The Hollars

2016 at the Movies: most overlooked

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CHEVALIER. Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing
CHEVALIER. Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing

This blog exists because I’m an evangelist for outstanding films that may be overlooked by people who will appreciate them.  You don’t need ME to tell you that Loving and La La Land are good movies.  What’s important to me is that you don’t miss the less well-known gems:

  • The character-driven crime drama Hell or High Water has topped my list of Best Movies of 2016 – So Far since I saw it on Labor Day Weekend. It’s now available to rent on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
  • Chevalier is a sly and pointed exploration of male competitiveness. Director Athina Rachel Tsangari is obviously a keen observer of male behavior. Both men and women will enjoy laughing at male behavior taken to extreme. I sure did. Chevalier is perhaps the funniest movie of 2016, and it’s on my list of Best Movies of 2016 – So Far. I’m hoping that its popularity explodes now that it’s available to rent on DVD from Netflix and to stream from Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
  • The Hollars is an unabashed crowd pleaser with a great cast, especially the irreplaceable Margot Martindale.
  • San Jose native Matt Sobel’s impressive directorial debut Take Me To the River is entirely fresh. Not one thing happens in Take Me to the River that you can predict, and it keeps the audience off-balance and completely engaged. You can stream Take Me to the River on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play or rent the DVD from Netflix.
  • NUTS! is the persistently hilarious (and finally poignant) documentary about the rise and fall of a medical and radio empire – all built on goat testicle “implantation” surgery in gullible humans.
  • The highly original documentary Tower retells the story of a famous mass shooting without dwelling on the shooter.
  • All the Way is a thrilling political docudrama with a stellar performance. It’s the story of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, warts and all, ending official racial segregation in America with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bryan Cranston brings LBJ alive as no actor has before.

These three Cinequest films haven’t gotten an US release, either in theaters or on video. But they are excellent enough to make my list of the year’s best. Here’s hoping that you will be able to see them soon, too. Stay tuned, and I’ll let you know.

  • The Memory of Water: This Chilean drama explores grief, its process and its impact, and was the most masterful filmmaking achievement at Cinequest 2016. Exquisite.
  • Magallanes: Another Cinequest film, this Peruvian psychological drama is about those wrongs that cannot be righted.
  • Lost Solace: Writer-director Chris Scheuerman’s brilliant debut is a highly original psychological thriller. Premiered at Cinequest.
Andrew Jenkins in Chris Scheuerman's brilliant debut LOST SOLACE
Andrew Jenkins in Chris Scheuerman’s brilliant debut LOST SOLACE

A plea from The Movie Gourmet for Critics’ Awards and the Oscars

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Lily Gladstone in CERTAIN WOMEN
Lily Gladstone in CERTAIN WOMEN

I’m always worried that the work of deserving filmmakers will get overlooked by the Academy Awards. It’s time for the critic’s awards, which can prompt Oscar nominations. And I have some opinions about some nuggets that should be recognized.

BEST PICTURE

I’m glad to see the San Francisco Film Critics Circle at least shortlisted Hell or High Water as a finalist for Best Picture. It’s getting overlooked among all the Holiday Prestige Movies, but it’s my pick for the best film of the year.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • Lily Gladstone’s heartrending performance is the most indelible in Certain Women, a movie co-starring much more recognizable actresses (Laura Dern, Michelle Williams and Kristen Stewart).
  • You can imagine the entire back story of Katy Mixon’s waitress in Hell or High Water, a gal who is fiercely determined to hang on to her tip, no matter what.
  • The absolutely irreplaceable Margo Martindale is the heart of The Hollars.
  • Michelle Williams doesn’t need any help from me to be nominated for her six or seven heartbreaking minutes in Manchester by the Sea.
Alan Rickman in EYE IN THE SKY
Alan Rickman in EYE IN THE SKY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • The late Alan Rickman is more than a sentimental choice for a posthumous award for Eye in the Sky; it’s one of the best performances by any actor this year.
  • Simon Helberg’s hilarious non-verbal reactions are actually the funniest part of Florence Foster Jenkins.
  • I would also recognize Devin Druid in Louder Than Bombs;  it’s easy to overlook even the most brilliant portrayals of teenage boys who don’t talk much and sure don’t show their feelings (like Miles Teller in Rabbit Hole or James Frecheville in Animal Kingdom).
  • Michael Shannon is the best thing about Nocturnal Animals.
  • Jeff Bridges should get another nomination for his superb performance in Hell or High Water.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

  • Isabelle Huppert’s performance in Elle is so astonishingly sui generis, it is so essential to the movie’s success and she has such an amazing body of work, that I can’t imagine her not winning this Oscar. It doesn’t help that, as usual, there’s shortage of other excellent roles for women.
  • I loved Imogen Poot in Frank & Lola. The entire movie hinges on whether she is a Bad Girl or a Troubled Girl, and she plays it credibly both ways.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

  • Like Huppert, Casey Affleck is a deserving lock to win the Oscar for Manchester by the Sea.
  • But, in Hell or High Water,  Chris Pine finally got to act in a complex, textured role and he really delivered.  Deserves a nod.

BEST WRITING, ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • Kenneth Lonergan will certainly snag a nomination for Manchester by the Sea.
  • So I am campaigning for Taylor Sheridan and his masterpiece screenplay for Hell or High Water.
Jeff Bridges and Katy Mixon in HELL OR HIGH WATER
Jeff Bridges and Katy Mixon in HELL OR HIGH WATER

 

Richard Jenkins and Margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS
Richard Jenkins and Margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS

Movies to See Right Now

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Richard Jenkins and margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS
Richard Jenkins and margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS

Don’t miss The Hollars, an unabashed crowd pleaser with a great cast, especially the irreplaceable Margot Martindale.

And you can still find the best movie of the year so far – the character-driven crime drama Hell or High Water.  It’s atmospheric, gripping, and packed with superb performances. Hell or High Water is a screenwriting masterpiece by Taylor Sheridan. Must See.

Here are other attractive movie choices:

    • Really liked the New Zealand teen-geezer adventure dramedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople (now also available to stream on Vudu).
    • Another odd tale from Down Under is the uneven but entertaining period tale of revenge, The Dressmaker.

DVD/Stream of the Week: Seeing the great character actor Richard Jenkins again in The Hollars reminded me that everyone should see his starring turn in the indie drama The Visitor. Touching on the themes of immigration to the US and the “otherness” of people from the Middle East, it’s especially topical today.  The Visitor is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play ad Xbox Video.

Some promising fare from Turner Classic Movies this week:

    • Today: Bat 21: In a sadly overlooked Vietnam War action story, Gene Hackman plays an officer trapped behind enemy lines. In this ticking clock thriller, only helicopter pilot (Danny Glover) can rescue him in time.
    • October 2: Leave Her to Heaven: Poor Cornell Wilde falls for the exquisitely gorgeous Gene Tierney, but she is MESSED UP. When I see Leave Her to Heaven, I think of my best friend Steve’s advice – “Never [date] anyone crazier than you are”. MUCH, MUCH more cautionary than Fatal Attraction.
    • October 3: Fat City with Stacy Keach’s and Susan Tyrell’s courageous exploration of alcoholism. Fat City’s Stockton, California, locale is a 1970s time capsule, plus there’s a young Jeff Bridges.

      Gene Tierney in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN
      Gene Tierney in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN

THE HOLLARS: the great Margo Martindale in an unabashed crowd pleaser

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John Krasinski and Margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS
John Krasinski and Margo Martindale in THE HOLLARS

The indie dramedy The Hollars is the year’s most sure-fire crowd pleaser.  And it’s yet another showcase for the best screen actress working today, Margo Martindale.  Martindale plays the glue that tenuously holds together an otherwise dysfunctional family.  Her husband and two adult sons are each facing both career and personal struggles, and when the mother is diagnosed with a brain tumor, each member of the family starts to crumble.

As the characters face commitment anxiety, job struggles, outright failure and even death, there are lots of laughs.  I saw The Hollars in a theater and there were many LOLs from the audience, some a little delayed as the audience processed, “did he really say that?”.  For example, an oncologist greets the worried family members with a deadpan “Sorry to be late.  I was golfing.”

The actor John Krasinky directs.  He and screenwriter Jim Strouse are economical story-tellers.  The first few vignettes tells us what we need to know about the family members and their relationships to each other.

The Hollars is really about the journeys of the father and the two sons, with the mom serving as the men’s mirror, sounding board and coach.  But Margo Martindale is so good as the woman who is very wise but doesn’t have the need to let everyone know.  Every second that she’s on the screen, we feel lucky to be watching her.  The toughest job in cinema must film editor on a Martindale movie; it’s gotta be painful to leave any Martindale moments off the screen.

We first noticed Martindale in 2004 as Hilary Swank’s venal mother in Million Dollar Baby.  In Justified, she made the character of the ruthless and crafty backwoods crime matriarch Mags Bennett unforgettable.  Her heartbreaking performance in Paris je t’aime was similarly indelible.  Now age 65, she’s still at her peak.

Martindale is paired with the great character actor Richard Jenkins, who has at least two Oscar-worthy scenes as her befuddled, denial-embracing husband.  As one of the sons, Krasinksy is as appealing as usual.  Anna Kendrick is perfectly cast as the pregnant girlfriend – being nine months pregnant is a vulnerable position from which to watch your partner figure out his life.  In small parts, we are blessed with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s piercing vibe and Mary Kay Place’s non-nonsense charm.  Josh Groban, of all people, is effective carrying off the role of the ever-smiling youth pastor who is dating one of the sons’ ex.

With all its humor, The Hollars is a weeper. Its ending is sentimental, but not maudlin or phony. I usually resist movie sentimentality, but a movie can EARN a sentimental ending with authenticity throughout, a stellar example being The Best Years of Our Lives. That’s the case here.

The Hollars is a wonderful movie to see with a companion. It looks like its theatrical run is going to fade out. But I predict that the word of mouth is going make it into a video hit once it appears on PPV and the streaming/DVD rental services. A gem.