Django Unchained

— Saw “Django Unchained”. I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of “Pulp Fiction” or “Jackie Brown” or the “Kill Bills”, even though most of my friends were, but with “Inglourious Basterds”, I saw the light, thinking it was his first great film, “Django” is even better! It has great dialog, great casting, and the ability to walk the line between farce and reality perfectly. It has the usual amount of spurting blood, but that’s just Tarantino. Sometimes you’re not sure you should be smiling and try not to laugh, but if you’re in a dark theatre, you don’t have to spend much time worrying about where Tarantino’s taking you until the film ends and you’re there. Definitely worth seeing if you’re not worried about the blood and language.

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[2012. 165 min. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/django-unchained-20121213

Life of Pi

— Saw “Life of Pi” on Monday. It’s a fine example of the value of a great director. It’s beautiful and captivating with CGI that’s amazing (adds meaning to “Tyger Tyger, burning bright…”). Gorgeous as it was, when it was over I didn’t give it another thought.

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[2012. 127 min. Directed by Ang Lee. Starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, and Adil Hussain.]
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/how-did-they-bring-the-unfilmable-life-of-pi-to-our-screens-8393738.html

Hitchcock

— Caught “Hitchcock” yesterday and enjoyed it but, in a year with many very good films, it just doesn’t make the cut, even if Anthony Hopkins' acting does. Helen Mirren is perfectly adequate and, even at that level, she can still hold her own. Sadly, the two, main female supporting stars are mostly terrible. The film covers a short portion of Hitchcock’s life but it is a fascinating peek, even if it is a little bumpy. I think movie addicts will find it of interest, and I now intend to find out if Hitchcock’s wife, Alma, was really as impressive as presented in the film, but I would have preferred a film with better acting, a little more subtlety, and a lot more fact than fantasy.

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[2012. 98 min. Directed by Sacha Gervasi. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, and Toni Collette.]
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/23/entertainment/la-et-mn-hitchcock-movie-reviews-critics-20121123

Anna Karenina

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[2012. 129 min. Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Keira Knightly, Juda Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.]
— Remember that feeling during the first half hour of “Moulin Rouge” when you realized you were watching something so different, so clever, so interwoven that you were fascinated and liking it? Well, I had the same feeling about “Anna Karenina” – interwoven, not a musical but unfolding with a rhythm all its own, an attention to details and set design that gave it a flow, a tight and clever script that allowed it to move from stage to the larger world and back again, and good actors too, but somehow it fell a little flat in the middle and I lost patience with nearly everyone and wondered if screenplay writer and director had just run out of steam or if we were supposed to accept a slower pace as things unraveled as befitting the unfolding storyline. By the end, it hooked me back again, regaining my interest, and I think it’s something worth seeing and marveling at its theatricality, but by breathing new life into an old story, I think the characters lost their motivations and, with it, my sympathy.

http://www.focusfeatures.com/Anna_Karenina

The Sessions

— Some pretty funny lines in “The Sessions”. Enough to make you at first feel a little Catholic guilt about your laughter until you realize everyone in the film is a grown-up and upfront about what’s happening. There are many more emotions underneath this subtle, low-key film that touches your heart so gently you almost don’t realize you let it take hold of you. In my previous life I’d been familiar with “Breathing Lessons”, a wonderful film about the same person, Mark O’Brien, that won the Academy Award for short documentary. “The Sessions” moved me very much and the remarkable performances by Helen Hunt and John Hawkes deserve the bulk of the credit. It’s well worth seeing.

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[2012. 94 min. Directed by Ben Lewin. Starring John Hawkes, Hellen Hunt, and William H. Macy.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/movies/the-sessions-with-john-hawkes-and-helen-hunt.html

Skyfall

— Sam Mendes directed two of my favorite films, “Revolutionary Road” and “American Beauty”, but I wasn’t sure he was up to handling the Bond franchise. “Skyfall” ends up being much more introspective than, but still just as robust as previous Bond films. Maybe it’s my recent job status change and related empathy with M and Bond as they struggle with the perceptions by cyber youth and politicians that they’re older and slower and less useful, but I really liked this film and its intricate plot and fine acting. Giving M more screen time and adding Adele’s theme song doesn’t hurt either. Favorite quote: “Youth is not a guarantee of innovation”.

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[2012. 143 min. Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, and Naomie Harris.]
http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Skyfall-review-M-is-for-mommy-figure-4020528.php

A Separation

— On the train back from Chicago I watched Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation”. Hard to believe it’s taken me this long to see it, but it was worth the wait. Seeing the day-to-day aspects of a society whose secular/religious pattern is so different from ours is part of the appeal, but it is the familiarity of the motivations that made me uneasy. Everyone must lie and there is no justice, only desperation. No one comes out unscathed and everyone is separate. Depressing but a very good film.

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[2011. 123 min. Directed by Asghar Farhadi. Starring Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, and Sareh Bayat.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/movies/a-separation-directed-by-asghar-farhadi-review.html?_r=0

Lincoln

— Finally saw “Lincoln” and was fascinated by the script (I know, I know, I should have read “Team of Rivals”). Spielberg managed to convey the inside political story and Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, and Tommy Lee Jones were outstanding. Everyone deserves credit—including Tony Kushner—for a deceptively intimate, big-budget film. It also makes you appreciate the Republican Party’s roots.

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[2012. 150 min. Directed by Stephen Spielberg. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones and John Hawkes.]
http://thelincolnmovie.com/#http://thelincolnmovie.com?gallery&_suid=135410649229100266572931998747

Flight

— Went to see “Flight” and Denzel Washington does a great job in a film that’s interesting enough with one of the most linear plots of the year. The rest of the film lacks much depth and seems even more shallow given the nuances of Washington’s portrayal of pilot Whip Whitaker. Even so, it help my attention pretty much throughout the film and I've thought about it a few times since.

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[2012. 138 min. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Starring Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez, and Don Cheadle.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/movies/flight-stars-denzel-washington-as-an-alcoholic-pilot.html?_r=0

Cloud Atlas

— “Cloud Atlas” is a wonderful--and exceedingly ambitious--experience. I was reminded of “Babel” and “Tree of Life”, two other very ambitious films that tried looked at the entire human experience. The direction of “Cloud Atlas” is part of its strength and downfall. The six storylines aren’t exactly related and, by jumping back and forth from story to story (sometimes more for cinematic reasons than anything else I could figure out), we can lose the emotional flow of the individual stories. Unfortunately, the larger idea that emerges is a little watered down as a result. About midway through, we begin to see more clearly the interconnectedness of the human experience across time. From one story to the next, good stands up against evil, planting a seed for the future, but evil’s seed is also planted and the push and pull resurfaces from generation to generation. I should say the acting is interesting in this film too, and often good enough to distract us from the prosthetics and make-up. I enjoyed the film and what it did and I think it was far more successful than I imagined it would be. Well worth seeing.

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[2012. 172 min. Directed by Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D'Arcy, Xun Zhou, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/movies/cloud-atlas-from-lana-and-andy-wachowski-and-tom-tykwer.html?_r=0

The Way

— I tend to shy away from films that are called “inspirational”, worried they’ll be too sugary and filled with too many odds overcome. I took a chance with “The Way” (DVD), the story of 4 people brought together on the Camino de Santiago. I was interested in “El Camino”, the centuries-old pilgrimage from the foothills of the Pyrenees in France to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Spain. I was fascinated by the trek and by the actors who managed to convey their inner transformations without heartrending specificity or religious fervor.

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[2010. 123 min. Directed by Emilio Estevez. Starring Martin Sheen, Emilio estevez, and Deborah Kara Unger.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2011/1007/Martin-Sheen-Emilio-Estevez-in-The-Way-movie-review

Looper

— Saw "Looper" today and really liked it. If you're okay with traveling between past and future, check it out.

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[2012. 119 min. Directed by Rian Johnson. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt.]
http://www.loopermovie.com/

The Master

— I survived all 137 minutes of “The Master”, only because the images were gorgeous, the music and sounds perfect, and both Joaqin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman turned in outstanding performances. Sadly, I left a bit bewildered, thinking I’d experienced film as high art but not as good storytelling. Maybe seeing it again would help but, honestly, it’s still too fresh to even consider squirming through it again.

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[2012. 144 min. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams.]
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2012/09/17/120917crci_cinema_lane

Argo

— I can’t believe more people went to see “Taken 2” over the weekend than went to “Argo”. “Argo” was so well done – Ben Affleck’s directing gets better with each film, and he certainly does a good job of acting in this one too. All that and a gripping, true story as well. Definitely worth a gander! Plus, you’ll find out what “Argo” is…

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[2012. 120 min. Directed by Ben Affleck. Starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, and Victor Garber.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/argo-20121011

End of Watch

— Saw “End of Watch” this afternoon (retired people can do that sort of thing). It’s one of those somewhat gritty, sort of riveting, pretty violent looks at LA cops, complete with very good acting and editing. It’s easy to see why critics seemed to like it – I liked it myself!

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[2012. 109 min. Directed by David Ayer. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Natalie Martinez, and Anna Kendrick.]
http://whatculture.com/film/london-film-festival-2012-review-end-of-watch.php

Bernie

— "Bernie", my weekend movie, just wasn't as good as it should have been.

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[2011. 104 min. Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/movies/bernie-with-jack-black-and-shirley-maclaine.html

Hope Springs

— "Hope Springs" was really just a senior "chick" flick, but I could feel every second of the couple's discomfort and desperation and love. Heck, Streep and Jones could probably have starred in "Gigli" and I would have liked it. There's just no way not to marvel at their skill.

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[2012. 100 min. Directed by David Frankel. Starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, and Jean Smart.]
http://www.hopesprings-movie.com/?hs308=HPS6186

The Intouchables

— Saw “The Intouchables” and can see how it may be one of the most popular French films of all time. I attribute the popularity to the actors’ skill more than anything. The characters are somewhat stereotypic and the storyline is a little too familiar save a few uncomfortable moments. Even so, the actors make the people seem real and the movie seem heartfelt, so you can’t help but be happy you’re part of it. In fact, it’s almost a “feel-good” movie. I’m glad I saw it.

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[2011. 112 min. Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano. Starring Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy, and Anne Le Ny.]
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/05/25/the_intouchables_racist_french_people_don_t_think_so_and_here_s_why_.html

Certified Copy

— “Certified Copy” is well worth seeing, but it takes a bit of work. There are lots of long conversations between the two main--and pretty much only--characters, as what's real and what's fake, blur. Michael O’Sullivan’s review tells the story far better than I could.

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[2010. 106 min. Directed by Abbas Kiarostami. Starring Juliette Binoche, william Shimell, and Jean-Claude Carriere.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/movies/certified-copy-copie-conforme,1177144/critic-review.html

Safety Not Guaranteed

— Having seen Mark Duplass in “Safety Not Guaranteed” only a couple of weeks after seeing him in a much more minor role in “People Like Us”, maybe I suffered overload. Most people seemed to have loved “Safety Not Guaranteed” and I liked the somewhat low key feeling of the film and the offbeat characters spending more time than they should regretting their past but, in the end, I was only warm to Duplass’ character, thinking he was outshined by Aubrey Plaza’s character. SNG doesn’t stand a chance of getting in my top 500 movie list, but it was still a pleasant enough hour and a half.

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[2012. 86 min. Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, and Jake Johnson.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/safety-not-guaranteed-2012

The Dark Knight Rises

— Went to “The Dark Knight Rises” for my summer blockbuster fare. Wow. I really enjoyed all 2 hours and 45 minutes. Thank you Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and Anne Hathaway! A perfect film for when it’s 105 outside.

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[2012. 165 min. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Matthew Modine.]
http://www.thedarkknightrises.com/

Jeff, Who Lives At Home

— I have to admit I like the cleverness of the Duplass brothers quite a bit and “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” gives me the eccentric and intriguing characters I want, making me wonder exactly what defines a “grown-up”. The people in this film all have middle-class lives that might make you a little desperate and questing what we can do to find happiness. I’m not one to make every common occurrence seem special, but I do think everything may be interconnected. How the day’s events in this film relate and come together is fairly clever and ultimately pretty satisfying.

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[2011. 83 min. Directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. Starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, and Judy Greer.]
http://www.jeffwholivesathome.com/

People Like Us

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[2012. 114 min. Directed by Alex Kurtzman. Starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau, and Michelle Pfeiffer.]
— Yesterday I finally saw “People Like Us” and liked it more than I expected. I was a little slow getting into it, but it ended up being a nice, heartfelt story of family and truth. I went hoping to shake the flashbacks my mind was having from “They Came Back” (“Les Revenants”), a DVD I watched over the weekend—definitely the most cerebral zombie movie ever made and worth your time to get a glimpse of undead who are nearly indistinguishable from the living, and the living’s reaction to having them back.

http://afflictor.com/2011/07/11/strange-small-forgotten-film-they-came-back-2004/

Martha Marcy May Marlene

— Watched “Martha Marcy May Marlene” today. Talk about a train wreck waiting to happen or, as Ann Hornaday said, “a textbook study in the inconclusive conclusion”. Well, as I think about it, maybe this ambiguity was acceptable in a filmic context, but I still groaned when the credits rolled and I was left there in limbo.

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[2011. 102 min. Directed by Sean Durkin. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, and John Hawkes.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/movies/elizabeth-olsen-in-martha-marcy-may-marlene.html?pagewanted=all

Moonrise Kingdom

— No mistaking “Moonrise Kingdom” as anyone’s look at young love except Wes Anderson’s. A movie filled with gorgeous, perfectly framed, still images looking almost like retouched 1950’s postcards. And quirky, oh that doesn’t begin to describe these people, mostly seen from a low camera angle, more like you’re the house pet witnessing the eccentric characters who always speak in fully formed sentences a bit more matter-of-factly than they would in real life, and walking more like cardboard cutouts than humans. And they keep the viewers teetering too, with laughter coming unexpectedly half of the time. And it is funny, and heartwarming, and beautiful, but when it was done, I knew I’d enjoyed the craft of the film more than the story itself.

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[2012. 94 min. Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton.]
http://www.moonrisekingdom.com/#home

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

— Well, yes, it may be geared toward seniors and it may be a little thin on plot. Yes too, it may be the anti-“Avengers” movie of the summer. But mostly it was funny, colorful, tale of adventure and reinvention. Probably doesn’t hurt that I’m part of its target demographic (although I’m part of the younger demographic!). Besides, I absolutely love Judi Dench. And it was nice to find a summer film without superheroes, cutesy kids, surround sound explosions, or three dimensions.

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[2011. 124 min. Directed by John Madden. Starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Dev Patel, and Maggie Smith.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel-20120503

Shame

— Watched "Shame" yesterday and can't seem to shake it. So well done and yet, so, what's the word? Icky. Always unsettling when a good actor (Michael Fassbender) and a good director (Steve McQueen) make me feel voyeuristic much of time and the rest of the time the camera hold a shot for so long that I feel like I'm being forced to watch. Sparse on dialogue and really worth the journey.

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[2011. 101 min. Directed by Steve McQueen. Starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, and Jaems Badge.]
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/shame/

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

— Back from "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" and did enjoy it quite a bit. A nice, fun film based on the book by the guy who was almost as old as I am when he wrote it (it was his first book). I always appreciate late bloomers, much more than college drop-out millionaires.

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[2011. 107 min. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Amr Waked.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/salmon-fishing-in-the-yemen-2012

The Skin I Live In

— Have only seen a few DVDs in the past month and only one struck me as really good, although “The Trip” and “Take Shelter” both came close. Much less successful were “A Dangerous Method” and “The Rum Diary”. “The Skin I Live In” was unsettling enough but not quite as dark as I would have liked. Still, Almodovar’s filmmaking was wonderful and the actors all did a fine job, leaving me with plenty of ideas and images rolling around in my mind.

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[2011. 120 min. Directed by Pedro Almodovar. Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, and Jan Cornet.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/movies/the-skin-i-live-in-directed-by-pedro-almodovar-review.html?_r=0

Kill List

— The Guardian reviewer said "If Ricky Gervais or Mike Leigh made a horror film, it might look something like this unsettlingly strange offering from British director Ben Wheatley". Well, after seeing "Kill List" yesterday and I think that about sums it up, except for it also being very brutal in places. Oh, and it was a very good horror film too! Definitely "unsettling". Kind of "Blair Witch" and "Wicker Man" for the art house crowd. this year

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[2011. 95 min. Directed by Ben Wheatley. Starring Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, and Harry Simpson.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kill-list-2012

Bully

— Just came from "Bully", Lee Hirsh's film that tells a story kids need to see—and educators—even though it received an R rating from the MPAA. Kids who are different really ought to feel safe at school and educators need to get a clue about what's really happening.

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[2011. 98 min. Directed by Lee Hirsch. Featuring Ja’Maeya Jackson, Kelby Johnson, and Lona Johnson.]
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-bully-20120302,0,3436722.story

The Island President

— "The Island President" was a beautiful film, but sad to be viewing it in a country doing so little about global warming.

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[2011. 101 min. Directed by Jon Shenk. Featuring Mohamed Nasheed.]
http://www.docnyc.net/film/the-island-president/

How To Survive the Plague

— "How to Survive the Plague" had a great crowd at 10:30 a.m. Well worth seeing.

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[2012. 110 min. Directed by David France. Featuring Peter Staley, Larry Kramer, and Iris Long.]
http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/120083/how_to_survive_a_plague

¡Vivan Las Antipodas!

— “¡Vivan Las Antipodas!” was lovely but just outside my tolerance level. The festival booklet described it “As if Wallace Stevens and James Thurber kidnapped a David Attenborough film crew.” True enough, it was a gorgeous film, and a quick and entertaining Victor Kossakovsky was there (thank you MoMA), but I just didn’t have the stamina for it.

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[2011. 108 min. Directed Victor Kossakovsky.]
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/vivan-las-antipodas-venice-film-230299

Searching for Sugar Man

— Film 4 was the best so far. "Searching for Sugar Man" was one of those fascinating, semi-biographical, solving-a-mystery documentaries that leaves you feeling good and reminds you that even if life isn't fair, it can still be great. The director got a well-deserved, heartfelt, long, standing ovation.

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[2012. 86 min. Directed Malik Bendjelloul. Featuring Rodriguez, Stephen “Sugar” Segerman, and Dennis Coffey.]
http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/120073/searching_for_sugar_man

The Iron Lady

— Streep’s performance was incredible, but the film itself comes at Thatcher’s life from an odd perspective that I didn’t like.

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[2011. 105 min. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Starring Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, and Richard E. Grant.]

The Artist

— “The Artist” lived up to its hype and really was the best thing I’ve seen in the past few days!

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[2011. 100 min. Directed Michel Hazanavicius. Starring Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, and John Goodman.]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

— “Extremely Loud…” was better than I’d expected and Max Von Sydow was wonderful (quite a varied career he’s had since his Bergman days!).

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[2011. 129 min. Directed by Stephen Daldry. Starring Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, and Sandra Bullock.]

Carnage

— Just saw Polanski's "Carnage" and realized again what fantastic actresses Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet are. Christoph Waltz & John C. Reilly were amazing too. Too bad the play's not a little better so the movie wouldn't end with a fizzle, especially since it begs comparison to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". Still worth watching every dark, mesmerizing moment.

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[2011. 80 min. Directed by Roman Polanski. Starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly.]

The Descendants

— I also saw "The Descendants" and have thought about it many times. Very interesting "comedy" and well worth seeing. Also the oldest audience I've seen since "About Schmidt".

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[2011. 115 min. Directed by Andrew Payne. Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, and Patricia Hastie.]

War Horse

— "War Horse" was pleasant and well done but forgotten quickly.

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[2011. 146 min. Directed Steven Spielberg. Starring Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, and David Thewlis.]

My Week with Marilyn,
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,
Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, and
Young Adult

— This weekend I saw "My Week with Marilyn", "Sherlock Holmes...", "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)", and "Young Adult". Liked them in that order. First two a lot, third more than I expected since it was different than but as good as the Swedish version, and the fourth one not much except for Charlize Theron. All that and still had time for an enjoyable New Year’s Eve with a few friends.