More 2015 Movies (that I’ve added to my rankings post of last month)
Room – 9
Depressing but hauntingly beautiful, this movie is a tale of
a mother and son and their inhabitance of two environments. First, there’s the claustrophobic room where
Joy Emerson has been imprisoned for 7 years by a rapist she calls Old
Nick. She has had a son named Jack and
has no choice but to act as a sex slave for Nick in exchange for safety and supplies. Later on, when her environment changes to
another location, she must adapt to an equally difficult situation. At the center of her life is her son, and his
protection is paramount. She must guide
his intellectual and emotional development with few tools at her disposal. She can never let her motherly instincts
diminish in either location.
Brie Larson Is expected to coast to an Oscar for her
performance as Joy. The camera is in
tight, make-up-less close-up for most of the movie and Larson conveys her anguish
and anxiety. The most successful movies transport
you not just to a specific time and place, but they transplant your emotions right into the center of the story, so you feel those anxieties so much that
you squirm in your seat.
This is such a movie.
The Revenant – 8
In different parts: Brutal,
harrowing, disturbing, graphic, difficult, well-acted, chilling, absorbing,
off-putting, hard to watch, masterful, dark, manipulative, conceited, cold,
overwhelming, amazing, lengthy, distant, flawed, well directed, astonishing,
jarring, stirring, memorable, well photographed, raw, extravagant, relentless, bloody,
seductive, impressive, gruesome, grisly, grueling, groundbreaking, and ultimately
– exhausting. This is the story of a man
seeking revenge after being left for dead.
Some Questions and Answers:
Will it win an Oscar for Best Picture?
Probably
Should it?
Probably Not. Every
year there’s a late comer whose buzz dominates the time right around voting
season, and The Revenant has played its hand perfectly. But, I can’t see it as a treasured classic,
and there are a couple of films that deserve that status above this one
Will Leonardo DiCaprio win the Oscar for Best Actor?
Yes
Should he?
Yes, as a make-up call for Wolf of Wall Street, and as an
award for surviving the filming of this movie.
In the end, he is the reason to see The Revenant, where he answers the
question “how far will you go to get what you want, whether it’s revenge, or an
award?”
The Hateful Eight – 8
No, this is not a televised debate.
It is Quentin Tarantino’s eighth movie, or so he states
right up front. He has said that he will
make 10 movies.
That’s important because his movies have gotten
progressively, or regressively depending on your point of view, more bloody,
gruesome, and outrageous.
He writes these stories from scratch, then begins to
stockpile the blood it will need.
This is kind of a Reservoir Dogs in the snowy, wild, wild
west, as he claustrophobically throws 7 or so bad men and one bad woman, played
with great gusto and tolerance by Jennifer Jason Leigh, into a blizzard
enveloped cabin.
They snarl and bicker and in the least surprising part of a
Tarantino movie ever, commence to shooting each other’s heads off.
It’s pretty entertaining because of his knack for
storytelling, backstories, and dialogue, but in the end it’s all about the
bloodshed. All of which makes me wonder
if he gets to his 10th movie and it will just be flying body parts.
Carol -7
This movie provided me with my biggest laugh of the month
when after viewing, I saw a commercial advertising this is a “thriller.” This movie is to thriller as I am to
heavyweight champion of the world.
Thriller is not the way I would describe it. Let me think.
I’ve got it – un-thrilling.
This is the much acclaimed story of two 1950’s era women who
fall into a forbidden lesbian relationship.
Carol as icily played by Cate Blanchet, has the most to lose. She’s about to divorce her husband (Kyle
Chandler) and their young daughter is about to be the subject of their tug of
war. Threzz (Rooney Mara) will slowly, and I mean
really slowly, fall in love with Carol.
The problem with all this is that it takes place in the 50’s
and moves at the pace of a 1950’s movie.
It’s languid and leisurely, and while I like a character study as much
as the next heavyweight, this movie is about 50 years too late and 50 minutes
too slow in getting to the point.
SCANNING THE SATELLITE
Making a Murderer – 8
I succumbed to the publicity and gave up 42% of a full day
to watch the 10 episodes of this Netflix documentary. It follows the case of Steven Avery, a
Wisconsin resident who was wrongfully convicted of a rape, served 18 years, and
then was released. He celebrated his freedom
by murdering a female photographer. Or
so his embarrassed county police force claims.
Or they framed him. It’s all pretty confusing, and the story is
filled with red herrings and abandoned information. You keep expecting them to come back to
points, but they disappear. To say there
are lingering questions that never get answered is an understatement, and a
real puzzle as they have over 10 hours to cover everything. You would think….
Two young film students shot this over the course of 10
years, and it takes a pretty firm stance that there’s been a miscarriage of
justice. By the end I had two feelings.
I felt like I had been dragged through the court system, and I wanted to see
the rest of the story. But this is
compelling story telling and I’m sure there’s a million similar stories out
there.
The problem with the documentary, as well as the trial
outcomes, well with just about everything from politics to the judicial system
is that there is an expectation of “fairness” and a search for “truth.” Neither is the case. America is about “adversarial” processes that
lead to “winning.” Ask any
politician. Ask any attorney. Ask Bill Belichick. It’s the end that counts, not the means. And that’s a shame.
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