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.

Promised Land

Deb 7    Me8

First thing I noticed was that the stars had a vested interest in this thing. They did everything from the screenplay to produce it so you felt they were in earnest all the way through. It was actually a good movie. I'm always suspicious when a TV guy does a movie, this had Jim from "the Office" in it and again, he was a driving force in the movie production, and he was swell. Too often these crossover guys are one dimensional and here he didn't stray far from his TV image. The other guy wasn't Brad Pitt but the other guy, Matt Damon (he kinda looks like Bruce Watson). He was great and Frances MacDormand was much less whacky than we've seen her in the past, but did a fine job. 

It was a great story, topical, you see why these guys might want to tell the tale and entertaining. They talk about "fracking" in the movie and describe it differently that I understood it. So I looked it up and there are many ways it can be done, loosely including the method described in the film. (For me this was a distraction while watching it, so now you can be at ease during the show.)

All in all a nice episode of Leave it to Beaver with big kids. Entertaining, educational and not too preachy. Worth the time it takes to watch it and might provoke some provocative after movie conversation.