Trainwreck – 7.9

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This Judd Apatow-Amy Schumer flick featured every cliche in the rom-com book, but hey, it’s a pretty good book! I laughed pretty much the whole way through every silly scene, enjoying the company of all the characters, from Bill Hader and Tilda Swinton to Brie Larson to LeBron James and Chrissie Evert. The reviews I’ve seen have been unduly negative, but 1) I’ve never seen Amy Schumer’s Comedy Central show, so wasn’t comparing the movie to anything and 2) even though the dirty jokes were told by a woman, I wasn’t looking at this as any kind of feminist statement. Nothing was “real,” except in the sense of parody, but this was a far more recognizable world than Spy.

Spy – 6

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Allison Janney adds gravitas to any role, and I felt grounded whenever her deputy director of the CIA was onscreen. Not so much everyone else, but Jason Statham and Miranda Hart were perfect hoots and Rose Byrne was utterly gorgeous. Of course, it was Melissa McCarthy’s movie, which was both a strength and weakness: you couldn’t take her seriously, so there wasn’t much for the jokes to play off of. Her humor is better in a supporting role.

Love and Mercy – 7

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I’m not sure this movie would be of interest or make sense to anyone who hasn’t followed Brian Wilson’s career, but that’s still a pretty big market. And even for those like me who have been fans forever, the movie left some pretty big holes – like how he came under the control of his Svengali, Dr. Eugene Landy, and what happened during all the years it took Paul Dano to become John Cusack. And speaking of Dr. Landy, why do directors keep casting Paul Giamatti in these roles, where instead of the character you just see Paul-Giamatti-in-a-bad-wig? The best bits are in the studio, where the young Wilson crafts his music, and the fake “archival” shots of 1963, the beach and “Fun Fun Fun.” Some truths are stranger than fiction, and this is one of them.

I’ll See You In My Dreams – 6.5

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Such a quiet movie: for maybe ten minutes it proceeded without a background soundtrack, except for the explosions from San Andreas in the theater above us and the screeching of hearing aids from the elderly crowd around us. Ironically, the best moments in the movie came from music: Blythe Danner’s karaoke version of ‘Cry Me A River’ and  a long montage of Danner wandering after her lover’s death, accompanied by my favorite song of 2015, ‘Let’s Be Still.’ Otherwise, it was a pretty forgettable film, with lots of acting by Danner, which seemed more acting than real, perhaps because of the flimsy story and hokey characters around her.

Far From the Madding Crowd – 7

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There was no need to make Sgt. Troy look like an untrustworthy cad, with a mustache that drooped over his upper lip, supercilious eyes and foppish clothes. We knew, without that, that he nowhere the equal of the telegraphically named Gabriel Oak, but this was typical of the unsubtle approach of director Thomas Vinterberg to the Thomas Hardy novel. The movie itself, however, was not without its period charms, most notably Carey Mulligan’s beautiful, expressive face. I was reminded of Reese Witherspoon and Wild: spending two hours watching Carey Mulligan was never less than pleasant.

 

Still Alice – 8

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A lovely movie, much less mawkish than commentators led me to believe (perhaps they considered Julianne Moore’s role too Oscar-obvious?). Julianne Moore was much of the reason, and her performance was touching without being pathetic. We felt for her but we were never uncomfortable in her presence. But if she was one-half the movie, the other half carried its weight, as well. The family dynamic was realistic and Kristen Stewart was bravely unglamorous. Most of all, it raised the question, common to so many of us, of how to deal with Alzheimer’s, in our loved ones and ourselves.

Mr. Turner – 6.5

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In this consistently bizarre portrait of the artist, we get no insight into J.M.W.Turner or his art. Instead, we get a character study of Timothy Spall as a grunting, lecherous, antisocial individual who walks as if his legs are stilts protruding from his hips. The movie is a montage of short vignettes, each cut short before its finish, each unrelated to the one that follows. Together they produce an impression – but of what? Actual historical figures are thrown in, as are some of Turner’s famous paintings, but how they came to be there is as much a mystery at the end of the film as its outset.

Force Majeure – 4

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An oxymoronic Swedish comedy and two hours of passive aggression, Force Majeure was a highly touted major disappointment. I can’t think of a single scene that rang true (especially compared to Wet Bum, seen earlier the same day), most fatally the husband’s fleeing his children at the onslaught of an avalanche. So much of the movie seemed to depict the unraveling of a marriage, but other than their mutual use of electric toothbrushes it was never clear what the couple’s relationship was built on. She was beautiful, and he appeared pretty much a loser from the start. When he was locked out of his hotel room, why didn’t he ask the front desk for another key? When they faced blizzard conditions at the top of the run, how could he possibly have made everyone ski on, after getting reamed out for endangering everyone during the avalanche? How could the wife pretend to get lost on the hill, forcing her husband to rescue her and leave their children in danger or protect the children and abandon her? And most irritating, why would everyone get off the bus, miles from nowhere, because the wife panicked? The filmmaker resolved nothing, just left us glad to be rid of these people, who had ruined a quite lovely ski resort with their labored and unconvincing psychological drama.

Top Ten 2014

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Four of my ten highest-rated movies in 2014 were actually 2013 releases. This has caused me to add a PS to my last year’s Top Ten (see below) and acknowledge what a bad year 2014 was for movies. There is a chance that there will be 2014 releases still to come my way that will improve the list – A Most Violent Year and Two Days, One Night come to mind – but I suspect that this year will go down as one of the weaker in history. The fact that 7 of my 10 are Oscar nominees reflects a lack of depth: I don’t think I’ve ever been so short of idiosyncratic choices. So, with apologies for being so unoriginal, here is my list:

1. Boyhood – Far and away the best movie “experience” of the year as well as the most innovative moviemaking. It was more real than reality TV, with situations that everyone could identify with. The plot was life itself, only with better actors.
2. Selma – An important story, skillfully told. Perhaps the best thing is that the movie didn’t try to do too much. It left me curious, and hungry for more.
3. A Most Wanted Man – Just as Selma was filmed in brown, this was filmed in gray, a bleak, smoke-filled tone that encapsulated the spirit of this Cold War spy thriller, a worthy ending to Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s great career.
4. The Imitation Game – Two stories on parallel tracks probably shortchanged each other, but both had impact and both came with delightful period attire and a great cast.
5. American Sniper – I read this as a strong, if subtle, anti-Iraq War statement, but more to the point a probing character study of what it takes to be a soldier, or what being a soldier takes from you.
6. Ida – Gorgeous black-and-white cinematography matched the purity of nun Ida’s faith and reminded me of Eastern European New Wave cinema of the ’60s.
7. Grand Budapest Hotel – The cleverest film of the year, from our most idiosyncratic director, held together by Ralph Fiennes and the spirit of a Charlie Chaplin silent movie.
8. The Theory of Everything – Two of the year’s best performances made this a story about a relationship, more than “a crippling disease and super-difficult math,” although that did add a dimension of importance.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy – Maybe nothing original here, but every scene was rollicking fun and nobody took themselves too seriously (cf. Interstellar).
10. The Drop – The year’s best straight action film, with a good story, gritty setting, unusual lead character adroitly played by Tom Hardy and the usual fine work from, RIP, James Gandolfini.
Acting Awards: Without seeing Julianne Moore or Marion Cotillard, my nod goes to Patricia Arquette, who gave life to Boyhood. She is Oscar-nominated for Supporting Actress instead (for which she’s a shoo-in). I have seen all the Actor nominees, and while Benedict Cumberbatch and Bradley Cooper are totally deserving, I vote for Eddie Redmayne, who acted with his eyes when his body couldn’t move anymore. In addition, I liked the score of The Imitation Game, and I thought The Homesman was the most beautiful movie I saw, although it’s not nominated for anything.

Top Ten 2013 – Part II
1. Big Bad Wolves – Quentin Tarantino couldn’t’ve done it any better.
2. Omar – The agony of Palestine, personified.
3. Nebraska – Bruce Dern and June Squibb are wonderful, but it’s Will Forte’s son that caught my attention.
4. August Osage County – As good as the stage play, which is unusual, thanks to Streep and Roberts.
5. The Wind Rises – An animated look at the engineer who designed Japan’s WWII airplanes, sheer artistry.
6. The Past – Ambiguity, in people and relationships, kept us guessing, and thinking.

American Sniper – 8

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I worried that my visceral opposition to the Iraq War would color my appreciation of a war film from Clint Eastwood, Republican spokesman and director of Gran Torino. I needn’t have. Yes, the movie glorified Chris Kyle, “the Legend,” credited with killing 160 of the enemy, and we certainly rooted for him to accomplish his mission, survive four tours of duty and make up with his beautiful wife (Sienna Miller). And certain of the enemy were made to look pretty evil – using a drill on a young boy, collecting body parts in a meat locker. But the question of why U.S. troops were there in the first place was left wide open: Kyle’s reasons – revenge for 9/11 and preventing the war’s coming to San Diego – were obviously spurious. The disillusionment of others, including Kyles’ brother, allowed the viewer to think about this. Then there was the nature of the American operation: rather than defending against attack, our troops were going door-to-door, knocking down barriers, terrorizing whomever they found, often women and children who had done no wrong. It hardly seemed unreasonable that some Iraqis, and even a Syrian, would be trying to defend their homes and their country against alien invaders.
In this confused situation, Kyle was a beacon of certainty, but only because, as remarkably portrayed by Bradley Cooper, he wasn’t too smart. And that, more than his skill as a marksman, is what made the movie so engrossing. How did he handle the pressure; how did it affect his relationship with his wife; how did he recover his equilibrium when his war was over? It was this intense study of a personality that fascinated and carried the story. One last thought: I wonder if the characterization would have been the same, or, indeed, if the movie would have been made, had Kyle not been murdered after he wrote his book?