2017 SLEEPERS
Part 6
Are you up for a sixth helping of 2017 sleepers? Well, here they are anyway. There’s some gold in these hills!
I will admit to being absolutely smitten with Charles Dickens. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a fictionalized account of how he came to write A Christmas Carol. Almost everyone is at least familiar with the basic outline of the story. Each set-piece in the film shows how it could have happened that he wrote this scene. Little-known Dan Stevens is Dickens. Miserly, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge is brilliantly portrayed by the unmatchable Christopher Plummer.
Victoria And Abdul is about the unlikely but true story of how the queen became fast friends with an Indian servant. Surrounded by sycophants and ungrateful children (9 of them, waiting for her to die), the queen is really lonely. Enter a handsome Indian sent to England to present the monarch with a commemorative coin. Soon they are fast friends and he is teaching her Urdu and Hindi as well as cultural matters. Her court is outraged. Too bad, she’s still the queen! This movie is worth watching for Judi Dench’s performance alone, but it’s an interesting story of an interlude no one would have predicted.
A physician at a not-for-profit clinic in Belgium is ready to go home after a long, hard day when the buzzer from the street goes off. She considers, looks through the peephole and sees a young woman outside. Then she decides against opening the door and goes home. The next day she matches up the picture on the intercom with that of a murdered girl in the newspaper. Stricken with guilt, she wants to find out the identity of the girl and what happened to her. And that is the plot line of the very intriguing The Unknown Girl. The story takes twists and turns and keeps your interest to the end. The doctor is played by Adele Haenel, well-known in France but not here.
He was known for playing hangdog losers in a host of movie but Harry Dean Stanton’s crowning effort is displayed in last year’s Lucky. The movie begins with a long shot of Lucky’s surroundings- desert sand and cactus, and a tortoise named President Roosevelt. Lucky hits the bars and diners downtown and just sits and talks a lot. His face looks carved from stone through which lots of water has run, and he moves about like the tortoise. It is a bravura performance, admittedly not to all tastes. But it is one of stellar acting performances of the past few years.
I’ll end this with another outstanding performance, this one by an actor who started his movie life as a pretty-boy star. Richard Gere was born to play Norman. I don’t think anyone else could pull this off. He is a hustler, down on his luck, looking for the main chance. He is whoever he needs to be at any particular moment. He’s not exactly likeable, but he is complicated and somehow we relate to him.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. The first two are fine for all audiences. The rest are for adults.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Sunday, May 20, 2018
MICHAEL ANDERSON
Does the name Michael Anderson ring a bell? Well, it didn’t to me either, but then I looked him up and found a distinguished directing career including an Oscar nomination.
London born, Anderson later moved to Canada in the 1970's and lived there until he died recently at the age of 98. His early work was as an assistant director to Peter Ustinov, David Lean and Noel Coward.
He had made a few feature films, but really hit the big time with the outstanding British war drama The Dam Busters (1955). Based on true wartime events, the film brilliantly portrays the RAF’s destruction of several key Axis dams. The method used is both original and effective. The film started Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave, and was the most popular film in England in 1955.
Following that success, Anderson directed the first film version of George Orwell’s 1984 (1956). Many later versions garnered more attention, and Anderson’s was not well-received at the time of its release. But with Edmund O’Brien (as the famous Winston Smith), Jan Sterling and Michael Redgrave it is quite good. A decent argument could be made that this black-and-white film is the best of the litter about the iconic sci-fi novel.
Because of his earlier successes and his signature visual style, producer Mike Todd hired Michael Anderson to direct the huge hit Around The World In 80 Days (1956). The film won five Oscars, including Best Movie. It was nominated for three more, including Best Director. But Anderson lost the award to George Stevens for Giant. It is adapted from Jules Verne’s classic of the same name, and it starred Cantinflas (who?) and David Niven. The story involves a hot air balloon trip and is visually stunning for that time.
Operation Crossbow (1965) is at least a partly true story. The complicated plot involves the German effort to invent and manufacture the V-2 rocket, and the British attempt to stop them. There are lots of big names scattered through the film, including Sophia Loren, John Mills, Tom Courtenay and George Peppard. Michael Anderson successfully handles the large cast and elaborate plot.
An even better Anderson effort is The Quiller Memorandum (1966). George Segal plays an American agent sent to Berlin to find and infiltrate a neo-Nazi organization. The film also stars Alec Guiness, Max Von Sydow and Senta Berger. The somewhat complicated screenplay was penned by playwright Harold Pinter and it is a good one.
Michael York and Jenny Agutter are the featured actors in Logan’s Run (1976), which is Michael Anderson’s last good feature film. It takes place in 2774 in a world where everyone is eliminated on reaching the age of 30, because of the scarcity of sustaining materials. The main characters had been among those assigned termination duty, but decide to kick the traces and run away together. This film developed a cult following that is still around today.
Other Michael Anderson directorial efforts worth a look are Pope Joan (1972) and Conduct Unbecoming (1975).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD, and all are just fine for 10 and up.
Does the name Michael Anderson ring a bell? Well, it didn’t to me either, but then I looked him up and found a distinguished directing career including an Oscar nomination.
London born, Anderson later moved to Canada in the 1970's and lived there until he died recently at the age of 98. His early work was as an assistant director to Peter Ustinov, David Lean and Noel Coward.
He had made a few feature films, but really hit the big time with the outstanding British war drama The Dam Busters (1955). Based on true wartime events, the film brilliantly portrays the RAF’s destruction of several key Axis dams. The method used is both original and effective. The film started Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave, and was the most popular film in England in 1955.
Following that success, Anderson directed the first film version of George Orwell’s 1984 (1956). Many later versions garnered more attention, and Anderson’s was not well-received at the time of its release. But with Edmund O’Brien (as the famous Winston Smith), Jan Sterling and Michael Redgrave it is quite good. A decent argument could be made that this black-and-white film is the best of the litter about the iconic sci-fi novel.
Because of his earlier successes and his signature visual style, producer Mike Todd hired Michael Anderson to direct the huge hit Around The World In 80 Days (1956). The film won five Oscars, including Best Movie. It was nominated for three more, including Best Director. But Anderson lost the award to George Stevens for Giant. It is adapted from Jules Verne’s classic of the same name, and it starred Cantinflas (who?) and David Niven. The story involves a hot air balloon trip and is visually stunning for that time.
Operation Crossbow (1965) is at least a partly true story. The complicated plot involves the German effort to invent and manufacture the V-2 rocket, and the British attempt to stop them. There are lots of big names scattered through the film, including Sophia Loren, John Mills, Tom Courtenay and George Peppard. Michael Anderson successfully handles the large cast and elaborate plot.
An even better Anderson effort is The Quiller Memorandum (1966). George Segal plays an American agent sent to Berlin to find and infiltrate a neo-Nazi organization. The film also stars Alec Guiness, Max Von Sydow and Senta Berger. The somewhat complicated screenplay was penned by playwright Harold Pinter and it is a good one.
Michael York and Jenny Agutter are the featured actors in Logan’s Run (1976), which is Michael Anderson’s last good feature film. It takes place in 2774 in a world where everyone is eliminated on reaching the age of 30, because of the scarcity of sustaining materials. The main characters had been among those assigned termination duty, but decide to kick the traces and run away together. This film developed a cult following that is still around today.
Other Michael Anderson directorial efforts worth a look are Pope Joan (1972) and Conduct Unbecoming (1975).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD, and all are just fine for 10 and up.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
2017 SLEEPERS
Part 5
Logan Lucky has a fine ensemble cast and local color since it involves a heist from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver are the planners and operators of the very complicated robbery. It involves the use of the speedway’s vacuum tube system to channel receipts from the right place to the wrong one. There are lots of personal stories involved also, but the daring robbery is the main event. I know it is unlikely (okay, impossible) but just go with it and you’ll have fun.
Most of us around these parts don’t know very much about the talented and incredibly brave forest fire fighters in the western US. Only The Brave is based on a true story and a fascinating object lesson about these people. Josh Brolin plays Eric Marsh, head of the Prescott Fire and Rescue team. When the film starts, they are rated as a 2 squad, which means they are secondary to 1 squads, which are called Hotshots. They of course want to be Hotshots, and when their leader correctly calls a fire direction missed by a California Hotshot crew, they are on their way. They successfully fight several fires and their methods and efforts are very entertaining.
Professor Marston And The Wonder Women is the true (more or less) story of the life of Professor William Marston. This guy was all over the place breaking through convention. He invented a very workable lie detector. While conducting research with his wife and a young student, the three fall in love and decide to become a threesome. This is in the 1920's! He has children by both women and they live happily in a New York suburb, most people none the wiser as to what’s going on. Marston then invents the character of Wonder Woman (yep, that one) and though he has trouble selling the idea, it eventually catches on.
Molly’s Game is Jessica Chastain’s show wire to wire. It is based on Ms. Bloom’s autobiography. As the film begins, she is a world-class moguls skier, pushed unmercifully by her overbearing father. At the 2002 Olympic try-outs she suffers a career-ending injury. She moves to LA and as a cocktail waitress finds out about and serves at her boss’ high-stakes poker games. The players like her. She decides to stop being the middle man of the operation and starts her own game, which is highly successful. Things crash badly when she is arrested by the FBI. She is offered a plea deal in which she can name her players and walk. She refuses to do so and goes to trial.
Beatriz At Dinner gives diminutive Salma Hayek a chance to shine. She plays a massage therapist with her own business. When her car breaks down after a session with super rich Kathy, she is invited to stay for dinner. The other guests include Doug Strutt (aptly named and played to the hilt by John Lithgow). When Beatriz enters the room, Doug assumes she is a servant and acts accordingly. Even when he discovers otherwise, he continues to be the quintessential bigot. My daughter and I both loved everything about this film except the ending. What do you think?
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
Part 5
Logan Lucky has a fine ensemble cast and local color since it involves a heist from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver are the planners and operators of the very complicated robbery. It involves the use of the speedway’s vacuum tube system to channel receipts from the right place to the wrong one. There are lots of personal stories involved also, but the daring robbery is the main event. I know it is unlikely (okay, impossible) but just go with it and you’ll have fun.
Most of us around these parts don’t know very much about the talented and incredibly brave forest fire fighters in the western US. Only The Brave is based on a true story and a fascinating object lesson about these people. Josh Brolin plays Eric Marsh, head of the Prescott Fire and Rescue team. When the film starts, they are rated as a 2 squad, which means they are secondary to 1 squads, which are called Hotshots. They of course want to be Hotshots, and when their leader correctly calls a fire direction missed by a California Hotshot crew, they are on their way. They successfully fight several fires and their methods and efforts are very entertaining.
Professor Marston And The Wonder Women is the true (more or less) story of the life of Professor William Marston. This guy was all over the place breaking through convention. He invented a very workable lie detector. While conducting research with his wife and a young student, the three fall in love and decide to become a threesome. This is in the 1920's! He has children by both women and they live happily in a New York suburb, most people none the wiser as to what’s going on. Marston then invents the character of Wonder Woman (yep, that one) and though he has trouble selling the idea, it eventually catches on.
Molly’s Game is Jessica Chastain’s show wire to wire. It is based on Ms. Bloom’s autobiography. As the film begins, she is a world-class moguls skier, pushed unmercifully by her overbearing father. At the 2002 Olympic try-outs she suffers a career-ending injury. She moves to LA and as a cocktail waitress finds out about and serves at her boss’ high-stakes poker games. The players like her. She decides to stop being the middle man of the operation and starts her own game, which is highly successful. Things crash badly when she is arrested by the FBI. She is offered a plea deal in which she can name her players and walk. She refuses to do so and goes to trial.
Beatriz At Dinner gives diminutive Salma Hayek a chance to shine. She plays a massage therapist with her own business. When her car breaks down after a session with super rich Kathy, she is invited to stay for dinner. The other guests include Doug Strutt (aptly named and played to the hilt by John Lithgow). When Beatriz enters the room, Doug assumes she is a servant and acts accordingly. Even when he discovers otherwise, he continues to be the quintessential bigot. My daughter and I both loved everything about this film except the ending. What do you think?
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
MILOS FORMAN
There has been quite a flood of great directors coming to America from other places. Ang Lee is from Taiwan, David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock were from the UK, Billy Wilder was from Austria, Frank Capra was from Sicily, Elia Kazan was from Turkey. High on any such list would be the name of Milos Forman, who hailed from Czechoslovakia.
Forman died recently at the good old age of 86, and his film resume is splendid.
The Loves Of A Blonde (1965) was his first effort, shot in his home country. It is the story of a young woman working in a shoe factory and dreaming of a great romance. Forman used a real shoe factory and amateur actors to achieve a gritty realism that impressed film fans and critics.
The Fireman’s Ball (1967) was also made in a small Czech town, using amateur actors (mostly firemen) to great effect. The plot, such as it is, involves a small town fire department planning a ball and a beauty contest to follow. The hijinks involved in the selection of candidates and in things that happen to call the firemen away are quite funny.
Both of the two films above are part of the Czech New Wave, quite a thing at the time. But then the Russians ended the growing liberalization of the Czechs by military invasion in 1968. Milos Forman fled the tanks and jackboots and came to America. His exile lasted until his recent death, but he found a welcoming film community and made great movies.
In his first at bat in the US, he hit it out of the park with the wonderful One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). He won the Oscar for Best Director, and the film won four more Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher) and Best Screenplay. The film is taken from Ken Kesey’s marvelous book about the inmates of a mental institution rebelling against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (Ms. Fletcher). This is a very great movie!
Milos Forman’s next effort I would call a noble failure. He tried to bring the Hippy-Dippy musical Hair (1979) to the silver screen. A good effort, but just not a real good movie.
But then Forman scored again with his adaptation of E.L.Doctorow’s Ragtime (1981). Forman famously talked the legendary James Cagney to come out of retirement to play the fire chief. The film’s several story lines include immigrants, civil rights, the beginning of the movie industry, and women’s place. It went on to become a huge Broadway musical hit with a fabulous score.
In 1984, Milos Forman brought Peter Schaeffer’s hit play Amadeus to the silver screen, and it won a boatload of Oscars. Forman got another for Best Director, F. Murray Abraham won for Best Actor as Mozart’s insanely jealous nemesis Antonio Salieri. This fictionalized account of the boy genius’ career is loads of fun. The actor who played Mozart, Tom Hulce, was alas destined to be one of those “whatever happened to” people.
Forman got another Oscar nomination for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) but lost to Anthony Minghella for The English Patient.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
There has been quite a flood of great directors coming to America from other places. Ang Lee is from Taiwan, David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock were from the UK, Billy Wilder was from Austria, Frank Capra was from Sicily, Elia Kazan was from Turkey. High on any such list would be the name of Milos Forman, who hailed from Czechoslovakia.
Forman died recently at the good old age of 86, and his film resume is splendid.
The Loves Of A Blonde (1965) was his first effort, shot in his home country. It is the story of a young woman working in a shoe factory and dreaming of a great romance. Forman used a real shoe factory and amateur actors to achieve a gritty realism that impressed film fans and critics.
The Fireman’s Ball (1967) was also made in a small Czech town, using amateur actors (mostly firemen) to great effect. The plot, such as it is, involves a small town fire department planning a ball and a beauty contest to follow. The hijinks involved in the selection of candidates and in things that happen to call the firemen away are quite funny.
Both of the two films above are part of the Czech New Wave, quite a thing at the time. But then the Russians ended the growing liberalization of the Czechs by military invasion in 1968. Milos Forman fled the tanks and jackboots and came to America. His exile lasted until his recent death, but he found a welcoming film community and made great movies.
In his first at bat in the US, he hit it out of the park with the wonderful One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). He won the Oscar for Best Director, and the film won four more Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher) and Best Screenplay. The film is taken from Ken Kesey’s marvelous book about the inmates of a mental institution rebelling against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (Ms. Fletcher). This is a very great movie!
Milos Forman’s next effort I would call a noble failure. He tried to bring the Hippy-Dippy musical Hair (1979) to the silver screen. A good effort, but just not a real good movie.
But then Forman scored again with his adaptation of E.L.Doctorow’s Ragtime (1981). Forman famously talked the legendary James Cagney to come out of retirement to play the fire chief. The film’s several story lines include immigrants, civil rights, the beginning of the movie industry, and women’s place. It went on to become a huge Broadway musical hit with a fabulous score.
In 1984, Milos Forman brought Peter Schaeffer’s hit play Amadeus to the silver screen, and it won a boatload of Oscars. Forman got another for Best Director, F. Murray Abraham won for Best Actor as Mozart’s insanely jealous nemesis Antonio Salieri. This fictionalized account of the boy genius’ career is loads of fun. The actor who played Mozart, Tom Hulce, was alas destined to be one of those “whatever happened to” people.
Forman got another Oscar nomination for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) but lost to Anthony Minghella for The English Patient.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
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