In the Heights (HBO Max)

 

In the Heights (HBO Max)

In the Heights is a delightful film. It is the cinematic version of the popular Broadway show. There are energetic dance numbers and lots of singing with typical immigrant stories of assimilation and reminiscing for a lost past. The pathos of the immigrant story is subsumed  by festive song and dance.

The choreographer is  Andy Blankenbuehler. The dance numbers are like La La Land with  large groups of synchronized dancers. One sequence in a public pool is a homage to Busty Berkley (for does under 40 you can google him). The songs are typical Broadway narrative renditions of hopes, dreams and lose. There is a smattering of rap which is  mercifully  comprehensible unlike Hamilton’s version of rapid rapping.

Some actors will be recognizable, other will be new. Marc Antony makes a minor appearance as an alcoholic negligent father. Jimmy Smit has a larger role as the aspirational father. All the actors do a great job.

The film is a sanitized version of the Heights. There is no crime, no drugs and the closest thing to sex is some modest dirty dancing. I can’t help making a comparison to West Side Story. Both are about tough Manhattan ethnic neighborhoods. West Side Story is kinetic and gritty whereas In the Heights is mellow and a fantasied version of reality.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is brilliant. To go from Hamilton to the Heights displays his range of  talent. Given the predictable onslaught of summer testosterone block busters, the Heights is a refreshing reprieve.  

Those Who Wish Me Dead (Netflix)

 

Those Who Wish Me Dead (Netflix)

I first took notice of Angelina Jolie in the 1998 HBO film “Gia”. She gave an impressive performance. Then in 1999 she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for “Girl Interrupted”. Jolie is a serious accomplished actress. Then came Lara Croft, Maleficent and Salt. Everyone needs to pay the bills. This film is lacks luster and makes no demands on her acting skills. In this movie you know from the start who dies and who survives.

Jolie plays a hotshot fire fighter who is suffering from post-traumatic stress as a consequence of the death of three children during a forest fire. Later on she encounters a boy fleeing assassins who killed his father and are after him because he is carrying incriminating  information. It is a bit shady who the bad guy or organization is, but professional killers are the main antagonists. This film is supposed to be an action thriller, but it does not have the right vibes. There are no dare devil car chases like in the Fast and Furious movies or a Jason Statham round kicking a bad guy in the head. There is a lot of Jolie out running a forest fire.

The bad guys are brothers played by Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult. Gillian is becoming the perennial bad guy as he proves in this movie. Nicholas Hoult is the grown up version of the sweet little boy in the film “About a Boy”. It is just incongruous to see him as a heartless assassin.

Let’s wait for Tomb Raider 4.

 

Woman in the Window

 

Woman in the Window (Netflix)

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Alfred Hitchcock would take a pass. This film is near a rip off of his “Rear View Window”. In Rear View Window Jimmy Stewart uses his binoculars to spy on a neighbor across courtyard who he suspects of murder. Amy Adams is also spying at neighbors across the street who she suspects of murder using binoculars. Like Stewart she takes clandestine photos of the neighbors. Stewart is stuck in his apartment because of a busted leg; Adams suffers from agoraphobia and is home bound. In “Rear View Window”, Raymond Burr is the bad guy with bleached white hair. Here too one of Adam’s antagonists has a head of white hair. In both movies there is a mysterious murder.

The imitations here did not produce a good film. Ironically, the film features an outstanding ensemble of actors. Besides Amy Adams there is Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Anthony Mackie. Aside for Adams neither of the other stars have much screen time. Great performers can not save a film with a weak script and mediocre direction. This is a psychological thriller but the suspense of the film is not orchestrated well. Hitchcock’s method for building suspense was like slow fuse. Here key elements are like firecrackers, they just happen and are uncoordinated. The film would have benefited from more revealing back stories. There are even web sites trying to explain the ending.

As the protagonist Amy Adams is an emotional wreak isolated in her home. Her acting range is limited by her character’s depression and isolation. She looks frumpy  wearing a rob all day and stuck in a rambling house. Depending on one main character to carry a film is a gamble which did not pay off here.

Do your self a favor and watch “Rear View Window” instead.    

 

Without Remorse (Amazon Prime)

 

Without Remorse (Amazon Prime)

Michael B. Jordan has a twenty inch waistline and no body hair, which is weird. He is more buffed than a ’67 Chevy. However, this film is just an excuse for carnage and car wrecks. This is a Tom Clancy pot boiler which is better left to paper back. The film substitutes action for suspense.

I first saw Jordan in “Creed” for which I did not expect much. But I was impressed with his acting. He also gave an effective performance in “Just Mercy”. He can do better than this film. He has the body of an action figure but the potential of a serious actor. The film starts out as revenge movie but morphs into a conspiracy . The full conspiracy is revealed in the tail end of the film. The movie would have been more suspenseful if parts of the plan were introduced earlier in the film.

Jodie Turner-Smith is Lieutenant Commander Karen Greer. She is an attractive navy Seal. She seemed uncomfortable in the role and her acting was stiff. Originally a model her languid long legged body is more suited to the runway than to a Seal’s obstacle course. She was more effective in “Queen and Slim” as a fugitive girlfriend.

Guy Pierce plays Secretary of Defense Thomas Clay. Although a catalyst player, his scenes are limited. This is an under utilization of a talented actor who came to prominence for his well-received performance in the film “Momento”. Also his suits were ill fitted.

Jamie Bell is the CIA operative. His character is unlikeable and he plays it well. Jordan and he have good chemistry, even if it is toxic.

Mercifully if you have Amazon Prime you can watch the film for free without remorse.

The Courier (Amazon Prime)

The Courier  (Amazon Prime)

October 16^th, 1962 was my 11^th birthday and the start of the Cuban Missile crisis. We were watching Walter Cronkite and on TV and there was a map of the United States with arrows pointing to cities targeted by nuclear missiles launched from Cuba.  New York City was in the bull’s eye. I remember saying to me mother I was too young to die. The Courier is the true backstory of the Cuban missile crisis. Benedict  Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne an unassuming Englishman who gets recruited by MI6 and the CIA.  Cumberbatch gives a riveting performance in this tense spy thriller. It has the feel of a John le Carre novel but it is true. Cumberbatch plays a middle class businessman with just the right accent and not too stiff posture. He is convinced by his handlers as a courier he would not be in much danger if something went wrong. Spy tradecraft in 1962 was elementary compared to today but the depictions  in the film authenticated the period. Using a Minox camera and a hollowed out can as a drop off to pass on material was the state of art at the time. The duplicity of espionage is one man’s hero is another man’s traitor.

The arch of Cumberbatch’s character goes from ordinary businessman to reluctant spy to a man of heroic conviction. Cumberbatch’s transition is masterful. Not to give too much away at one point he loses a tremendous amount of weight which  portrays his terrible situation. It is almost hard to watch.  

The supporting cast is excellent. Merab Ninidze plays Oleg Penkousky a Soviet military intelligence colonel. He plays the role of a conflicted Soviet hero who is patriotic but troubled by the recklessness of Nikita Khrushchev’s path to nuclear war. Ninidze is a native Georgian which fits perfectly with his role. Rachel Brosanhan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) plays Emily Donovan the CIA officer. Her role was more empathetic to the mission and concern for Wynne’s welfare. To match the period her hair was perfectly coiffed fortified with layers hairspray and she wore a  pillbox hat.

The casting director should receive an award for casting Keir Hills as Wynne’s young son. His resemblance to Cumberbatch is striking with blond hair and long mirthless face. The typical English schoolboy of the 60’s.

This October will be my 70^th birthday which I hope will be uneventful.

  

2020 Oscar picks

 

Oscar Nominations 2020

 

Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

 

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

 

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

 

Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

 

 

 

Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja & Dan Swimer)
The Father (Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller)
Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)
One Night in Miami (Kemp Powers)
The White Tiger (Ramin Bahrani)

 

Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah (Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas & Kenny Lucas)
Minari (Lee Isaac Chung)
Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
Sound of Metal (Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder & Darius Marder)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin)

 

Best Costume Design
Emma
Mank
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Mulan
Pinocchio

 

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

 

Best Animated Short Film
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People

 

Best Live-Action Short Film
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

 

 

 

 

 

Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

 

Best Documentary Short Subject
Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

 

Best International Feature Film
Denmark, Another Round
Hong Kong, Better Days
Romania, Collective
Tunisia, The Man Who Sold His Skin
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Quo Vadis, Aida?

 

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Sound of Metal
Soul

 

Best Production Design
The Father
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

 

Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

 

Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

 

Best Animated Feature Film
Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

 

Best Original Song
“Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah
“lo Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)
“Speak Now” from One Night in Miami
“Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7

 

 

The Father (Amazon Prime)

 

The Father (Amazon Prime)

Antony Hopkins is the tail end of legendary British actors: Olivie, Geilgud, O’Toole and Burton. His performances are masterful whether in lead or in supporting roles. His character, Anthony, who suffers from dementia is diametrically opposed to the vibrantly intelligent Anthony Hopkins of 83 years. Hopkins portrayal is painfully accurate.

For people of a certain age this movie will have a chilling effect. A neurologist once told me when you walk  into a room and you forget why you went there, that’s OK. When you cannot find your misplaced phone, no problem. But when you come home remove your shoes and put them in the freezer then you have a problem. Anthony’s condition is beyond kitchen appliances. Antony slips in and out of a state of  lucidness to befuddlement with vacant eyes and fingers fumbling for his missing watch. Dementia is a thief, robbing  you of memories of past and present. Certain words you have known all your life can not escape the tip of your tongue.

The direction and editing of the film gives a visceral example of dementia. In Antony’s mind different people are the same person and his residence is of uncertain ownership or location. A closest is a doorway to another place. It is a bit confusing to keep up with the film.

Olivia Colman (Favorite, and the Queen in the Crown) is the anguished daughter. In the post nuclear family her dilemma is whether to live her life or care for her father. His deteriorating condition is a challenge to her and a carousel of spent caretakers. Colman’s anxiety is relatable to caregivers or to people expecting care. She gives a bravi performs to a demanding role.

This is not an easy movie to watch. It is an excellent movie with outstanding performances. Both Hopkins and Colman are nominated for 2020 Academy Awards. As they should be.