October 1 2014 through October 31 2014:
2014 @ the movies take 93: “Rich Hill” The film documents the lives of three impoverished Missouri teenagers. It is somewhat easier watching a similar documentary about Mumbai or Kenya - this one hits much closer to home. The situations described maybe sad or revolting, but they are always shown in a very honest and human way. The 3 boys are also very different and more or less likable which enriches the piece. The documentarian doesn’t choose the easy path of tear-jerky pity. More than a call to action, it is a call to rethink how we relate to one another as we are quick to reduce a life to dirty hair and worn-our shoes. Experienced at Moxie Cinema.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNp0AuPiZ3Y
2014 @ the movies take 94: “Skeleton Twins” I saw the trailer for this film probably 7 or 8 times before seeing the actual piece. The trailer promises a flurry of quirky comedic beats with hints of melancholy. The actual film is a flurry of melancholy with very spaced-out comedic beats (all shown in the trailer). While the performances are strong, the script weaves too many tragic plots and loses itself - siblings in crisis, triple suicide, sexual abuse and dead goldfish, really? Maybe the trailer just spoiled it for me, but the mayonnaise did not take, like we say in France. I am not posting the trailer because it would be a disservice to prospective viewers. Experienced at Moxie Cinema.
2014 @ the movies take 95: “Ida” is low-key black & white gem from Poland portraying a 60’s youth trying to find her place in the world. The director, Pawel Pawlikowski, re-teaches us the power of pure image composition akin to photography. Each scene is a tableau caught by a single still camera. Characters constantly enter and leave the frame as we are witnessing their lives. The acting is raw like in a live play, no artifice possible. Close shots happen only if the actor actually walks toward the camera. It looks deceptively simple, but must have been orchestrated very precisely for each sequence to maintain stunning compositions throughout - last time I saw this precision was in Kurosawa’s work. In only one scene, at the end, the camera finally moves to great effect to underscore the climax of the protagonist journey. Movie making 101: form and story coalescing perfectly. Experienced at Moxie Cinema https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhCaVqB0x0
2014 @ the movies take 96 “Gone Girl” What is the phrase? “The book is better” - although I have not read the book, I have a feeling this oft-heard sentence does not apply here. Like he showed it with “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, David Fincher manages to maintain the density of prose fiction with this adaptation. He doesn’t shy away from the complexities of the plot and the dual point of view through a slick use of voice overs. In spite of a strongly “Afflecked” promo campaign, the true break away performance belongs to Rosamund Pike. She can turn Machiavellian to true ingénue in the middle of sentence in a scary seamless manner. Experienced with Susie Kekec, Kurtis Foster & Terry Miller Barakat at Regal College Station Stadium 14 in Theater 14 that has a bad speaker frown emoticon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym3LB0lOJ0o
2014 @ the movies take 97 “Love is Strange” Of course, it should be on your list just for Molina & Lithgow - they are perfect. Instead of lingering too much on the gay marriage issue that sparks the intrigue, the film focuses more broadly on the precious constance of lifestyle. We carve out a niche, a private space, in this life that we decorate with a certain routine, and share with a select few. The film looks at what happens when this space is jeopardized or invaded. It sounds banal, but it is relatable and too often taken for granted. The only minor complaint I have is that the film doesn’t know how to end… It ends three times: at a street corner, at a metro station and in a new living room. The perfect ending would have been at the metro station - the bittersweet shot foreshadows the final plot twist that should have remained implied. They knew to enter the room after the conversation started, but they did not know to leave it before it ended. By the way, the French version would have ended at the street corner. Experienced at Moxie Cinema.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdfA5Ff5e78
2014 @ the movies take 98 “Land Ho!” The humor factor of this film hinges solely on the fact that the impertinent and flatulent protagonists are septuagenarians. The same plot with thirty somethings and nobody would give it a second thought. The redeeming aspect of the piece are the gorgeous vistas of Iceland. It was fun spotting places I visited 20 some years ago, but that hardly makes it a must-see… Experienced at Moxie Cinemahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOrALE_pBxU
2014 @ the movies take 99 “Fury” Writer/Director David Ayer has a thing for men in uniforms with broken souls - “Training Day” & “End of watch” dealt with gray-area cops. This time he tackles a WW2 US Tank Unit in the last moments of the conflict in Germany. Rarely depiction of combat has been so honest and brutal. The film peaks in a home invasion scene where the Unit shares a tense meal with two German women. At first, I was not happy about the ending, but after thinking about it, the absurd irony is rather interesting and questions how “War Heroes” come to be defined. Casting note: first time Shia Laboeuf did not annoy me - seeing Brad Pitt in a WW2 movie, you can’t help flashbacks of Lt. Aldo Raines… “and all yaw'll will get me one hunnerd Nazi scalps!” Experienced at Regal College Station Stadium 14https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OGvZoIrXpg
2014 @ the movies take 100 “The Judge” A taylor-made script for Robert Downey Jr. to be super-snappy and fun and to hold his own opposite acting legend Robert Duvall. That mayonnaise was sure to take - a done deal. So why wasting it on layers upon layer of often stale or unsavory sub-subplots? The core of the story is a powerful father/son dynamic - no need for a recently departed parent, a sibling with broken dreams, another sibling mentally challenged with camera fixations, a former flame, a fake waitress, the dread of an incestuous fling, a hidden disease, a grieving mother full of saliva, a 20-year-old spite in a minimart, and an ADA who gets peed on… This overdose of subplots was the same issue I had with “Skeleton Twins” - maybe it is due to the influence of teleplay writing on movie scripts. "TV is where the best writing is” everyone says, no reason to pack 6 seasons worth of storylines in a two-hour feature. What is it composition teachers used to say? “To the point.” Experienced at Regal College Station Stadium 14 with Kurtis Foster, Susie Kekec & Terry Miller Barakat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBvK6ni97W8
2014 @ the movies take 101 “John Wick” (IMAX) On a whim and because we had a long day at work, and Susie Kekec & I decided to go see “Equalizer”on IMAX again (See Review #90). This week, it was called "John Wick" and the Home Mart was replaced by a cute dog… Wall-to-wall revenge murder action (check), Russian Mobsters (check), Slow-mo with explosion in back (Check), taking down a room full of thugs in 29 seconds flat (check), Super-criminals and expert hitmen all using the same brand of unbreakable cellphones (Check). To be fair, Keanu Reeves’ latest effort includes a few weird quirks: the revenge catalysts are a puppy and a collector car (not so much his love interest who died of natural causes). There is also a funky post-murderous rampage clean-up crew, an unexplained large gold coin currency that buys contract killers and opens the door of secret night clubs, a hotel with a strict no-murder policy where hitmen and hitwomen can spend well-earned shut-eye. After some thinking about these bizarre quirks, it dawned on me that we did not really see a movie, we watched the gameplay footage of a first-person shooter that moves from level to level and rewards players with coins. The hotel is a sort of pause button. It, of course, culminates with the taking down of a big boss. GAME OVER. INSERT COINS. Experienced at Springfield 11"That was Awesome!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUmvWm5ZDQ
2014 @ the movies take 102 “Jimi: All is by my side” I have come to dread hagiographic biopics with their Oscar-hopeful performances and their ending credits with real portraits of the heroes soaked in sappy violin music. This film tries something refreshingly different focusing on smaller moments and not going for the iconic Hendrix fare. The piece dwells only on pre-Monterey Hendrix in the UK and re-creates the context of the swinging London with a quasi -documentarian approach. The image editing and sound editing are interestingly experimental with mostly good results. André Benjamin is great, not because of his musical chops, but his plain acting. A pleasant surprise. Experienced at Moxie Cinema. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=981Ql4R2xC8
2014 @ the movies take 103 “Tracks” This biopic-ish film, based on the true story of Robyn Davidson who, in 1977, crossed the Australian desert on foot with 3 camels, actually features “ending credits with real portraits of the heroes” (minus the sappy violin music). Nonetheless, it is well worth the trip. I especially appreciated how the film documents the routine of the journey, not playing up the climax of each obstacle encountered. Since her journey has no purpose just a “Why not?”, the focus is on the path and the self-discovery that it brings with it. This is refreshing in a world of climax-driven and closure-obsessed narratives. The film also comments elegantly on human/animal co-dependence without getting preachy or heavy-handed. By the end, I was sold on the notion of meeting a camel. The 3 majestic animals are filmed with the same care and humanism as Mia Wasikowska which is only fair. Experienced at Moxie Cinema - Springfieldians, you have one more day to catch it on the big screen - Don't miss out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPDc1cKfJW4
2014 @ the movies take 104 “Dear White People” When the boldness of the enterprise should be commended - it is bound to generate healthy debates - I have reservations about the form of the film. The film-maker seems to be hesitating between different approaches - mirroring the “hot-potato” aspect of the topic. It starts out as a precisely staged tongue-in-cheek quasi-Wes Andersonian piece, then it plunges into full-fledge satire to take on a sappy drama false ending U-turn. To this you add a pre-end-credit snippet that reverts to straight campus-comedy - then during the ending credits we are served with true pictures of events similar to the ones depicted in the film… Why the documentary approach now? Do we need to re-anchor the debate in reality? Another thing that might hurt the impact of the film in the long run is its high-reliance on pop-culture references that might not stand the test of time… Still a nice effort - I can’t wait to see what the French sub will look like - a translator’s nightmare (or dream-come-true if you like a challenge) Experienced at Moxie Cinema theater 2 with Susie Kekec & Kurtis Foster.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm6HeK1dyAY
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