The Dust Bowl, 2012
A Film By Ken Burns."This chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history." Through powerful photography, menacing black blizzards and moving interviews of many who lived through it, through chapters and headlines, biographies and government policies, we the viewer see a part of history rarely known. And, the fact that it is being repeated again shows what we will face in thirty years times when the water runs out underneath the ground. Why don't they use Israeli drop by drop water preservation?
Young Dr. Kildare, 1938
Lew Ayres. Lionel Barrymore. "This initial entry in the series takes the hero from small-town life to the tough New York medical world." The utterly dated, and boring film, oh so pat, will certainly not stand movie time. Ayres was certainly a leading man though and Barrymore was only annoying.
Downton Abbey, Season Three
"It commences with the family and staff preparing for Mary and Matthew's wedding; and Cora's mother [Shirley MacClaine) arriving from the U.S.Robert, meanwhile, receives bad news about an investment." Bates will be held accountable for a remark he makes about murder to his cellmate and I do not understand why everyone was so offended and put out by Cora's mother, including Cora! She was supposed to be an Aunt Mame character but did not quite pull it off. Mary is swiftly becoming a snob and a user and manipulator.
Episode Two: "The future of Downton rests on a letter written by Lavinia's late father to Mathew. In other events, Edith prepares for her wedding to Sir Anthony. Mrs. Hughes receives news from D. Clarkson; Bates has trouble with his cellmate." This egalitarian approach of these indentured servants to their Masters is becoming tiresome. First of all, if a servant became sick, they would be kicked out so fast, their head would spin. The idea that "we will take care of you forever, no matter was" is magical fantasy. Second. None of these servants would be invited to a Royal Wedding! Ever! Prince William took great flak because he insisted on inviting his Nanny, who was brought on, as a transition again, after Diana died. Even that caused great consternation to the Royal Family. So in this regard, the series is becoming hokey. It is also loosing its British under-current, sarcasm edge. Everyone is becoming goody-goody.
Episode Three: "Tom and the pregnant Sybil arrive at Downton after an incident in Ireland has left Tom a wanted man; Edith has a letter in support of women's suffrage published in a newspaper" It is becoming such a soap opera. It has lost its edginess and is becoming boring.
Episode Four: "Edith is asked to pen a newspaper column; Isobel offers Ethel a position in her household; Matthew questions the management of the estate; and Sybil goes into labor and dies."It is a class struggle between the doctor who is arrogant and a snob and treats royalty and the country doctor who have known the girls all their lives and is sharper but of a different training and class. It felt realistic in how women died in labor 100 years ago.
Episode Five: "Cora and Robert stop speaking to each other; The servants shun Isobel; and Mathew and Robert are at odds." Brilliant and believable and Maggie Smith is the glue that holds this family together. You see the Matriarch at work. The final scene is devastating and her turning away to not witness grief is heartbreaking and extraordinary acting.
Episode Six: "Robert is keen on putting together a viable team for the annual cricket match against the town." This series is turning more and more saccharine. First of all. Homosexuality would never be tolerated much less given a raise in position! And, to suggest that it is how they are born is ludicrous since this theory did not emerge until the 1980's with new DNA testing. In contradiction, the former prostitute is removed. The treatment of Bates too has lost its edginess. Now, that Mary's husband has not signed on for another season, he will be accidentally shot by a sport gun. And, Sybil's husband will have an affair with the baby's nanny.
Episode Seven: "The family, save for Branson and little Sybil, head to a Scottish hunting lodge owned by Rose's parents. In other events, Mrs. Patmore is wooed by a local merchant. Mrs. Crowley by the doctor. (Upper class events is repeated in the servants lives too) Vacation vs. the fair grounds. It was unusual for the upper class to go to the lower class form of entertainment. A new maid, who is fired, makes a pass for Branson. Cousin Matthew dies in a car crash with eyes open; his son is born; an indolent, vacation in Scotland, super sweet, super good, the edge is gone in season 3.
Mobile Home
Director: Francois Pirot. Belgium. After breaking up with his girlfriend and quitting his job, Simon goes back to his small hometown in the countryside, where he meets up with his old friend Julien. The two thirty-year-old men decide to revisit an old dream from their teenage years: hitting the road for an adventurous journey. They buy a huge motorhome, but the trip is delayed by various troubles, and they decide to start their journey... on the spot. Through this first motionless stage of their trip, the two friends, confronted by themselves and what they wanted to run away from, start taking different paths...
Abolitionists
In A Ken Burns style of documentary and telling a story, it was simply wonderful. It stayed on focus. It explained things so clearly and I learned so so much. Part 2 1838-1854 "Frederick Douglass escapes slavery, joins William Lloyd Garrison in the a. movement, writes his autobiography and flees to England to avoid being captured by his former owners; Harriet Beecher Stowe and the death of her beloved two year old son, Charley, propels her to publish Uncle Tom's Cabin." Part 3 1854-Emancipation and Victory "John Brown's 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, an attempt to spark a slave revolt, is recounted as is the 1860 election of Lincoln and what followed: The Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation and adoption of the 13th Amendment." I was shocked to see how reluctant and actually against Lincoln was to get rid of slavery. He came on the band wagon actually in the 2nd year of the war when the casualties were so great that he piggy-backed this issue onto the purpose of the war and allowed blacks to enter and be a part of their own units and bear weapons and arms. At the end of the war, southern slave owners got back in spades the same kind of treatment toward them as in how they treated their slaves. Northerners showed no pity or kindness toward them.
A Soldier's Story, 1984
The Gatekeepers
Murder in Coweta County, 1960s
Saturday Girls. France.Eva wakes up alone after a great night with a great new guy and finds his little brother, who explains she is expected to be his baby-sitter for the day." Wonderful twist. Utterly engaging. Charming. Delightful!
Searching For Sugarman 2X
"Later this month, when the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature is awarded, it will go to Searching for Sugar Man–if it goes to the best documentary feature. The film is the wonderful and moving story of Sixto Rodriguez, a singer/songwriter from the streets of Detroit, who became the voice of a generation in South Africa in the 1970s, and then vanished without a trace. The film is a unique accomplishment–a documentary that is simultaneously a mystery, a morality tale, a little-known story about music, fame, and the movement against apartheid." This remarkable movie and poignant documentary left me enthralled and deeply moved. It should win the Oscar and not The Gatekeepers. I loved the surprise, the development, the history, the music, the storyline. It was extraordinary.
I knew I was in for a treat when the ticket man told me that he had seen it five times! If I have to compare this movie to The Gatekeepers ,Sugarman wins the Oscar hands down. It is a profoundly, extraordinary film and story. No one could make it up. It will touch anyone deeply.
The Gatekeepers
Abolitionists
A Profile of Henry Ford 1863-1947
The Ford Motor Company founder whose Model T in 1908 changed the auto industry, mores, society and movement and change like nothing else. He also brought in the assembly line, an idea that he borrowed from the meat packing industry. Before he brought this in, workers could not bear up under the monotonous strain of repetition. By making hours 8 hours a day and giving each man $5.00 a day, he created two shifts a day. He was a ruthless and bullying man that put his son into an early grave. He died of stomach cancer at age 47. He was a virulent anti-Semite, vicious who published The Elders of Zion. He was a despicable man.A Soldier's Story, 1984
Director: Norman Jewison. Howard E. Robbins, Jr. Adolph Caesar. Charles Fuller's Pulitzer play about racial tension in a segregated WW11 army base. This remarkable movie with complex characters was utterly satisfying and extremely well done. It was a true find.
The Gatekeepers
There was something deeply disturbing to me regarding this film. Ellen would love it. The Heads of the Shin Bet all talk on record about what it was like and the kind of society that Israel is developing. They went from one mistake to the next and I felt, it was as if Israel was doing its dirty laundry in public. Cary felt that it showed democracy at work, that it could struggle with these moral, complexities and nuances and issues. I felt this was too intellectual. We shall see. It will win the Oscars as it shows Israel in a bad light.
Andy Griffith. Johnny Cash. I heard this recommendation in passing while I was listening to Newght Gingrich on
Fox News, Greta. I replayed it until I pretty much got the name and researched it until I found it. It was a terrific film! It is based on a true story of a corrupted and corrupting"King" who buys people and terrifies them into submission through intimidation, bribery and bloodshed. When Wallace decides to make an example of a farmhand by murdering him, he accidentally enters Sheriff Lamar Potts County who has integrity and moral fiber to bring this arrogant Wallace down.
Mission of Hope. Space Shuttle Columbia
This is the story of Israel's first astronaut and the Columbia crew members who died. Ilan Ramon (1954-2003) carried into space a miniature Torah that was given to him by Israeli scientist Joachim "Yoya" Joseph during his secret Bar Mitzvah at Bergen-Belsen. I was choked up throughout this DVD. The loss to Israel and to Jews around the world was profound and devastating. It is very well done and powerful with Peres commentary.
To learn that his son died because of vertigo eight years later where he had graduated first in his class as a pilot made it all the more crushing. He said that when he flew, he felt closer to his father.
Award-Winning Short Films
Abiogenesis. New Zealand
What You Looking At?! United Kingdom. "When the power foes out, a young Muslim woman in a Burkha finds herself trapped in an elevator with a flamboyant drag queen.""
The Station Master. United Kingdom. "A lonely station master at a remote, rural outpost encounters a woman stranded overnight at his station."This was an excellent movie but for the ending which did not feel believable or that it worked. Suicide? A cop out.
Asad. South Africa. "A young Somali boy clings to his dream of one day becoming a fisherman."The movie kept up an underlying tension-the desperate poverty; the trust of the old man to the boy by lending him his boat and therefore his entire livelihood and when the police come looking for the dog ...
Shanghai Love Market. China. "The parents of a happy but single young man still living at home decide it is time for him to marry" — but the Tiger Mom is impossible and the husband goes off with the woman of the girl that his wife had picked for their son but then rejected because she wasn't rich enough and came from a divorced family.This movie was very well done and felt much longer than 9 minutes!Saturday Girls. France.Eva wakes up alone after a great night with a great new guy and finds his little brother, who explains she is expected to be his baby-sitter for the day." Wonderful twist. Utterly engaging. Charming. Delightful!
The Basketball Game. Canada. " An autobiographical animated tale exploring how mindless prejudices a child confronts can be overcome through the act of confronting one's fears." I felt that this movie needed to be developed more. I did not like the narration.
Talking Dog For Sale, 10 Euros. France. 8 minutes. "When a man sees a curious advertisement for a talking dog for sale cheap, he pursues the offer with natural skepticism." I loved this movie. It was very funny!
Mr. Christmas. USA "Bruce Mertz literally lights up the lives of those around him when every holiday season he transforms his house into a beacon with 50,000 colorful lights-and himself into Mr. Christmas." I thought there would be a fire! It was a warm film without being sentimental about the joy of giving.'Searching For Sugarman 2X
"Later this month, when the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature is awarded, it will go to Searching for Sugar Man–if it goes to the best documentary feature. The film is the wonderful and moving story of Sixto Rodriguez, a singer/songwriter from the streets of Detroit, who became the voice of a generation in South Africa in the 1970s, and then vanished without a trace. The film is a unique accomplishment–a documentary that is simultaneously a mystery, a morality tale, a little-known story about music, fame, and the movement against apartheid." This remarkable movie and poignant documentary left me enthralled and deeply moved. It should win the Oscar and not The Gatekeepers. I loved the surprise, the development, the history, the music, the storyline. It was extraordinary.
I knew I was in for a treat when the ticket man told me that he had seen it five times! If I have to compare this movie to The Gatekeepers ,Sugarman wins the Oscar hands down. It is a profoundly, extraordinary film and story. No one could make it up. It will touch anyone deeply.
The Gatekeepers
I am afraid that it will win because it shows Israel airing its dirty laundry in public, it makes Israel look like the big bad, cruel bully, it makes Israel vulnerable to our enemies (can you imagine anyone in any Arab country doing this?) it is manipulative and dishonest to the core and, because of all of this, the assimilated and self-hating Jews of Hollywood would love for it to win. I only hope that I am wrong. in addition, I feel that these Shin Bet guys were filled with animus and revenge for all the inherent criticism and resentment that is piled on them whenever mistakes happen, which invariably happens for failed operations and, for them, this talking publicly which they did in 2003 by the way and not the present as this movie pretends, is political payback time. These interviews forced Sharon to change his policy in Gaza, which he did because of this interview by these men in 2003, which turned out to be a disaster, yet it was never mentioned in this movie nor was it mentioned that they spoke publicly a decade ago. This movie should be called "The Gate Crashers."
56 and Up
"Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Starting in 1964 withSeven UP, the UP series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven UP, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives. From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the heart-breaking Neil, as they turn age 56 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed. Success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, poverty and illness—nearly every facet of life is discussed with the group, as they assess whether their lives have ultimately been ruled by circumstance or self-determination. An extraordinary look at the structure of life in the 20th century, the UPseries is, according to critic Roger Ebert, "an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life." The film was long and tedious in parts. I found it interesting that so much depended upon class and structure, how many divorces there were, how many children too. The east end kids pretty much ended up as you would expect. The wealthy kids did too. It was what it was.
Interesting to a degree. But for the most, it is family, friends, children that keep one centered and afloat. You are lucky if you have success and a good job that you enjoy. Was this rocket science? I don't think so. Most lives are ordinary and simple, and after a certain age, feel reflective and grateful and appreciative.
No!
"When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, facing international pressure, calls for a referendum on his presidency in 1988, opposition leaders persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), to spearhead the campaign. With scant resources and constant scrutiny by the despot's watchmen, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and free their country from oppression." This movie left more questions than it answered. Bernal was poorly cast. He did not come across at all as aggressive. he showed no emotion, even when he won. His wife and he did not work well together. She was fat, ugly and too big for him. Their couple-ship did not feel believable. He would have been run out of town by his opponent who knew way too much about him. He would have lost his car, etc. not been working with him, business-as-usual. They tried to make it look like a 1988 video, of poor quality and craftsmanship. It became irritating, not authentic. Pinochet's downfall had far more to do with the Generals abandoning him because of world criticism, the CIA influence, than this advertising campaign, which may have galvanized the folks, but it would not have happened without the other dominating force.
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts
"Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Animated Short and more! This year's program is being hosted by last year's winners: William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, directors of "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." Program includes: "Head Over Heels" (UK), in which a couple who have grown apart (he lives on the floor and she on the ceiling) seek a way to put their marriage back together; "Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare' " (USA), in which Maggie, longing to be grouped with the gifted children at the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, finds her destiny by rescuing a lonely cocoon from Baby Gerald; "Paper man" (USA), the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City who only has his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get the attention of the girl of his dreams; "Fresh Guacamole" (USA), in which we learn how to transform familiar objects into fresh guacamole; and "Adam and Dog" (USA), the story about the dog of Eden, and what happened in those first days of Creation that made Man and Dog so inseparable. Official Web Site" The highlighted ones are my favorite and hope they win.
Orchestra of Exiles
DirectorL: Josh Aronson. Featuring Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerkman, Joshua Bell and others, this movie is suspenseful, powerful and stunning. It will make you cry for what is not spoken or played. It is a remarkable and poignant story of the strength and courage and determination of one man and using his life for good.
Beyonce: My Life Is A Dream
A promotion coco to promote her new album. She must have referred to herself as an artist 500 times. She is well-spoken and articulate and terribly hard working. She has good values. "God was giving me a chance to assist in a miracle." Features footage, and glimpses of her personal life.
The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
This classic film of prison mates remains superb and human and real and fabulous.
Tristana, 1953
"Luis Buñuel's late-period masterpiece TRISTANA, is a delicious, perverse and haunting study of power shifts in an obsessive relationship. Re-teaming Buñuel and Catherine Deneuve soon after their memorable collaboration in Belle de Jour, TRISTANA co-stars frequent Buñuel alter ego Fernando Rey (Viridiana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie). Rey plays Don Lope, a mephistophelean, anti-clerical socialist and outmoded master of social graces, who seduces his innocent and beautiful young ward Tristana (Deneuve), becoming her lover/father figure. She eventually leaves him for a handsome young artist (played by Italian heartthrob Franco Nero of Django), but returns for revenge, having changed from naïve waif to hardened cynic"
The film felt dated and at times dragged, the transitions and time-line were weak, but Deneuve's acting, sublime.
Spinning Plates
"Feature documentary about three restaurants, extraordinary for what they are today as well as for the challenges they have overcome: a cutting-edge restaurant named the 7th best in the world whose chef must battle cancer; 150 year old family restaurant still standing because of the community; a fledgling Mexican restaurant whose owners are putting everything they have on the line just to make enough to survive. It features Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea and Thomas Keller of Ca. The French Laundry." This documentary must win Oscar 2013. It was outstanding in every sense. One of the best that I have ever seen. The musical score, the editing, the story-line, the metaphor, the meaning, the value, the creative art, it was truly perfection.
In The Family
"This story is woven around child custody, "two-Dad" families, parental loss, interracial relations, the American South, and the human side of the law; the nature of what it means to be a family is explored with ambitious and rewarding nuance."
The Bishop's Wife, 1947
The Yuletide spirit fails to warm the home of Bishop Henry Brougham. Struggling to raise funds for a new cathedral, the young clergyman has neglected his loving wife, Julia, and the handsome angel sent to save their marriage and re-center their values is Cary Grant! The movie is entertaining and lovely and highly enjoyable.
Tootsie, 1982
Director: Sydney Pollack. Michael Dorsey. Dustin Hoffman. Jessica Lange. This brilliant comedy has stood the test of time and is one of my all time favorites. It is about Hoffman who cannot get a job and so he disguises himself as a woman to land a job on a soap, fooling his agent, and falling in love with Lange, who thinks he is an older woman and brings him into his confidence. It is fabulous.
In Cold Blood, 1967
Robert Blake. Scott Wilson. "In Richard Brooks semidocumentary, Perry and Dick murder the entire Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Truman Capote wrote the classic about this murder case. He gets into the heads of the killers, does intense research, and changes how we write and analyze murder. It created a sensational and movie captures the same build up and psychological terror of the book. A phenomenally well down movie.
Parade's End
A five part series of Ford Maddox Ford Masterpiece of Britain at the turn of the century up and after to WW!.
It follows the lives of Christopher Tietjens, the novel's hero who is the son of a Yorkshire country gentleman, who clings stubbornly to old values and tradition. He marries into a disastrous union who makes his life hell and his reputation as honorable as it is, into a nightmare. It is a wonderful series that few saw because most are enthralled by Downton Abby.
Remember?
Robert Taylor. Greer Garson. A marriage is given a fresh start by a loss-of-memory portion. I did not like the fact that Taylor took the finance away from his best friend, Robert Young. It was silly and trite but escapeful.
Midnight Express, 1978
Brad David. Randy Quad. Story about a young American who tries to smuggle out drugs from Turkey, is caught and ends up in a Turkish prison for seven years. A true story and a devastating one.
Putzel
Putzel's dream is to take over this uncle's smoked fish emporium in Manhattan. But, he becomes involved with Sally and his whole life is thrown into kilter. I found the movie stupid and insipid. Sally, to me, tried to play the part of sweet girl who had commitment issues. But, in truth, I found her deceptive, manipulative, used sex as power and control and decided to go after Putzel only because she did not want to be old and alone, and not because she loved him, as he so deeply, did her. I thought Putzel played vulnerable, wore his feelings on his sleep and fell deeply for things he wanted and loved.
War Witch
"Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona, a 14-year-old girl, tells the unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12. An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film." The film dragged and was slow in parts. The warring tribes became fused and confusing. The fact that western democracies feel they can have any input at all is astonishing. These countries, with their feudal attitude and tribal mentality, violence, lack of any education whatsoever, are falling further and further behind. They exist or starvation, power, who has the guns.
Nairobi Half Life
This brilliant and remarkable film, played by Joseph Wairmu who stole the movie, was powerful, moving, meaningful and descriptive. I loved it. Mwas leaves his small village to go to Kenya's capital in order to pursue a career in acting. He is young and innocent and fun loving. When he arrives in the city, he is immediately dressed down and looses everything in a second, ends up in jail, alone and hopeless. After becoming part of a gang, his life changes, for the worse, and you see him merge into a hardened criminal, without ever loosing his dream. Nairobi is dangerous. Life is harsh. But in spite of it all, Mwas survives. It is an exceptional film and Wairmu, if given the opportunity, could become a great, great actor.
The Emperor
"A gripping tale of love and honor forged between fierce enemies of war, Emperor unfolds the story—inspired by true events—of the bold and secret moves that won the peace in the shadows of postwar Japan. General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) suddenly finds himself the de facto ruler of a foreign nation after Emperor Hirohito's World War II surrender. He assigns an expert in Japanese culture—and psychological warfare—General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox), to covertly investigate the looming question hanging over the country: should the Japanese Emperor, worshiped by his people but accused of war crimes, be punished or saved? Caught between the high-wire political intrigue of his urgent mission and his own impassioned search for the mysterious school teacher (Eriko Hatsune) who first drew him to Japan, Fellers can be certain only that the tricky subterfuge about to play out will forever change the history of two nations and his heart. Directed by Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring)" I felt that Fox was too old to play the love object to the girl and to young to play a General. He sure is handsome, though! Without being familiar with the Japanese atrocities, the audience cannot understand the need for a war tribunal. With myself, I had to keep substituting Germany's evil leaders with the Japanese. This backdrop of information was not developed well and had I not read Unbroken, I would have been confused.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Director: Ken Burns. He was the greatest of all American architects. In fact, my parents built their house in Evansville to be designed like a Frank Lloyd Wright home. His mother, like Charles Lindbergh, instilled in him, "You are destined for greatness!" And, like she, he believed it. Bouncing back from scandal and near ruin at the age of 62, he went on and worked until he dropped at 92 years of age, 6 months before the Guggenheim in New York was completed. A marvelous documentary about a remarkable man and genius.
Stromboli, 1949
Ingrid Bergman. Mario Vitale. Bergman plays a refugee who marries an Italian fisherman to escape a camp for displaced persons after the war. She was married to an architect, from class, and marries this man to escape the camp. It turns out to be a singular devastating mistake. She is taken to an island that is forsaken, under an erupting volcano, of uneducated superstitious fisher folk and falls into untold fear and despair. Brilliant film.
Fear, 1955
Ingrid Bergman. Renate Mannhardt. A professor's wife who ran the plant while her husband was a prison-at-war and then in a Institution until he recovered, carried on in a discreet affair with another man. She is then blackmailed by this lovers's former girlfriend who threatens to tell the husband. However, it is not what it appears. Bergman has been set up by the husband and has hired this girl. The movie was highly suspenseful with lots of rain and dark nights. The critics however, did not like it.
K2-Danger
The Broad Stage brought the greatest female mountaineer in the world, through National Geographic. She showed her multi-media 77 minute presentation which was harrowing and stunning and awe-inspiring. I loved her! She was toned and beautiful and feminine and soft - nothing like what I imagined a woman to be of this kind of profession!
This Our Life, 1942
Bette Davis. Olivia de Havilland. John Houston directed this study of an evil manipulator bored and spoiled young woman who steals her own sister's husband whom her sister loves. She drinks, drives him to suicide and then drives to quickly and pins the death of the woman and child she kills onto a black man who takes care of the family car, when he isn't studying to become a lawyer. Great, great film!
The Old Maid, 1939
Bette Davis. Miriam Hopkins. Tis was an exceptional film version of the Pulitzer Prize play about an unwed woman whose daughter is raised as her sister's child. Davis has a one night stand with the ex-boyfriend of her sister-in-law. This woman then looses her husband and because she has class and wealth and can provide a home for the child of the dead man that she truly loves, she turns this child against her real mother, Bette Davis.
Davis commands the screen like no other actress. Terrific film.
Goodbye Mr. Chips, 1939
Robert Donat (Oscar Award Winner for his part.) Green Garson (her film debut) James Hilton's classic about a beloved Latin teacher and schoolmaster. This is one of my all time favorite films and I see it as least once a year!
The Loft
Belgium. In Dutch with sub-titles. Five close friends, all of them married, share a loft to meet their mistresses. One day they find the body of a young woman. Since there are only five keys to the loft, the five men begin to suspect each other of murder. 45% of the population in Belgium saw this film. It is an who-done-it. Cary found it suspenseful and he enjoyed trying to figure out as it became more and more convoluted and complicated. It wasn't scary. I found the dialogue regarding male/female relationships, the cynicism, the cheating and betrayal, the distrust and insecurity that takes place between the sexes more interesting. It touched on universal themes. Afterwards, I went up to meet the Consulate from Belgium. He was confirming his dinner plans for the next evening because his "wife was going to be out-of-town." "Oh, you have A Loft?" I asked, as if on cue. They both broke out laughing!
The Quiet Man, 1952
Johan Wayne. Maureen O'Hare. Director John Ford and the photography by Winston C. Hoch both won oscars for this entertaining, but extremely dated, Gaelic character study with every stereotype imaginable. I cannot believe that this is considered a classic and that it will stand the test of time. In real life, many of the actors were family members and friends and relations. It was filmed in Galway, Ireland. I found it amusing and boring and Wayne and O'Hara appeared old in the movie for me but maybe our age sensibility has simply changed. He was the Tarzan and she was the Jane. Recommend it? I don't think so.
No Place On Earth
In October, 1942, Esther Stermer, the matriarch of a Jewish family in the Ukraine leads her family underground to hide from the Poles, Ukrainians, Nazis. Living nearly two years in near-total darkness, buried alive between two cold, damp caves, it is one of the most harrowing stories of the Holocaust I remember seeing. It is astonishing really that they did not all go mad. I could not sleep all night. It was truly remarkable. Director. Janet Tobias.
The Two of Us, 1967
Nowhere To Go, 1958
Michael Balcon. George Nader. Maggie Smith. Nader plays a thief who bungles his own escape and get-rich plan.
He works alone. He plans a classy, decent guy who does deceitful things, con man. Smith is so young - the opposite of Downton Abbey. You are rooting for Nader to win when you know he should not as he games people and plays with their sympathy.
Penny Serenade, 1941
Cary Grant. Irene Dunne. George Steven's heartwarming study of the young married couple who cannot have children, adopt, and watch her grow, only to loose her through illness when she is six years old. Grant is fabulous in his emotional range and commitment to his daughter. It was profoundly sad, yet had a redemptive element at the end.
Made For Each Other, 1939
Carole Lombard. James Stewart. John Cromwell directed this unusual blend of problems that a young couple faces. Again, their child nearly dies but for a life-saving medicine that must be flown immediately from Salt Lake City to New York in a matter of hours in a terrible thunderstorm. Why another dying child! The movie is dated, suspenseful and kept my attention. The dialogue was fresh and relevant especially in relation to daughter-in-laws and mother-in-laws.
Compulsion, 1959
Orson Welles as Clarence Darrel. Dean Stockwell. This is the story by Meir Levin about the Leopold, Loeb murder case that took place in 1924 when these two brilliant Jewish college boys from The University of Chicago, who lived in Hyde Park with their millionaire parents decided to try and commit the perfect murder so they took the first cousin of one of the boys, a 14 year old and lured him into their car and murdered him. They were discovered because in their haste one of the boys left his glasses. They teased the cops throwing them cues. These glasses had a special hinge, were very expensive, and only three people in Chicago had bought them. This was how they were able to nail the murder charge. One of the boys, had an IQ over 210. It was so high that the test could not test him. He was a genius. He went to college at 14. Tragic, tragic loss of life in so many ways.
The Wrecking Crew
The Prime Ministers
The Pioneers. Levi Eshkol. Golda Meir. Taken from the book by the same name, and covering only the first two of four, Yehuda Avner in a documentary story-telling, filled with wonderful historical film editing brings Israel's history to life.
It is old nostalgic Israel. This old Israel was the Israel that I grew up on and which nurtured my soul. Israel had now morphed into an almost unrecognizable nation and it gave me a yearning and nostalgia down memory lane.This was a remarkable piece of work and I cannot wait for the next two Prime Ministers. It was a magnificent experience and the film was simply marvelous. I feel it is one of Moriah's bests. Yehuda Avner is a wonderful storyteller and the juxtaposition of old film editing and dialogue was expertly done. I found it very interesting how even when Menachem Begin was out of office, it was he that twisted the arm of Levi Eskol to take over the Old City before the Security Council prevented Israel from doing so. History is also treating Golda Meir kinder. She ignored all Intelligence, her General recommendations and warnings of what Egypt and Syria were doing. And this action created the almost failed success of the Yom Kippur War. As a war time Prime Minister she was a total and complete failure. But I loved the movie. It is such a critical and important DVD for generations to watch and to learn. It should be made available to all the schools everywhere and anywhere.
Kon Tiki
Kitty Foyle, 1940
Mud
Two teenage boys encounter a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love (Reese Witherspoon).“Confidently expanding his inquiry into the essence of American masculinity, Nichols' latest pressure-cooker pastoral conjures a wily figure of endangered Southern chivalry.” (Peter Debruge, Variety) This extraordinary film will become a classic in the sense that it is a particularly fine and fresh independent film with superb dialogue, marvelous acting, great story, with a beginning, a middle and an end. I loved it completely.
As It Is In Heaven, 2006 Up for best Foreign Film from Sweden in the final five category it never even received distribution. It was never seen by American audiences even though it was a phenomenal hit all over Europe. It is about a famous concert violinist who returns to his small village in Sweden to reclaim his lost self and in the process creates real relationships with the locals as he creates a choir. In this choir, the audience realizes that no one really cares about anyone else even though they proclaim to as buried grievances and heartaches and frustrations burst forth. The Leader, is beaten once more by the bully and for the first time, without the fame and power and groupies and fans, he finds himself and true love. Of course, she is 25 years younger than he but even so, he finds his 58 seconds of pure sound and harmony as he lays dying. I loved it. It is the type of film that stays with you for months after viewing it. Just like Mud.
Fill The Void
Eighteen-year-old Shira is the youngest daughter of Orthodox Hassidic family. She is about to be married to a promising young man. On Purim, her older sister Ester dies. The grief overwhelms the family and postpones Shira's match. His family cancels the wedding. Bad luck. When Shira's mother finds out that her daughter's widower husband is moving to Belgium to marry and take the grandchild with him, she manipulates behind the scene with pressure and guilt and responsibility to family to get Shira to marry her brother-in-law. This is a marvelous and powerful and moving film.
I loved it. Really did.
The Gentleman's Agreement, 1947
Director: Elia Kazan. Gregory Peck. Dorothy McGuire. "A writer passes himself off as Jewish to pen a series of articles on anti-Semitism and what he learns opens his eyes to the bigotry in the world around him." McGuire was getting on my nerves with her controlling and dishonest ways. She knew that everyone at the party given by her sister knew that Peck was not really Jewish and yet lied to Peck. In this role, you see the seeds planted for Peck years later when he played Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird. To me, John Garfield stole the film with his brooding intensity and sexuality and outsiderness and vulnerability. The dialogue would never be done today. It was real language of ideas and thoughts and how people handled each other, without destroying them, teaching them without belittling them. It presented a period of civilization that is gone.
The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946
Director: Tay Garnett. John Garfield. Lana Turner. Nicolas Smith. Garfield plays Frank Chambers and Turner plays Cora Smith. It is a sexually charged and riveting suspense story of two people who become obsessed with each other. Garfield plays a drifter, street smart and Lana all in white, is stunning and tough and they use and abuse each other as their jealously and possessiveness and distrust and passion ultimately destroy them.
Two Alone, 1934
English Vinglish, 2011
Love is All
Late Spring, 1949
Vasujro Ozu. Chishu Ryu. A Professor and widower (Ryu) is living with his twenty-seven year old unmarried daughter. He tells her that he is going to get married and so must she. She is then forced into an arranged marriage much to her great despair and sadness as she is happy taking care of her father. The entire time you feel badly for her and angry toward her father for forcing her into this arrangement. Only at the end do you realize that he tells this great lie to her, sacrificing his desire and heart to make sure that she is married off and safe because he does not know how long he is going to live and he never had any intention of marrying. The music is gorgeous and the slow development of the story slowly brings you into it and this movie captured my heart. I felt profoundly sad at the end of it.
Stand By Me, 1986
Director: Rob Reiner. Richard Dryfuss. Wil Wheaton. River Phoenix. Sutherland of 24 Fame. This film is about 4 12 year-olds on a hunt for a missing teenager's body. River steals every scene he is in. At 12 he comes across as a young Jimmy Dean. He is phenomenal. Reiner seems fixated on this age group and has made many movies like these. A coming of age with a voice over film. Boys this age would never confess, nor talk to each other or have the dialogue that they have which watching it over twenty years later, it felt forced and unrealistic. It was still a good film and I enjoyed it, enough.
I Take This Woman, 1940
Stella Dallas, 1937
So Big, 1932
Barbara Stanwyck. Alan Hale. George Brent. This movie is from Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize novel about a mid-western farm woman. It was OK. The transitions were hard. It was hard to believe Stanwyck going from a school teacher to being a farmer's wife so easily. But the American values created by the dialogue were refreshing since they are rarely if ever heard in todays films.
Stories We Tell
Ace In The Hole, 1951
Frances Ha
What Maisie Knew
"A contemporary re-imagining of Henry James' novel, What Maisie Knew is a heartbreaking but redemptive story of family, self-sacrifice and the indelibility of one child's love. Maisie (Onata Aprile) navigates the turmoil of her parents' bitter custody battle with a six-year-old's innocence, charm and generosity of spirit. Aging rock star Susanna (Julianne Moore) and contemporary art dealer Beale (Steve Coogan) are too self-involved even to notice their neglect and inadequacy as parents; their fight for Maisie is just another battle in an epic war of personalities. As they raise the stakes by taking on inappropriate new partners, the ex-nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham) and the much younger bartender Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård), the shuffling of Maisie from household to household becomes more and more callous, the consequences more and more troubling. Always watchful, however, Maisie begins to understand that the path through this morass of adult childishness and selfish blindness will have to be of her own making. From the directors of The Deep End and Bee Season and producers of The Kids Are All Right." The abandoned child abuse was so disturbing that I was actually squirming in my seat. All the parents did was tell her that they loved her but demonstrated to her just the opposite through their neglect, abandonment, selfishness, self-indulgence and lack of any values in responsibility or sacrifice. But she found her family and people who did love her, the bar guy and her nanny. So there was hope at the end of the day.
After Midnight
Behind The Candelabra
Michael Douglas. Matt Damon. "Adaptation of Scott Thorson's book about this five year love affair (17-22 years) with renowned entertainer Liberace who was four decades older at the time, when they met in the 1970's. Liberace lavished him with gifts and attention before his bitter break-up." Thorson had been a orphan and Liberace preyed upon him, seducing him by his wealth and attention, even making him do plastic surgery so that he would look like Liberace, promising to adopt him, promising him a home and security and a place in his will. None of these promises bore out.
Thorson was destroyed and for the rest of his life he has never been able to let go and has been in and out of jail and a drug addict. Douglas was brilliant. I forgot at times that I was watching an actor and not the personality. The music was magnificent. It captured the showmanship, the entertainer, the grand wealth of Liberace. It captured the gay lifestyle. I cannot stand to see gay men go at it. It repulses me and this show had plenty of it. It was a superb production.
Silent film. Rudolph Valentino. Agnes Ayres. This classic film is about a desert Arab chieftain, (who is really a western) who kidnaps a Lady, an English heiress. She, of course, falls in love with him and it is about her foolishness code of conduct and tribal customs. I have seen it several times and each time fall in love with it.
My Left Foot, 1989
"This cinematic masterpiece is the brilliant portrayal of legendary Irishman Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis) who, despite crippling cerebral palsy, learned to use his one controllable extremity -- his left foot -- to become an accomplished artist and writer. The Miramax Collector’s Series proudly presents the release of the acclaimed motion picture that won Academy Awards® in 1989 for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Supporting Actress (Brenda Fricker) and earned Oscar(R) nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (1989)." Day Lewis's performance is stunning and masterful and it is hard to believe that he does not have cerebral palsy. After I watched the film I saw that in real life he married the nurse, abandoning his long time love in the States with whom he was having an affair. Sadly, she abused and tortured him badly, he choked on one of her lamb chops and their bruises all over his body from her. He was 49 years old when he died.
All Of Me
"The "Girls" have been friends for years, bonding over hopes, dreams, food and the shared experience of being obese. But after weight loss surgery, their center shifts and upsets everything they know about happiness." This extremely disturbing film to me, had at the root of it, a profound emotional trauma that obese people have that enables them to use food to blunt out their pain. Others use alcohol, gambling, what ever, but this obsession has devastating consequences and after a while, it is no longer about the pain, but about their weight. A superb documentary.
Lizzie, 1957
Eleanor Parker. Richard Boone. Adaptation of Shirley Jackson's centering on a woman with three personalities, the bitch Elizabeth, meek lizzie and wonderful Beth. It is a lousy and dated film, her therapist would be disbarred for his behavior toward her and though he saved her life, penetrating her secrets, blaming herself for her mother's death and being raped by the mother's boyfriend, would not be enough to save her. It was stupid!
The Age of Innocence, 1993
Director: Martin Scorcee. Daniel Day Lewis. Michelle Pfeiffer. Winona Ryder. Pulitzer Prize winner novel by Edith Wharton. The movie takes place in New York society in the 1870's. Lewis is Archer. Pfeiffer is Countess Olenska. The narrator from the text itself is Joanne Woodward. Ryder, the supreme manipulator of them all, is May. It is a ravishing romance about three wealthy New Yorkers who are caught in a tragic love triangle. The movie/book captures the grandeur and hypocrisy of high society and is a devastating portrait of hidden romance and regret. One of the greatest novels of the 20th Century and the movie is superb and profound, filled with acting of brilliant nuance and emotion.
Love Marilyn, 2012
I am obsessed with this mysterious lost foundling except she is never cared for by others but only used and abused by them. This documentary with a perfect musical score is "an intimate look at the life death and legacy of Monroe. It features a close examination of her personal diaries and papers. The film also includes comments from contemporary celebrities. One simple reason for her life stories endurance is the premature end of it. When the past dies, there is mourning, but when the future dies, our imaginations are compelled to carry it on. Gloria Steinem. Marilyn. Marilyn. Why did everything have to turn out the way it did? Truman Capote. Words find out their meaning. Marilyn Monroe.
The bad is heavier to gather around... In the center was a darkness and tragedy that I did not know the dimensions of.
Arthur Miller.
The Bling Ring
"From Oscar-winning writer and director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), The Bling Ring tells the story of a group of teenagers who burglarize celebrities' homes in Los Angeles. Tracking their targets' whereabouts online, they break in and steal their designer clothes and possessions. Through the Bling Ring members' eyes, we see temptations that almost any teenager would feel—what starts out as teenage fun spins out of control and leaves us with a sobering view of today's culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession. Inspired by actual events, The Bling Ring stars Emma Watson alongside new talent Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Julien and Taissa Farmiga. Based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales, the film also features Leslie Mann, Gavin Rossdale, and real-life Bling Ring victim, Paris Hilton. I found this movie deeply disturbing. The parents are absent or will defend at any cost their child, no matter how bad this child's behavior may be. The values, or lack of them, is prevalent. The lives empty. The concept of hard work and focus and lack of indulgence is non-existent. There is little if any insight. Just excuses and rationalizations as to why they stole and stole and stole. The celebrities possessions of vast piles of jewelry, endless rows of clothes and shoes and houses and materialism is shocking. The kids stealing means nothing to them and they have no understanding that what they did was wrong. And, these kids like millions of others of this generation really do feel this way. The movie made me tense as I knew it to be real.
A Hijacking
Danish. This brilliant thriller captivated me from the very beginning. It was real and true and the acting was marvelous. You felt it more as a documentary than as a film! "The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian ocean. ...With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company and the pirates." Chilling. One sees the toll that it takes on the cook, simple hardworking men just trying to do their job. Terrific, terrific film.
A Woman's Face, 1941
Joan Crawford. Conrad Veidt. Melvyn Douglass. Directed by George Cukor, this movie was a Crawford vehicle and was a smashing success. She plays a woman with a scarred face who is a blackmailer and criminal to get back and even with society whom she feels dealt her a bad deck of cards. Suspenseful and good. Crawford is so cold and why was Douglass such a leading man?
20 Feet From Stardom
"Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. In his compelling new film 20 Feet From Stardom, director Morgan Neville shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. Triumphant and heartbreaking in equal measure, the film is both a tribute to the unsung voices who brought shape and style to popular music and a reflection on the conflicts, sacrifices and rewards of a career spent harmonizing with others. These gifted artists span a range of styles, genres and eras of popular music, but each has a uniquely fascinating and personal story to share of life spent in the shadows of superstardom. Along with rare archival footage and a peerless soundtrack, 20 Feet From Stardomboasts intimate interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Mick Jagger and Sting to name just a few. However, these world-famous figures take a backseat to the diverse array of backup singers whose lives and stories take center stage in the film." The film had a sad poignancy of faded and unrealized dreams, lost hopes and never achieving the fame they all sought. It was a superb documentary.
Lola Versus, 2012
Greta Gerwig. Joel Kinnaman. This comedy focuses on a 29 year old woman over a course of a year, after her finance breaks their engagement. She does crazy, self-destructive things and eventually everything settles out the way that it should. Cute.
Stranger On A Train, 1951
Farley Granger (Tennis Pro) Robert Walker. Hitchcock's masterpiece of suspense and build-up and truly a remarkable film in every way It is about Bruno Anthony who murders the wife of Guy and then tries to railroad him into a murder pact so he will murder his father. He plays a demented and deranged near do-well psychopath. A remarkable film.
Ride The High Country, 1962
Randolf Scott. Joe McCrea. Sam Peckinpahi's classic film about the Old West and two aging gunfighters who are hired to transport gold from a gold mine back to the bank. It is full of conversation and having to watch one's back and stupid mistakes and a girl who goes after one of the miners and betrayal and redemption. I LOVED IT! It is one of my favorite westerns and this must have been the 3rd or 4th time that I have seen it.
Sideways, 2004
Paul Giamatti. Thomas Haden Church. Virginia Madsen. Sandra Oh. This superb funny and witty comedy/drama is about two restless buddies who take a trip to the wine country for one last fling before Jack, the frat jock, gets married. It takes place over one week. Miles is a loser, morose and depressed and steals money from his mother and still pining over the loss of his wife. His book is rejected time and time again. Jack is screwing around a week before his wedding and gets the two of them in constant scraps. The first time I saw this, I could not stand the characters but this time, I had enough distance to thoroughly enjoy it, even finding myself laughing out loud. It was an excellent film and made Giamatti a star.
World War Z
"They're coming... and there will be no warning. The epic science fiction thriller World War Z stars Brad Pitt as former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane, a family man who traverses the world in a race against time. He must stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Matthew Fox, Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale also star in this apocalyptic drama, which is based on the book by Max Brooks and directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Monster's Ball)." This deeply terrifying film was utter entertainment and good movie fun. I loved it. Brad Pitt was terrific in this genre. Israel was portrayed with positive feeling. A shock from Hollywood! The characters from Israel were good and decent.
The Way Way Back - Two Times
"In the bittersweet coming-of-age comedy The Way Way Back, a lonely and awkward yet intelligent teenage boy, Duncan (Liam James), begins to make his transition into adulthood over the course of one transformative summer. Feeling alienated from his mother Pam (Toni Colette , her domineering and disingenuous boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell), and Trent's daughter Steph (Zoe Levin) during a summer vacation in a Northeast beach town, 14-year-old Duncan gets a job at a nearby water park and gains some much-needed self-confidence under the guidance of happy-go-lucky water park employee Owen (Sam Rockwell), who approaches life from a fresh new perspective. Also starring Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet."
In this deeply satisfying film, the sleeper-of-the-summer, everything a film should be became. The actors were perfectly cast. There were no surprise Hollywood endings, like the lead character Duncan did not suddenly transform into something he was not. He developed. There was much humor - I laughed out loud many times, and other times were sad and poignant. Millions of children must live under conditions like these, where parents are trying to figure out their lives to such a degree, they cannot be parents to their children It was simply a wonderful, wonderful movie.
Perfect Pitch, 2012
Skylar Astin. Anna Kendrick. A light weight, predictable, boring film about college cappella competition groups.
Just Like A Woman
"JUST LIKE A WOMAN tells the poignant tale of two women, barely more than casual acquaintances, who, upon escaping the prisons of their unhappy marriages, embark on a revealing journey of self discovery which leads them to the importance – and true meaning – of friendship. Mona (Golshifteh Farahani), 26, an immigrant from North Africa, runs her in-laws’ mini market in Chicago. She’s married to Mourad, a man who can’t stand up to his authoritarian mother. Mona is harassed by her mother-in-law because after five years of marriage, she hasn’t be able to get pregnant, something that’s considered a shame and a taboo in her culture. Marilyn (Sienna Miller), 29, is a receptionist at a computer repair company. Her marriage with Harvey is on the ropes. The only thing in her life that makes her happy is her belly dance class, a passion shared by Mona. Dancing at family gatherings lifts her spirits up and makes her forget the misery of her daily life. Marilyn shops at Mona’s mini-market. They’ve become friends. One morning, Mona’s mother-in-law is found dead in her bed. Mona realizes that she mixed the wrong dose while preparing her medicine. Realizing that she might be accused of murder, Mona runs away and flees Chicago by bus. Marilyn loses her job because of the recession. When she gets home, she finds out that her husband is cheating on her. With nothing left to lose, Mona decides to go to Santa Fe to enter a contest hoping to join a famous belly dance company. Mona and Marilyn run into each other on a rest area on the side of a highway. They decide to continue the trip together. They cross the USA, pitching their tent in trailer parks and in the middle of the desert. They earn some cash belly-dancing together in restaurants and bars. Back in Chicago, Mona is considered a fugitive; she’s wanted for the murder of her mother-in-law. Harvey asks the police to look for Marilyn who disappeared without leaving a trace. Will Marilyn succeed in joining the belly dance company? How long will Mona be able to keep her secret from Marilyn? And how long will she be able to escape the law?" This is the kind of gem that is found when one attends Film Festivals. The film is anchored and centered and carried by Miller, although the bigger story is about Mona. But one feels truly sorry when Marilyn cannot live out her dreams. But ultimately she gets the courage to leave her bad boy husband of ten years. It was a lovely film.
Gilda, 1946
Rita Hayworth. Glenn Ford. Haywood plays the hot fire of Buenos Aires and Ford plays the gambler who cannot resist her and hates her for it. The movie is directed by King Vidor. It gets a bit complicated but when Hayworth is on the screen, the movie becomes interesting and passionate. She is so so hot! She makes the movie and steals every scene. I love her.
Ransom, 1956
Glenn Ford. Donna Reed. Leslie Nielsen. This is a movie about a wealthy businessman and wife whose only child is stolen and what he chooses to do. The acting is brilliant. Gripping story. Felt very real. It feels like a play.
Vanishing Fiancee, 1978
Directed and Screen play by Francois Truffaut. Natalie Bayne. It is about two lovers who find each other and who are obsessed with death. The man becomes stranger and stranger and is so shattered by his new wife's death that he becomes weird and at the end bizarre. A very strange movie. I did not particularly like it.
Desert Nights, 1929
John Gilbert. Ernest Torrence. Silent Film. Thieves rob a diamond mine and escape into the desert taking the mine's manager. They desperately try to survive out in the desert. Entertaining.
Now, Voyager, 1942
A Bette David classic. With Paul Henreid. A woman is nearly destroyed by her brutal and mean, mean mother. A psychiatrist saves her and she embarks on a six month cruise where she meets this marvelous married man. They end up saving each others desperate lives. She transforms into a polished and beautiful woman. It is a terrific film.
Trade Winds, 1938
Fredric March. Joan Bennett. Romantic melodrama about a detective pursuing a lovely fugitive from justice across the Pacific and back to San Francisco. Utterly forgettable and silly but kept my interest --
The Hunt
Danish. "A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie. Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his penetrating turn in the starring role." This disturbing film that develops like the Salem Witch trials shows how easy it is to destroy an innocent man's reputation and how easily people succumb to mob psychology. It is all based or conjecture, innuendo, etc. This was a very, very fine film.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 2005Brad Pitt. Angelina Jolie. Both of these superstars fell in love while filming this movie and a modern day version of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and Debbie Reynolds was born. It is a mediocre film used as a showcase for these two superstars. They play a bored couple who are both secret spies and assassins and unknown to them have been hired to kill each other from rival organizations.
A Woman of Affairs, 1928
Silent. Great Garbo. John Gilbert. One of my favorite combo films of these two stars. There is such chemistry and communication! It is about a gallant but reckless young girl who falls in love with a young man whose family refuses to let him marry. There is theft, alcoholism, and suicide, passion and unrequited and unsolved love. It is a wonderful film.
The Grandmaster
Wong Kar Wai, Director
Chinese. This highly stylized and atmospheric kung fu film kept an emotional distance and a rainy slick atmosphere. I cannot imagine appealing to American audiences. It is not relatable. Mr Ip, whose story is being told, was the Grandmaster to Bruce Lee.
The Spirit of St. Louis, 1957
Director: Billy Wilder. James Stewart. Murray Hamilton. Wilder recreated this Lindbergh movie about his nonstop flight from New York to Paris on May 20, 1927. It was the first solo air-flight that flew across the Atlantic ever and ushered in the Age of Air Space travel. He was 25 years old. Stewart was too old to be playing this part at age 47 and the movie did not do well although it was a fine film.
The Fruitville Station
The Phantom of Paris, 1931
John Gilbert. Leila Hyams. Gilbert plays a magician who escapes several times from a false murder charge and given the death sentence, and it is only at the end that he finally finds justice and gets the girl at the end. An enjoyable film.
Red Eye, 2005
Karen McAdams. Cilhan Murphy. On a night flight to Miami, a hotel manager becomes a pawn in a plot to assassinate the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Wes Craven directed this nail-biting suspense thriller. I was on the edge of my chair. It is a well done film. I loved it, as tense as I was!
Don't Divorce! Children Talk, 2012
"Children talk about divorce and offer advice for parents to make sure kids are not manipulated, forgotten or mistreated when the time for permanent separation comes." Sad. So sad.
First Comes Love, 2012
"Filmmaker Nina Davenport chronicles her journey to motherhood as a single forty something in NYC with help from friends including a gay man who becomes her sperm donor, but also while dealing with the death of her mom. It was directed, produced, written, filmed and edited by Nina Davenport." I found the film a profoundly sad commentary on current relationships today. Everyone loves a child but no one wants permanent commitment. Even Justin's daddy wanted it on tape that he would not be responsible for any financial responsibility, although he enjoyed dropping in and taking care of him. Everything seemed so casual and disappointing and noncommittal and self-absorbing and living without a steady paycheck and needy and confusing and fundamentally sad.
Mary and Martha
Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn. Two mothers, one English and the other from North Carolina, bond over the loss of their sons to malaria while in Africa and become tireless advocates for the eradication of the disease. At the end of the movie you see the distribution of malaria nets which I discovered no one uses them anyway. These two grief stricken mothers were mobilized to galvanize themselves out of unbearable sorrow and grief.
The Cheshire Murders
A chronicle of a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, Conn., that resulted in arson and the deaths of the mother Jennifer, 18-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Makala. Steven Hayes and Josh Komisarjevsky were both committed to death. Dr. Petit started the Petit Family Foundation. He was not interviewed for this documentary - only Jennifer's family. It was directed and produced and edited by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner.
Won't back Down, 2012
Maggie Gyllenhaal. Viola Davis. A headstrong mother and a teacher wage a struggle to save their children's school but find that there forward thinking ideas are hampered every step of the way by apathy, cynicism, self-interest and systematic bureaucracy. A predictable film with wonderful acting by Davis.
The Spectacular Now
"With sly humor and an intensity of feeling, The Spectacular Now creates a vivid, three-dimensional portrait of youth confronting the funny, thrilling and perilous business of modern love and adulthood. This is the tale of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), a high school senior and effortless charmer, and of how he unexpectedly falls in love with "good girl" Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). What starts as an unlikely romance becomes a sharp-eyed, straight-up snapshot of the heady confusion and haunting passion of youth—one that doesn't look for tidy truths. Also starring Brie Larson, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, The Spectacular Now is directed by James Ponsoldt and written by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber ((500) Days of Summer). It was a good enough movie - it did not grab me as much as Way Way Back. Aimee's neediness and apology was beginning to annoy me no end.
Blue Jasmine - Twice
"Cate Blanchett gives a powerhouse performance in writer/director Woody Allen's new dramatic comedy. She plays New York socialite Jasmine (a name she choose herself), a beautiful, neurotic, self-centered and vastly self-deluding woman who, having lost all her money, in desperation has come to stay with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky) in her modest San Francisco apartment. Jasmine once led a glamorous ultra-rich life with her shady investment tycoon husband (Alec Baldwin), shown in flashback, and her current wardrobe still tends to Chanel, but she has lost every penny and needs a job. According to Jasmine, Ginger (who is divorced, with two young sons) always chooses loser boyfriends; the latest "loser" (Bobby Cannavale, The Station Agent) was about to move in with Ginger until Jasmine's arrival as houseguest put those plans on hold. Jasmine's idea of supporting herself is... to go back to college. Ginger hooks her up with a dentist who needs a receptionist (Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man), but that job doesn't last long. Will Jasmine, a character as self-deluding as Blanche DuBois, ever learn to face reality? Cate Blanchett is mesmerizing, surrounded by a brilliant supporting cast that also includes comedian Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Dice Clay." This intense and profoundly sad film is quite startlingly. Cate takes a sad role and creates a tragic one. It is Bernie Madolff meeting Blanche Deboise of Streetcar Name Desire. Cate will be nominated and win Best Actress for this role. It is Allen at his darkest but what sympathy he has for women. And how hypocritical and deceitful and messy are people's lives.
Rising From Ashes
"Two world collide when cycling legend Jock Boyer moves to Rwanda to hep the first Rwandan National Cycling Team in their six year journey to compete in the Olympic Games. Against impossible odds and total commitment both Jock and the team find new purpose as they rise from the ashes of their past. The movie takes the audience as the team learns what it means to be a professional cyclist - how to train, compete and live the life of a top level athlete. As their strength and confidence grows, the riders of Tea Rwanda give their fellow citizens a vision of something greater than themselves and their history: hope for a future." This remarkable documentary moved me to quiet tears. The unfathomable poverty, the lack of any future or opportunity, the loyalty and violence and jealously by others, the being exposed to a world outside of their own which is unimaginable - all of it makes for a remarkable movie. The coach overcame his own demons too, what a backstory he has.
An American Family, redux, 2011
Tim Robbins. Diane Lane. A dramatization of the making of the controversial 1973 PBS documentary series, American Family. This first ever reality show was the brainchild of a filmmaker Craig Gilbert who is played by James Gandolfini, and that follows the everyday life of Pat and Bill Loud. One of the film crew said that Gilbert "did not search for the perfect American family. He searched for a family to fit his agenda." And this dramatization seems to emphasize this point - that he manipulated Pat to go for a divorce, seducing her in her vulnerability and pushing her forward so that she would ask for a divorce on TV, which would create a great TV climax. I remember this series well - it shocked the nation - that a family would put themselves through this. In comparison today, one cannot understand it, especially in lieu of the Kardashians.
Follow Me. The Yoni Netanyahu Story
A remarkable and profoundly sad documentary about the leading Officer, Bibi's brother, of the Entebbe rescue mission. What a loss to the Jewish people. What a sacrifice. It is a rare portrait of one of Israel's most gifted soldiers and their greatest hero. I truly loved it.
To Hell and Back, 1955
Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier of WW11, plays himself in this gripping, action-packed battle saga. It feels dated but what a remarkable soldier. However, to get a sense of the man, the Biography on him that I saw years ago on TV was so unforgettable that I haven't forgotten it.
Lee Daniels, The Butler
"Director Lee Daniels' (Precious) historical epic tells the story of White House butler Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who serves during seven presidential administrations. Cecil grew up living in the fiercely segregated South, facing the tyranny of the region's prejudices. After years spent working in a hotel, he is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a job as a server at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There, he becomes a firsthand witness to history and the inner workings of the Oval Office as the civil rights movement unfolds. At the same time, he and his volatile but loving wife (Oprah Winfrey) must grapple with the rebellious spirit of their son Louis (David Oyelowo) whose tenacious hunger for activism and equal rights often puts him in dangerous situations—and at perpetual odds with his father. From the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., to the Freedom Riders and Black Panther movements, to the war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, Cecil experiences the effects of these events as both an insider and a family man. Co-starring John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman and Robin Williams."
The thing about this film is that is was all false. Cecil grew up in Virginia and rose in the ranks. His mother was never raped and his father was never murdered. His one son did not die in Vietnam. The fictional older son only served as a vehicle to have the film walk you through a history lesson of what it was like to be black in America.
The one line, "There is so much attention going outside the country about the concentration camps while we lived in one for 200 years." Really. How dare Oprah consent to this dialogue when she should know about the concentration camps. Slavery was bad but we did not gas and America was not an extermination camp. This outraged me. To compare their plight to Jewish extermination world wide was horrifying and to not even mention the pivotal role that Jews played for Civil Rights is also appalling. The movie was tedious and long and repetitive and predictable.
From Plane back from Berlin:
The House of Pi, 2012
The reviews were not good but I actually loved it and want to see it again. It was reflective and reposing and spiritual and sensitive and moving.
Hitchcock, 2012
A good plane film about the making of Psycho and what went on behind the scenes in making the film. Helen Mirren is always an excellent actress and she made the most of her role.
Walking The Line, 2005
The biopic of Johnny Cash and his struggle to overcome his demons. Phoenix should have won the Oscar instead of Witherspoon. He was outstanding and carried the entire movie. I loved it.
In A World
"The hilarious and heart-felt comedy In a World... stars writer/director Lake Bell (No Strings Attached, “Children’s Hospital”) as Carol, a struggling vocal coach who strikes it big in the cutthroat world of movie-trailer voiceovers, only to find herself in direct competition with the industry’s reigning king—her father (Fred Melamed, A Serious Man). Amid pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation—and let her voice be heard. Bell's directorial debut features a stellar supporting cast, including Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Alexandra Holden and Tig Notaro. Winner of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay." I did not find this movie funny. I found it sad. The competition and betrayal of father toward daughter, the casual and meaningless sex, using intercourse as the only avenue to express desire, the infantile interactions that thirty year old are having with each other, instead of their being twenty years, the estranged and affectionate relationship the sisters had with their competitive father, all of it portrayed contemporary American society.
Vivacious Lady, 1938
Ginger Rogers. James Stewart. The marriage of a nightclub singer and a professor suffers when they try to keep their marriage a secret. This is an utterly stupid movie. Mindless.
How The West Was Won, 1962
A sanitized epic of three hours with fabulous classical movie music of how the frontier was captured and managed with a voice over by Spencer Tracy. It had an all-star cast. Carroll Baker. Gregory Peck. James Stewart. Richard Wrdmark. Henry Fonda. John Wayne. It took place over thirty years with a human scale and conversation and with no special effects.
Ted, 21012
Seth Farlane. Mark Wahlberg. Mila Kunis. "In this quirky comedy a child successfully wishes that his teddy bear could come to life, but he gets more than he bargained for when the stuffed animal follows her into adulthood and complicates his relationship with a beautiful woman." Vulgar and irreverent but at least they get married.
Closed Circuit
"In the international suspense thriller Closed Circuit, a high-profile terrorism case unexpectedly binds together two ex-lovers on the defense team—testing the limits of their loyalties and placing their lives in jeopardy. After a busy London market is decimated by an explosion, only one member of the suspected terrorist cell survives: Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), who is arrested and jailed. Preparations begin for what promises to be the trial of the century. But there's a hitch: the government will use classified evidence to prosecute Erdogan—evidence so secret that neither he nor his lawyers can be allowed to see it. Government-approved defense attorneys Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) and Martin Rose (Eric Bana) are put on the case. Tenacious, driven and brilliant, they also happen to be ex-lovers. The two lawyers make an uncomfortable pact to keep their former affair hidden, but as Martin begins to piece the case together, the outlines of a sinister conspiracy emerge, one that will draw him and Claudia dangerously close again." The strength of the film was how clearly they repeated the story line so that everyone could easily follow. The romance seemed cold but then, that is the British style. As soon as I left the theater I forgot the entire movie. But as I was in the theater, it was gripping, electrifying and great for the genre.
American History X, 1998
Edward Norton. Avery Brooks. Best Actor nod for Norton's spellbinding portrayal of a violent neon-nazi gang leader who is filled with bottomless rage and who ends up in prison protected by a black man. The experience transforms him, giving him a new purpose to save his younger beloved brother from taking the same destructive path but at the end of the day, he pays the ultimate price and fails. When a child, any child, can't get love, it takes what it can get anyway it can to get it. It's not hard to understand.
Marnie, 1964
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Sean Connery. Tippi Hedren. Thriller about a compulsive liar, thief and frigid wife.
Frenzy, 1962
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. This unseen film is one of the most unsettling and disturbing films I have seen by Hitchcock. It has stayed with me for days; it is chilling and terrifying, all about a rapist-murderer who is talking women.
History Is Made At Night, 1937
Charles Boyer. Jean Arthur. Mixture of farce and tragedy about the romance between a tycoon and his wife whom he refuses to divorce and controls viciously and a head waiter who is love with his wife and she with him. There is a slippery slope of morals and another insipid picture of great wealth and the lower class.
Pitfall, 1948
Jane Wyatt. Lizabeth Scott. Dick Powell. Raymond Burr. A morose insurance man falls for a blond and meets up in trouble with her stalker who is played by Raymond Burr. A movie that takes itself very seriously. Forgettable.
Salinger
"Salinger is the first comprehensive documentary to look beyond The Catcher in the Rye author J. D. Salinger's meticulously built up wall: his childhood, painstaking work methods, marriages, private world and the secrets he left behind after his death in 2010. The documentary's research includes the contributions of over 150 interviewees, including Salinger's friends and colleagues, who have never spoken on the record before, as well as film footage, photographs and other material that has never before been seen. Additionally, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Gore Vidal and Pulitzer Prize winners A. Scott Berg and Elizabeth Frank talk about Salinger's influence on their lives, their work and the broader culture." This is a comprehensive thorough documentary of his life. He sought the fame and recognition of a writer but he utterly rejected the celebrity which came along with it. He, and Philip Roth and Eugene O'Neil all left wakes of personal disaster behind them.
They worked in utter isolation, married to their work, which always came first, in the woods. Superbly done.
In Vogue: The Editor's Eye, 2012
Directed and Produced by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. "A chronicle of Vogue magazine's 120 years of covering the fashion industry's highs and lows includes archival photographs; and interviews with editors, designers, models and photographers." I am beginning to suspect that this is the new wave of promoting one's magazine. Two years a documentary came out called September Issue which was much talked about and put Vogue centered stage once more. Now, two years later, using a different slant, they are doing the same thing.
Vertigo, 1958
James Stewart. Kim Novak. "Hitchcock's classic study of illusion versus reality with James Steward as an acrophobic detective tailing and enigmatic woman." The movie did not do well when it came out but today is considered the greatest film ever. I feel sorry for Stewart's girlfriend who loved him so.
Million Dollar Baby, 2004
Clint Eastwood directed and stars. Hilary Swank. This emotional and unforgettable film is one of the best.
It won Best Picture and Best Actress and two other Oscars. It is the story of a gruff boxing trainer who takes Swank under his wing and turns her into the best young female boxer. It is based upon stories from Hope Burn's by F.X. Toole. It is a devastating film about relationships and abandonment and loss and resolution.
Vacation From Marriage, 1945
Robert Donat. Deborah Kerr. "Gentle story of how the War changes a stuffy married meek couple and then, when each of the join the service, how they change and how it affects their marriage " This is one of those wonderful, intimate lovely, lovely films.
Greed, 1924
Gibson Gowland. Zasu Pitts. Erich von Stroheim's silent masterpiece traces the demise of a quack dentist and his avaricious wife in what was originally a nine-hour epic. This phenomenal movie was terrific at 242 minutes. I cannot imagine what was cut out for 9 .5 hours. Way too long, although he never saw that - probably the long tedious scenes were even longer. I just wish that I looked Gowland more - he was so sketchy and unpleasant and unintelligent. No wonder why his wife had so little faith in him.
Life Of Pi, 2012
Gerard Depardieu. Suraj Sharma. "In this visually stunning adventure drama, a zookeeper's son is stranded at sea a board a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. This is the second time I saw this film. I loved it for its message and poetry and storyline and development. It flowed beautifully.
The Goddess, 1934
Ruan Lingyu. Zhang Zhizhi. "This moving silent drama spins around a single mother in Shanghai who is forced into the life of a prostitute to support her only son whom she adores." It is way ahead of its time and I found the Goddess, who committed suicide at age 26, remarkable in her acting job. I loved this movie.
Enough Said
"Enough Said is a sharp, insightful comedy that humorously explores the mess that often comes with getting involved again. Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus), a divorced and single parent, spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter's impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini)—a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest. As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems "almost perfect" except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne's ex. Also starring Toni Colette and Ben Falcone. Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener (Please Give, Friends with Money, Lovely & Amazing)." I did not find Eva a likable or cute character - I found her hostile and needy and wanting to be friends with her children and not respectful of boundaries The movie was entertaining enough. I liked watching Gandolfini knowing that he had died. I found that sad.
The Student Prince, 1954
Edmund Purdom. Ann Blyth. "German prince meets and falls in love with a commoner, the niece of an innkeeper. But when the King dies, the prince knows he cannot have a peasant girl as his queen, so he must part with his secret lover." The music for this summer opera is sung by Mario Lonze. The music is gorgeous and memorable. I liked the earlier version of this film better. The 1934 one. How times have changed with the Royalty. Now they want to act common and they do and they marry common too. The class system will fail for most countries.
Summer With Monika, 1952
Harriet Andersson. Lars Ekborg. "Ingmar Bergman's trenchant study of a selfish tart and the lad whose infatuation she uses to escape her dreary and miserable life. I felt so badly for him how he was used and abused by her." This was a marvelous movie.
Torn Curtain, 1966
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Paul Newman. Julie Andrews. The 50h film by Hitchcock is about an American scientist to defects to East Germany in order to pick the brain of their most famous scientist as he is trying to break the code of a military secret. It is all about the escape out of there once he gets inside. I am amazed by all the people who help him along the way to escape and it gave to me a glimpse of all the people that helped along the way for one singular survivor of the Holocaust to survive. Of course, this is a movie and not reality. There was no chemistry between these two cold actors. It was OK, not his best by any means. It also felt very dated but it kept my interest.
Gravity
"Gravity is a visually stunning, breathtaking thriller starring Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth... and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space. Directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)." This phenomenal, state-of-the art film is an absolute must see. I loved, loved, loved it. Sandra Bullock will be nominated for Best Actress. She carries the entire film. When she falls into the place of utter aloneness, loneliness, horror, despair and isolation she captures it in a way I have rarely seen in film. It is a wonderful movie and when she touches land at the end, it is as if Eve has appeared on earth.
Middle of The Night, 1959
Fredric March. Kim Novak. Paddy Chayesfsky's study of loneliness and frustration focuses on a middle-aged man in love with a young woman. The dialogue and psychological development is marvelous and sadly missed in today's films.
Shane, 1959
Allan Ladd. This film is considered the greatest western of all time. It was good but I did find some things that did not hold up well. I felt that Ladd looked like a model out of Central casting. Charles Swanson or Clint Eastwood would have been better. The boy I found annoying. He whined all the time and I could not figure out his age. He seemed more contemporary than a boy would have acted back then. A boy his age would have known how to shoot and would not have loved a stranger so quickly and as much as his father. This was a stretch. The fight scenes also appeared to me infantile but they were well constructed. I liked the storyline of good and evil and good wins at the end. It was a superb western but for these minor flaws.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
A fifteen part series of the history of film starting at the very beginning. The director of this series has too casual an appearance and his voice becomes annoying but the material itself is enlightening and educational so I am sticking with it. He uses many special effects to keep his audience engaged, very different than taking this class in a college. He considers Friedrich Wilhelm Marnau of Sunrise (one of my favorite movies) fame, one of the greatest, mot innovative directors who ever lived and that all directors after him copied him and enhanced what he had done.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey, 2011
Director, Creative Writer, Narrator: Mark Cousins
This 15-part series by TCM has been phenomenal. However, I am only on #4 before I decided to copy each hour down, the description of what it says.
The Devastation of War and A new Movie: 1939-1952
A look at films and filmmakers during World War II and in the years following it, a profile of Orson Welles and an examination of Movies impacted by the McCarthy ear. Comments by Robert Towne, Paul Schrader and Stanley Donen.
World Cinema Bursting at The Seams (1953-1957)
A study of the romantic melodrama of the 1950's. Indian Filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Japanese actress: Kyoko Kagawa and African Director: Youssef Chahine.
The Shock of New Modern Film Making in Western Europe (1957-1964)
A look at the years 1957-1964 features interviews with Claudia Cardinate talking about Frederico Fellini, Lars Von Trier remembering Ingmar Bergman and Bernardo Bertolucci discussing Pier Paolo Pasolini.
New Waves Sweep Around the World (1965-1969) #8
A look at cinema in the 1960's focuses on the work of Roman Polanski, Andrei Tarkovsky and Nagisa Oshima and includes comments by cinematographer Haskell Wexler and Indian Director Mani Kaul.
New America Cinema, 1967-1979
A study of American cinema in the late 1960's and 70's features interviews with filmmakers Buck Henry, Paul Schrader, Robert Towne and Charles Burnett and Roman Polanski. Features: The Last Picture Show. Cabaret. The Godfather. The Badlands. China Town. The Godfather.
Captain Phillips
"Captain Phillips is a pulse-pounding thriller about the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), and his Somali counterpart, Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Set on an incontrovertible collision course off the coast of Somalia, both men will find themselves paying the human toll for economic forces outside of their control. Also starring Catherine Keener,Captain Phillips is directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) from a screenplay by Billy Ray, based upon the book A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty." This was an entirely different version from the Danish one, which was from the characters of the Insurance company and the cook over several months, not days. This was action packed and dramatic and exciting versus the Danish which was small and independent and believable. Both were excellent. It was like watching two separate films.
12 Years A Slave
"12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northrop (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dirty Pretty Things), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life. Also starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti, 12 Years a Slave is directed by Steve McQueen (Shame)." This movie about slavery is"for the ages." It is the most powerful, chilling, disturbing film on this subject that I have seen or remember ever seeing. Ejiofor will win the Oscar for his performance and he should. Riveting and remarkable is all I can say.
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, 1960
Albert Finney. Rachel Roberts. A young factory worker is trapped in the dead-end blue-collar world he was born into. He juggles relationships between two women, one of whom is caring his child and is married to another man and the other whom he falls for. He is constantly trying to repress his frustration and anger and is tied into knots by his limited circumstance and opportunity. This is a typical English film of this time period. It is superb. Outstanding. Simply wonderful.
Black Girl, 1965
Mbissine Theresa Diop. Momar Nar Sene. Insightful account of prejudice encountered by a young African woman who is brought to the French Riveria and pretty much kept as a house domestic servant/slave. She ends up killing herself which was the only unrealistic chord in the film. Too extreme. Feels dated.
The Crowd, 1928 - Silent Film - Two Times
Eleanor Boardman. James Murray. King Vidor's silent classic about an "ordinary" Manhattan couple's battle to live and survive. This was one of the finest, if not the best silent film I have seen Intimate and powerful. Sad and poignant, it tells the story of an everyday man and his family and their life and all the things that happen to everyone in an ordinary, everyday life. OUTSTANDING. SUPERB. ONE OF MY FAVORITES.
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, 1926 Silent Film
This is one of my very, very favorite films and is one of the greatest romantic films ever. I have seen it at least six or seven times and each time, I adore it.
The Kid.
City Lights
These are my two very favorite Charlie Chaplin films. Chaplin wrote all the music. He Wrote, Directed, Produced and Acted in each of these films. A true genius.
Spinning Plates
"You don't have to be a foodie to thoroughly enjoy Spinning Plates, a fascinating documentary about three extraordinary restaurants and the incredible people who make them what they are. These amazing restaurants and their stirring stories include an upscale, cutting-edge restaurant in Chicago named the seventh-best in the world, whose chef must battle a life-threatening obstacle to pursue his passion; a 150-year-old family restaurant in Ball town Iowa that's still standing only because of the unbreakable bond with its community; and a fledgling Mexican restaurant in Tucson, Arizona whose owners are risking everything just to survive and provide for their young daughter. These unforgettable stories of family, legacy, passion and survival come together to reveal how meaningful food can be, and the power it has to connect us to one another. It's a celebration of the art and passion of nurturing people, not just feeding them. Written and directed by Joseph Levy." Fabulous. Just as good a second time.
Pharlap, 1984
Australian. Classic (and boring) atory of the horse who won the hearts of the nation and since has grown into legendary status. The movie was dedicatd to its trainer Harry Telford. There was also the anti-Semitism because the owner of the horse was a Jew and the good ole' boys were resentful.
On Plane from Melbourne to Los Angeles:
Match Point
Midnight in Paris
Witness
The Sapphire's
The Book Thief
"Based on the beloved bestselling book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany. The film is narrated by Death—at a place and time when, as the narrator notes, he was extremely busy. Under the watchful eye and caustic musings of Death, young Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) embarks upon a journey marked by discovery, courage, friendship—and the power to triumph over the most daunting obstacles. Also starring Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush, The Book Thief is directed by Brian Percival." The movie could have been outstanding but I felt that it missed the mark. There was something goody goody about it - it lacked nuance. German's were good and decent people. Was she Jewish? The whole thing was off. I should have been brought to tears and was not.
Philomena
"The dramatic comedy Philomena tells the incredible true story of one mother’s search for her lost son. After becoming pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to a convent to be looked after as a “fallen woman.” When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America. Philomena (Judi Dench) spent the next fifty years searching for him in vain. Then she met Martin Sixsmith (co-writer Steve Coogan), a world-weary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set off for America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son, but also create an unexpectedly close bond between them. It's the compelling story of two very different people, at different stages of their lives, who help each other and show that there is laughter even in the darkest places. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity)." There was nothing comedic about it to me. It was all sad. I thought that Steve Coogan stole the film. Not Dench. Any old actress could play her part. Her goody goodiness and Forgiveness drove me mad. It was a substantical and fine piece of filmwork.
Aftermath
"AFTERMATH was the winner of the Yad Vashem Award at the 2013 Jerusalem Film Festival and the Critics' Prize at the 2012 Gdynia Film Festival, Poland's most important festival.
AFTERMATH tells the story of two brothers, Jozek (Maciej Stuhr) and Franek (Ireneusz Czop) who discover a secret and are forced to revise their perception of their father, their entire family, their neighbors, and the history of their nation. Franek, the older brother, returns home to Poland after many years living in Chicago and discovers that his younger brother is being mysteriously threatened and shunned by local townspeople. What follows is a gothic tale of intrigue as the brothers are drawn into investigating the village's dark secrets.
Upon the release of this film in its native Poland, AFTERMATH received intense criticism from Polish nationals, who accused the film of being "anti-Polish propaganda" and a gross manipulation of historical truth. AFTERMATH has so riled the Polish right wing that it has been banned from some local cinemas, while its leading actor, Maciej Stuhr, has received death threats.
Director's Statement:
The peaceful and quiet Polish village where the brothers grew up, a prime example of the idyllic beauty of the Polish countryside, turns out to harbor a dark and terrible secret: the collective murder of its Jewish inhabitants during World War II. This dark chapter of our history is one of the few remaining stories never to have been shown on film. AFTERMATH tells that story through the lives of ordinary people who have nothing to do with politics, by showing their fundamental decency and uprightness, their baseness and lies. We are always given a choice in life. This film is about making that choice." Remarkable and powerful and deeply disturbing film. I loved when the ghost of the mother appeared.
Nebraska
"Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways) directs Nebraska, a bittersweet dramatic comedy about a father-and-son road trip through an emotionally and economically parched homeland. After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Bruce Dern) thinks he's struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Will Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America. Stacy Keach, June Squibb and Bob Odenkirk co-star." This outstanding film took my breath away. It was one of the most satisfying pieces of film work that I have seen in a long time.
The stark black and white photography, the sensitive and vulnerable son, who at the end of the movie is hiding in the front seat looking up at his miserable father, as if he is 8 years old and the father that he once adored, just aching for love and approval. It broke my heart. I loved when they returned to their house of origin and from every window you saw solitary trees and loneliness and isolation and desolation. It was all so terribly heartfelt and the mother's acting was academy award quality. The characters were nuance and complete all speaking from different points of view and rationalizing their bad behavior. This movie blew me out of the water and I was not going to see it because the previews looked so bad but the reviews were outstanding.
Inside Llewyn Davis
"Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of talented but feckless folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he struggles to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles—some of them of his own making. Living at the mercy of both friends and strangers, scaring up what work he can find, Llewyn's misadventures take him from the coffeehouses of the Village to an empty Chicago club—on an odyssey to audition for a music mogul—and back again. Brimming with music performed by Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan (as Llewyn's married Village friends), as well as Marcus Mumford and Punch Brothers, Inside Llewyn Davis transports you to another time and place. An epic on an intimate scale, it is Joel and Ethan Coen's (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) fourth collaboration with multiple Grammy- and Academy Award-winning music producer T-Bone Burnett. With John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Adam Driver and F. Murray Abraham." This deeply sad film, I feel is not that Llewyn is a looser but that he lives in the moment and cannot plan or organize his life. It was truly one of the most depressing films that I have seen in a long, long time.
Saving Mr. Banks
Saving Mr. Banks is inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic Mary Poppins made it to the screen. In his quest to obtain the rights to Mary Poppins, his daughters' favorite book, Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) comes up against P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops and launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history. Also starring Colin Farrell and Paul Giamatti. Directed by John Lee Hancock. This was a marvelous film. I was all chocked up throughout the movie. It was touching, the acting and development superb, and characters real. I loved it to the very end when you hear your own voice.
The Armstrong Lie
This powerful and deeply disturbing documentary about my fallen hero was superbly done. It revealed all the corruption from the very top of the Head of the Committee, to doctors and coaches and team members and Foundation workers and sponsors. All greed. There was rationalization flowing everywhere, and there was too much money exchanging hands which made everyone turn the other way. And, this went on for years. Armstrong only regretted that he came back from a 3 year retirement to compete once more because it was this year, 2009, that he finally got caught - not that he did what he did in the first place, ruin characters and lives and reputations and sued, but that he got caught. A man without morality.
Her
"Set in Los Angeles, slightly in the future, Her follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix, The Master), a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet "Samantha," a bright, female voice (Scarlett Johansson) who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other. From the unique perspective of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation) comes an original love story that explores the evolving nature—and the risks—of intimacy in the modern world. Also starring Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde." I did not like this movie at all. I found it unbearably lonely and cold and depressing and disconnecting. There was a heaviness about it that became boring and tedious. Interesting idea but it also needed a commedy element.
In The Good Old Summertime, 1949
Judy Garland. Van Johnson
"Two clerks in a Chicago sheet-music store detest each other by day. Both reserve their words of affection for their respective pen pals, whom they've never met, the true identities of their pen pals awaits them." Gardland sings a lot of songs. The movie is much like The Little Shop Around The Corner. A dated but mindless entertaining film.
The Past
"Bérénice Bejo took the best actress award at Cannes for her portrayal of Marie, a Frenchwoman in the process of getting a divorce from an Iranian man (Ali Mosaffa). She wants to marry Samir (Tahar Rahim), whose wife is in a coma after a suicide attempt. Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) directed. A Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film." Another dreary, depressing film of the Arab life in Paris. Rough, way too long and drawn out, overblown, and tedious. It will not win.
American Hustle
"A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) who, along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner plays Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con artists and the Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like filmmaker David O. Russell's previous films(Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees), American Hustle defies genre, hinging on raw emotion and life-and-death stakes." The movie was entertaining and fun. But in a year, it will feel dated. They had to put it in the past because cons are very different today, because of the technology. I have seen this story 1000 times it seems, a longer version of it in The Sopranos. Adults love to be part of it from a viewer's point-of-view, they feel excited by it. The acting was superb, especially the ladies. It will win Oscar as Best Picture and Lawrence will give real competition. She may win because she is the darling right now of the Industry. She was outstanding. I love her. But, it did not hold the emotional connection to me, it was merely hyped up fun. I thought the deep moral message in the film, that you can trust no one, that everyone is a con and is gaming you, reflects the deep cynicism in our culture and world. Sad but true.
Run Boy Run
Polish. The story of how a 14-year-old boy, who lost his arm survived in the forests and the fields and the good graces of kind Polish people during WW2. There were mean Poles too such as a doctor, who refused to operate on his hand because he was Jewish and because of it he lost his are. But, he survived in spite of it all. It was a gripping and sad story.
56 and Up
"Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Starting in 1964 withSeven UP, the UP series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven UP, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives. From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the heart-breaking Neil, as they turn age 56 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed. Success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, poverty and illness—nearly every facet of life is discussed with the group, as they assess whether their lives have ultimately been ruled by circumstance or self-determination. An extraordinary look at the structure of life in the 20th century, the UPseries is, according to critic Roger Ebert, "an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life." The film was long and tedious in parts. I found it interesting that so much depended upon class and structure, how many divorces there were, how many children too. The east end kids pretty much ended up as you would expect. The wealthy kids did too. It was what it was.
Interesting to a degree. But for the most, it is family, friends, children that keep one centered and afloat. You are lucky if you have success and a good job that you enjoy. Was this rocket science? I don't think so. Most lives are ordinary and simple, and after a certain age, feel reflective and grateful and appreciative.
No!
"When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, facing international pressure, calls for a referendum on his presidency in 1988, opposition leaders persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), to spearhead the campaign. With scant resources and constant scrutiny by the despot's watchmen, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and free their country from oppression." This movie left more questions than it answered. Bernal was poorly cast. He did not come across at all as aggressive. he showed no emotion, even when he won. His wife and he did not work well together. She was fat, ugly and too big for him. Their couple-ship did not feel believable. He would have been run out of town by his opponent who knew way too much about him. He would have lost his car, etc. not been working with him, business-as-usual. They tried to make it look like a 1988 video, of poor quality and craftsmanship. It became irritating, not authentic. Pinochet's downfall had far more to do with the Generals abandoning him because of world criticism, the CIA influence, than this advertising campaign, which may have galvanized the folks, but it would not have happened without the other dominating force.
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts
"Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Animated Short and more! This year's program is being hosted by last year's winners: William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, directors of "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." Program includes: "Head Over Heels" (UK), in which a couple who have grown apart (he lives on the floor and she on the ceiling) seek a way to put their marriage back together; "Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare' " (USA), in which Maggie, longing to be grouped with the gifted children at the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, finds her destiny by rescuing a lonely cocoon from Baby Gerald; "Paper man" (USA), the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City who only has his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get the attention of the girl of his dreams; "Fresh Guacamole" (USA), in which we learn how to transform familiar objects into fresh guacamole; and "Adam and Dog" (USA), the story about the dog of Eden, and what happened in those first days of Creation that made Man and Dog so inseparable. Official Web Site" The highlighted ones are my favorite and hope they win.
Orchestra of Exiles
DirectorL: Josh Aronson. Featuring Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerkman, Joshua Bell and others, this movie is suspenseful, powerful and stunning. It will make you cry for what is not spoken or played. It is a remarkable and poignant story of the strength and courage and determination of one man and using his life for good.
Beyonce: My Life Is A Dream
A promotion coco to promote her new album. She must have referred to herself as an artist 500 times. She is well-spoken and articulate and terribly hard working. She has good values. "God was giving me a chance to assist in a miracle." Features footage, and glimpses of her personal life.
The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
This classic film of prison mates remains superb and human and real and fabulous.
Tristana, 1953
"Luis Buñuel's late-period masterpiece TRISTANA, is a delicious, perverse and haunting study of power shifts in an obsessive relationship. Re-teaming Buñuel and Catherine Deneuve soon after their memorable collaboration in Belle de Jour, TRISTANA co-stars frequent Buñuel alter ego Fernando Rey (Viridiana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie). Rey plays Don Lope, a mephistophelean, anti-clerical socialist and outmoded master of social graces, who seduces his innocent and beautiful young ward Tristana (Deneuve), becoming her lover/father figure. She eventually leaves him for a handsome young artist (played by Italian heartthrob Franco Nero of Django), but returns for revenge, having changed from naïve waif to hardened cynic"
The film felt dated and at times dragged, the transitions and time-line were weak, but Deneuve's acting, sublime.
Spinning Plates
"Feature documentary about three restaurants, extraordinary for what they are today as well as for the challenges they have overcome: a cutting-edge restaurant named the 7th best in the world whose chef must battle cancer; 150 year old family restaurant still standing because of the community; a fledgling Mexican restaurant whose owners are putting everything they have on the line just to make enough to survive. It features Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea and Thomas Keller of Ca. The French Laundry." This documentary must win Oscar 2013. It was outstanding in every sense. One of the best that I have ever seen. The musical score, the editing, the story-line, the metaphor, the meaning, the value, the creative art, it was truly perfection.
In The Family
"This story is woven around child custody, "two-Dad" families, parental loss, interracial relations, the American South, and the human side of the law; the nature of what it means to be a family is explored with ambitious and rewarding nuance."
The Bishop's Wife, 1947
The Yuletide spirit fails to warm the home of Bishop Henry Brougham. Struggling to raise funds for a new cathedral, the young clergyman has neglected his loving wife, Julia, and the handsome angel sent to save their marriage and re-center their values is Cary Grant! The movie is entertaining and lovely and highly enjoyable.
Tootsie, 1982
Director: Sydney Pollack. Michael Dorsey. Dustin Hoffman. Jessica Lange. This brilliant comedy has stood the test of time and is one of my all time favorites. It is about Hoffman who cannot get a job and so he disguises himself as a woman to land a job on a soap, fooling his agent, and falling in love with Lange, who thinks he is an older woman and brings him into his confidence. It is fabulous.
In Cold Blood, 1967
Robert Blake. Scott Wilson. "In Richard Brooks semidocumentary, Perry and Dick murder the entire Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Truman Capote wrote the classic about this murder case. He gets into the heads of the killers, does intense research, and changes how we write and analyze murder. It created a sensational and movie captures the same build up and psychological terror of the book. A phenomenally well down movie.
Parade's End
A five part series of Ford Maddox Ford Masterpiece of Britain at the turn of the century up and after to WW!.
It follows the lives of Christopher Tietjens, the novel's hero who is the son of a Yorkshire country gentleman, who clings stubbornly to old values and tradition. He marries into a disastrous union who makes his life hell and his reputation as honorable as it is, into a nightmare. It is a wonderful series that few saw because most are enthralled by Downton Abby.
Remember?
Robert Taylor. Greer Garson. A marriage is given a fresh start by a loss-of-memory portion. I did not like the fact that Taylor took the finance away from his best friend, Robert Young. It was silly and trite but escapeful.
Midnight Express, 1978
Brad David. Randy Quad. Story about a young American who tries to smuggle out drugs from Turkey, is caught and ends up in a Turkish prison for seven years. A true story and a devastating one.
Putzel
Putzel's dream is to take over this uncle's smoked fish emporium in Manhattan. But, he becomes involved with Sally and his whole life is thrown into kilter. I found the movie stupid and insipid. Sally, to me, tried to play the part of sweet girl who had commitment issues. But, in truth, I found her deceptive, manipulative, used sex as power and control and decided to go after Putzel only because she did not want to be old and alone, and not because she loved him, as he so deeply, did her. I thought Putzel played vulnerable, wore his feelings on his sleep and fell deeply for things he wanted and loved.
War Witch
"Somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona, a 14-year-old girl, tells the unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12. An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film." The film dragged and was slow in parts. The warring tribes became fused and confusing. The fact that western democracies feel they can have any input at all is astonishing. These countries, with their feudal attitude and tribal mentality, violence, lack of any education whatsoever, are falling further and further behind. They exist or starvation, power, who has the guns.
Nairobi Half Life
This brilliant and remarkable film, played by Joseph Wairmu who stole the movie, was powerful, moving, meaningful and descriptive. I loved it. Mwas leaves his small village to go to Kenya's capital in order to pursue a career in acting. He is young and innocent and fun loving. When he arrives in the city, he is immediately dressed down and looses everything in a second, ends up in jail, alone and hopeless. After becoming part of a gang, his life changes, for the worse, and you see him merge into a hardened criminal, without ever loosing his dream. Nairobi is dangerous. Life is harsh. But in spite of it all, Mwas survives. It is an exceptional film and Wairmu, if given the opportunity, could become a great, great actor.
The Emperor
"A gripping tale of love and honor forged between fierce enemies of war, Emperor unfolds the story—inspired by true events—of the bold and secret moves that won the peace in the shadows of postwar Japan. General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) suddenly finds himself the de facto ruler of a foreign nation after Emperor Hirohito's World War II surrender. He assigns an expert in Japanese culture—and psychological warfare—General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox), to covertly investigate the looming question hanging over the country: should the Japanese Emperor, worshiped by his people but accused of war crimes, be punished or saved? Caught between the high-wire political intrigue of his urgent mission and his own impassioned search for the mysterious school teacher (Eriko Hatsune) who first drew him to Japan, Fellers can be certain only that the tricky subterfuge about to play out will forever change the history of two nations and his heart. Directed by Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring)" I felt that Fox was too old to play the love object to the girl and to young to play a General. He sure is handsome, though! Without being familiar with the Japanese atrocities, the audience cannot understand the need for a war tribunal. With myself, I had to keep substituting Germany's evil leaders with the Japanese. This backdrop of information was not developed well and had I not read Unbroken, I would have been confused.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Director: Ken Burns. He was the greatest of all American architects. In fact, my parents built their house in Evansville to be designed like a Frank Lloyd Wright home. His mother, like Charles Lindbergh, instilled in him, "You are destined for greatness!" And, like she, he believed it. Bouncing back from scandal and near ruin at the age of 62, he went on and worked until he dropped at 92 years of age, 6 months before the Guggenheim in New York was completed. A marvelous documentary about a remarkable man and genius.
Stromboli, 1949
Ingrid Bergman. Mario Vitale. Bergman plays a refugee who marries an Italian fisherman to escape a camp for displaced persons after the war. She was married to an architect, from class, and marries this man to escape the camp. It turns out to be a singular devastating mistake. She is taken to an island that is forsaken, under an erupting volcano, of uneducated superstitious fisher folk and falls into untold fear and despair. Brilliant film.
Fear, 1955
Ingrid Bergman. Renate Mannhardt. A professor's wife who ran the plant while her husband was a prison-at-war and then in a Institution until he recovered, carried on in a discreet affair with another man. She is then blackmailed by this lovers's former girlfriend who threatens to tell the husband. However, it is not what it appears. Bergman has been set up by the husband and has hired this girl. The movie was highly suspenseful with lots of rain and dark nights. The critics however, did not like it.
K2-Danger
The Broad Stage brought the greatest female mountaineer in the world, through National Geographic. She showed her multi-media 77 minute presentation which was harrowing and stunning and awe-inspiring. I loved her! She was toned and beautiful and feminine and soft - nothing like what I imagined a woman to be of this kind of profession!
This Our Life, 1942
Bette Davis. Olivia de Havilland. John Houston directed this study of an evil manipulator bored and spoiled young woman who steals her own sister's husband whom her sister loves. She drinks, drives him to suicide and then drives to quickly and pins the death of the woman and child she kills onto a black man who takes care of the family car, when he isn't studying to become a lawyer. Great, great film!
The Old Maid, 1939
Bette Davis. Miriam Hopkins. Tis was an exceptional film version of the Pulitzer Prize play about an unwed woman whose daughter is raised as her sister's child. Davis has a one night stand with the ex-boyfriend of her sister-in-law. This woman then looses her husband and because she has class and wealth and can provide a home for the child of the dead man that she truly loves, she turns this child against her real mother, Bette Davis.
Davis commands the screen like no other actress. Terrific film.
Goodbye Mr. Chips, 1939
Robert Donat (Oscar Award Winner for his part.) Green Garson (her film debut) James Hilton's classic about a beloved Latin teacher and schoolmaster. This is one of my all time favorite films and I see it as least once a year!
The Loft
Belgium. In Dutch with sub-titles. Five close friends, all of them married, share a loft to meet their mistresses. One day they find the body of a young woman. Since there are only five keys to the loft, the five men begin to suspect each other of murder. 45% of the population in Belgium saw this film. It is an who-done-it. Cary found it suspenseful and he enjoyed trying to figure out as it became more and more convoluted and complicated. It wasn't scary. I found the dialogue regarding male/female relationships, the cynicism, the cheating and betrayal, the distrust and insecurity that takes place between the sexes more interesting. It touched on universal themes. Afterwards, I went up to meet the Consulate from Belgium. He was confirming his dinner plans for the next evening because his "wife was going to be out-of-town." "Oh, you have A Loft?" I asked, as if on cue. They both broke out laughing!
The Quiet Man, 1952
Johan Wayne. Maureen O'Hare. Director John Ford and the photography by Winston C. Hoch both won oscars for this entertaining, but extremely dated, Gaelic character study with every stereotype imaginable. I cannot believe that this is considered a classic and that it will stand the test of time. In real life, many of the actors were family members and friends and relations. It was filmed in Galway, Ireland. I found it amusing and boring and Wayne and O'Hara appeared old in the movie for me but maybe our age sensibility has simply changed. He was the Tarzan and she was the Jane. Recommend it? I don't think so.
No Place On Earth
In October, 1942, Esther Stermer, the matriarch of a Jewish family in the Ukraine leads her family underground to hide from the Poles, Ukrainians, Nazis. Living nearly two years in near-total darkness, buried alive between two cold, damp caves, it is one of the most harrowing stories of the Holocaust I remember seeing. It is astonishing really that they did not all go mad. I could not sleep all night. It was truly remarkable. Director. Janet Tobias.
The Two of Us, 1967
"The Two of Us (French: Le vieil homme et l'enfant) is a 1967 French film. It starred Michel Simon, Charles Denner and Alain Cohen, and was the first filmClaude Berri directed. The film was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival, where Michel Simon won the Silver Bear for Best Actor award.[1]
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[edit]Plot
Claude (Alain Cohen) is an 8-year-old Jewish boy living in France during the Nazi occupation. To reduce the chance that he would be sent to Auschwitz or a similar fate, his parents send him to live with a farm family, the elderly parents of Catholic friends of his parents. (In reality, many French urban Jews made similar choices for their children.) The elderly couple honestly think that the boy has been sent to live with them because Paris is dangerous; it never crosses their mind that Claude is a Jew.
Claude is given a new last name (Longuet), is taught a few things about Catholic ritual, such as the Lord's Prayer, and most important, is told to never let anyone see his circumcised penis (in France, only Jews and Muslims are circumcised); thus Claude's strange prudishness at bath time. Otherwise, he plays well the part of boy grateful to be safe in the countryside, building a warm relationship with Pepe (played by veteran character actor Michel Simon) and Meme (Luce Fabiole), his simple and likable surrogate grandparents. They form a strong and mutually affectionate bond.
There is a fly in the ointment; Claude’s willing protectors share in the prejudices common to their time and place, anti-Semitism included. They believe World War II to be the fault of Jews, communists, Freemasons, and worst of all, the British who can never be trusted. Pepe even considers Marshal Philippe Pétain, the puppet leader ruling France under Germany’s thumb, a hero. Pepe attempts to pass his anti-Semitic convictions on to the boy. The boy plays along with the old man, teasing him about his prejudices but never revealing the truth about himself." This was an extraordinary film. I loved, loved, loved it.
Kings Point, 2012
Profiling five senior citizens living in a typicalAmerican retirement resort as they grapple with love, the need for independence and the complications of aging. Produced and Directed by Sari Gilman. Academy Award Nominee Documentary Short. The place and one of the characters reminded me so much of Ruth.
Phil Spector
HBO. Al Pacino. Helen Mirren. Screenwriter and Director David Mamet has created this fictionalized account of legendary music produced, Phil Spector and his relationship with defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden during his 2007 trial for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. I feel it is a sympathetic portrait of a crazy genius. Is her a murderer?
Mamet wants you to think Not.
Red Headed Woman, 1932
Jean Harlow. Chester Morris. This office worker plays it tough and aggressive in order to raise herself from being from the wrong side of the tracks, becomes a home wrecker by going after a man until she gets him, and then uses him to get to someone even wealthier. It is Harlow at her best and it was utterly contemporary and entertaining. I could not get over the dialogue. It could have been written today! I loved it!
Dear Heart, 1964
Geraldine Page. Glenn Ford. This entire film feels like a play. It is about a Post Office convention, and a lonely, needy, nervous woman who wants to feel loved and needed and approved and has no discerning ability to tell one man apart from another. She was getting on my nerves and there is no way that there was any chemistry about them.
I Know Where I'm Going, 1945
Wendy Hiller. Roger Livesey. Shot in Western Isles, Scotland, the girl is on route to a loveless marriage to a very rich older man when she is marooned on an island for a week because the gales are too strong and she cannot get across to the remote island where she is headed. She ends up falling for the man on the island and at the end, goes off with him instead. I forgot the film as soon as I had stopped watching it. Dated too.
Edward, My Son, 1949
Spencer Tracy. Deborah Kerr. Kerr is beautiful! Wow! Tracey is fabulous. It is the story of this ruthless, ambitious man who has an obsessive love for his son and excuses all of his bad behavior. He rams over people, abandons them, twists them into his own desires and leaves a wreckage of suicide, from old partner to mistress, destroys his wife's happiness and thinks that he can buy people through his wealth. At the end he is left with nothing.
The Sapphires
"Inspired by a true story, the dramatic comedy The Sapphires follows four vivacious, young and talented Australian Aboriginal girls from a remote mission as they learn about love, friendship and war when their all-girl group The Sapphires entertains the U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1968. Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Kay (Shari Sebbens) are discovered by Dave (Chris O'Dowd), a good-humored talent scout with a kind heart, very little rhythm but a great knowledge of soul music. As their manager, Dave books the sisters their first true gig, giving them their first taste of stardom, and brings them to Vietnam to sing. Adapted from Tony Briggs' original stage play and directed by Wayne Blair, The Sapphires is a triumphant celebration of self-discovery, family and music." This Australian film was superb. The music was terrific. The spirit fun and entertaining and thoughtful. I simply loved it! It was fun and energetic and cool.
Blancanieves
"Once upon a time there was a little girl who had never known her mother. She learned the art of her father, a famous bullfighter, but was hated by her evil stepmother. One day she ran away with a troupe of dwarves, and became a legend. Set in southern Spain in 1920s, BLANCANIEVES is a silent film and was Spain's submission for the 2013 Oscars. “This film is a wonderment! A striking… full-bodied, visually stunning film.” -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times" Peter Berger's spectacular retelling of the Snow White myth. The actress Marcarena Garcia is the heroine and is the daughter of the famous bullfighter who flees her evil stepmother, falls in with a troupe of circus dwarfs and becomes a star toreador in her own right. It is a silent film, shot in magnificent black and white.
It is a remarkable film.
Philip Roth: Unmasked
Maureen O'Hara Walter Pigeon Donald Crisp. Roddy McDowall. Sara Allgood. John Ford directed this Oscar-winning study of life in a Welsh mining community. Adapted from Richard Llewellyn's novel. I turned this film on, somewhat indifferently. It was simply wonderful, a truly fine piece of film work, of storytelling, of saying goodbye to childhood and innocence. Kings Point, 2012
Profiling five senior citizens living in a typicalAmerican retirement resort as they grapple with love, the need for independence and the complications of aging. Produced and Directed by Sari Gilman. Academy Award Nominee Documentary Short. The place and one of the characters reminded me so much of Ruth.
Phil Spector
HBO. Al Pacino. Helen Mirren. Screenwriter and Director David Mamet has created this fictionalized account of legendary music produced, Phil Spector and his relationship with defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden during his 2007 trial for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. I feel it is a sympathetic portrait of a crazy genius. Is her a murderer?
Mamet wants you to think Not.
Red Headed Woman, 1932
Jean Harlow. Chester Morris. This office worker plays it tough and aggressive in order to raise herself from being from the wrong side of the tracks, becomes a home wrecker by going after a man until she gets him, and then uses him to get to someone even wealthier. It is Harlow at her best and it was utterly contemporary and entertaining. I could not get over the dialogue. It could have been written today! I loved it!
Dear Heart, 1964
Geraldine Page. Glenn Ford. This entire film feels like a play. It is about a Post Office convention, and a lonely, needy, nervous woman who wants to feel loved and needed and approved and has no discerning ability to tell one man apart from another. She was getting on my nerves and there is no way that there was any chemistry about them.
I Know Where I'm Going, 1945
Wendy Hiller. Roger Livesey. Shot in Western Isles, Scotland, the girl is on route to a loveless marriage to a very rich older man when she is marooned on an island for a week because the gales are too strong and she cannot get across to the remote island where she is headed. She ends up falling for the man on the island and at the end, goes off with him instead. I forgot the film as soon as I had stopped watching it. Dated too.
Edward, My Son, 1949
Spencer Tracy. Deborah Kerr. Kerr is beautiful! Wow! Tracey is fabulous. It is the story of this ruthless, ambitious man who has an obsessive love for his son and excuses all of his bad behavior. He rams over people, abandons them, twists them into his own desires and leaves a wreckage of suicide, from old partner to mistress, destroys his wife's happiness and thinks that he can buy people through his wealth. At the end he is left with nothing.
The Sapphires
"Inspired by a true story, the dramatic comedy The Sapphires follows four vivacious, young and talented Australian Aboriginal girls from a remote mission as they learn about love, friendship and war when their all-girl group The Sapphires entertains the U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1968. Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Gail (Deborah Mailman), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Kay (Shari Sebbens) are discovered by Dave (Chris O'Dowd), a good-humored talent scout with a kind heart, very little rhythm but a great knowledge of soul music. As their manager, Dave books the sisters their first true gig, giving them their first taste of stardom, and brings them to Vietnam to sing. Adapted from Tony Briggs' original stage play and directed by Wayne Blair, The Sapphires is a triumphant celebration of self-discovery, family and music." This Australian film was superb. The music was terrific. The spirit fun and entertaining and thoughtful. I simply loved it! It was fun and energetic and cool.
Blancanieves
"Once upon a time there was a little girl who had never known her mother. She learned the art of her father, a famous bullfighter, but was hated by her evil stepmother. One day she ran away with a troupe of dwarves, and became a legend. Set in southern Spain in 1920s, BLANCANIEVES is a silent film and was Spain's submission for the 2013 Oscars. “This film is a wonderment! A striking… full-bodied, visually stunning film.” -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times" Peter Berger's spectacular retelling of the Snow White myth. The actress Marcarena Garcia is the heroine and is the daughter of the famous bullfighter who flees her evil stepmother, falls in with a troupe of circus dwarfs and becomes a star toreador in her own right. It is a silent film, shot in magnificent black and white.
It is a remarkable film.
Philip Roth: Unmasked
American Masters. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning novelist Philip Roth who discusses intimate aspects of his life and art shortly before his 89th Birthday. Also interviewed are Nicole Krauss. Jonathan Franzen. Mia Farrow. Martin Garbus who reflect on Roth and explores the stories behind his novels. I watched it twice and found it extremely satisfying and interesting. Very well done.
Renoir
"Set on the French Riviera in 1915, writer/director Gilles Bourdos' lushly atmospheric drama Renoir tells the story of celebrated Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet), in declining health at age 74, and his middle son Jean (Vincent Rottiers), who returns home to convalescence after being wounded in World War I. The elder Renoir is filled with a new, wholly unexpected energy when a young girl, Andrée (Christa Théret), miraculously enters his world. Blazing with life, she will become his last model, and the wellspring of a remarkable rejuvenation. At the same time, Jean also falls under the spell of the free-spirited Andrée. Their beautiful home and majestic countryside reverberate with familial intrigue, as both Renoir's become smitten with the enchanting and headstrong young muse. Renoir locates a fascinating moment of change, one century's way of thinking giving way to the next, and the passing of the torch from a great painter to the great filmmaker of such classics as Grand Illusion andRules of the Game. (Fully subtitled)" Boring and dull and at one time I fell asleep.
This film felt so dated taking itself so seriously. It was filled with pretentious romanticism.
Mister Wu, 1927
Silent. Lon Chaney. Louise Dresser. Lon Chaney stars in duel roles as a Chinese Nobleman and his Grandfather. It is about a ruthless Manchurian, who following the rules of ancient Chinese dictates, he is forced to seek revenge on the Englishman who seduces and makes pregnant his beloved daughter from his beloved deceased wife. He has to kill her for her discretion and shame an loss of honor on the eve of her wedding. He then sets out to retaliate against the English boy. I liked it!
Eden
Jamie Chung. Matt O'Leary. Beau Bridges. This arresting and suspenseful true story is about the prostitution stolen trade of how evil men in power kidnap young girls and force them into prostitution. It was a chilling and harrowing true story. I sat at the edge of my seat the entire time. The actress was remarkable.
Bunty and Babli. 2005
Indian's #1 Film. A long film with lots of dancing and moral lessons and fun-loving criminals who rob and cheat and steal not to line their own pockets but to make the world a better place. This heartwarming film was a delight and a feast to the eyes. I so enjoyed it. Rachel will love it!
How Green Was My Valley, 1941
Renoir
"Set on the French Riviera in 1915, writer/director Gilles Bourdos' lushly atmospheric drama Renoir tells the story of celebrated Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet), in declining health at age 74, and his middle son Jean (Vincent Rottiers), who returns home to convalescence after being wounded in World War I. The elder Renoir is filled with a new, wholly unexpected energy when a young girl, Andrée (Christa Théret), miraculously enters his world. Blazing with life, she will become his last model, and the wellspring of a remarkable rejuvenation. At the same time, Jean also falls under the spell of the free-spirited Andrée. Their beautiful home and majestic countryside reverberate with familial intrigue, as both Renoir's become smitten with the enchanting and headstrong young muse. Renoir locates a fascinating moment of change, one century's way of thinking giving way to the next, and the passing of the torch from a great painter to the great filmmaker of such classics as Grand Illusion andRules of the Game. (Fully subtitled)" Boring and dull and at one time I fell asleep.
This film felt so dated taking itself so seriously. It was filled with pretentious romanticism.
Mister Wu, 1927
Silent. Lon Chaney. Louise Dresser. Lon Chaney stars in duel roles as a Chinese Nobleman and his Grandfather. It is about a ruthless Manchurian, who following the rules of ancient Chinese dictates, he is forced to seek revenge on the Englishman who seduces and makes pregnant his beloved daughter from his beloved deceased wife. He has to kill her for her discretion and shame an loss of honor on the eve of her wedding. He then sets out to retaliate against the English boy. I liked it!
Eden
Jamie Chung. Matt O'Leary. Beau Bridges. This arresting and suspenseful true story is about the prostitution stolen trade of how evil men in power kidnap young girls and force them into prostitution. It was a chilling and harrowing true story. I sat at the edge of my seat the entire time. The actress was remarkable.
Bunty and Babli. 2005
Indian's #1 Film. A long film with lots of dancing and moral lessons and fun-loving criminals who rob and cheat and steal not to line their own pockets but to make the world a better place. This heartwarming film was a delight and a feast to the eyes. I so enjoyed it. Rachel will love it!
How Green Was My Valley, 1941
Nowhere To Go, 1958
Michael Balcon. George Nader. Maggie Smith. Nader plays a thief who bungles his own escape and get-rich plan.
He works alone. He plans a classy, decent guy who does deceitful things, con man. Smith is so young - the opposite of Downton Abbey. You are rooting for Nader to win when you know he should not as he games people and plays with their sympathy.
Penny Serenade, 1941
Cary Grant. Irene Dunne. George Steven's heartwarming study of the young married couple who cannot have children, adopt, and watch her grow, only to loose her through illness when she is six years old. Grant is fabulous in his emotional range and commitment to his daughter. It was profoundly sad, yet had a redemptive element at the end.
Made For Each Other, 1939
Carole Lombard. James Stewart. John Cromwell directed this unusual blend of problems that a young couple faces. Again, their child nearly dies but for a life-saving medicine that must be flown immediately from Salt Lake City to New York in a matter of hours in a terrible thunderstorm. Why another dying child! The movie is dated, suspenseful and kept my attention. The dialogue was fresh and relevant especially in relation to daughter-in-laws and mother-in-laws.
Compulsion, 1959
Orson Welles as Clarence Darrel. Dean Stockwell. This is the story by Meir Levin about the Leopold, Loeb murder case that took place in 1924 when these two brilliant Jewish college boys from The University of Chicago, who lived in Hyde Park with their millionaire parents decided to try and commit the perfect murder so they took the first cousin of one of the boys, a 14 year old and lured him into their car and murdered him. They were discovered because in their haste one of the boys left his glasses. They teased the cops throwing them cues. These glasses had a special hinge, were very expensive, and only three people in Chicago had bought them. This was how they were able to nail the murder charge. One of the boys, had an IQ over 210. It was so high that the test could not test him. He was a genius. He went to college at 14. Tragic, tragic loss of life in so many ways.
The Wrecking Crew
"The Wrecking Crew is a documentary film that tells the story of the unsung anonymous musicians that provided the backbeat, the bottom and the swinging melody that drove many of the number one hits of the 1960s. It didn't matter if it was Frank Sinatra, The Monkees, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Mama and Papa's, The Righteous Brothers, Glen Campbell, Carol Kaye, these dedicated musicians brought the flair and musicianship that made The West Coast sound and American music the dominant cultural force not only here, but around the world. A fun, touching and moving tribute to the music, the times and to those secret power hitters of the West Coast recording scene, The Wrecking Crew is directed by Denny Tedesco as a loving memoir to his father Tommy Tedesco, one of the key guitarists of the Wrecking Crew." This entertaining and very interesting film was the soundtrack of my life. I had no idea that this core group of 20-30 musicians played on the records for all the great, great artists of the 50's, 60's, 70's. Most of the singers of the groups cannot play music well enough so they hired this hardcore group who was the soundtrack. Their names never appeared on the albums. I loved it.
Open Verdict, 1946
Sidney Greenstreet. Peter Lorre. This is a match wits of a whodunit set in gas-lit London. Dark and rainy and wet and spooky, I guessed every person but the one who did it! The title comes at the very end of the movie!
Diana Vreeland
The Eye Has To Travel, 2012
A superb documentary of a remarkable woman who overcame a devastating childhood of a cruel and mean mother to become the fashion creator for decades. Editor-in-Chief of Bazaar and Vogue and The Met Costume Design. She was truly a remarkable figure in fashion and creator of fashion.
Lawyer Man, 1932
William Powell. Joan Blondell. A lawyer who gets his payback when he is messed with. Cute. Forgettable.
Joan Rivers
A Piece of Work. 2010
One of the finest, most moving documentaries of this remarkable comedian who is has foresight, is courageous, hard-working, kind and has a big heart. I loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
The Secret Garden, 1949
Margaret O'Brian. Herbert Marshall. An allegorical story of an orphan who restores a garden at an eerie estate which helps change the lives of her sickly cousin and bitter uncle. This was one of the more stupid films I have seen. Dated. Sentimental. Maudlin. Stupid. It is nothing like the book. No magic or mystery. The actors read their lines. Really awful.
Swimming in Auschwitz
Directed by Jon Kean. The stories of six Jewish women who survived the concentration camp. Lili. Most moving with the ring story. Ericka Jacoby. Hungarian. Orthodox background. Very classy and articulate. Most impressive to me.
Anna and The King of Siam, 1946
Irene Dunne. Rex Harrison. The story of Anna Leonowen's who undertakes the education of the potentate's family. The facts are all wrong. Hr son Louie does not die, becomes estranged but does not die. She has a daughter whom she leaves back in England. She is not beautiful but in real life, quite ugly. The film was good though and I kept hearing the musical breaking into song!
As Long As You've Got Health, 1966
Pierre Etaix. Four comedic vignettes focusing on an insomniac husband, patrons trying to find a seat at the movies, a stressed psychiatrist and a hunter, picnickers and a farmer converging on a wooded area. I liked this last one the best. He is a very clever and original creator of film. There are details that are so sharp and original that it took my breath away.
Small details but they were so fresh it felt fabulous to see them. Details like as he is reading the book, the screen kept going back but it was because the actor was falling asleep so his eyelids kept closing! Things like this.
Insomnia. The Movies. Into the Woods No More. As Long as You've Got Health.
Happy Anniversary, 1962
Lucien Fregis. "Oscar-Wining live-action short chronicles the misadventures of a husband who encounters many obstacles while racing home to an anniversary dinner being prepared by his wife." Pierre Etaix acted in it and co-wrote and co-directed it too. It would never win today and felt dated. It was still charming.
Le Grand Amour, 1968
Pierre Etaix. Annie Fratellini. Etaix directed and stars in this charming satire on marriage. It is absolutely delightful and fun and so French. It is all about love and fantasy on wanting to commit adultery and how his fantasy becomes perilously close to being acted upon. And, then his jealously when he suspects his wife has been doing just this! He analyzes love from all direction! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Central Park Five
Ken Burns compelling documentary that examines the 1989 case of the Central park jogger who was ganged raped, or thought to be, by five black hoodlum teenagers. They were convicted and when to jail. Years later it the real rapist confessed and bragged in jail and these teenagers were ultimately released. However, the rage and anger and scars from serving jail time in hard core prisons ,left on their psyches permanent damage. It was sad, indeed.
The Craigslist Killer
Jake McDorman. Billy Baldwin. Agnes Bruckner. The story of the Boston University medical student Philip Markoff dubbed the Craigslist Killer for an alleged spree of attacks and murder who advertised on their erotic web site. He led a double life and was on his way to getting married to a lovely young woman. He crushed her emotionally too. Her name was Megan McAllister. It was a riveting.
Pride and Prejudice, 1940
Greer Garson. Lawrence Olivier. Beautifully acted version of Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel about pre-victorian English society. However, still my favorite is the 1995 Masterpiece Theater version.
Open Verdict, 1946
Sidney Greenstreet. Peter Lorre. This is a match wits of a whodunit set in gas-lit London. Dark and rainy and wet and spooky, I guessed every person but the one who did it! The title comes at the very end of the movie!
Diana Vreeland
The Eye Has To Travel, 2012
A superb documentary of a remarkable woman who overcame a devastating childhood of a cruel and mean mother to become the fashion creator for decades. Editor-in-Chief of Bazaar and Vogue and The Met Costume Design. She was truly a remarkable figure in fashion and creator of fashion.
Lawyer Man, 1932
William Powell. Joan Blondell. A lawyer who gets his payback when he is messed with. Cute. Forgettable.
Joan Rivers
A Piece of Work. 2010
One of the finest, most moving documentaries of this remarkable comedian who is has foresight, is courageous, hard-working, kind and has a big heart. I loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
The Secret Garden, 1949
Margaret O'Brian. Herbert Marshall. An allegorical story of an orphan who restores a garden at an eerie estate which helps change the lives of her sickly cousin and bitter uncle. This was one of the more stupid films I have seen. Dated. Sentimental. Maudlin. Stupid. It is nothing like the book. No magic or mystery. The actors read their lines. Really awful.
Swimming in Auschwitz
Directed by Jon Kean. The stories of six Jewish women who survived the concentration camp. Lili. Most moving with the ring story. Ericka Jacoby. Hungarian. Orthodox background. Very classy and articulate. Most impressive to me.
Anna and The King of Siam, 1946
Irene Dunne. Rex Harrison. The story of Anna Leonowen's who undertakes the education of the potentate's family. The facts are all wrong. Hr son Louie does not die, becomes estranged but does not die. She has a daughter whom she leaves back in England. She is not beautiful but in real life, quite ugly. The film was good though and I kept hearing the musical breaking into song!
As Long As You've Got Health, 1966
Pierre Etaix. Four comedic vignettes focusing on an insomniac husband, patrons trying to find a seat at the movies, a stressed psychiatrist and a hunter, picnickers and a farmer converging on a wooded area. I liked this last one the best. He is a very clever and original creator of film. There are details that are so sharp and original that it took my breath away.
Small details but they were so fresh it felt fabulous to see them. Details like as he is reading the book, the screen kept going back but it was because the actor was falling asleep so his eyelids kept closing! Things like this.
Insomnia. The Movies. Into the Woods No More. As Long as You've Got Health.
Happy Anniversary, 1962
Lucien Fregis. "Oscar-Wining live-action short chronicles the misadventures of a husband who encounters many obstacles while racing home to an anniversary dinner being prepared by his wife." Pierre Etaix acted in it and co-wrote and co-directed it too. It would never win today and felt dated. It was still charming.
Le Grand Amour, 1968
Pierre Etaix. Annie Fratellini. Etaix directed and stars in this charming satire on marriage. It is absolutely delightful and fun and so French. It is all about love and fantasy on wanting to commit adultery and how his fantasy becomes perilously close to being acted upon. And, then his jealously when he suspects his wife has been doing just this! He analyzes love from all direction! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Central Park Five
Ken Burns compelling documentary that examines the 1989 case of the Central park jogger who was ganged raped, or thought to be, by five black hoodlum teenagers. They were convicted and when to jail. Years later it the real rapist confessed and bragged in jail and these teenagers were ultimately released. However, the rage and anger and scars from serving jail time in hard core prisons ,left on their psyches permanent damage. It was sad, indeed.
The Craigslist Killer
Jake McDorman. Billy Baldwin. Agnes Bruckner. The story of the Boston University medical student Philip Markoff dubbed the Craigslist Killer for an alleged spree of attacks and murder who advertised on their erotic web site. He led a double life and was on his way to getting married to a lovely young woman. He crushed her emotionally too. Her name was Megan McAllister. It was a riveting.
Pride and Prejudice, 1940
Greer Garson. Lawrence Olivier. Beautifully acted version of Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel about pre-victorian English society. However, still my favorite is the 1995 Masterpiece Theater version.
The Prime Ministers
The Pioneers. Levi Eshkol. Golda Meir. Taken from the book by the same name, and covering only the first two of four, Yehuda Avner in a documentary story-telling, filled with wonderful historical film editing brings Israel's history to life.
It is old nostalgic Israel. This old Israel was the Israel that I grew up on and which nurtured my soul. Israel had now morphed into an almost unrecognizable nation and it gave me a yearning and nostalgia down memory lane.This was a remarkable piece of work and I cannot wait for the next two Prime Ministers. It was a magnificent experience and the film was simply marvelous. I feel it is one of Moriah's bests. Yehuda Avner is a wonderful storyteller and the juxtaposition of old film editing and dialogue was expertly done. I found it very interesting how even when Menachem Begin was out of office, it was he that twisted the arm of Levi Eskol to take over the Old City before the Security Council prevented Israel from doing so. History is also treating Golda Meir kinder. She ignored all Intelligence, her General recommendations and warnings of what Egypt and Syria were doing. And this action created the almost failed success of the Yom Kippur War. As a war time Prime Minister she was a total and complete failure. But I loved the movie. It is such a critical and important DVD for generations to watch and to learn. It should be made available to all the schools everywhere and anywhere.
Kon Tiki
The stunningly photographed, sweeping adventure film Kon-Tiki portrays the true voyage of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947. Together with five men, Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen) set sail to prove that South Americans already back in pre-Columbian times could have crossed the sea and settled on Polynesian islands. After gathering financing for the trip with loans and donations, he and his crew set off on an epic 101-day long journey across 8,000 kilometers, facing peril at every turn, all while the world watches. A recent Academy Award nominee, Kon-Tiki is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Max Manus: Man of War). In English. Directors: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg. Cast: Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Tobias Santelmann, Jakob Oftebro, Agnes Kittelsen. This exciting adventure story kept me in constant suspense as I expected this and that to happen and with special affects taking it out of bounds but it felt real and a pure daring and profoundly courageous adventure.
Kitty Foyle, 1940
Ginger Rogers. Dennis Morgan. (Wyn) Saga of a working-class Irish girl who falls into a mad love-affair with a wealthy wasp and through the years their relationship is tested. She finally meets a doctor who is on the -rebound but what she finally realizes is that she can marry him and it will be steady and secure and safe. Rogers won an Oscar for her performance in this movie.
What She Knew, 2006
Executive Producer and Actress Tilda Swinton. Amber Tamblyn. A TV movie about a high school student who was raped and made pregnant and then tries to kill her baby is the movie is the investigation by the forensic psychologist. Beautifully acted. Also with Timothy Hutton who plays a cheating husband. Mud
Two teenage boys encounter a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and to reunite him with his true love (Reese Witherspoon).“Confidently expanding his inquiry into the essence of American masculinity, Nichols' latest pressure-cooker pastoral conjures a wily figure of endangered Southern chivalry.” (Peter Debruge, Variety) This extraordinary film will become a classic in the sense that it is a particularly fine and fresh independent film with superb dialogue, marvelous acting, great story, with a beginning, a middle and an end. I loved it completely.
As It Is In Heaven, 2006 Up for best Foreign Film from Sweden in the final five category it never even received distribution. It was never seen by American audiences even though it was a phenomenal hit all over Europe. It is about a famous concert violinist who returns to his small village in Sweden to reclaim his lost self and in the process creates real relationships with the locals as he creates a choir. In this choir, the audience realizes that no one really cares about anyone else even though they proclaim to as buried grievances and heartaches and frustrations burst forth. The Leader, is beaten once more by the bully and for the first time, without the fame and power and groupies and fans, he finds himself and true love. Of course, she is 25 years younger than he but even so, he finds his 58 seconds of pure sound and harmony as he lays dying. I loved it. It is the type of film that stays with you for months after viewing it. Just like Mud.
Eighteen-year-old Shira is the youngest daughter of Orthodox Hassidic family. She is about to be married to a promising young man. On Purim, her older sister Ester dies. The grief overwhelms the family and postpones Shira's match. His family cancels the wedding. Bad luck. When Shira's mother finds out that her daughter's widower husband is moving to Belgium to marry and take the grandchild with him, she manipulates behind the scene with pressure and guilt and responsibility to family to get Shira to marry her brother-in-law. This is a marvelous and powerful and moving film.
I loved it. Really did.
The Gentleman's Agreement, 1947
Director: Elia Kazan. Gregory Peck. Dorothy McGuire. "A writer passes himself off as Jewish to pen a series of articles on anti-Semitism and what he learns opens his eyes to the bigotry in the world around him." McGuire was getting on my nerves with her controlling and dishonest ways. She knew that everyone at the party given by her sister knew that Peck was not really Jewish and yet lied to Peck. In this role, you see the seeds planted for Peck years later when he played Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird. To me, John Garfield stole the film with his brooding intensity and sexuality and outsiderness and vulnerability. The dialogue would never be done today. It was real language of ideas and thoughts and how people handled each other, without destroying them, teaching them without belittling them. It presented a period of civilization that is gone.
"Hero" is a word we hear often in sports, but heroism is not always about achievements on the field of play. 42 tells the story of two men whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball. In 1946, legendary Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) puts himself at the forefront of history when he signs the great Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) to the team, breaking Major League Baseball's infamous color line. But the deal also puts both Robinson and Rickey in the firing line of the public, the press and even other players. Facing unabashed racism from every side, Robinson is forced to demonstrate tremendous courage and restraint by not reacting in kind, knowing that any incident could destroy his and Rickey's hopes." This movie was more a psychological film on racisim and bigotry than a story of baseball. Boseman did a wonderful job of playing Jackie. It caught the time period and history of this country. It was a wonderful film.
Four Daughters, 1949
Claude Rains. John Garfield. Director: Michael Orvitz. The first hour was sentimental and sugary with four good girls acting goody goody. It was only when Garfield, a complete unknown actor, came into the movie that the synergy and chemistry of the film changed. His haunted and tormented and outsiderness and vulnerability felt like electricity. The other man of the film who thought that this would be his breakout film disappeared into obscurity and Garfield, who I am now obsessed with, became an overnight international sensation.
The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946
Two Alone, 1934
Jean Parker. Tom Brown. Poignant tale of two farm workers who are abused by a farmer who takes them from the orphanage and takes advantage of their aloneness in the world. They find love with each other as the farmer tries to take advantage of Maissee. Adam Lawson, the young boy that she falls in love with, saves her from an otherwise doomed fate of misery. I saw it twice, back-to-back.
English Vinglish, 2011
This fun, engaging and sweet film you watch with a smile on your face. It stars their most beautiful actress. It is about a mother and wife who feels small and diminished and disrespected by her husband and daughter. It is when she flies overseas to New York on her own, that she finally comes into her own and discovers herself.
Love is All
"In the romantic comedy Love Is All You Need, Philip (Pierce Brosnan), an Englishman living in Denmark, is a lonely, middle-aged widower and estranged single father. Ida (Trine Dyrholm) is a Danish hairdresser, recuperating from a long bout of illness, who's just been left by her husband for a younger woman, Tilde (Christine Schaumburg-Müller). The fates of these two bruised souls are about to intertwine, as they embark for a trip to Sorrento, Italy to attend the wedding of Patrick and Astrid, Philip's son and Ida's daughter. Love Is All You Need is a film about the simple yet profound pains and joys of moving on—and forward—with your life. Directed and co-written by Susanne Bier (In a Better World, Things We Lost in the Fire). (Partially subtitled)"It was lovely to watch and participate in and forgettable as the hours went on once I left the theater. Dyrholm played her role understated which gave it a quiet power of dignity and depth of feeling. She tried to put the best foot forward, even to the point of utter denial but ultimately facing truth and standing up for herself gave it back to her.
Late Spring, 1949
High Society, 1956
Frank Sinatra. Grace Kelly. Bing Crosby. Louis Armstrong. "Heiress Grace Kelly's wedding plans are complicated by a reporter and her ex-husband who show up and get her to confront herself and her feelings. There is great music and singing by the crooners. This has to be one of Kelly's best roles. She is simply beautiful. And Armstrong plays fantastically. What a personality and presence and genius of talent.
Stand By Me, 1986
I Take This Woman, 1940
Spencer Trace. Hedy Lamarr. This movie is about a doctor in new York who falls in love with, after saving her life when she tried to jump off a ship, and he marries her knowing she is deeply in love with a married man. The dialogue is real and present and understanding of being consumed by this kind of love Lamarr is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. It is a simple movie that the studios spit out. It doesn't completely work but it is good enough.
Stella Dallas, 1937
Barbara Stanwyck. Anne Shirley. Stanwyck plays a low class daughter of a father who works in a mill and she schemes and plots to marry up but when she does she is unable to make the transition into manners and dress and appropriate behavior. She appears and acts low class. However, she sacrifices her daughter so that her daughter will have access to the wealth and opportunity that her ex-husband can provide. Directed by a man who escaped Hungary and who was forever the outsider in his life and personal psychology, the last scene where she stands outside in the rain watching her daughter's wedding is profoundly sad. This is a very fine film and a classic.
So Big, 1932
Stories We Tell
"In the inspired, genre-twisting new film Stories We Tell, Oscar-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley (Away From Her) discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. As each relates their version of the family mythology, present-day recollections shift into nostalgia-tinged glimpses of their mother, who departed too soon, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. Polley unravels the paradoxes to reveal the essence of family: always complicated, warmly messy and fiercely loving. Stories We Tellexplores the elusive nature of truth and memory, but at its core is a deeply personal film about how our narratives shape and define us as individuals and families, all interconnecting to paint a profound, funny and poignant picture of the larger human story." A riveting sad story of a broken and damaged family by a mother's behavior that resulted in a secret love child, not raised by her biological father and how this secret emerges and gets defined and understood. I felt the father's rage came out only at the very end when he said that he felt the sorry person was Harry from Lies My Father Told Me fame, who turned out to be the biological father. To paraphrase, he did not get to raise you, I did. Yah de da de dah dah. I liked Harry the best, a brilliant Jewish thoughtful intellectual.
Ace In The Hole, 1951
Written and Directed by Billy Wilder. Kirk Douglas. Jan Sterling. Porter Hall. It is a story of a ruthless, amoral and immoral reporter who squeezes headlines from a mine cave-in in order to make his fame and name and it all backfires because of his lack of principle. The poor father, the only one who loved his son and was not exploiting him for gain. It is a scathing indictment of bad values, of how people use and abuse each other, how you can trust no one but those who truly love you and have your back and watch out for you. The movie failed and it is becoming now, sixty years later, a cult classic.
Frances Ha
"Frances Ha, a modern comic fable from Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale),explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure and redemption. Frances (co-writer Greta Gerwig), the exuberant 27-year-old heroine, is always on the move without ever seeming to get anywhere. The truth is she knows exactly where she wants to go, she's just unwilling to make the kind of compromises that might get her there. A fount of optimism, Frances is singularly compelling because she never lets anything—including reality—slow her down. Frances lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie (Mickey Sumner), but they aren't really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has, but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. Director/co-writer Baumbach shot this exhilarating comedy in black and white, using the music of Georges Delerue, composer for Truffaut's French New Wave classics." I found this film very sad, filled with lost and confused souls and loneliness. There was no community but secular people in isolation. coming together, but having nothing, little direction and motivation. It is today, contemporary and reflective of millions of young people. Sad.
What Maisie Knew
After Midnight
"Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) first met in their twenties in Before Sunrise, reunited in their thirties in Before Sunset, and now, in director/co-writer Richard Linklater's Before Midnight, they face the past, present and future. Jesse's a successful novelist, and they're in Greece at a writer's retreat, staying in the bucolic country villa of an older expat writer, Patrick (Walter Lassally). As a treat, their Greek friends have gifted Jesse and Celine with a night at a luxurious seaside hotel while they babysit their young twin daughters Ella and Nina (Jennifer and Charlotte Prior). Feeling the undercurrent of friction between them, Celine wants to beg off, but their friends insist. They set off on foot through the spectacular countryside, enjoying each other's company, talking, teasing, debating, flirting. But for Jesse and Celine, realities intrude: the weight of children, work, ambitions, disappointments and the strains of an evolving, deepening relationship. Their idyllic night tests them in unexpected ways, and before the clock strikes midnight, their story again unfolds." In the previous two films. Delpy is sweet and feminine and charming. In this, she was a bitch, manipulative, and so absorbed that everything evolved around her. I could not stand her. At the root of the problem, Jesse felt agonized that he had to leave his son and she was threatened and angry and bitter and resentful. I could not stand her.
Michael Douglas. Matt Damon. "Adaptation of Scott Thorson's book about this five year love affair (17-22 years) with renowned entertainer Liberace who was four decades older at the time, when they met in the 1970's. Liberace lavished him with gifts and attention before his bitter break-up." Thorson had been a orphan and Liberace preyed upon him, seducing him by his wealth and attention, even making him do plastic surgery so that he would look like Liberace, promising to adopt him, promising him a home and security and a place in his will. None of these promises bore out.
Thorson was destroyed and for the rest of his life he has never been able to let go and has been in and out of jail and a drug addict. Douglas was brilliant. I forgot at times that I was watching an actor and not the personality. The music was magnificent. It captured the showmanship, the entertainer, the grand wealth of Liberace. It captured the gay lifestyle. I cannot stand to see gay men go at it. It repulses me and this show had plenty of it. It was a superb production.
SCATTER MY ASHES AT BERGDORF’S
"It's the most mythic of all American emporiums - and the scene of many an ultimate fashion fantasy. Now audiences get a rarified chance to peek behind the back room doors and into the reality of the fascinating inner workings and fabulous untold stories from Bergdorf Goodman’s iconic history in Matthew Miele's Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's. The legend, the parties, the fashion idols, the windows, the women, the buyers and shoppers -- and most of all, the quintessentially American dreams of New York's high-fashion hot-spot - all come to life in an ode to a realm where creativity and commerce reign equally supreme. With a light touch, Miele explores not just the glamour but the passion behind the daily creation of this luxury mecca in a film as dynamic, lush and intimate as the store itself." I thoroughly entertaining and information film of this most luxurious department stores. Neiman Marcus now owns it. It reminded me of Selfridges in England. I loved it.
I Remember Mama, 1948
Directed by George Stevens. Irene Dunne. Barbara Bel Geddes. This warmly nostalgic adaptation of the John Van Druten play about a Norwegian struggling family with four children and three aunts and an uncle in early 1900 San Francisco touched the heart strings of America. I have seen it several times and love the soft curves and round corners of how drama and conflict is presented.
The Full Monty, 1997
Tom Wilkinson. Robert Carlyle. This Oscar-nominated comedy, unemployed out-of-shape English steal workers decide to take up exotic dancing after see the success of the Chippendale dancers. The movie is charming, the relationships of male bonding but the movie is so so dated.
Moonrise Kingdom, 2012
"In this stylized comedy? from the quirky director Wes Anderson, two twelve-year-olds at summer camp in 1965 run off together into the wilderness, leaving adults and friends to search for them as a violent storm approaches." The film never grabbed me. There is an emotional distance and silliness and control and mockery that I could not let go of. I am glad I saw it on TV and did not pay for it.
Trouble With The Curve, 2012
Clint Eastwood. Amy Adams. Justin Timberlake. This movie received poor reviews but I watched it twice. I loved the pace, the actors, the storyline. I think one reason it was panned is that it came out after Eastwood presented himself at the RNC in August and people were furious at him for doing so, so they boycotted the film. Adams, I learned later, was pregnant during the filming of the movie, so I found it interesting how they hid this fact in the move. I love her. Eastwood must have issues with a lost daughter because many of his movies have this same theme of how an estranged father or father-figure is able to make amends with the daughter he wronged in their early life together.
Three Comrades, 1938
Franchot Tone. Robert Taylor. Robert Young. Margaret Sullivan Erich Maria Remarque's tale of young German men after World War 1, who return home to their friendship intact, but their dreams and hopes broken. They stick together even with one of them, Taylor, falling in love. She joins the group until her health breaks, Young is murdered and at the end, the two remaining leave for South America to begin anew. As long as you don't give in, you are bigger than what happens to you. This was a moving and touching story.
Forbidden Hollywood
1. Jewel Robbery
2. Lawyer Man
3. Man Wanted
4. They Call It Sin
Four charming films, well done, and engaging, that were all blacklisted and not seen or released. Loved them thoroughly!
Now You See Me
"The thriller Now You See Me pits an elite FBI squad in a game of cat-and-mouse against "The Four Horsemen," a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists. The Four Horsemen pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audience while staying one step ahead of the law. Directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans), Now You See Me stars Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman." This film was boring, convoluted, repetitious, with sound affects kazoo. The plot was too hard to follow. I could not wait until it was over.
The Sheik, 1921I Remember Mama, 1948
Directed by George Stevens. Irene Dunne. Barbara Bel Geddes. This warmly nostalgic adaptation of the John Van Druten play about a Norwegian struggling family with four children and three aunts and an uncle in early 1900 San Francisco touched the heart strings of America. I have seen it several times and love the soft curves and round corners of how drama and conflict is presented.
The Full Monty, 1997
Tom Wilkinson. Robert Carlyle. This Oscar-nominated comedy, unemployed out-of-shape English steal workers decide to take up exotic dancing after see the success of the Chippendale dancers. The movie is charming, the relationships of male bonding but the movie is so so dated.
Moonrise Kingdom, 2012
"In this stylized comedy? from the quirky director Wes Anderson, two twelve-year-olds at summer camp in 1965 run off together into the wilderness, leaving adults and friends to search for them as a violent storm approaches." The film never grabbed me. There is an emotional distance and silliness and control and mockery that I could not let go of. I am glad I saw it on TV and did not pay for it.
Trouble With The Curve, 2012
Clint Eastwood. Amy Adams. Justin Timberlake. This movie received poor reviews but I watched it twice. I loved the pace, the actors, the storyline. I think one reason it was panned is that it came out after Eastwood presented himself at the RNC in August and people were furious at him for doing so, so they boycotted the film. Adams, I learned later, was pregnant during the filming of the movie, so I found it interesting how they hid this fact in the move. I love her. Eastwood must have issues with a lost daughter because many of his movies have this same theme of how an estranged father or father-figure is able to make amends with the daughter he wronged in their early life together.
Three Comrades, 1938
Franchot Tone. Robert Taylor. Robert Young. Margaret Sullivan Erich Maria Remarque's tale of young German men after World War 1, who return home to their friendship intact, but their dreams and hopes broken. They stick together even with one of them, Taylor, falling in love. She joins the group until her health breaks, Young is murdered and at the end, the two remaining leave for South America to begin anew. As long as you don't give in, you are bigger than what happens to you. This was a moving and touching story.
Forbidden Hollywood
1. Jewel Robbery
2. Lawyer Man
3. Man Wanted
4. They Call It Sin
Four charming films, well done, and engaging, that were all blacklisted and not seen or released. Loved them thoroughly!
Now You See Me
"The thriller Now You See Me pits an elite FBI squad in a game of cat-and-mouse against "The Four Horsemen," a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists. The Four Horsemen pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audience while staying one step ahead of the law. Directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans), Now You See Me stars Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman." This film was boring, convoluted, repetitious, with sound affects kazoo. The plot was too hard to follow. I could not wait until it was over.
Silent film. Rudolph Valentino. Agnes Ayres. This classic film is about a desert Arab chieftain, (who is really a western) who kidnaps a Lady, an English heiress. She, of course, falls in love with him and it is about her foolishness code of conduct and tribal customs. I have seen it several times and each time fall in love with it.
My Left Foot, 1989
"This cinematic masterpiece is the brilliant portrayal of legendary Irishman Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis) who, despite crippling cerebral palsy, learned to use his one controllable extremity -- his left foot -- to become an accomplished artist and writer. The Miramax Collector’s Series proudly presents the release of the acclaimed motion picture that won Academy Awards® in 1989 for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Supporting Actress (Brenda Fricker) and earned Oscar(R) nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (1989)." Day Lewis's performance is stunning and masterful and it is hard to believe that he does not have cerebral palsy. After I watched the film I saw that in real life he married the nurse, abandoning his long time love in the States with whom he was having an affair. Sadly, she abused and tortured him badly, he choked on one of her lamb chops and their bruises all over his body from her. He was 49 years old when he died.
All Of Me
"The "Girls" have been friends for years, bonding over hopes, dreams, food and the shared experience of being obese. But after weight loss surgery, their center shifts and upsets everything they know about happiness." This extremely disturbing film to me, had at the root of it, a profound emotional trauma that obese people have that enables them to use food to blunt out their pain. Others use alcohol, gambling, what ever, but this obsession has devastating consequences and after a while, it is no longer about the pain, but about their weight. A superb documentary.
Lizzie, 1957
Eleanor Parker. Richard Boone. Adaptation of Shirley Jackson's centering on a woman with three personalities, the bitch Elizabeth, meek lizzie and wonderful Beth. It is a lousy and dated film, her therapist would be disbarred for his behavior toward her and though he saved her life, penetrating her secrets, blaming herself for her mother's death and being raped by the mother's boyfriend, would not be enough to save her. It was stupid!
The Age of Innocence, 1993
Director: Martin Scorcee. Daniel Day Lewis. Michelle Pfeiffer. Winona Ryder. Pulitzer Prize winner novel by Edith Wharton. The movie takes place in New York society in the 1870's. Lewis is Archer. Pfeiffer is Countess Olenska. The narrator from the text itself is Joanne Woodward. Ryder, the supreme manipulator of them all, is May. It is a ravishing romance about three wealthy New Yorkers who are caught in a tragic love triangle. The movie/book captures the grandeur and hypocrisy of high society and is a devastating portrait of hidden romance and regret. One of the greatest novels of the 20th Century and the movie is superb and profound, filled with acting of brilliant nuance and emotion.
Love Marilyn, 2012
I am obsessed with this mysterious lost foundling except she is never cared for by others but only used and abused by them. This documentary with a perfect musical score is "an intimate look at the life death and legacy of Monroe. It features a close examination of her personal diaries and papers. The film also includes comments from contemporary celebrities. One simple reason for her life stories endurance is the premature end of it. When the past dies, there is mourning, but when the future dies, our imaginations are compelled to carry it on. Gloria Steinem. Marilyn. Marilyn. Why did everything have to turn out the way it did? Truman Capote. Words find out their meaning. Marilyn Monroe.
The bad is heavier to gather around... In the center was a darkness and tragedy that I did not know the dimensions of.
Arthur Miller.
The Bling Ring
"From Oscar-winning writer and director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), The Bling Ring tells the story of a group of teenagers who burglarize celebrities' homes in Los Angeles. Tracking their targets' whereabouts online, they break in and steal their designer clothes and possessions. Through the Bling Ring members' eyes, we see temptations that almost any teenager would feel—what starts out as teenage fun spins out of control and leaves us with a sobering view of today's culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession. Inspired by actual events, The Bling Ring stars Emma Watson alongside new talent Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Julien and Taissa Farmiga. Based on the Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales, the film also features Leslie Mann, Gavin Rossdale, and real-life Bling Ring victim, Paris Hilton. I found this movie deeply disturbing. The parents are absent or will defend at any cost their child, no matter how bad this child's behavior may be. The values, or lack of them, is prevalent. The lives empty. The concept of hard work and focus and lack of indulgence is non-existent. There is little if any insight. Just excuses and rationalizations as to why they stole and stole and stole. The celebrities possessions of vast piles of jewelry, endless rows of clothes and shoes and houses and materialism is shocking. The kids stealing means nothing to them and they have no understanding that what they did was wrong. And, these kids like millions of others of this generation really do feel this way. The movie made me tense as I knew it to be real.
A Hijacking
Danish. This brilliant thriller captivated me from the very beginning. It was real and true and the acting was marvelous. You felt it more as a documentary than as a film! "The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian ocean. ...With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company and the pirates." Chilling. One sees the toll that it takes on the cook, simple hardworking men just trying to do their job. Terrific, terrific film.
A Woman's Face, 1941
Joan Crawford. Conrad Veidt. Melvyn Douglass. Directed by George Cukor, this movie was a Crawford vehicle and was a smashing success. She plays a woman with a scarred face who is a blackmailer and criminal to get back and even with society whom she feels dealt her a bad deck of cards. Suspenseful and good. Crawford is so cold and why was Douglass such a leading man?
20 Feet From Stardom
"Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. In his compelling new film 20 Feet From Stardom, director Morgan Neville shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. Triumphant and heartbreaking in equal measure, the film is both a tribute to the unsung voices who brought shape and style to popular music and a reflection on the conflicts, sacrifices and rewards of a career spent harmonizing with others. These gifted artists span a range of styles, genres and eras of popular music, but each has a uniquely fascinating and personal story to share of life spent in the shadows of superstardom. Along with rare archival footage and a peerless soundtrack, 20 Feet From Stardomboasts intimate interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Mick Jagger and Sting to name just a few. However, these world-famous figures take a backseat to the diverse array of backup singers whose lives and stories take center stage in the film." The film had a sad poignancy of faded and unrealized dreams, lost hopes and never achieving the fame they all sought. It was a superb documentary.
Lola Versus, 2012
Greta Gerwig. Joel Kinnaman. This comedy focuses on a 29 year old woman over a course of a year, after her finance breaks their engagement. She does crazy, self-destructive things and eventually everything settles out the way that it should. Cute.
Stranger On A Train, 1951
Farley Granger (Tennis Pro) Robert Walker. Hitchcock's masterpiece of suspense and build-up and truly a remarkable film in every way It is about Bruno Anthony who murders the wife of Guy and then tries to railroad him into a murder pact so he will murder his father. He plays a demented and deranged near do-well psychopath. A remarkable film.
Ride The High Country, 1962
Randolf Scott. Joe McCrea. Sam Peckinpahi's classic film about the Old West and two aging gunfighters who are hired to transport gold from a gold mine back to the bank. It is full of conversation and having to watch one's back and stupid mistakes and a girl who goes after one of the miners and betrayal and redemption. I LOVED IT! It is one of my favorite westerns and this must have been the 3rd or 4th time that I have seen it.
Sideways, 2004
Paul Giamatti. Thomas Haden Church. Virginia Madsen. Sandra Oh. This superb funny and witty comedy/drama is about two restless buddies who take a trip to the wine country for one last fling before Jack, the frat jock, gets married. It takes place over one week. Miles is a loser, morose and depressed and steals money from his mother and still pining over the loss of his wife. His book is rejected time and time again. Jack is screwing around a week before his wedding and gets the two of them in constant scraps. The first time I saw this, I could not stand the characters but this time, I had enough distance to thoroughly enjoy it, even finding myself laughing out loud. It was an excellent film and made Giamatti a star.
World War Z
"They're coming... and there will be no warning. The epic science fiction thriller World War Z stars Brad Pitt as former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane, a family man who traverses the world in a race against time. He must stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Matthew Fox, Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale also star in this apocalyptic drama, which is based on the book by Max Brooks and directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, Monster's Ball)." This deeply terrifying film was utter entertainment and good movie fun. I loved it. Brad Pitt was terrific in this genre. Israel was portrayed with positive feeling. A shock from Hollywood! The characters from Israel were good and decent.
The Way Way Back - Two Times
"In the bittersweet coming-of-age comedy The Way Way Back, a lonely and awkward yet intelligent teenage boy, Duncan (Liam James), begins to make his transition into adulthood over the course of one transformative summer. Feeling alienated from his mother Pam (Toni Colette , her domineering and disingenuous boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell), and Trent's daughter Steph (Zoe Levin) during a summer vacation in a Northeast beach town, 14-year-old Duncan gets a job at a nearby water park and gains some much-needed self-confidence under the guidance of happy-go-lucky water park employee Owen (Sam Rockwell), who approaches life from a fresh new perspective. Also starring Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet."
In this deeply satisfying film, the sleeper-of-the-summer, everything a film should be became. The actors were perfectly cast. There were no surprise Hollywood endings, like the lead character Duncan did not suddenly transform into something he was not. He developed. There was much humor - I laughed out loud many times, and other times were sad and poignant. Millions of children must live under conditions like these, where parents are trying to figure out their lives to such a degree, they cannot be parents to their children It was simply a wonderful, wonderful movie.
Perfect Pitch, 2012
Skylar Astin. Anna Kendrick. A light weight, predictable, boring film about college cappella competition groups.
Just Like A Woman
"JUST LIKE A WOMAN tells the poignant tale of two women, barely more than casual acquaintances, who, upon escaping the prisons of their unhappy marriages, embark on a revealing journey of self discovery which leads them to the importance – and true meaning – of friendship. Mona (Golshifteh Farahani), 26, an immigrant from North Africa, runs her in-laws’ mini market in Chicago. She’s married to Mourad, a man who can’t stand up to his authoritarian mother. Mona is harassed by her mother-in-law because after five years of marriage, she hasn’t be able to get pregnant, something that’s considered a shame and a taboo in her culture. Marilyn (Sienna Miller), 29, is a receptionist at a computer repair company. Her marriage with Harvey is on the ropes. The only thing in her life that makes her happy is her belly dance class, a passion shared by Mona. Dancing at family gatherings lifts her spirits up and makes her forget the misery of her daily life. Marilyn shops at Mona’s mini-market. They’ve become friends. One morning, Mona’s mother-in-law is found dead in her bed. Mona realizes that she mixed the wrong dose while preparing her medicine. Realizing that she might be accused of murder, Mona runs away and flees Chicago by bus. Marilyn loses her job because of the recession. When she gets home, she finds out that her husband is cheating on her. With nothing left to lose, Mona decides to go to Santa Fe to enter a contest hoping to join a famous belly dance company. Mona and Marilyn run into each other on a rest area on the side of a highway. They decide to continue the trip together. They cross the USA, pitching their tent in trailer parks and in the middle of the desert. They earn some cash belly-dancing together in restaurants and bars. Back in Chicago, Mona is considered a fugitive; she’s wanted for the murder of her mother-in-law. Harvey asks the police to look for Marilyn who disappeared without leaving a trace. Will Marilyn succeed in joining the belly dance company? How long will Mona be able to keep her secret from Marilyn? And how long will she be able to escape the law?" This is the kind of gem that is found when one attends Film Festivals. The film is anchored and centered and carried by Miller, although the bigger story is about Mona. But one feels truly sorry when Marilyn cannot live out her dreams. But ultimately she gets the courage to leave her bad boy husband of ten years. It was a lovely film.
Gilda, 1946
Rita Hayworth. Glenn Ford. Haywood plays the hot fire of Buenos Aires and Ford plays the gambler who cannot resist her and hates her for it. The movie is directed by King Vidor. It gets a bit complicated but when Hayworth is on the screen, the movie becomes interesting and passionate. She is so so hot! She makes the movie and steals every scene. I love her.
Ransom, 1956
Glenn Ford. Donna Reed. Leslie Nielsen. This is a movie about a wealthy businessman and wife whose only child is stolen and what he chooses to do. The acting is brilliant. Gripping story. Felt very real. It feels like a play.
Vanishing Fiancee, 1978
Directed and Screen play by Francois Truffaut. Natalie Bayne. It is about two lovers who find each other and who are obsessed with death. The man becomes stranger and stranger and is so shattered by his new wife's death that he becomes weird and at the end bizarre. A very strange movie. I did not particularly like it.
Desert Nights, 1929
John Gilbert. Ernest Torrence. Silent Film. Thieves rob a diamond mine and escape into the desert taking the mine's manager. They desperately try to survive out in the desert. Entertaining.
Now, Voyager, 1942
A Bette David classic. With Paul Henreid. A woman is nearly destroyed by her brutal and mean, mean mother. A psychiatrist saves her and she embarks on a six month cruise where she meets this marvelous married man. They end up saving each others desperate lives. She transforms into a polished and beautiful woman. It is a terrific film.
Trade Winds, 1938
Fredric March. Joan Bennett. Romantic melodrama about a detective pursuing a lovely fugitive from justice across the Pacific and back to San Francisco. Utterly forgettable and silly but kept my interest --
The Hunt
Danish. "A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie. Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his penetrating turn in the starring role." This disturbing film that develops like the Salem Witch trials shows how easy it is to destroy an innocent man's reputation and how easily people succumb to mob psychology. It is all based or conjecture, innuendo, etc. This was a very, very fine film.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 2005Brad Pitt. Angelina Jolie. Both of these superstars fell in love while filming this movie and a modern day version of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and Debbie Reynolds was born. It is a mediocre film used as a showcase for these two superstars. They play a bored couple who are both secret spies and assassins and unknown to them have been hired to kill each other from rival organizations.
A Woman of Affairs, 1928
Silent. Great Garbo. John Gilbert. One of my favorite combo films of these two stars. There is such chemistry and communication! It is about a gallant but reckless young girl who falls in love with a young man whose family refuses to let him marry. There is theft, alcoholism, and suicide, passion and unrequited and unsolved love. It is a wonderful film.
The Grandmaster
Wong Kar Wai, Director
Chinese. This highly stylized and atmospheric kung fu film kept an emotional distance and a rainy slick atmosphere. I cannot imagine appealing to American audiences. It is not relatable. Mr Ip, whose story is being told, was the Grandmaster to Bruce Lee.
The Spirit of St. Louis, 1957
Director: Billy Wilder. James Stewart. Murray Hamilton. Wilder recreated this Lindbergh movie about his nonstop flight from New York to Paris on May 20, 1927. It was the first solo air-flight that flew across the Atlantic ever and ushered in the Age of Air Space travel. He was 25 years old. Stewart was too old to be playing this part at age 47 and the movie did not do well although it was a fine film.
The Fruitville Station
"Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic feature and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Ryan Coogler'sFruitvale Station follows the true story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son to his mother (Octavia Spencer, The Help), whose birthday falls on New Year's Eve; being a better partner to his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), who he hasn't been completely honest with as of late; and being a better father to Tatiana (Ariana Neal), their beautiful four year-old daughter. Crossing paths with friends, family, and strangers, Oscar starts out well, but as the day goes on, he realizes that change is not going to come easily. His resolve takes a tragic turn, however, when BART officers shoot him in cold blood at the Fruitvale subway stop on New Year's Day." This sad film depicts how blacks view whites - with suspicious and distrust and sometimes, raw hatred. Oscar was a likable kid who was just growing up and beginning to accept responsibility. He certainly did not deserve to die and it was about being at the wrong place at the wrong time, in a volatile and unstable situation that quickly got out of control and with a scared cop. It was a good film and heartbreaking over the loss that his daughter will have to deal with for the rest of her life.
John Gilbert. Leila Hyams. Gilbert plays a magician who escapes several times from a false murder charge and given the death sentence, and it is only at the end that he finally finds justice and gets the girl at the end. An enjoyable film.
Red Eye, 2005
Karen McAdams. Cilhan Murphy. On a night flight to Miami, a hotel manager becomes a pawn in a plot to assassinate the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Wes Craven directed this nail-biting suspense thriller. I was on the edge of my chair. It is a well done film. I loved it, as tense as I was!
Don't Divorce! Children Talk, 2012
"Children talk about divorce and offer advice for parents to make sure kids are not manipulated, forgotten or mistreated when the time for permanent separation comes." Sad. So sad.
First Comes Love, 2012
"Filmmaker Nina Davenport chronicles her journey to motherhood as a single forty something in NYC with help from friends including a gay man who becomes her sperm donor, but also while dealing with the death of her mom. It was directed, produced, written, filmed and edited by Nina Davenport." I found the film a profoundly sad commentary on current relationships today. Everyone loves a child but no one wants permanent commitment. Even Justin's daddy wanted it on tape that he would not be responsible for any financial responsibility, although he enjoyed dropping in and taking care of him. Everything seemed so casual and disappointing and noncommittal and self-absorbing and living without a steady paycheck and needy and confusing and fundamentally sad.
Mary and Martha
Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn. Two mothers, one English and the other from North Carolina, bond over the loss of their sons to malaria while in Africa and become tireless advocates for the eradication of the disease. At the end of the movie you see the distribution of malaria nets which I discovered no one uses them anyway. These two grief stricken mothers were mobilized to galvanize themselves out of unbearable sorrow and grief.
The Cheshire Murders
A chronicle of a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, Conn., that resulted in arson and the deaths of the mother Jennifer, 18-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Makala. Steven Hayes and Josh Komisarjevsky were both committed to death. Dr. Petit started the Petit Family Foundation. He was not interviewed for this documentary - only Jennifer's family. It was directed and produced and edited by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner.
Won't back Down, 2012
Maggie Gyllenhaal. Viola Davis. A headstrong mother and a teacher wage a struggle to save their children's school but find that there forward thinking ideas are hampered every step of the way by apathy, cynicism, self-interest and systematic bureaucracy. A predictable film with wonderful acting by Davis.
The Spectacular Now
"With sly humor and an intensity of feeling, The Spectacular Now creates a vivid, three-dimensional portrait of youth confronting the funny, thrilling and perilous business of modern love and adulthood. This is the tale of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), a high school senior and effortless charmer, and of how he unexpectedly falls in love with "good girl" Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). What starts as an unlikely romance becomes a sharp-eyed, straight-up snapshot of the heady confusion and haunting passion of youth—one that doesn't look for tidy truths. Also starring Brie Larson, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, The Spectacular Now is directed by James Ponsoldt and written by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber ((500) Days of Summer). It was a good enough movie - it did not grab me as much as Way Way Back. Aimee's neediness and apology was beginning to annoy me no end.
Blue Jasmine - Twice
"Cate Blanchett gives a powerhouse performance in writer/director Woody Allen's new dramatic comedy. She plays New York socialite Jasmine (a name she choose herself), a beautiful, neurotic, self-centered and vastly self-deluding woman who, having lost all her money, in desperation has come to stay with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky) in her modest San Francisco apartment. Jasmine once led a glamorous ultra-rich life with her shady investment tycoon husband (Alec Baldwin), shown in flashback, and her current wardrobe still tends to Chanel, but she has lost every penny and needs a job. According to Jasmine, Ginger (who is divorced, with two young sons) always chooses loser boyfriends; the latest "loser" (Bobby Cannavale, The Station Agent) was about to move in with Ginger until Jasmine's arrival as houseguest put those plans on hold. Jasmine's idea of supporting herself is... to go back to college. Ginger hooks her up with a dentist who needs a receptionist (Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man), but that job doesn't last long. Will Jasmine, a character as self-deluding as Blanche DuBois, ever learn to face reality? Cate Blanchett is mesmerizing, surrounded by a brilliant supporting cast that also includes comedian Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Dice Clay." This intense and profoundly sad film is quite startlingly. Cate takes a sad role and creates a tragic one. It is Bernie Madolff meeting Blanche Deboise of Streetcar Name Desire. Cate will be nominated and win Best Actress for this role. It is Allen at his darkest but what sympathy he has for women. And how hypocritical and deceitful and messy are people's lives.
Rising From Ashes
"Two world collide when cycling legend Jock Boyer moves to Rwanda to hep the first Rwandan National Cycling Team in their six year journey to compete in the Olympic Games. Against impossible odds and total commitment both Jock and the team find new purpose as they rise from the ashes of their past. The movie takes the audience as the team learns what it means to be a professional cyclist - how to train, compete and live the life of a top level athlete. As their strength and confidence grows, the riders of Tea Rwanda give their fellow citizens a vision of something greater than themselves and their history: hope for a future." This remarkable documentary moved me to quiet tears. The unfathomable poverty, the lack of any future or opportunity, the loyalty and violence and jealously by others, the being exposed to a world outside of their own which is unimaginable - all of it makes for a remarkable movie. The coach overcame his own demons too, what a backstory he has.
An American Family, redux, 2011
Tim Robbins. Diane Lane. A dramatization of the making of the controversial 1973 PBS documentary series, American Family. This first ever reality show was the brainchild of a filmmaker Craig Gilbert who is played by James Gandolfini, and that follows the everyday life of Pat and Bill Loud. One of the film crew said that Gilbert "did not search for the perfect American family. He searched for a family to fit his agenda." And this dramatization seems to emphasize this point - that he manipulated Pat to go for a divorce, seducing her in her vulnerability and pushing her forward so that she would ask for a divorce on TV, which would create a great TV climax. I remember this series well - it shocked the nation - that a family would put themselves through this. In comparison today, one cannot understand it, especially in lieu of the Kardashians.
Follow Me. The Yoni Netanyahu Story
A remarkable and profoundly sad documentary about the leading Officer, Bibi's brother, of the Entebbe rescue mission. What a loss to the Jewish people. What a sacrifice. It is a rare portrait of one of Israel's most gifted soldiers and their greatest hero. I truly loved it.
To Hell and Back, 1955
Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier of WW11, plays himself in this gripping, action-packed battle saga. It feels dated but what a remarkable soldier. However, to get a sense of the man, the Biography on him that I saw years ago on TV was so unforgettable that I haven't forgotten it.
Lee Daniels, The Butler
"Director Lee Daniels' (Precious) historical epic tells the story of White House butler Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who serves during seven presidential administrations. Cecil grew up living in the fiercely segregated South, facing the tyranny of the region's prejudices. After years spent working in a hotel, he is offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a job as a server at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There, he becomes a firsthand witness to history and the inner workings of the Oval Office as the civil rights movement unfolds. At the same time, he and his volatile but loving wife (Oprah Winfrey) must grapple with the rebellious spirit of their son Louis (David Oyelowo) whose tenacious hunger for activism and equal rights often puts him in dangerous situations—and at perpetual odds with his father. From the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., to the Freedom Riders and Black Panther movements, to the war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, Cecil experiences the effects of these events as both an insider and a family man. Co-starring John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman and Robin Williams."
The thing about this film is that is was all false. Cecil grew up in Virginia and rose in the ranks. His mother was never raped and his father was never murdered. His one son did not die in Vietnam. The fictional older son only served as a vehicle to have the film walk you through a history lesson of what it was like to be black in America.
The one line, "There is so much attention going outside the country about the concentration camps while we lived in one for 200 years." Really. How dare Oprah consent to this dialogue when she should know about the concentration camps. Slavery was bad but we did not gas and America was not an extermination camp. This outraged me. To compare their plight to Jewish extermination world wide was horrifying and to not even mention the pivotal role that Jews played for Civil Rights is also appalling. The movie was tedious and long and repetitive and predictable.
From Plane back from Berlin:
The House of Pi, 2012
The reviews were not good but I actually loved it and want to see it again. It was reflective and reposing and spiritual and sensitive and moving.
Hitchcock, 2012
A good plane film about the making of Psycho and what went on behind the scenes in making the film. Helen Mirren is always an excellent actress and she made the most of her role.
Walking The Line, 2005
The biopic of Johnny Cash and his struggle to overcome his demons. Phoenix should have won the Oscar instead of Witherspoon. He was outstanding and carried the entire movie. I loved it.
In A World
"The hilarious and heart-felt comedy In a World... stars writer/director Lake Bell (No Strings Attached, “Children’s Hospital”) as Carol, a struggling vocal coach who strikes it big in the cutthroat world of movie-trailer voiceovers, only to find herself in direct competition with the industry’s reigning king—her father (Fred Melamed, A Serious Man). Amid pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation—and let her voice be heard. Bell's directorial debut features a stellar supporting cast, including Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Alexandra Holden and Tig Notaro. Winner of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay." I did not find this movie funny. I found it sad. The competition and betrayal of father toward daughter, the casual and meaningless sex, using intercourse as the only avenue to express desire, the infantile interactions that thirty year old are having with each other, instead of their being twenty years, the estranged and affectionate relationship the sisters had with their competitive father, all of it portrayed contemporary American society.
Vivacious Lady, 1938
Ginger Rogers. James Stewart. The marriage of a nightclub singer and a professor suffers when they try to keep their marriage a secret. This is an utterly stupid movie. Mindless.
How The West Was Won, 1962
A sanitized epic of three hours with fabulous classical movie music of how the frontier was captured and managed with a voice over by Spencer Tracy. It had an all-star cast. Carroll Baker. Gregory Peck. James Stewart. Richard Wrdmark. Henry Fonda. John Wayne. It took place over thirty years with a human scale and conversation and with no special effects.
Ted, 21012
Seth Farlane. Mark Wahlberg. Mila Kunis. "In this quirky comedy a child successfully wishes that his teddy bear could come to life, but he gets more than he bargained for when the stuffed animal follows her into adulthood and complicates his relationship with a beautiful woman." Vulgar and irreverent but at least they get married.
Closed Circuit
"In the international suspense thriller Closed Circuit, a high-profile terrorism case unexpectedly binds together two ex-lovers on the defense team—testing the limits of their loyalties and placing their lives in jeopardy. After a busy London market is decimated by an explosion, only one member of the suspected terrorist cell survives: Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto), who is arrested and jailed. Preparations begin for what promises to be the trial of the century. But there's a hitch: the government will use classified evidence to prosecute Erdogan—evidence so secret that neither he nor his lawyers can be allowed to see it. Government-approved defense attorneys Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) and Martin Rose (Eric Bana) are put on the case. Tenacious, driven and brilliant, they also happen to be ex-lovers. The two lawyers make an uncomfortable pact to keep their former affair hidden, but as Martin begins to piece the case together, the outlines of a sinister conspiracy emerge, one that will draw him and Claudia dangerously close again." The strength of the film was how clearly they repeated the story line so that everyone could easily follow. The romance seemed cold but then, that is the British style. As soon as I left the theater I forgot the entire movie. But as I was in the theater, it was gripping, electrifying and great for the genre.
American History X, 1998
Edward Norton. Avery Brooks. Best Actor nod for Norton's spellbinding portrayal of a violent neon-nazi gang leader who is filled with bottomless rage and who ends up in prison protected by a black man. The experience transforms him, giving him a new purpose to save his younger beloved brother from taking the same destructive path but at the end of the day, he pays the ultimate price and fails. When a child, any child, can't get love, it takes what it can get anyway it can to get it. It's not hard to understand.
Marnie, 1964
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Sean Connery. Tippi Hedren. Thriller about a compulsive liar, thief and frigid wife.
Frenzy, 1962
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. This unseen film is one of the most unsettling and disturbing films I have seen by Hitchcock. It has stayed with me for days; it is chilling and terrifying, all about a rapist-murderer who is talking women.
History Is Made At Night, 1937
Charles Boyer. Jean Arthur. Mixture of farce and tragedy about the romance between a tycoon and his wife whom he refuses to divorce and controls viciously and a head waiter who is love with his wife and she with him. There is a slippery slope of morals and another insipid picture of great wealth and the lower class.
Pitfall, 1948
Jane Wyatt. Lizabeth Scott. Dick Powell. Raymond Burr. A morose insurance man falls for a blond and meets up in trouble with her stalker who is played by Raymond Burr. A movie that takes itself very seriously. Forgettable.
Salinger
"Salinger is the first comprehensive documentary to look beyond The Catcher in the Rye author J. D. Salinger's meticulously built up wall: his childhood, painstaking work methods, marriages, private world and the secrets he left behind after his death in 2010. The documentary's research includes the contributions of over 150 interviewees, including Salinger's friends and colleagues, who have never spoken on the record before, as well as film footage, photographs and other material that has never before been seen. Additionally, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Gore Vidal and Pulitzer Prize winners A. Scott Berg and Elizabeth Frank talk about Salinger's influence on their lives, their work and the broader culture." This is a comprehensive thorough documentary of his life. He sought the fame and recognition of a writer but he utterly rejected the celebrity which came along with it. He, and Philip Roth and Eugene O'Neil all left wakes of personal disaster behind them.
They worked in utter isolation, married to their work, which always came first, in the woods. Superbly done.
In Vogue: The Editor's Eye, 2012
Directed and Produced by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. "A chronicle of Vogue magazine's 120 years of covering the fashion industry's highs and lows includes archival photographs; and interviews with editors, designers, models and photographers." I am beginning to suspect that this is the new wave of promoting one's magazine. Two years a documentary came out called September Issue which was much talked about and put Vogue centered stage once more. Now, two years later, using a different slant, they are doing the same thing.
Vertigo, 1958
James Stewart. Kim Novak. "Hitchcock's classic study of illusion versus reality with James Steward as an acrophobic detective tailing and enigmatic woman." The movie did not do well when it came out but today is considered the greatest film ever. I feel sorry for Stewart's girlfriend who loved him so.
Million Dollar Baby, 2004
Clint Eastwood directed and stars. Hilary Swank. This emotional and unforgettable film is one of the best.
It won Best Picture and Best Actress and two other Oscars. It is the story of a gruff boxing trainer who takes Swank under his wing and turns her into the best young female boxer. It is based upon stories from Hope Burn's by F.X. Toole. It is a devastating film about relationships and abandonment and loss and resolution.
Vacation From Marriage, 1945
Robert Donat. Deborah Kerr. "Gentle story of how the War changes a stuffy married meek couple and then, when each of the join the service, how they change and how it affects their marriage " This is one of those wonderful, intimate lovely, lovely films.
Greed, 1924
Gibson Gowland. Zasu Pitts. Erich von Stroheim's silent masterpiece traces the demise of a quack dentist and his avaricious wife in what was originally a nine-hour epic. This phenomenal movie was terrific at 242 minutes. I cannot imagine what was cut out for 9 .5 hours. Way too long, although he never saw that - probably the long tedious scenes were even longer. I just wish that I looked Gowland more - he was so sketchy and unpleasant and unintelligent. No wonder why his wife had so little faith in him.
Life Of Pi, 2012
Gerard Depardieu. Suraj Sharma. "In this visually stunning adventure drama, a zookeeper's son is stranded at sea a board a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. This is the second time I saw this film. I loved it for its message and poetry and storyline and development. It flowed beautifully.
The Goddess, 1934
Ruan Lingyu. Zhang Zhizhi. "This moving silent drama spins around a single mother in Shanghai who is forced into the life of a prostitute to support her only son whom she adores." It is way ahead of its time and I found the Goddess, who committed suicide at age 26, remarkable in her acting job. I loved this movie.
Enough Said
"Enough Said is a sharp, insightful comedy that humorously explores the mess that often comes with getting involved again. Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus), a divorced and single parent, spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter's impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini)—a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest. As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems "almost perfect" except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne's ex. Also starring Toni Colette and Ben Falcone. Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener (Please Give, Friends with Money, Lovely & Amazing)." I did not find Eva a likable or cute character - I found her hostile and needy and wanting to be friends with her children and not respectful of boundaries The movie was entertaining enough. I liked watching Gandolfini knowing that he had died. I found that sad.
The Student Prince, 1954
Edmund Purdom. Ann Blyth. "German prince meets and falls in love with a commoner, the niece of an innkeeper. But when the King dies, the prince knows he cannot have a peasant girl as his queen, so he must part with his secret lover." The music for this summer opera is sung by Mario Lonze. The music is gorgeous and memorable. I liked the earlier version of this film better. The 1934 one. How times have changed with the Royalty. Now they want to act common and they do and they marry common too. The class system will fail for most countries.
Summer With Monika, 1952
Harriet Andersson. Lars Ekborg. "Ingmar Bergman's trenchant study of a selfish tart and the lad whose infatuation she uses to escape her dreary and miserable life. I felt so badly for him how he was used and abused by her." This was a marvelous movie.
Torn Curtain, 1966
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Paul Newman. Julie Andrews. The 50h film by Hitchcock is about an American scientist to defects to East Germany in order to pick the brain of their most famous scientist as he is trying to break the code of a military secret. It is all about the escape out of there once he gets inside. I am amazed by all the people who help him along the way to escape and it gave to me a glimpse of all the people that helped along the way for one singular survivor of the Holocaust to survive. Of course, this is a movie and not reality. There was no chemistry between these two cold actors. It was OK, not his best by any means. It also felt very dated but it kept my interest.
Gravity
"Gravity is a visually stunning, breathtaking thriller starring Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth... and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space. Directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)." This phenomenal, state-of-the art film is an absolute must see. I loved, loved, loved it. Sandra Bullock will be nominated for Best Actress. She carries the entire film. When she falls into the place of utter aloneness, loneliness, horror, despair and isolation she captures it in a way I have rarely seen in film. It is a wonderful movie and when she touches land at the end, it is as if Eve has appeared on earth.
Middle of The Night, 1959
Fredric March. Kim Novak. Paddy Chayesfsky's study of loneliness and frustration focuses on a middle-aged man in love with a young woman. The dialogue and psychological development is marvelous and sadly missed in today's films.
Shane, 1959
Allan Ladd. This film is considered the greatest western of all time. It was good but I did find some things that did not hold up well. I felt that Ladd looked like a model out of Central casting. Charles Swanson or Clint Eastwood would have been better. The boy I found annoying. He whined all the time and I could not figure out his age. He seemed more contemporary than a boy would have acted back then. A boy his age would have known how to shoot and would not have loved a stranger so quickly and as much as his father. This was a stretch. The fight scenes also appeared to me infantile but they were well constructed. I liked the storyline of good and evil and good wins at the end. It was a superb western but for these minor flaws.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
A fifteen part series of the history of film starting at the very beginning. The director of this series has too casual an appearance and his voice becomes annoying but the material itself is enlightening and educational so I am sticking with it. He uses many special effects to keep his audience engaged, very different than taking this class in a college. He considers Friedrich Wilhelm Marnau of Sunrise (one of my favorite movies) fame, one of the greatest, mot innovative directors who ever lived and that all directors after him copied him and enhanced what he had done.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey, 2011
Director, Creative Writer, Narrator: Mark Cousins
This 15-part series by TCM has been phenomenal. However, I am only on #4 before I decided to copy each hour down, the description of what it says.
The Devastation of War and A new Movie: 1939-1952
A look at films and filmmakers during World War II and in the years following it, a profile of Orson Welles and an examination of Movies impacted by the McCarthy ear. Comments by Robert Towne, Paul Schrader and Stanley Donen.
World Cinema Bursting at The Seams (1953-1957)
A study of the romantic melodrama of the 1950's. Indian Filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Japanese actress: Kyoko Kagawa and African Director: Youssef Chahine.
The Shock of New Modern Film Making in Western Europe (1957-1964)
A look at the years 1957-1964 features interviews with Claudia Cardinate talking about Frederico Fellini, Lars Von Trier remembering Ingmar Bergman and Bernardo Bertolucci discussing Pier Paolo Pasolini.
New Waves Sweep Around the World (1965-1969) #8
A look at cinema in the 1960's focuses on the work of Roman Polanski, Andrei Tarkovsky and Nagisa Oshima and includes comments by cinematographer Haskell Wexler and Indian Director Mani Kaul.
New America Cinema, 1967-1979
A study of American cinema in the late 1960's and 70's features interviews with filmmakers Buck Henry, Paul Schrader, Robert Towne and Charles Burnett and Roman Polanski. Features: The Last Picture Show. Cabaret. The Godfather. The Badlands. China Town. The Godfather.
Captain Phillips
"Captain Phillips is a pulse-pounding thriller about the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), and his Somali counterpart, Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Set on an incontrovertible collision course off the coast of Somalia, both men will find themselves paying the human toll for economic forces outside of their control. Also starring Catherine Keener,Captain Phillips is directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) from a screenplay by Billy Ray, based upon the book A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty." This was an entirely different version from the Danish one, which was from the characters of the Insurance company and the cook over several months, not days. This was action packed and dramatic and exciting versus the Danish which was small and independent and believable. Both were excellent. It was like watching two separate films.
12 Years A Slave
"12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northrop (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dirty Pretty Things), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life. Also starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti, 12 Years a Slave is directed by Steve McQueen (Shame)." This movie about slavery is"for the ages." It is the most powerful, chilling, disturbing film on this subject that I have seen or remember ever seeing. Ejiofor will win the Oscar for his performance and he should. Riveting and remarkable is all I can say.
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, 1960
Albert Finney. Rachel Roberts. A young factory worker is trapped in the dead-end blue-collar world he was born into. He juggles relationships between two women, one of whom is caring his child and is married to another man and the other whom he falls for. He is constantly trying to repress his frustration and anger and is tied into knots by his limited circumstance and opportunity. This is a typical English film of this time period. It is superb. Outstanding. Simply wonderful.
Black Girl, 1965
Mbissine Theresa Diop. Momar Nar Sene. Insightful account of prejudice encountered by a young African woman who is brought to the French Riveria and pretty much kept as a house domestic servant/slave. She ends up killing herself which was the only unrealistic chord in the film. Too extreme. Feels dated.
The Crowd, 1928 - Silent Film - Two Times
Eleanor Boardman. James Murray. King Vidor's silent classic about an "ordinary" Manhattan couple's battle to live and survive. This was one of the finest, if not the best silent film I have seen Intimate and powerful. Sad and poignant, it tells the story of an everyday man and his family and their life and all the things that happen to everyone in an ordinary, everyday life. OUTSTANDING. SUPERB. ONE OF MY FAVORITES.
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, 1926 Silent Film
This is one of my very, very favorite films and is one of the greatest romantic films ever. I have seen it at least six or seven times and each time, I adore it.
The Kid.
City Lights
These are my two very favorite Charlie Chaplin films. Chaplin wrote all the music. He Wrote, Directed, Produced and Acted in each of these films. A true genius.
Spinning Plates
"You don't have to be a foodie to thoroughly enjoy Spinning Plates, a fascinating documentary about three extraordinary restaurants and the incredible people who make them what they are. These amazing restaurants and their stirring stories include an upscale, cutting-edge restaurant in Chicago named the seventh-best in the world, whose chef must battle a life-threatening obstacle to pursue his passion; a 150-year-old family restaurant in Ball town Iowa that's still standing only because of the unbreakable bond with its community; and a fledgling Mexican restaurant in Tucson, Arizona whose owners are risking everything just to survive and provide for their young daughter. These unforgettable stories of family, legacy, passion and survival come together to reveal how meaningful food can be, and the power it has to connect us to one another. It's a celebration of the art and passion of nurturing people, not just feeding them. Written and directed by Joseph Levy." Fabulous. Just as good a second time.
Pharlap, 1984
Australian. Classic (and boring) atory of the horse who won the hearts of the nation and since has grown into legendary status. The movie was dedicatd to its trainer Harry Telford. There was also the anti-Semitism because the owner of the horse was a Jew and the good ole' boys were resentful.
On Plane from Melbourne to Los Angeles:
Match Point
Midnight in Paris
Witness
The Sapphire's
The Book Thief
"Based on the beloved bestselling book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany. The film is narrated by Death—at a place and time when, as the narrator notes, he was extremely busy. Under the watchful eye and caustic musings of Death, young Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) embarks upon a journey marked by discovery, courage, friendship—and the power to triumph over the most daunting obstacles. Also starring Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush, The Book Thief is directed by Brian Percival." The movie could have been outstanding but I felt that it missed the mark. There was something goody goody about it - it lacked nuance. German's were good and decent people. Was she Jewish? The whole thing was off. I should have been brought to tears and was not.
Philomena
"The dramatic comedy Philomena tells the incredible true story of one mother’s search for her lost son. After becoming pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to a convent to be looked after as a “fallen woman.” When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America. Philomena (Judi Dench) spent the next fifty years searching for him in vain. Then she met Martin Sixsmith (co-writer Steve Coogan), a world-weary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set off for America on a journey that would not only reveal the extraordinary story of Philomena’s son, but also create an unexpectedly close bond between them. It's the compelling story of two very different people, at different stages of their lives, who help each other and show that there is laughter even in the darkest places. Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity)." There was nothing comedic about it to me. It was all sad. I thought that Steve Coogan stole the film. Not Dench. Any old actress could play her part. Her goody goodiness and Forgiveness drove me mad. It was a substantical and fine piece of filmwork.
Aftermath
"AFTERMATH was the winner of the Yad Vashem Award at the 2013 Jerusalem Film Festival and the Critics' Prize at the 2012 Gdynia Film Festival, Poland's most important festival.
AFTERMATH tells the story of two brothers, Jozek (Maciej Stuhr) and Franek (Ireneusz Czop) who discover a secret and are forced to revise their perception of their father, their entire family, their neighbors, and the history of their nation. Franek, the older brother, returns home to Poland after many years living in Chicago and discovers that his younger brother is being mysteriously threatened and shunned by local townspeople. What follows is a gothic tale of intrigue as the brothers are drawn into investigating the village's dark secrets.
Upon the release of this film in its native Poland, AFTERMATH received intense criticism from Polish nationals, who accused the film of being "anti-Polish propaganda" and a gross manipulation of historical truth. AFTERMATH has so riled the Polish right wing that it has been banned from some local cinemas, while its leading actor, Maciej Stuhr, has received death threats.
Director's Statement:
The peaceful and quiet Polish village where the brothers grew up, a prime example of the idyllic beauty of the Polish countryside, turns out to harbor a dark and terrible secret: the collective murder of its Jewish inhabitants during World War II. This dark chapter of our history is one of the few remaining stories never to have been shown on film. AFTERMATH tells that story through the lives of ordinary people who have nothing to do with politics, by showing their fundamental decency and uprightness, their baseness and lies. We are always given a choice in life. This film is about making that choice." Remarkable and powerful and deeply disturbing film. I loved when the ghost of the mother appeared.
Nebraska
"Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways) directs Nebraska, a bittersweet dramatic comedy about a father-and-son road trip through an emotionally and economically parched homeland. After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Bruce Dern) thinks he's struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Will Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America. Stacy Keach, June Squibb and Bob Odenkirk co-star." This outstanding film took my breath away. It was one of the most satisfying pieces of film work that I have seen in a long time.
The stark black and white photography, the sensitive and vulnerable son, who at the end of the movie is hiding in the front seat looking up at his miserable father, as if he is 8 years old and the father that he once adored, just aching for love and approval. It broke my heart. I loved when they returned to their house of origin and from every window you saw solitary trees and loneliness and isolation and desolation. It was all so terribly heartfelt and the mother's acting was academy award quality. The characters were nuance and complete all speaking from different points of view and rationalizing their bad behavior. This movie blew me out of the water and I was not going to see it because the previews looked so bad but the reviews were outstanding.
Inside Llewyn Davis
"Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of talented but feckless folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he struggles to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles—some of them of his own making. Living at the mercy of both friends and strangers, scaring up what work he can find, Llewyn's misadventures take him from the coffeehouses of the Village to an empty Chicago club—on an odyssey to audition for a music mogul—and back again. Brimming with music performed by Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan (as Llewyn's married Village friends), as well as Marcus Mumford and Punch Brothers, Inside Llewyn Davis transports you to another time and place. An epic on an intimate scale, it is Joel and Ethan Coen's (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) fourth collaboration with multiple Grammy- and Academy Award-winning music producer T-Bone Burnett. With John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Adam Driver and F. Murray Abraham." This deeply sad film, I feel is not that Llewyn is a looser but that he lives in the moment and cannot plan or organize his life. It was truly one of the most depressing films that I have seen in a long, long time.
Saving Mr. Banks
Saving Mr. Banks is inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic Mary Poppins made it to the screen. In his quest to obtain the rights to Mary Poppins, his daughters' favorite book, Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) comes up against P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops and launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history. Also starring Colin Farrell and Paul Giamatti. Directed by John Lee Hancock. This was a marvelous film. I was all chocked up throughout the movie. It was touching, the acting and development superb, and characters real. I loved it to the very end when you hear your own voice.
The Armstrong Lie
This powerful and deeply disturbing documentary about my fallen hero was superbly done. It revealed all the corruption from the very top of the Head of the Committee, to doctors and coaches and team members and Foundation workers and sponsors. All greed. There was rationalization flowing everywhere, and there was too much money exchanging hands which made everyone turn the other way. And, this went on for years. Armstrong only regretted that he came back from a 3 year retirement to compete once more because it was this year, 2009, that he finally got caught - not that he did what he did in the first place, ruin characters and lives and reputations and sued, but that he got caught. A man without morality.
Her
"Set in Los Angeles, slightly in the future, Her follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix, The Master), a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet "Samantha," a bright, female voice (Scarlett Johansson) who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other. From the unique perspective of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation) comes an original love story that explores the evolving nature—and the risks—of intimacy in the modern world. Also starring Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde." I did not like this movie at all. I found it unbearably lonely and cold and depressing and disconnecting. There was a heaviness about it that became boring and tedious. Interesting idea but it also needed a commedy element.
In The Good Old Summertime, 1949
Judy Garland. Van Johnson
"Two clerks in a Chicago sheet-music store detest each other by day. Both reserve their words of affection for their respective pen pals, whom they've never met, the true identities of their pen pals awaits them." Gardland sings a lot of songs. The movie is much like The Little Shop Around The Corner. A dated but mindless entertaining film.
The Past
"Bérénice Bejo took the best actress award at Cannes for her portrayal of Marie, a Frenchwoman in the process of getting a divorce from an Iranian man (Ali Mosaffa). She wants to marry Samir (Tahar Rahim), whose wife is in a coma after a suicide attempt. Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) directed. A Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film." Another dreary, depressing film of the Arab life in Paris. Rough, way too long and drawn out, overblown, and tedious. It will not win.
American Hustle
"A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) who, along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner plays Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con artists and the Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like filmmaker David O. Russell's previous films(Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, I Heart Huckabees), American Hustle defies genre, hinging on raw emotion and life-and-death stakes." The movie was entertaining and fun. But in a year, it will feel dated. They had to put it in the past because cons are very different today, because of the technology. I have seen this story 1000 times it seems, a longer version of it in The Sopranos. Adults love to be part of it from a viewer's point-of-view, they feel excited by it. The acting was superb, especially the ladies. It will win Oscar as Best Picture and Lawrence will give real competition. She may win because she is the darling right now of the Industry. She was outstanding. I love her. But, it did not hold the emotional connection to me, it was merely hyped up fun. I thought the deep moral message in the film, that you can trust no one, that everyone is a con and is gaming you, reflects the deep cynicism in our culture and world. Sad but true.
Run Boy Run
Polish. The story of how a 14-year-old boy, who lost his arm survived in the forests and the fields and the good graces of kind Polish people during WW2. There were mean Poles too such as a doctor, who refused to operate on his hand because he was Jewish and because of it he lost his are. But, he survived in spite of it all. It was a gripping and sad story.
