Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on December 27th, 2015
Football is extremely important to many (or most, or all) Americans. That would be an understatement, since football is a national obsession that can reach the level of mania at times. Football is close to a religion for some people. You don’t mess with football, but that is what Will Smith’s new film, Concussion, does. It tells the true story of a Nigerian doctor who has an extremely rigorous and conscientious approach to his work performing autopsies in the Pittsburgh coroner’s office. He supervised over the deaths of Mike Webster, Terry Long, Justin Strzelczyk, Andre Waters and Dave Duerson, who all died before the ages of 51. These autopsies were instrumental in uncovering the connection to a disease that had been associated with boxers, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The connection with boxing was never made by the National Football League until Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith, starts going to extraordinary lengths to investigate. Numerous lawsuits have occurred since 2008 when Omalu began this work showing that the NFL had covered up their knowledge of this issue. The main outcomes many players suffer are dementia, depression, and suicide. His one early ally is his boss, Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD (Albert Brooks). Wecht supports Omalu despite growing opposition and expensive testing. The testing initially exceeds $20,000. Omalu pays for the tests out of his own pocket, because he is driven by a search for the truth despite the growing obstacles he faces. The opposition starts to rise to levels of potential death threats and pressure from all sorts of law enforcement agencies including the FBI to stop the testing. Corruption in the NFL is evident in their use of the name of football to exert influence on everyone and anyone to protect the sanctity of the game. The movie starts to play out like a medical thriller, but this is a true story.
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Eddie Marsan (Ray Donavan), Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket), Mike O’Malley (Yes, Dear), and Paul Reiser (Mad About You) all play doctors on the various sides of this issue. There is a change in regime in the NFL when Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) comes in as the investigation starts to pick up traction.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on December 25th, 2015
Joy is the name of a person, not a state of mind. Joy Mangano is apparently not an easy person to know, but she did submit to a long series of conversations with brilliant writer/director David O. Russell. I say David is brilliant because he is, to me, the single most indispensable artist working today. He is able to do things that no one else can do. He makes comedies, but only in the broadest sense of the word. He takes a subject that may seem insignificant and puts it through a mad process like Dr. Frankenstein until something magnificent comes out. The process seems like a whirlwind for whoever is caught up in it. Joy is a movie that blew me away, and that was after having been blown away by almost all of his films, but especially Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, and American Hustle. The actors always seem to be doing their best work when he works with them. Jennifer Lawrence says she hopes she always works for him and has already won a supporting actress Oscar working for David. Jennifer is the center, driving force and titular character this time out. She is playing an inspiration of a real person, but not a real person, because that’s what David wanted.
Joy is like the Citizen Kane of women’s movies. It portrays that person who is a mother and a daughter and wage earner and all-around fixer of every problem. She is always open to fixing problems and compromising to make things work. She keeps going no matter how overwhelming the struggle she faces becomes. She is tireless and forgiving and hopeful, but what she is above everything else is a person with brain like a sponge. Joy Mangano in real life invented the Miracle Mop along with a hundred other patents. Joy also thoroughly understood everything about a mop, because she used it every day. She found success on QVC and later HSN, but this process is harrowing and somewhat dizzying. The film is framed with soap opera segments featuring the legendary Susan Lucci as a device to comment on the somewhat unreal life of any woman and especially Joy. There is an inherent instability in Joy’s life that is illustrated by the fact that her father and ex-husband are both forced to move into the somewhat run-down house. Joy is the one who usually has to do the plumbing. This household includes her mother, grandmother, and two young kids.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 25th, 2015
Pan is a very big and expensive movie, so when you buy your ticket you are getting a lot for your money. Most movies are not for everyone, but it is safe to say that an expensive movie will offer more entertainment value than an inexpensive or cheap movie. Pan was also put together by an award-winning team of respected filmmakers who have been very successful in the past. That is also a good bet when you are buying a ticket. Pan is an expansion of the story of a beloved children’s classic, Peter Pan. Again, you can’t go wrong there. In fact, it is mostly new material that serves as a prequel to the existing story where Captain Hook is basically a nice guy, and there is a whole new villain instead. The new villain, Blackbeard, is played with tremendous gusto by Hugh Jackman. Again, this is a good thing. Rooney Mara (nominated this year for numerous awards for the film Carol this year) is Tiger Lilly. Garrett Hedlund is the young Hook. Amanda Seyfried is Mary, the mother of Peter. Promising young actor Levi Miller is Peter Pan. Peter starts out in a cruel London orphanage but is kidnapped by the evil Blackbeard and his pirates in his giant floating pirate ship and taken to a place beyond space and time which you probably know as Neverland. Peter is eventually rescued by the young Hook, but the story beyond that gets difficult to summarize. The movie is an amazing visual experience and well worth watching.
Now the bad news. The film was not well received by most critics. The reason is because the film has some issues that might distract from the complete enjoyment that the $150 million budget might lead you to expect. One problem is that the original Peter Pan is perceived as having racist elements, especially with a character like Tiger Lilly. The producers tried to avoid that by hiring Mara, a white actress. Then there was a petition circulated that Hollywood didn’t hire enough actors of color. It seems like a no-win situation to me. You can’t have it both ways, people.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 10th, 2015
Inside Amy Schumer is satire. The definition of satire is the use of irony, humor, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Satire, frankly, is not always very funny. I don’t find Schumer terribly funny, but she can be at times. I do think she is spearheading discussions of numerous issues. So how you judge Schumer can depend on what you think is important. It can also depend on where you stand on the issues she brings attention to, or whether you might even be a target of her satire.
This is the third season that I’m reviewing that has gotten some of the highest praise from critics. When they do that, they should at least acknowledge some of the juvenile thrusts of the material. I have no problem with sophomoric and juvenile humor, but the subversive undercurrent is far from clear sometimes. One of the most mentioned skits is the “Twelve Angry Men” skit. It is a clear homage to the Henry Fonda movie, but rewritten to decide the fate of Amy Schumer. Is she hot enough for TV, basic cable, or whatever? It suggests she might be put to death for her transgression of non-hotness. They have no problem pushing the limits of absurdity or the limits of basic cable.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 2nd, 2015
I’ve reviewed Amy Schumer before she become a mini-phenomenon. She seemed a little desperate and cheesy, but now she is worshipped for being the cutting edge of comedy. I think the cutting edge of comedy is a little cheesy and desperate in general. I remember the first time I saw Amy was on the tail end of a Comedy Central roast of Charlie Sheen, and she was a self-described nobody at the time. Not long after, Comedy Central decided to make her a somebody. Her show, Inside Amy Schumer, had many flashes of brilliance that were embedded in gross-out humor full of sex and gender issues. That is the heart of what makes Amy Schumer special. She is willing to explore somewhat suppressed areas of gender politics in a subversive manner. She comes off as something of an idiot, but that is the state of sex relations in this day and age. Her humor is overt and tries to claim equal ground with men. Men are generally considered to be chauvinist and complete idiots, so to claim equal ground, you would have to be an idiot as well. Her humor is playful and good-natured but with some hidden sharp edges.
Amy’s ascendency has been cemented recently when Judd Apatow added her to his roster of protégés as the producer and director of Trainwreck, written by and starring Schumer. Apatow has a string of hit comedies but is also the producer of the HBO show Girls, which promotes another young female role model, Lena Dunham. Both Dunham and Schumer share the same attitude of postmodern frankness. While we are trying to catch up on all things Schumer, I should also mention that she is a niece once removed of the powerful and long-standing US Senator from New York. The two Schumers have done joint press conferences on gun control after 12 people were shot and killed at a Trainwreck screening.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 2nd, 2015
History is important, but there is a lot of it to keep track of. History, by its nature, is about things that are preserved and archived so they won’t be forgotten. In this case, we are looking at a little slice of the history of rock and roll. Is the history of rock and roll something that is important? I would argue that everything about the past is important. Not everyone cares, but some people care passionately about forgotten gems from the past. Everybody cares about something, and some people care about everything, but the further back in the past something goes, the more likely people won’t care at all.
The 1955 Rock ‘N Roll Revue and Rhythm and Blues Revue with Rock, Rock, Rock! Is a 228 minute/2-DVD set, and that title is sure a mouthful. It is like a time capsule from those good old days before music videos, because everything on it looks ancient and outdated by modern standards, but to those who remember those times, it is a wonderful blast from the past. Some of the big-name musical performers on the collection include Nat king Cole, Duke Ellington, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, Martha Davis, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Chuck Berry, The Flamingos, Lavern Baker, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, The Moonglows, Herb Jeffries, Johnny Burnett Trio, and Connie Francis. It also includes a very young Nipsey Russell. The first disc is a combo of two entertainment movies that played in theaters at the time that were put together in a Harlem variety revue. Don’t forget that back in those days television was still a new thing, and there was no internet or home video or cable. Entertainment was something you had to go out and find. It is hard to imagine today how different things were back then. The emcee was named Willie Bryant, and he and director/performer Leonard Reed rolled out a roster of talent to appeal to a special race market. Back then black acts weren’t accepted everywhere, and lots of rock and roll material was converted later for white audiences. Those were the bad old days. That’s why material like this is valuable, because it shows important pieces of the puzzle of our checkered past. But despite oppression, there was a vibrant marketplace and a hungry audience for this music that was the cutting edge of the time. Jazz had flourished for decades, and now we can watch the early growth of the new mediums of rock and roll and rhythm and blues. At this stage, it is just beginning to evolve at this time. I’m not going to go in depth, but this collection is a valuable artifact if you want to see the birth of a movement.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2015
I'm going to start by listing a number of names that make up a kind of extended family. The names don't have a lot in common at first, and it seems like a hodgepodge. I'm sure I'm going to leave someone out, but let's start with Kevin Kline, Johnathan Demme, Diablo Cody, Sebastian Stan, Mamie Gummer, Audra McDonald, Joe Vitale, Rick Springfield, Bill Erwin, Bernie Worrell, Rick Rosas, and Charlotte Rae. I'm forgetting someone. Oh yeah, Meryl Streep. It's that kind of a movie which is being sold as a star vehicle for the most praised and beloved actress of the modern era, but is really an ensemble piece. We can debate who is as beloved as Meryl Streep in the history of cinema, but let's not, because Ricki and the Flash is not that kind of movie. It really isn't about the star turn by Meryl, but a collective, communal experience by all involved. All the names I mentioned are part of this experience, more so than in most movies. It's about the connections we try to make and the ones we fail at. It's about reaching for things and not getting them but doing it anyway. It's about failure and celebration, often within a breath of each other. It's about moving on but not forgetting the past. It's about loving someone when they are far from perfect. It's about forgiving and accepting.
I'm going to start with Rick Rosas. He died before the film was released and plays the bassist in Ricki's band, the Flash. In real life, he played in three bands with Neil Young (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Crazy Horse, and Buffalo Springfield) as well as with Joe Walsh, Ron Wood, Etta James, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Rivers. Bernie Worrell, who plays the keyboardist, was a founding member of Funkadelic and Parliament as well as playing with The Talking Heads. Joe Vitale is the drummer; he has played with The Eagles, Joe Walsh, Ted Nugent, Dan Fogelberg, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and many others. Ricki and her band play to a few die-hard faithfuls in Tarzana every night, as well as doing her day job as a cashier at Whole Foods. I should mention that her frazzled boyfriend and lead guitarist is Rick Springfield. I should also mention Streep is 66 years old and is singing Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2015
By The Sea is literally like a vacation. It is a beautiful time that is a little over two hours at a picturesque resort. It is an exquisite location with lovely views. By The Sea is a beautiful little movie. It is small and nice, but it has two very big stars, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Angelina Jolie Pitt has written and directed the film and has co-starred with her husband for the first time (because Jolie was not married to Pitt when they made Mr. and Mrs. Smith). It is clearly something that is very important to Jolie and is probably very personal to her. I will get back to speculation about Jolie and her intentions.
The film starts with a drive through gorgeous countryside in a very expensive sports car. Roland (Pitt) and Vanessa (Jolie) seem somewhat inscrutable, somewhere between sullen and curious. They talk sparingly but pleasantly. They arrive at a very remote, exclusive, and ornate old world hotel that rests on a rocky ocean inlet in Malta, which is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Roland is a writer who has had some success in the past, and Jolie admits to doing very little at all. They check into a spacious suite and go about setting up the room for a long stay. Roland goes off to write every day but really only spends time drinking in the bar downstairs. Jolie mostly stays in the room and on the balcony. A young couple moves into the room next to theirs after a few days. At one point, Vanessa discovers a hole that allows her to spy on the young couple. These very basic elements develop over the course of the film, which leads to a catharsis and climax of sorts.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on November 21st, 2015
The Secret In Their Eyes is a heavily plotted and intense police thriller, but there is much more to discuss about this film than that. The film has a lot of issues, both in the story and in the making of the film itself. One of the issues is the casting. We have two of the grand dames of cinema facing off for the first time, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman (which is surprising, though Nicole did co-star with Sandra Bullock once, which is close enough). If you detect a tinge of sarcasm, you are correct. Not to be sexist or ageist, but what those two actresses always sold was vibrancy and excitability. Here they are toned down and depressive. That is what their characters in this film should project, but the effect is awkward. There is a large degree of range and intensity required here that is hard to pull off, and I don’t want to fault these actresses, but I do have some issues with them. It is a very emotional and complicated story that requires all kinds of subtle shading. I don’t believe either actress aced the subtleties. But let’s move on.
This is a remake of a highly regarded Argentinian film of the same name from 2009 that won the Oscar for best foreign film. When a foreign film is particularly successful, it is natural for Hollywood to use it as an easy blueprint for a big-budget draw for top A-list talent. That is what happened here, and, in fact, the remake is pretty close in story and structure to the original, but there is a considerable difference in tone and execution. Even if this current version with big name actors is good, I think everyone will say that the original is better. There was a different political backdrop as well (Argentina’s “Dirty War”), which is handled a little awkwardly in the American version by focusing on external terrorist threats instead. Part of the complexity of the story is conflicting law enforcement agencies butting heads over jurisdiction and the resulting obstacles to the solving of the case.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on November 18th, 2015
Crumbs is a film that has many unique elements to offer. It is a mixed bag like most films. It is a small independent, post-apocalyptic science fiction set in Ethiopia whose main character is probably under four feet tall. Candy (Daniel Tadesse) is a scavenger in alternately desolate and overgrown landscape. Candy lives in an abandoned bowling alley with his beautiful partner, Birdy/Seyat (Selam Tesfaye). A giant spaceship has hung in the sky for decades, seemingly inoperable but starting to show new signs of activity. Candy finds artifacts which he barters for survival. These artifacts are silly remnants of pop culture like toys, sneakers, and record albums referencing forgotten icons like Justin Bieber, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson. There is chaos and confusion in this world but only in the most oblique ways. The message of this parable is slight and elusive. It is more an exploration of Ethiopia than it is anything else. There is a clear sense of allegory and metaphor, but only a sense. It is a short film of 68 minutes, because it really doesn’t have a lot to say. Its viewpoint can be summarized by saying that in a post-apocalyptic future our possessions will lose their meaning. Toys will seem like totems, and people will become symbols for a time we no longer understand or remember. Nazism and Santa Claus will have an equal weight in this desolate, arid, and depleted future. Writer/Director Miguel Llansa also includes two strange, avant-garde, Third World shorts that both run under 10 minutes. Chigger Ale takes place in the same bowling alley as Crumbs and a dingy dance club. It celebrates Ethiopian dance and fun, but its main character is a classic outsider not interested in fun. The diminutive Daniel Tadesse is an angry and silly man who wears Nazi uniform and phony Hitler mustache. He is eventually rescued by a sexy Nazi from outer space.
Night in the Garden takes place in a remote mountain cabin where a strange man in a white wig and novelty glasses takes to a somewhat disapproving and disembodied God voice.
