Six Degrees of Film

Critics’ Note: Waxing Nostalgic on the era of the Big Screen Movie

I walked into the latest AMC movie to be presented with yet another price hike for everything from movie tickets to popcorn. This is no surprise, as prices have steadily been rising at the AMC Theatre movie chains for several years. As a movie critic, I will watch a lot of movies during the course of a year, and cost becomes a pretty big deal. The solution? At times, I’ve seen movies at the early show to beat the price jump, or I’ll go to a lesser chain-not as plush as AMC but the movies only cost 5 bucks.For many movies, that’s more than they’re worth! As far as the concession stand prices, most people know by now that this is the way theatres make their profits. So everything is incredibly marked up.

And at AMC, they have taken full advantage of the price-gouging in this new era. The good news (for AMC) is that there exists a new generation of movie-goers willing to pay the prices without question. But there’s another sub-set of the viewing public that largely stays away from the big screen movie. This is a shame, as so many great and classic films are meant to be viewed in a theater and on the Big Screen.

Yet more and more talented writers and directors are taking their talents and heading to cable outlets. As the audience moves to the smaller screen, so does the talent. There’s no immediate solution to this growing problem, but my prediction is that if the trend continues, we may be waxing nostalgic on the bygone era of the Big Screen Movie, sooner, rather than later.

The Equalizer-Capsule Review

Denzel Washington has chosen a character driven narrative in this story. The character of Robert McCall is from a TV series, but in this film, he’s seen living in his own meticulously crafted world. And though the action is edge of your seat, nerve-rackingly violent in parts, it’s tempered with the knowledge that Robert McCall (Washington) is trying not to be seen as a crazed killer. McCall is a caring friend, a dedicated and hard-working employee, a good listener, and a man of honor and integrity. …Who just happens to be good at killing people. That’s the take-a-way.

As for the acting, I thought Denzel Washington was excellent in this role. It seemed to suit him very well. (Stop reading if you are worried about spoilers!)And there were hints that perhaps they may continue the character of The Equalizer in a series of remakes. Shocking as that seems, it looks to be a suitable candidate as it contains a storyline that begs for a sequel.

The funniest part of this movie, (which has no comic relief, by the way), is the fact that the villains are Russian. In fact, the last two films I’ve seen featured ruthless Russian killers. Apparently, Russians are the new Nazis. They are the latest thing in good/bad villains. This film may be too violent for some, but the action is intense and the storyline is gripping enough to warrant a viewing. For those who love action/adventure films, and Denzel Washington movies in general, this would be a must-see.

On The Roosevelt’s

The best part, for me, remains the section on FDR. He was a loveable man. No wonder so many men & women pledged their lives, their full measure of devotion, to his care & well-being. His faithful cousin, his secretary Missy Lehand, Harry Hopkins, Louis Howe, Harold Ickes, his old love Lucy Mercer, his children who literally supported him as he spoke to the nation and helped care for him, ..

The other two Roosevelt’s, Teddy & Eleanor, were not easy people to know. Even in documentary form, their restless energy comes through in leaps and bounds. They are to be admired, respected, and even revered. But to be loved, that task belongs to Franklin. His smile and sunny, engaging personality, his commanding presence compounded with the touching vulnerability of a man bound for life to a chair, all of that commands not just deep and abiding respect but love.

There is love for a man so willing to be pushed and pulled without admitting defeat. There is love for a man who so wanted to be loved by others. There is a great and abiding love for a man who cherished his country, his ideals, his values, and pushed himself literally to the limits where no man had gone before. The pain he must have suffered, and the cheery optimism he brought forth to deal with the pain and suffering, those are the marks of a great man living his life as if in a Greek Tragedy.

He dealt with the pain and found a path forward. He led the nation through the Depression and into the last part of the Great World at War with a confidence and determination no other could have mustered. He did die in service to this country, and those who say that he could not be elected in this day and age, well, I’m not so sure. Many said a black man would never be President. A woman could not have served as President in FDR’s time. But now, things are different.

If a man with the grit, the determination, the optimism and brilliant mind of an FDR appeared in a wheelchair, determined to run for office, I doubt the wheels would bind his wit and style to the earth. The age of mass media, plus the idealized way we treat our Presidents, would serve as both a plus and a minus for a man with physical challenges. But, after seeing what FDR did, and how his determination drove him to great heights, I greatly doubt a little thing like a wheelchair would ever have stopped him.

Tom Hardy stars in The Drop

The twists and turns in this movie also appear in so many current films that come to the same concluding theme: nothing is as it seems….The Drop was adapted from a short story by Dennis Lehane, the writer of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. Lehane’s short story was entitled, Animal Rescue, which allows for one of the more refreshing twists I’ve seen in a movie lately.

The story involves the use of a dog in the framework of the film. One of my pet peeves is the awful cliché in films where the dog dies off-screen and we hear the obligatory aarf or find the animal lying dead as a portent of doom. This one works against the awful type. Although it’s not a huge spoiler for the plot, this one is simply refreshing in that the puppy that is used as a plot device, and is the basis for the short story upon which the film is derived, is not seen or used in the same, tired mold as so many canines that have gone before.

The twists and turns in this one are something we see as a slow moving train wreck. We know that violence is bubbling up as it simmers beneath the surface throughout. Although there is some violence displayed, it is understated for the most part and not used to propel the plot into oblivion. That is another pet peeve of mine in modern films. There is so much gunfire, and so many bodies flying in martial arts mode in films, we don’t ever soak up dialogue or develop character. The plot just moves (or plods) along.

James Gandolfini fills in the gaps in this other-wise quiet film. He supplies humor where it is needed, and is the lynchpin for the premise of this gangster-themed film. The action occurs when a robbery takes place at the bar where Bob ( Tom Hardy) and his Cousin Marv (Gandolfini) work. The robbers make off with money belonging to the Chechnyan mob guys. They, naturally, want their money back.

The story revolves around the mob and the threat of violence against Bob & Marv, but also includes Bob’s new-found friendship with Nadia. The two meet when he rescues a puppy from her trash-can late one night. They form a friendship around the care of the animal, while Bob continues to plod through his workdays at the bar. The Drop is the bar itself, used as a money-laundering station for the mob. The Drop is also a metaphor for the slowly simmering undercurrents surrounding the two men from the bar and the underclass of bad guys closing in on them. When the other shoe drops, we are not completely surprised. It’s a relief when the circle begins to close.

James Gandolfini creates a fitting end to his celebrated career that soared with his spot-on portrayal of the mob boss in The Sopranos. Tom Hardy is one of the most interesting actors working today. His British accent is lost in the Bronx twang he adopts for this part. Bob is a slow-moving, slow-talking and methodical thinker. The pace of the movie deliberately follows him along the trail of a methodology which arrives at the correct conclusion within the necessary time and space. Although this one is too violent for the whole family, it’s a good start to a fall line-up after a summer of terrifically mediocre films.

James Garner-the Peacemaker-Man without a Gun

James Garner’s biography revealed a lot about the man. He was a complex individual, not a cookie-cutter Hollywood type. Like all of the most successful television stars of the past, Garner was able to achieve the kind of rapport with the audience that revealed how much of an ordinary guy he could be. Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball and James Garner all had that ability. They were able to connect with people. They had a kind of everyman quality and appeal that was universal.

Sorely missing in the television line-up is the type of laid back character that Garner portrayed. Rockford kept his gun in the cookie jar and he didn’t seek violence as much as he was thrown into violent situations. He loved the thrill of the chase, which was all powerful when he began making The Rockford Files. And yet his character, JIm Rockford, didn’t crave fame and fortune. He loved simple things like fishing with his father Rocky, and living by the beach in a trailer. He was a kind of grown-up version of your favorite eccentric uncle, or perhaps an aging hippie/surfer dude. And Rockford went after information using his wits, his humor, and a style of private detective work that seems to have died with him.

It’s interesting that they tried to revive The Rockford Files a few years back and scrapped the entire project before it aired. It turned out that James Garner was Rockford incarnate. There is talk of a feature film with Vince Vaughn, who may be able to pull it off. But James Garner was also the original Maverick in Hollywood and he became the one and only Rockford. No-one could replace this man with the common touch. Rockford was a man who knew how to fight using the power of his lungs and feet, and not the power of a semi-automatic gun. That was who James Garner was and why he was beloved.

6 Degrees Fall Film Newsletter

6 DEGREES OF FILM

LIST OF UPCOMING FILMS

After an extremely disappointing summer of box office, Hollywood rolls out some of the big movies of the year. These are a few on the list that look most promising. They include big names like Brad Pitt, Bill Murray, Denzel Washington and Matthew McConaughey, plus some of the most interesting new actors working today-Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch. The women in film this season include Nicole Kidman, back in a thriller, and Melissa McCarthy, reportedly getting great reviews in St. Vincent. McCarthy is one actress that has been over-exposed yet under-utilized in most of her former comic vehicles. This one may turn the tide for her…
Robert Downey is in a dramatic role opposite Robert Duvall. It’s a nice change from wearing a costume and letting the special-effects do the heavy lifting. Liam Neeson should be called out for repeating the same formulaic bit of type-casting, but this film-A Walk among the Tombstones– has a feel of a noir about it. He’s back in the re-make mold soon enough when Taken 3 comes out next year.
Nicholas Cage, a renowned Oscar-winning actor, is doing a re-make of Left Behind. It’s an interesting enough idea to sit up and take notice. Or at least to ask, “Why?” And Michael Keaton, another costume-burdened actor, stars in a complete turn-around from the action hero mold with the dark comedy, Birdman.
Many more Oscar-winning actors are returning to the screen this Fall. Back in the saddle is Tommy Lee Jones, directing and starring in a Western, The Homesman, with another Academy-Award winner, Hilary Swank. Another re-match is Dumb and Dumber 2. This could be really funny or really bad. The reviews are still out, but I thought the first one was fun.
All together, the season looks infinitely promising… comparatively speaking. That is, after a terrible summer with no real stand-outs, the fall films include a mix of interesting biographic pieces, with a few comedies and less science-fiction (which is a good thing). The buzz around town should be: “We’ll see…let the public be the judge!”

Release Date: 9/12: The Drop; Tom Hardy stars as a Brooklyn bartender caught between mobsters and the cops. James Gandolfini co-stars in his final film. This looks promising.

Release Date: 9/12: Liam Neeson in A Walk among the Tombstones-Liam Neeson stars in another thriller about kidnapping. This time, he plays a private detective in recovery who’s hired by a drug dealer to find those responsible for murdering his wife. Said to be more noir-like than Taken, the film is adapted from Lawrence Block’s 1992 novel. Could be good…

Release Date: 9/26: The Equalizer-Denzel Washington: Director Antoine Fuqua teams with Denzel again, (after 2001’s Training Day). Not a true spin-off of the popular TV series of the 80’s, this intensely violent story has McCall (Washington), seeking justice by rescuing a young girl from Russian mobsters. Denzel Washington is intensely physical and notoriously self-disciplined-he could make this work.

Release Date: 10/3: Left Behind: For some reason, Oscar-winning actor Nicholas Cage has decided to star in another version of this take on the Rapture. Cage plays the pilot of a jumbo jet who is one of those “left behind”.

Release Date: 10/10: The Judge: This father-son legal drama stars Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall, two Hollywood heavyweights. The plot has Downey as a big-time criminal defense attorney who returns to his home town for his mother’s funeral. He is estranged from his father (Duvall),but they come together after the old man is accused of a crime.

Release Date: 10/17-Birdman: A different kind of dark comedy. Michael Keaton plays an actor trying to make his comeback, only to suffer a nervous breakdown in the process. Edward Norton also stars.

Release Date: 10/17: Dracula Untold: Around Halloween in Hollywood, the goblins start to come out. In this version of Dracula, we meet the man behind the fangs. Turns out that before he was Dracula, Vlad was a Family Guy.

Release Date: 10/24: St Vincent-Bill Murray plays the title role in this indie comedy. Murray is the curmudgeonly neighbor of a single woman, played by Melissa McCarthy, with a 12 year old son. St. Vincent becomes the unlikely baby-sitter for the young boy, and merriment ensues.

Release Date: 11/7: Interstellar–Matthew McConaughey stars in this sci-fi piece about a future Earth that cannot produce enough food to feed the masses. The solution? An interstellar space journey to find an answer, if not a new home for Earth’s inhabitants.

Release Date: 11/7: The Theory of Everything: A bio-pic about the amazingly gifted theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and his struggle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Release Date: 11/7: The Better Angels-A Lincoln bio-pic about the Great Man’s boyhood.

Release Date: 11/7: The Homesman: Tommy Lee Jones directed this Western where he stars as a claim jumper who helps a pioneer woman (Hilary Swank) transport three women across the prairie.

Release Date: 11/14: Dumb and Dumber 2: Some would find it completely moronic, I happened to think the first one was hilariously funny. Let’s hope this one captures the humor, and leaves the moronic behind.

Release Date: 11/14: Fury: Brad Pitt stars in another World War II film about the power of the Sherman tank, the Fury.

Release Date: 11/21: The Imitation Game-Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician who helped to break the Nazi’s Enigma code during World War II. The true story also focuses on the real life trials of a homosexual facing prosecution in the 1950’s.

”There’s nothing new under the sun. Critics frequently complain about the lack of originality in film. Another high-profile superstar that constantly used reworked material . ..William Shakespeare

-Raffaella Bonaldi

The Grand Budapest Hotel-Capsule Review

Though I’ve not been a huge fan of Wes Anderson’s work in the past, The Grand Budapest Hotel stands out from the rest of his work. My love of independent films doesn’t extend to simply art for pseudo-art’s sake, or in Anderson’s case, a grindingly slow and bizarre plot or a set of circumstances staged with a cast of bizarre characters littering the landscape. But in Grand Budapest, there seems to be a wink and a nod to the type of extremes seen in most indy films and Anderson’s in particular. There is a running cast of A-list actors peppered throughout that reminds one of Hitchcock’s placement in all of his films. Again, a wink and a nod to an earlier era in filmmaking.
Ralph Fiennes is a pleasant surprise as the lead, playing a fastidiously effeminate type of leading man…Not just anyone could carry this character off. Fiennes is surprisingly funny and poignant at the same time as the eccentric head concierge M. Gustave in the mythic Grand Budapest Hotel. The plot centers around the death of an older patron of the hotel, one that Fiennes character knew well. (Tilda Swinton in a small gem of a role)
Most of the parts are small gems set in the jewel of the Budapest hotel setting. The artistic placement of each shot is not lost on the viewer. Each scene is set as if in a storyboard with an imaginary artist’s palette framing the scene. It works wonderfully to convey the image of a lost time and the type of individual isolation used to describe most of the characters. There is a chase scene leading fittingly to a museum, where the characters are shown with individual shots of the museum pieces entering into the spirit and the framework of the film and becoming an integral part of the plot.
This is a film I would recommend for anyone to see at the movies. But now that it is released on DVD, it’s still worth the time it takes to savor the artistry of the film and drink in the scenery. This is a beautifully shot and artistically crafted piece of work

Magic in the Moonlight-Capsule Review

Magic in the Moonlight is Woody Allen’s newest film. His choice of leading man, Colin Firth, is an inspired one. Firth’s ability to channel the cynicism and power of the rant that Allen perfected is shown in the opening sequence. But the film is paced rather too slowly, and it seems to fizzle in the second half. However the cinematography is gorgeous, with scenes from the South of France and Provence region overtaking most of the thin gruel of a plot.
Allen has been fascinated with magic in film in some of his more successful screenplays-Shadows & Fog comes to mind. In Magic, the central plot deals with a magician attempting to defraud and expose a medium. The idea that a character, Colin Firth’s magician, is attempting to expose this young medium, played by Emma Stone, is not enough to carry the 100-minute film. In the past, Allen has used various sub-plots in the same way that Shakespeare would weave his complex plots together to create artistic masterpieces. The interest of the main characters was always supported by the props of colorful characters surrounding even the thinnest of plots. In this case, the action is carried by the one story line of the medium and Firth’s attempt to expose her.
The sets and characters are gorgeously presented, and like a banquet laid out before us, we expect to dine on one of Woody Allen’s classic comedies. In this case, to those of us who have followed his career, it’s painfully obvious that Woody Allen’s bag of cinematic tricks is definitely on the decline. This is not his best work, yet there are some glimpses of his former glory within the film. Firth’s Aunt Vanessa, played by Eileen Atkins, is one delightful surprise.
Go and see Magic in the Moonlight only if you love Woody Allen comedies. Or better still, rent Shadows & Fog to see Allen working at the top of his game

Hollywood reports worst box office numbers in over a decade

I hate to say “I told you so” but….the evidence is clear. Hollywood is reporting the worst box office numbers in over a decade. The reason? You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out… the movies aren’t very good. Most of them are downright awful. The remakes aren’t good either, and some of the original films were not worth re-making. But the projects are given the green light based solely on what sells tickets overseas. The writers with original ideas are now working for cable shows on the small screen. That is the wave of the future.

My recommendation continues to be: Watch classic films on the small screen or look for cable programs to see new and innovative content. I’m excited about Director Steven Soderbergh’s latest project coming to Cinemax-The Knick with Clive Owen. I’m still waiting to see Calvary, which has gotten pretty good press. The other success story of the summer is , a film that took ten years to create. Not much chance of a sequel on that one anytime soon! The films in the latter part of the summer that I’ve seen and reviewed continue to be classics from the vaults of Hollywood.

About Woody Allen

Woody Allen has a new movie out –Magic in the Moonlight. This is not a review of the film, that is coming soon. Instead, I wanted to address some of the serious charges that were made about Mr. Allen. -MLJ

The news about the charge of child molestation is distressing.I’ll admit I had heard of the unusual circumstances surrounding his marriage. His dysfunctional family relations and the very public breakup with Mia Farrow were all public knowledge. But this is different. These new allegations were not the same. To be fair to Allen, he denies the charge and credits the allegations to the spiteful and vengeful nature of his ex, Mia Farrow.

My thinking is this. On the one hand, the morality of Hollywood actors and artists generally do not correlate with the rest of America. They tend to live more like Old World Europe combined with the Good ‘Ol Boy Mentality reminiscent of the bygone era of Big Studio bosses. There is plenty of arrogance, easy money, amorality and occasionally unethical behavior found in New Hollywood. But not quite like this

In Woody Allen’s case, avant garde Upper East Side is mixed with an amoral (or nonexistent) value system. His personality bordering between narcissism and nihilism was no surprise. But the child molestation charge was. It is not to be dismissed or put aside lightly. Not in the wake of the Joe Paterno scandal. At times, power can indeed turn a blind eye to corruption and evil. Yet he was never convicted of a crime. And unlike Michael Jackson, he was never charged nor tried for the alleged crime. That does not mean he is innocent.

The point is this. His work should stand apart. So many of the greats of Hollywood were really not nice men-not warm and fuzzy people. They were hard working, masters of their craft with many admirable traits which seldom included being loving husbands and fathers (some exceptions, of course.)

It has to be acknowledged at this point that Woody Allen is a genius. You cannot fault actors for wanting to work with him. Many may not have known or accepted this charge of child molestation. And in the end, he must answer to a higher authority. We have not been called to judge him Yet in the court of public opinion, we have done just that The verdict is in. Allen is seen at best as a weird guy and at worst, a monster of sorts disguised as a comical and harmless schlep. In the realm of art and in the world of film criticism, his work still stands alone. His body of work matters to film critics and movie buffs. The play’s the thing in the artists world view.

In the real world, we must make our own decisions about this man. He’s not the first talented Hollywood director with this charge leveled against him. In the case of Roman Polanski, the difference was that Polanski was convicted and yet his accuser eventually forgave him. In Allen’s case, the reverse is true. Although there was evidence to proceed, Allen was never charged nor convicted of a crime .More importantly, his accuser, his adopted daughter, did NOT forgive him of the crime-after all these years. There lies the problem. The pain is still real for her many years later. That is the truth and a sad reality-the pain is real and doesn’t fade away.