MOVIES
Train Dreams – 10
This Netflix entry is a melancholy contemplation of one man’s life as a traveling
physical laborer. He often dreams in
reflection of memorable events, good and bad, and this takes you slowly through
his life. Joel Edgerton, who I think is
usually terrific, plays Robert, a tortured and simple soul who toils in the
Pacific Northwest, mostly in lumber. He
has simple aspirations that center on his family and the cabin he and his wife
build on a stream.
The greatness of this movie is in its pacing. It reminds us of both the speed with which life goes, and the parts that seem to go on forever. Edgerton is joined by Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, and William H Macy in a wonderful cast that plays it low and slow.
My only quibble with the movie, and it’s not really with the movie, is that we often watch films with closed captioning turned on so we don’t miss an important word or sentence. I don’t know why it’s necessary to document every breath at the bottom of the screen. I found it terribly distracting and overdone on this movie.
I highly recommend you take this movie in, and if at all possible leave the close captioning off. It's better that way.
Black Bag – 9
I’ve never been a big fan of director Stephen Soderburg, so I
struggle through his movies. They are
sparse, static, with a cheap soundtrack and simplistic photography, in my
opinion. Such was again the case with this highly acclaimed movie. Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett star as
married British Intelligence agents who are suspected, separately, of being
traitors. They set out to clear their
names. There are 5 suspects. Fassbender’s character, George Woodhouse is tasked
with ferreting out the traitor, which may even be his wife.
Fortunately, about two thirds of the way through, there’s a lie
detector scene followed by a “big reveal” dinner party that is downright enthralling,
substantially elevating this to one of the best endings of the year.
From the World of John Wick:
Ballerina – 8
With the most ridiculous title of the year I guess they are trying to communicate that there’s a lot of over-the-top gun play, sword play, and hand to hand combat, but the fact that it’s Ana De Armas kicking derriere across several countries in search of a dark secret about her past, but of course, makes this a pretty good action film. Technically, Ana De Armas can’t be the next James Bond because she’s already been a character in the last 007, but I think she’d be a great successor. “Give her a double 0 and turn her loose,” I say.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – 8
I will never forget the night we watched the 41 year later sequel
to the great Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner’s groundbreaking Mockumentary and his first
movie. About half-way through the movie,
my wife turned to me and said that bodies had been found in Rob Reiner’s
house. Later we would learn it was Rob
and his wife.
I was thoroughly enjoying the somehow realistic update to a fictional band. It is just as entertaining as you would expect. Not a classic, but a worthy follow-up, considering that once you’ve seen Stonehenge, how do you ever top that?
Relay – 8
The answer to the question “whatever happened to Riz Ahmed,” is that he makes good movies where sound is important. First it was the great “Sound of Metal.” Now it’s a most interesting story that pivots on the fact that there is a “relay service” where avengers for hire communicate with their client. There’s a little bit of a twist which unfortunately I had scented out pretty quickly, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the story, about a corporate whistleblower, is something that I hadn’t seen before.
Marty Supreme – 7
A frenetic vehicle for the talented Timothee Chalamet, director Josh Safdie
repeats his formula from “Uncut Gems,” a movie I did not like one bit. In that obnoxious piece the protagonist is
played by Adam Sandler, and the acting in this movie is a significant upgrade,
if the story is not.
Chalamet is all-in on his performance as Marty Mauser, a fictional US ping pong champion in the 50’s.
He’s extremely confident,
gets his married (and equally obnoxious) girlfriend pregnant, improbably sleeps
with an older movie star (Gwyneth Paltrow), and moves through a series of
outlandish but entertaining scenes.
The word is that Chalamet will certainly be nominated for an
Oscar, and is the favorite to win, but to me it will be a make-up Oscar for the
far superior “A Complete Unknown.” They should
just let me decide these things.
Brad Pitt’s latest starring vehicle is an extravagant salute to Formula One racing. The first part, where Pitt’s character Sonny Hayes Is one leg of a Daytona 500 team is like a music video and it’s pretty thrilling and I cranked up the Led Zeppelin volume and watched it a couple of times. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie stalls in the pits a little.
Let me summarize: The racing action is terrific. The acting is good. The plot is formulaic. The dialogue is laughable. Pitt, who produced this should know better. He won an Oscar with some snappy dialogue. Aren’t there script specialists who come in and punch up the dialogue? Oh well, it’s a worldwide financial hit, so I’m happy for him and his Planned B productions, who consistently churn out the hits.
Jay Kelly – 4
When it comes to bad dialogue, nothing will take a back seat to Adam Sandler as a manager calling not one, but two clients “Puppy.” It’s so bad, it’s offensive. I have no idea what George Clooney and his team are doing at this point in his career. This movie has gotten good reviews, and I’m truly bafflied.
Except for a few moments, this movie is so tedious I would rather
watch grass grow.
STREAMING/BINGING
and what’s left of Network Television
Pluribus – 8
My mother used to buy various artifacts and place them around the house, calling
them “conversation pieces,” although I don’t recall anything like that ever
happening. Apple TV’s series, because it
is helmed by Vince Gilligan, the mastermind behind “Breaking Bad” and “Better
Call Saul,” is certainly a conversation piece.
There’s a lot to talk about.
Fortunately, he tapped the luminous Rhea Seahorn to play Carol, an alcoholic author and one of only 11 worldwide survivors of a viral takeover of the human race. Reminiscent of the great thrice filmed “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” the “possessed” have become a mind melded cult-like force, with some strange characteristics. Carol doesn’t like it, and maybe wants to beat the alien virus. She’s not going to get much help. Yes, there’s a lot to talk about in a series that is rather slow moving and deliberate. There’s a second season coming and we’ll have plenty of time to discuss.
Godless (2017)– 9
Jeff Daniels plays the evil-personified Frank Griffin in this acclaimed Netflix
western. I’d always wanted to see this,
so one day I watched the 7 episodes straight through. Daniels won a supporting Emmy, and he gives
one unique take on evil. He leads a band
of about 30 marauders laying waste to everything in their path as they search
for a former member who rebelled against their brutality and wounded Griffin,
costing him an arm. He carries the arm
with him. Yuck. There’s a great supporting cast as the story
moves to a mining town where all the males met their fate in a mining accident,
leaving a largely female population which will eventually and inevitably deal
with the Griffin gang. Excellent series
anchored by the irresistible force of evil.
CLASSICS
Nashville – 10
Fifty Years after being astounded by this creative masterpiece, we held a re-watch party of one of the few Criterion classic DVD’s I own. Robert Altman crafted this around a meandering narrative of musical performances and an obscure Presidential campaign. A year later, Martin Scorcese would do the same thing in “Taxi Driver.” Thus, Hal Phillip Walker begets Charles Palantine and two of my top ten movies of all time were seared into my memory.
Five of my ten favorite movies were release in the 70’s and it was
a creative period that I don’t think has ever been matched.
If you haven’t seen Nashville, check it out.
I can’t think of any movie that resembles it, and it features at least
two of the greatest musical scenes in the history of movies, and they aren’t “Singing
in the Rain.” I could go on forever
about my love for this movie and it was great to re-watch, re-live, and re-appreciate. Most importantly, like most of those great movies from the 70's - It holds up.
Die Hard – 10
Did a Christmas rewatch of what many consider still the best action movie of
all time. That’s amazing because this is
a movie that was released in 1988, and I’ve seen it like this in its entirety several
times since, not to mention the clips.
You’ve seen it. You know.
The Greatest Showmen – 8
Hugh Jackman stars as PT Barnum in what I would call a clickety-click
musical. There is an emphasis on the rat
a tat tat of the music and it’s a little gimmicky at the beginning, but the
movie settles in and although I had never seen this before, I quickly realized
most of the music is pretty good. “Never
Enough” sung by the character Jenny Lynd, the Swedish Nightengale, is now
considered a classic, but for me, there is an amazing number that I hadn’t
heard about - one featuring Zendaya, who I confess I didn’t really get until I
saw her singing and swinging on a trapeze with Zac Efron. A great scene in an otherwise predictable, but
very well-done musical. You don’t see
many of them these days, mostly because there’s only so much Hugh Jackman to go
around.
My
2025 Movie Rankings
Sinners – 10
Flow – 10
The Outfit (2022)– 10
One Battle After Another – 10
Train Dreams - 10
September 5 - 9
The Fall Guy – 9
Anora – 9
Weapons – 9
A Quiet Place: Day One – 9
Life of Chuck - 9
Black Bag – 9
Emilia Perez - 9
Rogue Agent - 8
Juror #2 - 8
Spinal Tap II – 8
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere - 8
Relay – 8
Gladiator II - 8
The Gorge – 8
Working Man – 8
28 Years Later – 8|
Accountant 2 – 8
The Order – 8
99 Homes - 8
Sovereign - 7
Marty Supreme – 7
Naked Gun - 7
A Real Pain - 7
F1 – 7
Dune 2 - 7
All of You - 7
Wolfman – 7
The Exterritorial - 7
Havoc - 6
Night Bitch – 6
Back in Action – 6
Old Guard 2 - 4
Saturday Night - 4
Jay Kelly – 4
House of Dynamite - 1
Superman – 1
The Ozzies:
Best Picture: Sinners
Best Actor: Michael B Jordan
Best Actress: Jesse Buckley in Hamnet (even though I haven’t
seen it yet. I’m allowed because she’s
been a favorite of mine for years, AND nothing else jumped out at me.)
Best Director: Ryan Coogler
My 2025 Rankings of Streaming
Series:
Task – 10
Adolescence – 10
Slow Horses (5) - 10
Apple Cider Vinegar – 10
Resident Alien – 10
Hacks - 10
Reacher - 10
Landman – 9
The Diplomat (3) – 9
1923 – 9
Prime Target – 9
The Survivors - 9
Ozark - 9
Godless – 9
The Pitt – 9
Bosch - 9
Running Point - 9
Silo (2) - 8
Pluribus – 8
Fubar - 8
Zero Day – 8
The White Lotus (2) - 6
The Night Agent (2) – 5
The White Lotus (1) – 5
The Lizzies
Best Series – Task
Best Actor – Billy Bob Thornton
in Landman
Best Actress – Alexandra Dutton
in 1923
My 2025 Rankings of Documentaries:
One Shot with Ed Sheeran – 10
Celtic City – 10
Billy Joel (And so it goes) –
10
Mr. Scorsese – 10
Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid - 10
Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy – 10
Score: A Film Music Documentary - 09
Dear Zachary – 9
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment – JFK - 9
John Candy: I Like Me - 9
Sunday Best: Ed Sullivan - 9
Pee Wee Herman as Himself – 9
The Hollies – Look Through
Any Window 1963-1969 - 8
The Search for Instagram’s
Worst Con Artist - 8
Let It Be – 8
America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys - 7
My 2025 Rankings of
Some Classics I Watched:
Nashville (1975) - 10
Amour (2012) – 10
Heat (1995) - 10
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
- 9
Adaptation (2002) – 9
The Greatest Showmen - 8
Chuck – 7
The Quarter Century
Mark
And here’s my last
treat. 25 Years into the 21st
Century and here are some opinions on the greatest movies so far at the Quarter
Century Mark. Contrarian that I am, mine
are way different from the consensus.
I asked my knowledgeable movie friend David Jones for his top 25, not sure if they are in order:
|
Mine |
David
Jones |
Time
Magazine |
|
Gone Baby Gone |
Almost Famous |
Parasite |
|
Mad Max: Fury Road |
Mulholland Drive |
Mulholland Drive |
|
Mission Impossible: Fallout |
City of God |
There Will Be Blood |
|
Minority Report |
Lost in Translation |
In The Mood for Love |
|
Serenity |
Children of Men |
Moonlight |
|
There Will Be Blood |
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days |
No Country for Old Men |
|
Kill Bill Saga |
There Will Be Blood |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
|
A Complete Unknown |
No Country for Old Men |
Get Out |
|
Star Trek |
Michael Clayton |
Spirited Away |
|
Pan’s Labyrinth |
The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly |
The Social Network |
|
The Wolf of Wall Street |
Wall-E |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
Arrival |
The Social Network |
The Zone of Interest |
|
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
Moneyball |
Children of Men |
|
Zero Dark Thirty |
The Grand Budapest Hotel |
Inglorious Bastards |
|
Memento |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
City of God |
|
The Secret in Their Eyes |
Manchester by the Sea |
Crouching Tiger |
|
The Social Network |
Get Out |
Brokeback Mountain |
|
Blinded by the Light |
Roma |
Y tu mama tambien |
|
Spotlight |
Parasite |
Zodiac |
|
I, Tonya |
Once Upon a Time.in Hollywood |
The Wolf of Wall Street |
|
The Imitation Game |
The Worst Person in the World |
The Royal Tenenbaums |
|
Inception |
Poor Things |
The Grand Budapest Hotel |
|
Whiplash |
Flow |
Boyhood |
|
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo |
A Complete Unknown |
Her Here's a link to all 100: |
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