TV version broadcast last year was forgettable) as a
reminder of the power of movies and of friendship. 4 cans.
110. The Art of the Steal (2009) – This
documentary is one I like to view every few years. It is about what happened to one of the best
art collections in the world, mostly post-Impressionist art, accumulated by the
late Dr. Albert Barnes, who built his own museum to display his collection outside
of Philadelphia. Scoffed at initially by
the art establishment, Barnes vowed never to allow his vast collection to move,
travel or become part of the Philadelphia Art Museum. His death, with no direct heirs, greatly
compromised his desires, and the film focuses on the fight over Barnes’ wishes
and the greed of the art community who wished to annex his works. I’m sorry that I never made it to his original
museum, but I have seen his collection on display – in the very place he
abhorred. Let’s not forget for a minute
that art is commerce, and that those who can profit from it will always try to
find a way to do just that. This is a
fascinating movie that I have recommended to many people, all of whom loved it. I caught it on STARZ this time around. 4½ cans.
111. Crazy,
stupid, love (2011) – Ryan Gosling has never looked better than in this
part as a cool player who schools separated Dad Cal (Steve Carell) about women
in this clever comedy brought to you by the guys responsible for TV’s “This is
Us.” There are plenty of plot twists I
cannot reveal, as Cal tries to recover from his wife’s (Julianne Moore) sudden
decision to dump him for her co-worker David Lindenhof (Kevin Bacon). There are precocious kids and Emma
Stone. If you have NEVER seen this
movie, stop reading right NOW and go watch it.
It is one of my faves. 4½ cans.
112. Battle of the Sexes* (2017) – It was
Mother’s Day, 1973, and regal Margaret Court, the number one women’s tennis
player in the world, took on aging tennis hustler Bobby Riggs, who was out to
prove that women could never compete with men.
They called it “The Mother’s Day Massacre,” as Court dropped the match,
in essence forcing Billie Jean King, women’s tennis pioneer and champion, to
agree to play Riggs herself and defend all women athletes. King never contended that women were better
athletes or tennis players than men. She
just wanted equal pay and treatment from the tennis establishment, and she,
with the help of other top players, set up their own tour. Riggs was in this mix as a publicity stunt
and for the money, and he and Billie Jean King squared off at the Houston
Astrodome on September 20 of that year to great fanfare and big ratings. But this movie, with Emma Stone admirably
playing King and Steve Carell looking startlingly like Bobby Riggs, takes on
more than just the match and the nascent women’s movement. It is also the story of King’s first romance
with another woman, her first realization that, while she loved her husband,
she was actually gay. A hairdresser who
came into her life, Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough), helped her understand
her true self. As for the tennis, I
won’t reveal who won the match for anyone who wasn’t alive at that time, but
the movie gives a very real portrayal of this huge sporting event that helped
women’s tennis grow and thrive. BJK has
always been one of my heroes, and this movie makes her heroic and human. 3½ cans.
113. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) – The
coolest actors around in 1968 were Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and here
they team in a white collar crime drama perpetrated by McQueen’s title
character. A wealthy banking executive,
he pulls off a multimillion dollar heist – not that he needs the money – seemingly
just for the sport of it. Dunaway is the
insurance investigator out to get him – in more ways than one. If you thought the famous pottery scene in
“Ghost” was sexy, check out the chess game as foreplay here. McQueen was the chillest of actors, one who
could dominate a scene with a mere glance or raised eyebrow. Dunaway matches him nicely in this movie,
which is much more about style than substance.
3½ cans.
114. Jaws (1975) – Having watched the
“Spielberg” documentary (see #109) this month, I thought it was a good time to
revisit the first Spielberg blockbuster, “Jaws.” This time around I felt a little less
terrified, but every time the John Williams score amps up, I wanted to scream
at the screen, “Get out of the water.”
Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw go shark hunting to
capture the huge animal snacking on swimmers in Amityville, much to the dismay
of the Mayor (Murray Hamilton), who wants to promote tourism, not terrorism, on
the beach. The trio goes after the great
white like Hemingway’s hero in “The Old Man and the Sea,” testing their guile
and will against a powerful creature. I
have to admit that this time around – after seeing the “Sharknado” series – I
saw more campiness and humor than in my initial viewing, many years ago. Still, with “Bruce,” the mechanical shark
stalking the swimmers, and the taut direction of a very young Spielberg, this
movie has to be considered a classic in its genre and the appropriate launch of
a director’s long and storied career. 3½
cans.
115. Victoria and Abdul* (2017) – Queen
Victoria ruled the United Kingdom for more than 6 decades around the turn of
the last century, and in this movie, she’s really had enough. Her many servants get her up in the morning,
get her dressed, drag her off to royal galas and dinners (where she
occasionally falls asleep) and generally bore her to pieces. Judi Dench plays the Queen (of course) as a
woman who is physically frail and in a chronically bad mood. Then along comes Abdul (Ali Fazal), an
emissary sent from his native India, a British Colony, who is called upon to
present a gift to the Queen. He is to
have no eye contact, and, together with another man drafted for this momentary
mission, is to be in and out in no time.
But Abdul shows kindness and understanding to the Queen, who is almost
instantly smitten. She finds ways to
keep him around, but her people think she has gone off the deep end when she
proposes to grant him a knighthood.
Though from distinctly different backgrounds, the elderly royal and the
lower class man from India develop a special rapport and friendship. Based on a true story, this movie has plenty
of charm and humor, but at its core are the antiquated ways of the royals and
how tough it is to be a mere mortal among them.
You basically just have to tell me Judi Dench is in a movie and I’ll be
heading right to the theater. She
rules! 3½ cans.
116. Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the
White House* (2017) – If you are old enough to remember the Watergate
scandal of the early 1970s, the name “Deep Throat” is one you will easily recall. But Mark Felt’s name is not one many people
know, because it took until 2005 for the 30-year FBI veteran to admit that he
was the man who furtively met with reporter Bob Woodward in parking garages
throughout the scandal, providing key bits of information and directing the Washington Post reporter along the path
of discovery to the role played by the highest level of government in the scandal. Here Felt, played by Liam Neeson (who is made
up with slathers of too-white make-up), is portrayed as the government guy who
believed so strongly in the independence of the FBI that he decided to betray
it when he saw Richard Nixon’s White House chipping away at it. Felt was the number 2 guy under FBI czar J.
Edgar Hoover, a man with so much power that both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
were afraid to fire him. Luckily for
Nixon, he died, and Felt and company burned his personal papers before the
White House could uncover them. As the
1972 election neared and the Watergate break-in of Democratic headquarters took
place (two weeks after Hoover’s death), the White House was all over the FBI,
demanding a quick resolution of the case.
Felt understood the importance of having an independent “police” of the
nation, and bristled at being passed over for the top job, which likely led to
his feeding information to both the Post
and Time Magazine. This story is an intriguing one, as people
speculated for decades about the identity of Deep Throat. It is just when the movie strays into Felt’s
personal life that it goes off course.
It also takes much of the suspense out of the story with its very slow
pacing and the taciturn performance of Neeson.
3 cans.
117. Julie & Julia (2009) – The incomparable
Meryl Streep – looking incredibly tall – plays beloved chef Julia Child, and
Amy Adams plays Child’s superfan Julie Powell – a young woman living in Queens
with her husband – in this combination of their respective stories. Julia Child’s story is of her years in France
with her beloved husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) as she decides to attend the
Cordon Bleu culinary institute and become a chef and, ultimately, a cookbook
author. When she begins to write the
definitive book on French cooking for an American audience, she faces plenty of
challenges. Julie, on the other hand,
challenges herself by vowing to go through Child’s entire book, making 571
recipes in 365 days, a daunting cooking task.
The stories are told in parallel fashion. Child is completely charming, adoring her
husband, enthusiastically adapting to life in Paris and transforming herself
into a master chef. How they ever got
her to look that tall is an amazing movie feat.
Julie tackles her challenge with relish and feels a growing kinship with
the woman she grows to love. This movie
made me hungry! 3½ cans and a hearty
serving of beef bourguignon.
118. The Florida
Project* (2017) – If you live a stone’s throw from The Magic Kingdom in a
run-down welfare motel called The Magic Castle, you cannot be farther away from
the happiest place on earth. Young Moonee
(an incredibly gifted 6-year old actress named Brooklynn Prince) never goes to
the Disney Park. Instead she runs around
with her ragtag friends, finding places to explore at other nearby strip motels,
begging for enough money to share an ice cream cone, playing largely
unsupervised and wreaking havoc with the other residents and the motel’s manager,
Bobby (Willem Dafoe). The kids get into
all kinds of mischief, and while we might feel badly for them, they experience
the joy of innocence. Moonee has learned
to be pretty self-sufficient since her mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) is busy
trying to scrounge up money to pay her rent through shady deals and whatever
schemes she can work. Halley loves her
daughter but is completely lacking parenting skills (and she’s fairly shaky on
survival skills, for that matter, though she is superb at denying any
responsibility for anything and arguing with the confidence that she is never
wrong). The depiction of poverty here,
of desperation, reminded me somewhat of “Midnight Cowboy,” with its poignant
look at what people have to do to survive when there is no hope, no future and
no chance to get ahead. Prince and
Vinaite dominate the screen. How the
director and co-writer, Sean Baker, managed to get this performance out of a
six-year old and a novice actress in Vinaite is truly remarkable. It is hard to LIKE this movie, but easy to
admire it for its honesty, its irony, and its acting. 4 cans.
NOVEMBER
119. The China Syndrome (1979) – Despite the
presence of major stars like Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas and Jack Lemmon, this
movie about an accident at a nuclear power plant in California might have
slipped by unnoticed, with so much of its screen time devoted to staring at
gauges and talking about containment tanks.
But two weeks after it opened, the Three Mile Island plant in
northeastern Pennsylvania experienced a similar situation that spread into a
disaster. Then people started paying
attention to the risks associated with nuclear energy. Even with fail-safe systems, these plants
failed, and the movie makes a compelling drama of the problems while pointing
fingers at corporate management for falsifying records and taking risks in the
name of financial gain. It still felt
relevant to me today. 4 cans, and a top-notch
performance by the great Jack Lemmon.
120. The Shack* (2017) – I’m pretty good at
figuring out whether or not I will like a movie in the first few minutes. There is nothing wrong with this movie, but I
should not have stuck with it because it just isn’t the kind of movie I
like. Mack (Sam Worthington) is a morose
father, deeply depressed by a tragic loss in his family, when he gets a strange
message that turns out to be from God (Octavia Spencer). The movie drags on, trying to prove to Mack
that he can go on, that Heaven is a place on earth, all while including as much
cheesy spirituality as it can muster. I
can’t recommend it, but I can see how some people would find it affirming and
uplifting. I am not one of those
people. 2 cans.
121. The Doctor* (1991) – William Hurt plays
highly competent but egotistical Dr. Jack McKee, a successful surgeon living
the good life in San Francisco. He works
too hard but loves to “cut” people, and when he thinks about his patients, he
often refers to them by their ailments instead of by their names. In the OR, he rules, blasting his favorite
tunes and leading a rollicking band of colleagues. I guess when you are operating (literally) in
life-and-death situations, where what you do and the decisions you make can
either save lives or end them, it is appropriate to let off some steam. The doctor changes his tune dramatically,
however, when the persistent cough he has turns out to be something that
requires him to be a patient and experience the hospital regulations and the
attitude of his doctor in a whole new light.
Hurt is a consistent performer and his character here seems like others
he has played. His long-suffering wife
is played by Christine Lahti, who is also a very dependable actress, who cannot
understand why the long-married couple can no longer connect. Not a great movie, but worth seeing for free
on demand. 3 cans.
122. Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold*
(2017) – Now, THERE is an author. Joan
Didion is the chronicler of her generation through her magazine articles, books
and movies. Married to late author John
Gregory Dunne, Didion formed half of what must be one of the most storied
writing couple of our time. Her social
commentary, her articles on the counterculture of the 60s, on superstar
entertainers such as The Doors and Janice Joplin, her political coverage here
and internationally, were tempered by her intimate writing about coming to
terms with her own grief following Dunne’s sudden death in “The Year of Magical
Thinking.” She was a private person but
unafraid to share her own thoughts and experiences. In this fond documentary by her nephew,
actor/writer Griffin Dunne, she comes across as frank and frail but fierce,
true to herself and not ashamed to point out her own failings. And what a writer. The film includes brief readings of some of
her work, and it is stunningly composed, the way a musician might pen a work
for an orchestra but more unflinching and spare. This movie is available on Netflix and was
enough to make me want to read more by Didion.
4 cans.
123. Inherit the Wind* (1999) – The classic
Spencer Tracy version of the movie about the Scopes Trial was updated in 1999,
with Jack Lemmon playing the Clarence Darrow role (here called Henry Drummond)
and George C. Scott assuming the part of Matthew Brady Harrison, the prosecutor
on the case. The story is simple – a
young teacher is on trial in Tennessee for teaching Darwin’s theory of
evolution and not the Bible to explain creationism. The main characters spar with considerable
indignation, and Drummond is repeatedly put at a disadvantage by the prejudiced
judge (John Cullem), who refuses to allow his expert scientific witnesses to
testify. Instead, the main event becomes
the Bible itself, and how it is interpreted.
There are stellar performances by all in the cast, and though Tracy
cannot be replaced, Lemmon is much more than acceptable as a substitute. Preachy (as you would expect) but well played
and played out. 4 cans. The original would get 4½ here.
124. Strange Weather* (2017) – There aren’t
many actresses more feisty than Holly Hunter (I’d put Frances McDormand in that
category). Here Hunter is Darcy Baylor,
a single woman who cannot get over the suicide of her adult son, Walker, seven
years earlier. She stumbles upon some
information that reveals that the restaurant chain run by his friend, Mark
Wright (Shane Jacobsen) was actually Walker’s idea. She decides to head to New Orleans with her
friend Byrd (Carrie Coon) to confront him) after first tracking down his other
friends to learn more about the details of his death. Even she is not sure what she will do when
she meets up with Wright, but she needs some kind of closure to move on. Hunter, as always, is strong in a role that
shows her pain and despair. 3 cans.
125. All the Way* (2017) – I’m old enough to
remember the “All the Way with LBG” slogan for Lyndon Johnson’s 1964
presidential campaign. Thrust into
office following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Johnson
(Bryan Cranston) was a long-time member of Congress and knew his way around
politics. Blustery, brusque and frank,
LBG wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything.
The movie covers his fight to get the Civil Rights Amendment passed and
to win the nomination in 1964. Lots of
compromises and back door deals had to be made with powerful members of
Congress and with Reverend Martin Luther King himself. At a time when we question the leadership of
this country in Washington, I almost miss the likes of Johnson, who knew how to
get things done. Ultimately, he was
responsible for the passage of the Voting Rights Act. (Mind you, this was before the US became
immersed in the Vietnam War, which persuaded Johnson not to seek reelection in
1968.) The cast here is terrific, with
Bradley Whitford as a simpering Hubert Humphrey, Frank Langella, Stephen Root
as ruthless J. Edgar Hoover and Melissa Leo as Lady Bird. But as LBG, Bryan Cranston outshines them
all. Crude, rude and tough as nails as
LBG, he also manages to show the President’s frustration, impatience and
vulnerability. The sad part of this
movie is that despite legislation guaranteeing Equal Rights, racism in this
country remains firmly in place. But
without Johnson’s push on voting rights, conditions would not have changed at
all. 4 cans.
126. Wonder* (2017) – This is my third Jacob
Tremblay movie and I can attest to the fact that this young actor is truly a
wonder. The 11-year old here stars as Augie
Pullman, a bright, active boy with a penchant for “Star Wars” who just happens
to have been born with a facial deformity that has required many surgeries to
look acceptable to others. Home-schooled
by his mother (Julia Roberts), Augie is ready to enter middle school, a time
when kids can be unrelentingly mean to each other. Augie is such a smart, funny kid, that
despite his outward appearance, some of his classmates accept him, particularly
Jack Will (Noah Jupe). But then those
kids are ostracized. Augie is surrounded
by a loving family, with Dad Nate (Owen Wilson) and his patient and supportive
older sister Via (Izabela Didovic). Kids
struggle to fit in at all ages, and even the lovely Via here, ditched by her
former best friend, has to find her way.
Both young actors (Tremblay and Didovic) are engaging, vulnerable and,
well, wonderful. 4 cans.
127. And So It Goes* (2014) – Diane Keaton
has made so many movies with similar titles (“Something’s Got to Give,”
“Because I Said So”) and characters, that I feel it is my duty to provide you
with a public service: Don’t bother to
see this one. Here she is Leah, a widow
who sings in a small local club and is about as melancholy as you can get on
stage. But at home, where she is the neighbor of irascible realtor Oren
(Michael Douglas, playing the part that I’m guessing Robert DeNiro turned
down), she is sweet and loving. When
Oren’s heretofore unknown granddaughter is dumped on him by his
about-to-be-incarcerated son, Leah steps in and serves as surrogate grandmother
despite not having any child-rearing experience. Young Sarah (Sterling Jerins) takes to her
immediately, while Oren is determined to find the girl’s mother and return
her. Of course you know that romance is
in the air between neighbors and of course you know that the young girl will
win over her grumpy grandpa. Sappy,
predictable and annoying. 2 cans, but
only because I love Diane Keaton.
128. Murder on the Orient Express* (2017) –
I’m a failure at who-done-it movies. I
follow every lead, convinced that this is the perpetrator, or, no, it must be
him. Or is it her? This latest screen adaptation of the classic
Agatha Christie tale is full of twists and turns, almost as many as the Orient
Express itself takes. Kenneth Branagh
pulls double duty as the director and as ace detective Hercule Poirot, he of
the scene-stealing mustache. Lots of
characters board the train, but one doesn’t make it out alive. Luckily for me, it was Johnny Depp, an actor
I could do without. But who pulled off
the crime? On board for the suspense are Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh
Gad, Willem DaFoe, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Leslie Odom Jr. and a host of
other passengers with an axe to grind and a reason for revenge. Branagh is a sharp and amusing detective
whose Poirot misses no detail. But will
that help him solve the case? Stay
tuned. And don’t book seats on this
train if you are in a hurry. 3 cans.
129. 8 Days a Week* (2017) – This
documentary is director Ron Howard’s salute to those loveable lads from
Liverpool, the Beatles. The PBS show
highlights their brief but epic career, from their early days through the
memorable debut on The Ed Sullivan Show to the concerts at Shea Stadium. They were cute, cheeky, cheerful, and, oh, by
the way, prolific and profound songwriters -- OK, maybe not on ditties like “I
Want to Hold Your Hand,” but they had many more elegant compositions. Eventually, the constant travel, the press’
hounding them with questions and the deafening roar of the fans persuaded them
to stop touring and concentrate on recording in the studio, where they
virtually created the concept album (remember “Sargent Pepper?”) and turned out
their finest work. For those of us who
grew up with the Beatles, it was great to see them again, kidding around with
each other and reporters, commenting on their hair and bringing fun and great
music. When they became more politically
aware and outspoken, you can sense the joy dissipate. But until then, and through the classic
recordings, they enjoyed an ascendant career as a group that we will never see
again (my review, my opinion). Thanks,
Ron Howard. 4 cans.
130. Scott Peterson: An American Murder Mystery*
(2017) – This case about a man who is tried and convicted of killing his young,
pregnant wife, so dominated the headlines – first her disappearance, then
finding her body, then the “other woman” and finally his murder trial that you
think you can’t forget it even 15 years after his conviction. But you do forget
all of the lurid details about the handsome husband, the bubbly, pretty wife,
who disappeared on Christmas Eve while 8 months pregnant. Peterson’s story, airing on the ID Network on
TV, here is told by the policemen, investigators and lawyers who worked on the
case and through actual news and trial footage.
Peterson cheated on his wife with a woman he lied to, telling her first
that he wasn’t married and then telling her he had lost his wife – days before
she suddenly disappeared. I had
forgotten the details and could have lived my life happily ever after without
ever thinking about this case again, but there is something about seeing it
that got me hooked. He’s guilty in my
book. 3 cans.
DECEMBER
131. Newspaperman – The Life and Times of Ben
Bradlee* (2017) – If you remember Watergate, you’ll recognize the name Ben
Bradlee. As executive editor of The Washington Post, Bradlee presided
over the newsroom and the reporters (notably Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein)
who doggedly pursued the story later presented as the movie “All the
President’s Men.” Bradlee was a tough,
no-nonsense guy who insisted on having the facts to tell the story. A veteran reporter and foreign correspondent,
he stayed at the Post for 29 years. This
HBO documentary recounts the stories of his career and his life, revealing some
things I didn’t know (his 3 marriages) and some things I had forgotten (the
Post scandal over the fraudulent reporting of Janet Cooke). Well done.
4 cans.
132. Final Vision* (2017) – Not to be
confused with “Fatal Vision,” this movie is the story of Joe McGuiness, author
of the aforementioned book on the Jeffrey McDonald case. McDonald was a Green Beret, a doctor, whose
young wife and children were murdered in their North Carolina apartment by what
the Colonel insisted were hippie intruders.
McDonald was eventually charged with their murders and convicted of the
crime. Here, Scott Foley plays
McGuiness, the author drafted by McDonald to tell his side of the story. And in the beginning, McGuiness feels sure
McDonald is innocent. Given complete
access to the doctor and all of his files, the author researchers the case
thoroughly, and begins to have his doubts. I guess you could say this was a story about a
story. The original book and TV movie
(as was this film) with Gary Cole as McDonald, is far superior. 3 cans.
133. Lady Bird* (2017) – If you thought this
movie had anything to do with Lyndon Johnson’s wife, you would be wrong. Christine (Saorise Ronan) has declared
herself “Lady Bird,” calling it her given name since she gave it to
herself. A high school student in
Sacramento, she sees things just a little differently from her domineering (and
annoying but means well) mother (Laurie Metcalf) and father (Tracy Letts). She needs to grow, to get out of her small
environment and move to a larger stage. This
is surely a coming-of-age film, with the young woman going through all the
usual teenage experiences with boys, sex, friends (notably her BFF, played with
a real sparkle by Beanie Feldman), parents and college applications. Though this path has been trodden before in
many movies, Lady Bird brings a fresh approach and exemplary acting by
all. 3½ cans, though I could be
persuaded to go to 4.
134. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri*
(2017) – Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is angry. Her daughter was raped and killed and no one
in the police department in her small town seems to be doing anything to solve
the crime. Rather than adopt the
vigilante route, Mildred decides to harass the local chief of police, William
Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) to force him to reopen the case. She rents three billboards on a little used
road to remind people of the crime and excoriate Willoughby. Working on the case is the immature and
volatile Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), who is part Momma’s boy and part gun-toting
nut case. As one character says, “Anger
begets anger,” and Mildred’s anger, Willoughby’s inability to solve the case
and Dixon’s penchant towards beating up anyone in his way leads to bloodshed
and death. People turn on each other,
new alliances are formed, and the movie moves along unpredictably. There is a violent crime drama here, yet
there is a degree of humor that is unexpected.
McDormand gives another great performance, showing loss, anger, resolve,
revenge and every now and then, a real heart.
I really liked this crazy story.
4 cans.
135. The Only Living Boy in New York* (2017)
– It is a challenge to explain this movie without giving away the
plotline. Thomas Webb (Callum Turner),
looking a bit like a young Richard Gere (but a more nerdy version), lives in
Brooklyn and is trying to make his way in the world. The girl he adores is with someone else, his
parents’ (Pierce Brosnan and Cynthia Nixon) marriage is on life support and he
is afraid his mother will crack and his father is sneaking around with an
attractive, seductive woman (Kate Beckinsale).
Jeff Bridges plays his whiskey-drinking, world-weary but wise new
neighbor, who takes the young man under his wing and becomes his confidant and
sounding board. You have to see how this
all ties together. So much of this movie
reminded me of my all-time favorite movie, “The Graduate,” with Simon and
Garfunkel music, a scene shot in the rain, a bedroom scene that reminded me of
Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, and even a scene when Thomas has to run down the
streets of New York. I found this one on
Amazon, not in the movies, so if you have Prime, watch it. 4 cans.
136. A Christmas Story Live* (2017) – Let’s
face it, these live, televised productions of old favorites (“The Sound of
Music,” “Grease,” Peter Pan,” etc.), while admirable in their zeal to capture a
classic, always come up short. In this
case, I am thankful that I never shelled out money to see the Broadway
production of one of my favorite Christmas movies, stuffed with forgettable
music and translated to the stage. This
telecast delivered that stage musical, and while the most memorable moments
were included (the leg lamp, Ralphie and his determination to get that Red
Ryder rifle, the tongue frozen to a metal pipe, among many others), I found the
musical numbers to be a distraction.
With a running time of 3 hours (including the commercials I skipped by
wisely recording the program and watching it from the DVR commercial-free), it
seemed interminable. When I watch the
1983 movie version on Christmas Eve, which I always do, I will appreciate it
even more. The one thing I can say I
enjoyed in this otherwise valiant but failed version was Jane Krakowski’s tap
dance number with kids. That had to be challenging
to pull off on live TV. Kudos to the
cast and crew, but I thought this version was more dead than alive. 2 cans.
137. Singing in the Rain (1952) – Gene
Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds.
Need I say more? Whether they are
dancing or singing or acting, these three bring plenty of star power to the
screen in this classic musical pastiche celebrating the end of the silent movie
era and the start of “talkies.” Kudos to
Cyd Charisse for a dance number with Kelly that has nothing to do with the plot
(but everything to do with Kelly’s power as a star and choreographer), and to
Jean Hagen for her part as the actress with a voice that sounds like the brakes
on a train. The music is memorable and
the dancing sublime. Considering that
Debbie Reynolds was 19 and had no real dance experience, the outcome of this
movie is truly amazing. Kelly brings
athleticism and grace to the screen, and he is matched by O’Connor. One of the best Hollywood musicals in the
history of film. 4½ cans.
138. Love Story (1970) – “What can you say
about a 25-year-old girl who died?”
Since that is the opening line in the movie, it’s not like I can spoil it
for any of you who somehow have missed seeing this classic tear-jerker (stop
reading now if you haven’t seen it but plan to watch one day!). Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) falls in love
with fellow Harvard student Jenny Cavalieri.
He is from a rich family, she is from a poor family, she loves her
father, he has nothing but contempt for his father, they graduate, get married,
live a poor life as he goes to law school and she gives up her dream of going
to Paris to study music. When they try
to have kids she suddenly comes down with a fatal bout of movie star disease
and, well, if you read that first line…O’Neal and McGraw are gorgeous together,
so attractive that you can’t take your eyes off them as they frolic in the snow
and everywhere else, but neither of them can act. You may find this movie beyond sappy, or you
may cry every time you see it. For me,
having seen it as an emotional 20-year-old college student, it conjures up lots
of memories, and I fall somewhere in between.
If I did spoil it for you, remember that “Love means never having to say
you’re sorry.” 4 cans and a box of
tissues.
139. The Zookeeper’s Wife* (2017) – As the
Germans begin their takeover of Poland in 1939, Jews living in Warsaw are being
rounded up by the Nazis. The local zoo,
run by Antonia and Jan Zabinski (Jessica Chastain and Johan Heldenberg),
becomes a refuge for the escaped Jews, whom Jan helps bring to the basement of
their home on the zoo grounds and where Antonia cares for them, along with her
own son. As reality closes in, it
becomes impossible for the Jews to leave the country forcing Antonia to use her
supposed friendship with a Nazi officer to buy them time. Like any movie that I have ever seen about
the Holocaust, I know I can only watch this story once. Daniel Bruhl is excellent playing the
unctuous Nazi whose mind is not always on der Fuhrer or animal husbandry. Lots of tension, especially because we know
this is based on a true story. 4 cans.
140. A Christmas Story (1983) – The real
deal. I’ll take Ralphie nearly shooting
his eye out by his Red Ryder Rifle any day in this original version over that
disastrous live version listed above.
There are so many funny lines, crazy scenes and warm memories. I
know this is not everyone’s favorite, but I look forward to seeing it every
year. 4 cans.
141. All the Right Moves (1983) – Stef
Djordjevic (an early Tom Cruise role) is a big-time football player in a small,
Pennsylvania steel town, and he knows that his only ticket out of this place is
to get a football scholarship. But Stef
and his coach (Craig T. Nelson) butt heads, with the Coach holding the cards on
the kid’s future. Cruise went on to play
similar angry, earnest young men in several other films. Lea Thompson is his high school girlfriend,
who just wants to love Stef and study music.
Much of this movie reminded me of one of my favorite TV series, “Friday
Night Lights,” since both this movie and TV show revolve around high school
football, where teenagers become gods in their small towns, playing football,
getting the cute girls, drinking and counting on football and football alone to
secure their futures. Even Stef’s
number, 33, is the one worn by bad boy Tim Riggins in the TV show. 3 cans.
142. I, Tonya* (2017) – And now for a
completely different kind of Christmas movie, here is the dramatic version of
the story of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), who made
headlines when her estranged husband, Jeff Gilhooly (Sebastian Stan)
masterminded a plot to take out Tonya’s skating rival, Nancy Kerrigan just
before the 1992 Winter Olympics.
Mastermind is probably an overstatement, since Jeff counted on moronic
“bodyguard” Shawn, who hired an equally inept henchman who bashed Kerrigan in
the knee. Harding is one of those people
who cannot get a break. Her foulmouthed
mother Lavona (Allison Janney in a terrific performance) bullies and beats her,
claiming that every cent she makes goes for Harding’s expenses (from age 4 on). Tonya marries Gilhooly just to get out of the
house, and he beats her, too. Harding is
clearly gifted on the ice, where she can do a jump no one else in the world can
do, but she lacks the grace and style we demand of our skating icons (think
Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill). The
movie is told “mocumentary-style” (not quite on the level of “Spinal Tap,” but
of that ilk), with the actor “characters” today reflecting back on the events
and Harding hard life. As a fan of
Olympic skating, I remember the whole Harding-Kerrigan rivalry and the attack
on Kerrigan well. She eventually healed
from her injuries, but Harding lapsed into a life-long sentence of notoriety
that she will never overcome. I just
want to know if Robbie really skated some of those routines. Greatly entertaining film. 4 cans.
143. The Holiday (2006) – Let’s start with
the fact that Jude Law has NEVER looked better than he does in this
charmer. Amanda (Cameron Diaz) has
thrown out her live-in boyfriend in LA, while a continent away, perpetually sad
Iris (Kate Winslet) learns that her erstwhile boyfriend is engaged to someone
else. Amanda finds that Iris’ cozy
cottage in Surry, England, is available for a house swap, and, before you can
say, “Where’s my passport?” the two women are trying out living in a new place
and hoping to find their own peace.
Amanda gets the best part of the swap when Iris’ older brother Graham
(Jude Law) drops in, not knowing his sister is in LA. Meanwhile, at Amanda’s sprawling Hollywood
home, Iris is happy to swim in the pool, make friends with the elderly screenwriter
next door (Eli Wallach) and meet Miles (Jack Black), a colleague of
Amanda’s. This movie is a Christmas
rom-com at its best, with appealing characters, a plot good enough to keep me
interested, and an inevitable ending that just made me smile. 4 cans.
144. Love, Actually (2003) – Who ISN’T in
this British movie? There’s Emma
Thompson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Keira Knightley,
Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy…only missing British actors were Helen Mirren and Dame
Judi Dench. This is a conglomeration of
overlapping love stories, with Neeson trying to recover from his wife’s death,
Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister with a crush on a staff assistant, Rickman
flirting with an affair…no point in trying to name them or all the plotlines. Just see it and enjoy it and remember that
love is all around. 4½ cans.
145. The Darkest Hour* (2017) – Winston
Churchill is making quite a comeback of late, appearing in this account of the
German invasion threat to Britain in 1940 as well as “Dunkirk” from earlier in
the year, and a triumphant first season on Netflix’s “The Crown” (thanks to a
great performance by John Lithgow). Here Gary Oldham takes on the glowering
Prime Minister, who, at the beginning of the movie is not the favored candidate
for the job. He becomes the PM because
of his perceived ability to work in collaboration with the two parties in the
British House of Lords, and, despite some genuine doubts about him (he naps
during the day and drinks much more than he should), he fronts a formidable
posture and determination that will not permit the Brits to negotiate with
Germany or give up fighting even with the odds against them. This movie moved a little slowly for me, but
the warm touches throughout (at one point Churchill notes that all babies look
like him, which I’ve always believed was true!) bring in some humor in an
otherwise serious story. Oldham’s
make-up is remarkable and should earn some recognition in the upcoming awards
season, as should the actor himself. 3
cans.
146. Marjorie Morningstar (1958) – A
favorite film from my teenage years, this melodrama stars Natalie Wood as
Marjorie Morgenstern, a Jewish girl who aspires to be an actress. At a summer resort, she meets much older Noel
Airman (Gene Kelly), a charismatic performer who captures her under his
spell. Her parents don’t approve of him
or of her falling in love with him, and Noel, while much older, is smitten with
the beautiful young woman. Marjorie
comes from a wealthy family and is accustomed to getting what she wants, and
she wants Noel, whose height of success seems to be stuck at South Wind, the
summer camp where they met. When his
former assistant, Wally (Martin Milner) scores big on Broadway, Noel feels even
more pressure to have a hit show. Will
he change his life, marry Marjorie, and will she become a successful
actress? This movie captivated me as a
teenager and still held my interest, corny though it may be. My only real complaint is that they play the
theme song, “A Very Precious Love,” about every 10 minutes. 3 cans.
147. Call Me By Your Name* (2017) – It’s
summer, it’s Italy, and young Elio (Timothee Chalomet) gets to lounge around
his family’s gorgeous estate, playing and studying music in a magical
setting. And then Oliver (Armie Hammer)
turns up, a strapping, impossibly handsome American who is there to work with
Elio’s father, an archaeology professor.
Everyone immediately loves the confident, easygoing Oliver, who is
charming, wise and friendly. And Elio,
who is exploring the boundaries of his sexuality with a local girl, is drawn to
the 20-something (who, to me, looked at least late 20s) in a way I’m not sure
he expected. As the intern to the
father, Oliver initially resists the 17-year old’s advances, but he is
interested. There is a lot of cinematic
foreplay before these two take the plunge – and I don’t mean in a nearby
pond. Oliver is old enough to deal with
the budding relationship, while Elio’s feelings are stronger and less
realistic. The sensuality of their
relationship and the lushness of the settings give the story a languorous sense
that makes you feel a little voyeuristic.
The two men seem much less desperate about their nascent affair than the
lovers did in “Brokeback Mountain,” but this film is more of a coming of age
story. Beautifully shot and sensitively
presented. 3½ cans.
148. The Crown* (2017) – No, it is not a
movie, but this 10-episode second season of the Netflix series remains worthy
of inclusion and recommendation. Last
year we watched as the young Elizabeth ascended to the throne and had to learn
about being the sovereign with some on-the-job training by Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and others. This year
she has her sea legs and can stand on her own, dealing with political crises, a
succession of Prime Ministers, the wandering eye of her husband, Phillip, the
occasional embarrassments of her sister Margaret, and the birth and development
of her children. There was much here
that I did not know, especially about Prince Phillip, and it is handled deftly.
While The Crown is not quite up to the
standards of the late, great Downton Abbey, it is smart, lavish and wonderful
to watch. Thanks, Netflix, for my new
British obsession. 4 cans.
149. Spencer’s Mountain (1962) – Henry Fonda
stars in this warm family drama written by Earl Hamner, the creator of the
Waltons. He heads a large family, living
modestly (at best) but full of love and fun.
James MacArthur plays his son, Clayboy (and similarities with the TV version
John Boy are purely intentional), who does not want to stay on the mountain
only to end up working at the local quarry with his father and passel of
uncles. He qualifies to go to college,
but will there be money to send him (this point qualifies as suspense in this
movie). Honestly, I wouldn’t have
watched this movie but I got it mixed up with “Shenandoah,” with James Stewart,
and should have watched that one. Oh,
well. 3 cans.
150. New Year’s Eve* (2011) – Taking the
formula of the much superior “Love Actually,” this film boasts a bunch of
familiar faces in small roles as everyone in the film is counting down to New
Year’s Eve in New York. There are
overlapping stories and characters in multiple vignettes, including a rock star
and a chef (Jon Bob Jovi and Kathryn Heigel), a nurse and an elderly patient
(Holly Berry and Robert DeNiro), a man looking for his dream girl (Josh
Duhmel), a TV producer hoping the ball will work (Hillary Swank), a young man
helping an older woman live out some dreams (Zac Efron and Michelle
Pfeiffer)…too many others to mention.
This was a pleasant diversion on a snowy day and appropriate for the day
before NYE. 3 cans.
151. Stronger* (2017) – Jeff Bauman (Jake
Gyllenhaal) is just an average guy from Boston who ends up in the wrong place
at the wrong time. Going to see his
on-again, off-again girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany) run in the 2013 Boston
Marathon, he is near the finish line when a bomb explodes, severely injuring his
legs. Bauman is the epitome of the stereotype we associate with guys from
Boston – a guy who loves his Red Sox, drinking with his boys and hanging with
his family. When his legs are amputated
because of the injuries, he must go through the grueling process of rehab, and
he needs all of the help and support he can get. Because he was close enough to the bomber to
describe him to authorities, Bauman becomes a reluctant hero, but he suffers
from flashbacks and would just as soon be left alone. The movie does an excellent job of showing
the everyday challenges he must endure doing the activities of daily living that
we all take for granted. I’m not sure
how they shot this movie to make it appear that Gyllenhaal had no legs below
his knee, but that effect was very convincing, as was Gyllenhaal as the angry,
bitter victim. 3 cans.
152. Goodbye, Columbus (1969) – Before she
played a Harvard student from a poor family, Ali McGraw played Brenda, a
Radcliffe girl from a rich family who has a fling with Neil (Richard Benjamin),
a nice enough Jewish boy but not the kind you take home to your Patimkin
parents. He’s from the Bronx, she’s from
Westchester, the daughter of a hard-working father (Jack Klugman, who is
terrific) who earned his way into the upper class and delights in spoiling his
children. This movie is much more than a
“love story;” it is an indictment of the values of the nouveau rich, the way
they judge and treat others they perceive as not in their class. She is infatuated, is gorgeous and adventurous,
which Neil finds attractive even though he knows her family frowns on his job
as a librarian and his lack of ambition.
Neil is equally judgmental, taking measure of everything they do or say,
but he is too smitten to give her up.
There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, with the best being the
wedding of Brenda’s meathead (but nice) brother. If you’ve never seen a horde of people storm
a buffet table and scoop the head off a rooster made of the chopped liver, you
will here. I hadn’t seen this movie in
years and I had forgotten the specifics of the social commentary, which is
accurately depicted. 4 cans and a big
scoop of chopped liver.
And goodbye, 2017!
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