Monday Movie List ~ Films I’ve Seen in 2010, Part Five

 

The Band Wagon — May 1, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
Because I’ve not seen many Fred Astaire films, I decided not to be picky with what I watched, assuming that most any film of his would be enjoyable. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say that for The Band Wagon. The story seemed interesting at first, with Astaire playing an almost washed-up movie star who reluctantly joins two pals to put on a musical comedy for Broadway, but as the story progressed it simply didn’t hold my attention. By the midway point I was just ready to move on. I skipped through until the musical numbers appeared, and even then I didn’t care for some of them. Proving that all musicals are not created equal. And yet, Astaire and co-star Cyd Charisse are always fun to watch. I’m just sorry the entire film didn’t have the same appeal.

 
 

The Legend of Bagger Vance — May 1, 2010 / TV broadcast
I never pass up an opportunity to revisit the story of Bagger Vance, a mysterious nomad who teaches a disillusioned golf pro how to recapture his game and restore the balance in his life. It’s one of my favorite Robert Redford films (despite his not actually portraying a character in the film), and I consider it one of both Matt Damon’s and Will Smith’s best performances. In fact, the entire cast is extraordinary, from Charlize Theron to Joel Gretsch as Bobby Jones. Watching the film brings a wonderful sense of calm, and it makes me want to learn golf in the worst way. I find the entire film beautiful, from cinematography to the minutiae, and I love it more each time I watch it.

 
 

Swimfan — May 4, 2010 / DVD Rental
I had no particular interest in this film about a high school swimming star and the crazy classmate who stalks him — not when it was released in 2002 and not at any point since then. But last year I discovered that Clayne Crawford had a role in the film, so I made a point to watch at least his scenes. In the end, that’s all I wanted to see. Swimfan held absolutely no appeal, so I simply watched Clayne’s scenes and skipped through the rest. Honestly, it’s a wonder to me how anyone could find this movie interesting. If I’d had no interest in the one actor, I’d have turned it off within the first half hour.

 
 

Pride & Prejudice (2005) — May 15, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
The 2005 version of this film based on Jane Austen’s novel is by far my favorite. I did enjoy the Colin Firth series, of course, but it’s Keira Knightley who I feel best embodies Elizabeth Bennett, and that’s what makes the later version much more enjoyable to me. I also think Matthew Macfadyen is a perfect Mr. Darcy, and going forward I’ll always compare other Darcys to him. Each time I see this Pride and Prejudice I find it better than the last time, with more layers and more nuance and much more humor than I’ve seen before. Which is what makes a movie infinitely watchable.

 
 

Becoming Jane — May 15, 2010 / Starz
I first saw this film “based on the romantic life of Jane Austen” at the cinema back when Anne Hathaway was less a “star” and more an up-and-coming actress, but I had never seen her co-star James McAvoy before and found myself charmed immediately. And yet, when I came to know his work better, I couldn’t recall his performance in Becoming Jane. That’s the reason I decided to watch this film again, in fact. It’s not that I enjoy it that much, but rather I wanted to watch McAvoy this time more than the story. And it was worth it for that alone. I just wish the movie did a better job of convincing me that this Jane resembles the true Austen.

 
 

The Cincinnati Kid — May 15, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
It took me a while to make time for this classic about a young self-assured poker player determined to prove himself against a master of the game. Even as I made a concerted effort to see Steve McQueen’s films, I just didn’t find myself drawn to Kid. But it’s a great film full of great actors and great scenes. And though it’s definitely a film that dates itself in visual style, the eye is constantly drawn to McQueen. This is an essential McQueen movie to watch, and it’s a perfect example of the magnetism that made him a star.

 
 

War and Peace — May 16, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
Despite finding Audrey Hepburn so enchanting, I have not seen many of her films. And until I began perusing her filmography, I had no idea that she starred in this epic based on Tolstoy’s novel. So I watched it. But I shouldn’t even be including it in this post because, for the life of me, I can’t remember a single detail of the movie. How is that possible? I watched a three-hour masterpiece and can’t recall one moment? Shameful.

 
 

Roman Holiday — May 16, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
I vividly remember this one, though. How could you not? Hepburn is at her best, the classic ingenue. This being her first film role, she’s perfectly fearless and fully immersed into her character of Princess Ann. And despite the age difference that was all-too-common in the old studio system, Gregory Peck and Hepburn are enchanting together, running around Rome pretending she’s not royalty. They are meant to be the stars, of course, but Rome is just as much a key player of the film. Even in black and white, the city is breathtaking. Which makes the film a joy to watch, each and every time.

 
 

Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball — May 18, 2010 / DVD Rental
There is nothing good in this movie. It’s a weak sequel, hyper-violent, profane, loose on plot and even slimmer on character, but in keeping with my habit of renting movies for a single beloved actor, I checked out this terrible film because my beloved Clayne Crawford had a rare lead role. I never actually planned to watch the movie (and I didn’t), but I did hope that Clayne was at least enjoyable. Instead, he was hilarious… but often I was amused when the scene wasn’t meant to be funny. His look alone was reminiscent of Colonel Sanders, and his mannerisms were quirky, at best. He, and the entire movie, became more and more ridiculous as the time clicked by, and at the end I was never so ready to see a final scene. The movie is truly awful, but I did find joy in Clayne when I stopped taking any of it seriously. So I guess that’s something.

 
 

Ransom! (1956) — May 27, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
One of my favorite films of all time is Mel Gibson’s Ransom, but until just recently I had no idea it was a remake of an earlier film. So I checked out the original for comparison. The two films begin very much the same, and a lot of the story follows the same path of a father’s efforts to rescue his son from a kidnapper, but for me, the 1956 version really doesn’t hold a candle to the later film. The suspense is missing and the ending is truly anti-climactic. The only good thing I can say about the original is that the basic story is still as good and Glenn Ford is terrific, as always. But I’ll always recommend the remake. It’s just a much more enjoyable film.

 
 

Taps — May 29, 2010 / American Movie Classics
There is a collection of films from my adolescence that mostly define the decade, and Taps can easily be placed in that category for its cast alone. This story of military academy cadets who go to extremes to save their school features the finest actors of my generation… before we realized they would become our finest actors. Timothy Hutton is the core of the film, the one actor who was expected to be legendary, but Sean Penn is also phenomenal and Tom Cruise was simply a great character actor at the time. The cast list goes on and on with names who were new then and are very familiar now, which is what makes Taps such a pleasure to watch today. It’s a powerful film that hasn’t lost its impact over the years, and seeing it again reminds me of the great potential these actors had, even at the beginning of their careers.

 
 

The Dirty Dozen — May 29, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
It should be obvious by now that my love of classic films doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve seen that many of them. And movies centering around war and the military are always among the least of my interests, so I never made a point to watch The Dirty Dozen because I didn’t understand that it wasn’t in that same genre. But my dad always mentioned how much he enjoyed it, so I finally took the time to sit down with it, where I discovered that it’s a story of prison inmates who are trained to carry out a secret military mission. Along the way, they find their true natures to be far different from the lives they were leading before. I had no idea that this was the story, and I found that I loved it. It’s funny! Why didn’t I know it was funny? Plus, as always, there are so many actors in the early days of their careers, which makes it so much more enjoyable. Charles Bronson, in fact, was the biggest surprise, as I’ve never known him to be anything other than a tough guy vigilante. By the end of the film I found myself caring about every character and cheering during the final act. I never expected that in a million years.

 
 

Gangs of New York — May 29, 2010 / TV broadcast
I’ve never been a fan of Daniel Day-Lewis, but I have always been a fan of Leo DiCaprio, so Gangs of New York was eternally on my list of movies to watch. That it took me so long to get around to it is simply laziness and never being in the right frame of mind. It always seemed a specific type of film, this story of rival Irish gangs in 19th century New York City, and I felt that I needed to have a certain level of preparedness in order to enjoy it. But actually, all of those presumptions proved incorrect. It’s actually a terrific character drama with an epic setting, wherein DiCaprio seeks to have revenge on Day-Lewis’s gang leader for the murder of his father many years before. This is DiCaprio’s film with memorable moments by Daniel Day-Lewis. And I didn’t even mind watching Cameron Diaz, which is quite rare for me. It took no time at all for me to fall in love with the movie and the story and the characters and the setting. I expect I’ll want to revisit Gangs a lot throughout the rest of my life.

 
 

Notorious — May 29, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
My friend Cerella tasked me with watching the films of Ingrid Bergman, believing that I would certainly begin to see what makes Bergman so deserving of her icon status. I’ve seen a few films and haven’t been greatly impressed with her, I must admit. But then came her film with Cary Grant for Hitchock. And I’ve finally begun to understand her appeal. As a young woman shackled by alcoholism and recruited by a government agent (Grant) to spy on friends who are known to be Nazis, Bergman is at once untethered and high-strung. She’s beautiful and sad and paranoid, all of which Bergman plays perfectly. And she effortlessly floats between her emotions, allowing Grant to be the weight that keeps her grounded from scene to scene. Notorious is one of Hitchcock’s best though it was made before films became “Hitchcockian,” and even a sudden and unexpected ending can’t detract from the greatness of this film. It simply hits all the right notes. And it’s begun to change my mind about Bergman.

 
 

Stage Door — May 29, 2010 / Turner Classic Movies
This particular film has been on my “must watch” list for years and years, yet always slightly outside my purview when I chose to catch up with Katharine Hepburn movies. But I’ve always wanted to see it for the story alone: young women living together in a boarding house as each tries to get that big break on Broadway. Within the first few minutes the tone is set; a roomful of women gossip and chatter, all at once and at lightning speed. It’s so much simultaneous commentary that even I got a bit lost at first. But then my ear began tuning in to specific voices and I realized that quite a few of them were very familiar. Eve Arden is always easy to pick out of a crowd, though I can’t recall ever seeing her in her younger years. And there was another voice that seemed so familiar but slightly different than what it should be. And the woman’s face — the very young woman’s face — wasn’t instantly recognizable to me either. But I listened closely and zeroed in until it finally hit me: Lucille Ball. The youngest I’ve ever seen her (and with blonde hair!), though her voice still had almost the same quality as her later years when I came to know her as Lucy Ricardo. What made her voice a little unfamiliar was its youth; at this stage in her career her voice lacked the timbre of her later years. Still, it was there just enough that I recognized her, and that made this film even more enjoyable. There are a lot of women in the movie, including Ginger Rogers, and each is as beautiful and talented as the next. The house is literally filled with great comic ability, but all that’s really important is just watching these women work onscreen. For all the reasons I disliked The Women, they were exactly what made Stage Door so enjoyable.

Monday Movie List ~ Underrated Films

There are quite a few films that I think are truly great but seem to be consistently overlooked by a majority of moviegoers. Here are some of my favorites:
 
Jakob the Liar — A truly touching story of a Jewish man living in a Polish ghetto during World War II and his efforts to spread hope among his community when there is little to be found. Featuring Robin Williams in a dramatic role, as well as a wonderful turn by Liev Schreiber.
 
In Bruges — Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell play two Irish hit men laying low in the medieval city of Bruges in Belgium. What begins as ridiculous and funny turns into a sweet and touching story of regret and forgiveness. There’s a reason Farrell won awards for this film.
 
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — A quirky love story starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey (with a fantastic dramatic performance) in which a couple has their memories of each other erased after a bad break-up. It’s the actors’ inspired performances that make this movie so special.
 
Benny & Joon — There’s simply nothing greater than Johnny Depp channeling Buster Keaton and Mary Stuart Masterson as the mentally-challenged girl who is the object of his affection. Aidan Quinn and Julianne Moore add even more depth and joy to this simple story.
 
Bringing Up Baby — Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant and a domesticated leopard called ‘Baby’. It’s as goofy and quirky and cheery as any of their individual films, and it features some of my favorite one-liners. Classic Kate Hepburn humor and Cary Grant charm.
 
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken — It’s a little schmaltzy and a lot heartwarming, but this film about the symbiotic relationship between a young woman and a diving horse is truly sweet and features a great cast including Gabrielle Anwar, Cliff Robertson, and Michael Schoeffling (the one and only Jake Ryan!).
 
The New World — Terrence Malick’s exquisite retelling of the English settling of Jamestown and the relationship that develops between Captain John Smith and native Pocahontas. The film is ethereal and powerful and beautiful from start to finish, with rich performances by Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, and then-newcomer Q’orianka Kilcher as the Powhatan princess.
 
The Mosquito Coast — Harrison Ford plays an eccentric but failed inventor who picks up his family and moves off the grid to a jungle in Central America. My dad finds great inspiration in the man’s desire to create for himself a greater civilization than the one he left behind. Ford’s performance is a reminder that he truly is a gifted actor with more in his bag of tricks than just heroes.
 
The Count of Monte Cristo — The story is a classic, but it’s the performances of Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce that make this film so engaging. It’s what every historical should aspire to become.
 
The Quick and the Dead — Sam Raimi’s gritty western starring Sharon Stone as a woman seeking revenge and Gene Hackman as the object of her ire, with a truly nuanced pre-Gladiator performance by Russell Crowe as well as a great turn by Leonardo DiCaprio as a cocky young gunslinger trying to make a name for himself. There are layers in this story that are revealed little by little until the very end.
 
Rounders — Edward Norton and Matt Damon give this film its depth, and no matter how many times I watch it, I always see something new in their performances. On the one hand it’s a cautionary tale, and on the other it’s a story of the magnitude of friendship. Besides that, it’s just pretty cool at times.
 
Gattaca — I consider this film one of Ethan Hawke’s very best, though few have taken the time to see it. It’s technically a science fiction story in that it’s set in a future when genetics can be manipulated to create “ideal” children and anyone born with anomalies is treated as a second-class citizen. Hawke teams with Jude Law in order to transcend societal limitations and achieve his forbidden dreams. Despite a cold and sterile look to much of the film, it’s filled with heart and depth and a strong warning about technological advancements.
 

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this topic was borrowed from the Monday Movie Meme on The Bumbles Blog
 

Summer Film Series – Vol. 8, No. 5: INCEPTION

August 27, 2010, at Cinemark Allen 16 in Allen, TX
 

 
Some movies are so spectacular that you know you will love them before you really even see them. I assumed I’d love The Matrix when I first saw the trailers for it, and that was confirmed for me within the first few minutes of the film when Trinity first suspended herself in mid-air just before taking out a roomful of policemen using only her skills and their weapons. I was convinced of the greatness that is Minority Report before I ever saw a single frame at the cinema. So naturally, based on the spectacular trailers for Inception, I knew I’d love it without knowing one true thing about it. It had a great pedigree in director Christopher Nolan and star Leonardo DiCaprio and its story was obviously going to be mind-bending, and those two elements alone were enough to convince me that it was going to be far beyond my wildest imagination. And it is. In more ways than I can count.
 
To summarize the plot is to give away too much of the film, so I will not do that here. It is necessary to see Inception with no preconceived ideas. I avoided all reviews and news articles prior to viewing just to enter with a clear head. Unfortunately, there was one small element revealed to me unwittingly, and knowing that one thing really did take away a significant level of enjoyment. It’s not that I disliked anything but rather, I knew too much and the mystery wasn’t as deep as it should have been. And that’s a disappointment, as the greatest gift of the film is not knowing until the pieces start to fall into place. That such an experience was taken from me is a true regret as I spent the entire film understanding the story in a way that only should be experienced on second and third viewings. For a movie-lover like me, it truly did take away from the adventure of the film.
 
Make no mistake, Inception is a thinker. It’s the kind of film that forces you to be alert and watchful. It’s not so much “entertainment” as it is an “experience,” and as much as I recommend it to every single person who loves a great film, I know that there is a contingent of people who just find it boring. In truth, it’s only boring to those unwilling to participate in cinematic experiences. Those who find it boring are those who simply want their movies thrown at them with cues for when to laugh and when to cry and what to think. Inception doesn’t tell us any of these things. In fact, it tells us very little. Instead, it presents itself with all you need to know to form your own conclusions. And even then, the conclusions you make are highly debatable. This film is one of those incredible stories that will be discussed and argued and weighed and measured for years to come. I’d even go so far as to say it will be discussed for generations, in the same way we now discuss Hitchcock, Kubrick, Welles, and yes, The Matrix trilogy.
 
What I will say about Inception is that it has one of the greatest casts ever assembled, and the average moviegoer will know very few of them. DiCaprio was given above-the-title billing, but he is merely the navigator of the story. It is his castmates who truly take the film to its heights, and none moreso than Joseph Gordon-Levitt (seen in the images here), Tom Hardy (whom you will remember in years to come as you think back on the film), and the ever-delightful Marion Cotillard (whose character cannot even be described because just knowing who she plays will destroy a key plot point of the film). The rest of the cast is divine in their roles, as well, including Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, and my longtime favorite Cillian Murphy. At various points throughout the film, each of these actors, as their respective characters, draw your attention away from everything else going on, and that is truly a rare gift in modern movies. But above all else, it is the visual spectacle that makes Inception so phenomenal. The (mostly non-CGI) effects of the film are breathtaking — as is one of the first images you see in the film: a grand hall filled with pendant lights that took my breath away every time it was shown — yet none of them draw attention from the human element. And I believe that is the film’s greatest strength.
 

 
images via Internet Movie Database are linked to source

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2009 Oscar Ritual : REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

February 6, 2009, at Movies 16, Allen, Texas

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Michael Shannon) and Costume Design

I recently read a critical review of Revolutionary Road which stated that some of its appeal was lost to a post-Mad Men audience, and I have to say that I agree with that assessment. Mad Men has so brilliantly presented the dissatisfaction of 1960s surburbia that very few others could come close to its level of quality and genius. Revolutionary Road does not present any further insight into this microcosm of history, and that is regrettable. Were we to judge its merit solely on story and setting, the film would have little more to offer its viewers. Thankfully, this is not where its merit lies.

The value of Revolutionary Road is the performances of its cast. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio hold nothing back in expressing the discontent of their characters’ lives. They rant and rage and flail and stew with every fiber of their beings, and watching them in this passion play is like peering into a neighbor’s window. I was disturbed at the sight of them yet too engaged to look away and too invested to not see where their relationship would go. Every second of their performances held me rapt, whether singularly onscreen or together. I found it impossible to choose a side. Winslet’s April was completely justified in her ideals and in her desires, and DiCaprio’s Frank was equally in the right for wanting to do what he felt was best for his family. That the two could not find a point at which to meet is the heartbreak of the film. And it is what ultimately brings a tragic conclusion.

The cast of Revolutionary Road is phenomenal, from the two stars down through every supporting player. Michael Shannon, the only Oscar nominee from this film, had two scenes in the entire production, but his moments are the most memorable and most profound of the film. He brings the Truth that no one is willing to admit out loud. Kathy Bates is equally wonderful in the role of Shannon’s mother, and it is her great restraint in the role that is most impressive. She epitomizes the women of that era who placed a smiling face over the anguish that was going on behind closed doors. And every other cast member plays a role that brings commentary to that period of time in that particular setting of life. Every person is deserving of praise, for it is these performances that elevate the film above its label of period drama. It is the performances that give the movie its depth and force viewers to examine their own relationships. And that is what the best movies are meant to do.

image from Rotten Tomatoes