At the Cinema - May 2015

Mad Max:  Fury Road – 10

You’ll like this movie if you liked The Road Warrior and have tried to forget Beyond Thunderdome.

Australian director George Miller launched the un-likeliest of movie franchises when he starred an unknown actor named Mel Gibson in a low-budget gem called Mad Max in 1979.  It was worthy of a sequel.  Now, the sequel to a surprise hit always has a bigger budget and a longer running time.  But it isn’t always a classic like Mad Max 2:  The Road Warrior released in 1981.  How classic?  A recent Rolling Stone Reader’s poll ranked it the number 1 all-time action movie.  More on that poll later.

It’s pretty common that the third movie disappoints, and Mad Max:  Beyond Thunderdome in 1985 lived down to that expectation.  The series seemed to have died and Miller turned his attention to the Babe movies.

Which brings us to 2015 and the amazing Fury Road.

If there is any justice in the world, in about 8 months Mad Max will win the Oscar for Best Cinematography.   I try not to make these statements too quickly, but Fury may be the best chase movie ever made.  There are a number of reasons for that.

First, that’s all it is.  It’s really one long extended chase movie.  It’s full bore and relentless in its action from the first seconds.  By the time it stops to take a breath and kind of explain things, the audience is too amped up to care. 

Second, the stunts are so audacious and realistic that it makes the CGI loaded action movies of today look pretty ridiculous.  I'm sure there's some CGI in the crowd scenes, and one dust bowl scene, but I think everything else is real, or as movie-making real as it gets.

Third, there’s no blurry action.  Movies, especially in flight sequences tend to make you want to believe something happened, instead of showing you.  Here, you see it all and if anything the motion is sped up, yet it's clear as a bell.

Finally, there’s a big surprise.  Tom Hardy ably assumes the Mad Max role.  But it is Charlize Theron as Furiosa (a character worthy of a movie all her own) that carries the narrative of the movie.  I couldn’t have been more surprised.  Not that she can act – I already knew that.  It’s that Miller would essentially gamble the franchise by turning this into a feminist statement of empowerment.  Actors don't win Oscars for roles in action movies, and Charlize shows what an injustice that can be. 

Furiosa is trying to free the sex slaves of the emperor of a water-starved civilization.  She sets off on a breakneck escape and we are soon blessed with actual character development right in the middle of the chaos.  It’s all an amazing achievement in narrative, action, and movie-making.  Don’t ask me how they did it.  While it’s not for everyone, if you like action for action’s sake, this is a movie to savor.  Hold on tight.

Pitch Perfect 2 – 9

You’ll like this movie if you liked Pitch Perfect, and if you like Anna Kendrick, and if you don’t like Anna Kendrick, we need to have a long talk.

Pitch Perfect was a surprise hit in 2012, carried by Kendrick and her musical chops which were honed on Broadway since she was a youngster.  With good musicals not exactly the norm on the big screen it became a cultural phenomenon of sorts, aided by the viral nature of its music.

A sequel was inevitable and you can queue up the rules.  Bigger Budget, longer running time, etc. etc.  It’s kind of the opposite of deflategate.  It’s Inflategate.  First time director Elizabeth Banks goes for it in a big way.  The movie isn’t perfect.  There’s a lot of fluff and filler, extending the running time unnecessarily, probably to justify the budget, and fill out the soundtrack.  It goes on too long, and the ending is inevitable, including a blatant Glee-copy.

Those are the negatives.  The positives dwarf those things and there’s a ton of fun along the way.  The acting and performances are delightful, as that little sprite of talent Anna Kendrick carries the day, while all the supporting characters are terrific as well, including the newest Barden Bella, Haley Steinfeld.

The movie is hilarious, especially in the first 30 minutes when the Bellas are disgraced in a performance for the President and a full house at Lincoln Center.  The setup is thus in place.  They are suspended from competition unless they can win the World Title of A Capella.  Their often uproarious journey is set.  Don’t think too much, just go with it.

The Age of Adaline – 2
At 4 PM on Mother’s day I officially concluded my entertainment obligation for the day when I eagerly left the theater of my yearly chick flick. 

This is the story of Adaline, played stoically by Blake Lively.  Her aging is halted in an accident when her car goes underwater and is struck by lightning.  We know this because there is a narrator to explain it like he’s Rod Serling.  This sets the tone for everything that is wrong with the movie.  When you are not confident in the visual story-telling you are attempting, have someone ominously explain it.  But, of course all narration reminds me of the insipid and insufferable Carrie Bradshaw, so kill me now, which is what I think I said exiting the theater.  Narration is a red flag, and it's just the beginning in this flick.

This is obviously a fantasy, so while there is no expectation of believability in the story, it would be nice if there was something else to grab unto in this movie.  Alas, nothing.  The relationships, the chemistry (or lack thereof), the acting, the narrator, the story, the people – it’s all so lame as to be a snooze fest of the glossiest order.  Even my beloved Ellen Burstyn is so irritating as Adaline’s daughter that it is no wonder everyone is so unhappy.  If “24” returns I expect watching this movie to replace waterboarding in the torture scenes.  If I had to watch this movie looped over and over I'd confess to anything.

The Avengers:  Age of Ultron – 4

It is only because I have the highest regard for director Joss Whedon that I went to see this sequel to the first Avengers movie, which I despised.  I wanted to see if Joss could improve on the first one.  Good news – he has.  Bad News – not by much.

Apparently there is a timeline that extends from the first movie, through a TV series (Marvel’s Agents of Shield) into this movie that will explain what the hell is going on.  The movie starts in full bore action with the Avengers attacking some outpost, and I can only assume a viewer of the TV series would know what was going on.  As for me, I’ve never been lost faster.

There are some good action scenes, and that’s clearly the strong suit here, but this is the 5^th movie that Robert Downey’s Iron Man has appeared in, challenging the Hugh Jackman “Wolverine” perpetual portrayal.  Gosh they must make a lot of dough to keep doing the same thing over and over.  Despite the Whedon banter, none of the superheroes are particularly interesting, and the feeling one gets is that the biggest Issue they had was cramming this story down to 2 ½ hours or so.

I’m not going to even try to tell you what this movie is about above the razzle dazzle, something about a monster robot named Ultron getting artificial intelligence, and becoming a menace to society, more than even a Kardashian.

Halfway through the movie Samuel L Jackson appears because Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were apparently unavailable to play the token old actor role which the 3 of them must fight over IN EVERY SINGLE MOVIE.

The Avengers will apparently make a boatload of money for Whedon, and I’m happy for him.  Now, please, a sequel to Serenity.  A real story about human beings would be nice.

And in conclusion let’s look at the Rolling Stone’s Reader Poll for Best Action movies:

10 Die Hard

9 Terminator 2:  Judgement Day
8 Raiders of the Lost Ark
7 Rambo
6 Lethal Weapon
5 The Matrix
4 Predator
3 The Bourne Identity
2 Alien
1 The Road Warrior

Here’s mine but I had to turn mine up to 20:

1 Jaws

2 Star Wars
3 Die Hard
4 Terminator 2:  Judgement Day
5 Raiders of the Lost Ark
6 The Abyss
7 Lethal Weapon
8 Serenity
9 The Road Warrior
10 Terminator
11 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
12 The Warriors
13 Minority Report
14 Kill Bill 2
15 Vanishing Point
16 Saving Private Ryan
17 Alien
18 The Dark Knight Rises
19 The Long Kiss Goodnight 
20 Billy Jack

What’s yours?

At the Cinema - April 2015

Frank Sinatra:  All or Nothing at All – 10

This HBO Documentary is more than just a portrait of the pre-eminent performer of the 20^th Century.  It’s quite simply a history lesson.  Alex Gibney does it again with a fabulous documentary using the plot device of Sinatra’s 1971 retirement concert as the backdrop.  The evolution of society is painted against the evolution of music.  I grew up in a home where his records were played constantly, and my mother the bobby soxer never wavered in her love for Sinatra.  I got to see him in concert, and I understood his importance.  If you do, or do not understand his importance, see this.  The talent, the flaws, the romances, the Mafia, the Kennedys, the influence, are all here.  To say Sinatra lived a full life would be the understatement of that century.

What I remember about listening to Sinatra was the respect he had for each song.  He would give credit to the composer, the arranger, and his band.  He didn’t have the greatest voice, but he had a gift for nuance and inflection, and most importantly he delivered the song like he meant it.  Vocal lessons should start with his catalog, which by the way I still have, although the Sirously Sinatra station on satellite radio has rendered that less necessary.

Gibney shows us why Sinatra was a presence.  In my mother’s last few moments I put my ipod on her pillow and let her leave to Sinatra, because he once said “may the last voice you hear be mine,” and that seemed like a fine idea.

Ex Machina – 8

It was the last day of the month and I realized the improbable had happened.  I hadn’t seen a movie in a theater all month, mostly because I found none interesting.  But this movie looked up my alley – bizarre – so I took a flier.

Oscar Isaac, the guy who played Llewyen Davis, couldn’t be more different here.  He plays tech genius Nathan Bateman who has invented google (although the names have been changed to protect the dominant) and he lives in a secluded compound where he’s programming life-like robots with artificial intelligence.  He brings one of his employees, Caleb Smith (Domhall Gleeson) to his secluded compound to introduce him to his latest creation, Ava.  He wants Caleb to conduct a Turing test – find out how realistic she is.  Well she’s real enough for Caleb to fall for her, and the results are as awkward as well, real romance. 

The setting and the special effects are pretty magical.  It’s a cool movie, although not groundbreaking.  However, the reference to Turing made me think of Alan Turing, whom I assumed the test is named after.  His story is told in The Imitation Game, which was my pick for best movie of 2014.  So, when I left the theater I stopped at Best Buy and bought the newly released blu ray of that movie and watched it again.  Even better the second time.  I also hit the Wikipedia page of “Turing test” and found out why they named the movie “The Imitation Game” which was never explained.  I digress and ramble but there’s a lot to think about here.  In summary, I’ve learned a lot, including don’t fall in love with a robot.

At the Cinema - March 2015

March 2015 will forever be known as HBO month – the month they changed the world with 2 documentaries of epic consequences.

Going Clear:  Scientology and the Prison of Belief – 10
I admit that I’ve always been a Tom Cruise fan.  He takes his craft seriously and he produces one credible movie after another, featuring first class production values, good stories, and action thrills.  He loves movies and he has built a strong Hollywood legacy.

This doesn’t change one fact.

Tom Cruise is nuts.

The case for that is made clear, very clear in this nauseating expose of his “religion,” Scientology.  This is not to say that Cruise is the worst thing in this documentary.  That is reserved for the leaders, past and present of Scientology.

With clarity and purpose, director Alex Gibney gives a history lesson of the origins and evolution of this cult, then moves swiftly into the atrocities it commits to keep the sheep in line.  That anybody would look the other way as current leader David Miscavage (allegedly) bullies, imprisons, and beats his minions into submission is particularly galling, but that powerful people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta would stand behind these methods is sickening. 
What’s the number one problem in the world?  I happen to think it’s brainwashing, and never has a stronger case been made that you can get a group of people to do anything, if you know what you’re doing.  Case in point, when Miscavage sentences people into captivity for years at a time, until their mind gets right.

Former high ranking accomplices tell the story succinctly and convincingly and I’m sure there have been stronger, more sickening documentaries made, but I can’t think of one at this moment.  It is appalling that in this day and age cults can still hold people captive, and it’s a practice that needs to end today.  Hopefully someone in our law enforcement community watches this and realizes that it is time to act.  Tom Cruise acts every day, but he’s not going to be the one to act on this.

Allow me to rant a little.  We are in a golden age of brainwashing, and none of us are immune.  Here’s why.

For many years I have thought that you could sum up everything that was wrong with America in one word:

NIKE.

Overpriced product made by foreign slave labor, endorsed by athletes paid exorbitantly (thus inflating prices further) to entice young impressionable purchasers to pay more than they could afford because they over-prioritized the owning of something that should have been optional.  A luxury, not a requirement.  Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Lebron James.  Do the math that justifies paying them around $20 million a year to endorse shoes.  

But now I have a new dirty word.

NEWSFEED.

As best exemplified by Facebook, we are voluntarily and involuntarily force fed that which we already believe, constantly reinforcing our opinion.  Much of what I see in “made-up” headlines is ridiculous.  But it doesn’t matter, it will be gone tomorrow, and replaced by another ridiculous headline – not there to inform you – just there as clickbait.

The result is that we never get balanced and fair reporting.  No matter what happens the minions line up on both sides of the story, and you’ll receive your side’s interpretation early and often, article after article.

If you want to hear diversity of opinion, believe me you are going to have to work to find it.  The computers are working behind the scenes to get you what they know you want, not what you need.

Your best hope is that you have friends who will argue with you and call out your BS.  But it doesn’t happen much.  

I’m talking about more than just politics, but James Baker, Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State said it best recently in reference to politics, “The middle in our politics is sort of disappearing.  This middle is where you govern from.  And if you’re going to govern in bipartisan fashion, you’re not going to get 100% of what you want.  You might get 80% but you have to give up a little, and you have to compromise.  We’ve gotten away from that.”

Ain’t it the truth?  When we are children we are impressionable.  As we grow we may be gullible at times.  At times we are pliable.  Sometimes we are bullied relentlessly.  That’s what this movie is about. 

The unrelenting pressure of brainwashing. Do yourself a favor. See this stunning documentary.  

Jinx – The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst – 10

This is a 6 part documentary that we watched in its entirety the day HBO aired the last episode.  The day before that Durst got arrested in a New Orleans hotel on Canal Street.  The expectation is that he will be charged with murder in California.
I won’t spoil the last sounds in the last episode, but let’s say it’s a crescendo.  Durst is a silver-spoon born New York City real estate tycoon, who never came close to running the family empire.  That task fell to his younger brother, and if that happened to you, you could go live in the country on your millions and just cash the checks.  Robert Durst didn’t do that.  What he did or didn’t do, was kill a few folks for reasons unknown.  He killed a man in Galveston, chopped him into little pieces, and then was found not guilty when he claimed self-defense.

His wife disappeared and his probable accomplice herself got murdered in Beverly Hills.

And those are the ones we know about.

What does it all mean?  Is this person crazy?  Entitled?  A psychopath?  Cocky?

Cocky definitely, because he actually contacted the filmmakers and agreed to be interviewed after seeing their feature film of his story.

Most of us don’t hang around with accused murderers.  Oh, we see them on the screen all the time, but we don’t get the deep insight this movie gives us.  Durst is ice cold, and you don’t think he will ever crack.  It’s quite possible that the film-maker’s adeptness is what has brought the curtain down on his free time.  That’s something law enforcement had been unable to do.

Kingsman:  The Secret Service – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like the idea of an outlandish, undercover, unsanctioned clan of James Bond wannabes trying to do good deeds and fight evil.  That’s the premise of this movie that has the gall to cast Colin Firth in the lead role as a tough-as-nails superspy in a secret British service.  Those Brits have all the fun.   That’s the casting coup of the movie.  The casting mistake is to tell Samuel L Jackson to play the villain as a lisping genius.  Jackson is the only weak part of this movie, which gives a completely entertaining variation on the James Bond/Jason Bourne persona.  It’s funny, ridiculous, action packed, and so much is going on that your head may explode.

Run All Night – 7

The latest Liam Neeson entry is an effective eye-for-an-eye buddy film.  Neeson’s character, Jimmy Conlon, has been a bad-deed-doer for his lifelong mob buddy Shawn Maguire, played with gusto by Ed Harris. When Neeson has to kill Maguire’s son to protect his own very estranged son, Maguire vows revenge by dawn.   The pot boils over as the movie becomes a blood bath.  Not to say it isn’t a lot of fun, in a Funny Bloody Funday sort of way.

A Million Ways to Die in the West – 2

Given that I like Seth MacFarlane and given that I am not easily offended, even by the most tasteless of comedy, I must admit that even when comedy is tasteless, I like there to be a little modicum of wit attached.  “Wit” never made it to the set on this movie.  Just being tasteless for the sake of tastelessness does not justify spending $40 million to do it.  With that money we could have built 4 new high schools, or provided years of water for a country that doesn’t have clean drinking water.  Insert what you could have done with that money here.  

Maybe we could have even rescued some scientologists.

At the Cinema - February 2015

McFarland USA – 9
You’ll like this movie if you liked Rudy and Rocky.
Those two movies are all-time sport tearjerkers built around the thrill of competition and fighting on the playground of a sport.
In this stand-up and cheer movie Kevin Costner plays an exiled football coach who has moved his family into one of the poorest counties in America, populated by mostly Mexicans who pick the California fruit – all their lives.  Coach White, whose very name is a continual source of amusement to his students, soon realizes that the football team is hopeless, but the school is full of runners who have to run to their jobs in the fields before and after school.
It’s a tough life and White and his family soon become educated in the customs of the community and realize that maybe their vagabond coaching journey may have ended in a worthwhile destination.  White’s ragtag cross country team begins climbing the competitive heights and he sees their abilities as a way to a better life for them, maybe even a college education.

The cast is uniformly terrific and this is just a great sports movie, told lovingly.  There’s been no hype to this movie, but don’t let that fool you.  If you like sports, go see this.  It’s exhilarating in a way that only sports movies can be.

Still Alice – 9
You’ll like this movie if you like great acting.
I was genuinely surprised how much I liked this movie.  I knew Julianne Moore was the favorite for the Oscar, and she eventually won it.  It was well deserved.
What I didn’t expect was how compelling the movie would be.  Don’t confuse that statement with it being an enjoyable movie.  It’s very difficult to watch at times, and anyone who struggles with their memory from time to time has to feel sympathetic.

Julianne plays Alice, a teacher at Columbia University who becomes afflicted with early onset Alzheimers.  There are little heartbreaking signs at first, like when she introduces herself to someone twice.  Then as it gets worse, there is a devastating scene where she can’t find the bathroom in her own house.   

There is realistic and profound family reaction from her husband played by Alec Baldwin, and two daughters (Kristen Stewart and Kate Bosworth) as they struggle with the present and the future, including the genetic impact of the disease.

It’s all exposed like a raw nerve, and while Moore carries the movie, it will surprise you with its depth.

Citizenfour – 8
This is the movie that won the Best Documentary Oscar, and I will admit I struggled with it.  It’s the story of Edward Snowden, who in one of his first acts as whistleblower calls documentary film maker Laura Poitras to his Hong Kong hotel room.  He then begins spilling the beans on how America spies on its citizens. 

I wrestled with the issues present as the movie unfolds, and unfold it does as Snowden makes world wide headlines.  First, I can remember reading 1984 and being scared that our future could be one of surveillance by the government.  The actions described here make George Orwell seem like a simpleton.  But then Orwell never experienced terrorism and digital warfare.  So, while the government seems to be going over the line, they are successfully thwarting much of what we want them to protect us from. 
Then there’s Snowden, who is either a traitor or a hero, depending on your viewpoint. 

I consider myself pretty open minded and came to this with no pre-disposition.  The movie didn’t resolve it for me.  Guess I’m still evolving.  Let me know what you think.  This is an important documentary, but let’s face it, the story isn’t over yet, which is just as well, as I need to see more "unfolding."

Oscar Predictions

The year is 1993.  The Oscar for the best picture of 1992 goes to Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’s definitive western.  Scent of a Woman (pretty bad), The Crying Game (a one impact-scene movie), and Howard’s End (the yearly high-end British entry) are close behind and anticipation is high that it’s too close to call between the 4 pictures.

The fifth movie is a throw-in, considered undeserving given it’s dearth of other nominations.  Only one nomination of consequence – supporting actor.

That next year another western goes virtually unnoticed, and doesn’t score a single nomination, even a much deserved supporting actor nomination. 

The movies in question – A Few Good Men and Tombstone – are now beloved and watched over and over while the other movies have faded into the rarely-viewed stratosphere of obscurity.  Val Kilmer’s turn as Doc Holiday is epic, and no one remembers who won the Oscar that year.  But it wasn’t Jack “You need me on that hill,” Nicholson nor Val “I’m your Huckleberry” Kilmer the next year.

And that’s just 1993.

So, as I make my Oscar predictions keep in mind that they will be about as much a prediction of a movie’s future status as the Oscar’s themselves.  Little to none.  As little as a Little Emperor.

In a year of great movies, I can truthfully say I have no idea which ones will hold up and which ones will be classics 20 years from now.  I think I only missed 3 or 4 predictions last year.  I’m not nearly as confident this year.

So here are my predictions:

Best Picture

Should win:  The Imitation Game.  Only because it was my favorite of the pictures I saw.
Will Win – Boyhood, because it is an amazing technical achievement, although Birdman is actually the favorite and has the momentum

Birdman is the strangest movie of the nominees, so I have no idea how it will hold up.  Could be a classic – could be forgotten in a year, and I have no idea which.

Best Actor:
Should win:  Benedict Cumberbatch for a wonderful performance in The Imitation Game

Will Win:  Eddie Redmayne for a terrific performance as Stephen Hawking.  The best upset chance of the night is probably Bradley Cooper in this category, but the race appears close between Redmayne and Michael Keaton.

Best Actress:

Should win and will win:  Julianne Moore for Still Alice

Best Director:

Should win:  Christopher Nolan for Interstellar.  That’s right, he wasn’t even nominated, but he continues to be the most innovative, underappreciated visionary in movies.
Will win:  Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Supporting Actress;

Should and Will Win:  Patricia Arquette for Boyhood

Best Supporting Actor:

Should and Will Win:  JK Simmons for Whiplash

Other Predictions:

Best Adapted Screenplay – The Imitation Game

Best Original Screenplay – Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Animated Feature Film – How to Train Your Dragon 2

Best Foreign Language Film – Ida

Best Documentary – Citizenfour

Best Documentary Short Subject – Crisis Hotline:  Veterans Press 1

Best Original Score – Interstellar

Best Original Song – Glory, from Selma

Best Sound Editing – American Sniper

Best Sound Mixing – American Sniper

Best Production Design – Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Cinematography – Birdman

Best Makeup – Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Costume Design – Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Editing – Boyhood

Best Visual Effects – Dawn of Planet of the Apes

Best Animated Short – The Dam Keeper

Best Live Action Short – Parvaneh 

More importantly, this is the official end of the potato chip season at our house that began with football season, and tonight I will try to put the chips away until September.  And after the Oscars, I may cue up one of my favorite movies, LA Confidential, an incredible achievement that had the misfortune of coming out the same year as Titanic.  That’s the way it goes sometimes.  Or, maybe I’ll watch Raging Bull or try to save Private Ryan again.  It’s really ok, if you don’t win, you still might be a classic, and you’ll be singing in the rain for eternity.

At The Cinema - January 2015

Whiplash – 10

You’ll like this movie if you like music, drums, and drama.

In my formative music years of the 60’s all of us male types could pound out the great drum solo of In-a-Gada-da-Vida on the table at Burger King, even if we had no idea what the song was about.  We would wait til midnight and hope we would hear it on Beaker Street, a rock radio show on 50,000 watt KAAY in Little Rock that would often play the 17 minute version.  Drummers Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, john Bonham, Charlie Watts - they were the revered.

So, I grew up listening to guitars and drums.  That those two instruments have dominated pop music for over 50 years is certainly not what my parents expected.  Whatever happened to the big band era?

So finally, along comes a great drum movie.  It happens to lean toward jazz and those big bands, but make no mistake – the rock and roll foundation is here.

Miles Teller plays a young drummer trying to get through Shaeffer Performing Arts School in New York.  He aspires to join the highest jazz group in the school, run by the tyrannical conductor played by JK Simmons.  Simmons is a journeyman actor who has the role of his life here, and he delivers a slam dunk Oscar-destined performance.  His manipulations present the obstacle that his young musicians have to overcome to achieve greatness.  In the end this movie is about the dedication, persistence, and talent it takes to get to the top. 

This is one of those thrilling movies that tells its story in a logical, precise manner.  You can’t beat it.

Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance) – 8

This universally acclaimed movie comes flying in on a most erratic path.  A month ago Michael Keaton was the favorite for Best Actor, although the buzz has faded.  He plays an actor who previously starred as the superhero of the title.  Now he’s trying to put on a Broadway play and he’s getting help from a cast of characters played by Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts, and Edward Norton who are all excellent, and all with problems that will rival his.

This movie is simply crazy.  Fantasy blends with reality, and there’s not a stable head in the bunch.  It’s hard to follow at times, and sometimes the point of it all is elusive.  But, there’s a rousing ending to it all, and it’s fun and even inspirational when it’s all said and done.  

2014 - The Year in Cinema

My 2014 Ranking of Movies - including how I scored them on a scale of 1-10.

THE TOP TEN

The Imitation Game – 10

Interstellar – 10
Whiplash - 10

Edge of Tomorrow - 9

Selma – 9

Boyhood - 9

The Theory of Everything – 9

Jack Ryan:  Shadow Recruit - 9

American Sniper - 9
Still Alice - 9

Lucy - 8
Nightcrawler - 8
Gone Girl – 8

Philomena (2013) - 9

Chef - 8

Top Five - 8

Jersey Boys – 8
Birdman - 8

Kings of Summer (2013) - 8

Million Dollar Arm – 8

Unbroken – 8
The Grand Budapest Hotel - 8

Parkland (2013) - 8

Disconnect (2012) - 8

Divergent - 8

Guardians of the Galaxy – 7

A Walk Among the Tombstones – 7

Foxcatcher - 7

Neighbors - 7                                     

Get on Up – 7

This is Where I Leave You - 7

Hunger Games – Mockingjay – 7

All is Lost (2013) - 7

The Judge – 7

Draft Day – 7

Three Days to Kill – 6

The Monuments Men – 6

August:  Osage County - 6

Documentaries

Life Itself – 10

Tim’s Vermeer – 9

The Act of Killing (2013) - 9

Kidnapped for Christ – 9

The Cheshire Murders – 9

The Case Against Proposition 8 - 8

The Armstrong Lie – 8

Captivated:  The Trials of Pamela Smart - 8

Big Star – Nothing Can Hurt Me - 7

And the Ozzies go to:  

Best Picture – The Imitation Game

Best Actor – Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game

Best Actress – Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

Best Supporting Actor – Chadwick Boseman in Draft Day

Best Supporting Actress – Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

Best Director - Christopher Nolan, Interstellar

Best Screenplay - Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth for Edge of Tomorrow.

Here's what all the critics think:
http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2014

At the Cinema - December 2014

Sorry I am so late with the official year end movie blogs.  Everything is late in Mississippi.  For a movie nut, it’s tough to admit that I have yet to see movies like Under the Skin, Whiplash, and Birdman, which haven’t made it here yet, and I had to go buy the Blu-ray of Boyhood because it never made it here.  But here’s my last report on 2014 movies. 

Let’s start with the original stories:

Boyhood – 9

This fascinating film is the odds on favorite for a Best Picture Oscar.  Director Richard Linklater shot this over the course of 12 years.  The young man whose boyhood is at the center of the film is played by Ellar Coltrane who was cast when he was just 5 years old.  Imagine that gamble for just a minute.   You are going to shoot a film for 12 years and you have to guess what this young man will be like as he grows up.  Did the director write the story as the years went by?  Or did he stick with his script?  The mind races as the movie moves along.

You will be enthralled.

Top Five – 8

Chris Rock’s star vehicle is at times brilliant, hilarious, and downright gross, about what you would expect from this incisive comedian.  It’s a day in the life of a comedian going through a career crisis.

Andre Allen is most famous for his portrayal, in costume, of Hammie the Bear in 3 movies that I wouldn’t want to see.  He longs to be taken seriously as an artist, although his agent warns him that he is dangerously close (in one of the best lines of the year) to Dancing with the Stars.  His upcoming marriage to a reality TV star, played by Gabrielle Union, is plowing ahead despite his misgivings and he agrees to an interview with a journalist (Rosario Dawson) who is not what she seems to be.  He’s smitten.  He’s revealing.  He’s hilarious. 

What is the top five?  Throughout the movie there is an extended debate about the top 5 rappers of all time, and they might as well have been ranking the top 5 vegetables for all I care about that.  But, it’s just a plot device for a more meaningful transformation, as Rock begins to realize what is important.

The comedy is not for the easily offended, especially when Rock and Rosario trade exceedingly gross stories.  Chris Rock is progressing as a writer and filmmaker. Expect even better things ahead. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel – 8
Wes Anderson makes eccentric movies. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.  This one works from the standpoint that the visual uniqueness supports a story that could be out of the Marx Brothers or Charlie Chaplin.  I confess there was much I couldn’t follow.  This guys got an imagination and a vision like no one else working today.  But, it’s not for everyone.

And now for the true stories.

The Imitation Game -10

You’ll like this movie if you like historical movies, great acting, and computers.  This movie makes the case that the father of modern computer science was Alex Turing, a brilliant mathematician who was one of Great Britain’s codebreakers during World War II.  Germany’s war transmissions are easily intercepted but impossible to decipher due to their “Enigma” code.  It is up to Turing to build “Christopher” a thinking machine that can perform enough calculations fast enough to break a code that changes daily.

Benedict Cumberbatch inhabits Turing in one of the year’s great performances.  Turing was a homosexual in a time when that had dire consequences, and he ultimately paid a very stiff penalty.  His recognition as someone who may have saved the world from the Nazi’s has come posthumously because the story was kept secret for 50 years by the British. 

I have only one minor quibble with this movie.  Like every Hollywood movie made today, it jumps around in time, back and forth telling the story.  This story is so good, it doesn’t need that gimmick.  Straight forward, linear fashion would have been just fine.  The story is that good.  Nevertheless,

here’s the ultimate compliment.  I can’t wait to see this movie again.  And again.  If it ends up in heavy TV rotation I suspect I won’t be able to not pause and watch, like I do with Tombstone and A Few Good Men, and many others.  The “crisis scenes” crackle that much!  Don’t miss.

Selma – 9

This is a focused and riveting history lesson about the civil rights movement of the early 60’s.   Martin Luther King leads the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery in protest of the Alabama voting laws.  It’s tough to watch at times, because it graphically shows several deaths during the events, and doesn’t skimp on the brutality.  

What makes the movie work so well is David Oyelowo’s amazing performance as Dr. King.  It’s easy to see the charisma he brought to his quest, but Oyelowo also digs into King’s insecurities and transgressions as he deals with pressures from LBJ, his wife, his constituents, and his enemies.  Get ready to feel every ounce of every character’s pain, both physical and emotional.  It’s a near epic movie in its scope and importance. Best of all, it captures King’s oratory and strategic skills, as well as the price he paid to move a nation.

American Sniper - 9

Director Clint Eastwood makes a thumper of a war movie.  Whether you consider this an indictment of war, or an endorsement of it, the fact is that this movie is so well done that the box office and word of mouth potential is through the roof. This movie is right in Eastwood’s wheel house. But it’s not just a war movie.  It’s a little bit western.  It’s a little bit character study.

This is the biography of a soldier with a particular set of skills.  From the moment that Chris Kyle’s dad taught him to use a rifle for hunting, he had an uncanny aim which combined with his desire to protect and serve, created a perfect prescription for a Navy Seal.  With this movie we get terrific insight into the mind of a successful soldier.  Doubt never enters Chris’s mind, even while there is doubt all around him.  He will lose friends, he will kill until he is called “The Legend.”  But doubt or hesitation would have hindered him and impacted his ability to do his job.  It was not just his ability that made him the sniper with the most confirmed kills in U.S. history.  It was a relentless and perfect mental makeup for the job at hand.

I am predisposed here.  Some of my favorite scenes in movies are about snipers, starting with the great desert scene of Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon.  For some reason, they make great film.  This movie takes that inherent drama and maxes it out.  There probably will never need to be another sniper movie.  It serves another function as well.  Much like The Hurt Locker, it shows the true hell that is war.  The everyday task of “clearing buildings” of insurgents, the activity that Kyle is usually protecting from a rooftop, is dangerous and tedious.  Can you imagine going through an American city building by building?

Chris Kyle comes back after four tours and has to begin to re-aclimate himself to his family.  His wife, played to perfection by Sienna Miller is a relentless force of her own in her determination to have a normal husband and a normal family.  It is Chris’s simple approach to what he has done that allows him to recover more quickly than the doubters he was surrounded by, or the wounded he begins to counsel whose scars are physical, mental, and emotional.  Bradley Cooper pulls all this off as the actor, and as the visionary who wanted to make this movie about an American hero.  The next few months will probably feature a lot of discussion about the glorification of war pictured here, but this is what patriotism looks like to much of America and it’s what Eastwood does best.   Whether or not you think this glorifies war, or justifies this particular war, this is American movie making at its most powerful.

Unbroken – 8

You’ll like this movie if you like nails across a blackboard, in a good way.  True stories are the most fascinating movies, even with the embellishments that sometimes come with them.  This is Angelina Jolie’s straightforward story of Louis Zamporelli, who lived more in 10 minutes than most of us do in a lifetime.  First, he was an Olympic athlete.  Then he was onboard a fighter jet in World War II over the Pacific.  His plane crashes into the Pacific, and he survives over 40 days in a raft.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that he is then captured by the Japanese and tortured for years in a prison camp.  Jolie pulls no punches.  It’s all graphic and brutal.

The best scenes in this movie though, are right up front.  The footage of the dogfights over the Pacific are terrific.  That the movie can’t keep up that pace is natural, but it’s a fitting tribute to the greatest generation.

Wild – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like endurance, Reese Witherspoon, and walking.
Witherspoon plays the real-life Cheryl Strayed, a promiscuous, drug using divorcee who has lost her mother to a short illness.  She is scarred and scared, lost, and lonely and decides there is only one way to get her life on track.  Take a hike.  A long one.  So this movie very calmly follows her up the Pacific Coast while interspersing flashbacks of her sordid past.  Reese goes without makeup and essentially shows that she should always go without makeup.  Reese says “star.”  The movie says "you won’t remember this."

Foxcatcher – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like wrestling, Steve Carell, and murder.

This is an important movie - it’s just not a very good one.  It’s important because it reveals that Steve Carell can be a good dramatic actor.  His transformation into John E. Dupont is amazing.  Unfortunately, I was not as impressed with the depth of his performance as I was his physical presence, because I never really figured out what Dupont was all about.  Yes, he was a mama’s boy, and he had a desire to be successful on his own, despite being in the richest family in America.  Going to work in a drug store was never really an option.  So he essentially bought himself the American Olympic wrestling team and brings them to his Valley Forge estate to the training facility he has built.  It starts with two brooding brothers, played by Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, who are both totally convincing. 
It all ends in a famous murder, which Dupont commits.  I never understood why.  Maybe you will.

Scanning the Satellite

Olive Kittredge – This is a 4 hour HBO mini-series dominated totally by the incredible Frances McDormand who plays one of the realest characters you’ll see on a screen.  She’s ornery, unforgiving, and miserable. She is often at odds with her family and friends and is one of those souls who just never found her place in life.  Amazingly entertaining.

Next up - my year end movie ranking.

Saints Report # 16

As we nestle in for a long winter’s nap, we’ll relax and enjoy the bowl games and the NFL playoffs stress free and happy go lucky, BECAUSE THE SAINTS BLEW IT.

Sunday the Saints closed out one of their most disappointing seasons with a 7-9 record. Blech!  They were less than impressive as they came from 13 points down in the 4^th quarter to beat the Tampa Bay Lovie’s 23-20.  The defense stiffened in the second half, allowing the offense to catch up. 

So the post mortem on the Saints season is ugly.  Let’s do the autopsy.

Dissecting the defense is easy.  It was terrible most of the time.  Problem number one was the pass rush.  The Black and Gold defense didn’t exactly turn any quarterback Black and Blue.  Rob Ryan has failed at numerous stops.  Is he the problem?  Is he the answer?  Who knows?  When you can’t get pressure from your front four, you better blitz effectively.  The Saints rarely did.  His “bring the house” blitzes on big plays were predictable and easily picked apart by good quarterbacks. 

Which brings me to the next line of defense, the linebackers.  Curtis Lofton is a tackling machine, but the other rotating cast was slow, un-athletic, and rarely effective.

Then there was the defensive backfield.  Only Keenan Lewis was acceptable.  Jarius Byrd was injured before he was injured for good, so he showed little.  Kenny Vaccarro was a huge sophomore disappointment.  Defensive Backs needed – about 5.

On the offensive side of the football, Drew Brees remained one of the top 5 quarterbacks in the NFL, but he took some unnecessary chances, and most of them were disastrous interceptions.

Running Back is a tough call.  Mark Ingram is a grinder, but doesn’t evade or break tackles like a top running back.  Pierre Thomas was reliable, but only when he could stay off the injured list.  Khiry Robinson and Tavaris Cadet are being groomed for the future, but didn’t excite anyone.  I’ve often wondered if our running backs were evasive in practice against our poor defense, leading to some poor evaluations.  In the games, our defense tackles poorly, and our backs are tackled too easily.  I’d love to see an accounting of tackles broken/tackles missed.  I think it would be ugly and lopsided.

The offensive line was a disaster most of the time, keeping Brees under duress and leaving the running game with little room to run. 

Our wide receivers were a conundrum to themselves.  Rookie Brandon Cooks looks like a long term starter, but didn’t deliver the big plays we envisioned before he got hurt.  Kenny Stills progressed into the most consistent receiver.  Marques Colston was inconsistent, but Brees still relies on him and if Nick Toon is the heir apparent in the “big receiver” role we are in trouble.

Then there’s Jimmy Graham, superstar.  Because he was perceived to be the league’s best, the Saints overpaid him, only to watch him drop too many passes, perhaps due to injury.  It is a sign of Sean Payton’s desperation as the year wore on that he continued to play Graham while hurt, something he has adamantly refused to do in the past with other players.   We now have too much money allocated to the tight end position.

Sean Payton’s offense became predictable.  As his coaching tree spreads, (Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo) other teams are running his offense, allowing defensive coordinators to better prepare. It’s time for some further innovation.

The Saints are in cap hell, but it can be remedied.  They need a lot of players.  The over/under on new Saints for 2015 is 15.    I’m thinking 20.

Saints Report # 15

Q:  What odds could you have gotten betting that the Saints would lose 5 straight home games after winning 20 in a row?
A:  A Breesizilion to one.

Q:  What odds could you have gotten betting that the Falcons could win the division by going 6-0 in the division and 1-9 outside it, which could be the case by Sunday night?
A:   Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor, not a gambler

Q:  Is Jimmy Graham a football player or a basketball player?
A:  He keeps dribbling the ball, you tell me

Q:  How much time did Matt Ryan have to throw Sunday when they beat the Saints 30 – 14?
A:  You could’ve timed it with a sundial

Q:  Do you have a nickname you’d like to propose for our offensive line?
A:  Yes.  “Unabated to the Quarterback.”

Q:  Is Devery Henderson walking through that door?
A:  No

Q:  We’ve never really been able to replace him as a deep threat have we?
A:  Joe Morgan, but apparently Sean Payton thought he was better suited as a second baseman

Q:  Is Will Smith walking through that door?
A:  Not the Will Smith you’re thinking of.

Q:  Kenny Stills and Marques Colston played well though didn’t they?
A:  Yes, but Julio Jones was the best player on the field

Q:  Don’t Super Bowl teams have to re-load all the time.
A:  Yes. 

Q:  Where is training camp for the Saints next year?
A:  Chicago.  Goodell has mandated it.

Q:  What are our biggest needs in the draft?
A:  3 cornerbacks, and 3 linebackers

Q:  What will we draft?
A:  A Wide Receiver

Q:  Is Brees fading?
A:  Did you see Peyton Manning play Monday night?

Q:  Who do you consider the heart and soul of the Saints?
A:  Lance Moore

Q:  What did you think of the Saints play calling this year?
A:  I think it’s perfectly logical to throw the ball from an empty backfield on second and 2, but run it on second and 9.

Q:  Will Rob Ryan be back?
A:  No.  He will be offered the head coaching job of the New York Jets

Q:  Is it time to start looking for the successor to Brees?
A:  Sure.  If it’s going to take 40 years again. 

Q:  Will you watch the game Sunday?
A:  Of course.  I’m a glutton, not a gambler.

Q:  What do you think would happen if they gave Pierre Thomas the ball 20 times a game?
A:  We’ll never know.

Q:  Do you think Payton and Loomis will blow up the team next year?
A:  Yes

Q:  Aren’t some Saints overpaid?
A:  Yes, but so are Brad Pitt, Taylor Swift, and Elvis Presley.  The playing field is level, and we will find a way to add another high priced free agent like Jarius Byrd, so don't fret.

Q:  Would you like to propose a theme song for this year?
A:  Lieutenant, haven't we already covered that?

Q:  Any final thoughts?
A:  You got bullied into that courtroom