Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

While Birdman might appear to be something quite new, and indeed I can think of no other film that looks quite like it, it is in reality something quite old, the cinematic grandson of Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve. Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson a  kind of caricature of himself, the once successful star of a 1990's superhero franchise, now trying to rebrand himself as a legitimate theater actor with a self directed, self adapted, self stared  Broadway stage version of Raymond Carver's 1981 short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". The ambitious cutthroatery and the new style performer (in this case Edward Norton's Mike Shiner's) efforts to outshine the older nominal star on Broadway is where the Eve influence comes in, while Sunset Boulevard contributes much of the desperate tone, as well as Keaton's caricaturizing himself, (unlike the Norma Desmond of the movie Gloria Swanson never entirely disappeared from film after the silent era, and was still acting into her 70's, while Michael Keaton has long been an established dramatic actor, and will likely even win an Oscar for this role). In short this is an actors film about acting, and its rather meta, so even though I was rather impressed with it I don't know if I want it to win a best picture Oscar, because that would just seem like Hollywood patting itself on the back for just being Hollywood, I mean even more then it usually does.

The film has a great supporting cast of great character actors, many of them with some ironic background in the world of superhero movies or other big budget explosion leaden Hollywood fair, Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk), Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man), Naomi Watts (King Kong), even Lindsay Duncan (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace). The film is also done in what appears to be one long, impossibly complicated, single take, so the editing is great. We have 'the meta' not just in this being a film about actors acting sense, but in Riggan's repeated conversations with his super hero alter ego Birdman, and in his self perceived manifestation of superhero powers such as levitation, telekinesis, and even flight. This movie is about actors giving all they have, even when they don't have a lot, to a role, it's about the cost of celebrity on a life and career, shameless self promotion, and serendipity. Above all perhaps its odd, I understand people not liking it, its hard to know what to grab ahold of with this piece, but for me everything here somehow comes together and I left deeply impressed, if a tad confused. So if your up for an unique examination of a classic actorly theme, namely actors themselves, you just might really enjoy Birdman. ****

American Psycho (2000)

A mixture of psychological horror, black comedy and social satire, American Psycho is the cinematic adaptation of author Bret Eastons Ellis 1991 novel of the same name. American Psycho is a sendup examination of 1980's Wall Street, yuppie culture, but taking its central character of a 'the heartless investment banker' to the absolute extreme, making him literally a serial killer. Christian Bale gives a memorable performance as Patrick Bateman, a successful, ambitious, cocaine using, philandering, psycho killer. Bateman has apparently enjoyed killing for some time, but lives a mask of respectability (so called) on the surface, including pretend friendships, and even a fiancé (a young Reese Witherspoon), thought in his internal narration he claims to feel nothing for no one (so in many ways he's reminiscent of Dexter Morgan, though less principled). As the film goes on Bateman appears to be losing what grip on reality he has and starts killing more and more people, less and less discriminatingly, all leading up to a somewhat ambiguous conclusion. It's obvious that author Ellis greatly disliked the Reaganite Wall Streak lackies of the 1980's, but he so bludgeons you (like Bateman) with his judgments, that they come off as heavy handed and overinflated, there is no nuance here, though I think there potentially could have been, and that would have been real interesting (I don't know, maybe that stuff's in the book). Still the movie has some memorable moments, a few surprises, and is kind of riveting in a car wreak sense. I enjoyed American Psycho, but found its insight more limited then it appeared to think it was. ***

Scareface aka Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)

Over the top gangster film that has been overshadowed by its lose, but also over the top 1980's remake. Scarface is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail (cool name), which in turn was inspired by the life of notorious 1920's gangster Al Capone, who famously had a rather large scar on his face, hence the title. The film follows the rise and subsequent fall of Chicago gangster Antonio "Tony" Camonte, the rise of course bears great resemblance to the rise of Al Capone, but the fall (spoiler) where "Tony" goes out in a hail of gunfire is fictional, the real "Scarface" would be failed by syphilitic dementia, cardiac arrest and stroke at the age of 48, not romantic. In the film "Tony" is played by the great Paul Muni, who unlike most other big stars of his time was not known for repeatedly playing variations on a single persona, rather Muni was a very capable character actor, who might more readily be compared to the likes of Phillip Seymour Hoffman then to John Wayne or Clark Gable. The film is capably directed by Howard Hawks (his only gangster picture) and has a supporting cast featuring such pre-code favorites as Ann Dvorak and Karen Morley. The film is arguably rawer then even the famed Cagney gangster pictures, of higher caliber dramatically, but also less fun. If you see one pre-code gangster film make it a Cagney, if you see two make the other an Edward G. Robinson, but if you see three, one should probably be Scarface. ***

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

***Major Spoilers Bellow***

The most distinctive and memorable quality of The Place Beyond the Pines is its novelistic structure, despite not being based on any pre-existing text its quite literary. The movie is broken into three acts, the first act concerns Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) "a locally well-known motorcycle stuntman working in a traveling act for state fairs", who unknowingly impregnates Eva Mendes, leaves for a year, comes back to discover he has a son, and then tries to win back Eva (who has moved on to a new, more stable boyfriend) by showering her with money and gifts, which he finances through robbing banks. The second act concerns Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper) an ambitious young cop with a law degree (he is the son of a local judge) who kills Glanton after he flees a robbery, is briefly brought in by a group of dirty cops, and then turns on those cops as a way of redirecting his career into the district attorneys office. The third and final act concerns the sons of both Glanton and Cross (played respectively by Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen) who meet up and befriend one another 15 years later not knowing the history there fathers had with each other (so the movie spans roughly 1995-2012).

This is a solid mood piece of a movie, well acted, directed, and written. As I said before the scope and feel of the film is literary, the story reminds me of one of those really solid mini-series they used to make for American television back in the 70's and 80's. For those who might be wondering, and something which I myself just found out, the title refers to the stories primary setting of Schenectady, (New York) which loosely translates from the Mohawk language as "place beyond the pine plains". I highly recommend this movie, its very intriguing and holds your attention throughout, my sister and I hardly spoke a word to each other when we watched this together, which is rare. ***1/2

Lynch Mob: 30 Best 'Twin Peaks' Characters

Twin Peaks: Picking Up the Missing Pieces

We Got Our 'Twin Peaks' Revival, Now What?

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

I actually found most of this movie to be somehow more watchable then most low budget 50's sci-fi fodder, but the ending revels just how much beyond the abilities of the time and budget this story was. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman centers on Nancy Fowler Archer (model turned actress and future lead poising fatality Allison Hayes), a rich heiress whose frequently drunk, and whose cheating husband (William Hudson) is trying to find a way to get rid of her. A UFO (or satellite as they insist on referring to it in this movie) carrying a bald, minimally dressed giant happens upon Nancy in the California desert (after a fight with her hubby) and attacks her in an effort to get the large diamond she is wearing, which apparently could serve as full for his ship. A side of effect of the scratches inflicted by the giant causes Nancy to grow '50 feet tall' and then go out in search of her cheating husband and vengeance. The giant Nancy is present via a combination of embarrassing model shots of her hands and badly done superimposed shots, there are also a few shots of Nancy against models that work pretty decent but these are under utilized. The effect therefore is not convincing, especially given that  exactly how tall Nancy is suppose to be (despite the 50 Foot title) appears inconsistent. A bad movie, but one that's worked its way far enough into the zeitgeist to be routinely parodied. * 1/2

The Prince of Tides (1991)

Based on the (promotional material hastens to emphasis beloved) Pat Conroy novel of the same name, The Prince of Tides concerns an out of work teacher in a faltering marriage (Nick Nolte, then at the top of his game) who must travel from his native South Carolina to Manhattan to tend to his poetess twin sister (Melinda Dillon) who has just survived her third suicide attempt. In New York Tom (Nolte) teams up, at first reluctantly, with his sisters therapist (Barbra Streisand, who also directed) to get to the root of his sisters problems by focusing on shared childhood memories. In course of time Nolte and Streisand determine that Melinda's problems owe to a troubled childhood, and more particularly to a family secret that proves a pretty harsh watch. Oh and Nolte and Streisand also conduct an affair together before he returns to his wife who had been cheating on him, and Streisand's husband and had been cheating on her as well so I suppose its okay. Not withstanding some of the questionable relationship advise in this film, that could almost be subtitled 'the affair that saved my marriage', its a poignant Conroy story that is well acted and directed in a way that doesn't draw undue attention to itself (which might account for while the film got a best picture Oscar nomination, Streisand was not nominated for best director). Still a powerful picture worth seeing. ***1/2

Life Itself (2014)

Documentary on the life and work of the late popular film critic Roger Ebert. In fact production of this movie started just a few short months before Ebert's death, so Roger and his family are in this movie interacting with the filmmaker, Steve James, a documentarian whose work Ebert had praised. In the last years of his life Roger had lost his ability to speak, and in fact had lost jaw, so it can be kind of difficult to look at him. Though mute Rogers voice permeates the movie, and not just in archival footage or the fact that this movie is about him. You hear Rogers voice narrating from Life Itself, his autobiography written after he lost his speech. This 'new' narration from Roger actually is accomplished through archival material, decades of on air reviews, mostly delivered in the same tone of voice, allowed the film makers with the aid of computers to assemble a database of Roger saying most every word you could want. It was hopped before his death that this database could eventually serve to replace the 'Hawkingesque monotone computer voice' he used to verbally communicate with the world in his final years.

Though Roger Ebert is arguably the best known film critic of all time, I mean honestly who could you argue was more well known, and was part of the popular zeitgeist for decades I was surprised by how little I actually knew about the man as a man. Growing up as an only child, editor of his school paper at Urbana, adopting Chicago as his home, writing a screen play for Roger Corman, pioneering film reviewing on television, his late in life romance with is beloved Chaz, all are explored here. The only thing really left out was his time with his post Siskel review partner Richard Roper, though the way this film was structured narrative wise I can kind of see why they left him out. Life Itself is the kind of retrospective that Roger Ebert could be proud of, and it reminds its viewers about the great voice we lost at the movies. ***

The Giver (2014)

Long delayed film adaptation of the award winning YA novel by Lois Lowry. The biggest problem I have with adapting this novel into a more-or-less straight forward film is that in doing so you largely eliminate perhaps the books greatest virtue, its ability to totally confuse and frustrate its middle-school aged readers. For many young people The Giver is their first existential novel, and sadly for many given the status of adult fiction reading in this country, their last. By virtue of not spelling everything out, and the reader having to visualize the books happenings themselves, The Giver and its philosophy laden dystopian plot forces its younger readers to confront introspective topics that at say 12 or 13 they are just on the verge of being able to mentally sort out. The frustration is good, it forces the mind to grow and think about things below the surface. A movie can't do this the same way, especially one that is steeped in the conventions of popular genera like this movie is.

That being said I suppose this movie is fine to watch after reading the novel, the young reader should have to ruminate on this themselves for a time before employing the visual aid. As a movie The Giver does some things that I liked. It's pretty true to the story as I remember it, though its been around 20 years since I read the book. The transition from black and white in ignorance to color once enlightened has been done before, but as a trop is true to the book. The vivid 'flashbacks' of montage memory was a neat touch, and the performances rang from good (Jeff Bridges, Meryl Steep) to mediocre (largely everybody else), but given that most of these characters have lived their lives devoid of true feeling a certain woodenness in performance works for this piece. In all this is a rather standard genera rendering of  what's really a great book for pubescent youth, it should never replace the source material but as a refresher or supplement its just fine.  It evoked in me a pleasant reminder of the source material well enough to earn it ***

Shaft in Africa (1973)

Shaft in Africa is the third film in the Shaft Blaxploitation trilogy after Shaft (which I've seen) and Shaft's Big Score (which I haven't). This movie's just okay, I found myself missing the urban grit and means streets aesthetic of the first film. This is Shaft's 'fish out of water story' and while setting much of the action in Africa, and the climax in France, was at times interesting, it mostly felt kind of forced. Though Richard Roundtree's still cool and there are the requisite sexy ladies, add the international conspiracy of villains and Shaft's various foreign handlers and this feels more like a James Bond movie staring Shaft then it does the original film. Still it was Shaft, so  **1/2

Into the Woods (2014)

So my mother and I decided it would be fun to take my niece, my nephew, and my sister-in-law to a movie over the holiday break. While looking for a movie for us to go too I had the thought that given my nieces predilection for princess and musicals Into the Woods would probably be something she'd enjoy. While I was vaguely aware of the Stephen Sondheim musical I knew basically nothing about the plot, except that it was a play on a number of classic fairytales. Given that the cast was good (I am especially fond of Anna Kendrick), the musical well thought of, and Disney was in charge I figured I would like the film fine, what I wasn't anticipating was how much I'd love it.

Into the Woods was so much more then I'd expected, it went along as more or less what I'd thought it would be, even started to look like it was wrapping up, but then it just kept going, and got brilliant. I was blown away. Appropriating Jack and the Beanstalk , Little Red Ridding Hood, Cinderella, its own more or less original fairytale, and to a lesser extent Rapunzel, the movie follows these characters as they go 'into the woods' in pursuit of their respective quests. They each seem to achieve their goals, as they do in there fairytales, but then the widow of the giant finds another way down from the clouds and starts laying waste to the kingdom in pursuit of Jack. The characters again return to the woods in search of safety, but the giantess has disfigured the landscape, the familiar paths are gone, the characters get lost, there narratives confused. Ever After it turns out isn't entirely happy, life goes on, death, separation, unfaithfulness, bitterness, and regret. What we plan for our lives doesn't always work out, what we think will bring us happiness may only be fleeting. But amid all the loss and in the unknown paths of life we can find one another, perhaps again, and we can make our lives anew. It's a beautiful and vital lesson, life is not a fairytale, but its worth it.

A brilliant repurposing of traditional and well known fairytales for modern times, and without being gimmicky, or shoving its message down ones throat. This motion picture gently guides you to realizations much more profound then you'd expect to find in what on the surface may appear to be just a kids movie. But these are lessons that kids and even adults need to hear, that love comes in many forms, that people make mistakes, that plans don't always work out, that there is death in the world, that the breakup of old families can lead to new ones, that you can find your place, and that even when all seems to be lost there can still be hope. I flippen loved this movie, it was so unexpectedly profound and effecting. It was expertly plotted, the performances surprising, even the music, though a tad repetitive, was enjoyable. It had its own look, it combined filmic and theatrical conventions well, it was a little dark, but in a way that can still speak to children. I think all the family I saw this with got something out of it, and given all that's happened to us lately I think its something we needed to see, I know I did. ****

The Imitation Game (2014)

Classified for decades this is the story of how the British cracked the German codes during the second world war, and more particularly its the story of the man that made that possible, the gifted mathematician Alan Turing. The title The Imitation Game has two fold meaning, first it refers to the process of cracking the Nazi's war-time coding system, and determining how to 'imitate' the process whereby the Germans reset that code each day, and secondly it refers to the efforts undertaken by the homosexual Turing to 'imitate' being a heterosexual so that he would have the freedom to do his work.

Being a movie there's is of necessity a lot of streamlining here, composite characters, oversimplifications and the rest, but the fact that this story wasn't better known, at least here in the states (turns out there are a lot of things named for Turing in the UK) is a shame worthy of being addressed. Not only is Turing's story interesting historically, its also dramatically rather riveting. You really have two things going on in this movie, first there is the sort of 'A Beautiful Mind goes to war' A-story, with Turing overcoming his social awkwardness to work with a team to solve a mathematical problem of immense complexity, but also the B or framing story of how in the early 1950's, with his significant role in the war effort and the fact that his work saved literally millions of lives still classified, Turing was convicted for acts of 'gross indecency' (read: homosexuality) and allowed to be chemically castrated by the same government he arguably saved.

Star Benedict Cumberbatch may have found his Oscar bate as Turing, an obsessive genius with an often abrasive personality battling his own internal demons, and yes its been done before, but it still works, while Keira Knigthly is charming as Turing's good friend and one time fiancée cryptologist Joan Clarke. The rest of the cast is generally good, and while they often play stock-type characters, the old school CO, the sneaky intelligence agent, the ingratiating spy, they serve a purpose. I don't know how many of the little details this movie gets right, but the story at its core is quite compelling. While a closeted homosexual and socially awkward, Turing served a country and a society in which he never quite fit in, did it a tremendous service, and then was cruelly abandoned, suffered in silence, and chose to end his own life.

Turings work with algorithms, computations, and his code breaking 'Turing Machine' providing major foundational ground for later computers, and his thoughts on artificial intelligence my yet be the groundwork of many future innovations. His life and work are a great story and the Imitation Game does a great job of communicating them for a general audience in an accessible and engaging manner, crowed pleasing but smart, using established but effective conventions to shine a wider light on things worth knowing and thinking about. ***1/2

Four Days in November (1964)

Theatrical documentary centered on the four day period from the assassination to the burial of president John F. Kennedy  (though in reality it also covers highlights from the weeks leading up to the assassination). The film is narrated by actor Richard Basehart, and makes extensive use of period broadcasts, location shooting, interviews with witnesses, and even reenactments featuring people who were in some way involved in the events depicted, including the Oswald co-worker who drove him to work that day, the priest that gave the president his last rites, and the judge who swore Lyndon Johnson in as president. Released only a year after the events depicted, Four Days in November is close to a first draft of history, and the immediacy of the events lend the proceedings an affecting rawness. It's also the first time I can remember seeing a depiction of the assassination that did not include use of the iconic Zapruder film, which had not yet been released tot he public at the time this motion picture was made. ***