JOHN MAHONEY

John Mahoney was best known as the irascible father of Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce on the long-running TV show, Frasier. He is part of a long list of UK subjects who acted in American productions with no hint of a British accent. Born in Blackpool, England, Mahoney came to America to visit his sister and decided to stay. He served in the US Army and became a citizen. Mahoney died recently at 77. He had an impressive run of movie appearances in the 80's and 90's.
Tin Men (1987) is the second in director Barry Levinson’s Baltimore trilogy. Danny Devito and Richard Dreyfuss play siding salesmen who work for different companies. There is a crash involving both salesmen’s Cadillacs and the war is on. The no-holds-barred of each includes the seduction of the other’s wife and complaining to the Maryland Housing Commission. John Mahoney has a nice turn as Dreyfuss’ hospitalized older partner. This film is lots funnier than I make it sound here!
In Frantic (1988) Harrison Ford plays an American physician (Richard Walker) on a business trip to Paris. There is a mixup with suitcases at the airport and while he is in the shower his wife (Broadway star Betty Buckley) mysteriously disappears. John Mahoney appears as a mildly sympathetic but basically unhelpful US Embassy employee. Walker is pretty much on his own trying to find his wife and some pretty desperate criminals are involved.
Eight Men Out (1988) is the about the 1919 Black Sox scandal when several Chicago White Sox players threw the World Series in response to gamblers’ payoffs. The eight men of the title included Shoeless Joe Jackson, a megastar of the time. John Mahoney is quite good as the team’s manager, Kid Gleason. He is puzzled by the poor play of his stars, but is not involved with or even aware of the fix. 
Say Anything (1989) was John Cusak’s breakout film. He plays Lloyd Dobler, a very mediocre student who falls hard for the class valedictorian, Diane Court (Ione Skye). Her disapproving father, Jim Court, is ably portrayed by John Mahoney. Will these star-crossed lovers find happiness? Watch and see. 
In The Line Of Fire (1993) is a terrific thriller starring Clint Eastwood as Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan. John Mahoney plays Sam Campagna, director of the Secret Service and Horrigan’s boss. After some unfortunate mishaps, Horrigan winds up with a chance to save the president from an assassin, played with delicious creepiness by John Malkovich. 
Other films featuring John Mahoney include the incredibly complicated The Russia House (1980) in which he plays a CIA handler of agents. Mahoney has bit parts in Barton Fink (1991), Reality Bites (1994) and The American President (1995).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups. 

                                                              2017 SLEEPERS
                                                               Part 1

It’s time to start trotting out one of the most popular features of this blog- sleepers from last year you may have missed that I thought were good.
A United Kingdom was way up on my list. In fact, it was number 2, trailing only 
The Post. It stars David Oyelowo (MLK in Selma) as the soon-to-be king of Bechuanaland, a small African country that is now Botswana. Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency fans will recognize it. While studying in the UK he falls in love with a white English woman, Ruth Williams, played brilliantly by Rosamund Pike (the wife from Hell in Gone Girl). This pairing does not play well in either home country. But Ruth’s continuing desire to be of use and to fit in regardless of her skin color are quite winning. And all of this (okay, most of this) really happened!
Also based on a true story, Megan Leavey is the name of the main character and that doesn’t tell you much about the movie. She is played by Kate Mara (Rooney’s sister). She is a trainer of sniffer dogs in the Marine Corps. One of a group of dogs to be trained is adjudged to be too violent and hard to handle. But she thinks otherwise and a very tight bond develops between Megan and the German shepherd, Rex. When Rex’s K9 days are over, Megan tries to adopt him and encounters yards of red tape. 
Wonderstruck is a super good movie with an altogether incredible performance by young Millicent Simmonds. This kid can do more with her face than most actors can accomplish with their whole bodies.  The film is worth watching for her performance alone. But it’s an intriguing tale of two children seeking their parents. However, they are separated by 50 years! Somehow it all works and the ending is truly enchanting. 
Wind River is a rough and tumble mystery that begins with the discovery of a dead girl in the snow in the middle of nowhere. Jeremy Renner (from Hurt Locker) stars as a US Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and Elizabeth Olsen as an FBI agent.
They painstakingly peel away clues that lead to what actually happened, and why they found a young Native American girl dead of a pulmonary hemorrhage.
Most readers will remember the bombs set off during the Boston Marathon in 2013. In Stronger Jake Gyllenhaal stars as real person Jeff Bauman, from whose memoir the screenplay is taken. When his girlfriend signs up to run in the famous race he rushes to the finish line to be able to greet her when she crosses. But this puts him in the path of one of the bombs, and both his legs are lost. He is able to give the police a description of one of the bombers. Most of the movie deals with the search for the bombers and with Jeff’s painful and lengthy rehabilitation. 
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.
 

                                                       BETTER SEQUELS

Boy, Hollywood loves sequels. I don’t. Most of them really suck. The studios get a winner and decide to ride it into the sunset. But- there are exceptions!
We recently went to see Paddington 2 because we loved the first one. The bear from darkest Peru who lands in London and is adopted by a typical British family is just so much fun and so dear. Believe it or not (I was amazed) the second one is even better. Sally Hawkins is back as the family’s Mom and Hugh Bonneville as Father. She was up for an Oscar for The Shape Of Water (2017) and he was fabulous as Robert Crawley, Lord of Grantham, in the PBS smash hit Downton Abbey. And Paddington 2 features the most unlikely of actors as the villain- Hugh Grant. Through a misunderstanding (of course) Paddington gets sent to prison. Where he quickly wins over the hardened cons and guards (and us). 
Godfather (1972) is almost the best movie ever made about gangsters. With Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Al Pacino and James Caan, it is terrific. But- the very best is the first sequel, Godfather 2 (1974). No Brando- he got his nose out of joint about his treatment by Paramount and refused to play nice with others. But it carries on the ascendancy of Vito Corelone (Pacino) and most of the rest of the original gang. Shoot, it even has Troy Donahue in a bit part! And it is the first sequel to win the Best Picture Oscar! Now be warned- Part 3 is right much of a dud. 
Another sequel that won Best Movie might puzzle you. It’s Silence Of The Lambs (1991). Okay, great movie- but what was the prequel? Thought you’d never ask. It is a consummate loser called Manhunter (1986). It is actually also based on Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, but it’s pretty lame. Silence is one of the scariest, nail-bitingest films ever. It features Jodie Foster as very much at risk FBI agent Clarice Starling. And it stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as the terrifying Hannibal Lecter. “I’m having a friend for lunch” gets a whole new meaning. 
Terminator (1984) made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star and is really good. He plays a cyborg killer sent back from the future to kill an innocent waitress whose son will save the world in the future. But Terminator 2 (1991) is much better. Arnold is back, but this time as the protector of the future savior. And this one features Robert Patrick as the T-1000 a metallic shape-shifting killer who seems to be indestructible. Another warning: these Terminator things just keep coming- number 6 is on the drawing board. They’re okay, but not up to the first two.
Some other sequels that are arguably better than the originals include Toy Story 2 (1999) featuring Pixar at the top of its game, and The Dark Knight (2008) the best of the Batman franchise. 
All of the films in this article, except Paddington 2 are available on DVD. All are for adults. 

                                         MR. MOVIE’S BEST OF 2017
Here’s the post you’ve all been waiting for! Okay, one or two people have asked me about it. Anyway this is one man’s idea of the best films from last year. My ratings are based only on how much I like them. Disclosure: My only 10 is The Post, in a somewhat exalted position because my wife and I both worked for newspapers. We were thrilled by the linotype machines and vacuum tubes. Oh, and it’s also a good story. There are eight films rated 9, and 26 rated 8. I also have 26 rated 7. I don’t list the 7's here but will provide them on request. You don’t agree with my ratings? What a surprise! Oh, and there are a few I still haven’t seen. 
1- The Post 10
2- A United Kingdom 9
3- Lady Bird 9
4- Dunkirk 9
5- Megan Leavy 9
6- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 9
7- The Shape Of Water 9
8- The Florida Project 9
9- Darkest Hour 9
10- Wonderstruck 8
11- Wind River 8
12- Paddington 2 8
13- Stronger 8
14- The Disaster Artist 8
15- Battle Of The Sexes 8
16-  I,  Tonya 8
17- Our Souls At Night 8
18- Brigsby Bear 8
19- The Big Sick 8
20- Thank You For Your Service 8
21- Marshall 8
22- A Ghost Story 8
23- Your Name 8
24- The Exception 8
25- The Hero 8
26- Star Wars: The Last Jedi 8
27- All The Money In The World 8
28- The Meyerowitz Stories 8
29- Their Finest 8
30- All Saints 8
31- Get Out 8
32- Call Me By Your Name 8
33- Logan Lucky 8
34- Only The Brave 8
35- Professor Marston and the Wonder Women 8
36- Okja 8

                                                   TERENCE MARSH FILMS

Terence Marsh died recently at 86. Chances are you never heard of him. He was born in London and cut his artistic teeth at the famous Pinewood Studios. He was the best movie set designer who ever lived. He won two Oscars for set decoration. All of his work was accomplished before computer generation made almost any scenario possible. When he was working it had to look real and be designed from scratch. He worked on over 30 movies in his sterling career. These are the best. 
He got his first big break when he was hired as assistant art director for Lawrence Of Arabia (1962). He designed the Red Sea port of Aqaba for a critical battle scene. His work got noticed and soon he was the go-to guy for set design. 
One of his Oscars was for Doctor Zhivago (1965). That realistic looking Moscow scenery is actually a back lot in Spain. And the fabulous ice palace scene is really memorable.  His other Oscar was for the enchanting musical Oliver (1968). All those grimy London street scenes, the dreary orphanage (“Please sir, I want some more”) and the brilliant beautiful scene featuring the fruit and vegetable carts set to music are his creations. Ten thousand cobblestones were hand-laid by his staff to create the realistic ancient streets. 
Many thought he should have won again for the prison in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). But he wasn’t even nominated. Director Frank Darabont speculated that the voters thought he just used a real prison. But ,no, he created one from a defunct Westinghouse plant. 
For the 1977 World War II drama about The Battle Of The Bulge, titled A Bridge Too Far, he had his staff create hundreds of gliders used to carry troops. Since there weren’t enough Sherman tanks, he had his workers create additional ones from Volkswagen cars. In the movie you cannot tell they are not tanks! Mr. Marsh said “If you can see what I’ve done, I haven’t done enough.”  His scenes were so realistic we believed wholeheartedly that what we were seeing was real.
In Havana (1990) Marsh had a go at recreating that formerly magical Cuban capital. Robert Redford plays a professional gambler who falls for closet revolutionary Lena Olin. 
Terrence Marsh was the art designer for The Hunt For Red October (1990) with Sean Connery as a Russian sub skipper who may be headed to the USA to defect or blow up the place. Those aren’t real submarines, but they sure look like it. 
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. Oliver is fine for all ages. The rest are for grown-ups. 

                                                     WINSTON CHURCHILL

For reasons I cannot figure out, last year was The Cinematic Year Of Churchill. Sir Winston died in 1965 (52 years ago) at the age of 90. He was universally credited with getting Britain through World War II. The Brits richly rewarded him for this by voting him out in 1945. Clement Attlee and the Labour Party replaced him. He did serve another term later. Anyway, there were not one, not two, but three movies about Churchill in 2017. And there was yet another in 2016. Two of last year’s films were nominated for Best Picture Oscar. 
I’ll start with Darkest Hour (2017) which covers the period just before Britain went all in against the Germans. Gary Oldman was deservedly nominated for Best Actor. Though he doesn’t look all that much like Sir Winston, he has the speech and mannerisms down pat. The stirring speech in Parliament that turned the tide of public opinion is a real patriotic rouser. “We will fight them on the beaches, ...We will never surrender”. Wow! This is one of the Best Picture nominees.
The other nominee is Dunkirk (2017). Almost the entire British army was backed up against the English Channel at a French coastal town. It will always be a mystery why the Nazis didn’t simply obliterate them. But they didn’t. And Churchill famously got the Navy and the ordinary British citizens with boats to mobilize an unbelievable rescue mission. Sir Winston is a decidedly minor character, however. Other than Kenneth Branagh, as a British officer on the beach, and Mark Rylance, as the skipper of a civilian rescue boat, you won’t recognize anyone else. It is a thrilling ride and one of the great stories of British history. 
The third film from last year is simply Churchill (2017). Its time frame is much later in the war. Mark Cox plays Churchill in this one, and it deals with the period leading up to the Normandy invasion. Sir Winston was dead set against the allied invasion and was quick to say so. Regardless of the success of the mission, he felt the cost in casualties was too high. John Slattery plays General Eisenhower who listens but disregards Churchill’s objections and the attack goes forward. Quite an interesting chunk of history which seems to be accurate. 
From one year back we have Churchill’s Secret (2016). Michael Gambon plays the great man in this made-for-TV movie. In 1953, after his election to a second term as prime minister, Sir Winston suffered a major stroke. This was carefully kept from the public. I doubt that this would be possible today. Anyway, he is nursed back to health and continues as PM. He would live another 12 years after this. 
Into The Storm (2008) features Brendan Gleeson as Churchill. In this one the war is over and he is on holiday in France. Through a series of flashbacks, he relives his grandest moments as Prime Minister during the World War II. This is a sequel, of sorts, to The Gathering Storm (2002) which covers the period just before and after Dunkirk.
And finally, if you would like to know the early history of this iconic figure, there is Young Winston (1972). He is portrayed by virtually unknown Simon Ward. This is the story of Churchill’s childhood and his time as a war correspondent during the Boer War. 
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.

                                                               COLORIZATION
Colorization is the bastardization of black and white films into dreadful colors. It has been around for a while. Ted Turner famously tried to colorize Citizen Kane, but he encountered such a firestorm of outraged opposition that he dropped the idea. He seems to have also dropped the whole colorization thing. Others have not. But I’m pleased to report that the beast seems to have been dealt a hopefully fatal blow about 10 years ago. We can only hope!
What these folks don’t seem to understand is that directors and cinematographers who use black and white know what they’re working with. They use the medium to achieve things that color simply can’t do. And yet, the monster persists. It is apparently because lots of young people won’t watch something in black and white. Well, that’s their loss. 
Critics Siskel and Ebert, the best of the best, called it “Hollywood’s New Vandalism.” Anjelica Houston successfully stopped the process in its tracks in France, using French copyright law. The U.S. has legislation that protects films in the National Film Registry from colorization. 
Well, anyway, here are some wonderful black and white movies that would be cheapened and perhaps ruined by being colorized.
Let's begin with Schindler's List (1993), which deservedly won the Oscar for best picture. The starkness of the prison camp and the situations just cry out for black and white. The very end is shot in color and rightly so- it makes the contrast in times greater.
Orson Welles perhaps understood better than anyone else how to use the subtle shadings and shadows of black and white. His landmark film Citizen Kane (1941) is exhibit A. But an even better use of the medium, though a lesser film, is The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) which is shot almost entirely in the gloomy old Amberson mansion. The story of the decline of a once-mighty family is perfectly mirrored in the photography. If the ending seems to be tacked on, it is. The studio took Ambersons away from Welles and pasted on the hokey ending. It's still a great film.
Raging Bull (1980) is one of the great boxing movies. The brutality and violence of the ring (and the kitchen) are more exquisitely captured in black and white than any color imaginable. The sleazy, smoky nightclubs that become Jake LaMotta's environment seem much more oppressive and atmospheric in black and white.
Casablanca (1942) has dark filmic echoes of the war and the end of a culture, and is one of the most romantic films ever made. Notice that in the night scenes you can always see what is going on. Night scenes in most modern color movies are annoyingly unwatchable.
On The Waterfront (1954) with its gritty shots of the docks and union halls, is perfect for black and white. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), in which an apparently happy marriage slowly unravels before our eyes, would be ruined by color. . 
The Hustler (1961) with its seamy pool halls and seamier characters is just right for black and white. High Noon (1952) is an epic because the situation is black and white to Gary Cooper's character.
My favorite example of black and white cinematography is How Green Was My Valley (1941). This is a great film anyway, but the photography is unmatched. It's the story of Welsh miners and their lives and their village. Use your freeze button on any frame in this movie and you could hang it on your wall. 
Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt) decided to film Nebraska (2013) in black and white. Excellent choice!  The film had five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The dreary, barren Midwestern landscape, the dingy small towns and the dysfunctional family members are perfect in black and white. 
And remember while we’re on this topic that a black and white movie, The Artist, won the Best Picture Oscar for 2011. It’s also silent! 
All of the films in this article are available on DVD in glorious black and white. All are for 12 and up.