At The Cinema - May & June 2014

Life Itself – 10

You’ll like this documentary if you like movies.

If you were a fan of the late Pulitzer Prize winning film critic Roger Ebert, you will be thrilled with this intimate and moving portrait based on his memoir.  His on-screen persona is how most of us knew Ebert and it was easy to see his passion for movies.  What we couldn’t see was his passion for Chicago, his passion for literature, and even an overcome passion for alcohol.  The film reveals the depth of his rivalry with his on-screen partner Gene Siskel and it is often petty and hilarious.  It also shows the depth of his love for his wife Chaz, whom he met late in life.  Nobody is perfect and imperfections are on full display here.  It includes graphic scenes of his treatment for the thyroid cancer that cost him his verbal abilities in 2006, but not his true voice, as he continued to review movies while building a social media following that few can rival. 

I remember very well the day Ebert sent out his last blog, “Leave of Presence.”  He said he wasn’t going away, he was just taking a break.  He died the next day.  He had set his web site up to carry on with a cast of film reviewers and I still await the email arrival on Friday. 

While the movie is titled “Life Itself,” it very much reveals the tribulations of the journey to death that Ebert followed.  He died during filming and it makes the story that much more poignant.  The documentary is directed by Steve James.  James’ documentary Hoop Dreams was one Ebert championed in 1994 and James is one of many directors, including Martin Scorcese and Werner Herzog who pay their debt to Roger Ebert in interviews.  If you ever watched a “Siskel & Ebert” you shouldn’t miss this.

Edge of Tomorrow – 9

You’ll like this movie if you like:

• Science Fiction
• Tom Cruise
• Groundhog Day

I like science fiction.  So does Tom Cruise.  Last year he did Oblivion and it was enjoyable if not epic.  This movie is significantly better, and at the halfway pole of 2014 is my favorite movie so far. 

It doesn’t appear it’s going to be a big hit, and that’s a shame.  I don’t know whether it’s because the armored soldier theme (Elysium, GI Joe) is a little over-used, or Cruise is losing his box office appeal, or there’s too much science fiction, but this movie is so well executed that it deserves to be huge.  That the Transformers latest retread would trounce it at the box office saddens me a little.

Cruise plays a reluctant soldier drawn into a conflict with aliens advancing across Europe.  One of the great things about this movie is the aliens.  One of my pet peeves has always been that aliens always look like us.  Two Eyes, one nose, etc.  Never understood that.  Here, the creators are a lot more innovative.  It’s like they’re having to fight spinning buzz saws.  You can’t learn to fight them very easily.

What’s the solution?  Die a lot.  So with some pretty cool Groundhog Day plotting, Tom and war hero Emily Blunt try over and over to beat the aliens.  Well done and very cool.

Big Star – Nothing Can Hurt Me -7

You’ll like this documentary if you like rock and roll.

This is the story of a legendary 1970’s rock band that you’ve probably never heard of them.  How can they be called legendary?  Because of their status within the rock community.  They have been cited as a musical influence by many famous rockers.  You’ve also probably never heard any of their music.  They recorded 3 albums then disappeared.  Those three albums are in Rolling Stones’ top 500 rock albums.

Their lead singer and cofounder was Alex Chilton.  You may not know his name, but you know his voice.  Before he joined Big Star he was with the Box Tops, and the movie tells the story that the second time he had ever stepped up to a microphone he recorded the vocals for “The Letter.”  He was 16. After he left the Box Tops he joined Big Star.  Later on he moved to New Orleans and became a beloved local musician who loved to sit in on local gigs.  When he passed away in 2010 I caught a tribute performance by the local musicians during the New Orleans Jazz Fest and it was terrific.  I first learned about Chilton and his love for New Orleans in Keith Spera’s book about local musicians after Katrina, “Groove Interrupted.”  Here’s a great article by Spera about Chilton:  http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2010/04/post_7.html

Million Dollar Arm – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like

• Baseball
• Jon Hamm
• Playboys getting rehabbed.

Jon Hamm is an agent/playboy who is in trouble because he’s losing clients and income to the point that a career change may be inevitable.  Then he comes up with a ridiculous idea one night while watching Cricket players in India.  Go to India and stage a contest to find a major league fastball amongst the millions of cricket players.  This is a fun movie that has the Disney stamp of family wholesomeness.  For a good time, see Jon.

Chef – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like restaurants.  Director and lead actor Jon Favreau has captured the joy of being a chef, and the travails of the restaurant business.  A great chef with an impossible owner played perfectly by Dustin Hoffman, he leaves his LA restaurant and a viral video of a rant makes him hard to hire.  So, on a suggestion from his ex-wife, played by Sofia Vergaro, he opens a food truck in Miami and takes a cross country trip with his son and his sous chef.  The son, played by Emjay Anthony, nearly steals the movie.  What’s a little different about this movie is that there is a nice relationship with the ex-wife.  I love road trip movies, and that’s the highlight of the movie.  The only downside of this flick is that it goes on too long, and could have used a little editing.  Nevertheless, it's a crowd pleaser.

Neighbors – 7

As Seth Rogen comedies usually go (poorly) this one isn’t too bad.  Rose Byrne and Zach Efron add ample support in the story of a couple who has the house next door purchased by a Fraternity.  What starts out as fun soon disintegrates into a war.  It’s raunchy and funny.  Just what you’d expect.

Scanning the Satellite

The Case Against Propositon 8 - 8

When the two lawyers who had argued against each other in the Bush/Gore Florida mess in front of the Supreme Court, teamed up to try to overturn California’s Proposition which had outlawed gay marriage, the next natural step was to film their efforts.  This is a fascinating look into not only he legal world and the appeal process, but an intimate look into the painful lives of the plaintiffs and others. 

Disconnect – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like internet pain.

This movie which I had never heard of until I ran across it on the satellite is the story of a cyber-bullied teen who commits suicide, and the heartbreaking impact it has on all involved.  Hard to watch and harder to fathom, this is a perceptive movie that is beautifully written and acted.  It will break your heart.

At the Cinema - April 2014

Divergent – 8 

You’ll like this movie if you like

• Young starlets
• Futuristic stuff
• Hunger games type action

Shailene Woodley stars as divergent in Divergent.  What’s a divergent you ask?  Well, in the future, it’s a multi-talented individual who is too talented for her own good.  In the future you see, civilization is split into 4 distinct factions.  If you test out to be good at all the factions, you are considered divergent, and a threat to the governing faction. 

The movie is fairly entertaining, and Woodley is definitely a star in the making.  It’s not for everyone, in that it’s one of those movies that Hollywood churns out for teenage girls.  The action and story are fine, and although there’s a few too many dream sequences, Divergent is priming itself for a Hunger Games style run.  It might work.

Draft Day – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like

• Soap Operas
• The NFL Draft
• Kevin Costner

There’s a great movie to be made about the NFL Draft.  This isn’t it.  Maybe the NFL Network will do it and go into the research, the combine results, the trade negotiations, the agents, the contracts.  Here’s what it probably won’t include:  A Cleveland Browns GM having an affair with his assistant, finding out she’s pregnant the day of the draft, which happens to be the same day his mother wants to distribute his father’s ashes, who was the head coach he fired, so the GM goes in a closet not once, but twice to talk to his girlfriend, but he still gets interrupted, and the number one pick in the draft falls into his lap, and the team hasn’t even researched the consensus number one pick, and so they’re watching film at the last minute, and sorting out rumors, while the GM carries around a mysterious yellow piece of paper, and tries to deal with a head coach who isn’t on board, and an owner who gets so angry with him that he gets from draft headquarters in New York back to Cleveland in about 5 minutes.  And, if all of that isn’t artificial enough for you, director Ivan Reitman uses more split screens than 24 would ever use in an attempt to heighten the drama.  What it really hides is a script that’s light on football, and heavy on soap.  Too bad, because this movie, totally sanctioned by the NFL and with all the right cameos, could have been a football fan’s classic.  Instead, it’s just another kitchen sink movie.

But there is some redemption here.  Two things in fact.

So while the first hour and a half of the movie rivals Glee for artificial drama, the last half hour almost makes up for all this because even though there are a lot of preposterous events during the actual draft, at least it’s exciting to watch.  Last minute trades and trade talk, even though the end result is telegraphed 5 minutes into the movie, is exciting stuff and the movie ends with a bang, and it’s a crowd pleaser, making  us forget how silly the movie has been to this point.

While Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner are reliable, they have little believability here. There is so little chemistry between them, you can see why his mother, played by the great Ellen Burstyn, is dubious.

But the standout actor in this movie is in a supporting role.  It is Chadwick Bosworth, who plays the about-to-be-drafted linebacker who thinks he’s the maniacal Ray Lewis – type once in a generation defensive player.  He plays his role to the hilt and is totally convincing.  Bosworth didn’t really convince me when he played Jackie Robinson in “42,” but he’s the whole package here.  The best scenes are his, and he tackles them ferociously.  He speeds away with the movie, but that isn’t a huge challenge.

At the Cinema - March 2014

3 Days to Kill – 6

You’ll like this movie if you:

a.  Have 117 minutes to kill

b.  Like Kevin Costner

c.  Appreciate Cliches

Kevin Costner takes a piece of pulp and elevates it to a watchable level in this sometimes tepid, sometimes exciting action piece.

He’s a CIA hit man closing in on retirement when he discovers that he’s terminally ill.  So, he decides it’s time to reconnect with his neglected daughter, who of course wants no part of such sentiment, because well, she’s a teenager and that’s reason enough.

Along comes a CIA operative, played by Amber Heard, offering an experimental drug that could extend his life if he’ll just do one last job, because of course, extortion can be fun.  Especially if it’s offered to you in a car racing around Paris streets for no apparent reason.

Who is Amber Heard you ask?  I had to look her up.  She’s apparently the beautiful girlfriend of Johnny Depp, which qualifies her to play one of the most clichéd spies ever in the cinema.  She’s a CIA agent who for some reason  is dressed in various wigs and flashy clothes, wearing enough bright red lipstick to stop three lanes of traffic, and always smoking a cigarette like she’s some kind of Marlena Dietrich clone following Kevin around and driving real fast.  You can tell she’s driving real fast because the camera keeps cutting to her foot stomping on the clutch and her hand shifting gears.  Is this for real?  Did director McG do this caricature as a joke?  Was she meant to be so offensive to women, or am I the only one that noticed?

What’s the result of all this?  A movie you’ll probably watch over and over again once it hits HBO.  The credit for that goes to Costner.

Tim’s Vermeer – 9
The documentary revolution continues with this Penn & Teller production.  Documentaries are getting better and better in direct proportion to action movies getting more and more ridiculous with every lick of CGI.  If you’re not watching some documentaries you’re missing some incredible stories.

Let’s start with who is Vermeer?  He was a dutch painter who was once obscure, but is now renowned for his incredibly detailed paintings.  His work inspires Tim.

Who is Tim?  He’s Tim Jenison, an inventor with a theory.  His theory is that Vermeer’s paintings are so good that they couldn’t have been done by a painter just walking up to a canvas and going to town.  He thinks Vermeer had a mechanical assist and he seeks to first unlock the mystery and then recreate it.  This film chronicles Tim’s journey to duplicate a Vermeer painting by hand.  This journey of several years is documented here in glorious and fascinating detail.

This movie actually got me wanting to see a Vermeer in person.  Me.  Go see a painting.  That tells you something right there.  

The Long Con was Legendary, and We Waited For It

I get it.  You’re upset because you fell for the longest con in the history of television.  You thought the ending would be perfect and Ted and the mother would live happily ever after.  That’s what you wanted.  That’s what Ted wanted.  Then real life, or in this case fictional brilliance, got in the way.

As the final season wore on, and I do mean “wore”, the internet rumors that the mother was dead became plausible.  Think about it, where was the mother during all this story-telling?  Would you sit down and tell your kids 208 stories about your significant other without said other poking their head in at some point and saying, “hey, what’s going on here.”  (Yea, I think I saw all 208 episodes.  I want to thank my DVR, because the thing that I found most excruciating about the last episode was actually watching it live and having to endure those commercials in real time.  I don’t have time for real time anymore.)

No, for 9 seasons, we had our head in the sand, and then in the last 10 minutes the kids (in one of many beautifully written scenes in the series) basically said the obvious, “Snap out of it.”  This is BS, Ted has not been telling the story about the mother all this time, and we should have known it.

This was a wonderful examination of two very real types of relationships.  Maybe you got to experience what Ted did, that moment you dream of – love at first sight.  Maybe you even create it when it isn’t really there.  Maybe it even happens under a magical yellow umbrella.  Maybe it even happens simultaneously for both of you.  That’s even rarer.  And then…does it last forever?  Wow, that would be cool.  Or does it only happen in the movies?  You be the judge.  How many couples do you know like that?  And Ted, in the end seemed more than thrilled that he got 10 or so years of apparent perfection.  We don’t know – we got only a few glimpses.  Was it really perfect?  Or is he just telling the kids that?  They were there.  They probably know, but we can’t ask them.

Much more common is the Ted-Robin dynamic.  It’s what we call “falling in love.”  It’s not perfection, it’s that long slow painful burn, where one person feels more strongly than the other, and their feelings never seem to be in sync with their life’s vision.  Then there comes a time when they arrive in the same place, ready to try to “do this” knowing it isn’t going to be perfect, but it’s going to be good and they’re all they’ve got.  This is the 9 year story of that relationship.  It was never about the mother.  Thank goodness the kids figured that out.  Wish they’d told us sooner.  Then I wouldn't have written in my yearly Christmas newsletter, “let’s meet the bleeping mother already.”

I have to mention that only one thing bothered me about the final show.  It was that Ted, finally having met Tracy, is in no hurry to tie the knot.  They have two kids first, and then eventually get married.  The writers are brilliant in accurately assessing our cultural direction and the decline of the importance of marriage, but it made me just a little sad.  Like it or not that’s where we’re headed.  Wonder how her family felt about that.  Wait, we never saw them.  The fact is, we know very little about her.

As the last season wore on, it also became obvious that the Barney-Robin thing was like a high school romance.  Intense chemistry, most of it physical, and destined for a short shelf-life.  As they got drunk, tried to climb out windows, and had various contrived crisis throughout the season it just did not appear to be built to last.  Oh, well.  Sometimes those relationships last forever, but usually they don’t.  Robin, wonderfully portrayed by Cobie Smulders, had always made it clear that her career came first.  The chemistry with Barney was a temporary sidetracking of what she wanted first out of life.  She liked the attention of her relationships, but family wasn’t her goal.  With the family (Ted’s aspiration, not hers) out of the way, success achieved, coming full circle back to Ted would be easy and comfortable, and probably a great life for both of them.  We can all relax.  They’ll be fine.

So, we got conned.  Along the way, we actually did get to see a great relationship built to last.  The real story of love was in Marshall and Lily.  Their fights were few, they were short, and even the last one was resolved quickly.  You see, in a relationship you can often judge it by the length of the “mad.”  One day “mads” happen.  One week “mads” should be rare.  When you start having one month, and year-long “mads,” watch out.  As portrayed by Jason Segel, who easily could have left for his movie career 5 years in, but admirably didn’t, Marshall was the guy who was really living the dream, and he never wavered.  As portrayed by Alyson Hannigan, Lily was really the dream girl.  Smart, pretty, fun, with only occasional insanities, she’s what every guy wants.  Allyson has grown up before our eyes, never less than real and believable, even though she’ll always be Willow to me.  What she has become is one of those low key comedic treasures.  She may not be able to carry a show, but sure can carry a story.

Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick-Harris) was often perceived to be the centerpiece, because he provided most of the comedy, and much of it was classic.  I mean Legendary.  I suspect whether or not this series achieves “classic” status will be based on how well his shtick holds up.  Let’s get together in 2030 and discuss.  What made this a gem of a show is that it centered around five likeable but flawed people, the kind of people you’d enjoy being around night after night in the local watering hole, talking about life, love, and various pursuits. 

So, no, it wasn’t happily ever after, at least not in the way we were expecting it.  But then we really weren’t paying attention.  It was a con with anticipation as the distraction.  They got us, and it was brilliant.

At The Cinema - February 2014

Philomena – 9

You’ll like this movie if you like:  
a.  Anger
b.  Sadness
c.  Happiness

But not necessarily in that order.  This is one of those interesting movies that successfully takes you on a roller coast ride through those and many other emotions.

Philomena Lee is a real person, and this is a true story.  She is played by Dame Judi Dench, and the movie opens with Philomena breaking the news to her grown daughter that she has a brother.  That’s because a long time ago Philomena had a young son out of wedlock and was forced to give him up for adoption.

The anger will come from how that happened.  Maybe you’re old enough to remember the days when there was no greater shame than being unwed and pregnant.  You may have known a young girl who went off to live with an Aunt for 6 months.  Many years later you may have found out that she’d had a baby.  Maybe you never found out.  In this story the young Philomena is shuffled off to an Ireland convent where she toils, has a son, watches the son she loves as only a mother can love a son get wisked away for adoption, then toils 4 more years to pay off her “debt.”  Yes, it’s slavery (or maybe punishment) and when she finds out later that the many children were sold to Americans, she is less angry than you will be. 

Philomena’s daughter has enlisted the help of journalist Martin Sixsmith, played by Steve Coogan, to help Philomena find her son.  Their journey is one of discovery on many levels.  Coogan is the co-writer and driving force behind this adaptation of Sixsmith’s book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.  Stephen Frears is the director that pulls off the portrayal of an Irish Catholic woman who has all the reason in the world to not forgive for the atrocities she is put through, but really just wants to find her son. 

Sometimes a movie can deliver a message in the most understated way.  If you hate someone because of their religion, color, sexual orientation, nationality, habits, car they drive, team they root for, clothes they wear, how long they wear their hair, something they said to you 4 years ago, what they eat, or any number of other reasons, Philomena’s got a message for you, and it’s baked into a wonderful little movie.

The Monuments Men – 6

You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  History

b.  George Clooney
c.  Art

You have to hand it to Clooney and his movie partner Grant Heslov.  They make the movies they want to make and tell the stories they want to tell, the way they want to tell them.  They’ve got the power, and while they have it, they’re going to churn ‘em out.  The oohs and ahs of the mostly mature audience I watched this with suggests that there’s room for their projects.  Nope, this isn’t the typical studio fare that appeals to people who text each other over the dinner table. 

As World War II is winding down, there is concern that Adolf Hitler is going to destroy the incredible mass of art he has pilfered while he has ravaged Europe.  Frank Stokes (Clooney) is the art director who convinces FDR that he can assemble a team of art historians, played by the likes of Matt Damon, John Goodman and Bill Murray, run them through basic training (sure) and go over and help save the art and return it to their original locations.  Sounds like a piece of cake.  There are ups and downs, because well, there is a war going on, and there are gasps when the art is shown.  No shortage of impressive detail here. 

This is a true story.  There were actually about 350 monuments men who tracked down over 5 million works of art across Europe, and there are still some major works missing to this day.  It is a fascinating story, that for some reason doesn’t translate to a fascinating movie.

This is Clooney’s fifth directorial effort, and for some reason it just falls flat.  Maybe it’s because he usually has to also star in his movies to get financial backing, and he shouldn’t be directing himself.  I had the feeling watching this movie that had it been made in the 60’s sandwiched between Lawrence of Arabia and The Sound of Music, it would have seemed more impressive.  Too much water has gone under the bridge (on the river Kwai) and the History Channel does this kind of thing just as well.  It made me want to text my movie companions “you bored?”

OSCAR TIME

So, I’ll take my run at the Oscars, otherwise known as “Scorcese gets screwed again.”

Best Picture

Will win:  !2 Years a Slave, although Gravity could pull a mild upset.

Should Win:  The Wolf of Wall Street. 

12 Years is an important movie, but I predict it will be forgotten faster as a work of cinema than The Little Emperor, and countless other Best Pictures (most recently The King’s Speech) while the Wolf is an epic achievement that will join Best Picture losers like Citizen Kane and Raging Bull and live on as a classic.

Best Actor

Will win:  Matthew McConaughey

Should win:  Leonardo DeCaprio

McConaughey deserves accolades for his recreation of himself as a serious actor (I’ll get to True Detective in a minute) and in fact his brief appearance in The Wolf is pivotal.

But DeCaprio gives a monumental performance in The Wolf that can only be described as a master class in acting.  He won’t win, but he was incredible.

Best Actress

Will win:  Cate Blanchett

Should win:  Amy Adams

Blanchett has the juiciest role of the year and knocks it out of the park.  My problem is that she does it in a film that is implausible and just not very good.

Amy Adams is riveting and even better, and doesn’t usually get these kind of roles.  She gives the kind of performance that will often result in a make-up Oscar next year.

Best Director

Will win:  Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

Should win:  Scorcese

Gravity is good and is a wonderful technical achievement.

Scorcese won an Oscar for The Departed, but will add The Wolf of Wall Street to his list of movies that he didn’t win for.  Let’s see – Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Aviator, New York New York, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The Last Temptation of Christ, Cape Fear, Gangs of New York, The Color of Money, The Last Waltz…blah blah blah.

Reminds me – Here’s a quiz.  Who didn’t win a Best Director Oscar for the following pictures?

Rebecca, Psycho, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, The 39 Steps, Vertigo, The Birds, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Frenzy, Rope, Dial M for Murder, To Catch A Thief, Shadow of A Doubt, Notorious, North by Northwest, blah, blah, blah.   I guess classics don’t equal Oscars.

Best Supporting Actor

Will win:  Jared Leto
Should win:  Jared Leto

Leto should join McConaughey for their heart breaking roles in Dallas Buyer’s Club

Best Supporting Actress

Will Win:  Nupita Lyong’o

Should Win:  Jennifer Lawrence

This is the toughest race of the night for me, because both are terrific.  I’ll be rooting for a tie.

Best Documentary: 

Will Win:  20 Feet From Stardom, the popular favorite

Should Win:  The Act of Killing, the critical favorite

Just want to mention this one because I think it was a fantastic year for documentaries, I saw more of them than I would have dreamed, and my favorite, Stories We Tell, didn’t even get nominated.  The Act of Killing is unreservedly intense, but probably will suffer from the fact it is 100% subtitled.

Rest of My Predictions, with a strong preference for what I want to win.

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Philomena

Best Original Screenplay:  Her

Best Foreign Language Film:  The Hunt

Best Animated Film:  Frozen

Best Song:  Let It Go, from Frozen

Best Cinematography:  Gravity

Best Editing:  Captain Phillips

Best Production Design:  The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design:  The Great Gatsby

Best Musical Score:  Philomena

Best Makeup:  Dallas Buyer’s Club

Best Sound Editing:  Gravity 

Best Sound Mixing:  Gravity

Best Visual Effects:  Gravity, the lock of the night

Scanning the Satellite

True Detective – 10

No, I don’t usually write about television, but HBO’s 8 episode anthology series (6 of which have aired as I write this) is the most enthralling week to week build up I’ve seen since Twin Peaks, when we were hauntingly trying to figure out who killed Laura Palmer.  True Detective is dark, and by no means perfect because sometimes I still don’t know where it’s going or where it has been, but two things make it stand out.  First, the acting.  Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harelson play Louisiana detectives investigating a serial killer.  Or are they?  The writing is superb, but the contentious relationship of the 2 detectives played out in scene after scene is amazing.

Second, there’s the Louisiana locale.  There is just something about Louisiana.  As they go back and forth through the voodoo like bayou, they somehow capture the mystical nature better than anything I’ve ever seen.  Better than True Blood, better than Southern Comfort, better than Treme.  It’s must see television.  Prepare to be challenged.  Darkly.

At the Cinema - January 2014

The Act of Killing – 9

Ever seen a documentary that could be considered an epic?  Welcome to this world.  This is the highly acclaimed documentary that has emerged as the favorite for the Best feature-length documentary Oscar, and what a journey it is.  Director Joshua Oppenheimer spent 8 years in Indonesia and emerged with a story of revolution that will repulse you and probably haunt you.  You’ve never seen anything like this, and you might wish you hadn’t.

In 1965 and 1966 Indonesia purged itself of “communists” and “Chinese” with a brutal cleansing of over a million people.  Much of the mayhem was carried out by a group of sanctioned gangsters, who are profiled and revealed in this movie.  Their frame of reference is American gangster movies and they are willing participants in this movie making.  Rather than just have the old gangsters talk about their dastardly deeds, the genius of this film is that Oppenheimer asks them to reenact the executions they performed.  Let me tell you, these reproductions are as difficult to watch as anything you’ll ever see.  These are horrible people doing horrible things.  They show no remorse as they tell their sordid tales.  Or, are they beginning to realize the brutality of it all?  You be the judge.

Jack Ryan:  Shadow Recruit - 9

You’ll like this movie if you like
a.  Surprises

b.  Tom Clancy

c.  Financial espionage
I couldn’t have been more surprised by how much I liked this movie.  It is action packed and actually has some unique moments.   Captain Kirk Chris Pine plays Jack Ryan and he’s a CIA agent in deep cover on Wall Street when he discovers a Russian plot to bring the US to its financial knees.  His handler, played by Kevin Costner puts him into operations and he’s off to Russia to match wits with villain/director Kenneth Branagh who plays a Russian tycoon not named “Yuri,” which is a surprise right there.

Keira Knightly plays Jack’s fiancée and she gets caught up in the action as well, bringing a great sense of jeopardy.   What makes this work is the plot.  Fights, Bombs, Espionage, Terrorism, Financial collapse – it’s all here and only Jack Ryan can save the USA.  Don’t know why, but I was on the edge of my seat.

August:  Osage County – 5
You’ll like this movie if you like

a.  Soap operas  

b.  Meryl Streep  

c.  Family Dysfunction

I couldn’t have been more surprised by how much I disliked this move.  While Meryl Streep is amazing as usual, she is also amazingly unpleasant to watch.  This was a grueling gruesome 2 hours of dysfunction that starts with a suicide and deteriorates from there.  Julie Roberts looks like her lips could detonate at any time as there is one unpleasant reveal after another.  Well done, well-acted, and well, I wished I’d stayed home and caught up on True Detective.

All is Lost – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like:

      a.  Robert Redford

      b. Sailing and Sinking

S    c. Seasickness

All year long the word was that Robert Redford’s nearly wordless performance would win him a career-culminating Oscar for Best Actor.  Then the holiday movies came along and he got blown out of the water.  Or, he wishes he had, because this movie is two hours in a water tank that is laced with some strange editing, and important stuff that appears out of nowhere as his sailboat sinks into the ocean after a storm.  Redford is excellent, but it’s a role dozens of actors could have played, and I wouldn’t have bought it from any of them either.  Nice try, but I'll take Three Days of the Condor.  

A Millennium Compendium

We are far from Siskel & Ebert, but for almost 40 years my friend David Jones and I have discussed movies.  He has been involved in film as a real film critic and filmmaker, while I'm just a movie fan who knows what he likes, and is rarely in the majority.
Recently, he sent me his top ten history, so I thought I would throw his and mine side by side and give you some movies to watch out for.
Now mine differs a little from my previously published year-end lists because
a.) my opinion has evolved on some movies,
b.) I moved movies into their actual year of release (I think), and
c.) I added some documentaries and TV movies.
I hope you'll keep these movies in mind when you stroll up to the redbox, or order from Netflix.
We love the movies.

	Rick Osswald			David Jones
2013			2013
1	The East		1	Gravity
2	The Wolf of Wall Street		2	Her
3	Stories We Tell		3	The Act of Killing
4	World War Z		4	Captain Phillips
5	Oblivion		5	12 Years a Slave
6	Gravity		6	American Hustle
7	Captain Phillips		7	The Wolf of Wall Street
8	12 Years a Slave		8	What Maisie Knew
9	The Call		9	All is Lost
10	American Hustle		10	Blackfish
HM	Mea Culpa Maximus,		HM	Mud, The East, World War Z, 42,
	Star Trek:  Into Darkness			Inside Llewyn Davis
2012			2012
1	The Dark Knight Rises		1	Life of Pi
2	Lincoln		2	A Separation
3	Looper		3	Argo
4	Zero Dark Thirty		4	Lincoln
5	Searching for Sugar Man		5	Beasts of the Southern Wild
6	Argo		6	Zero Dark Thirty
7	Parental Guidance		7	Silver Linings Playbook
8	Jack Reacher		8	Flight
9	The Grey		9	Django Unchained
10	Cloud Atlas		10	The Master
HM	Cabin in the Woods,		HM	Cloud Atlas, the Odd Life of Timothy Green,
	Beasts of the Southern Wild			Bernie, Looper, Amour, Butter, Rust & Bone
	Premium Rush
2011			2011
1	The Girl with The Dragon Tatoo		1	The Artist
2	My Week with Marilyn		2	The Descendents
3	Moneyball		3	Incendies
4	Hot Coffee		4	Buck
5	Too Big to Fail		5	The Trip
6	Source Code		6	Moneyball
7	Crazy, Stupid Love		7	Beginners
8	Midnight in Paris		8	Drive
9	Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol		9	Meek's Cutoff
10	Margin Call		10	Hugo
HM	Martha Marcy May Marlene		HM	Midnight in Paris, Kill List, Senna, 50/50
				Martha Marcy May Marlene, Ides of March
2010			2010
1	Inception		1	The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Europe)
2	The Social Network		2	The Secret in Their Eyes
3	Secretariat		3	Black Swan
4	Inside Job		4	Social Network
5	True Grit		5	Winter's Bone
6	Fair Game		6	The Most Dangerous Man in America:  Daniel Ellsberg
7	The Kids Are All Right		7	127 Hours
8	Black Swan		8	The Kids are Alright
9	The Fighter		9	The Ghost Writer
10	The Secret in Their Eyes		10	The King's Speech
HM	Salt, Shutter Island, Easy A		HM	Toy Story 3, Restrepo, True Grit
	Burlesque, Date Night
2009			2009
1	The Hurt Locker		1	Avatar
2	Avatar		2	The Hurt Locker
3	Food Inc		3	Let the Right One In
4	Capitalism:  A Love Story		4	Inglourious Bastards
5	Star Trek		5	District 9
6	Inglourious Basterds		6	The Cove
7	The Hangover		7	Paranormal Activity
8	Up in The Air		8	Sin Nombre
9	The Proposal		9	Up
10	State of Play		10	Crazy Heart
HM	The International
2008			2008
1	Slumdog Millionaire		1	Slumdog Millionaire
2	Forgetting Sarah Marshall		2	4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
3	Role Models		3	The Band's Visit
4	Get Smart		4	The Visitor
5	Cadillac Records		5	Wall-E
6	The Bank Job		6	Milk
7	Wanted		7	Son of Rambow
8	Religulous		8	Frost/Nixon
9	Curious Case of Benjamin Button		9	Doubt
10	Tropic Thunder		10	The Wrestler, Rachel Getting Married,
HM	Gran Torino, Frost/Nixon			River (tie)
2007			2007
1	Gone Baby Gone		1	There Will Be Blood
2	There Will Be Blood		2	No Country for Old Men
3	The Lives of Others		3	Juno
4	The Orphanage		4	Gone Baby Gone
5	No Country For Old Men		5	The Driving Bell and the Butterfly
6	Hairspray		6	Atonement
7	Grindhouse		7	Sweeney Todd
8	Once		8	The Host
9	Sicko		9	Michael Clayton
10	Across the Universe		10	Ratatouille
2006			2006
1	Little Miss Sunshine		1	Babel
2	United 93		2	Children of Men
3	Pan's Labyrinth		3	Pan's Labryinth
4	The Departed		4	United 93
5	V for Vendetta		5	Apocalypto
6	The Queen		6	Blood Diamond
7	The Dixie Chicks:  Shut Up & Sing		7	Notes on A Scandal
8	Casino Royale		8	Little Miss Sunshine
9	An Inconvenient Truth		9	Borat
10	The Devil Wears Prada		10	Cars
Rick Osswald			David Jones
20 Best Films of the Decade 2000 - 2009			10 Best Films of the Decade 2000 - 2009
1	Serenity		1	City of God
2	Gone Baby Gone		2	4 Monts, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
3	Pan's Labyrinth		3	There Will Be Blood
4	Minority Report		4	Pan's Labryinth
5	The Lives of Others		5	Children of Men
6	Memento		6	Amelie
7	Little Miss Sunshine		7	No Country for Old Men
8	Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2		8	Mulholland Drive
9	There Will Be Blood		9	Whale Rider
10	United 93		10	Man on Wire
11	Slumdog Millionaire
12	The Departed
13	The Hurt Locker
14	Avatar
15	Star Trek
16	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
17	No Country For Old men
18	Cinderella Man
19	A History of Violence
20	A Beautiful Mind
	Here's the critic's list:
	http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-pick-the-best-movies-of-the-decade
And Finally, Rick's favorite Films of the Millineum so far
after a lot of consideration, reconsideration and reseeding
1	Serenity
2	Gone Baby Gone
3	Inception
4	The Dark Knight Rises
5	Pan's Labyrinth
6	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7	The East
8	Zero Dark Thirty
9	The Wolf of Wall Street
10	Minority Report

Why these films?
Well, Serenity because it's more than a great movie.  It's an incredible culmination of a TV show (watch it first) in a way that has never been done before.  It is a Josh Whedon masterpiece, but only because it magically resolves Firefly, a 14 episode cult TV show.
Gone Baby Gone has grown on me year after year and risen on the list.
Inception, Dark Knight Rises, and Pan's Labyrinth create stunning worlds, and The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo simply stuns.
The East was a movie that no one else might consider great - I just fell for it all the way.
Zero Dark Thirty is riveting from start to finish.
The Wolf of Wall Street is an epic that stretches main stream cinema to new highs, or lows - depending on your point of view.
Minority Report is Speilberg's take on law and order of the future.

Last Saints Report - January 11, 2014

The New Orleans Saints, for the third time in the Payton/Brees era, ended their season in the Pacific time zone.  For the second time, it was a Seattle nightmare, this one ending 23 – 15.  When the Saints lost to a bad Seattle time a few years it was embarrassing.  This time it was just normal misery.

Most games are won in the trenches.  This game was won in the defensive backfield of the Seahawks.  Early, both quarterbacks struggled with the horrible weather conditions, as wind and rain pelted the field.  The Saints were down 16 – 0 after the first half, having lost the field position battle, largely due to a critical Mark Ingram fumble that led to a Seahawk touchdown.

Ah, Ingram, or as he is called by the LSU-heavy Saints fan base, “that Alabama running back.”  Ingram ran hard and well for much of the game, continuing his late-season improvement, but his mistakes were costly.  He dropped one of Brees’ few good first half passes on the first series, then with the Saints still in the game trailing just 6-0, he fumbled as he tumbled.  Perhaps next year will be a year of redemption for Ingram, perhaps because he’s with another team.  That’s a scenario that appears more likely with the emergence of Khiry Robinson, who ran hard and well in this game, and was also fortunate enough to have the Saints recover his fumble.

Unlike the last two trips to Seattle, the Saints defense played very well this time.  The defensive front came out of nowhere this year to emerge as the strong part of the unit.  Broderick Bunkley, Akeem Nicks, & John Jenkins were solid, while Cameron Jordan became a star, and Junior Galette was nearly as good.  Although statistics will show that they gave up some yardage in this game, they really controlled things pretty well, as the Seahawks punted over and over and Russell Wilson was held to 103 yards passing.

It was the Saints offense that got manhandled in this game.  New kicker Shayne Graham showed that his history of struggling in the playoffs was well deserved as he missed 2 field goals, one of which he was forced to kick square on the laces.  Look for the Saints to search high and low for a kicker in the off-season.  The misses were costly.

The Seahawks superiority in their defensive backfield was the key to this game.  We’re used to seeing Graham and Moore and Colston sit down in open spots with a DB 5 yards away.  In this game they were closely covered, and didn’t seem to make the adjustment, so ball after ball got knocked down by a DB.  The receivers aren’t used to having to come back to the ball, but they needed to in this game.  Marques Colston was the only receiver who had a decent game with 144 yards on 11 catches.  Unfortunately, he has been made the goat for his decision on the last play of the game.  After the Saints recovered an on-side kick and seemed to have a remote chance of tying the score with 13 seconds left, Colston caught a side-line pass but instead of stepping out of bounds, which would have left about 5 seconds on the clock, time enough for a hail-mary, he choose an across the field lateral to Taveris Cadet.  It appeared to me this was a designed play, and Colston was doing his job.  Several things went wrong.  First, pressure on Brees messed up the timing of the play, and Cadet got too far down-field, ahead of Colston.  This turned the attempted lateral into a forward pass, ending the game.  The other thing that was wrong with the play, was it was going nowhere, because the Seahawk defense stayed home, and had Cadet covered anyway.  Unfortunately this wasn’t Cadet’s only mistake of the game, as he too dropped a screen pass. 

Which brings me to the player who wasn’t there, Pierre Thomas.  First, he doesn’t drop screen passes.  Second, he deserves to go into the Saints Hall of Fame for just the way he picks up the blitz.  I always believe the Saints would have won the playoff game against the 49’ers in 2012 had Thomas not been knocked cold on the first drive.  I’m going to go ahead and believe he would have made a difference here as well, had he not been inactive due to a rib injury.  The Saints have some running back decisions to make in the off-season and I’m hopeful their priority is Thomas and Robinson.  While Sproles is a terrific weapon, he was not as productive this season, largely because he is just too small to break arm tackles, and the holes aren't getting any bigger.   Ingram and Cadet are going to be the decisions, I hope. 

So, there is some blame to go around in this game.   We are so spoiled by Drew Brees that when he misfires on a pass we yell at our big-screens.  For much of the game, the passing game sputtered.  But, lead by Brees, the Saints bounced back and made a game of it, faring much better than the Monday night shellacking they took in December.  The truth of the matter is this:  In the previous two season ending trips to the Pacific, once they lost to an inferior team and once to a team they were equal to.  This time they lost to a team that was slightly better than them.  I don’t mean the Seahawks would have beaten the Saints in the Superdome.  What I mean is that the Seahawks won because they earned the home field advantage, something that was in the Saints grasp but they coughed up, particularly with losses to the Jets and Rams on the road.   Most teams are built to take advantage of their home field, and the Saints are more just more pronounced in that regard.  They will be trying to remedy that in the off-season at some positions, but guess what – so will every other team in the NFL. 

I guess we can now spend 5 minutes dreaming of how good the Saints would be if they had a defensive backfield like the Seahawks.  The season-ending injuries to Safety Kenny Vaccaro (he’s going to be great), and corners Jabari Greer (he used to be great), and Patrick Robinson (I just don’t know) really proved the undoing of the Saints.  You know you’re in trouble when you’re signing DB’s off the street for the playoffs.  Oh, well, it’s a war of attrition in the NFL, and the Saints aren’t deep enough or fast enough to get back to the Super Bowl just yet.  Maybe they can remedy those deficiencies in the off season.  Let’s hope so.  Linebackers, Defensive Backs, a Left tackle, and another speedy wide receiver would be helpful, and I swear I’ll start saving for a trip to Glendale, AZ.  A Darren Sharper-type acquisition would sure help.

In conclusion, I live in Mississippi for a reason.  I remember when I was a kid, my Dad declined a transfer to move to Seattle because he didn’t like the weather there. 
I still don’t like it.

2013 - The Year in Cinema

Here’s my year in review.

My favorite film of the year was The East, which I thought was terribly overlooked.  The Wolf of Wall Street was a close second.  I saw so many great documentaries this year I decided to make a separate category, and to be honest, in total, they were way better than the fiction.   I found Stories We Tell to be astounding, and ranked it as the top doc.  I’ve now watched it and The East again to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, and I stand by my original impression.  I even upped my score on “Stories” from 9 to 10.  Enjoy.

The East – 10

The Wolf of Wall Street -10

World War Z - 9

Oblivion – 9

Gravity – 9

Captain Phillips – 9

12 Years a Slave – 9

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) – 9

The Call – 9

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) – 9

American Hustle - 8

Star Trek:  Into Darkness – 8

Elysium – 8

Saving Mr. Banks - 8

Mud – 8

White House Down – 8

Hunger Games:  Catching Fire - 8

Olympus Has Fallen – 8

Chasing Mavericks – 8

Dallas Buyer’s Club - 8

Side Effects – 8

Broken City – 8

Hitchcock (2012) - 8

In a World – 7

Fruitvale Station - 7

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – 7

42 – 7

Lee Daniels’ The Butler - 7

Two Guns - 7

The Impossible – 7

Phil Spector (HBO) - 7

Dead Man Down - 7

Parker – 7

The Place Beyond the Pines – 7

The Girl (2012) - 7

Inside Llewyn Davis - 6

Out of the Furnace - 6

Blue Jasmine – 6

Killing Them Softly (2012) - 6

The Great Gatsby - 6

Man of Steel - 5

Now You See Me – 5

The Family - 4

This is the End - 2

A Good Day to Die Hard – 1

Documentaries

Stories We Tell - 10

Mea Maxima Culpa – Silence in the House of God - 10

Searching for Sugar Man - 10

A Football Life – Steve Gleason (NFL Network) - 9

Manhunt:  The Search for Bin Laden (HBO)- 9

Legendary Nights:  the tale of Gatti-Ward (HBO) - 9

Casting By (HBO) – 9

The World According to Dick Cheney (Showtime Doc) – 8

Muscle Shoals – 8

Sound City – 8

Sport in America – Our Defining Stories (HBO) 8

20 Feet From Stardom - 7

Seduced and Abandoned (HBO) - 7

The Ozzies

Best Picture – The East

Best Actor – Leonardo DeCaprio, the Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actress – Amy Adams, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor – Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer’s Club

Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Director – Martin Scorcese, The Wolf of Wall Streep

Best Screenplay – Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij

At the Cinema - December 2013

The Wolf of Wall Street – 10

You’ll like this movie you like roller coasters.  This is a frenetic, wildly entertaining, deeply offensive look at conspicuous consumption and white collar crime.  It is the true story of a Wall Street broker named Jordan Belfort who founded a firm that specialized in touting hopeless penny stocks, committing numerous crimes in the process.  How they get their money will make you cringe.  How they spend it will probably shock you. 

Let’s talk about Marty.

Martin Scorcese looked at those last 30 frenetic minutes in Goodfellas and asked himself if he could do 3 hours at that pace.  The answer?  Yes.  Holding my attention for 3 hours is usually only accomplished in a stadium, but here every scene blisters you with crazy dialogue and riveting excess.  This is Scorcese at the height of his powers.  I almost didn't want to see this because of the length. I really thought it would be impossible for him to hold my attention this long.  I was wrong.

Let’s talk about Thelma

Thelma Schoonmaker is Scorcese’s long time film editor.  Her crowning achievement has always been Raging Bull.  Clear the mantel Thelma.  One senses that in lesser hands this footage could have been a mess. But when you talk about construction of a film, this is a master class.  From dialogue, to music, to locales, it’s all weaved together beautifully.

Let’s talk about Leo. 

Leonardo DiCaprio has always been one of those functional actors who seems to get all the great parts.  He must be a nice guy, easy to work with, and dependable.  He won’t elevate your movie, but he won’t mess it up either.  He’s safe.  Forget all that.  This is the best performance of his career, as he cuts loose with everything he’s got.  I’m sure it will be overlooked at awards time, with names like Redford, McConaghey (who is terrific as Belfort’s first mentor in this movie), and Chiwetel Ejiofor, but it shouldn’t be.  His portrayal of penny stock swindler Jordan Belfort captures all the charisma that a guy had to have to pull off this wretched excess.  He’s all in, and nothing he’s ever done before would have predicted the magnitude of this performance.

Let’s talk about the future. 
I suspect this film will get overlooked during awards season.  It’s not the type of movie that older Academy Award voters will cotton to. People will rail about the glorification of drugs, sex, obscenity, and the criminal behavior, and they will be right.  Let’s face it, your reaction to this movie will probably be in direction proportion to your age.  The box office will be modest, as the faint of heart will stay away.  But as the years go by, and it runs over and over on cable, and we get desensitized to the images, the snap, crackle, and pop of the dialogue and the turbulent characters will make this a movie, like Goodfellas, that will be watched over and over.  You won’t be able to resist.

American Hustle – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like crazy Feds.  Here’s the white collar crime book end to Wall Street.  This is the alleged maybe fictionalization of the ABSCAM scandal of the 80’s.  If you don’t remember ABSCAM you won’t remember the bad clothes either, and this movie is here to remind you.  The feds got the bright idea, exemplified by Bradley Cooper and his bad hair in this movie, that they should just try to bribe a bunch of congressman and see who would take a briefcase of cash.  Surprise, influence peddling was alive and well, and a bunch went to jail. 

There are some great attributes to this movie, starting with Amy Adams’ attributes who are prominently displayed throughout.  If you are able to lift your eyes you’ll notice she’s also a terrific actress.  It’s Amy and Jennifer Lawrence who provide the spark in this movie.  Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper are also excellent, if a little preoccupied with their hair.  Were we this bad? 

Sometimes the movie rambles, getting lost in its own craziness, but it’s generally entertaining and reemphasizes the corrupting influence of money.  I’m thinking these two movies will always be linked together, bookends forever, telling us nothing changes but how we spend the money.

Saving Mr. Banks – 8

You’ll like this movie if you liked Mary Poppins.  Some of the songs from that 1964 movie are stuck in my ear canal forever, and I can still sing the choruses.  However I don’t remember but a few images.  Guess I’ll have to watch it again.

This is the story of how the movie got made.  Emma Thompson plays the author of the beloved set of children’s books, that Walt Disney was determined to make into a movie.  Walt is played by Tom hanks here, and he was so determined that he negotiated with author Mrs. P L Travers for over 20 years, and this is the story of the conclusion of their wrestling over how to make it all come to life.

Emma is brilliant and conveys that bite and determination that only the British seem to have.  It’s just a pleasure to watch her in action.  This is nicely done Disney entertainment.

Inside Llewyn Davis – 6

You’ll like this movie if you’re a Dylanesque troubadour at heart.  This is the story of a guitar-playing folk singer in the early 60’s navigating his way around the Greenwich Village club scene.  When I say navigating, I mean searching for a couch to sleep on for just a few nights, till he wears out his welcome and gets booted on to the next couch.   He used to be part of a folk duo, but his partner jumped off a bridge, and it’s easy to imagine that Llewyn drove him to it.  He’s that irritating. But he’s also pretty talented in that he appears to have a few songs that work ok for him, and so he stumbles along hopeful that his records will sell.  But, it’s apparent pretty quickly that we’re not talking Pete Seeger here.

Oscar Davis is excellent in the title role.  You have to hand it to directors Joel and Ethan Coen for capturing a very specific time and place and a vagabond in action.  There are a handful of pretty good songs, and Carey Mulligan (who knew she could sing?) and Justin Timberlake are perfect as fellow folk singers with very different opinions of Llewyn.  The movie has been widely acclaimed as one of the year’s best and I don’t want to dissuade anyone from seeing it.  You will probably know going in whether this interests you or not, and as a character study of an unlikeable guy, it works perfectly.  The problem?  It just never engaged me.  Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, and I found it dull, boring, melancholy, and rather meandering.  I was disappointed.  Maybe you will like it.  I appreciated the effort, but I guess I’m missing something.

Scanning the Satellite

Hitchock (2012) - 8

Finally caught this movie on HBO.  One of my top 10 movies of all time is Psycho, and this is the story of the making of the movie, which the studio didn’t want to make, but Alfred Hitchcock insisted on.  The star power of Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife Alma, as great as they are, probably doesn’t serve the movie that well, but it’s all very entertaining.  There are no great revelations, but it’s an interesting homage to one of the great directors and his classic movie.

The Girl (HBO – 2012) – 7

Not quite so flattering is this HBO docudrama that tells the story of Hitchock’s obsessions with his blond leading ladies, particularly Tippi Hedren, wonderfully portrayed by Sienna Miller here.  A little creepy, a little mean, but certainly enlightening.  The scenes featuring "the birds" will scare you all over again, but for a different reason.