American Hustle

This is a good movie, not a great movie, and not as good as Silver Linings Playbook.  It is a farce and the plot has a lot of holes.  I guess we're to ignore those.  The cast is extraordinary in this good hair/bad hair movie.  In my opinion the stars, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner have great hair.  The other 3 stars - let's just call their hair - the craps.  I think Amy Adams deserves an Oscar nod, but none of the others.  Still, I liked this movie even though I think it is getting unjustifiable raves.  At the end of the movie weren't you surprised that all those politicians got arrested?  I thought it would end with all of them dancing on the head of the overzealous IRS agent played by Bradley Cooper.

Duds fo the Year

As for Gravity, it is without emotion, not engaging and boring, and that's all Samoblog has to say about it. Oldboy is absurdly violent.  Someone said this is Spike Lee's best movie since Inside Man.  Now that was one very good movie.  This is one very bad one.  The worst of the year, without question, though, is Out of the Furnace.  With a loaded cast, you'd think this has to be good.  Nope.  It's a dull story with no script.  Yuk.

Dallas Buyers Club and About Time

In Dallas Buyers Club Matthew McConaughey has reached the peak of his acting career (so far).  It's no surprise.  It was apparent as far back as We Are Marshall and Lincoln Lawyer.  He is mesmerizing all the way through here: when you can see him, that is.  He's lost a lot of weight!  The movie is based upon a  real person and a very courageous guy, who goes after drugs that will help him deal with his disease, AIDS, even if they have not been approved in the U.S.   About Time is a love story/comedy.  You've got to stick with this as it is somewhat hokey and involves time travel, a couple of aspects I'm biased against.  As the movie moves on and the great Bill Nighy becomes more of a presence, it becomes more and more engaging and finishes with a powerful message that is typically cliched, but not here, the build-up is so solid and yet unpredictable.

This French film is one of best of the year!

Blue Is The Warmest Color is a deep and honest movie about 3 or so years in the life of a young girl played to nth degree by the astounding young french actress, Adele Exarchopoulos, in the performance of a lifetime, even though she is only 19!  The camera is on her constantly and she doesn't miss a twitch.  It's reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata, with similar camera focus on the great stars, Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman.  It seems much of the publicity for Blue is on the intimate and lengthy love scenes between the two main actresses, an important part of the story certainly, but far from more than a part of the arc of this woman's young life, which is so well set out in a long (nearly 3 hours), but most compelling film.

3 Documentaries You Should See

Watching Mohammed Ali's Greatest Fight is to see Ali in his prime.  That incredible combination of brashness and ability with footage of some of his fights and a focus on his battle with the government and his claim of conscious objector status, is something not to be missed, especially for diehard Ali fans.
Muscle Shoals documents the recording studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in the 70's that were sought out and used by so many of the music stars of the 70s and 80s.  Great music and good interviews with many of these stars.
After Tiller deals with the stories of the few doctors in the country who offer third trimester abortions still, in the face of serious threats and possible death since the brutal killing of George Tiller in Kansas in 2009.

Robert Reich

Inequality for All is a documentary about this extraordinary man.  As far as I'm concerned this guy should be on the public airways once a week telling us all the way things are in this country and the world.  This movie truly "tells it like it is", more so than just about anything else I can think of.  It is engaging to the max.  The realities he so clearly articulates border on the horrifying, but this is where we are.  This movie has to get an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. 

Prisoners

Two young girls disappear.  The detective on the case is Jake Gyllenhaal.  (What hair! - Gavin Newsom's got nothing on this guy.)  One of the fathers (Hugh Jackman) is pushing for more progress.  When the lead suspect is released for lack of evidence, the father goes rogue and ballistic.  This is such a performance by Hugh Jackman that I think maybe it is a lot closer to his real personality than the song and dance man we've been seeing lately.  Jake Gyllenhaal is also extraordinary as is the entire cast.  This movie is a wholly engaging drama.

Blue Jasmine

This is one terrific film.  Another snappy Woody Allen script. It is edited seamlessly as it moves from Cate Blanchett's current life to her former life.  She is the down, blue dame, who has lost it all, thanks to the criminal acts of her husband, Alec Baldwin.  She moves across the country and in with her sister, Sally Hawkins, in San Francisco.  She can't help putting down Sally's life and her boyfriend, Bobby Carnavale.  This guy,... I couldn't wait until he was back on the screen.  Funny, tough, outrageous and lovable.  How could Sally not go for him, but in Jasmine's eyes, they were both losers.
Not this movie, though.  Don't miss it.
I love Alec Baldwin, but here, he has an insignificant role.  I'd like to see the sequel, with him as the star, so that we could be treated to the shenanigans that he must have pulled.

Trayvon

I've been traveling for awhile, and I now find I'm compelled to comment on the most horrific, tragic, and disgusting nightmare of a case in my adult lifetime.  George Zimmerman stalked Trayvon Martin, provoked him into an encounter and killed him and wasn't even arrested until there was a massive public outcry.  Trayvon was executed for walking while black.  The horrid case of Dan White murdering George Moscone and Harvey Milk and getting away with it while being convicted of manslaughter comes to mind, but at least he was convicted of something.  The Trayvon Martin case is an indictment of our so-called system of justice.  It exposes in the most acute way how much racism, profiling, fright and anger exist in our society, deeply in our society, even now in 2013. I think George Zimmerman wanted to kill him and provoked the encounter so he could do it, and he's been judged innocent, completely innocent.

20 Feet From Stardom

OH MY GOD!!! This film about back up singers is mesmerizing.  They are back ups to many of the big stars and groups. This documentary is one not to miss.  The film itself is so well shot and edited and the sound quality is tops.  Of course, the music is also some of the best with many all-time classics.  The singers are a very interesting bunch.  Call it an A+, 5 stars, man jumping off the chair clapping (and screaming with joy).  I think this movie will win the Oscar for best documentary and may even get an Oscar nod for Best Movie!

Off the Cuff

July 4, 2013

Strolling back from the movie with Masten
a gorgeous babe slipped into a waiting car
street people, change, trash
on with the blocks
and home
fireworks & manhattans
good food, warmth
and thanks about the pleasures
but a hitch
there but for....
the luck of the Irish
  and way, way more than that

Before Midnight

This great film is probably the best of the "before" series of three very special movies.  Beautifully shot and acted, it's the script that makes it so exceptional.  This couple bong around in their endless conversations with each other.  These resonate with so many of us, I'm sure, who have been sparring in the relationship world for awhile.  Love and exasperation, humor and irritation.  Sometimes it seems they are just a word or two from ending it all.  A scary-real film.  I'll see this movie again.

Off The Cuff

I just spent most of the last week in Austin, Texas at Mary Lou's 55th high school reunion.  Somewhere in there I suddenly realized that I'm almost 80 (next Feb.).  In 20 years I'll be almost 100! 
HOLY CRAP!!

Extraordinary Movie (Disconnect) and Extraordinary new TV Series (Rectify)

Disconnect is not to be missed.  It deals with the internet and issues involving bullying and identity theft, interweaving three sets of people with very current  and real problems.
Rectify is also not to be missed.  A man convicted of murder and rape is released from prison after 19 years based upon DNA evidence exonerating him..  How will his family, friends, the townfolk treat him?  This is unfolding in ways sometimes predictable and sometimes shocking  There is a fascinating creepiness that sifts through every scene in this most compelling drama.  I don't feel creeped out.  I want to give this guy a chance, but I need to know more if I'm going side with him.  Also, he is a little creepy himself.  See what I mean and why I find this so compelling?

A Movie, A Book and more Off the Cuff

Spring Breakers.  Tampa is loaded with rockin' bare breasted party animals.  It turns out not to be such a great party after all, but along the way we've got a pulsating sound track and some great music from Chris Martinez (Traffic).  And along comes James Franco in a wild and exhilarating performance.
The book, Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver is a must-read.  It pits the scientists/environmentalists with the locals in a poor Appalachian town to grapple with a huge influx of butterflies that get off course due to climate changes and settle in trees that are being considered for a presumed money-making logging venture.
Off the Cuff:  "If you don't follow your dreams, you're just like a cow in the field." Werner Herzog

Ryan Gosling, Mad Men and New Addition to this Blog

Ryan Gosling is the most magnetic actor out there right now.  Go see The Place Beyond The Pines.  It is not an A movie, and the reason will be obvious when you see this film.  I'd still give it a good solid B, however.  Mad Men is off to a rousing start as it keeps a firm hold on the best tv series going.  After touting The Good Wife, I've been extremely disappointed in the most recent shows.  I sure hope they can get back that grit with episodes that raise complicated moral issues instead of the current drivel. 
I'm going to add an Off the Cuff entry to this blog, which I expect to regularly appear.  First entry here is:
Do you know what good friends do?   They shoot the shit.

TV series, 2 disappointments, 2 good and 1 special, and ++movie

Smash and Justified are not holding up to their last seasons.  As for Smash where is the compelling issue, like who is going to get the Marilyn role?  The writing also is not as crisp.  Justified is suffering in similar ways.  Let's get it back yáll, please!  These two shows both had too much promise.  Two excellent tv series that are holding up as well as ever:  Real Time with Bill Maher and The Good Wife.  Also, Girls has clearly established  Lena Dunham as a fresh and extraordinary new talent.  This is a must-see series, however serious viewing issues arise for teenagers and younger.  As for a good movie, try The Gatekeepers, an Oscar-nominated documentary, about the Israeli security forces.  Enlightening in terms of the incredible difficulties involved in the continuing terrorism.  Tragic as to "collateral damages".  Hopeful?  Flimsy, at best.  An engrossing movie, nevertheless.

Post Oscar Splash

Oscar party was pretty good, I thought.  My most exciting moment was when Searching for Sugarman won Best Documentary.  There were some looks by stars that I thought were appalling -  George Clooney and Ben Affleck sported those incredibly ugly beards, especially Clooney.  Ugh!!  As for the women, I think Kerry Washington, a talent with potential beauty, has gone for the scrawny, emaciated look.  Why, why does this look persist?  I really don't get it.  Lara Flynn Boyle comes to mind. 

Oscar Time

Top 10
The Master
Silver Linings Playbook
Searching for Sugarman
Argo 
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Late Quartet
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty 
Polisse
Central Park Five

Honorable Mention
Take This Waltz
Promised Land 
Killer Joe
Bernie

Best TV Series/Shows
Homeland
Mad Men
Real Time with Bill Maher
Smash
The Killing
The Good Wife
Boardwalk Empire

Best Cast
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Song (and most blunt)
I Wonder from Searching for Sugarman

Best Freckles
Eddie Redmayne in Les Miserables


Best Scene
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook dancing to Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash singing Dylan's song, Girl from the North Country.

Oscar Nominations - OMG!!!

What?  The Master did not get nominated as one of the 10 best pictures of 2012 and no best director nor best cinematography nods?  Outrageous!  And what about The Late Quartet and a nod to Christopher Walken?  And neither Kathyrn Bigelow nor Ben Afleck were nominated??  The Oscar show can't mean much this year because of these oversights.

5 Holiday Season Movies

Django Unchained - An extremely bloody and gory slave revenge fantasy.  C+
Promised Land - A good, solid movie about fracking with Matt Damon and Francis McDormand.  B
Impossible - The horrors and anguish (continual) of the southeast Asia tsunami, based upon a true story. C+
Les Miserables - A long, but sometimes compelling musical with the astounding Hugh Jackman, etal, including oncoming and dazzling new star, Eddie Redmayne.   B-
The Central Park Five - An astonishing film about a total miscarriage of justice.  Frightening in many ways.  B+.