At the Cinema - December 2016

La La Land – 10

There’s been a renaissance of on-screen song and dance and I think it goes something like this:  American Idol begat Glee which begat Pitch Perfect which begat The Voice, and all this was going on during about 100 seasons of Dancing with the Stars, and theater majors everywhere rejoiced.

Then along came a movie with a strong musical emphasis called Whiplash which was a surprise hit and it picked up an Oscar.  So someone with a lot of money that had seen all those “begats” threw it at Whiplash director Damien Chazelle and said go ahead, “put on a show.”

Put on a show he does in La La Land.  He takes the considerable charisma, talent, and chemistry of Emma Stone, (who did a turn on Broadway in Cabaret) and Ryan Gosling, (who grew up as a mouseketeer) and crafts a wonderful modern musical around their Cinemascope romance. 

The movie starts with an inspired song and dance number and ends with an amazing final act.  They are classic scenes.  In between the characters pursue their dreams and their romance and are confronted with some serious issues about what happens when artists have different degrees of success.  But mostly the movie is just simply fun and it made me want to pull out my Astaire and Rogers box set.  Yea, I really have all their movies on DVD.  May the renaissance continue.

 

Criminal – 8

Kevin Costner is one of our national treasures, and he can even bring life to a B movie plot like this one.  Ryan Reynolds is a CIA agent who gets caught, tortured, and killed over information he’s got.  The CIA hadn’t gotten the information yet either, so they call on Tommy Lee Jones to transplant the memories into the lifelong criminal Kevin Costner plays – who is beyond evil.  With Gary Oldham ranting and raving Costner begins to transform into a man worthy of the memories he carries while still being able to lay waste to some bad guys. It’s all pretty cool.  I often say you either buy a movie or you don’t.  Have no idea why I bought this, but I did.

Nocturnal Animals – 6

Which I can't say about this, one of those stylishly beautiful movies that is lovely to look at but very hard to hold.  Riveting at times, (especially an opening scene unlike anything you've ever seen, or wanted to see) but also baffling, I’m sure if I sat down and tried to figure out the plot and what the filmmaker was trying to tell us, I might eventually come up with it, but I’m just not sure it would be worth the effort.

Amy Adams is the loveliest to look out in this tale.  She married the wrong guy, then left him for the wrong guy, and now is going through some remorse as she reads the novel of the first guy while the second guy is off cavorting on a business trip.  The novel is acted out for us by the author – the first wrong guy.  Got all that?

Fences – 7

Denzel Washington directs himself reprising his Tony-winning Broadway role as a former Negro League baseball star who is now a garbage man in Pittsburgh.  It’s August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play and there is never any doubt that it is a great play.  But a great play does not a great movie make, which we’ve learned many times. 

The language and the acting are compelling and I would expect that Denzel Washington and Viola Davis will be recognized during award season.  But the movie suffers from one problem. 

Broadway plays are usually in the 2 and a half to 3 hour range, in some ways to justify that ticket investment. Who would want to pay those prices for a 90 minute play?  So, every minute of that play appears to have made it to the big screen, and this movie, as interesting as it is, is just interminably long.  Most of it is an interesting portrait of the dynamics of a dysfunctional family.  But the truth is that it is Denzel Washington’s Troy Maxson who carries the dysfunctional torch and the problems revolve around him like the sun.  It’s interesting and provocative, but gruelingly long.

Rogue One:  A Star Wars Story – 7

The familiar Star wars theme music swells to cue you that something big is happening.  This new story is well done, but dare I say that Star Wars is running out of steam.   Even with characters we’ve never seen before, we kind of feel like we’ve seen it all before.  This is essentially a war movie, and the battle scenes that occupy the final third of the movie are certainly exciting, but maybe they are running out of ideas.

Scanning the Satellite

Rectify – one of my favorite all-time dramas, came to a satisfying conclusion with its final season on the Sundance Channel.  Incredible characterizations by an astounding group of actors - If you ever get the chance, it’s binge-worthy.

Bright Lights:  Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds – 8

HBO commissioned a documentary and then televised it early after the tragic deaths of the two subjects over the holidays.  If you don’t think people who entertain for a living are different, check this out. 

Marathon:  The Patriots Day Bombing – 10

HBO unveils another stunning documentary, a heart-tearing story of the Boston Marathon bombing.  If this doesn’t move you in a dozen different ways, from the footage of the actual event, to the story of the recovering victims, to the story of the investigation and pursuit – you better check your pulse.

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."