Sunday, November 27, 2016
AT THE OFFICE
Lots of us spend many hours a week at the office, so it is a location with almost universal interest. But it isn’t all that easy to make good office movies- the setting is small with little opportunity to “open out.” These are my favorite “at the office” movies.
A Spencer Tracy-Katherine Hepburn film is almost always a good place to start any appropriate category, and Desk Set (1957) certainly fills the bill. Tracy is an efficiency expert brought in by Ms. Hepburn’s TV network boss to improve productivity. Of course, they meet, they clash, they fall in love, with lots of great one-liners on the way. Still very entertaining and right on the money.
Sir Anthony Hopkins (of all people!) is the title character in The Efficiency Expert (1992) an edgy little Australian comedy that cuts both ways. If you thought maybe Mr. Hopkins couldn’t handle light comedy check this out. He is letter perfect as the outside expert from Hell.
And while we know Meryl Streep can play absolutely anything, she still stuns us as the worst boss ever in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), driving poor Ann Hathaway (and much of the audience) to distraction with her arbitrary devilish directions. But Hathaway soldiers on against seemingly impossible odds, and we’re pulling for her and hating Streep for much of the film.
Before we leave comedies, one of my favorites from any category is the hysterical 9 To 5 (1980) with Lilly Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton plotting and exacting delicious revenge on their tyrannical boss, Dabney Coleman. So it’s a little over the top- hey, it’s a satire!
From a much darker palette, Rod Serling’s Patterns (1956) is about as good as it gets in portraying corporate politics, one-upmanship and boot-licking sycophancy. Ed Begley is the vaguely humanistic employee of Everett Sloan, almost but not quite a
parody of corporate greed and sheer wrong-headedness. Every CEO everywhere should have to watch this movie.
Finally, a real sleeper from 1997, Clockwatchers. It did almost no business and quickly went to video, where you can still find it. Parker Posey and Lisa Kudrow head a fine ensemble cast in this stunning black comedy about the American workplace and the American soul. The film cleverly shows how little real work is done. It is also most revealing of how friendships (and reputations) are made and lost in today’s fast-moving society.
All of the films in this column are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
GOOD FILMS YOU NEVER HEARD OF
Part 5
People with supernatural powers are pretty much standard stuff in today’s movies. But what about those who actually have them? In Resurrection (1980) Ellen Burstyn is superb as Edna McCauley. She survives a horrible car crash in which her husband is killed. She gradually discovers that she now has the ability to heal people with her touch. And slowly, as knowledge of her ability spreads, more and more people want her to help them. She comes to wish her talent never happened. A cautionary tale about celebrity and its fallout.
There have been lots of good movies about chess, and also about child prodigies. The recent Queen Of Katwe (2016) is a good example. But one of the best films ever made in this niche is Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993). Max Pomeranc (8 years old at the time) is perfect as the super-talented boy, who really just wants to be an ordinary kid. Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen are really good as his bewildered parents, trying to navigate between his talent and his childhood. And Lawrence Fishburne has an excellent turn as a park speed player.
David Niven made a good living as a dashingly handsome leading man. But- my goodness- he will break your heart in the splendid Separate Tables (1958). Mr. Niven is amid a cluster of heavy hitters in this film: Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, Wendy Hiller and Gladys Cooper. The group dynamic at a residential hotel ebbs and flows around Niven’s character, whose past is about to catch up with him.
And speaking of broken hearts, the fine Italian movie The Son’s Room (2001) is about as good as it gets in films about the death of a child. Teen-ager Andrea is not on good terms with his doctor-father Giovanni. The boy dies in a scuba diving accident and his dad mourns all the missed chances there were. The father is played by Nanni Moretti with just the right touch. Mr. Moretti also wrote, directed and produced this movie. For him it was a work of love and necessity.
The Station Agent (2003) introduced American audiences to two very fine, but until then almost unknown, actors. Dwarf Peter Dinklage (as Fin McBride) is anything but small in this part. He has been befriended by an aged shop owner who dies and leaves his abandoned railroad station to Fin. Fin makes the station his home and only wants to be left alone, very unsociable and touchy about his size. But Joe Aramas (Bobby Cannavale), an exuberant Cuban-American food truck owner, isn’t having it and refuses to give up on being friends with the small man. Just stunningly good is another neighbor, Olivia Harris (the wonderful Patricia Clarkson) trying to regain her footing after the death of her child. Somehow all of this works together in a marvelous way!
All of the films in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. Bobby Fischer is fine for all ages. The rest are for grown-ups.
Part 5
People with supernatural powers are pretty much standard stuff in today’s movies. But what about those who actually have them? In Resurrection (1980) Ellen Burstyn is superb as Edna McCauley. She survives a horrible car crash in which her husband is killed. She gradually discovers that she now has the ability to heal people with her touch. And slowly, as knowledge of her ability spreads, more and more people want her to help them. She comes to wish her talent never happened. A cautionary tale about celebrity and its fallout.
There have been lots of good movies about chess, and also about child prodigies. The recent Queen Of Katwe (2016) is a good example. But one of the best films ever made in this niche is Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993). Max Pomeranc (8 years old at the time) is perfect as the super-talented boy, who really just wants to be an ordinary kid. Joe Mantegna and Joan Allen are really good as his bewildered parents, trying to navigate between his talent and his childhood. And Lawrence Fishburne has an excellent turn as a park speed player.
David Niven made a good living as a dashingly handsome leading man. But- my goodness- he will break your heart in the splendid Separate Tables (1958). Mr. Niven is amid a cluster of heavy hitters in this film: Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, Wendy Hiller and Gladys Cooper. The group dynamic at a residential hotel ebbs and flows around Niven’s character, whose past is about to catch up with him.
And speaking of broken hearts, the fine Italian movie The Son’s Room (2001) is about as good as it gets in films about the death of a child. Teen-ager Andrea is not on good terms with his doctor-father Giovanni. The boy dies in a scuba diving accident and his dad mourns all the missed chances there were. The father is played by Nanni Moretti with just the right touch. Mr. Moretti also wrote, directed and produced this movie. For him it was a work of love and necessity.
The Station Agent (2003) introduced American audiences to two very fine, but until then almost unknown, actors. Dwarf Peter Dinklage (as Fin McBride) is anything but small in this part. He has been befriended by an aged shop owner who dies and leaves his abandoned railroad station to Fin. Fin makes the station his home and only wants to be left alone, very unsociable and touchy about his size. But Joe Aramas (Bobby Cannavale), an exuberant Cuban-American food truck owner, isn’t having it and refuses to give up on being friends with the small man. Just stunningly good is another neighbor, Olivia Harris (the wonderful Patricia Clarkson) trying to regain her footing after the death of her child. Somehow all of this works together in a marvelous way!
All of the films in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. Bobby Fischer is fine for all ages. The rest are for grown-ups.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
SHIRLEY TEMPLE
Even though Mary Pickford was called America’s Sweetheart, really it was Shirley Temple. As a mature woman and mother, Shirley Temple Black was named American Ambassador to Ghana and later to Czechoslovakia, and was quite effective by all accounts. She died at the age of 85, having accomplished much.
In the 1930s, Shirley Temple absolutely ruled the movie scene. Compared to today’s child actors, she wasn’t really very good. But she was so darn charming and cute it really didn’t matter. As the little girl on the silver screen she was irresistible. Her handlers developed dolls, dishes, and other paraphernalia stamped with her name, a first time use of a star in this manner. And a Shirley Temple to this day is a drink for children, minus any alcohol.
When I mentioned the little girl, I wasn’t kidding. She made her first movie appearance at the ripe old age of 3. After appearing in numerous short features, and capturing the attention of both the public and the movie studios, her breakthrough part came in Stand Up And Cheer (1934). The President creates a Department of Amusement to lift America’s depression over the Depression. The film consists of various vaudeville acts strung loosely together. Not much of a movie, but it launched Shirley as a genuine star.
The same year she was Little Miss Marker. Her father uses her as a marker for his gambling debts, giving her to his thuggish creditors as security. Then he commits suicide and they’re stuck with her. In today’s films they would probably shoot her, but in this one they use her charm to rig horse races.
Bright Eyes (1934) was developed especially for Shirley, and she hit it out of the park. Her signature song, On The Good Ship Lollipop, was a huge hit and the sheet music sold over half a million copies. She is a homeless waif who can sing and dance and melt the hearts of gruff adults. In 1935 the Motion Picture Academy honored her with a juvenile (smaller version!) Oscar.
From there Shirley Temple appeared in a string of movies developed to take advantage of her popularity. The movie-going public couldn’t get enough of her.
The Little Colonel (1935), Curly Top (1935), and The Littlest Rebel (1935) followed quickly. In 1937 she was cast as the legendary Heidi, and handled the part with grown-up aplomb. Likewise as Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). By 1940, she was pretty much done as a juvenile star. In the late 50's she had a successful television show, Shirley Temple’s Storybook.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are fine for any age, with a caveat that these were made in the 1930's and would be offensive to many.
Even though Mary Pickford was called America’s Sweetheart, really it was Shirley Temple. As a mature woman and mother, Shirley Temple Black was named American Ambassador to Ghana and later to Czechoslovakia, and was quite effective by all accounts. She died at the age of 85, having accomplished much.
In the 1930s, Shirley Temple absolutely ruled the movie scene. Compared to today’s child actors, she wasn’t really very good. But she was so darn charming and cute it really didn’t matter. As the little girl on the silver screen she was irresistible. Her handlers developed dolls, dishes, and other paraphernalia stamped with her name, a first time use of a star in this manner. And a Shirley Temple to this day is a drink for children, minus any alcohol.
When I mentioned the little girl, I wasn’t kidding. She made her first movie appearance at the ripe old age of 3. After appearing in numerous short features, and capturing the attention of both the public and the movie studios, her breakthrough part came in Stand Up And Cheer (1934). The President creates a Department of Amusement to lift America’s depression over the Depression. The film consists of various vaudeville acts strung loosely together. Not much of a movie, but it launched Shirley as a genuine star.
The same year she was Little Miss Marker. Her father uses her as a marker for his gambling debts, giving her to his thuggish creditors as security. Then he commits suicide and they’re stuck with her. In today’s films they would probably shoot her, but in this one they use her charm to rig horse races.
Bright Eyes (1934) was developed especially for Shirley, and she hit it out of the park. Her signature song, On The Good Ship Lollipop, was a huge hit and the sheet music sold over half a million copies. She is a homeless waif who can sing and dance and melt the hearts of gruff adults. In 1935 the Motion Picture Academy honored her with a juvenile (smaller version!) Oscar.
From there Shirley Temple appeared in a string of movies developed to take advantage of her popularity. The movie-going public couldn’t get enough of her.
The Little Colonel (1935), Curly Top (1935), and The Littlest Rebel (1935) followed quickly. In 1937 she was cast as the legendary Heidi, and handled the part with grown-up aplomb. Likewise as Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). By 1940, she was pretty much done as a juvenile star. In the late 50's she had a successful television show, Shirley Temple’s Storybook.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are fine for any age, with a caveat that these were made in the 1930's and would be offensive to many.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
RENEE ZELLWEGER
The Bridget Jones Franchise recently popped its third entry, Bridget Jones’ Baby (2016). To say it is better than the last one, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (2004), may be damning with faint praise, but it is really pretty good. Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey are just fine as the possible father. But like the others in this series, it is Renee Zellweger’s show.
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) became almost a Bible for a whole generation of young women, trying to balance work and romance. If the film, with Renee Zellweger as Bridget, isn’t quite up to the book- well, what movie is? Hugh Grant puts in an appearance as the young man we thought was too snooty and turns out only to be shy. Bridget battles smoking, weight, make-up, jerks, and a host of other problems in a very
amusing manner. Ms. Zellweger was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind.
The internet was abuzz a couple of years ago about how Ms. Zelwegger had ruined herself forever with plastic surgery, but she still looks fine to me. She’s not exactly pretty, and she doesn’t exactly have a great figure. Passing her on the street you might not look back. But she has already been nominated twice for the Oscar.
She was first noticed as the good-hearted, stick-with-you-to-the-end girlfriend of Jerry Maguire (1996). And though Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr., got the most notice (Gooding won an Oscar), folks found themselves asking, “Who was that girl?”. And she got to say the memorable line “You had me at hello”.
Ms. Zellweger is outstanding as the dutiful daughter in Anna Quindlen’s One True Thing (1998), and holds her own with heavyweights William Hurt (unreasonable, academic Dad) and Meryl Streep (slowly dying Mom).
A very different film, and very enjoyable, is the little-known Nurse Betty (2000). Renee Zellweger plays the title character, a woman so besotted with a soap opera that it becomes real life to her. This may be Ms. Zellweger’s toughest role, and she convinces us of her sincerity when one metaphoric wink at the camera would bring the whole thing crashing down. At once funny and moving, Nurse Betty is worth a look.
So, who would you pick to play red-hot-mama Roxie Hart in the red-hot musical, Chicago (2002)? Well, Renee Zellweger wouldn’t have made my top ten, but what do I know? She is a wonderful Roxie, and she can sing and dance up a storm. This film won the Oscar for best movie (Ms. Zellweger lost to Nicole Kidman for The Hours), and Queen Latifah, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere make if just loads of fun. It marked a return to the more traditional Hollywood musical, without all the lightning cuts and jumpiness of Moulin Rouge.
All of the films in this article, except the latest one, are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for grown-ups.
The Bridget Jones Franchise recently popped its third entry, Bridget Jones’ Baby (2016). To say it is better than the last one, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (2004), may be damning with faint praise, but it is really pretty good. Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey are just fine as the possible father. But like the others in this series, it is Renee Zellweger’s show.
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) became almost a Bible for a whole generation of young women, trying to balance work and romance. If the film, with Renee Zellweger as Bridget, isn’t quite up to the book- well, what movie is? Hugh Grant puts in an appearance as the young man we thought was too snooty and turns out only to be shy. Bridget battles smoking, weight, make-up, jerks, and a host of other problems in a very
amusing manner. Ms. Zellweger was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind.
The internet was abuzz a couple of years ago about how Ms. Zelwegger had ruined herself forever with plastic surgery, but she still looks fine to me. She’s not exactly pretty, and she doesn’t exactly have a great figure. Passing her on the street you might not look back. But she has already been nominated twice for the Oscar.
She was first noticed as the good-hearted, stick-with-you-to-the-end girlfriend of Jerry Maguire (1996). And though Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr., got the most notice (Gooding won an Oscar), folks found themselves asking, “Who was that girl?”. And she got to say the memorable line “You had me at hello”.
Ms. Zellweger is outstanding as the dutiful daughter in Anna Quindlen’s One True Thing (1998), and holds her own with heavyweights William Hurt (unreasonable, academic Dad) and Meryl Streep (slowly dying Mom).
A very different film, and very enjoyable, is the little-known Nurse Betty (2000). Renee Zellweger plays the title character, a woman so besotted with a soap opera that it becomes real life to her. This may be Ms. Zellweger’s toughest role, and she convinces us of her sincerity when one metaphoric wink at the camera would bring the whole thing crashing down. At once funny and moving, Nurse Betty is worth a look.
So, who would you pick to play red-hot-mama Roxie Hart in the red-hot musical, Chicago (2002)? Well, Renee Zellweger wouldn’t have made my top ten, but what do I know? She is a wonderful Roxie, and she can sing and dance up a storm. This film won the Oscar for best movie (Ms. Zellweger lost to Nicole Kidman for The Hours), and Queen Latifah, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere make if just loads of fun. It marked a return to the more traditional Hollywood musical, without all the lightning cuts and jumpiness of Moulin Rouge.
All of the films in this article, except the latest one, are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for grown-ups.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)