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.

December 27, 2016

So we went out yesterday to see Hidden Figures.

It had been given good reviews and Octavia Spencer had yet again received a Golden Globe nomination. Having youngest son also meant it was age appropriate. We all enjoyed this. It is the story of three black women principally at NASA who were friends and looking to advance at NASA during the early days of the space program (mid 1960s). Earlier in the day we had watched Selma, and this gave this movie some context (girlfriend and youngest son had not seen it).

This is well acted, and a story that has not been told. It follows along The Right Stuff story of the astronauts well and Freedom 7 (before the Apollo program). Jim Parsons loses his kind geeky persona and plays a white engineer not so happy with his new computer (a person used to calculate the math for the launch and re-entry). This is a feel good movie with quality performances and shows yet another story of how backwards it was just 50 years ago.

With the reviews of Passenger, we’re not so sure about seeing it. But Lion is on the radar. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas and survived the Boxing Day madness! On to 2017!!

December 5, 2016

As the snow falls, and my first family Christmas party is complete, there are a couple movies to talk about.

First on NetFlix they had Sing Street which was a movie that I had wanted to see in the theatre. This is a film, like the Commitments, where we have a group of Irish teens who are looking for their creative outlet. In truth, it really is “all about the girl” as the young man who is moved to a new school due to his parents’ financial troubles sees a girl across the way and channels Duran Duran in offering her a role in his band’s upcoming video shoot. All he needed now was the band!! The setting is 1980s Dublin with few jobs and a country struggling. The boy finds some talented classmates (very talented indeed as it turns out) and they write original material that reflect the influence of that moment (The Cure, The Clash, The Jam etc). All the while our band leader changes his look and continues on. There are effective performances throughout, and notably by the older brother (living at home and guiding his younger brother through music – both good and bad). And there is the Dad (noted from Game of Thrones and Mom who was actually IN The Commitments). I liked how the young people played and you saw the creative process at work. I also liked the resolution to a number of situations in the school setting for our young band leader. In the end a feel good story with talented kids and worth the time watching it.

Netflix also had Captain America Winter’s Soldier out and I wasted two hours of my life on this. Captain America as a superhero I simply do not get. He’s a dude. Human. Like Batman. Just a guy. Yet what materials is that bloody shield made from? It stops bullets, it goes through glass panes, it can be ridden when exiting a moving vehicle on a highway. So many times when logic must be suspended and it falls down for me. Baddy old friend with the metal arm – he is also a dude. Just put a bullet in his head. Problem solved. Captain America has a shield? Shoot at his legs and watch him fall down. He falls from extraordinary heights into water and survives. So beyond going further and further into my issues, I will sum up by saying that it’s yet another superhero movie for me that I just don’t need to watch. To borrow from the Chaos Scientist (Jeff Goldblum) in Jurassic Park – “they were so busy worrying about whether they COULD do it, they didn’t think about whether they SHOULD”…Here, they shouldn’t have made this. Some comic books should remain as dust collectors on the shelves.

November 21, 2016 US Thanksgiving edition

First a quick update and reply on the US election. Having had a couple of weeks (including a week in the US) to reflect upon the results I am frankly stunned at a couple of things: first, is the unexpected amount of hate that there is for Hillary. The FBI investigation notice the week of, was a deadly attack on her, especially for the on-the-fence voters. That and the night before the election with Trump dominating CNN with his rally speech in Pennsylvania (after dinner the night before). Republican strategists get full marks for getting him out there at the right time; second, the number of passive-aggressive voters who say one thing and then vote another way. Like Kathleen Wynne, no one will ever claim that they voted for her, yet she has a majority government. Imagine that! It will be a rocky four years, and the damage to the Supreme Court will be long lasting. We’ll see just how much he can actually accomplish (like how much of a wall really gets built to Mexico). I expect Obama-care to get axed straight away.

On to the movies. I have seen two while on vacation. First was Arrival in San Diego. This is yet another story about alien arrival on planet Earth, and the consequences. I liked where this started, and as a premise it has a lot of potential. Aliens arrive in multiple places around the globe, and as humans we are looking to sort out what their intentions are. Language is an issue. These elephant and octopus-looking aliens don’t speak, per se, but make whale-like sounds and communicate with complex symbols of black ink. Who can decipher that?! Turns out that the US government turns to university professor Amy Adams. She has her own history that is quickly examined here and she gets engaged. There are some excellent visuals here, and tension. There is further commentary about humans and how we interact with each other when “national security” issues arise. The military and people in power act different than the rest of us – that’s why it was better for ET to have met and spent time with Elliot and family and also for Star Man to have met and driven around with Karen Allen. Anyhow, this movie loses me when it starts messing with time. It is hinted at in the beginning voiceover, but it really kicks in when tension rises and things have to happen (and also to make sense). It fails when explanations are given for what transpires. I just eventually had to roll my eyes. The opportunity was lost. Sadly. And some quality set-up and story get overlooked. This is a big theatre film, it just deserved better than the ultimate resolution. I think that Adams, who I am generally not a fan of, did a decent job here and brought the emotional focal point to the story. She has looks of wonder and you can sense her long days in knowing human kind depends on what she can figure out before the military gets too antsy. I will take this Amy Adams character over Lois Lane, Daily Planet any day! At least here, there is a valid reason for her to be engaging with aliens (unlike Kryptonites).

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is a new tangent in the JK Rowling world of Harry Potter. Because, you know, Rowling having more money than the Queen of England was just not enough! But this is a prequel of sorts and builds upon the story of Gellert Grindelwald – but you need to pay close attention to gather this from the newspaper clippings in the beginning. The film gets started with Eddie Redmayne arriving by ship to NYC in the late 20s. He has a suitcase of creatures. Through a common mishap, the suitcase ends up in someone else’s hands and mayhem ensues. The creatures get out and cause mischief. They need to be found and returned to the suitcase. Redmayne meets up with some new characters and they stumble upon a greater issue taking place in this time (muggles, called Non-Mags in America, are afraid of magic and wizards with creatures). So there are human and wizard factions looking to sort things out and what, if any, any co-existence can take place in the future. There are some plot twists and turns, and the story moves along at a good pace. There is romance, and tension and seeking out someone with some rare power that is looking to be harnessed. Why it needs to be set in the US, the evidence was flimsy. This is a UK story based in London. Always has been. Coming to NYC to buy a creature – doesn’t hold much water nor returning another creature to Arizona. Whatever! The cast generally is very good (notably Redmayne and Colin Ferrell), save for casting of Tina Goldstein, a US based investigator. While the blonde-haired, mind reading sister is very good, here the frumpy and dull sister is not engaging. Anyway, this is the beginning of a new set of films as the ending certainly suggests. This is escapism and it suits its purpose. I summed it up in one word and that was “charming”. This is a new take on the wizarding world, with some real world commentary about humans in general. Girlfriend liked this far more than I did, but she is more into Potter than I am. The background on Grindelwald would help if you know it, but not necessary. Most watching this won’t know it. There are some clever creatures with good CGI. The animals in themselves are not dangerous, but need careful handling at times. I am glad to have seen it. I expect there to be more. I don’t feel the need to rush out and read the book to see what I may have missed. Rowling scores again – we’ll see just how well it is received. Star Wars Rogue One is coming…..

November 6, 2016

This was a week to play catch up on a few movies. A few years back my daughter on a flight had watched The Book Thief on an airplane, and when it finished she had felt cheated. She had felt manipulated and cheated with the voiceover. Having seen this movie now I can concur with her assessment. This is a simple story and it has a good cast with Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. The newcomer is the young girl who plays Liesel (and despite my best efforts, every time I heard her name I thought The Sound of Music). But never mind. She incidentally is adorable, and did a fine job. Set in 1940s Germany, a young girl and her brother are going to a foster family since Mama was found to do something bad in that time and place (like be a Communist or suchlike). Brother dies on the way. Brother buried and girl carries on. She begins with new Papa and Mama (Rush and Watson). Watson could not be more stern, and grumpy. Midway Papa feels the need to house and hide a young Jewish boy. He stays for a time. Things happen and then the voiceover comes at the end. In many ways the story ends rather abruptly and you scratch your head about ultimately what the whole point was. Once I complete this review, I won’t think on it again. There are other films set in this time in Germany that tell similar stories and tell then better. Perhaps it humanizes the Germans who too often are caricatures, and we see that they had families and children and suffered loss. It wants us to cry and feel…but it wants it all just a little too much. So I cannot recommend.

Sunday I went with three kids and girlfriend to see Doctor Strange. They are the superhero movie fans really, and not generally. I finished this film and immediately asked for an explanation of what I had just watched for two + hours. Really. Yes, there were some very nice special effects, many borrowed from other movies like Contact, and Inception, and Interstellar. I like Benedict Cumberbatch, and I like his films generally. I don’t like him with an American accent. It seems forced and unnatural. It became a distraction. Our baddie is the Casino Royale bad guy Le Chiffre. Any time a movie messes with space and time and talks about alternate dimensions, it needs to be careful. Careful because time stuff, turns back on itself so much that a fading Marty McFly trying to strum chords on the guitar shows you some of the difficulties. Using time as a weapon (or a bargaining chip) with a Pacific Rim monster (well kind of) just sends my mind to TILT mode. My brain fried, eyes bugging up into my forehead I simply have to ask “WTF did I just see?!” If you can explain it, I welcome the insight. I still will be asking about The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and why she didn’t manage to figure it out, while newbie Ben has all the answers. Thanks Sherlock!! It’s elementary!! NOT!!!!

Halloween 2016 – October 31

I have not been to the theatre in some time – there has been so very little to see. Some films that I anticipated and were excited about (like Girl on the Train, and Inferno) turned out to be less than well reviewed. So I have been back at Netflix, along with watching Season 2 of Game of Thrones.

The movie was The Man Who Knew Infinity with Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel. In it, there is told the story that was referred to in Good Will Hunting. In Good Will Hunting the two professors are talking about how great Will could be and exciting math comes from unexpected places. This is the story of the unknown self taught Indian genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan. The era was around the First World War and the young man is married in India and it takes some time before people see his genius in Math. They suggest sending some excerpts of his work to England. From there his journey begins.

Irons plays a prof who is obsessed by Math, but also doing “proofs” and showing the work. He presses the genius to show the proofs and won’t publish him (as initially promised) until he does.

Where the movie fell down for me is the importance of a fellowship from the school, where he would become the youngest fellow and become more part of the University. But who cares? Why does he care? Seems even with struggling health that there is his looking for validation from the white people. His genius surpasses all of them, but he still wants this and yearns for it apparently. I saw this as a movie at TIFF, but was glad to see it. Moreso than Lady in the Van. Worth a viewing, but no need to pay big bucks for it.

This past weekend I did see Amadeus Live with a real orchestra and choir to play the music from the film. It was very well done. Hearing Mozart with the orchestra and also seeing it with an audience was a treat. From the laughter and the moving moments, you could feel this film from the perspective of one who had not seen it before. I was glad that I saw the advertisement for this outside the ROM a couple weeks back. This remains one of my favourite films of all time, and is likely the best film I could think of to see with a live orchestra. They are doing E.T. in a while but to me hearing John Williams’ score live is not the same as Mozart.