I’m back from Chicago, thank God, since they’re expecting an
arctic cold front this week with temperatures as low as 20 below zero. It was
blizzarding when I left but somehow my plane managed to take off. I love
Chicago, but I’m happy to be back with my non-frostbitten limbs intact. I’m
sitting in a coffee shop watching people walk by in shorts and T-shirts—hooray
for Los Angeles!
Since writing my Fall Movie Round-Up, I’ve mentioned a few
of the films I saw during the holiday season but I had always intended to write a little more about them. So now, before I forget them completely and get too caught up in my current freelance project and my jury duty which starts this
week, I thought I’d give it a shot. You know, just in case anyone is breathlessly waiting
for my opinions of the films I’ve seen in the last month or two. [cough] What?
No one is waiting? Oh well, here they are anyway, with the
films listed in alphabetical order. If you wildly disagree with my reactions to
these movies and think I’m clinically insane, remember that I’ve been on a lot
of Novocaine over the past few days!
Australia. I was saddened to see this movie tank at the box
office and to see the very talented Nicole Kidman labeled “box office poison”
the way Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis were for a brief period in the 1930s.
I don’t think she deserves the harsh criticism she’s received for this
sprawling film set in northern Australia in the period just before World War
II, though I’m not sure Kidman herself would agree. In a surprising interview I
read on the plane yesterday, Kidman says she “squirmed” in her seat while
watching this film at the Sydney premiere last November. “I sat there and I
looked at Keith and went ‘Am I any good in this movie?’” While not the best
movie she’s made, I thought Kidman and co-star Hugh Jackman did an excellent job in
this Baz Luhrmann film. Maybe I just like old-fashioned movies—this one had the
feel of those sweeping road show epics of yesteryear such as “Doctor Zhivago” or
“Lawrence of Arabia.” The three-hour length didn’t help attract audiences but I
never felt it dragged. True, the soap opera story of Kidman’s English
aristocrat falling in love with Jackman’s hard-riding Australian cowboy was
cheesy as hell, but I remain a fan of these two actors. I still think Nicole Kidman's best
work was in 1995’s “To Die For.”
Bolt. Leah and I caught this animated 3-D Disney feature
just before it completed its glitzy holiday run at the El Capitan Theatre on
Hollywood Boulevard (complete with live stage show before the film). What a
surprise—I loved it! Great script about a dog who is the star of a weekly
television show about a superhero canine. He doesn’t realize his superpowers
are special effects and when he suddenly finds himself outside the walls of the
TV studio, it takes him a while to understand that he’s just a regular dog. I was
surprisingly moved by this story and laughed out loud more than I have at most
adult live-action comedies lately. John Travolta did a fine job as Bolt but it was
Susie Essman (from “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) as a down-on-her-luck cynical
alley-cat named Mittens who had me on the floor repeatedly. Essman has the kind
of delivery that could make a reading of the phone book a comedy tour-de-force.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I discussed this film
already in my Brad and Jen rant but since then I’ve been surprised by the
number of people I know who didn’t care for it at all. They say it’s too gimmicky
but I maintain it is far more than just a special-effects showcase. I admit
that a big part of my attraction to this film is due to the superb performance
by Cate Blanchett, an actress I’ve been raving about since I started this blog.
On the plane I read the current Vanity Fair profile of the actress and was
happy to hear how down-to-earth and un-diva-like she is. She’s also one of the
few performers who could get me to the movie theatre no matter what the film
was. I read that she’s gearing up to play Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
at the theatre she and her husband Andrew Upton run in Sydney. Damn, I would
love to see that. Like her good friend and fellow Australian Nicole Kidman,
Blanchett hates watching herself on film. “You know, when you see yourself on a
big screen, I tend to watch from behind my hands. There is absolutely the
regret. You always get that at the end of every project. That’s what's great
about theater: at least every night you get the chance to go out and re-offend.
I’m endlessly disappointed, which is what propels me into the next project, probably,
not to repair the damage but to kind of hopefully keep developing. Otherwise
there's no reason to keep doing it, is there?”
Defiance. One of the many films this year that takes place
during World War II, but this one does not focus on the current trend of
profiling “good Nazis.” The film is based on the true story of the Jewish
Bielski brothers who escape into the forest rather than follow the rest of
their village into the ghettos and concentration camps of Nazi-occupied Poland.
The Ed Zwick film is a little preachy, a little cliché-ridden, but for me it
ended up being a riveting take on the often overlooked story of the people who
tried to save themselves during those horrible times. I haven’t seen any of the
new James Bond films, but Daniel Craig was very good as the oldest brother. I’ve always been a big fan of
Liev Shreiber, and Jamie Bell has come a long way since “Billy Elliot.” I
thought the female characters were less well drawn, odd for the creator of
“thirtysomething” and “Once and Again.” I enjoyed seeing character actor Allan
Corduner playing the role of the rabbi-like Shamon Haretz. 25 years earlier,
Corduner played Shimmele, one of Barbra Streisand’s Torah-study partners in
“Yentl.” The timeframe works so that I could imagine Shamon as the much older
Shimmele, thus providing a sequel of sorts for that character since “Yentl”
took place decades before the Holocaust.
Doubt. Did I already talk about this film? Meryl Streep can
do no wrong in my book (well, “Mamma Mia” was a little scary, but Meryl knew
what she was getting into!) and she certainly does not disappoint in this
somber tale of a New York nun who tries to break a priest she suspects of foul
play with a young male student. She has no hard evidence but refuses to budge
from her “certainty” that the priest is guilty despite his vehement denials and
explanations. Amy Adams is great as the naïve, idealistic younger nun and
Philip Seymour Hoffman is perfect as Father Flynn. My one issue with the
film was the “doubt” of the title. When I saw it, I thought it was very clear
whether the priest was guilty or innocent. Talking to some friends this
weekend, however, they were just as convinced the other way, so maybe there’s
more doubt in the story than I thought. Writer/director John Patrick Shanley,
just like he did for the stage play, told only the actor playing the priest
whether he was guilty or not, leaving all of the other cast members to draw
their own conclusions.
Gran Torino. At 78, Clint Eastwood seems to be at the height
of his talent. He directed this excellent film and his lead performance is the
best acting he’s done in ages. It’s a part that few other actors could have
pulled off—his grunting, sour Korean War vet could have lapsed into parody if
performed by someone with less skill, but Eastwood is very moving in the role,
as are the Hmong actors who play Eastwood’s neighbors in the old ‘hood that he refuses to leave, even after his beloved wife dies. Of the 30 films
Eastwood has directed, this one is my favorite, although I liked this
year’s “The Changeling” as well. As he approaches 80, Eastwood sure as hell
isn’t slowing down. But this may be his last starring role. “That will probably
do it for me as far as acting is concerned,” he said in a recent interview. “You
always want to quit while you are ahead. You don’t want to be like a fighter
who stays too long in the ring until you're not performing at your best.”
I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t’aime). A
haunting French film starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a woman who gets out of
prison after 15 years and goes to live with her estranged younger sister
(played by the wonderful Elsa Zylberstein). Who knew that Scott Thomas could
speak French so fluently? (I liked that they took the time to explain her
English accent.) I had some major issues with the Big Reveal at the end of this
taut, gripping film, but the unsentimental performance of Kristin Scott Thomas
carries the day regardless of the plot holes. I’d be thrilled if she took home
a Best Actress Oscar next month. If she does, that would make two actresses in
a row who won for a non-English performance, following Marion Cotillard’s Oscar
last year for playing Edith Piaf. Before Cotillard, Sophia Loren and Roberto
Benigni were the only actors to take home the prize for a non-English role.
Last Chance Harvey. I already mentioned in passing how much
I liked this film and believe me, my expectations were low. On the other hand,
my expectations are always high for actors like Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson
and they were excellent despite the wafer-thin plot. There was an article about
Hoffman in my American Airlines magazine yesterday and he said that the film
was largely improvised, they weren’t even sure how it was going to end when
they started. Much is made in the film about the age difference between Hoffman
and Thompson. Is it awful to say that I didn’t even notice it? Is that because
71-year-old Hoffman looks way younger than his years and 49-year-old Thompson
has a history of playing much older women? I didn’t realize that Hoffman always
longed to be a jazz pianist. That’s really him playing the piano toward the end
of the film, an original tune he wrote following a love affair that ended badly
decades ago.
Marley & Me. Don’t even. I said everything I needed to
say about this mess here, I refuse to think about it for one more second.
Milk. I wrote about this excellent biopic here. I predicted
a sure-bet Oscar win for Sean Penn and we’ll see if tonight’s Golden Globes
provide a preview of that. I was surprised to read fellow nominee Mickey Rourke
trashing Penn’s performance, calling him an “average actor” and a “homophobe.”
Sour grapes, Mick? To be fair, these comments were from an intercepted private
text message that Rourke denies sending but it wouldn’t be the first time the
outspoken actor’s big mouth got him in trouble.
The Reader. Fascinating film with a complex performance by
Kate Winslet as a former SS guard who seems to have little remorse for her role
in the war when her past catches up with her. There were so many opportunities
in the film to sentimentalize Winslet’s character and “explain” her past
actions, but the filmmakers bravely resisted all temptations to make her more sympathetic, and that, to me, is the best part of this
intelligent and difficult film. Winslet was the director’s first choice for the
film but she had to pull out because of scheduling conflicts with
“Revolutionary Road.” Nicole Kidman agreed to take on the role as soon as she
completed “Australia” but then had to back out when she got pregnant. By then,
Winslet was available again, and she agreed to replace Kidman. I loved Winslet,
but it would have been great to see Kidman tackle such a challenging part,
especially after all the negative press she received for her so-called wooden
performance in “Australia.”
Revolutionary Road. A lot of people I know took issue with
this emotionally agonizing film, but I thought the story of this couple in the
mid-1950s dealing with lost dreams hit all the right notes. Although Kate
Winslet’s role in this film could not be more different from the one she plays
in “The Reader,” she courageously avoids the tendency to be more “likable” in
both films. It was a pleasure to see Winslet and DeCaprio together again and to
be able to erase the memory of the two of them in the vapid “Titanic.” Despite
some plot holes, the emotional palette of this film rings true for me from
beginning to end, and the angst of Kate Winslet’s character reminds me of the
dilemmas my own mother faced when she started questioning the roles she found
herself in. Winslet could easily score an Oscar nomination for both Best
Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Only a few other actresses, including Emma
Thompson and Cate Blanchett, have managed that impressive feat in the same
year.
Slumdog Millionaire. Difficult to watch, much more violent
than I anticipated, but refreshingly unique and original. I wouldn’t be
surprised if this unusual film ended up winning the Best Picture Oscar this
year. Probably won’t get any acting nominations, though, since there are so
many “name” actors vying for the prize. I was surprised to hear this film
called “the feel-good movie of the year” by some reviewers. I sure didn’t feel
so good by the end of this exhausting tale of an impoverished Indian teen who
finds himself a contestant on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire” and then is accused of cheating, but I was riveted throughout. Had
my eyes shut for about a third of the film, though.
Valkyrie. Yay for all the Nazis with hearts of gold! Oy. I
enjoyed this Tom Cruise film more than I thought I would, as I already
discussed here, and I thought Cruise acquitted himself admirably if not
magnificently. I don’t see big box office for this film, though. Failed plots
to assassinate Hitler just don’t bring in the bucks as much as stupid dog
tricks. The film was shot in Germany at many of the actual sites, and I was
interested to read about the German laws prohibiting displays of swastikas.
They got a dispensation for the filming of certain scenes in this film, since
the displays were for “artistic purposes,” but some Berlin residents filed
official complaints with the city and pressed charges against the filmmakers.
Waltz with Bashir. I saw this at a special screening last
month with my friend who is a new Academy member and is on the committee to
pick the Best Foreign Film nominees. It will surely be nominated and may well
win. This is a very unique “animated documentary” about the experiences of a
group of Israelis during the 1982 Lebanon War. It’s a gripping, harrowing tale
that is not always flattering to the Israeli forces so I was surprised to hear
about its mostly positive critical reception in Israel (before the current
conflict in Gaza started). This film is not easy viewing but is definitely
worth seeing.
The Wrestler. I mentioned bad boy Mickey Rourke above, but I
have to say that he gives a pretty incredible performance in this film. Rourke
plays retired, burned-out wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson who is looking to
regain past glory and to re-establish a relationship with his estranged
daughter played by the always excellent Evan Rachel Wood. Rourke seems so
perfect for the role it’s hard to believe he wasn’t the first choice. Director
Darren Aronofsky signed Nicolas Cage to play “The Ram” but he left the project
because of “creative differences.” Aronofsky then tried to get Sylvester
Stallone but finally settled on Mickey Rourke who gives his best performance in
decades. Rourke actually did become a professional fighter in the 90s during a
break from his acting career, and he was as messed up as his character in this
film. “You get desensitized to pain,” he said at the time, “and for three and a
half years I developed these symptoms of brain damage—you forget what you did
the night before. You have to get out when the doctors tell you to, otherwise
you're on queer street for the rest of your life. One doctor said to me before
a big fight, ‘your neurological report doesn't look too good.’ I was like four fights
away from a big, big fight and he said, ‘Mickey, how much are they paying you?
Look at your tests—you won't be able to count the money.’” Also excellent is
Marisa Tomei as an aging but still hot stripper named Cassidy. I found the
overall story of this film a bit weak, but it’s worth seeing for the
performances by Rourke, Tomei, and Wood. Many scenes in the ring are hard to
watch, though. I had my hands over my eyes even more often than I did for
“Slumdog Millionaire.”
Yikes, that was grueling. I had intended to write only a
line or two about each film but, as usual, I allowed myself to ramble. Just be
grateful I haven’t yet had a chance to view the other films on my list this
holiday season, including Frost/Nixon, Yes Man, Wendy and Lucy, Bedtime Stories,
Quantam of Solace, Seven Pounds, The Tale of Despereaux, The Class, and The Day
the Earth Stood Still. Can anyone tell me if these are worth seeing while
they’re still in the theatres?