Hillbilly Elegy (2020)

'Hillbilly Elegy' is the Netflix produced film adaptation of the best selling 2016 memoir of the same title by J.D. Vance. You might remember this book as one all the liberal commentators seemed to be recommended costal peoples to read to better understand "the Trump voter" after The Donald's surprise victory in that years presidential election. Yes that is "east coast elites" telling people they need to read a book with "hillbilly" in the title to understand the typical Trump voter, this attitude is one of the reasons why they lost.  Interestingly author Vance was quite critical of Trump at the time, but has noticeably changed his tune after recently announcing his run for the Republican senate nomination in Ohio.

This is the story of a young mans difficult growing up in southern Ohio and how with the help of his grandmother he changed his course in life and ultimately ended up at Yale Law School. It is also the story of his mothers substance abuse, his grandmothers difficult marriage, and the breaking of a multi generational cycle of self abuse. It's inspiring stuff, it has great actors like Amy Adams and Glenn Close in the cast and was directed by the very able Ron Howard.... yet critics seem to hate this movie, it's got a 26% rating on Rotten Tomato's and 38 on Metacritc. 

I went in quite skeptical, I had heard bad things, but this film totally won me over. Yes it is at times hokey, and Glenn Close's performance earned her both Oscar and Razzie nominations and it's the kind of performance where that make sense. Evoking a certain way of life, a certain kind of person, can also evoke the satire or caricature of that group. 

I spent two years among a similar kind of people on my LDS mission to the mid south, a lot of this felt familiar, it rang true, I've meet a lot of people like this. It seems a major factor in ones reception to the film is likely how much real contact you've had with, or empathy you feel towards, what might be called  'blue collar, hillbilly types' and I think the moves 82% audience score bellies that. Despite some obvious triteness I was surprised how much I really enjoyed watching this movie. ***1/2 

Ragtime (1981)

'Ragtime' is director Milos Forman's 1981 adaption of author E. L. Doctorow's 1975 novel of the same name. Or rather it's Forman's adaption of the parts of that novel he was most interested in. Doctorow himself felt the book was best suited for a mini-series adaptation, there was just so much story, maybe one day HBO will make this happen. 

Ragtime is a saga of Theodore Roosevelt era America, the books story spanning mostly from 1902 to 1912, events here being largely condensed and set in 1904. One has the feeling throughout that there is much this movie does not tell us, at least one secondary character seems to imply having much more to his story. Harry Houdini even shows up multipal times in newsreel form and I got the sense he had a whole story line in the novel. 

There are real historical characters here mixing with the fictional ones, and in addition to the historical cameo references from the text there is a whole other level "oh I know that person" from the many actors who have bit parts in the thing and went on to greater success, such as Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher and Samuel L. Jackson. 

The movie is filled with talented performers but to me the most memorable is a 20 year old Elizabeth McGovern and an 82 year old James Cagney, who came out of a 20 year screen retirement to play real life New York Police commissioner Rhinelander Waldo, who actually died at age 50 so Cagney's far to old for the part, but one doesn't care he's just so fun to watch. 

This is a great film, It's what I want out of a historical epic and the sense of balance of the story and screenplay, even knowing so much had to be cut out, is really remarkable. This movie really made me want to read this book. ****

 

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things' is based on a 2016 novel of the same name by the Canadian writer Iain Reid. Not being familiar with the source material it's hard to say how much of it carried over to this film, as it is both directed and adapted by Charlie Kaufman who is also responsible for the extremely lose adaption of Susan Orlean's book 'The Orchid Thief', which became the meta textual film 'Adaption'.

Questions of identity being so central to Kaufman's work the question of what, or even who this movie is about it left on the table and kind of hard to explain. On the surface level it is about a young couple Lucy (Jessie Buckley) who does most of the narrating and Jake (Jesse Plemons) who takes her to meet his farm based parents one winterly Oklahoma day. Their story contains deliberate inconsistences, even down to Buckley's characters name, which isn't always Lucy, and the health and age of Jakes parents which fluctuate wildly (they are played in all versions by Toni Collette, and David Thewlis). 

The parents seem like nice enough people, but they are odd, Jake is odd too, increasingly so as things progress. It's an awkward visit and only seems to feed Lucy's premonition that the relationship is doomed, it's one of the first thing she tells us as the film begins, that she's thinking of ending things. 

The movie tends to play its scenes long and awkward, it's certainly stylized but there is also an enhanced sense of truthfulness to some of these conversations. They go on unfocused in a way normal conversations often do, this is not Sorkian oratory, it feels real. 

While this narrative goes on we take occasional flashes to an overweight high school janitor of late middle age, Lucy even meets him towards the end of the film when our couple stop at Jake's old rural high school, in part because of storm conditions. This character revels, to the extent that anything can really be said to be spelled out in this film, why there has been so many inconsistencies, and why certain themes and subject matters are so frequently returned to in the story line. There's a lot I could say about this, I think it's kind of brilliant and very Kaufman. 

This film, unexpectedly, contains a rather beautifully choreographed ballet number, reminiscent of Powell and Pressberger's 'The Red Shoe's', there is a lot of film homage in this film. A melancholy piece I found I connected with it a lot, and it wasn't always comfortable. A movie I very much intend to revisit. ***1/2 

The Star Trek Project

 The Star Trek Project, wherein I recommend Next Generation episodes to Rob for the purpose of his dipping his toes into the franchise. 

I had been counting the pilot episode as two as it was later split in half for rerun broadcasting. Here I will be counting it as one episode. I will also give the episodes by there season numbers rather then there ultimate numbers

Season 1

Season 1 episode 1 & 2 

Encounter at Farpoint - I went back and forth on this one some. The pilot movie isn't great, but introduces the characters and sets up Q and there is no more efficient introduction. 

Season 1 episode 9 

The Battle 

Some good background on Picard and will introduce you to the Ferengi. 

Season 1 episode 12 

The Big Good Bye 

A good introduction to the holodeck as a story point

Season 1 episode 15

11001001

A solid, very 'Trek' episode with some interesting aliens. 

Season 1 episode 22 

Symbiosis 

A 'figuring out what's really going on with these aliens' episode. Mostly recommended because of the Prime Directive issues and the ending. 

Season 1 episode 26 

The Neutral Zone 

Introduction of The Romulans to the new series, and because the 20th Century humans are kind of fun.  

Season 2 

Season 2 episode 9

The Measure of a Man 

Picard acts as Data's legal council in a trial to determine if he is a living being or Starfleet property. This a top 10 Next Generation episode for me. 

Season 2 episode 12

The Royal 

Silly fun. 

Season 2 episode 15 

Pen Pals 

Neat Data/ Prime Directive centric episode. That is a young Niki Cox as the alien girl. 

Season 2 episode 16

Q Who

Q intoduces the Enterprise to the Borg

Season 2 episode 21 

Peak Performance 

The war games stuff and it's ultimate complication are fun

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

 'Bone Tomahawk' is a violent horror western by S. Craig Zahler. It concerns a group of savage, animalistic, apparently language-less natives referred to as 'Troglodites' that even the other Indians want nothing to do with. In the 1890's a couple of outlaws accidently deface their burial grounds, the one that gets away makes it to the town of Bright Hope but is shot in an altercation with the local sheriff (Kurt Russell). The outlaw, a deputy, and the local lady doctor are all abducted from the jail where she is tending to the mans wounds. A local Indian is able to identify where the bad guys came from but won't accompany the rescue party as he is rightly scared. 

Russel, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins set out, not all will return. I rather liked the early parts of this film, it's as strong a classic feeling western as you've seen from the 21st century, but the latter part of the film worked less well for me. The tone is odd, this is at heart an exploitation film story but the movie treats everything so straight that there is a disjointedness to the viewing experience. Problematic on a number of levels I still felt that the characters and performances really worked, but could never quite get over the sense of things being out of place. **1/2

Cool World (1992)

'Cool World' is a real 'what were they thinking' type of movie. From adult animation pioneer Ralph Bakshi this chaotic film is both overstuffed and underdeveloped. Brad Pitt is a World War II veteran sucked out of 1945 Nevada and deposited in the "Cool World", an animated place where he becomes a cop and apparently never ages. His chief duty is to make sure the cartoon 'doodles' never have sex with the flesh and blood humans or 'noids' who somehow periodically wind up there. It seems to me like this place would quickly become a hell. 

One such noid is played by Gabriel Byrne, he is an artist who thinks he created Cool World and has been publishing an inexpiably popular comic book about the place for years. That is when he's not in prison for killing his wife, that plot line like many here is never that well developed. Anyway Holli Wood, voiced and played in human form by Kim Basinger is Byrne's dream girl so when she crosses dimensions to bring him to the 'Cool World' its not long before they do the nasty off screen then flee to the real world with Pitt in pursuit. 

You see the balance between the worlds has been thrown off kilter by Holli's transformation and Pitt must enlist Byrne's young across the street neighbor for help. The oddness of this movie kept me engaged, not good but an interesting failure, though I hated the last 15 or so minutes of the thing, much of which felt hardly related to what came before. *1/2

Black Widow (2021)

It's release long delayed because of  Covid 'Black Widow' is, as I've heard remarked elsewhere, a bit of a shrug of a movie. Set after the events of 'Captain America: Civil War' (2016) but before those of 'Avengers: Endgame' (2018) there is only so much suspense possible as we already know Natasha Romanoff's fate. We do get some more back story and the family/interpersonal stuff is the best thing this movie has going for it, from 'The American's'-esque opening sequence in 1990's Ohio, to a truly awkward family dinner in the Russia of 2016.

The main plot is mostly a pointless retread, I did not care for the villain and thought the ending, frankly pretty stupid. This movie is more connective tissue then red meat and I frankly wish they'd made the darn thing sooner. Florence Pugh however should make a good addition to the franchise and David Harbor's always fun. **

Rush (2013)

 'Rush' is the (mostly) true story of the rivalry between two prominate European formula one racers in the 1970's, Englishman James Hunt played by Chris Harmsworth, and German Niki Lauda played by Daniel Buhl, both actors at top game but especially Buhl. Didn't expect much from this, was really impressed by it. I was not familiars with their story, which it's probably better to go in knowing little about. I was also impressed by the character growth. I though the racing movie 'Ford vs. Ferrari' that came out a few years ago was just flat and totally done wrong, while this movie is quite energetic and very much done right. I recommend. ***1/2

Damsels in Distress (2011)

'Damsels in Distress' is a comedy about four roommates at a prestigious east coast college, among them Greta Gerwig. It is by far the weakest of the three White Stillman films I've seen. While the other movies tend to focus on fairly smart people, the characters here are (largely) unrealistically dumb, and not just for elite college students. It's still funny though and ends with not just one, but two musical numbers. **1/2 

Fear Street Part 3: 1666 (2021)

 The first half of this final entry in the trilogy was probably the least interesting hour of the six hour story. The second half however was much better, and while the twist worked for me I did not much care for this series on the whole. **

Fear Street Part 2: 1978 (2021)

 The fact that this trilogy tells its story in largely reverse chronological order may be the most interesting thing about it. **

Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (2021)

This is the first in a Netflix produced trilogy of films based on a book series by R.L. Stein. Based on the noticeable reserve this film demonstrates until near the end (which includes a means of movie death I've never seen before) the film feels more 'YA' then the period slasher movies it seeks to invoke. It's like 'Scream' meets 'Stranger Things' by way of 'American Horror Story' and 'IT'. Lesser then the sum of it's parts. **

Piranha (1978)

The first scene in Roger Corman's 1978 Jaws-splotation flick 'Piranha' features a couple of teenagers going skinny dipping and being eating by the titular carnivores fish. I mean how could the first scene in this movie be anything else? Turns out these are genetically altered piranha who can survive in cold water, part of "Operation Razorteeth" and they get lose in a lake, a lake that has both a summer camp and a resort on it. The movie has a good sense of humor about its self and thus is fun and better then it deserves to be. **1/2

The Paper (1994)

With 'The Paper' director Ron Howard set out to make one of those newpaper movies that were so common in the 30's through early 50's, like 'The Front Page', 'His Girl Friday' and 'Deadline U.S.A.'. The tropes are certainly here, Randy Quad playing a slovenly reporter who turns out to be very capable, Robert Duvall as a crusty old editor hiding his cancer, Glenn Close sleeping her way to the top. At first I found them rather off putting, but this movie really grew on me and turned out to be very well constructed, and even had a couple of things to say. ***

All is Lost (2013)

 Robert Redford, in his mid 70's helms alone, and with only around 3 lines of dialogue, this story of a man lost at sea. His private yacht is punctured by an adrift cargo container and over the 8 day of the story he must do battle with the elements and failing equipment in desperate struggle for survival. The movie gets more gripping the more time passes, it's a rather impressively shot film, and a physically demanding one for Redford who does an exceptional job with a lot to do and not much to say. ***1/3.

Backdraft (1991)

 Ron Howard's 'Backdraft' was a big deal when it came out 30 years ago, but it's not a movie that seems to have much of a nostalgic following now. Kurt Russell and Willian Baldwin are Chicago fire fighting royalty (their dad dies saving a co-worker in the 1971 set opening sequence) and the brothers relationship is strained to the backdrop of a set of serial arsons. I was underwhelmed by the story, too cliché, but the practical effect fire sequences, especially the final one are impressive and not something your likely to ever see replicated on that scale again.**

The Good Girl (2002)

In 'The Good Girl' a 20 year old Jake Gyllenhaal and a 32 year old Jennifer Aniston are co-workers at a low rent K-Mart type store called Retail Rodeo, they have an affair and complications ensue. Aniston actually seems to be stretching herself here, which I don't recall ever seeing her do before. However I found her Texas accent off putting as is the films intensely early 2000's indie vibe. Nice supporting cast though, John C. Reilly, Tim Blake Nelson, John Carroll Lynch, and Zooey Deschanel. **

Turner & Hootch (1989)

Somehow it took five screenwriters to put together this very mediocre script. A comedy about a cop who must team up with a slovenly dog to solve a murder. It's the actor who plays the cop (comedy era Tom Hanks) and the dog (Beasly) who elevate this material, which is not to say its that great, but at least better then it would have been in lesser hands. Audiences liked this though, the film earning $71.1 million on a $13 million budget. It has almost inexpiably been selected for reboot as a new Disney+ series. **