I've had mixed feelings about the post-reboot James Bond series, just as I've had mixed feelings about the series as a whole. Casino Royale had a lot going for it, but not the story; I could've done without the extensive poker. Quantum of Solace was more Bourne than Bond, mainly for the worse. Skyfall became one of my favorites thanks to Javier Bardem's intelligent villainy, but it still dispensed with a number of elements we've liked about the franchise.
A title referring to the organization that Bond most frequently opposed during the Cold War seems promising for a return to the old ways. Here Bond (Daniel Craig) and his associates on Her Majesty's Secret Service gradually discover the existence of an even more secret yet powerful group, even as its influence on the government threatens to disband theirs. (Reminds me a bit of another movie from 2015.) And once again, the enmity gets personal.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Room (2015)
I was in no hurry to see this, not because I'd heard it was disturbing, but because the very marketing turned me off. That title? The poster of a woman hugging her child? Doesn't evoke anything I haven't seen before. Well, nothing like a long plane ride to get me to watch what I wasn't planning to.
It turns out to have a most unusual plot. If five-year-old protagonist Jack's (Jacob Tremblay) girly-length "Samson" hair doesn't clue one in that there's something off about his upbringing, his opening monologue does. We soon determine that he has spent his entire life in a single, all-purpose room with only his mother Joy (Brie Larson) for company. He doesn't even believe in a true outside world, thinking that TV is 100% fake. At first I thought "Ma" was an eccentric, broke, paranoid recluse, but her stay turns out to be involuntary -- as a kidnapped sex slave for the last seven years. The time comes that Joy decides he's ready to learn the truth about their situation, apart from his implied parentage.
What I'm about to say could be called a spoiler, but it may just make you more willing to tune in....
It turns out to have a most unusual plot. If five-year-old protagonist Jack's (Jacob Tremblay) girly-length "Samson" hair doesn't clue one in that there's something off about his upbringing, his opening monologue does. We soon determine that he has spent his entire life in a single, all-purpose room with only his mother Joy (Brie Larson) for company. He doesn't even believe in a true outside world, thinking that TV is 100% fake. At first I thought "Ma" was an eccentric, broke, paranoid recluse, but her stay turns out to be involuntary -- as a kidnapped sex slave for the last seven years. The time comes that Joy decides he's ready to learn the truth about their situation, apart from his implied parentage.
What I'm about to say could be called a spoiler, but it may just make you more willing to tune in....
The Martian (2015)
Thanks to my vacation and time catching up on other things, I have a lot of movies to review. For once, I won't review them in the order in which I viewed them, because it doesn't matter and I'd rather give priority to the more widely interesting ones. In particular, I'd like to review the Oscar nominees before the ceremony on Sunday.
Set at some unspecified but probably near-future date, the action begins on Mars -- and I do mean action, within the first five minutes. A massive dust storm jeopardizes a small crew of astronauts. When Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets knocked out of visible range and his suit stops sending signals, the mission commander (Jessica Chastain) reluctantly decides that they are better off presuming him dead and leaving the planet early. (Sounds familiar, but Watney doesn't blame them.) Having miraculously survived the onslaught, Watney uses his relevant knowledge, especially as a botanist, to extend his food supply, enhance his transportation capacity, and eventually establish communications with Earth. But no matter what solution the best minds in science can devise, any rescue effort will be a close shave. Manned flights to Mars take years, after all.
Set at some unspecified but probably near-future date, the action begins on Mars -- and I do mean action, within the first five minutes. A massive dust storm jeopardizes a small crew of astronauts. When Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets knocked out of visible range and his suit stops sending signals, the mission commander (Jessica Chastain) reluctantly decides that they are better off presuming him dead and leaving the planet early. (Sounds familiar, but Watney doesn't blame them.) Having miraculously survived the onslaught, Watney uses his relevant knowledge, especially as a botanist, to extend his food supply, enhance his transportation capacity, and eventually establish communications with Earth. But no matter what solution the best minds in science can devise, any rescue effort will be a close shave. Manned flights to Mars take years, after all.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
The Love Parade (1929)
I was a little surprised at my past self for selecting another early Maurice Chevalier musical, after I'd found Love Me Tonight forgettable and The Smiling Lieutenant, well, questionable in character behavior. To me, Chevalier was like Fred Astaire exchanging his dancing for a thick French accent, which makes him sound more distinctive but not more mellifluous. Nevertheless, The Love Parade called to me with its historical value: In an era full of musicals about music (e.g., The Broadway Melody), it was the first to have songs woven into the story, with characters basically singing some of their dialog to each other. I think all modern fans of musicals appreciate this shift.
It's something of a precursor to TSL in terms of plot, so it figures that Ernst Lubitsch directed both. Here Chevalier plays Count Alfred Renard of the fictitious nation of Sylvania. After playing homewrecker too many times in Paris, he must report to Queen Louise (Jeanette MacDonald in her film debut) for punishment. Tired of her staff's pressure to find a prince consort, Louise quickly warms to his suggestion of keeping a close watch on him at the palace. Guess she likes suave bad boys, because the two marry before long. But just as the ministers had feared, Alfred resents having no authority and basically nothing to do outside the bedroom, except make an occasional smiley appearance for the sake of Louise's reputation -- and, by overblown extension, the good of the country, which seems to matter less to him.
It's something of a precursor to TSL in terms of plot, so it figures that Ernst Lubitsch directed both. Here Chevalier plays Count Alfred Renard of the fictitious nation of Sylvania. After playing homewrecker too many times in Paris, he must report to Queen Louise (Jeanette MacDonald in her film debut) for punishment. Tired of her staff's pressure to find a prince consort, Louise quickly warms to his suggestion of keeping a close watch on him at the palace. Guess she likes suave bad boys, because the two marry before long. But just as the ministers had feared, Alfred resents having no authority and basically nothing to do outside the bedroom, except make an occasional smiley appearance for the sake of Louise's reputation -- and, by overblown extension, the good of the country, which seems to matter less to him.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Never before had I been half so surprised at an Academy Best Picture nomination. I hadn't seen this one yet, but I had seen Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which didn't seem to belong anywhere near elite cinematic discussion. It wasn't badly done per se, just...out there. Possibly the ugliest (not grossest, most violent, or most depraved, but big on all three) movie I ever watched from start to finish, without any obvious connection with reality to make up for that. I figured that when you've seen one Mad Max entry, you've seen them all. Nothing short of the Oscars could bring me back for more.
OK, I suppose I should give the series some credit for realism by sci-fi standards. None of the premises are impossible under modern science. It's just a near-future dystopia in which punks and a few innocents race across the desert in search of scarce resources -- originally gasoline above all, now water. There are the sorts of deviations from physics you expect from action flicks, of course, but the part I find hardest to believe is that the bulk of survivors would gravitate toward a severe lack of taste in fashion, vehicles, and basic mores.
Having lost his family, Max (Tom Hardy, suitably replacing Mel Gibson) has become a slightly unhinged antihero, evidently trying not to care about anyone but himself. This does not stop him from getting roped into conflicts and taking the less blatantly evil side time and again. In this case, the enemy is a water tycoon called Immortan Joe, and the people in need of a champion are his involuntary harem.
OK, I suppose I should give the series some credit for realism by sci-fi standards. None of the premises are impossible under modern science. It's just a near-future dystopia in which punks and a few innocents race across the desert in search of scarce resources -- originally gasoline above all, now water. There are the sorts of deviations from physics you expect from action flicks, of course, but the part I find hardest to believe is that the bulk of survivors would gravitate toward a severe lack of taste in fashion, vehicles, and basic mores.
Having lost his family, Max (Tom Hardy, suitably replacing Mel Gibson) has become a slightly unhinged antihero, evidently trying not to care about anyone but himself. This does not stop him from getting roped into conflicts and taking the less blatantly evil side time and again. In this case, the enemy is a water tycoon called Immortan Joe, and the people in need of a champion are his involuntary harem.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Quest for Fire (1981)
I chose this streaming flick next mainly for the 100 minutes it runs, since I was killing time. In retrospect, it has just enough in common with The Revenant that I should have waited. There's even a survived bear mauling, albeit not very important to the story.
Based on J.-H. Rosny aîné's most popular novel, this is one of the few movies I can name set in caveman days. The English title is pretty straightforward: A tribe who doesn't know how to make fire yet sends three men to find some. (This may be rude of me, but director Jean-Jacques Annaud never had a better reason to cast Ron Perlman, who debuted on the silver screen here.) Most of the dangers they face come from other tribes, but one woman from a more advanced village, upon getting saved from cannibals, proves helpful.
Based on J.-H. Rosny aîné's most popular novel, this is one of the few movies I can name set in caveman days. The English title is pretty straightforward: A tribe who doesn't know how to make fire yet sends three men to find some. (This may be rude of me, but director Jean-Jacques Annaud never had a better reason to cast Ron Perlman, who debuted on the silver screen here.) Most of the dangers they face come from other tribes, but one woman from a more advanced village, upon getting saved from cannibals, proves helpful.
The Revenant (2015)
When I realized that I had seen only two of the Academy Best Picture nominees for the year, I got a little antsy. It's been ages since I saw fewer than half the nominees before the ceremony, and those that I had seen are not expected to win. Between heavy snow and my imminent international vacation, I wouldn't have much more of a window for the favored pics, so my dad and I gave this priority on the weekend.
The story is inspired by a key 1823 event in the life of fur trader Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), namely a battle with a mama bear that he just, eheh, barely won. Since his party just lost many men to an Arikara tribal raid, they are reluctant to stick around, but Glass is in no shape to be moved along the terrain. The captain (Domnhall Gleeson) pays two men to stay with him, along with his adolescent half-Pawnee son, Hawk. Alas, in the temporary absence of junior Jim Bridger, John S. Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) tries to suffocate Glass and kills Hawk for interfering. He then talks Bridger into leaving Glass for dead lest they all die. But Fitzgerald underestimates how much a father's vengeance facilitates recovery....
The story is inspired by a key 1823 event in the life of fur trader Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), namely a battle with a mama bear that he just, eheh, barely won. Since his party just lost many men to an Arikara tribal raid, they are reluctant to stick around, but Glass is in no shape to be moved along the terrain. The captain (Domnhall Gleeson) pays two men to stay with him, along with his adolescent half-Pawnee son, Hawk. Alas, in the temporary absence of junior Jim Bridger, John S. Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) tries to suffocate Glass and kills Hawk for interfering. He then talks Bridger into leaving Glass for dead lest they all die. But Fitzgerald underestimates how much a father's vengeance facilitates recovery....
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Our Man in Havana (1959)
My prior experience of director Carol Reed, while pretty good, did not whet my appetite for more. But when I saw that he got back together with author Graham Greene, I thought that this might be the closest I'd get to another The Third Man.
Shot shortly after the Cuban Revolution but set slightly before it, the film focuses on a transplanted English vacuum cleaner salesman, Jim Wormold (Alec Guinness). A member of the British Secret Service invites him to become a spy, because such a man doesn't arouse much suspicion. Netflix says he "unwittingly" agrees, but that's misleading: He knows what his employer is and what it expects of him; he just bites off more than he can chew, failing to recruit a team. Too desperate for money to admit defeat -- thanks largely to extravagant young adult daughter Milly, despite her dating the generous local despot (Ernie Kovacs) -- Wormold lies about both recruits and discoveries in espionage. By the time he receives some actual teammates, most notably his secretary (Maureen O'Hara), he starts to worry he'll be found out. But that shouldn't be his biggest worry, seeing as an unnamed enemy agency takes him as seriously as his own does. Burl Ives has a supporting role as a German friend who meets the enemy.
Shot shortly after the Cuban Revolution but set slightly before it, the film focuses on a transplanted English vacuum cleaner salesman, Jim Wormold (Alec Guinness). A member of the British Secret Service invites him to become a spy, because such a man doesn't arouse much suspicion. Netflix says he "unwittingly" agrees, but that's misleading: He knows what his employer is and what it expects of him; he just bites off more than he can chew, failing to recruit a team. Too desperate for money to admit defeat -- thanks largely to extravagant young adult daughter Milly, despite her dating the generous local despot (Ernie Kovacs) -- Wormold lies about both recruits and discoveries in espionage. By the time he receives some actual teammates, most notably his secretary (Maureen O'Hara), he starts to worry he'll be found out. But that shouldn't be his biggest worry, seeing as an unnamed enemy agency takes him as seriously as his own does. Burl Ives has a supporting role as a German friend who meets the enemy.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Man Hunt (1941)
My streaming list appears to be dominated by dramas, recent releases, and foreign films, none of which I particularly wanted in the immediate aftermath of Incendies. So I chose an American studio's WWII thriller, made shortly before the U.S. entered the war. One factor to intrigue me was Fritz Lang, a director I generally like but whose work I hadn't seen since before I started this blog.
English sport hunter Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) just so happens upon the woodland estate of the Fuhrer, who remains oddly unnamed throughout. He lines up a shot on the Fuhrer but gets captured in time. His captors, led by Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders), try to torture him into signing a confession that the UK government assigned him an assassination mission; when their patience runs out, they try to give him an accidental-looking death, but their method is too unreliable. He escapes to London, but it turns out that German agents, among them a "Mr. Jones" (John Carradine), are very good at posing as Englishmen in various positions, so the adventure has just begun.
English sport hunter Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) just so happens upon the woodland estate of the Fuhrer, who remains oddly unnamed throughout. He lines up a shot on the Fuhrer but gets captured in time. His captors, led by Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders), try to torture him into signing a confession that the UK government assigned him an assassination mission; when their patience runs out, they try to give him an accidental-looking death, but their method is too unreliable. He escapes to London, but it turns out that German agents, among them a "Mr. Jones" (John Carradine), are very good at posing as Englishmen in various positions, so the adventure has just begun.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Incendies (2010)
Ever watch a movie simply because it's on IMDb' top 250? I have many times, with mixed results. In all likelihood, I would not have watched this Denis Villeneuve piece otherwise, except maybe if a group invited me. I've grown wary (and weary) of dramas set in the modern Middle East.
The film, like the Wajdi Mouawad play on which it's based, actually never clarifies where in the Middle East it is. Shooting took place in Jordan, but the warring between Muslims and Christians, combined with the timeline, suggests Mouawad's homeland of Lebanon. At any rate, the first scene is clearly in Canada, where Christian immigrant Nawal has just died and her adult twin children, whose names have been assimilated to Jeanne and Simon, are surprised at her last wishes: They must deliver letters to their biological father, whom they'd heard had died before they were born; and their half-brother, whom they never heard of. Simon is inclined to dismiss his mother as crazy -- she did go catatonic for a while -- but Jeanne drags him into a fairly dangerous search in the old country, with help from the notary.
The film, like the Wajdi Mouawad play on which it's based, actually never clarifies where in the Middle East it is. Shooting took place in Jordan, but the warring between Muslims and Christians, combined with the timeline, suggests Mouawad's homeland of Lebanon. At any rate, the first scene is clearly in Canada, where Christian immigrant Nawal has just died and her adult twin children, whose names have been assimilated to Jeanne and Simon, are surprised at her last wishes: They must deliver letters to their biological father, whom they'd heard had died before they were born; and their half-brother, whom they never heard of. Simon is inclined to dismiss his mother as crazy -- she did go catatonic for a while -- but Jeanne drags him into a fairly dangerous search in the old country, with help from the notary.
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