Museum Hours

Deb 9    Me 9

If you like movies you might not like this, but if you like art, you’ll love it. First off, it slowed me down, put on my brakes so I could absorb each beautifully created shot. The whole thing was shot unsympathetically in Vienna. I was there in a November and this captures the grey gloom perfectly. The movie explores a new relationship of two people dealing with their past and present through art, some of it at a museum, some of it in their environment. It was really a refreshing and interesting (albeit slow) movie. No chase scenes, no blood, no action. Just respect, affection, and a sincere appreciation for art. Every shot is a beauty, you see art in everything.

In A World

Deb 8     Me 8

I don't know why but I was really looking forward to this and in the end I was very happy to have seen it.This is one of those film where one person is in charge of just about everything. In this case its a gal named Lake Bell who wrote, directed and stars in this little gem. At first I was taken by what I thought was bad acting, then I decided it was the direction, then suddenly, magically about twenty minutes in the problem went away and the rest flowed like ink. The reason I stuck with it during the mis-cue part is that its a great story and just overall appealing. I liked it more and more as it developed. There's a lot of nose humor, some more subtle than others and it covers a lot of social taboo bases quite well. Definitely enjoyable.

The Spectacular Now

Deb 10     Me 9

Really a neat little movie. Again, some of these young actors blow me away. The young folks here are high school age so not really that young, but they do a great job. Now older, Jenifer Jason Leigh does a great job in the short time she is on screen. Its sort of a coming of age movie, but deals with specific issues. Both protagonist have the same hole in their family tree but fill it in different ways, with different attitudes and goals. One of the players is trapped in the idea of living in the now while most everyone else plans for a future. 

There are a lot of themes here that are dear to my heart so I dug seeing them presented from an outsider point of view. When I was a kid I read every Nietzsche book I could find and found a central or recurring theme of self-overcoming. Perhaps if I read other books I'd find it there too, but you find that in a lot of movies, sometimes overt, sometimes presented in subtle ways. You can find it here too and if its a theme you like, you might like this movie. There are holes, it aint perfect, but very well done and interesting. I had to pee from the get go and never found a spot in the movie that would allow me to be torn away from the screen for even a minute.

Prince Avalanche

Deb 0   Me 2

Many movies are based on books and you usually hear people say the book is better. Anything must be better than watching this movie. The trailer was inviting and featured the only half ways interesting scenes from this boring piece of crap. There are only a few story elements and they are vague and undeveloped at best. There could be some sort of story about two people bonding in isolation of their work, but who'd care. There are attempts at some arty scenery shots but they fail too because there is no way to save this thing. It must be hard to make something this bad. Student films are usually convoluted and filled with symbolic imagery that confused and boggles the imagination, but you always leave thinking that they tried.  This movie feels like no one made any valid attempt at any kind of movie making and it just sinks lower and lower and each minute trudges by. Go get a colonoscopy instead.

Blue Jasmine

Deb 9    Me 8

Another Woody Allen movie. They got to a point where they just wore me out, then came Midnight in Paris which turned my head around. Then To Rome With Love switched me back off. This one is somewhere between for me. He has mastered looking into personality types and presenting them in analytical depth with varying degrees of entertainment. But what he does well is make his characters familiar, these are people you know by the time the film ends. You may not want to know them, but they become part of your vocabulary. One thing has stood out in recent movies, the Rome movie, Before Midnight and this one are all shot in exotic locations to no benefit of the film. There are a few location shots that fix you to a certain location, but the rest of the time could be any sound stage in the world. I don't get why the extra effort to shoot in say, Greece, when there's only a few moments of uniquely Greek things that could come from stock shots. I dunno. But back to this one, Kate Blanchett was just great, leading an all star cast that included Bobby Canavale, an under appreciated actor of great strength. Alec Baldwin is always a treat and Louis CK just makes me like all the film makers choices. This is kind of a profile movie, not always happy, but insightful, funny and even enlightening.

Now You See Me

Deb 10   Me 6

This is a smart movie featuring the art of illusion but includes several interesting themes. Since I'm reluctant to give away any spoilers I'll talk about other elements like the cast. Woody Harrelson is his usual treat, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine add credibility. Mark Ruffalo's look is at best Peter Falk and at worse Burt Reynolds, but does a fine acting job. Most of the others are strangers to me except Jesse Eisenberg who starred in The Social Network. Now this shows what a sap I am; I so despised the character he played in that movie that it taints my opinion of him instead of the role he played, so it distracted me from enjoying what was a pretty great little movie. A movie filled with spectacle, suspense and an interesting story, definitely worth spending an evening with it.

Twenty Feet From Stardom

Deb 10      Me 10

I really like these kinds of documentaries. This one is about the back-up singers who are just twenty feet from the star on stage. This follows a handful of incredibly talented people who have helped shape the sound of rock and pop music since the early 60s. I was just blown away all through this movie, even got a little goose bumby for a minute. A good indicator of how significant these people are is how many "stars" generously pay tribute to them with intelligent and sincere observations, including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger. It is interesting to me to see what artist in other disciplines go through in their field of expertise, art is never an easy road. Emotional rewards have to satisfy the artist because the financial rewards are always twenty feet away. This is a very well crafted and interesting film and I'm glad to have seen it on the big screen.

Before Midnight

Deb 6     Me 5

Several of us went to see this and it wore all of us out. Not really enjoyable but not offensive. Its an incredible amount of dialog between two people, intelligent dialog, very Woody Allen like, but like his films, who needs it? An interesting aspect was LONG takes filled with words that put you in the room with them. And like being in the room with the bickering Henderson's you just want to leave after a while. It's shot in Greece, a beautiful place, but like Woody's Paris movie, it may as well have been done on a lot in L.A. There are a couple shots of specific places in Greece, but didn't move the story anywhere. I think that's a big part of the movie, not going anywhere. The camera didn't move much, the players didn't move from their stance in their relationship much and we didn't move to the door soon enough. I give it credit for style and the dialog that often hit home, but not much of a movie. And none of us had a clue bout the origin of the title.

Francis Ha

Deb 6     Me 5

Two chicks coming of age kind o' thing. Contemporary scenes filled with doubt, confusion and dysfunction. But highly watchable and somewhat likable players deliver believable lines in realistic scenarios. It had sort of a Stranger in Paradise feel to it in style and maybe substance, but lacked the originality Jarmusch offered in his work. It's delivered in black and white which is refreshing and reflects the grey areas these people live in. The script has some clever lines that tell volumes about the players, but ultimately they're just not worthy of a film.

The Great Gatsby

Deb 6      Me 5

First of all, great book. I wasn't that jazzed to see the movie and then seeing it was offered in 3-D I figured it's designed to be more of a spectacle than a story driven film. The opening credits were neat and old time looking, then they morphed into tech. From the first scene the digital effects annoyed me, it looked like a model train set.  And then all the 3D trivialities were a distraction. But there was a narrative that closely followed the book, and Fitzgerald's words gave welcome relief from the hip-hop glory that dominated the movie. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, a nice looking chap who's star power mocks his talent. We no longer see incredible performances like in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but a star who shines only in the vacuum of his own space. Other actors were fine, there was a Clark Gable looking guy who was quite credible. What saved this for me were the parts where they stuck with the original text. On The Road suffered from excluding Kerouac's brilliant prose, this interpretation of a great novel used the text as salvation. Its amazing to me, how a film maker can include all the ingredients of opulence and over-the-top staging and still come out flat. The missing yeast would be some exuberance from DiCaprio; he should be in contrast to Tobey Maguire's low key character, but instead acts a bit flatter. I'd guess a directorial flaw. I'm sure that making a film like this is expensive and the use of blue screen effects makes for safer, more cost effective production, but the car racing scenes were ridiculous and the coal mining town is just a digital nightmare.

Watch it, it has amazing parts, but listen to it, there's a great story behind the effects.

Mud

Deb 9     Me 9

Whatta pleasant surprise. The previews didn't look that compelling but it came recommended and the timing fit so there we were.  This features a few phenomenal kid actors; they must start at four in some actor factory and by the time they're teens they're absolutely amazing. There are some veterans here too. Matthew McConaughey, Sam Shepard and Reese Witherspoon all did fine. It is set in the south, a land that seems to be from another planet or at least another time. Beasts of the Southern Wild was set there too and I didn't know what part of the world they were in until the end.

This is set to a slow southern pace with clear actions and simple dialog. It is just great storytelling that concedes to only a few Hollywood demands. The actors are good looking underneath, but wear a healthy crust of experience on the outside. The people who populate the movie seemed honest and well intentioned. It covered a lot of bases, romance, encroachment of society on a small river town, loyalty. Its a big sampler plate of issues that are measured out in just the right amounts, enough to justify their being introduced, but not so much as to over power the palate. Really well done on all levels.

Paris - Manhattan

Deb 10       Me 9

This was a really sweet little film. French with subtitles. When we sat down I had no idea what it was about or where it was going, but we both really enjoyed the ride. An odd thing was Woody Allen is one of the actors, not the auteur. Its not a Woody Allen movie, he's just in it. This might be something never done before. I mean Woody doesn't even act in his own movies these days, so to see him as an actor was a actually a treat. But Woody's presence is all through the film and couldn't exist without him. The story is like a distillation of his finer works, Manhattan and Annie Hall (and perhaps others) that showcases some of Allen's brilliance without the tedium of his insecurities.
Being French, the movie is filled with good looking people in the beautiful setting that is France. It's a nice story, with a few unexplained holes (which is why I dropped it to 9), but if you just accept what they give you I think you'll really enjoy watching it.

The Company You Keep

Deb 5     Me 5

We wanted to like this one, actually had a pretty good preview. It's a Robert Redford movie and you gotta remember he's the king of the indie, it's just that a lot of his films are so huge you'd think they were big studio productions. So this one is about a bunch of anti-war activists forty years after the fact and a young pup journalist ferreting them out, trying to get in their 60's heads with contemporary sensibilities. It was a slow version of the Fugitive with bad music. There were some good moments, a fairly straightforward story muddled up with atmosphere and and convoluted twists. Acting was fine, but 76 year old Redford having an 11 year old daughter pushed the credibility limits right away and the rest of the story suffered. I think this is one of those "cause" movies. The producers have a "cause" and they enlist actors of like mind, who either share the views of the script or are sympathetic towards the"cause". But like so many "causes" sometimes the most sincere intentions are lost in their execution their and it's the same with this movie.  There was some dabbling in 60's sentiment and philosophy, but they bounced between apologizing and atoning for the past, alternating attempts to reconcile or resolve history and offering some vague and dubious counseling to today's up and comers. Seems like an opportunity missed.

Renoir

Deb 8     Me 7

This is an exploration of the great painter's later years, his family, personality and the times he lived in. It assumes a lot of facts not in evidence, that is, the more you know going in, the happier you'll be coming out. With that said there were still a lot of unanswered questions and issues raised and not resolved, that's why I gave it a 7 and not higher. What they did present of Renoir the painter was pretty great, the shots of him working were very convincing. There's also some skin, which I like, good healthy bodies being celebrated on canvas. I learned some from this film, was entertained and my interest level was maintained. It is slow, but it allows you time to soak in the lovely cinematography.

On The Road

Deb 8        Me 7

Movies like this are kinda scary, that is, seeing things that are near the heart and a tiny bit sacred interpreted by others is a bit scary. I knew from the previews that they edited one of the great passages from On the Road and this set doubt into my mind that was hard to overcome. Before the movie started I decided to forget what I know and just watch what they give me. Forget Cassady's face that has been chiseled into my Rushmore for half a century, forget each phrase that Kerouac has burned into my noggin' and set me on the path. 

So it begins. Immediately I'm a bit surprised it's in color and lit pretty flat. There were a few shots that were artfully done in a sort of film noir style, but I expected it to look more like the films of the 40s and 50s, the time the movie is set in. It didn't and I got over it. The casting was fine, they didn't attempt to go for ringers, which works fine, although the Ginsberg character was easy to pick out. In fact the Ginsberg role was one of the more fully formed people in the movies. 

This wasn't such a movie of the book On the Road, but recreations of the scenes described in the book. I mean, the book was landmark not so much for the stories told, but the innovative way they were told. The scat prose and wonderfully poetic delivery of these events helped make this a cultural phenomenon. There were only hints at Kerouac's creative writing. It really turns out to be sort of a biopic of Kerouac and Cassady and company, with few references to the great talents they possessed; except Ginsberg. What happens with a lot of these movies is they accurately recreate everything, but there's just no heart, very clinical.

In the end it was a fine movie and many of the landmark things in the book are retold but not with Kerouac's beauty and radiance.

Koch

Deb 7     Me 7

We live in Orange County California. I couldn't tell you much about a mayor in Los Angeles, let alone a mayor in New York. I guess that's why we went to see Koch, the three term Mayor of NYC from the late 70s through the late 80s. This is something I enjoy about a well done documentary, take a subject you know or care little about and teach you in a way that you now care about it. I have no affection for the mayor after seeing this well done film, but I have a better grip on NYC and some of the things it has gone through, continues to go through and things it has overcome. I felt like this was pretty even handed, not a poster for his triumphs, but showcased his detractors as much as his advocates and the entire populace in between. Sometimes he kicked ass, sometimes he blew chunks, but he seemed sincere in his decisions, good or bad. It was a neat movie to watch.

Life of Pi 3-D

Deb 10    Me 10

So after seeing this in 2-D we were persuaded to see this in 3-D. We both really dug the movie so we saw it again with enthusiasm. Afterward we both said the exact same thing, "Whatta great movie, 3-D did nothing to improve it". One friend remarked that the new 3-D is so real that you forget about it after a few minutes. Well, I didn't forget about it but it didn't change the story or really enhance the experience. The surprises were still surprises, the beautiful effects were still beautiful regardless of the amount of Ds added. 

If you like symbols and metaphors, then this is a great movie, it's filled with 'em. If you ask me, there's more than they imply. I've talked to people who were less than impressed with the movie and their criticisms were just wrong; its very good.

Movie 43

Deb 0     Me 2

So here's a weird little flick that's billed as a weird one. It's about a dozen vignettes loosely tied together and done by an equal amount of directors. It has an impressive cast including Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Seth MacFarlane, Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet. I think they're trying to push some limits and get outside the old box, which they do, but in a train wreck sort of way. There are parts that are funny, but it's just so sophomoric, so moronic that its just bad. It kinda reminded me of Kentucky Fried Movie, the first movie by Jim Abrahms and the Zucker boys, directed by John Landis and equally tasteless, but it had the advantage of being first. So I'll add lack of originality to the list of objections to the movie, although I DID laugh, I just don't want to admit it.

Amour

Deb 10     Me 10

I knew nothing about this little gem. You know when you go to weddings and they give that bit about honor and sickness and health and better and worse and all that. This is the movie in a nutshell. It looks like a cross between Jim Jarmuch and Stanley Kubrick, while still maintaining originality. Acting, make up, set design, all that stuff is top notch. The story is compelling and told with authentic authority. Would never have guessed, but this was really a unique and well done feature on a difficult topic.

Bless Me Ultima

Deb 6  Me 8

Never heard of it, knew nothing and after you read this you'll know nothing too. I was really pleasantly surprised with this gem. It could've got so corny, so oversold, so stupid, but it didn't. Once I figured out what "type" of movie it was I expected it to follow a preset pattern. Instead it turned out to be a different type of movie and I was pleased. Set in New Mexico at the end of WWll it really seemed to deal with rural ignorance vs. folk wisdom and the end of wonderful traditions that have always been met with the rath of fear.

Argo

Deb 9     Me 9

I was pretty impressed with one. It's based on a real story, but many explanation points were added to give it suspense. But the tension was excellent, everyone was credible and the setting familiar. The film makers did a terrific job of getting that newsreel feel, the urgency of third world day to day drama. John Goodman is here and he's always a delight, even though he just seems to be himself in whatever he does these days, he's good enough to get away with it. I don't want to give anything away here, but the walk away feeling is good and having lived through the real events it was nice to get an iterpretation of what could have happened behind the scenes. A smart movie.

Quartet

Deb 7     Me 6

Very similar to Not Fade Away in a lot of respects, but this is the personal dynamics on an established quartet in a different musical genre. But another nice look at the personal dynamics of a performing group. I liked the people in it and thought there was a bit of over acting in places but generally a fine movie, again, suitable for TV.

Not Fade Away

Deb 7     Me 6

This was a pretty authentic look at the formation and evolution of a garage band with big aspirations. The band shares the fate of most and this is a very good interpretation or representation of how it all happens in the various personalities that make up a band. Major credit goes to understanding the dynamics and putting them on screen in a way we can empathize with, it just wasn't a lot to watch. Could be a good TV movie.

Hyde Park on Hudson

Deb 8    Me 8

We've been waiting for this for a while now. Why? Bill Murray. I just think he fills the screen with some little extra spark that other performers lack. He's sort of a throwback to the pre-Dustin Hoffman days, you know when john Wayne was always John Wayne or Gable was always gable, regardless of their roles. Murray is always Murray and being Murray is a pretty good thing to be. He doesn't always pick great movies to be in but he's usually great in whatever they are. There were other people in the movie too. Laura Linney is always a treat, don't see her enough really. Didn't really know anybody else, and I like that, makes it easier to accept their roles.

The movie is set just before WWll and the King and Queen of England come to visit America. This is a behind-the-scenes look at that summit meeting based on notes from the woman played by Laura Linney. It makes for an enjoyable insight to the ways things may have been done in the no too distant past. Its the same King in The King's Speech (different actor, same King), so if you saw that you have some historical background as to who's who. Sad way to get history lessons, but better than none. And this way is quite entertaining.