Sicario (2015)

It's an occasional phenomenon, the good movie, that you appreciated, that your glad you saw, that you recognize as good, but which on some level you didn't enjoy, you didn't like. It's hard to rate this one, its legitimately quite good, its well acted, well written, well shot, even has something to say. The kind of things I appreciate in a film. Heck its written by Taylor Sheridan and directed by Denis Villeneuve, they are both great separately they should be great together, and they are, but I don't feel that I need to see this again.

I didn't particularly enjoy seeing it, but I recognize its an achievement. It's also a bit of an odd mush. It's extremely realistic, its a bit like those docu films that they used to do in the 40's and 50's, I've long had mixed reaction to those, they made me feel too detached, simultaneously not enough documentary and not enough drama. I think that's its, Sicario (which is about the drug war by the way I should probably mention that), it's a lot of boredom with streaks of brilliance. With the occasional powerful scene or vided image. The best sequence in the film, for me, was probably the U.S. caravan in Mexico to pick up the drug big wig, its an extradition he's being handed over by Mexican authorities to the Americans. So you have all these vehicles, with American military personal, with guns, invited into a foreign country we are at piece with, and ready to shoot any Mexican citizen on their own soil who might try and interfere with the transition. There's something unsettling, odd about that, it might be the only real way to work it, but it just feels off and wrong on some level.

There is a moment where that caravan is traveling through a shitty neighborhood and we see some guys playing racquetball against the side of an abandoned, half collapsed building, then the craven turns a corner and there are dismembered corpses hung form an overpass, a warning to those who would challenge the cartels. All of this is based on real things that happen, the FX series The Bridge dealt with a lot of this kind of stuff as well, that was a good show, it did a good job conveying it, but this I think was even more intense. Yet also at times more boring, I guess that is how being at the front lines of the drug war must be, like solders in the trenches, nothing, nothing, nothing and then sheer terror. It's quite an achievement, but its not a fun watch, it's vaguely off putting in a way I can't quite untangle (because I really like some seemingly off putting movies). I'm glad I saw it, but I don't think I'm going to want to see it again. ***1/2

The Glass Castle (2017)

Film adaption of Jeannette Walls memoire of the same title, The Glass Castle tells the story of its authors unusual and often difficult upbringing by a vagabond father and starry eyed artist mother. I read the novel several years ago and it is a powerful work, but it seemed all but unfilmable, maybe it might go as a mini-series. Yet I was really surprised how good the movie was, and the way the movie ultimately worked was in not trying to film the whole book, or even the majority of it. You get highlights from the book, the man themes the main plot points are conveyed, but your probably only getting around a fourth or so of what's in the book. Of course movies are different beasts from the written word and less can be more. By concentrating on the arch and development of character relationships much is conveyed without the  assistance of all the anecdotal episodes. I would easily recommended the book over the movie, but if your not up to the commitment of the read see the movie, and then maybe you will be.

Brie Larson was underwhelming in her recent appearances as Captain Marvel, but in The Glass Castle she really reminds you that she can act. Larson was the linch pin of the movie for me, while two other actresses play a younger Jeannette (and are fine to good) it is once Larson takes over the role in the flash back sequences (she also plays Walls in the framing narrative set in 1989) that the movie really took off me, she is an Oscar winning actress lest we forget. Woody Harrelson is also very good as Jeannette's father Rex, really a perfect part for him, the rest of the cast is good as well. In looking at the critical consensus of the film I find it rather mixed, but the Glass Castle really worked for me, and I wasn't expecting it to. So I can't say for sure if it will resonate for you, but feel confident that the story is intriguing enough to be worth finding out. ***1/2

The Little Shop fo Horrors (1960)

In preperation for a planed viewing of the better known theatrical musical I watched the original 1960 film by Roger Corman. Though I was a faithful viewer of the early 90's Fox animated TV series, this is my first viewing of The Little Shop of Horrors as a film property. The man eating plant seems perfect as fodder for a mid century B-movie but Corman and the writers approach it from such an idiocentric, wall-eyed perspective that it elevates the material from just another forgettable B-movie, to wry comic genius. Skid row, Jewish humor, Audry Jr., no budget, a young Jack Nicholson, it all works in a very strange way. I'm glade I've got the story skeleton down now as well, should make it easer to absorb the oddness that awaits me in the 80's reimagining. **1/2

Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)

Boo 2! is a direct sequel to Boo! which came out the pervious year. Basically a variation on a similar theme, it's like a show doing a Halloween episode each year. The way the whole Madea franchise feels more like an old school TV series then a film franchise just fascinates me. This time instead of a frat house a principal setting is a supposedly haunted summer camp. Not as good as the first one, but like the first one a lot of scenes are played longer then is normal for most movies, which again fascinates me. These movies really defy traditional ratings system, but despite myself I just want to see more. **

The Girl from Monaco (2008)

On a recent trip back to Boise to visit family I took my sister to The Record Exchange, a downtown institution for more then 40 years, they have records, CD's, movies etc. Presumably in order to move excess stock they were selling 'mystery bundles', 4 DVD's for $3.95, wrapped in brown paper so the contents would be a surprise. My sister bought one and decided to keep two of the DVD's and gave me the other two, one of which is a French film I would probably never have heard about, let alone seen if it wasn't for its presence in that bundle, and that would have been something of a loss.

The Girl from Monaco is a 2008 film staring Fabrice Luchini, an actor with a long and successful career over there. Here he plays Bertrand Beauvois, a high profile criminal defense attorney who journeys from Paris to the titular principality to the south to defend a woman accused of killing a Russian mobster. Now that case is interesting but its not the central story and the accused client (French film legend Stéphane Audran) is not The Girl from the title. 'The girl' is Audrey Varella (Louise Bourgoin) thirty years Beauvois's junior she is a local celebrity and weather girl, only she was not hired for her meteorological skills, she was hired for her looks. When Audrey comes on increasing strong to Bertrand he goes kind of gaga, the girl is distracting him from his case, and consuming his life but he just can't stay away, despite warnings from his dedicated body guard Christophe Abadi (Roschdy Zem) who had a past relationship with Miss Varella and knows where of he speaks. The movie starts as something of a sex farce, but gets increasingly dark as it goes along and its audacious ending had me wearing a big grin. Next time I go back to Boise I'm buying my own mystery bundle, sometimes they contain treasures. ***1/2

Rachel Getting Married (2008)

You know how at the beginning of Manchester by the Sea the inciting tragic event happens and your like "oh that's sad", but later on you find about an earlier even more tragic incident and your like "oh that's much sadder", well Rachel Getting Married is kind of like that. At the beginning of the film Kym Buchman (Anne Hathaway) gets let out of rehab for a three day furlough to attend the wedding of her older sister Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), this awkward inciting situation gets even sadder when the family is forced to again reckon with the legacy of an earlier tragedy. This is probably the best dramatic performance I've ever seen from Ms. Hathaway, she was deservedly Oscar nominated for it (losing to Kate Winslet for The Reader, which was the right call but Anne is still really good). I also really liked Bill Irwin in this, in fact I liked pretty much everyone in this, it's a strong ensemble cast, and no one is really a caricature here, these people seem real, they're  complicated, their is character progression but its not all in a straight line.

There is of course the central dramatic narrative which the film is ostensibly about, but its not only about that, as Roger Ebert says in his review of the film it is very much about 'the wedding' as an idea and as an experience. You have a parade of toasts at the rehearsal dinner, you have all the preparatory stuff, you have the wandering around at the reception, the awkward receiving lines. Director Jonathan Demme made sure there was a big cast of guests around, you don't get to meet all of them but you see them, many of them repeatedly, at the dinner, at the ceremony, at the reception. These people are all connected of course, they went to Rachel's wedding, but you don't always know how they are connected, though you get to where you know faces, people in the background of shots that you've seen before, it makes it feel more intimate, more real. In fact many of the guests were people that Demme knew personally, a kind of extended family, including an early boss B-movie titan Roger Corman, a patriarch of cinema whose character wants everyone to know that he is a lawyer.

In an ironic turn of phrase I can't overstate the subtlety of the film. There are so many nice little touches to it, character quarks, the complicated and often contradictory motivation of individuals, that combination of the sublime and the petty that is family. It's a beautiful thing, its deep, and you get to comfortably move around a large beautiful house filled with friends and family, its a long, intimate party by proxy. It's really something. ****

Amazing Grace (1972/2018)

At the height of her popularity Aretha Franklin decided to return to her roots and release a gospel album. Recorded over two nights with choral accompaniment at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles Amazing Grace went on to earn double platinum certification, win a Grammy and be the highest selling gospel album of all time. Warner Brothers had a film crew there, helmed by Sydney Pollack, and I think the intent might have originally been to release it as a TV special. However for whatever reason the film project fell apart in post production and it was not until last year that the film was finally put together. I'm not really much of a concert film guy but I loved this, Amazing Grace is alternately beautiful and joyous. The music of course is spectacular, but the vibe you get from seeing it recorded live, its something else. Only mid full the first evening but the second night word must have gotten out and the sanctuary is crowded, Franklin's Baptist preacher father stops by to say a few words and proves to be a thoroughly charming man. Mick Jagger show's up, just to watch. People are rising from the pews and dancing, it's really something, and worth seeing on the big screen if you can. ****

Queen of Katwe (2016)

Disney film. PG rated. Set and filmed on location in Africa by Indian born director Mira Nair who has lived in Uganda for decades. Based on a true story. Prestige picture, but lost money at the box office. Phiona Mutesi grew up in the Katwe slump of Kampala, Uganda's capitol city. As a 10 year old she happened upon a youth outreach program sponsored by a Christian ministry, they were teaching kids chess, turns out Phiona was a prodigy. Age 13 or 14 she attended her first world Chess Olympiad in Moscow, she was illiterate at the time. Her talent was able to serve as the catalyst to pull her family out of poverty. It's a beautiful story, nicely filmed, cast is mostly  a mix of first timers and established African actors, including Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o as Phino's mom. Entirely African cast, save a few extra's when Phiona is traveling and a Canadian chess player who has no lines. Such a refreshing film, such a different kind of story, shows places we seldom see in  film and in a context of hope we see even less. ***1/2

Boo! A Madea Halloween (2016)

I return to the Madea franchise with Boo! A Madea Halloween. This was closer to the conventional comedy that I had expected from Madea Goes to Jail. Apparently what gave birth to this movie was its use as a joke title in a Chris Rock comedy routine. Tyler Perry ran with it, though this is a not a traditional ghost and goblins Halloween movie, or even really a spoof of one. The plot has to do with Madea's grand niece snaking out of the house at 17 to attend a nearby college frat party, and the aftermath their of. There is a 'tough love' lesson about respecting boundaries, but the whole venture is considerably lighter then the earlier Madea movie I saw.

I find I'm just very intrigued by these films. I guess I like them, which surprises me more then a little, but I don't think "like" is really the right word. So far they haven't been "bad", I'm just fascinated by their uniqueness, and that they even exist. It just plops into the this world, a surprisingly developed world. No introductions needed, Madea has a large cast of supporting players who may or may not be in any one particular movie. I like the rotation. I like how its almost like a radio show, like a Jack Benny or Fred Allen program, characters are comic, broadly drawn, but can on occasion seem real, have something of an emotional life. Again I'm not quite sure how to rate this, but I'm oddly fascinated. I intend to see this movies direct sequel, Boo 2! in the very near future. **

Hail Satan? (2019)

While there are a number of organized groups and doubtless many individuals that call themselves Satanists, The Satanic Temple established 2013 is probably the largest and most successful of these currently, or at least they've managed to make the news a lot in recent years. Known chiefly for their legal fights to either remove or prevent the erecting of Ten Commandment moments on the state capitol grounds in Oklahoma and Arkansas, or have said Judeo-Christian moments counterbalanced by the placement of similar monuments to Satan nearby. Most people have probably one of two conceptions of the group, either the embodiment of evil, against everything good, or they are just trolling evangelical Christians. This documentary makes pretty clear that they are not evil, but yes they certainly are trolling people, though for a purpose, to challenge what they see as Christian privilege in an nation ostensibly set up to treat all people and all religions equally. While the interviewed Satanic Temple members will readily tell you they do not believe in a literal Satan, they do believe in Satan as a symbolic figure, with the symbolism being that of the 'ultimate rebel' who calls out the abuses of unquestioned authority. Also they enjoy how that makes a lot of people mad. Hail Satan? is a real interesting peak at a growing, and politically significant subculture. So I'm going to play devils advocate and recommend Hail Satan? Be advised the R rating is certainly warranted. ***1/2

The Company You Keep (2012)

In The Company You Keep Robert Redford directs Robert Redford in a film that is a distillation of so many Robert Redford themes that it made me grin. You have the old man outlaw in a long con and then on the run. You have romanticism for the old radical left. You have an intrepid old school investigative reporter. You have and all star cast ensemble cast. You have a film that's trying to say something vaguely political, but your not sure quite what. It does all these things satisfactorily well. Part thriller, part character study, it doesn't reinvent the wheel but its well executed. A satisfying film, even though its central twist becomes pretty clear about 2/3rds of the way through. It's not a great movie but its better then average, even Shia LaBeouf is acceptable in this. Also an early role for Brit Marling. ***1/2

Frances (1982)

1982 was a very significant year in the career of Jessica Lange, she won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Tootsie, and was nominated in the best actress category for this film. Frances is the true story of Frances Farmer, a Seattle born actress of left wing convictions who stared on Broadway and in Hollywood films of the golden era. She was... high strung, and maybe a little crazy. She was committed to a mental institution, more then once, and probably kept there longer then she should have been because her mother and guardian saw some personal benefit from keeping her there. Frances had some really rough experiences, though not all of those depicted in the film are fully verified. This is very much a movie made in the 80's and set in the 30's and 40's, the production values could have been a little higher, and the bio-pic's structure is maybe a little a bland. But Lange's performance is strong, and Frances life is really an interesting one. There is also some retrospective irony in Ms. Lange being here tortured in a mental institution, as decades later she was torturing others in a mental institution in the series American Horror Story. Sam Shepard, who became Lange's lover and eventual long term partner around this time plays her principal love interest in the movie, Harry York. ***1/2

Fighting with My Family (2019)

Fighting with My Family tells the true story of Saraya-Jade Bevis better known by her wrestling moniker of "Paige".  Paige is a two time WWE Divas champ, which means little to me but a lot to a great many people. You don't have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this movie however, it is a light comedy/ family drama about how a poor English girl from a small time wrestling family managed through heart and persistence to earn her big break. A pleasant film, and for me a bit of an anthropological one because I don't really understand the world of wrestling, but here is a sympathetic though far from whitewashed depiction of the same. Florence Pugh, who plays Paige, is a better actress then the role demands, and I thought the whole thing (written and directed by Stephen Merchant) was well put together and pays of in a delayed gratification way, the ending seems earned when I wasn't sure it would. **1/2 

Smart Money (1931)

Smart Money is Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney's only screen pairing, they play barbers of all things, but barbers who are propelled to the top through illegal gambling. Robinson is the lead and star, he had been propelled to stardom a short time earlier with Little Caesar, Cagney was still on the way up, The Public Enemy would be released a short time later. So this is really Robinson's film, and it is important to note that his character is not a bootlegger, he's a gambler, and a surprisingly kind and generous one (which is to make his character more sympathetic) but with a weakness for blonds, which will prove his downfall. I found the movie quiet likable, and kind of odd as gangster movies go, in pacing, in plot, and in how sympathetically the characters are rendered, at least the criminal ones, the law in this film is not very likable and even though the production code was not enforced yet it was important that the bad guy, even a nice bad guy, not get away with it. A slightly odd, mostly forgotten film that has a strange kind of quasi-freshness to it, even 88 years later. ***

Jezebel (1938)

In the aftermath of the publishing phenomena that was Margret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, Warner Brothers Studios could not get the film rights, those went to David O. Selznick, but they still wanted to make some kind of antebellum melodrama as a vehicle for studio queen Bette Davis. What Warner Brothers got was a 1933 stage play about a spoiled, strong willed southern bell in 1850's New Orleans, Jezebel. It's a great part for Davis, her Julie Marsden is just a terror, causing all sorts of trouble, most of it intentional, but with a lot of unintentional fall out. Henry Fonda is Ms. Marsden's long suffering northern influenced fiancé, Margret Lindsay a northern girl, and George Brent, Donald Crisp and Richard Cromwell various southerners. Fay Bainter won the best supporting actress Oscar as Julie's aunt, nicely understated, and Bette Davis won the best actress Oscar, both deserved.

This is really a top flight movie, you can tell that Warner's wasn't scrimping on the budget for this thing, it was doubtless their big prestige movie of the year. Very capably directed by William Wyler who was borrowed from Universal for just that purpose. Great performances, great mood, but on the downside even more racially uncomfortable then Gone with the Wind. Also unlike most any other film form the era the movie ends ambiguously, I just adored that, I was hoping and hoping that they would and they did, I was so happy. Now its up to you the viewer to decide if Henry Fonda lives or dies. ****

Fun Fact: In the 1991 film The Rocketeer, the title character fly's by a big movie premier at Grauman's, that movie is Jezebel which puts the action of the film in March of 1938.