ANNE BANCROFT
If she were a baseball player, you would say that Anne Bancroft could run, throw, hit, hit with power and field any position. Still gorgeous at 67, she was in over 40 movies. She was nominated for an Oscar five times, won once, and picked up two Tonys for her stage work. She died in 2005, leaving a bushel of fine performances.
After a series of mediocre to awful films, Ms. Bancroft broke through in The Miracle Worker (1962). She is Annie Sullivan, the hard-as-nails teacher of blind and deaf Helen Keller (Patty Duke). Annie cuts poor Helen no slack; her unsentimental approach increases the impact of this wonderful film. Both Ms. Bancroft and Ms. Duke won Oscars.
The part that has etched Ms. Bancroft on the American memory is Mrs. Robinson in Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1967). She is absolutely perfect as the symbol of jaded maturity’s seduction of youthful innocence, as she lures the bumbling Dustin Hoffman to her bed. This film, perhaps more than any other, defined the 60's. Ms. Bancroft’s no-big-deal attitude toward her amoral lifestyle still shocks as it amuses. To young people, who were told to trust no one over 30, Mrs. Robinson was the embodiment of THE ENEMY. Oh, and by the way, at the time this film was made Ms. Bancroft was only 35 and Mr. Hoffman was 30!
A complete change of pace is 84 Charing Cross Road (1985), a very under-appreciated little gem. Anne Bancroft is an American teacher who strikes up a lively friendship, by mail, with cultivated British bookseller Anthony Hopkins. Ms. Bancroft’s savvy New Yorker is a perfect foil to Hopkins’ soft-spoken Londoner. A film for the mind and the heart.
Neil Simon’s Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) is a comedy with tears in its eyes. As the suddenly unemployed Jack Lemmon’s sympathetic but wise-cracking wife, Anne Bancroft makes the very most of a difficult part. And of course any Neil Simon effort has lots of laughs along with the sadder parts.
The enigmatic Agnes of God (1985) is about a young nun who may or may not have murdered her own baby. This movie is certainly not for all tastes, but the performances by Meg Tilly as the young nun, Jane Fonda as a psychiatrist and Anne Bancroft as the Mother Superior are fine.
What if your troubled daughter told you she planned to end her life before morning? This is the dilemma faced by Thelma Cates (Anne Bancroft) in the haunting, nail-biting ‘night Mother (1986). Sissy Spacek is, as always, outstanding as the daughter, but to me Ms. Bancroft carries the film.
Ms. Bancroft was married to director Mel Brooks until her death. The only film of his in which she appears is the hilarious and clever Silent Movie (1976). Making a modern comedy without any dialogue is quite a challenge, but Mr. Brooks is certainly up to it and Ms. Bancroft’s presence is a real plus.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for children over 12.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Sunday, July 22, 2018
CROSS-DRESSING
In spite of all the furor about transgender people, allow me a little political incorrectness. I just think a man dressing up like a woman is somehow innately funny. In none of these films does the man actually convince us he really looks like a woman, but that’s part of the fun- we are in on the joke and the other actors are not.
Absolutely no one in the world would believe Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag are women, but that doesn’t stop Some Like It Hot (1959) from being one of the funniest movies ever made. This is director Billy Wilder at the top of his game. Throw in a luscious Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown as a millionaire smitten with the tarted-up Lemmon and it is a merry mess.
Dustin Hoffman has stretched plenty in his distinguished career, but never further than in Tootsie (1982). Unable to land an acting job as himself, Hoffman dresses as a woman and finds jobs aplenty. He also finds himself to be a better person! A very sharp screenplay makes this a splendid film, and Hoffman is perhaps the most convincing of all the cross-dressing men in the movies.
We do not for a moment believe that Robin Williams’ wife and children would not recognize him dressed as a woman in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), but this being a movie, they do not. When he’s divorced and can’t live without being near his children, Williams dons female attire and hires on as the kids’ nanny. Hijinks follow.
The very idea of the urbane Cary Grant dressed up as a woman is both ludicrous and funny, and is both in I Was A Male War Bride (1949). At the end of an extremely convoluted plot, Grant has to pass as a woman in order to get back to America. And it’s much fun getting to and beyond that point.
The World According To Garp (1982), based on John Irving’s marvelous book features two separate men-in-drag sequences. John Lithgow was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for his role as Roberta, “the old tight end”. And Robin Williams (playing the title role) visits a women’s rights rally in drag. This is a pretty good movie but nowhere near as good as the book (surprise!).
I’m throwing in the Australian Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994) with Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terrence Stamp as unlikely drag queens because it was a huge hit and was also made into a Broadway musical. But I didn’t much like it.
It’s interesting that the only movies I can think of where the tables are turned and women dress up like men are miles from being comedies. In Yentl (1983) Barbra Streisand dresses as a male in order to get a good education. And in Boys Don’t Cry (1999) Hillary Swank dresses as a boy to pass in the street culture she chooses. Frankly, the charm of this movie eludes me, but it was hugely popular and Ms. Swank won an Oscar. There’s also Albert Nobbs (2011) with Glenn Close very convincing as a woman pretending to be a man so she can get a good job. Not funny!
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. The first four are ok for all ages; the last five are for mature audiences only.
In spite of all the furor about transgender people, allow me a little political incorrectness. I just think a man dressing up like a woman is somehow innately funny. In none of these films does the man actually convince us he really looks like a woman, but that’s part of the fun- we are in on the joke and the other actors are not.
Absolutely no one in the world would believe Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag are women, but that doesn’t stop Some Like It Hot (1959) from being one of the funniest movies ever made. This is director Billy Wilder at the top of his game. Throw in a luscious Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown as a millionaire smitten with the tarted-up Lemmon and it is a merry mess.
Dustin Hoffman has stretched plenty in his distinguished career, but never further than in Tootsie (1982). Unable to land an acting job as himself, Hoffman dresses as a woman and finds jobs aplenty. He also finds himself to be a better person! A very sharp screenplay makes this a splendid film, and Hoffman is perhaps the most convincing of all the cross-dressing men in the movies.
We do not for a moment believe that Robin Williams’ wife and children would not recognize him dressed as a woman in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), but this being a movie, they do not. When he’s divorced and can’t live without being near his children, Williams dons female attire and hires on as the kids’ nanny. Hijinks follow.
The very idea of the urbane Cary Grant dressed up as a woman is both ludicrous and funny, and is both in I Was A Male War Bride (1949). At the end of an extremely convoluted plot, Grant has to pass as a woman in order to get back to America. And it’s much fun getting to and beyond that point.
The World According To Garp (1982), based on John Irving’s marvelous book features two separate men-in-drag sequences. John Lithgow was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for his role as Roberta, “the old tight end”. And Robin Williams (playing the title role) visits a women’s rights rally in drag. This is a pretty good movie but nowhere near as good as the book (surprise!).
I’m throwing in the Australian Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994) with Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terrence Stamp as unlikely drag queens because it was a huge hit and was also made into a Broadway musical. But I didn’t much like it.
It’s interesting that the only movies I can think of where the tables are turned and women dress up like men are miles from being comedies. In Yentl (1983) Barbra Streisand dresses as a male in order to get a good education. And in Boys Don’t Cry (1999) Hillary Swank dresses as a boy to pass in the street culture she chooses. Frankly, the charm of this movie eludes me, but it was hugely popular and Ms. Swank won an Oscar. There’s also Albert Nobbs (2011) with Glenn Close very convincing as a woman pretending to be a man so she can get a good job. Not funny!
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. The first four are ok for all ages; the last five are for mature audiences only.
Sunday, July 15, 2018
2017 SLEEPERS
Part 7
This is, I promise, the last article about good 2017 films missed by most fans. I finally found a DVD of The Insult I could watch, and decided to do just one more article on last year’s sleepers.
The Insult is a Lebanese film that is a cautionary tale for the world in general and the Middle East in particular. It is of course in Arabic and for a long time I could only find it with Arabic subtitles. Asheboro library to the rescue, with English subtitles! This movie got an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film but lost to A Fantastic Woman (from Chile).A Lebanese man carelessly insults a Palestinian worker. Then he won’t apologize. Then things escalate. It is altogether possible this could happen. Note that it does not involve the Israelis; all the combatants are Arabic. Well, the Middle East is a real mess and this film helps to show why.
Wakefield is very weird story starring Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad fame. What if you could observe your family without yourself being present? That’s the premise and while it gets a little hard to believe, it is engaging. The main character unwittingly discovers that from the attic of his garage he can observe his wife and family without their knowledge. He decides to stay there and is reported missing. Some of what he sees is good and some not so good.
Last Flag Flying features Lawrence Fishburne, Brian Cranston (he’s everywhere!) and an underrated Steve Carrell. They are Vietnam vets who served together. Carrell plays Doc Shepherd, who reveals to the others that he is widowed and that he has lost his only son in an Iraq battle. He does not want the young man to be buried in Arlington, but in the hometown where his Mom has been laid to rest. They decide to go get his body and take it home. They encounter miles of red tape but don’t give up.
There were at last count three films about Winston Churchill last year. Darkest Hour was nominated for an Oscar and so was Dunkirk. The third is named simply
Churchill and features Brian Cox as the Prime Minister. This is the imagined story of Sir Winston’s misgivings about the Normandy invasion and while it isn’t up to the first two films, it is interesting and well played by Cox.
And finally, there is the intriguing biofllick, Bombshell, about actress Hedy Lamarr, . She was a great beauty and played in various movies in the 40's and 50's. She also had a mostly secret life as an inventor! She invented “frequency hopping” which I frankly don’t understand, but I can tell you that it is a device still used in cell phones and other technology. Like many Hollywood idols, Ms Lamarr did not have a happy life. She was married six times and in her last years became a recluse. And yet- who knew she was this brilliant scientist?
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grownups.
Part 7
This is, I promise, the last article about good 2017 films missed by most fans. I finally found a DVD of The Insult I could watch, and decided to do just one more article on last year’s sleepers.
The Insult is a Lebanese film that is a cautionary tale for the world in general and the Middle East in particular. It is of course in Arabic and for a long time I could only find it with Arabic subtitles. Asheboro library to the rescue, with English subtitles! This movie got an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film but lost to A Fantastic Woman (from Chile).A Lebanese man carelessly insults a Palestinian worker. Then he won’t apologize. Then things escalate. It is altogether possible this could happen. Note that it does not involve the Israelis; all the combatants are Arabic. Well, the Middle East is a real mess and this film helps to show why.
Wakefield is very weird story starring Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad fame. What if you could observe your family without yourself being present? That’s the premise and while it gets a little hard to believe, it is engaging. The main character unwittingly discovers that from the attic of his garage he can observe his wife and family without their knowledge. He decides to stay there and is reported missing. Some of what he sees is good and some not so good.
Last Flag Flying features Lawrence Fishburne, Brian Cranston (he’s everywhere!) and an underrated Steve Carrell. They are Vietnam vets who served together. Carrell plays Doc Shepherd, who reveals to the others that he is widowed and that he has lost his only son in an Iraq battle. He does not want the young man to be buried in Arlington, but in the hometown where his Mom has been laid to rest. They decide to go get his body and take it home. They encounter miles of red tape but don’t give up.
There were at last count three films about Winston Churchill last year. Darkest Hour was nominated for an Oscar and so was Dunkirk. The third is named simply
Churchill and features Brian Cox as the Prime Minister. This is the imagined story of Sir Winston’s misgivings about the Normandy invasion and while it isn’t up to the first two films, it is interesting and well played by Cox.
And finally, there is the intriguing biofllick, Bombshell, about actress Hedy Lamarr, . She was a great beauty and played in various movies in the 40's and 50's. She also had a mostly secret life as an inventor! She invented “frequency hopping” which I frankly don’t understand, but I can tell you that it is a device still used in cell phones and other technology. Like many Hollywood idols, Ms Lamarr did not have a happy life. She was married six times and in her last years became a recluse. And yet- who knew she was this brilliant scientist?
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grownups.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
BEAUTY PAGEANTS
Beauty pageants are ingrained into our national fabric, whether we like it or not. There are several excellent films using beauty contests as a backdrop, most of them with tongue firmly in cheek.
Smile (1975) is a hilarious spoof of the whole idea of beauty contests, presented here as a symbol for middle class emptiness. Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon lead a good cast in a well-written film that is almost painfully funny at times.
Holly Hunter marvelously recreates her stage role in the charming Miss Firecracker (1989). Miss Hunter convinces us she is lonely and pitiful (that’s acting!) and she sees the local beauty pageant as a way to escape her drab existence. Gentler and sweeter than Smile, but also lots of fun.
Sandra Bullock plays a tomboy klutz who is somehow an FBI agent and who goes undercover as a beauty contestant in Miss Congeniality (2000). The cast is fine, especially Michael Caine, but the screenplay gives them very little to work with.
Happy, Texas (1999) is the site of a kiddie beauty contest, run by Jeremy Northam and Steve Zahn. They are actually escaped convicts trying to keep a low profile. But they have stolen the van of the contest operators and the townspeople expect them to put on a pageant. Very funny.
Abigail Breslin is the youngest member of a seriously dysfunctional family in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). The whole group is headed for California in an ancient VW bus so she can appear in a beauty contest for tots. Alan Arkin won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and the screenplay also won. Hilarious and wildly inventive!
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) is one of those hidden gems Mr. Movie loves to find for you. Although the story is somewhat over the top, it has its charms. For one thing, it is Amy Adams’ first movie. For another, it has a great cast with Kirsten Dunst. Allison Janney, Kirstey Alley and Ellen Barkin. The small town of Mount Rose, Minnesota, is preparing for its annnual Sarah Rose Cosmetics Mount Rose American Teen Princess Pageant (whew). Amber Atkins (Ms. Dunst) aspires to be the next Diane Sawyer and sees the pageant as a good springboard. Strange things , including death, start happening to contestants and their backers. One contestant is killed when her cut-rate parade float blows up.
Actually, the best movie about beauty pageants isn’t about people at all, it’s about dogs. Best In Show (2000) is a laugh-out-loud send-up of big dog shows. Fred Willard is just incredibly funny as a dim sportscaster who knows absolutely nothing about dogs but does not let that stop him from incessantly blabbing stupid comments.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for children 10 and over.
Beauty pageants are ingrained into our national fabric, whether we like it or not. There are several excellent films using beauty contests as a backdrop, most of them with tongue firmly in cheek.
Smile (1975) is a hilarious spoof of the whole idea of beauty contests, presented here as a symbol for middle class emptiness. Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon lead a good cast in a well-written film that is almost painfully funny at times.
Holly Hunter marvelously recreates her stage role in the charming Miss Firecracker (1989). Miss Hunter convinces us she is lonely and pitiful (that’s acting!) and she sees the local beauty pageant as a way to escape her drab existence. Gentler and sweeter than Smile, but also lots of fun.
Sandra Bullock plays a tomboy klutz who is somehow an FBI agent and who goes undercover as a beauty contestant in Miss Congeniality (2000). The cast is fine, especially Michael Caine, but the screenplay gives them very little to work with.
Happy, Texas (1999) is the site of a kiddie beauty contest, run by Jeremy Northam and Steve Zahn. They are actually escaped convicts trying to keep a low profile. But they have stolen the van of the contest operators and the townspeople expect them to put on a pageant. Very funny.
Abigail Breslin is the youngest member of a seriously dysfunctional family in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). The whole group is headed for California in an ancient VW bus so she can appear in a beauty contest for tots. Alan Arkin won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and the screenplay also won. Hilarious and wildly inventive!
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) is one of those hidden gems Mr. Movie loves to find for you. Although the story is somewhat over the top, it has its charms. For one thing, it is Amy Adams’ first movie. For another, it has a great cast with Kirsten Dunst. Allison Janney, Kirstey Alley and Ellen Barkin. The small town of Mount Rose, Minnesota, is preparing for its annnual Sarah Rose Cosmetics Mount Rose American Teen Princess Pageant (whew). Amber Atkins (Ms. Dunst) aspires to be the next Diane Sawyer and sees the pageant as a good springboard. Strange things , including death, start happening to contestants and their backers. One contestant is killed when her cut-rate parade float blows up.
Actually, the best movie about beauty pageants isn’t about people at all, it’s about dogs. Best In Show (2000) is a laugh-out-loud send-up of big dog shows. Fred Willard is just incredibly funny as a dim sportscaster who knows absolutely nothing about dogs but does not let that stop him from incessantly blabbing stupid comments.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are suitable for children 10 and over.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
ANNETTE BENING
Annette Bening turned 70 this year. And like a fine wine, she just keeps getting better.
She is currently appearing in the nice adaptation of Chekov’s The Seagull (2018) in the key role of Irina. Irina is an aging actress whose best days are over, but she gamely hangs on to her ebbing career. The movie, and play, take place at a summer cottage in Russia, owned by Irina’s brother. In this absorbing story, everyone wants something he or she can’t have. Brian Dennehy, Saoirse Ronan and Elizabeth Moss are additional parts of a fine cast. Since it is based on a stage play, it is a little talky, but director Michael Mayer has opened it up nicely. Bening’s performance alone is worth the price of admission.
In the strangely but aptly named Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool (2017) Annette Bening gets to go full out in a semi biography of Oscar winner Gloria Grahame’s last days with a much younger man.
Annette Bening owns Being Julia (2004) lock, stock and barrel, but that’s ok because she is absolutely super as an aging actress who still knows a trick or two. She seems always “on stage” to her college-aged son and her producer-husband (Jeremy Irons). She is roughly pushed aside by a director and young ingenue. Then she pushes back! What fun!
American Beauty (1999) won the Best Picture Oscar and Kevin Spacey also won for Best Actor. Annette Bening was nominated but lost to Angelina Jolie (for Girl, Interrupted). Ms. Bening’s portrayal of the wife and mother whose values have crumbled over time is stunning. I will not soon forget her interrupting a moment of tenderness with her husband to shriek, “That’s a $4,000 couch!” She is a microcosm of what it is too easy for us to become in this society.
Ms. Bening was also nominated for an Oscar for The Grifters (1990), losing out to Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost. In The Grifters she and Anjelica Huston are hustlers without a speck of morals who vie for John Cusak’s soul. None of these people have a shred of decency about them and will stop at nothing to get what they want. The movie has nice u-turns that fit the plot perfectly but keep us guessing.
A complete change of pace for Annette Bening is The American President (1995). She is a lovely lobbyist courted by storybook president Michael Douglas. He is a widower, she is unattached, this is pure Hollywood hokum (and enjoyment). The idea of a president of the United States getting back into dating is a funny concept and director Rob Reiner makes the most of it.
The unjustly ignored Richard III (1995) certainly belongs to Ian McKellen in the
title role. But Annette Bening is captivating as Queen Elizabeth, whose husband and
sons are murdered by Richard’s agents of evil. Daringly updated to the 1930's, and abounding in Nazi thugs, this is a splendid version of a very dark but captivating Shakespeare play.
Ms. Bening played opposite her husband Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991). She is the love interest of the gangster with the foresight to realize Las Vegas can be a goldmine for the Mob and especially for him. The couple emit plenty of sparks.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. None are suitable for children under 14.
Annette Bening turned 70 this year. And like a fine wine, she just keeps getting better.
She is currently appearing in the nice adaptation of Chekov’s The Seagull (2018) in the key role of Irina. Irina is an aging actress whose best days are over, but she gamely hangs on to her ebbing career. The movie, and play, take place at a summer cottage in Russia, owned by Irina’s brother. In this absorbing story, everyone wants something he or she can’t have. Brian Dennehy, Saoirse Ronan and Elizabeth Moss are additional parts of a fine cast. Since it is based on a stage play, it is a little talky, but director Michael Mayer has opened it up nicely. Bening’s performance alone is worth the price of admission.
In the strangely but aptly named Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool (2017) Annette Bening gets to go full out in a semi biography of Oscar winner Gloria Grahame’s last days with a much younger man.
Annette Bening owns Being Julia (2004) lock, stock and barrel, but that’s ok because she is absolutely super as an aging actress who still knows a trick or two. She seems always “on stage” to her college-aged son and her producer-husband (Jeremy Irons). She is roughly pushed aside by a director and young ingenue. Then she pushes back! What fun!
American Beauty (1999) won the Best Picture Oscar and Kevin Spacey also won for Best Actor. Annette Bening was nominated but lost to Angelina Jolie (for Girl, Interrupted). Ms. Bening’s portrayal of the wife and mother whose values have crumbled over time is stunning. I will not soon forget her interrupting a moment of tenderness with her husband to shriek, “That’s a $4,000 couch!” She is a microcosm of what it is too easy for us to become in this society.
Ms. Bening was also nominated for an Oscar for The Grifters (1990), losing out to Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost. In The Grifters she and Anjelica Huston are hustlers without a speck of morals who vie for John Cusak’s soul. None of these people have a shred of decency about them and will stop at nothing to get what they want. The movie has nice u-turns that fit the plot perfectly but keep us guessing.
A complete change of pace for Annette Bening is The American President (1995). She is a lovely lobbyist courted by storybook president Michael Douglas. He is a widower, she is unattached, this is pure Hollywood hokum (and enjoyment). The idea of a president of the United States getting back into dating is a funny concept and director Rob Reiner makes the most of it.
The unjustly ignored Richard III (1995) certainly belongs to Ian McKellen in the
title role. But Annette Bening is captivating as Queen Elizabeth, whose husband and
sons are murdered by Richard’s agents of evil. Daringly updated to the 1930's, and abounding in Nazi thugs, this is a splendid version of a very dark but captivating Shakespeare play.
Ms. Bening played opposite her husband Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991). She is the love interest of the gangster with the foresight to realize Las Vegas can be a goldmine for the Mob and especially for him. The couple emit plenty of sparks.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. None are suitable for children under 14.
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