Free Guy – 8
A breezy video game of a movie. But aren’t all Ryan Reynolds’ movies breezy? He’s just has to do like Ringo says and act naturally. His costar in this movie is Jodie Comer of Killing Eve fame. Early press said she steals the movie from him, but as much as I like her, I can’t say I saw it that way. Were I guiding her career, this is not what I’d be steering her into. Would love to see her in a romantic comedy. But, I digress. In this overly long picture, Ryan slowly realizes he’s just a character in a video game, one that Jodie’s character designed and wants credit for. A Fun movie that needed a little trimming.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye – 7
I want Jessica Chastain to win an Oscar in the worst way, but I’m not sure I want it this bad. There are really only two types of roles. You either impersonate a real person, or create a character from scratch. This is a mostly magnificent impersonation of Tammy Faye Bakker, the at-the-time wife of Jim Bakker who used his religion and the PTL club as his personal bank account, then went to jail for it. Tammy Faye seems to have come off unscathed. She didn’t go to jail, and this movie is a very sympathetic rendering of her. I have no idea how much is true.
Jessica takes it all and runs with it. It seems to very much be the kind of starring vehicle designed to make an Oscar winner of the lead actress, much like the film “Judy” of a few years ago. As much as I love Jessica – I think she is the Katherine Hepburn of our time - this movie just seems so gimmicky to me. There are some great scenes, and there are some scenes where it seems like they were just hitting the highlights. Mixed emotions are the order of the day.
Nightmare Alley – 8
Guillermo Del Toro’s latest directorial splash is with this Oscar nominated film that is a remake of an old film noir that I haven’t been able to watch yet. Here’s what I know about this one. It’s dark and brooding, it’s too long, and Bradley Cooper has got to be tired. He’s in nearly every shot. He starts as a down on his luck drifter who becomes a carny, then a con man. He teams with Rooney Mara, then Cate Blanchett as he tries to take down a big score. Pretty predictable, but a lot of style points.
Georgetown - 7
Christoph Waltz makes his directorial debut in this “based on a true story” yarn. And it’s quite a yarn. He’s won a couple of Supporting Oscars, but it’s beginning to look like he can only sing one note. He sings it here as the star as well as the boss. The story is based on the real-life murder of socialite Viola Herms Draft, who was killed at the age of 91. Really. Who murders someone at that age? Well it may have been her 49 year old husband, played by Waltz and the ultimate con man. Fairly interesting at times, but it’s not gonna change your life.
This is a film adaptation of a play. It can’t be anything like the play, because the filmmakers chose to make the camera a character, telling you exactly which of the characters to watch. The always excellent Richard Jenkins plays a father whose family has gathered for Thanksgiving in his daughter’s new residence – a bleak, noisy, largely unfurnished New York apartment. The apartment is as much a character as the camera. This baggage-laden family creaks and circles around the two stories of this apartment as if they are trying to get away from each other. But that won’t work as they all have cliches to reveal.
The basic purpose of this movie seems to be to make one appreciate one’s own life, and after watching this crew, I’m appreciative. I said this last month, and I hate to repeat it, but not my cup of angst.
The Vault – 8
This Amazon production is about a deep ocean recovery of 3 valuable Spanish doubloons that are immediately seized by the Spanish Government without really knowing their value. The salvagers decide they want to steal them back from the most secure location in the world, a vault in the Bank of Spain. They recruit a recently graduated genius engineering student to ingeniously help them steal it back.
There’s no new ground here, but I really liked the crew and the performances, particularly by Liam Cunningham as Walt, the crew leader. Nothing great here, but if you like heist movies, this one is a steal.
The Marksman – 6
Liam being Liam. This time Liam Neeson is doing a version of Cry Macho, just a little younger than Clint. If you liked the Taken trilogy, you'll probably like this, but let's hope there's no trilogy in store.
DOCUMENTARIES
Flee -10
You probably know by now I’m not much for animation. It has to have quite the rep to draw me in, and this movie does. It’s favored to win Best Documentary at the Oscars, and it’s easy to see why. It’s the harrowing story, (and that in itself is a very inadequate description) of what a took a man to emigrate out of Afghanistan. It is animated for two reasons. First, to still, after 20 years, protect his identity, and secondly, it would have been excruciating if done as a physical reenactment. No Thank You. That’s how bad it is.
Adrienne – 10
The most moving thing I saw this month was this HBO documentary. It is the story of the life and death of Adrienne Shelly, who died suddenly under mysterious circumstances in 2006. Her most famous accomplishment was the movie Waitress. She wrote it, acted in it, and directed it. After her untimely death, It was taken to Sundance and was a big hit It was later adapted as a musical on Broadway to great acclaim. Creative people are just different, and this movie celebrates her life through various interviews, including those made with her before her death. I won’t get into the details of everyone interviewed, but some of them are heartbreaking. Don’t miss this.
I remember seeing Sara Bareilles in concert in Atlanta when she was writing the music for the Broadway play. One of her songs, “She Used to Be Mine,” has become a standard showcase for female vocalists. You can see many renditions on Youtube, but this one is my favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c7NUyhNuEs
Icahn: The Restless Billionaire – 9 (HBO)
Carl Icahn is a financier/corporate raider who has had a lot
of impact on Wall Street as an activist investor. This is one of those up close and personal portraits. It's interesting, and much like Warren Buffet, Icahn is playing a different game from the rest of us.
The Worst Roomate Ever - Incomplete
This just came out on Netflix, and the final two episodes
about a squatter named Jamison Bachman is a story I heard and read about a long
time ago from my friend Bob Friedman, who makes an appearance in the documentary. It’s the final 2 episodes, and it is truly
horrifying what Bachman got away with.
As a documentary this piece suffers from what I would call
over-stuffing. The same pictures over
and over with ominous music to convey something. Anyway, he was a childhood friend of Bob’s
and as detailed in this article, Bob probably got off lucky.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/jamison-bachman-worst-roommate-ever.html
REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel – 10
I’m sure it helps when you have a month to put together some quality reports, but for my money this HBO series is not only the best documentary series on TV (take that 60 minutes) but it may be the best thing on TV. Don’t believe me? Check out the stories this month:
- The head injuries suffered by Bobsledders
- An incisive interview conducted by Gumbel himself of Brian Flores (and 2 attorneys) about his law suit against the NFL.
- A Bitcoin craze initiated by Surfers in the very poor El Salvador
- The heartbreaking story of Opioid addiction among high school athletes, including on struggling player they have been following for years.
Boondock Saints - 7
This is the story of twin brothers who think they’ve been given permission by their priest to become vigilantes. So that’s what they do. They are pretty good at doing it, considering there’s no discernable training. I’m told there’s a namesake bar in the French Quarter that just plays this movie over and over on their TV’s. It ain’t worth all that.
The Ambassador – 4
King of Marvin Gardens – 6
Why in the world would I watch these two movies? Simple. They were holes in my Ellen Burstyn resume.
The Ambassador is a 1984 film starring Robert Mitchum as a Middle East Ambassador, with Rock Hudson as his security guard, trying to broker peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis and it could take place today, because in 40 years, the quo is still status. Ellen plays Micthum’s wife who is having an affair, and there are two shocking scenes in the movie, the first of which is a love scene in which Ellen appears topless. I can’t remember her ever doing that. The second shocking scene is a slaughter at the end of the movie that would never make it to the screen today. So, I won’t call the movie forgettable, but it’s not very good.
The King of Marvin Gardens is a Jack Nicholson film that was directed by Bob Rafelson in the wake of their breakout success with “Five Easy Pieces” and they flopped on this one. Ellen has the standout scene in this movie when she dispenses justice at the end. Quirky scenes, not forgettable, but best forgotten.
I have been a huge fan of Burstyn’s since her Oscar-winning turn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. She has two of my top ten female performances of all time, but you could google that subject, as I have, and she wouldn’t be listed in the top 100. To appreciate her, you could watch her episode of Law and Order SUV that she won an Emmy for playing Elliott’s bipolar mother (Season 10 – Episode 3). You could watch her incredible turn in Requiem for a Dream, but it may haunt your dreams. If you could find it, (I can’t) you can find a 14 second appearance in an HBO Movie (Mrs. Harris) for which she got an Emmy Nomination. That’s right. 14 seconds.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite Movie Female Performances of all Time, including what I think is the most underrated physical performance, Ellen as a healer in Resurrection.
Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
Ellen Burstyn – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Bette Davis – All About Eve
Liza Minelli - Cabaret
Judy Garland – The Wizard of Oz
Vivian Leigh – Gone With the Wind
Ingrid Bergman – CasaBlanca
Katherine Hepburn – Bringing Up Baby
Diane Keaton – Annie Hall
Ellen Burstyn – Resurrection
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