Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski in TRANSIT, playing at Cinequest next Wednesday. Courtesy of Music Box Films
The Oscars are finally over, And I was pretty much OK with the whole shebang – I loved Roma, and I really love Green Book, too. I was and am still grumpy about Rami Malek winning an ACTING Oscar for a performance in which he was often LIP SYNCHING; this was several rungs below Jamie Foxx’ Ray Charles and Joaquin Phoenix’ Johnny Cash; and Bradley Cooper acted as a singer, sang the song himself and even WROTE the song!
Anyway, The Wife and I did enjoy our annual Oscar Dinner, although we had to sub out a Bohemian Rhapsody pub ale because we couldn’t source the novelty teeth in time.
Starting this weekend, my coverage of Cinequest will explode on to the Internet. Stay tuned.
OUT NOW
- In They Shall Not Grow Old, Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson has, for the first time, layered humanity over our understanding of World War I. By slowing down the speed of the jerky WWI film footage and adding sound and color, Jackson has allowed us to relate to the real people in the Great War. This is a generational achievement and a Must See.
- Roma is an exquisite portrait of two enduring women and the masterpiece of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Won multiple Oscars. It is streaming now on Netflix.
- Green Book: The Best Picture Oscar winner. Tony Lip is a marvelous character, and Viggo Mortensen’s performance is one of the great pleasures of this year in the movies.
- Vice: in this bitingly funny biopic of Dick Cheney by writer-director Adam McKay (The Big Short), Cheney is played by a physically transformed and unrecognizable Christian Bale. A superb performance, .pretty good history, biography from a sharp point of view and a damn entertaining movie.
- Stan & Ollie: Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy deliver remarkable portraits of a partnership facing the inevitability of showbiz decline.
- Pawel Pawlikowski’s sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War is not as compelling as his masterpiece Ida.
- The Favourite: Great performances by three great actresses, sex and political intrigue are not enough; this critically praised film didn’t work for me.
ON VIDEO
The Hollywood movie Gloria Bell, starring Julianne Moore, is coming to theaters on March 8. Gloria Bell is a remake of the the Chilean gem Gloria. Fortunately, Sebastián Lelio, the original writer-director of Gloria (and A Fantastic Woman) is also directing Gloria Bell. Here’s your chance to see the original.
ON TV
Great movies abound on TV as Turner Classic Movies concludes its 31 Days of Oscar, but here’s a curiosity that I don’t remember ever seeing. On March 2, TCM plays the 1968 astronaut-lost-in-space drama Marooned with Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna and David Jannsen. A 1970 Mexican audience is shown watching Marooned n ALfonso Cuaron’s Roma; it’s a hint that Marooned may have been an influence on Cuaron’s Oscar-winning Gravity.
On March 4, TCM presents John Huston’s under-appreciated Fat City (1972). Stacy Keach plays a boxer on the slide, his skills unraveled by his alcoholism. He inspires a kid (a very young Jeff Bridges), who becomes a boxer on the rise. Keach and Susan Tyrrell give dead-on performances as pathetic, sad sack barflies. Tyrrell was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
