Bombshell

Bombshell                                                                                                                    February 6, 2020

The word bombshell can be used as a double entendre. In the news it is an important fast breaking story. In the golden age of Hollywood a bombshell was an alluring  gorgeous starlet (see Hedy Lamar, doc. “Bombshell”) . This move has both. The film is a quasi-documentary with actual footage of events and in most instances uses real names.

The film is fast paced and since most everyone knows the story it feels a bit voyeuristic, but in a good way. The ensemble is terrific. I almost did not recognize Charlize Theron as Megan Kelly; the make-up was incredible. Not only did she look like Kelly, she captured  her uncompromising  attitude. Nicole Kidman played Gretchen Carlson with a stunning resemblance and a deep sense of betrayal. Margot Robbie plays Kayla Pospisil a fictional character. She is symbolic of all the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Roger Ailes. She is  junior to the other two news women and her ambition and naivete make her a perfect target.  Roger Ailes is played by the incomparable  John Lithgow in a fat suit. Lithgow is masterful he plays Ailes as a dictatorial pig dangling choice spots on the news as bait to ambitious young women. Katie McKinnon plays a closeted lesbian with the door ajar. Her trademark humor is tinged with sadness and fear. Even if briefly, it was great to see Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch, an uncanny resemblance.

The Fox newsroom is toxic. Everyone fears Ailes and are scared of losing their jobs. The women wear skirts at work so their legs can be seen through  glass tables. It was fun trying to see how accurately the actors resembled  the real people. Sean Hannity  had a revolver in his waist belt, oblivious  that New York  does not permit  concealed weapons.

Charlize Theron in nominated for best actress and Margot Robbie is nominated for best supporting actress, both well deserved. What about Nicole Kidman? Her performance is Oscar worthy. Gretchen was the catalyst that brought down Ailes and Kidman played her role with profound pathos and grit.

Uncut Gems

Uncut Gems                                                                                                                       January 29, 2020

This is a very  New York movie. Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner a jeweler in the diamond district. Howard is not only addicted to gambling, but he is delusional about his ability to win. Almost all of the action takes place in Manhattan, specifically the diamond district.

Ratner is hyperactive, is never still and constantly talking. He is a liar and a kaniver. He molds reality to fit his needs. He perpetually owes money to the bookies and by sheer luck stays one step ahead until he is not. He is married (going to divorce)  with children, has a nice house, an apartment in Manhattan and a mistress. Adam Sandler is perfect for this role. He inherently has all the characteristics of Howard Ratner. I am sure he did not have to audition. All this said he gave an excellent performance. Given his body of work, this is his apex. Let’s remember we are starting very low with his early films.

The uncut gem here is an opal from Ethiopia that Howard overestimates its value. Kevin Garnett (yes that Kevin Garnett) becomes infatuated with the stone and wants to own it. So a big part of the story is the journey of the stone. As with all addicted gamblers, it is all about the bet and in this case its lethal effects.

Sandler is joined by an impressive ensemble of actors. The senior citizen  actors  include Judd Hersch, Eric Bogosian and Mike Francesa. Kevin Garnett did an impressive job playing himself. Howard’s wife is played by Idina Menzel, she played the role with all the steeliness and warmth of a Jewish wife on the verge of divorce. Howard’s mistress is played by a newcomer, Julia Fox. She was born in Milan (Ciao Bella), graduated City-As-School and for six months was a dominatrix, but she never got her license. She did a good job and did not play the bobble head bimbo.

One cool aspect of the movie, some scenes were filmed in our building, Manhattan Place (33^rd floor) where Howard kept an apartment.

The movie is entertaining.  If you are a Sandler fan this is a new welcomed dimension.

Harriet

Harriet                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               January 28, 2020

If you do not know who Harriet Tubman is, see this movie. She is a giant among feminists before there were feminists and she had a gun. Information about Tubman is limited to 19^th technology: photos, diaries, newspapers and oral history. Cynthia Erivo’s and the director flesh out Tubman as brave, passionate and fiercely committed to liberating slaves. Tubman’s passion and bravery are rooted in her grief from being separated from family and denied freedom. Erivo’s Tubman is complex with  fierce resolve and commitment to her mission…freedom. When told by other abolitionists to stop and not go back south she ignored them and made numerous journeys. In her first escape she walked 100 miles from Maryland to Philadelphia on foot.

Erivo’s plays Tubman as a messianic figure. Tubman believed  God spoke to her and pointed her and her charges in the direction to freedom. The runaway slaves believed in ability to talk to God and escaped with her. These visions may have been due from a blow to her head from an overseer; she was plagued by terrible headaches the rest of her life.

The physical brutality of slavery was not a main focus of the film. With the exception of brief shots of whip scared backs there was nothing like what was shown in “12 years a slave”. The emphasis here was escape not capture.

The film does not have a big named supporting cast, so Erivo basically carries the movie. This is one reason the movie only cost $17m. In the biz this is called  “a specialty box office”. All that said Erivo is nominated for an  Oscar for best actress and nominated for original song for Stand Up. In this movie she only sings a bit, but if you want to hear her voice catch “Bad Times at the El Royale.”

 She has just a good a chance of winning best actress as the rest.

Some facts about Tubman:

She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad (Flushing Queens was a stop). She freed 70 slaves.

She is the only women to have commanded a regiment of black soldiers during the civil war and freed 700 slaves.

She had brain surgery without anesthesia; she bit a bullet.

She died at 91

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Jo Jo Rabbit

Jo Jo Rabbit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  January 23, 2020

When I was a kid I watched the Rocky and Bullwinkle show and  there was a segment called “Fractured Fairy Tales”. Jo Jo Rabbit reminded me of those cartoons. The film abounds in Nazi symbols and propaganda but they are twisted and satirized. Jo Jo is a member of the Hitler youth (more like Ariyan day care). He truly wants to be a good Nazi and wears a pint size uniform with the sacred knife but his skills do not match his ardor. The other baby goose steppers make fun of him and torment him. Jo Jo is egged on by his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler. He is Jo Jo’s friend, cheerleader and nemesis. The actor who plays Hitler, Taika Waititi, is also the director, cool.

This is a dark satirical film. This version of Nazism is not a well oiled machine. Instead of one big Heil Hitler there are little HH’s which everyone gives in turn. The Gestapo is menacing, but inept. The Gestapo officer is played by lanky Stephen Merchant in search of Jews. Even though, this is a satire the anti-Semitism and atrocities are cringe worthy.

Jo Jo Rabbit is played by Roman Griffin Davis, who is eleven and started auditioning for this film when he was nine. His performance is amazing. He has comic timing, poise and can hit the emotional mark like a seasoned actor. Scarlett Johansson is Jo Jo’s single mother who lovingly protects him and encourages him even with the gloom  of war. Johansson’s performance in this movie is diametrically opposed to her performance in a Marriage Story and is a testament to her versatility.

Sam Rockwell is a treasure. There is something signature about him. Whatever character he plays you find a bit of Rockwell. Either with  his smile, twinkle in his eye or  soft shoe. He is the “nice Nazi” captain who runs the youth camp. Rebel Wilson is a brutish camp instructor. Her performance is brief but has her trademark irreverence and sly insults delight.

Tying shoelaces is a metaphor in the movie. My interpretation is this symbolizes love and caring. I remember the first time my son tied my shoelaces and it is one of my most tender memories.

Jo Jo Rabbit is nominated for best picture. It is a long shot, but if wins it deserves it unequivocally.

1917

1917                                                                                                                                                       

January 13, 2020

This movie is like the Brits, slow excitement. The movie does reach a crescendo, but early notes are muted. This is a story of a heroic journey akin to the race to Marathon. A soldier is tasked to deliver an urgent message across enemy lines to avert the slaughter of hundreds British troops from an ambush laid by the Huns (stop the spoiler hate mail, this plot point was in the coming attractions) . 

The journey is fraught with perils and with every advancement the tempo picks up. Sometimes heroic movies are uncomplicated, it is overcoming the obstacles along the way that make them interesting.

The lead actor is George MacKay who almost carries the entire film. He displays steely determination to complete his mission overcoming daunting obstacles and life threatening situations. The battlefield is littered with dead bodies, dead horses and poodle sized rats. MacKay’s physicality is an essential part of his acting. He never stops, he is never deterred. He forges rivered littered with dead bodies and out runs a crashing biplane.

To American audiences MacKay may not be well known (speaking for myself). However, there are big named stars in the movie: Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong. Regrettably each actor was given less than a few minutes screen time.

The cinematography was impressive giving full force to sweeping action scenes. Much is made of the so called one continuous shot, which actually was computer manipulated. This technique heightened the sense of urgency for MacKay to complete his mission.  The war torn landscape rendered by CG gave a palpable sense of death and carnage.

This film is a noble addition to the catalogue of war movies.

The Irishman

The Irishman                                                                                                             November 29, 2019

This movie is a masterwork. Of all his accolades this film will be at the top of Scorsese’s oeuvre. The performances were brilliant and the script was rich and complex. The film is multi layered: it is a mob movie, a docudrama and a Shakespearean  tragedy. The movie shows the rise of the main protagonist Frank Sheeran from a truck driver to  union boss and entanglements  with the mod and teamster’s union boss Jimmy Hoffa. This was a time when unions and the mob had a symbiotic relationship.

The three main actors are Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, all brilliant. If the Academy could give three Oscars in 2019 for best actor that would solve of the dilemma of choosing. What separates great performances is nuance. With De Niro and Pacino, we have seen shades of their characters in other films. Pesci is almost Zen like. In contract to his role in Casino as the hyperbolic Nicky Santora, Pesci plays  Russell Bufalino as a sublime but a ruthless mob boss. Pesci’s dramatic silences frame his character and vale the banality of his evil.  

Di Nero plays the Irishman as a man without a soul. He does what he has to do no matter the affect on friends, family or himself. He is stoic and remorseless; killing friends and wrecking family. Pacino is manic and neurotic as Jimmy Hoffa. He is so consumed  by his image as a power broker he cannot negotiate with other mob chieftains.  Two other roles of note are Ray Romano as Bill Rufalino, teamster lawyer, and Bobby Cannavale as a local mobster Skinny Razor. Romano with his halting distinctive voice and Cannavale’s sleepy eyes, both hit their marks. Harvey Keitel has a walk on role; looking good.

This movie is cut like a diamond. The editing was intelligent and  effective. Flash backs were selectively done to narrate the movie and historical footage was used to jog the memory. There is fact and fiction regarding the Kennedy’s. One thing for sure, the mod and Jimmy Hoffa hated Bobby Kennedy.

If you look up Jimmy Hoffa, instead of deceased it will stay “disappeared”. Hoffa’s body was never found and where he was buried became like a parlor game. He was declared legally dead in 1982.

Yeah, the movie is three and a half hours long. Get over it.

Joker

Joker

This is a depressing bleak movie; however Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is outstanding and sublime. This is an origin movie of the Joker whose real name is Arthur Fleck. He works for a clown agency sending clowns to hospitals, out of business stores and children’s party’s. Gotham City is based on 1970’s New York City with graffiti covered subways, porno theaters and roaming gangs. This gritty violent environment is the perfect backdrop for someone going mad.

Phoenix is a portrait in progress of a person descending into madness. Sad eyes and vacant face, anyone who suffered from mental illness can relate. He sees himself as a comedian but he is not funny. Phoenix has the  Joker’s trademark laugh. His laughing is uncontrollable and puts him some traumatic situations. He suffers from a real medical condition called pseudobulbar affect (PBA). The condition can be triggered by stressful or awkward situations and the laughter can be mistaken for mockery. Phoenix uses laughter as a precursor of violence. His Joker is emaciated in this movie; his ribcage and shoulder blades jut out. I am not sure what method acting this was supposed to represent but there are chubby killers.

 He does not start out violent but as a victim of violence and ridicule becomes violent. The violence becomes more frequent and brutal. There has been much said in the press about this film’s violence. Quentin  Tarantino’s movies have ten times the violence than this film. Maybe here the violence is specific to  a madman and is more relatable to current events. As he commits more murders his violence becomes more nonchalant.

The movie is a bit slow. It took about one hour for the action to start. This is more of a dark drama rather than a superhero flick with  lighthearted banter. In two hours there was only one screen that was funny and clever.

The other actor of note was Robert De Niro who portrayed a parity of late night host Johnny Carson. The stage set was a fateful reproduction of Carson’s show down to the same open curtain. Compared to his other performances this was a cake walk for DeNiro. De Niro’s performance is not the impetus to see this film.

I am not deep into the Batman lore but the Wayne’s appear in the film and Bruce Wayne is portrayed  as a young boy. In this script there is tangled relation between Arthur Fleck and the Wayne’s.

This year’s crop of Academy bound films has not yet blossomed so it is difficult to compare Joker to its competition. At minimum I think Phoenix will get a nomination for best actor. Anyway given the film’s big box office the award would be a nice to have.