March 20, 2017

On to the reviews, on Netflix I watched Fifty Shades of Grey, which I simply couldn’t spend a nickel on in a theatre and I am glad that I didn’t. The source material really is the problem here. I did read the book (on the insistence of a buddy whose wife found it a great marital aid!). The book was a struggle for me as I questioned so much about our male model. Why did he have to be a billionaire? Why did he have to run a large company and have a fleet of Audi cars? Why did he have to also be a pilot (helicopters and gliders) and a expert yachtsman etc.? All this bling! He has issues but he really plays Dominant-Light as it were. His convictions however much he wants to memorialize them in a contract, are flexible and change as his mood does. From elevators to the insistence to of having never slept in the same bed as a Sub/lover. Why, too, does Anastasia have to be a virgin? Why so put off by the whole BDSM scene while at the same time demanding to be shown many aspects of it? Anyway, the story is flimsy and there isn’t a lot of chemistry between the protagonists. You can’t see the lust. You can’t sense the uncontrollable pull for each other. The book seemed to suggest more of that – although I am thankful for less ripping into condoms time and again. Safe sex. We get it. I can’t recommend this, but no one really has. Number 2 is in theatres now and number 3 to come after that. Are we really standing on pins and needles wondering if they “get back together again”? Kim Basinger playing a Mrs Robinson character for young Christian could be interesting, but I won’t spend $13 to find out!

The best of anything that ever came from Fifty Shades of Grey is right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJI5h5AbmQE

Saw a favourable review for Beauty and the Beast. Still not sure if I need to see a live version of this – but we will see.

March 6, 2017

Hacksaw Ridge – a best picture nominated story directed by Mel Gibson bringing him back into the spotlight. Andrew Garfield stars as the true story of Desmond Doss. He was a “conscientious objector” who refused to hold a gun while desiring to act and serve his country as a medic. He was deeply religious and that likely was the source of interest for deeply Catholic Mel. God says “Thou shalt not kill” and even in war he takes it to heart. There is a good story to be told and Mel uses all his tools. I think he is overly graphic, with some over the top injuries shown. Is it realistic? Likely. Does it add much to the tale? No. The actions of our hero are worthy of the tale and telling. I am skeptical about a couple of the incidents portrayed. This was worth the time and the viewing.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates – no. Just no. What on earth possessed Anna Kendrick to do this crap? And the guy who plays Zac Ephron’s brother is simply awful.

Independence Day – Resurrection. This sequel to the original cheesey original was just not good. And I had no expectations for it. Original cast members Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, and Judd Hirsh (Will Smith wisely stayed away). Computer dude from Star Trek should have too. I actually thought he died in the original. Anyway. Aliens come back. Bigger and badder than before. The same group of misfits have to try and overcome overwhelming odds. I won’t spoil the ending. But I will say that the mysterious orb is ridiculous. Not worth the viewing either.

Family Day 2017, February 20th

So I ventured forth this past weekend to catch the unanimously panned Passengers. Did it live down to its reputation and were the ratings legit. Oh my, yes, they definitely were. Here is a story that takes place in space, but really could take place almost anywhere. Space (and a long term, incubated space journey) provides a backdrop for the ultimate imprisonment, and lack of choices – but for the most part it adds very little. There is a space ship carrying future humans to new natural and pristine world. It is about a 100 year journey, so the people are in suspended animation. Something happens and one guy is awoken prematurely. He soon gets bored with the flying Hilton hotel and wrestles with whether or not to awaken another passenger. The trailers tell you what he decides. Then the melo-drama inter play between the two people takes place. A third comes and goes and ultimately there is something that happens which requires action quickly. Girlfriend can attest that my reaction to the ultimate resolution was “Oh My GOD!!” The bullshit meter went haywire and my willingness to suspend my disbelief was irretrievably damaged for good. It is silly. There is dialog here that I have a hard time believing that between takes the actors didn’t look at each other and laugh. After the ship is damaged these two enter the engineering area (like Star Trek Enterprise area) and look for something “broken”. This concept is later re-inforced and repeated by JLaw. It was a jaw dropping moment. In the end, it makes no sense. This I cannot recommend on any level.

Valentine’s Day Feb 15 2017 – Bonus Top Films List

I was delayed in writing up my review of the following. But here goes, and having seen Alison’s detailed and valuable review of the Oscar nominated films, I have a few to still cross off my list (I have three to go). Fences, Hacksaw Ridge and LaLa Land. I have deliberately avoided LaLa Land, and the reason is I don’t feel the need to spend the full fare in a theatre when I will get it fully on the small screen. Many of the nominees are the same way. Incidentally, I laughed out loud with the Emma Stone comments from Alison that I completely agree with! I don’t find her attractive. In fact quite the opposite, I think her face is just messed up. But I digress, but the comment made my day. This year, there is no epic, big screen wonder that requires the big screen in all of its glory. In hindsight, I wish I had seen Hell or High Water on the big screen for the panoramas of the landscape in Texas. A visit to the Chinese mall (I am shamed) netted Moonlight, Girl On a Train and Patriots Day. Here we go.

Patriots Day stars Marky Mark with the same director as Deepwater Horizon. Same basic facts and script with a fictional Marky Mark, making his way through otherwise factual content (roughly anyway). As someone who has run a half marathon, and other running events, the Boston Marathon is the Superbowl of runs. Here I can only imagine the poor saps who have been running for hours to at the end have not one but two bombs cut them down with flying nails and sharps. With that backdrop, then we have the cops and other persons in authority (including Kevin Bacon and John Goodman) trying to find the bad guys. I have vague memories of these events and like girlfriend I thought that bombing and then the tracking down of these guys took place much quicker. I was in awe with the one confrontation scene were I was convinced that the bad guys were in trouble – how the hell could they not have been, and I would have thought I would have remembered the news coverage on it better. I didn’t. Suffice it to say, this is a decent job on a known story. The number of resources thrown at this, and the city shut down is staggering. Each actor earned a pay cheque but otherwise it was not memorable for me. The exception is the survivors and those who carry on and find ways to not let an act of terror define them nor how they will be running their lives.

Moonlight. I wrote to Alison about how I am challenged this year with protagonists who are insular and keep to themselves without voicing too much about feelings and what is going on in their heads. Casey Affleck is here, as well as now the three Moonlights. I felt for Moonlight at all the stages of his life. I found his adult-self interesting in his choice of profession giving his background and his connection with Ali. Ali, also by the way, was in Hidden Figures, who also has Ali’s wife’s character too in it (as the engineer). Still I was not moved to tears. Again for the people who don’t voice their challenges, their agonies and their torments, it makes it more difficult for the viewer. And they both (Affleck) and Moonlights says so much with their eyes and body language. In the end though, the stories are plodding along and don’t really go anywhere. They are character pieces and stand on their own right, but these aren’t movies I would seek out and add to my DVD collection and watch time and again. My list of Top 10 films of all time are all movies I have seen more than once, and I own – and can treat like old friends who I enjoy getting acquainted with yet again. There are films where I come out and say “that was the Best Picture” with my viewing and re-viewing of The Imitation Game doing that for me a couple years ago. It didn’t win. But it will be remembered later I think – in the same way the Saving Private Ryan is remembered moreso than Shakespeare in Love. I am reminded that Oscar doesn’t always get it right.

Girl On A Train. I like Emily Blunt. I think that she is growing in her abilities and in last year’s Sicario showed more depth and range than from other films. I still think too that her connection and chemistry with Maaaa-tt Daaamon in The Adjustment Bureau is palpable and one of the finest in recent memory. From a male-female relationship perspective to be clear. I didn’t like her in this movie. I didn’t like this movie that I found manipulative. I didn’t really like the Jennifer Lawrence look-a-like who ends up disappearing. I don’t like how Blunt’s character is inebriated and fall down drunk and looking every bit the part in appearance for most of the film. Because this book was so popular, the expectations were so very high with this. It failed. I did not read the book and have no desire given the movie. The tangled webs that women weave here are something (like Gone Girl) that makes guys cringe in a Fatal Attraction kind of way! This movie is one that lives down to its billing.

Rob’s Top 10 of ALL TIME (made more difficult as there are some genres that get short changed, and could be done by Director, or Actor etc.):

Shawshank Redemption

Amadeus

Godfather I and II

Jaws

The Martian

The Exorcist

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Silence of the Lambs

Braveheart

Raging Bull

Honourable mentions: The Matrix, Snow White & Seven Dwarves, The Imitation Game, Pan’s Labyrinth, Million Dollar Baby, Finding Nemo, Cool Hand Luke, Terminator 2, Alien, Avatar.

Adding more:

Tree of Life – yes, yes, yes!

Kingdom of Heaven – a fav or mine with Ridley Scott.

Blade Runner deserves more for it’s cutting edge (Blade Runner 2 with Ryan Gosling AND Harrison out this summer)

Funny – adding Something About Mary

Romance – When Harry Met Sally

Daniel Day-Lewis- My Left Foot

Kevin Costner – Dances With Wolves

January 30th, 2017

I did not go to the theatre this past weekend but on Netflix I have been catching up on a few things. There are some TV series that I am seeing, which have been delayed by me over some time. One of those being The Fall with Gillian Anderson. I finished Season 2, and once again found this to be compelling TV. Good performances as this story of a serial killer in Dublin moves forward. The killer has been caught and there is the examination of him and his motives, all the while trying to see if his last victim is actually alive or dead. Next is Sherlock with Bennedict Cumberbatch and Bilbo Baggins. Season 2 finishes with the seemingly end of the story as Moriarty and Holmes both find conclusions to a complex game of cat and mouse. There are not many episodes in each season but the characters are good and it is well written and performed. Season 3 starts in the first episode about trying to explain Season 2’s ending. I can’t say yet that I was completely convinced about the explanation, but then again, I don’t think that I meant to be yet. More to come.

I did see the theatre-released, but really a Netflix film Eddie the Eagle with youngest son on Sat night. What else do you watch with a 12yo when the hockey isn’t on? This is the story and the quest for an oddly focused Brit, with very little talent, but plenty of drive to go to the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics. He was a downhill skier, and then move into Ski Jumping. At the time there were no regulations about minimum distances to go, you just had to have competed and landed a jump at either the 70m height or the 90m height. I have stood at the bottom of these hills and jumps in Austria, and they are insane. Eddie had many obstacles put before him, like changing requirements added by the British Olympic Committee after-the-fact which were meant to dissuade him. Add in here a forgettable performance from Hugh Jackman and a surprising appearance by Christopher Walken (incredibly!) and we have a yarn about the picked-on kid who makes good. I had not realized that Eddie had never even attempted the 90m jump until his appearance at the Olympics. I can only imagine what was going through his mind as he sat up at the top getting ready to jump. Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) was supposed to take on this role, and I am glad that they chose otherwise. The guy who played Eddie looked more like the real Eddie. The message here ultimately is that determination and drive can make up for a lack of talent, and dreams are a good thing to strive for. It was surprising to me that Mom and Dad, nor coach would have made the trip to Calgary to watch their son realize his childhood dream. You would think that they would want to be a part of it.

January 23, 2017

This past weekend was an opportunity to see The Founder with Michael Keaton. This is the story of Ray Kroc, and his relationship with McDonalds. It is a business story, based roughly on the truth, and tells the story of Kroc who was a salesman for various products in his early days, as he drove the country peddling his wares. In the last instance it was multi-cup milkshake machines. He was pressed to sell one (maybe) in an area and then got a phone order for 6 machines from a small restaurant in San Bernadino CA. This was 1954, and burgers were sold mostly at drive-ins that were all the rage with the teenage set, as shown in Happy Days and American Graffiti. Kroc sees first hand in his travels some of the challenges with Drive Ins; the lines, the wait, the wrong orders, plenty of staff and lots of dishes to be bought, cleaned, stolen and broken. Then he meets the small restaurant in California run by two brothers (Dick and Mac McDonald). He buys them dinner and they tell him in detail their story, and quite a story it is. The ingenious part being an ergonomic assessment of the burger-making process and a commitment to focus on what one does well in business. The brothers had tried and failed at couple ideas from Kroc, but he sees franchising this restaurant as his road to business glory. Kroc is a driven individual, a workaholic with little regard for his home life, and his Wife Ethal (the ever-aging Laura Dern) who has so very little to do in this film. The rest becomes the story about these people. It is interesting on a few levels, one of which is the ability of the central character to make his own story. Kroc strikes a bargain with the McDonalds boys to franchise others, but gets very little in the bargain. He focuses on Illinois where he is from, and even has the audacity to call one of the locations there “McDonalds Number 1”. The writing on the wall is clear pretty early on to all of us who know how this ends except for the trusting and kind brothers. Mac in particular ignores the signs from Kroc. Kroc too shows that he believes that “contracts, like hearts, are made to be broken”. Early on he plays his own legal counsel in reviewing a contract, but later gets more professional help. Kroc is an End justifies the Means kind of guy. He has persistence and drive. He is unfailingly a man without a conscience or remorse. He took what was a small restaurant in rural California and it’s process and made a global sensation worth billions.

Is it compelling? Is it worth seeing? I found it slow at times, but the acting is solid from Keaton and the McDonalds brothers. Dick really is the genius behind it all. There are some interesting moments, but here is another tale of a corporate giant who acts dubiously either professionally or personally (Steve Jobs is another one. Mark Zuckerberg yet another). It is interesting however that Kroc seemingly however much he preaches it isn’t a man of his word. And that you would think is fatal – but then again, these are times where increasingly we see that dishonesty and playing with the facts, can take you to great heights. Here is a movie that shows one man and how much that can be true. Salesmen are salesmen….

January 16, 2017

On Netflicks the film Focus came up and one that my 22yo son raved about. He liked everything about it and recommended it. I watched it last week and was disappointed. It’s Will Smith riding the Margot Robbie popularity wave, and putting forth this caper where the cons are setting up to steal and loot from innocents attending a sporting event. There is more to it than that, but not a lot. For me, the contortions being exercised to try and turn this thing into a who-dunnit and betcha-can’t-guess at the same time are frustrating. By the end, I simply didn’t care. It all seemed just a little too contrived, and I ended it with some shrugged shoulders and moved on.

Moved on to finish season 5 of Game of Thrones and also ending Westworld. These are two solid pieces of film, although Westworld at times seems to stretch it all a little more than it needs to. Hard to turn a 2 hour film into 10 hours of viewing. Still it kept my attention with some good observations about humans generally.

For those who read this who aren’t Robbie or Alison, we are seeing Jessica Chastain live watching The Zookeeper’s Wife, with Jessica channeling Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice with a Polish accent. Here it is a Polish Zoo owner’s wife who takes pity on people being killed by the Nazis. It should be interesting to listen to her speak about it. I guess it is a night’s pay for her given she is already in the city filming Molly’s Game here in Toronto.

January 9th, 2017

I went out to see Manchester By The Sea with all of the good reviews and award nominations that is has received. Casey Affleck then last night wins the Best Actor Award in a Drama for his performance.

A quick sidebar about the Golden Globes last night. La La Land was nominated in 7 categories and won every one. It became the movie with the most Golden Globe wins ever. I have to say that I have little interest in seeing this homage to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, nor particularly in the whole musical on film genre. Best Picture Oscars have been awarded to Chicago and The Artist and other such films but for me they are not all that intriguing. I certainly do not need to see them on the big screen, especially in this instance with Golden Globe winner Emma Stone who I really don’t like much. Meryl Streep went off on a political rant as well as others such as Hugh Laurie. In the end, they all need to accept the fact that Americans voted as they did. And they’re not going to like it for the next four years. Some of the dresses were pretty, others less so. I wonder why dudes (like Jonah Hill) who wear sneakers with a tux don’t get lambasted as much for their lack of class and fashion sense than the women do.

Onto the Misery by the Water. As described by Alison this was not a feel good movie. This is a movie of an emotionally detached guy, and for good reason, who needs to address and accept the death of his brother, and his brother’s unilateral decision to make him the guardian of a walking hormone 16 yo son. There are good performances all around. This is NOT the Best Picture of the Year. Casey himself is a portrait of a man who internalizes and then lashes out unexpectedly at times. He has an alcohol issue and should be kept away from most bar situations. The story then unfolds as he and the boy and those around them address this new state. The use of flashback sequences is effective to fill in the gaps about these people, and what occurred, to show their history and current attitudes. There is some humour, mostly with the boy and the interactions with his uncle. I think that the music was used as effectively as at any time in recent memory. The music plays, much like the first few minutes of UP where you see the couple’s life unfold without words, with the voices being muffled and you see the body language and emotions of those on screen to the actions that have taken place. It is powerful. In the end there is a thought-provoking story that raises many questions to be discussed. I am glad to have seen it, but I had to be prepared for it. Everyone here is damaged in one way or another, without fail. I was a little taken aback by the conclusion. I’ll leave it at that. Is this a movie about depression? I am not sure. It is certainly a movie about death and dealing with it. It can also be about small town issues and dealing with small minds and one’s past. Lion in comparison had emotional aspects to it that were powerful. Here too there was power in the message but different. Hard to describe.

I finished Westworld which I (gulp) downloaded. I am a bad person. But it had to be done. Crichton does love his twists and turns or at the very least the Nolan Brothers do. There is more gratuitous violence and nudity than required here. I guess it gains audiences for titillation but does not add much to the story. I did like the arc of the story for Anthony Hopkins. Also too Bernard. Thandie Newton was very good and I think better than Evan Rachel Wood. I had not seen the original movie from 70s. Still this held my attention and was glad I watched closely together as the story remained fresh. There are plenty of interesting insights about people, and happiness and what drives us.

Game of Thrones Season 5 is done and onto Season 6. The Jon Snow ending was kind of unexpected but I am aware that we have not seen the last of him. I think I will relish seeing the end of the religious fanatics as much as Cersei. The Bran story does not hold my interest.

January 2, 2017 – New Years edition

The title “Lion” will be misleading for this Golden Globe nominee for Best Picture. Dev Patel is nominated for his work as well. A couple of times when I was watching I paused and thought about the title and then just let the story envelop me. Here is a recent story from 1986, and into today which in many ways is a good companion piece to previous Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire. The story is a simple one. Young boy in India accompanies older brother for some work, and then gets separated from him at a train station. He boards another empty train looking for him and becomes lost. I give away nothing by saying that he eventually is adopted by a couple in Australia and then later to seeks his real family.

The performances are all very good, and notably by the little boy who gets lost. His eyes are so full of life, and he has a resilience which allows him to overcome many obstacles thrown his way. His adult persona played Dev Patel is also very good as he struggles with his memories and trying to figure out how to find his past.

This is a story about families, adoption, brothers, and struggle. Yet again I am reminded of the blessed life and upbringing we have in Canada and the West. 1986 is not ancient history. The little boy lived in squalor and mother was a labourer who moved rocks. Rocks.

You care about these people. All of them, and they take you on a worthwhile journey that is something you will talk about when it is done. It is another Golden Globe drama nominee that I am pleased to have seen. Hell or High Water was another.

Have a fabulous 2017 one and all.

Rob

P.S> on the home watching front, I have been catching up on Game of Thrones, now in Season 5. The twists and turns here, and no particular loyalty to keeping characters you like alive makes this fun watching. Also I have watched 6 episodes of Westworld, which has been good as well. Well cast with Sir Anthony Hopkins, Thandie Newton and Evan Rachel Wood you have robots in an adult amusement park waking up to their reality from the Crichton book made into a film with Yul Brenner long ago. Christopher Nolan’s brother is involved. I did thoroughly enjoy The Crown about Queen Elizabeth.