At the Cinema - July 2019

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – 9

Quentin Tarantino’s 9^th film meanders through 1969 and the Hollywood of his youth.  It is a sprawling tribute to the golden age of Hollywood, featuring fictional characters interacting with real people.  It concludes its winding path on the night that Charles Manson sends 4 cult members to murder the residents of a house that is owned by Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate.  If you know Tarantino, you know there will be a blood and guts ending, and he doesn’t spare the audience. 

Leonardo Di Caprio plays Rick Dalton, an aging actor who was once the lead in a TV western, but, as pointed out by an agent (Al Pacino), he is now relegated to guest star villain roles on series like “The FBI.”  His career, and his bank account could be rejuvenated by a trip to Italy for some starring roles in spaghetti westerns.  His sidekick, stuntman, and best friend is Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt.  Margot Robbie plays Sharon Tate.  It is quickly evident why these three are movie superstars.  They are all terrific.  It is Pitt that has his best role in years as he strolls through his part with the same charisma he had in Thelma and Louise.  I hope he gets an Oscar.  He’s that good.

So, what’s great about this movie, besides the three superstars?  First, there’s the music.  Tarantino as always, nails the background.  Everything is from 1969 or earlier, and its all great.  The supporting cast features many Tarantino regulars and some new faces.  The sets are great, and the way Tarantino inserts Dalton into footage is often draw dropping.  There’s even a Mannix moment, and I loved Mannix. Best TV theme song ever. 

My only quibble with the movie is that it is a little slow paced at times, as Tarantino goes to great lengths to show off his recreation of Hollywood.  It’s the Tarantino way.  At 2 hours and 40 minutes, I suggest you ignore the concession stand on the way in.  Well worth seeing, unless you are violence-adverse.

So, now for a couple of purely personal lists.  Once Upon a Time takes it place in the pantheon of great L.A. films.  Here’s my top 5:

1. Chinatown
2. L. A. Confidential
3. Singing in the Rain
4. Collateral
5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

And where does it rank among Tarantino’s other films?  Here’s my ranking:

1.       Kill Bill 1 & 2 
2.       Pulp Fiction 
3.       Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 
4.       Reservoir Dogs 
5.       Inglorious Bastards 
6.       Django Unchained
7.    The Hateful Eight  
8.       Death Proof 
9.       Jackie Brown

And finally, 1969 was perhaps the most eventful year in U.S. history. 

Chew on these events:

January 12           The New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III

January 12           Led Zeppelin releases their first album in the U.S. that same day

January 20           Richard Nixon is sworn in as 37^th President of the U.S.

January 30           The Beatles give their last public performance on the roof of Apple Records

March 28             Dwight Eisenhower dies

June 22                 Judy Garland dies of a drug overdose

July 18                   Ted Kennedy drives off a bridge at Chappaquiddick.  Mary Jo Kopechne dies in the car

July 20                   Apollo 11 lunar module “Eagle” lands on the moon

August 9               Members of the Manson Family invade the home of Roman Polanski and kill his pregnant wife Sharon Tate and 3 others.

August 15            Woodstock begins

August 17            Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi Gulf Coast, killing 248 people

September 23    Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is released

September 28    The Beatles release Abbey Road

October 16          The Amazing New York Mets complete their World Series upset of the Baltimore Orioles

October 31          Wal Mart is incorporated

November 9       A group of American Indians seize Alcatraz Island

November 15     Dave Thomas opens his first Wendys

December 6        Altamont Free Concert ends in violence

1969 – well worth the attention.  There’s a whole bunch of movies there.

 

Scanning the Satellite

Satan and Adam – 10

This enthralling documentary appearing on Netflix was started when streaming was only a dream.  It begins in the mid-80’s when the streets of Harlem were marked by racial tension.  A despondent Columbia grad student named Adam is exploring Harlem when he comes upon a blues guitarist known as Mr. Satan.   Mr. Satan is Sterling Magee, a well regarded backup musician who had become dissatisfied with the music business and decided to make his living on the street. 

Adam is white and Sterling is black, and when Adam asks Sterling if he can accompany him with his harmonica little do they know they are embarking on a 20 year odyssey of ups and downs that will include some modest acclaim, a disappearance, disability, and triumph. 

Sometimes documentaries are lucky and sometimes they are good, and this is both.  The filmmakers could not have predicted what they would be lucky enough to document.  This is one of my favorite documentaries ever, and if you like music, don’t miss it.

Bathtubs over Broadway – 10

Another Netflix documentary home run is this amazing film.  It is hard to believe that musical theater Is as old as our country.  It thrived in the 20^th century as the Broadway musical reached great heights.  And late in the century, Broadway caliber talent was used in the corporate world for industry meeting productions.  Steve Young, a writer for David Letterman discovered this world as he searched for records for “Dave’s Record Collection,” an early bit on the Letterman’s show.  This launched Steve’s obsession with this invisible world, with records that were marked “internal use only” and “not for public viewing.”  His 20-year hunt for as many of these musicals, both on vinyl and video, is beautifully chronicled here.  This film has already won many awards.

If you like music, or musicals, or anything Broadway, you will be wide-eyed as Steve tracks down some of the individuals who put these shows together.  Their stories are terrific, the music is indeed catchy, and the personalities, including some famous ones, are worthy of the star treatment they get from Young.  Don’t miss this love story.

Big Little Lies, (season 2) - 7

Meryl Streep joins the superstar cast of this hit HBO soap opera, and the star power jumps off the screen, even if the story can’t quite live up to the fast-paced events of the first season.  Streep, Witherspoon, Dern, Kidman, Kravitz, and Woodley make up an all-star team, but unfortunately there isn’t much likability in the team.  They are all irritating.  Given no one to root for, I was rooting for an earthquake.

Veep – 10

I was late to the Veep party, but I’m glad I finally got there.  There’s a good reason Julia Louis-Dreyfous is an 8 time Emmy winner and a national treasure.  She delivers one of television’s all time great characters as Vice President Selena Myers.  But, as good as she is as the anchor of this, the entire cast is terrific.  I understand why this show ranks as one of HBO’s best ever. More laughs per minute than anything I can remember.

 And finally, a little Lagniappe:

At the Cinema - June 2019

Yesterday – 7

Some day there will be a pantheon of lost opportunities, and this movie will have an exhibit all its own.  As a huge Beatles fan, I will admit that month after month of seeing the previews (more on this in a minute) had me pretty excited.  What an interesting premise!  There’s a world-wide blackout, a modest singer named Jack Malick (Hamesh Patel) is hit by a bus, and when he comes to, the Beatles never existed.  But Jack remembers them, and all he has to do is recall the lyrics of all the songs and soon he’ll be a Superstar.  Right?  Well, not so fast.

Never mind all the other cultural changes the Beatles propelled. There is no doubt in my mind that they were the most influential factors of the twentieth century, right up there with cars, wars, and air conditioning, not to mention finally easing me out of my mandatory crew cut.  But, the focus here is wisely on their music.

Unfortunately, the execution is lacking.  There are some good music scenes, but there’s a love story that is rather tepid.  First you must accept the fact that the fluorescent talent Lily James would have an interest in this dull, semi-talented singer, and second you have to accept that he doesn’t seem to notice her, and that’s even more ridiculous.  I'd like to do a complete rewrite.  Having seen her light up the screen in Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, I would love to have seen Lily James as the lead singer here.  OK, she couldn't have sung Nowhere Man, or I Saw Her Standing There, and a few others.  As written here, she is wasted in a thankless role.

The second half of the movie, despite the best efforts of Kate McKinnon as a money-grubber, is one dead scene after another.  I basically wanted to take over directing the movie.

Now I will talk about the trailer.  I have a few pet peeves, most of them traffic related

5)  drivers who don’t know how to accelerate to enter an interstate

4)  drivers who dilly dally in the left lane

3)  truckers who throw their blinker on while you are passing them

2)  drivers who won’t accelerate going up a hill to maintain their speed, but

1)  Trailers that show a preview of something NOT IN THE MOVIE!

The trailer for “Yesterday” features a charming scene of Patel singing “Something” to a co-guest on the James Corden show.   I know this because a) I’ve seen the trailer several times, and b) it’s my wife’s favorite Beatles' Song as evidenced by her swooning when Paul McCartney recently sang it to her.  Yes, he does a George Harrison song in concert, and yes, maybe he should have approved this script. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are some charming musical moments.  How could there not be?  But maybe when it comes to the Beatles legacy, it’s just time to Leave it Be.

 

Late Night – 8

Mindy Kaling wrote and stars in this entertaining and amusing look at the late night television talk show world.  She plays Molly Patel, the first female writer on Katherine Newberry’s show.  Newberry is played by Emma Thompson. 

The Larry Sanders Show, which starred Gary Shandling, was the legendary takedown of evening talk shows, but a re-visit is worthwhile in the internet era, and social media plays a large part in the plot.

Newberry is past her prime and the new network President, played by the terrific Amy Ryan, has decided it’s time to move on to a younger comic. Newberry is getting little help from her writers.  She must look to Mindy as Molly to save the day and bring her into this century.

You know where this is going, but the ride is fun.  The fact that my two favorite talk show hosts Bill Maher and Seth Myers have cameos won some points with me.  What is a little surprising is that the usually wonderful Emma Thompson is rather bland in her role, but maybe that’s the point. 

I’ve always liked the late night talk shows.  I find you sometimes have to wade through a lot to get to a little.  What I’ve never been able to figure out is why American television ends up with so many British hosts like Katherine Newberry.  James Corden, Piers Morgan, Craig Ferguson to name a few.  Just an interesting phenomenon.

Anyway, who’d of thought that Mindy Kaling could carry a movie.  Looking forward to her next project.

 

Rather than scanning the satellite this month, as I am in mid-binge on so many shows, I thought it would be fun to answer the CNN twitter question, and perhaps get your input.

They asked, "If you could only watch 5 movies for the rest of your life, what would they be?"

With honorable mention to The Sound of Music, A Few Good Men, Tombstone, and LA Confidential, I would go with:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Annie Hall

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 

Chinatown

Gone Baby Gone

What are your 5?