Sunday, March 1, 2020

At the Cinema - February 2020


Just Mercy – 7

The always compelling Michael B. Jordan plays real-life Harvard lawyer Bryan Stevenson who upon graduation headed to Alabama to defend death row inmates.  His top candidate for complete exoneration is played by Jamie Foxx and Stevenson’s up-hill battle against prejudice and racism is consistent with history. 

None of this star power can save this movie from being manipulative and simplistic. While it’s all uplifting and ideological, it’s so predictable that there’s no suspense.  This is by-the-book filmmaking of the horrific problems of racism and wrongful death row convictions and because it’s a true story you can’t help but be drawn in.

The real-life problem is dramatic and heart-breaking and to most people of color time has stood virtually still. The movie problem is that some innovation would have gone a long way in lifting this above a tv movie-of-the week feeling. 


Call of the Wild – 7

Hollywood has done it now.  It’s one thing to inundate us with unrealistic super-hero movies where ridiculous abilities exist.  Now they’ve put a super-hero dog on film, and done it to embellish a classic story.  I guess you could’ve never gotten a real dog to do this stuff, like pull a sled, jump into an icey river, or fight off wolves and bears.  So they inserted a computer generated dog and challenged Harrison Ford to act like “Buck” was actually knocking liquor out of his hand.  I’ve had dogs, and love dogs, and no dog is this perfect. 

All of this doesn’t mean the movie is terrible.  Because the dog isn’t real, the animal-cruelty people didn’t have to be called in.  There are brutal scenes that any animal lover is going to hate, but none of it is real, and you don’t even have to keep telling yourself that.  If you have accepted “comic book” world dramatizations over the original novel you will probably enjoy this.  If the filmmakers hadn’t given away in the first 60 seconds that this wasn’t to be taken seriously, maybe I would’ve suspended my disbelief.  The reality is that dogs are so damn entertaining without being perfect that they enhance the adventure of living just fine, without the special effects. 

In our house, every day my dog exhibits the Call of the Couch. 


Scanning the Smaller Screen:

The Pharmacist – 10

This Netflix drama is by far the best thing I saw this month, and the discomfort in watching it is what lifts it to its heights.
This riveting documentary series is built around two lucky breaks:  Finding a Pharmacist who has been fighting battles against ravaging drug addiction since his son was tragically killed in the 9th Ward Area of New Orleans – AND recording much of it on an old tape recorder and with a video camera.

This is as much a portrait of obsessive-compulsive behavior as it is an expose on the pharmaceutical industry.  Maybe we would have recognized the dangers of Oxycontin without the efforts of a Chalmette, Louisiana pharmacist named Dan Schneider, but his relentless pursuit seems to have accelerated things, at least in Louisiana.

When Schneider’s 22 year old son is tragically killed in a drug deal gone bad, he realizes that the only way the murder will get solved is if he solves it.  The New Orleans Police Department is dismissive, disinterested, and overwhelmed.  He is obsessed, blindly obsessed.  Schneider puts his life in danger by walking the streets of the city for years until he solves the crime, and there’s one more thing:  he tapes everything.  Here’s another thing.  He keeps the tapes in the attic and they survive Katrina when his house is flooded.  Without that preservation, there is no documentary.

Once that is out of the way (the first episode) he takes on the subject he knows best.  Drugs.  Not the illegal ones, but the legal one that people are overdosing on – Oxy.  And his tape recorder is always running as he realizes there is a local “pill mill” doctor who is stepping over the line in a big way.  It is astounding how long it takes to get this stopped.  It takes an obsession that is a match for the addiction.  This is a sad chapter in American history and it’s not over yet as over 400,000 deaths have now been attributed to this drug.  Meanwhile the pendulum has now swung the other way to the point that people who are in constant pain can’t get prescribed the drug because it was abused so badly. 

I doubt there will be a more compelling documentary this year. The Schneiders had no idea that their son was using.  Their story is in turn heartbreaking and heroic. 
In a “let’s get high” world there is a lesson here. 

Hold your friends close, and your children closer. 

Image result for the pharmacist dan schneider


Raising Hell:  The Life and Times of Molly Ivins – 9

Legendary Texas columnist Molly Ivins is the subject of a paint-by-the numbers biography.  What lifts this one is the subject herself.  “Colorful” is an inadequate description of Molly Ivins. “Fearless” is another one.  She took on Texas politicians, then National ones with a passion that has to be admired.  She wrote her mind.    
In a society where free-thinkers are being replaced by a what I call the “two lane highway” we need more Molly Ivins and less of what we’ve got.


High Fidelity – 9

There are many things I miss about the past.  High on the list is the hours I’ve spent in record stores browsing for that vinyl discovery, then coming home and breaking it open to slap on the phonograph.  Of course, my gear is better today, and I can play it louder than I could on that old two speaker Magnavox, but today’s music…well don’t get me started.  Sure, I still make playlists.  My current one is 3000 songs on itunes (and it’s spectacular), but I miss the curating that comes with trying to make that perfect 16 song cassette.  Those were the days – when the transition from song to song was art and life wasn’t a “shuffle” mode.  It was a singular comfort to know what song was next and how cool that transition was.  There was a time when you would bring new music home and just sit and listen to it, not listen as you were cooking, or driving.  Those were the days, my friend.  (At this point you are either nodding your head, or shaking it and saying “what planet is he on?”)

Apparently, or fictionally perhaps, the record store lives on in Brooklyn New York, fighting extinction, and even making a little bit of a comeback.  One of my favorite recent movies, “Hearts Beat Loud” captures such a place, but in the series High Fidelity the record store anchors the action.  The action being the lives of 3 unique characters.  I won’t spill much about them, but they bring so much gusto to this 10 episode Hulu series, that I hope the series is renewed just so I can see what’s next in their lives and the satisfaction that they just can’t get, no. 

In the middle of it all is Zoe Kravitz playing “Rob,” short for Robin, the female version of John Cusack’s character in the Nick Hornby film.  Her natural charisma is the gravity that holds this together.  She’s awesome and her character is a mess.  In fact the series is a little bit of a mess.  She suffers through old boyfriends and new, careening through life with the backup and guiding commentary of her friends.  Most nights, after days spent arguing the merits of Fleetwood Mac or disco music, or naming their “top 5 comeback songs,”  they close the shop and head out to listen to music.  What could be better?

If you love music, plunk down the $6 for a month of Hulu and enjoy this.  It’s not perfect, but it’s entertaining.  Well, actually the episode where Rob goes, across town to buy a record collection is pretty perfect.  There were two recent mini-series that I enjoyed. “Vinyl” on HBO, and “Roadies” on Showtime, that scratched the surface.  This series plays the record, scratches and all.

High Fidelity -- "WeirdÉBut Warm" - Episode 106 -- When Liam returns from tour, Rob is caught between the fantasy of a night spent backstage as his date and the reality of what Clyde is offering Ð be it friendship or something more. Simon develops a crush. Cherise is inspired to pitch herself to LiamÕs manager. Robyn (Zo‘ Kravitz) and Simon (David H. Holmes), shown. (Photo by: Phillip Caruso/Hulu)


McMillions – 9

You’re not going to believe this HBO documentary series.  I’ve watched 3 episodes and I’m flabbergasted.  Remember playing “Monopoly” at McDonalds?  Remember the million dollar prizes?  Well, you never had a chance.  It was rigged.  Who rigged it and who collected and how the FBI caught them is the subject here, and I’m not going to give it away, but telling you who would be perfect to direct the feature film would even give this away.  If you can’t trust McDonalds, who can you trust?
 

Alita, Battle Angel – 9

Much like Call of the Wild, the hero cyborg with the enhanced human brain is inserted amongst live actors in a ridiculous adventure movie.  There’s just one thing.  It’s actually pretty good.  James Cameron scripted, and Robert Rodriguez directed, so this is elevated plotting and imaginative locale.  They create a world.  You get to visit it.    

Alita is the cyborg and she’s got feelings and she’s got skills.  There isn’t a realistic moment in the movie, and yet it’s fun in a ridiculous sort of way.  I have no idea why some of these cartoonish movies work and others don’t, but this one works, so if you enjoy this kind of movie, chances are you’ll enjoy this one.


78/52 Hitchcock’s Shower Scene – 10

I believe I can make the case that the single greatest movie ever made is Psycho.  It changed the cinema in so many ways. The innovations and structure can be a day long discussion, or in this case, 91 minutes.  In this shot by shot dissection of the movie, particularly the 78 camera set ups and 52 separate edits that make up the Janet Leigh shower murder scene, the movie is discussed with reverence by various filmmakers.  The symbols and many times this scene has been referenced in movies that came after emphasize its influence.  This documentary is for film fans and Hitchcock fans.  Psycho has been copied but never matched.  Maybe this documentary makes the case better than I could ever make of this movie’s revolutionary greatness. This is a 2017 documentary that I didn’t know existed until I caught it on Hulu.  Great stuff, and as many times as I’ve seen Psycho, there were surprises I’d missed.  Great stuff, particularly for the movie buff. 




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