Movies – Page 50 – The Movie Gourmet

MUSTANG: repression challenged by the human spirit

December 23, 2015 by movie gourmet

Mustang is about five exuberant Turkish teenage girls who challenge the repression of traditional culture. It’s a triumph for writer-director Deniz Gamze Ergüven, and one of the best films of the year.

The five parentless sisters are living with their uncle and aunt on the Turkish coast “a thousand kilometers from Istanbul”. They’re a high-spirited bunch, and their rowdiness – innocent by Western standards – embarrasses their uncle. Overreacting, he tries to protect the family honor by pulling them out of school, taking away their electronics, putting them in traditional dresses (evoking the dress wear of fundamentalist polygamist Mormons) and conniving to marry them off as soon as possible. The uncle turns their home into a metaphorical prison that becomes more and more literal. The girls push back, and the stakes of the struggle get very, very high.

Our viewpoint is that of youngest sister Lale (Günes Sensoy), who is a force of nature, ever watchful (often fiercely). The poster girl for indomitability, Lale is one of the great movie characters of 2015.

Mustang is a film of distilled feminism, without any first world political correctness. These are people who want to marry or not, who they want, when they want and to have some control over their lives. They want protection from abuse. That is not a high bar, but because they are female, the traditional culture keeps these basic rights from them.

Although Mustang is set and filmed in Turkey by a Turkish writer-director, the actors are Turkish and all the dialogue is Turkish, it is technically a French movie. Director Ergüven works in France and the film was financed and produced in France. In fact, it is France’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Picture Oscar (over the Cannes winner Dheepan and the Vincent Lindon drama The Measure of a Man).

I happened to be in Sevilla, Spain for the first weekend of the Sevilla European Film Festival and saw Mustang there. I’ll be rooting for Mustang to win an Oscar.

LIFE: James Dean without the charisma

December 23, 2015 by movie gourmet

Dane DeHaan and Rovert Pattinson in LIFE — Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson in LIFE

In 1955, James Dean wasn’t yet an icon. East of Eden was in the can but hadn’t been released, and Dean was trying to get cast in Rebel Without a Cause. To the extent he was known in popular culture, it was as Pier Angeli’s red carpet date at movie premieres. The free-lance photographer Dennis Stock was convinced that Dean was fascinating, and Stock followed Dean around New York and to Dean’s Indiana home town. The resulting photos in LIFE magazine (one is below) were indeed iconic, and the film LIFE follows the two men in this episode.

LIFE is moderately interesting because Dean was such a character. And it’s an interesting time in cinema and we get glimpses of Angeli (Alessandra Mastronardi), Nicholas Ray, Natalie Wood, Julie Harris, Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg. Ben Kingsley has a fun turn as Jack Warner, a mogul who has dealt with many a temperamental artist and is more than a match for any of them.

The problem with LIFE is that it’s about one of the most charismatic actors in film history. Dane DeHaan captures Dean’s mannerisms very well, and we see Dean as interesting, charming, insecure, infuriating, bratty and striving. But we don’t see him suck all of the oxygen out of the room. We don’t experience Dean’s charisma.

Now I am a big fan of Dane DeHaan, who was absolutely brilliant in Kill Your Darlings. He’s a fine, fearless and promising actor and a real original. It’s not his fault that he’s not James Dean.

Robert Pattinson plays James Stock, and his stoniness sure doesn’t help. I still don’t understand why Twilight fans find him to be so dreamy. Kelly McCreary of Grey’s Anatomy plays Eartha Kitt, the one character whose dazzling persona pierces this otherwise bland movie.

LIFE is available to stream from Amazon Video, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

YOUTH: a glorious cinematic meditation on life

December 22, 2015 by movie gourmet

Youth is filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s glorious cinematic meditation on life. A resolutely retired composer (Michael Caine) is staying once again at a luxurious spa resort in the Swiss Alps – the kind of place where towels are folded into the figures of swans. Also at the resort are his adult daughter and assistant (Rachel Weisz), an old friend who is a film director (Harvey Keitel), a movie star (Paul Dano) and a host of other characters.

The composer meanders through his daily massages and medical check-ups, and there really isn’t what most of us would think of as a plot. But stuff happens to each of the characters, and the composer and others reflect on their lives – the accomplishments, the disappointments, the betrayals, the intense experiences of love. They contemplate what they remember and what they can’t remember. Ultimately, they consider both life’s deepest meanings and life’s pointlessness. All of this builds and kinda sneaks up on the audience.

Some stories may be best told in the form of novels or short stories or photography or ballet. Sorrentino knows that his story – as was the one in his exquisite The Great Beauty – is best suited for cinema. And Sorrentino takes full advantage of his medium. Youth is a beautiful film to watch – with the spectacular alpine landscapes and the artsy interior shots (some very Felliniesque). The music (as fitting a story about a composer) is entrancing, too; no one left my screening until the music for closing credits had ended and the house lights came back up. There are several dream (and daydream) sequences which are close to genius.

There’s a lot of wry humor in Youth – a silent couple (who have some surprises ready for the audience), an obese South American (Roly Serrano) who resembles Diego Maradona, a forlorn young escort, the pop star Paloma Faith as a vulgar version of herself and a punctiliously insistent emissary from the Queen. And then there’s Jane Fonda as an aging movie queen in grotesque makeup.

Caine, Keitel, Weisz and Dano each have wonderfully moving monologues. I also very much enjoyed the mountaineering instructor (Robert Seethaler) and the braces-wearing masseuse (Luna Mijovic).

Those who need their movies linear and tightly resolved might look elsewhere. But Youth looks great, sounds great and is superbly acted. If you settle in and let it envelop you, you won’t regret it. I’m still thinking about Youth several days after seeing it.

CAROL: a tale of forbidden love

December 21, 2015 by movie gourmet

Carol is a beautiful and superbly acted romance of forbidden love. It is the Holiday season of 1952-53 and Therese (Rooney Mara) is a Manhattan department store clerk in her early twenties. She is smart and attractive and has come to New York to make her way in the post-war culture. She has male suitors, but it’s a middle-aged, affluent woman from suburbs that stops her in her tracks. Therese has no experience in same-sex relationships, but the older woman Carol (Cate Blanchett) has. But Carol is a wife and mother, and the risks are greater for her.

Filmmaker Todd Haynes loves Douglas Sirk’s women’s melodramas of the 1950s, and he has earned the ability to play in that sandbox with Far from Heaven, the Mildred Pierce miniseries and now Carol. Haynes evokes the period perfectly. Just like Far from Heaven, Carol is beautifully photographed by Edward Lachman. Carol uses music composed by the great Elmer Bernstein, who scored Haynes’ Far from Heaven and who died in 2004.

Both lead actresses have justifiably garnered nominations for acting awards. Rooney brilliantly embodies Therese’s confusion, yearning and excitement, her immaturity and her resolve. Blanchett, of course, nails the role of Carol, with her impulsive wilfulness, masterful charm and then panicked desperation.

Carol’s husband is played by Kyle Chandler, who after Friday Night Lights, just keeps showing up in wonderful movies: Super 8, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The Wolf of Wall Street, and in a dazzling performance as the alcoholic dad in The Spectacular Now. Initially, I thought that the role of Carol’s husband was pretty one-dimensional. But, upon reflection, I realized that Chandler is so good that I hadn’t recognized how complex the husband’s character is – so afraid of his mother and of social convention, yet so hopelessly drawn to Carol.

Sarah Paulson, so unforgettable as Mistress Epps in 12 Years a Slave, the mom in Mud and Miss Isringhausen in Deadwood, is striking once again as Carol’s lesbian childhood friend.

Carol may be the most well-acted film of the year. It’s a satisfying romance that most audiences will enjoy.

my obligatory STAR WARS post

December 21, 2015 by movie gourmet

How many of the original cast members of Star Wars can you identify in the photo above? Everybody is going to get Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. Scroll down for the others.

From left, they are Harrison Ford (Han Solo), David Prowse, (Darth Vader), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker). Anthony Daniels played C3PO. All seven are still alive; Kenny Baker, born in 1934, is the oldest.

Movies to See Right Now

December 21, 2015December 18, 2015 by movie gourmet

If you’ve been waiting all year for excellent cinema, you’re in luck. This week, I have THIRTEEN recommendations, with four of them on my list of Best Movies of 2015:

Creed, the newest and entirely fresh chapter in the Rocky franchise; it’s about the internal struggle of three people, not just The Big Fight.
The Irish romantic drama Brooklyn is an audience-pleaser with a superb performance by Saoirse Ronan.
Spotlight – a riveting, edge-of-your-seat drama with some especially compelling performances;
The Martian – an entertaining Must See space adventure – even for folks who usually don’t enjoy science fiction; the DVD releases in early January, so it’s going to be hard to still find The Martian in theaters.

Here are nine more choices. There’s something for everyone.

Legend – a true-life story and the best crime drama of 2015. Tom Hardy plays both gangster twin brothers.
Very Semi-Serious – a Must See documentary if you love the cartoons in The New Yorker. It’s showing on HBO.
Macbeth – an excellent new version of Shakespeare’s exploration of ambition. Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard star.
Hitchcock/Truffaut – a Must See for serious movie fans, this insightful documentary probes documentary Alfred Hitchcock’s body of work.
Chi-Raq: Spike Lee’s plea for inner city peace with justice AND a sex comedy.
Bridge of Spies – Steven Spielberg’s Cold War espionage thriller with Tom Hanks, featuring a fantastic performance by Mark Rylance.
Trumbo – the historical drama that reflects on the personal cost of principles.
Don Verdean – a dark satire on the faux scientists embraced by the Christian Right.
Spectre – action and vengeance from a determined James Bond.

Getting Biblical just in time for Christmas, on December 23 Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting the 1959 sand-and-sandal classic Ben-Hur, adapted from the novel Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ. Its star Charlton Heston was advised by the stunt supervisor, “Don’t worry, Chuck. Just stay in the chariot and I’ll make sure you win the race.”

And for the Holidays, here are movies from my Best Movies of 2015 – So Far that are available to stream or to rent on DVD:

The smartest road trip movie ever, The End of the Tour. It’s available streaming from Amazon Instant, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The unforgettable coming of age dramedy Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. It’s available streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play and now available to rent on DVD from Netflix and Redbox.
The extraordinary Russian drama Leviathan, a searing indictment of society in post-Soviet Russia. Leviathan is available streaming on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Flixster.
The hilariously dark Argentine comedy Wild Tales. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu and Xbox Video.
The Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, the story of an extraordinarily gifted person’s escape from torment. Love & Mercy is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes and Vudu.
The gentle, thoughtful and altogether fresh dramedy I’ll See You In My Dreams with Blythe Danner, available to stream from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

MACBETH: Shakespeare’s study of ambition, more medieval, more psychological and sexier

December 16, 2015 by movie gourmet

Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender in MACBETH

Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard star in Justin Kurzeil’s take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth – sexier and more psychological than most versions and very medieval.

In interviews, Fassbender has said that his Macbeth suffers from battlefield PTSD. As we see in this version of Macbeth, medieval warfare consisted of muddy guys rushing each other to hack, stab and bludgeon each other to death. Mostly, it seems, to hack. The soldiers wear facial warpaint that looks like it would if smeared on by men just before a battle.

Macbeth comes already damaged. Unlike Richard III, a Shakespearean villain who is just deliciously evil to the core, Macbeth is troubled, a man whose “dreams abuse the curtain of sleep.” But, as he is haunted by his own atrocities (especially killing his most loyal friend Banquo after Macbeth has already obtained the crown), Macbeth decompensates.

Lady Macbeth is the prototype of social climbers and strivers, pushing her hubbie to the forefront no matter the requisite carnage. Cotillard’s Lady Macbeth uses sex to persuade him on a course of action, and he exhales a post-orgasmic “settled” in agreement with her plot. After all, what’s sexier than power? Hearing Macbeth’s “I have done the deed” gets Lady Macbeth breathing really hard.

Both of them have fits in which they wander the windswept highlands in their sleepwear. Even with her over-the-top ruthlessness, Lady Macbeth starts out more stable and functional, trying valiantly to distract the court from gauging Macbeth’s ever more tottering sanity. But finally, the totality of their misdeeds becomes too heavy for even her to bear. Fassbender and Cotillard are excellent. So are Paddy Considine as Banquo and Sean Harris as Macduff.

All of the classic Macbethisms are here – “the be all and end all”, “out, damn spot!”, “unsex me here”, “the poisoned chalice” and “vaulting ambition”. That last term – the central subject of Macbeth – is a marvel of precision because ambition requires one to vault over and past other people. Ruthlessness is acting without or despite empathy for others. Those who are not sociopaths can be haunted by their own vaulting acts of ruthlessness. Kurzeil asks us to make that assessment of the two lead characters.

I really like Shakespeare movies because there are ways to advance Shakepeare’s stories that you just can’t do on stage. Realistic medieval filth is one. Large battle scenes, partially in slow motion is another. And Macbeth and Banquo are able to quietly reflect on their foretold futures while bedding down on the battlefield, not while pacing the stage and speaking loud enough for a live audience to hear. The soundtrack is filled with reedy drones that evoke bagpipes and covey dread and moral bleakness. (See my Best Shakespeare Movies – I’ll be adding this movie to that list.)

In just his second feature, Australian director Justin Kurzeil consistently make superb choices. Instead of novelties, the witches are spooky and mostly silent witnesses to the story; when Macbeth’s fortune is complete, they turn silently and melt away. I prefer the traditional way that Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle over Kurzeil’s solution, but’s that’s just me. The final shots are wholly original and leave us with a remind of the historical consequences yet to come.

Kurzeil’s Macbeth is well-crafted and thought-provoking, and one of the very best Shakespeare movies.

HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT: essential for serious movie fans

December 15, 2015 by movie gourmet

The documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut is a Must See for cinéastes. In 1962, Francois Truffaut spent a week in Hollywood interviewing Alfred Hitchcock. These interviews formed the basis of Truffaut’s seminal 1966 book Hitchcock/Truffaut. At this moment, Truffaut was the hottest new thing in international cinema. He was horrified that Hitchcock was viewed in the U.S. as only a genre director and pop celebrity, but not as the master of cinema that influenced Truffaut and the rest of the French New Wave. Vertigo, now rated by many as the greatest of films, had only broken even at the box office four years before.

Filmmaker Kent Jones took the audiotapes and stills from those 1962 interview sessions and adds what Truffaut could not – illustrative clips from the Hitchcock films themselves. Because Truffaut is no longer with us, Jones also provides commentary from directors like martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Peter Bogdanovich and others. The result is an insightful celebration of Hitchcock’s body of work.

I had thought that I had a pretty fair grasp of Hitchcock, especially his love of surprise and the MacGuffin, his subversion of convention in Psycho and obsession with blonde actresses. But Hitchcock/Truffaut gave me a much richer understanding of Hitchcock’s visual sensibilities, his mastery of overhead shots, and his very limited expectations of his actors, as well as his compression and expansion of time.

Hitchcock/Truffaut will be interesting to any audience, but essential to serious movie fans.

VERY SEMI-SERIOUS: glimpsing inside The New Yorker cartoons

December 14, 2015 by movie gourmet

If you’re like me and you worship the cartoons in The New Yorker, then the documentary Very Semi-Serious is a Must See. Very Semi-Serious takes us inside The New Yorker for a glimpse inside the process of creating and selecting the cartoons, chiefly from the perspective of cartoonist and currently Cartoon Editor Bob Mankoff. You will know Mankoff from his cartoon with the caption, “How about never? Is never good for you?”.

We also meet rick star cartoonists that include Roz Chast and George Booth, along with The New Yorker Editor David Remnick and some aspiring cartoonist newcomers. We are boggled by the tens of cartoons each cartoonist pitches each week and the hundreds that Mankoff must review. Rejection is a major part of the cartoon life.

We also learn how Mankoff scientifically studies the eye movements of readers to see how/when/if we “get” the jokes. And we get to laugh again at HUNDREDS of cartoons.

I saw Very Semi-Serious in May at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and now you can see it beginning tonight on HBO. Set your DVRs.

THE SPYMASTERS — CIA IN THE CROSSHAIRS: Can we kill our way out of the War on Terror?

December 14, 2015 by movie gourmet

In the thought-provoking documentary The Spymasters — CIA in the Crosshairs, we hear from all twelve directors of the CIA, from George H.W. Bush through current Director John Brennan. They weigh in on the agency’s role in the War Against Terror, including harsh interrogation, drone warfare, the Kill List and “signature strikes”. They disagree among themselves on torture, with Iraq War era directors George Tenet and Porter Goss, taking especially belligerent positions. But there is a unified answer to this fundamental question about the War on Terror, “Can we kill our way out of it?”

The Spymasters — CIA in the Crosshairs showcases the decisions that a CIA Director must make, Leon Panetta poses one situation that he actually faced – do you take a rarely available missile shot at a terrorist who has just killed nine of your agents – when you know he is with his wife and kids? And several directors address the question, “What keeps you up at night?”

Besides the directors, we get to know a CIA operative with experience in Afghanistan, along with the agency’s chief of counter-terrorism. And we meet a most colorful character, the CIA’s former clandestine operations chief, Jose Rodriguez, who openly admits destroying the videos of CIA waterboarding.

The Spymasters echoes another talking head documentary The Gatekeepers, with the retired directors of the Shin Bet, Israel’s super-secret internal security force. I recommend a double feature with these two companion films. The Gatekeepers is available to rent on DVD from Netflix and for streaming on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and Flixster.

The Spymasters — CIA in the Crosshairs is currently playing on Showtime.