July 16, 2018

For my movies I have a few that I was able to finish and complete or see fresh but on the smaller screen.

IT: So I had not finished IT, as I eluded to in my first review. I had no real reason to do so but then in Atlanta it was on HBO, costing nothing and I did. On a larger room tv the scary jumps were more scary without a doubt. I did jump once a bit with the brother creeping around. Still the premise of how to address and confront Penny Wise is a weak one in my opinion. Still there is a good dynamic amongst the kids (even though it feels a lot like Stranger Things). They do have the one same bespeckled actor. It also feels a bit like a retread of King’s Stand By Me. If you can see for free, and like scarier films maybe check it out. I will note that A Quiet Place for me is a superior thriller.

The Greatest Showman. This was not on any list for me. It was a musical, which generally in the theatre I do not wish to see, but I will admit that I expect that the theatre version of this would make sense. But anyway it was free on an airplane. So I watched. I thought that this was decent. It kept my attention. At it’s core it is a story about PT Barnum, the circus guy. Part of me always thought it was Barnum & Bailey circus and it was a travelling show going town to town. Here he is a Disney-like dreamer coming from nothing who starts in a building in New York. Wolverine plays Barnum and Michelle Williams plays every Michelle Williams role she ever gets. Zac Ephron is also in it which should end Alison’s journey and reading right there. In the end it was a story about diversity and being who you are. The music is catchy and decent. There are a couple twists and it made the flight to Halifax go quickly.

Black Panther. Another in flight film that didn’t cost a penny. This was a decent superhero film in a sea of average. I confess I am not a huge fan of the genre, and the noted Ant Man is a reason for me to remain unenthusiastic. I can picture Stan Lee (and others) sitting in a room and brainstorming over any deformity or childhood trauma that they can exploit and make into a new ability. Here we have a hidden African community with amazing technological advances that they keep to themselves. Maybe that is because there is all this in-fighting going on looking to hold supreme executive power in the form of a monarchy. Wouldn’t a modern technological wonder community have a modern method of selecting the next leader? Wouldn’t they realize monarchies are outdated and only for show in the modern world? Just because one can beat up someone else may not be the best selection process. But I digress. The women in this film are interesting and bad ass. The story with King and then next in line makes sense (I suppose) despite the musings from above. I saw this and it kept my attention. It likely suffered a little from the hype and higher expectations. Finishing I would rather see more of Black Panther than Ant Man. Or Aqua Man or Thor.

Jurassic world. This is the first dinosaur movie I have seen in a theatre that was just “Meh” to borrow my daughter’s word. I can remember the awe and excitement from years ago seeing the first Jurassic Park. The t-Rex attack was incredible! It filled me with wonder. Even Jeff Goldblum has returned to give voiceover in speaking to a Congressional hearing. It is about the dangers of wielding genetic power. How someone will weaponize it. How it is simply something not to be trifled with. From Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard looking to save the dinosaurs from an exploding island (the thick irony of trying to lobby and save an extinct animal from becoming extinct again) we have Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs who you just know can’t be a good guy. Things progress and recede as the plot bogs down. There are some head scratching moments including the resolution of the film that I will not share. In the end I felt this film repeated more scenes from previous films than putting forth new scenes and ideas. There doesn’t need to be another one, but if it makes enough money there will be.

Canada Day edition July 2 2018

Game Night – a fun film with an interesting evening of board games being taken to another level. Here older brother to Jason Bateman sets up a game night on steroids. What ensues is far fetched but still some good mind candy. Bateman and McAdams have good chemistry as husband and wife. Worth seeing.

The Insult – a TIFF film that explains in an excellent way the Lebanon and Palestine situation well. I learned plenty watching this. From what starts out so simply in builds in layers and complexity to show that it is anything but simple. And what at first appears to be a stubborn man, just being a man isn’t. It didn’t win Best Foreign Film but easily could have. The legal aspect of this case is very interesting and complex as well. In the end you can see how what at first seems a small matter becomes a rallying cry for long held positions.

Fantastic Woman – this picture won Best Foreign Film for 2018. Another really good film that shows the relationship of a transgendered male and his older male partner. I give nothing away saying that the partner dies. It happens early on. But then the story unfolds with this person and the challenges she has. Another film I was glad to see and experience. The subtitles are in no way distracting in this or the other film.

All the Money in the World – the J Paul Getty film that was re-filmed by Ridley Scott after he heard the news about Kevin Spacey. Also notable in that Marky Mark secured a $1M payment to him for his extra shots with Christopher Plummer while Michelle Williams got nothing (someone needs to get a better agent!). Marky Mark in the end “donated” that money to charity or something. This film was interesting but I am glad I didn’t spend money on it. Getty Senior is a self made billionaire (the richest man in the world during this time) because of the oil deals he arranged with Saudi Arabia. He is Getty Oil. His family is dysfunctional, and one son cannot stay away from drugs. He married and had children. The one grandson is kidnapped and taken for ransom. Getty famously says he wouldn’t pay a cent. It’s one thing not to negotiate with terrorists, it’s another when the reality of a teenage grandson gets put into this situation. For Getty, everything was a negotiation, and he would often be penny wise and pound foolish. There were so many good films this past year, not sure how this ended up in the Best Picture nominees. It is not as good as others (Three Billboards, Shape of Water, Dunkirk). Have to say that I am not a big fan of Michelle Williams, as I always feels she plays the same character; the wife who gets beaten down by life and her situation, who tries to cope but feels helpless. Roles in Brokeback Mountain, Misery by the Water etc. all seem to add up to much the same. Here she is a bit more independent and strong, defending her child and herself. Still.

June 18th, 2018

This weekend in the heat it was The Incredibles 2. First there was a short film done by Pixar with an Asian theme. An older Asian woman makes dumplings. She serves 3 to her husband and three to herself. He gobbles and runs. She eats two and then the last one grows eyes and limbs and screams out. The living dumpling. She nurtures it. It grows. Then resents her. Then shows up with a living female sporting an engagement ring and tries to leave the house. Before he does. I’ll leave it to you to see. Suffice it to say, there may be a message here, but boy it was muddy. I was left scratching my head and and chuckling to myself on a few levels.

But then the main event begins and starts right where the original left off. The mole-like bad guy robs a bank and destroys a good chunk of the city. The “illegal” supers did a lot of good, but the bad guys did get away. They did cause damage. And the lawyers and bean counters are upset. Enter some rich idealists who want to Make America Super Again. In other words, show the value to the people and change the laws. The movie continues on all levels with I feel the best story being Jack-Jack. But Elastigirl is at the forefront of the new dynamic to get people feeling better about supers – since she generally doesn’t cause as much damage. The family functioning all moves forward and it culminates in a fun film. Pixar hits it on the mark and delivers on the solid foundation with another quality sequel. Worth viewing and delightful.

On Netflix. I started watching The Horn. It is a helicopter rescue show from Zermatt Switzerland. The pictures of the mountains are incredible. Some of what they do is unreal – like climbing down into a crevasse that a skier fell into. Worth checking out.

The Paper Chase – is a good movie about a first year law student at Harvard. Having just walked the grounds I wanted to revisit that. I am glad I did. John Houseman plays the iconic Contracts professor Kingsfield.

I started watching The Post on the plane but did not finish. So far it’s okay. Will follow up with more.

June 11th, 2018

More Netflix this publication, with watching of Savages directed by Oliver Stone. We have Blake Lively as a free thinker and presumably living life on the West Coast supported by her two boys. They are making and selling their own brand of high end pot. Selma Hayak plays a Mexican drug lord (inherited from her husband) and wants in on the action. This familiar story has been done better in Sicario and even Breaking Bad. Funnily enough Benicio Del Toro always seems to have a role in them. His Sicario role is closely resembling this one, only he is on the Dark Side here. Alison reviewed this one long ago and I agree completely that the ending takes this to a new level of exasperation. The audience quickly sees the opportunity that shows itself quite plainly and yet the actors here go completely against what would make sense. The price was right for this (my Netflix fee pro rata) but I wouldn’t go out of my way to find this.

Limitless stars Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. In it Cooper is a do-nothing writer who can’t seem to write. He has a girlfriend, but little else. Then he stumbles upon an ex-brother-in-law who gives him a “freebie” drug to assist him. This drug allows him to utilize more percentage of his brain and he immediately shows spectacular feats that he couldn’t do before mentally. Note, there is a TV series also on Netflix NOT starring Bradley Cooper which addresses similar issues. This movie just becomes silly especially in the end. Because “D’uh!!!!” who wouldn’t have used the powers here to do what Cooper proposes? Anyway, a pass for me.

I have started the crime series The Staircase which explores the real-life death of novelist Michael Peterson’s second wife. She fell down the stairs in her home as is alleged. You can determine yourself whether the Courts made the right decision(s)…first episode down, so far so good. [Update: I couldn’t stay with it, and it remains on Hold]

June 4th, 2018

Been busy in the past little while at the movies.

First off I was at the theatre with youngest son to see Solo. To borrow the intro from Roger Ebert’s site “As unnecessary prequels go….” and that’s my immediate thought to begin it. And to borrow from daughter’s words I would say “Meh”… But for a little more clarity and commentary, I would add that there are certain things that seem more than a little contrived (without giving too much away). We see how Han meets Chewbacca, and incredibly Han speaks a little Wookie, and demonstrates! Really??! Han is a street rat on a planet that makes spaceships, how would he ever even know about Wookies let alone speak and understand the language? But nevermind. There is also this new thing about dice which were prominently displayed in The Last Jedi (previously discussed in that epiosde). Luke makes them virtually appear they are so important. Now we see where the genesis from them comes. Does it add anything at all to the Star Wars lore? No. Could it be meaningful? Also no. So why add it? The timeline here for me on where to place this episode is a little fuzzy too. Han was older then Luke, we never really know how much older. Han to start this episode is high teens, low 20s. Presumably Luke is born at this time, and about 10 years old. But maybe not. Without giving anything away the timeline is upset a little near the end of the film. You’ll know it if you see it. As for the performances, I think Woody Harrelson is the best performance as a scoundrel and independent gangster looking for “one more score” before he can retire. Emilia Clarke is a love interest, and is decent too. The young man playing Han has some personality and embodies the role ok. He’s not Harrison Ford and he doesn’t try to be, for which I give him credit. I have heard other people talk about being bored seeing this, or just not engaged. To that I can understand it, as in the universe of Star Wars films, this was closer to Episode I or Last Jedi than the better of the films like Rogue One or Empire Strikes Back.

On Netflix I saw that Mother! from TIFF was released. Alison has already covered this, and I won’t even try to explain this film in any real detail. It is a mess. Javier Bardem for me is just not a compelling actor. Here he plays an aloof, narcissist writer unable to write as he and his much younger wife (played by Jennifer Lawrence) fix up a house that was burned down. This movie could have ended for me (and I should have stopped watching) in the first five mins after Lawrence gets out of bed and stands in the hallway in a white linen sleep outfit. But it doesn’t. There are SO many tight close up face shots of Lawrence that I can count her nose hairs. This so called “horror” had only two scenes near the end that simply made me take aback. That was for the sheer shock of what occurred. I won’t describe it here. But the level of chaos that ensues from supposedly the written word makes zero sense along the way. In the end it’s much ado about nothing. And as your hand raises up to smack yourself on the forehead as credits roll, you will realize that almost two hours of your life will never come back. The only solace in that, is all those involved in creating this mess, have spent a LOT more than that (just not enough in white linen sleep outfits).

The Best Picture of last year from the Academy’s point of view was Shape of Water. That film was a tale about a mute woman who assisted and fell in love with the Creature From the Black Lagoon (with notable upgrades). Netflix has clearly seen this film, and decided to have somewhat of an Interstellar twist on this story. In The Titan, Earth is dying and large parts of it are uninhabitable (like LA). Bu rather than finding a wormhole in space near Saturn to go to other possible habitable worlds, here mankind is looking to stay on Titan, the largest moon that orbits Saturn. The way we do that, is we mess with the genetic make up of man, to form a “superhuman” or as the movie says “you only better”, by changing the DNA and make up of the host person. This movie stars Avatar Jake Sully Sam Worthington, and the chick from Orange Is the New Black. They are husband and wife with a young son, and he has volunteered to be part of this team. Turns out they are transforming these volunteers, and this is where Shape of Water comes in. I won’t spoil any more. I may not have spoiled anything. The one flaw that I have in this picture is when a speaking character is then unable to speak and communicate. But the whole thing was more than a little silly. Finishing up with this thought – if you were looking for a new form of human to inhabit and thrive on another planet – how many of them would you think you should send?

May 28th, 2018

After some business travel and not getting a chance to get out to the theatre, this week I was finally able to do so.

I have been watching a fair bit of Netflix, and that is mostly on Suits. I am nearing the end of Season 2 (there are 16 episodes or so) more than you would expect, but it has been engaging. Most roll their eyes at my interest saying it is a Meghan Markle thing, and honestly I find Donna (the assistant for Harvey far more engaging than paralegal Meghan). Good to note too that the young non-lawyer is played by Torontonian Patrick J Adam. Anyway, I will continue to get through this, but onto the films.

Deadpool 2 – Alison summed this one up quite succinctly. I will be more verbose. But not much more. For me this was a film that suffered somewhat from expectations. There was the surprising first one that packed laugh after laugh and had all the crass and violence attached with it. The story was the backstory with a villain who was just a bad guy. The hype for this one being “amazing” was already out there. Here we have the metal man (Josh Brolin) doing his best to impersonate The Terminator, and then the task of dealing with the wayward fat teenage mutant. If you make him a turtle, come to think of it, that movie has already been made. Never mind. Some new characters are introduced. One of the better sequences is when DP tries to form his own “X Force” with not so predicable results. I laughed about the legs being grown back and sitting splayed out. In the end, despite the frenetic pace of laughs, there were only a few truly memorable ones. Girlfriend liked this far more than I did, and that’s to be expected as she really likes superhero movies and I generally am not. Certainly she follows X Men and Avengers more than I, and laughed heartily at one of the X Men jokes.

Monster Money – on Netflix, this is the George Clooney and Julia Roberts film, directed by Jodie Foster about the Jim Cramer-type investment talking head whose advice was taken literally by an investor of modest means and the result is a stock that tanks. The disgruntled investor does what seemingly everyone these days in the US does, and grabs a gun and a bomb and threatens the TV guy and gets his 15 mins of fame. This story reminded me a bit of Phone Booth with Colin Ferrell and Kiefer Sutherland). Both move along with a good pace and create tension with the scenario they provide. The audience is left to wonder, where is this going to end up? Here the Outlander star helps out with The Affair actor acting as the CEO of the company that had a one time computer glitch cause his stock to lose $800M. It was worth a viewing, and at the right price. My expectations were exceeded with this in truth.

The Fifth Estate – is the Wikileaks, Julian Assange movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Funny in retrospect that we are still feeling the reverberations from all of these activities even today. The film was in 2013, and 5 years later we are still dealing with the political turmoil of the Russian influence in the election, that put Trump in power. The idea (in concept) of people knowing what is happening and transparency is a good one, but like many ideas in practice needs to tailored to the situation. It’s not an absolute right to knowing everything, and there are those people who need to be protected in the jobs that they do. Is Assange a fighter for open government (like the example in the film of UK newspaper people who were hanged for reporting on the Parliamentary debates)? I am not sure. One could argue that elected officials are paid for by the taxpayer and we have a right to know. That would included emails and private servers from “Crooked Hilary”. But seemingly things like tax returns and other sensitive documents are things that should only be protected if you are high enough up on the food chain. Assange is living in London at the Ecuadorian Embassy in asylum. His name popped up just last week about Russia and it might impact his continued stay there. As a movie this is not as engaging as I would have expected. The political climate and impact is there but it didn’t hold my attention and wasn’t really memorable.

May 14th, 2018

Netflix has the classic David Lean film Lawrence of Arabia from 1962. This is the “restored version” whatever that means. This film won Best Picture and Best Director, along with 5 others. This is an epic picture with incredible cinematography and a story about a remarkable young Brit. Young and unconventional. What’s remarkable in all of this is how Peter O’Toole didn’t win Best Actor. And I know the formidable Gregory Peck actually won the award for To Kill A Mockingbird but just watch the performance of O’Toole here (sidebar: two remarkable performances face off in 1962 while dude in The Artist wins). I had watched bits and pieces of this before and at 3:35 it takes an investment in time, but I hadn’t seen it in total. The emotional arc for Lawrence is quite remarkable. But look at the film in the eyes and face of O’Toole. O’Toole over his remarkable career never won a statuette; 7 nominations in a 20 year span starting in 1962. The best role was and is Lawrence.

I am working through Suits. Donna the assistant for Harvey Spectre is really good.

May 7, 2018

I will echo the positive review by Alison about A Quiet Place. I will say that her review noting that she jumped a couple of times prepared me and I was not really startled – in the back of my mind I am thinking “this seems like a pretty good spot for a jump to occur”. Anyway this film is pleasantly NOT a horror film nor a gross out, like a Friday 13th, or Nightmare of Elm Street, Saw etc. Instead it is a thriller about a family set in the future after some extraterrestrial incident. It’s a movie where you feel exhausted from clenching your stomach muscles tightly for 1.5 hours. It takes ordinary actions and situations, and let’s you realize how difficult they all would be if they had to be done silently. But it also explores the dynamics of a young family and surviving through difficult times. I really enjoyed this.

On Netflix, besides getting caught up in the Monty Python wave that has come to it with interviews and old shows and then the movies (Holy Grail and Life of Brian are just priceless) – last night I watched a new documentary entitled End Game. It documents the stories of a few people of varying ages in San Francisco area hospitals and hospices. They are all dying and soon. They have doctors, nurses and other people there to assist in this process. It is very emotional as you see a Mother and husband grapple with a Wife/daughter who has cancer and there is nothing more that can be done for her. It shows to me that I want to be crystal clear with those around me on my end of days wishes and intentions for me. I don’t want to see people already under stress wondering and worry about “what would Robbie have wanted to be done at this stage?”. No. They will be able to provide their own filter and thoughts on their own feelings, but knowing what I want, will be clearly known. I found that the doctor who had his own story to not be very helpful in some aspects, I’ll let you make your own choice if you choose to watch this. TIFF film Euphoria addressed some of these issues. Here it is in the US, and we have reality entering into the lives of all these people, when clearly they would rather it not be the case. Still – good to watch, but not easy.

April 23rd, 2018

Loving Vincent – animated, and nominated for Best Animated Feature. This one is recently added to Netflix and its claim to fame really is the use of hundreds of artists who made real paintings used in the film. It took years for the pictures to be painted, and this film is remarkable in showing the Van Gogh masterpieces set within a fictional story. The fictional story is a letter that is addressed from Vincent to his brother. The Van Gogh brothers exchanged many letters over the years. The story here is not significant. But rather the visual splendor that is Van Gogh paintings and how they weave their way through the film. There are actors here, and those you will know from Peaky Blinders and Game of Thrones and Saiorse Ronan too. They provide voices, but are animated in a way and style that shows who they are. The black and white flashbacks too a lot like the technology for the animated music video Take On Me. Full disclosure, I like Van Gogh paintings, and I have been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. I have also seen his works in Chicago and Paris and other cities. It is remarkable to me that this troubled soul did not sell a painting during his lifetime (this is a debatable fact, but the number would be minuscule), and his brother had the foresight and means to recognize his talent and unique gift. Here is yet another genius (like Mozart) who left the world too early, but made a last impression that is still felt today.

For those who are interested in how this was made, see this YouTube on it:

Kodachrome – is recently released on Netflix as well and stars Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis and Elizabeth Olsen. This is a well worn story about a dying man seeking out estranged children to head out on a road to do or find something. A couple years back it was Nebraska with Bruce Dern. This is formulaic and so the value in watching is really on the performances. Here Harris plays the dying well-known photographer/journalist who was a lousy husband and father but was known for his pictures/images. He insists that his pictures be put on celluloid and there is one Kodak location left in Parsons KS that can develop his film, some film that he had taken many years before. The rest unfolds predictably but it still has some emotional impact. The music includes Pearl Jam and the band Live which is discussed at length. The Paul Simon song, ironically enough, is NOT included here. Still worth a look, and make sure you are prepared for emotional side in the fourth act.

April 16th, 2018

Two films were reviewed this week and both were on Netflix.

First I watched The Florida Project which had my attention because Willem Dafoe was nominated as a Best Supporting Actor in his role. This is a simple story about a budget motel outside Disney grounds in Orlando. There are a group of characters at the motel, along with some single parents and all are women, mostly tattooed up here there and everywhere. The children run around with little oversight and are generally obnoxious. Dafoe plays the Office Manager and fix-it-guy who is responsible for the property and maintaining peace. He can nip problems in the bud, or prevent things that may happen. He also watches and sees what his customers are doing. He gets more in his job than he bargains for, especially with the children. I don’t see the Nomination quite frankly for him. Yes he was decent, but there are other roles to me that are more crucial and add more value for the lead roles. In the end this is a tale of poor circumstance and poor choices with adults who shape the lives of these children, and yet have no real direction for themselves.

The other film was one I thought I heard rumblings about at TIFF. Killing of the Sacred Deer, is a modern day telling of a Greek fable. There is reference to which Greek fable in the film, but that really is not all that important. I did not know that going in (and I puzzled over the title of the film to begin with). This is a story by the same director as The Lobster. I like this one more and it is more impactful. Colin Ferrell stars once again, and does a really good job, along with Nicole Kidman, and the children who play their kids. Add to that another young man who is a central part of the story. There is dialogue here between the parties involved that is polite, but not quite normal communication. It’s stilted and truncated almost. It gave me the impression of it being more like a fable. Farrell plays a heart surgeon and he has his wife (Kidman) an opthamalogist, and two kids. We are introduced to a young man that Farrell has seemed to befriend. The story then unfolds in ways that I did not anticipate nor will I share at this point. The Ebert review I think went too far in describing the plot and I won’t duplicate the mistake. To me, this film is best seen as it unfolds. Quite honestly my reaction to it was “wow”. It goes from being somewhat slow and unsure of itself to then gaining some momentum to where there is such tension and thrill as to where it will go next, that it will stay with you for some time afterwards. Without a doubt this is a TIFF film. But also it would be one where I am glad that I was able to see it and reflect upon it. Happy to have discussions later if others have had a chance to view.