Whoa! + It's About Time

Want some laughs right about now?  Check out Silver Linings Playbook.  This is one very funny movie, with a snappy script and good acting, especially by Jennifer Lawrence.  Robert DeNiro and Bradly Cooper also shine.  In response to some criticism out there, this is not meant to be a serious movie about bipolar disorders.    Yes, it is about time that Smash got nominated - for best TV Series, Comedy or Musical  - by the Golden Globes!

Television Shows and more Oscar Contenders

Homeland continues to be the best show running now.  Other good shows I'm watching are Boardwalk Empire and The Good Wife. Of course, other great shows like Mad Men, The Killing,  Real Time with Bill Maher and Smash are currrently on break.  I've seen a few more Oscar contenders:  The Late Quartet, Lincoln and Argo.  These are all good movies and well worth viewing.  I particularly liked The Late Quartet - an emotionally intense movie centering on the 4 musicians.  I see an Oscar nod here to multi-talented and always intriguing Christopher Walken

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel and Sessions

Diana Vreeland . . . is an exceptional documentary, mainly because Diana Vreeland was such a visionary, an artist, a woman of extraordinary perception of the beauty of people, clothes, sets, designs with a sense of fashion and trends like no other.  The accolades from so many peers is no surprise.  This film has to get an Oscar nomination.  Sessions, a movie about a sex therapist with polio patient in an iron lung who can't move his arms or legs.  John Hawke (Winter's Bone) again gives a nuanced and fully dimensional performance.  At times you almost forget he has any disability.  Helen Hunt as the therapist and William Macy as the priest also give very strong performances.  There's Oscar potential here too.

Searching for Sugar Man

Here's a movie that is a must-see for everyone I can think of.  An astounding story, compelling music and lyrics, with a real kicker in the prioritizing of fame, not just by the "star" but his family and fans too.  I will see this again.

The Master and Emmys Big Plus and Big Minus

The Master is without question a must-see movie.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is perfect as the suave, warm, funny and compelling guru of the cult he leads.  Joaquin Phoenix is even better as the returning veteran humping the babe molded in the sand by his buddies.  He's quirky and spasmodic as he's drawn to the Hoffman character and his cult.  It is great to see Phoenix up and out of that river in Panama.  (See previous posting on this blog, dated Sept. 22, 2010).  There are such extraordinary scenes set up by writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson that you just want to last longer because they are so color-rich and captivating.  The movie sags somewhat in the latter half, but not nearly enough to make it anything less than the best movie of the year to date.  As for the Emmys, they hit it on the button when they showered Homeland with so many justly deserved honors, as it was clearly one of the best first seasons ever.  But how did the Emmys completely miss the boat on the other best first season offering this last year, Smash??  Maybe it's because so many actors stood out in this extraordinary cast that those voters just threw in their towels on this one.  Outrageous!

3 Duds and a Pearl

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a pearl glistening in the murky water.  Painful and mysterious with a harsh beauty.  On the other hand 2 Days in New York is disappointing and without substance.  Who'd have thought that Julie Delpy would stumble this badly.  She's too good as an actress and director, but writer - I'm not so sure after seeing this.  Two other duds fill out this post, Bachelorettes and For a Good Time Call....  These two movies are aimed at a younger audience, and if they are hitting the mark, then God help us.

Actor Is Surging

Matthew McConaughey is definitely coming on.  In his latest, Killer Joe, he's a real nasty guy.  It's another rivetting performance.  That's three in a row after The Lincoln Lawyer and Magic Mike.  This guy has been a cornball actor for quite awhile, but flashes of his talent showed through at times, as in Friday Night Lights.   Now in these recent wild performances he is clearly saying that he's a more serious actor than a lot of us thought.