March 2014

My movie consumption hit an all-time low in February, when I continued to focus more closely on watching TV series. With all of my Alfred Hitchcock Presents dispensed with, I turned to the popular show The Big Bang Theory, binging on all seven seasons in only a few weeks. And what an amazing and hilarious ride it was! Of course, the movie landscape (at least on the big screen) is rarely anything to write home about in the late winter months, so it's not like I missed a lot of great offerings in February. I did manage to squeeze in two first-release films and one archival title in March; here's what I selected.



THE MONUMENTS MEN (2014)—Originally slated to open around Christmas 2013, director/star George Clooney couldn't get it finished in time, relegating his World War II story for a somewhat less desirable Feb. 7 release date. The movie, co-starring great actors like Matt Damon, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett and Bill Murray, is a reasonably entertaining tale of how many priceless works of art were reclaimed by the Allies from the Germans, who stole them from various art galleries around Europe. Our heroes, led by Clooney, follow up on numerous leads and nab the goods. Basically an Indiana Jones movie without Indiana Jones, the movie starts slow but gathers momentum as it goes along. (8)



NON-STOP (2014)—Having enjoyed Liam Neeson in the similar action movie Taken, I had high hopes for this thriller on an airline. It starts out suspensefully, but the mystery (centering on who's plotting to hijack a plane that Neeson is the air marshal on) becomes entirely too farfetched and unbelievable. (5)



SMALL APARTMENTS (2013)—A quirky comedy populated entirely by quirky characters, based on a novel written in three days as part of a contest. That is not a recipe that appeals to me, but director Jonas Åkerlund has assembled a dynamite cast led by Little Britain's Matt Lucas and including James Caan, Johnny Knoxville, Billy Crystal, Rebel Wilson and Dolph Lundgren. Lucas plays a misfit who inexplicably walks around in his underwear, eschewing pants of any kind, and who has killed his landlord for reasons we discover later in the movie. A bizarre and darkly funny black comedy that doesn't always hit the bullseye, but that's entirely original. (8)



TOUCHY FEELY (2013)—I'm a major fan of Ellen Page, so my viewing of this barely released comedy-drama was strictly to see her perform. Rosemarie DeWitt plays a massage therapist who inexplicably finds herself incapable of touching anybody; meanwhile, her dentist brother (Josh Pais) inexplicably discovers he has the "magic touch" when it comes to curing the jaw disorder TMJ. Page plays the dentist's daughter and sometimes assistant. It's a very, very gentle picture with a small cast and not much of a story. Fine performances, but it doesn't really add up to anything. The great Allison Janney makes it all go down a little easier. (7)

January 2014

This month I finished my marathon viewing of Alfred Hitchcock Presents—268 half-hour episodes. (Time will tell if I leap into the three seasons of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, which represents another 93 total hours of viewing.) Undeniably, all of this binge-watching has cut into my movie watching, but I did squeeze in a few feature films in January, as well as one digital download.



PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES (2014)—The ghost-story series that began with 2007's creepy original Paranormal Activity has been followed by several sequels, and now this offshoot series, which features a largely Latino cast. This movie, as we learn, runs more or less concurrently with the first film, except it isn't nearly as spooky or scary as that one. In The Marked Ones, a guy videotapes everything going on around him as evidence mounts that various people in the barrio—including his best friend—appear to become supernaturally possessed. It's a mild entertainment for diehard fans of the series. (7)



AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (2013)—Prescription-drug addict Meryl Streep hosts various relatives and in-laws at her sweltering Oklahoma house after husband Sam Shepard has drowned. As the funeral comes and goes, the family—including daughters Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis and Julianne Nicholson—argue, curse, fight, hurl insults, spit vitriol and occasionally manage to eat what little food from plates that aren't thrown against the walls in bitter fits of rage. As you can imagine, it's a very dramatic movie, with some splendid acting from all concerned as many life-altering secrets emerge over the course of this shaky family reunion. Adapted from a play that apparently runs much longer than this two-hour version. I missed this movie at the end of 2013 and was glad to finally catch it in the theater before it left. Streep and Roberts have both been nominated for Oscars for their searing performances. Highly recommended. (9)



JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (2014)—I have no distinct memories of ever having seen a Jack Ryan movie, although it's likely I saw The Hunt for Red October when it was released in 1990. I'm not a fan of spy/CIA movies, as I find them fairly confusing and am prone to avoid them. (I don't generally follow James Bond for the same reason.) But this installment (based on Tom Clancy's character rather than one of his actual novels) was made by Paramount Pictures, and therefore a free screening at the studio was where I wound up. Turns out Jack Ryan, directed by Kenneth Branagh, isn't particularly hard to follow; its failure is that it's massively farfetched. The first in the series to feature Chris Pine as Ryan (he was also Captain Kirk in the Star Trek reboot), we see the character's origin story and follow him first on a mission that takes him to the Kremlin to thwart a kind of economic terrorist event, then back to the USA to stop a terrorist's bomb from going off. Ryan is almost supernatural in his ability to merely peer at a computer screen or a New York street and magically pinpoint where the evil is located. It's a total popcorn movie that is packaged with a pounding soundtrack that constantly screams: "THIS IS THE SUSPENSEFUL PART!" (7)



TOMORROW NIGHT (1998)—Produced 16 years ago, Louis C.K.'s pet project finally sees the light of day this month via digital download on Louie's web page. The low-budget effort, filmed in striking black and white, answers the question: "What if Woody Allen had directed Eraserhead?" Financed by, and featuring, many of Louie's standup-comedy buddies, it's a very bizarre and cringeworthy—yet occasionally hilarious—movie about the loathsome owner of a photo-processing store (Chuck Sklar) who has a sexual fetish involving ice cream. Some of the funny people who show up, at least briefly, include Robert Smigel, Steve Carell, Todd Barry, J.B. Smoove, Wanda Sykes, Conan O'Brien and, very briefly indeed, Louie himself. (Amy Poehler is also fleetingly viewed with Louie in their brief scene together, and it's one of the movie's true laugh-out-loud jokes.) Fans of writer-director Louis C.K. are encouraged to check it out; others are likely to find themselves scratching their heads. Wholly original but quite weird. (8)



LABOR DAY (2014)—This romantic drama could easily pass for a Nicholas Sparks adaptation. Hunky escaped convict Josh Brolin takes depressed single mom Kate Winslet hostage (kind of) and the two hit it off—as if that would ever happen in real life. While the film has received an avalanche of lukewarm notices, Joan and I accepted the implausibilities of the story and enjoyed it despite a pretty but ultimately distracting soundtrack. Acceptably entertaining, although it's advisable to not think too much about the storyline too closely afterwards. From a novel by Joyce Maynard, who is famous for once having an affair with reclusive writer J.D. Salinger. (8)

December 2013

After November managed to pass without a single movie viewed (owing to both an extended sickness and the fact that I was continuing to binge-watch old episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents), I hoped to make up for it in December. (Side note: as of this writing, I am rocketing toward the end of Season 6 of Hitchcock.) I think I did a respectable job catching up with first-run movies, especially since I took a two-week vacation, cruising the Caribbean and spending time in South Florida with friends and family. Interestingly, of the 12 films I screened in December, fully half of them were inspired by real-life individuals. Must be Oscar season! Here's what I saw:



THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)—I enjoyed the first Thor very much, and subsequently had high hopes for the sequel. As it turns out, some of it is enjoyable...but as a whole, I felt it fell far short of the original. Watchable but not memorable. (7)



FROZEN (2013)—Here's a very pretty, very tuneful Disney animated adventure featuring the great Josh Gad (Broadway's The Book of Mormon) as a hilarious snowman. Extremely slick and polished, aided by the music of Robert Lopez (another alumnus from Mormon). Disney makes the most of its stellar cast, which includes Idina Menzel (Broadway's Wicked) and Kristen Bell. (9)



NEBRASKA (2013)—Director Alexander Payne's first four major-release pictures (Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt and Sideways) were superior comedy-dramas—satirical, searingly funny and full of oddball characters and pathos. 2011's The Descendants, while enjoyable, didn't quite reach the heights of those earlier films, and that's also true of this latest effort. Filmed in beautiful, stark black-and-white, it follows older-than-dirt Bruce Dern and his son, Will Forte of Saturday Night Live, on a road-trip from Montana to Nebraska to collect the $1 million Dern erroneously believes he's won in an advertising sweepstakes. Along the way, we meet various friends and family members who do and say some interesting and/or amusing things, but it seems a bit like watered-down Schmidt to me. Still, any Payne film is automatically better than most movies. (8)



AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013)—Christian Bale, unrecognizable under a weird wig and with 40 extra pounds on his gut, plays a forged-art dealer in the 1970s who, after running afoul of the Feds, works out a deal with them to catch various other lowlifes (i.e., mayors and Congressmen) via bribe-acceptance flim-flammery, reminiscent of the famous ABSCAM sting operation. Bradley Cooper, with hideous curly hair, is a hot-tempered FBI guy who manages to let himself get pulled a little too closely into these con games; Amy Adams is Bale's partner in crime; and Jennifer Lawrence, in her best role so far, is Bale's greedy, chain-smoking wife. At 138 minutes, the movie goes on way too long; despite strong critical reviews (and a few nicely played scenes), it's often very draggy and feels bloated. However, when Lawrence is onscreen, the movie springs to life. (6)



HER (2013)—Spike Jonez's latest is a sci-fi romance that casts Joaquin Phoenix as a fellow who, in the not-too-distant future, explores his computer's new operating system—an "artificially intelligent" being (think HAL from 2001, only voiced by sexy, smoky-voiced Scarlett Johannson). This OS is so real that the two engage in the equivalent of phone sex and gradually develop a "real" relationship. But, as with the very best science fiction, new technology often yields unexpected and horrifying ramifications. The cast does a terrific job in this futuristic story, which seems entirely too plausible. (9)



SAVING MR. BANKS (2013)—Who doesn't love Walt Disney's version of Mary Poppins? P.L. Travers, that's who. The cantankerous creator of the Mary Poppins books was evidently dead set against the "Disneyfication" of her creation, and this movie brings to the screen (by Disney, no less) the clash between Travers and the studio as they try to secure the rights to the character. As Travers, the always dependable Emma Thompson accurately portrays the ornery, constantly displeased author…but despite a halfhearted attempt to soften her toward the end, she's entirely too much of a Negative Nelly to win my heart. The infusion of numerous flashbacks to explain her current mood are all rather awkward and don't do much to serve the narrative—I still wanted to kick Travers in the face. Featuring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. (6)



INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013)—The Coen Brothers are totally unpredictable. Their films waver in quality between the classic 1996 Fargo and the unwatchable A Serious Man from last year, which bored me silly. Inside Llewyn Davis doesn't offer the savage action of Fargo or the inspired nuttiness of The Big Lebowski, but much of it is amusing in a way that is uniquely Coen—such as when Llewyn, a folk singer, sits down with an iconic record producer (F. Murray Abraham), who patiently listens to the guitarist perform a wonderful tune and then deadpans, "I don't see a lot of money here." That may be the funniest line I've heard in a movie this year, yet it's also sad and brutal. The plot of the movie might be stated as: "Homeless Chicago-based folk singer meets weirdos and struggles to stay warm and earn money." As a result, the film contains a great deal of awkward humor, which definitely appeals to me. Nothing about Llewyn except for his music is appealing—like Saving Mr. Banks, it's a movie saddled with a central character who is almost completely unlikable—but the constant misery the Coens put him through is something verging on magical. (9)



PHILOMENA (2013)—The true story of Philomena Lee, a woman whose child was forcibly removed from her and sold off by the Catholic church. Now, some 50 years earlier, she joins forces with a journalist to track down her son. Alternately funny, sad, ironic and shattering, Philomena is a touching film that challenges and surprises the viewer. As Philomena, Judi Dench is her usual magnificent self, and Steve Coogan turns in another excellent performance, close on the heels of What Maisie Knew. (9)



THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)—You don't expect Martin Scorsese movies to be particularly funny, but although Wolf could most accurately be described as a comedy-drama, I laughed during this movie more than most straight-out comedies. Although it has a length of three hours, it moves fairly briskly. It has a lot of fun satirizing its drug-abusing, sex-addicted, corruption-obsessed stockbrokers. Led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, this cautionary tale (inspired by the true story of Jordan Belfort wallows in their wretched excesses, which turns out to be good news for viewers of this movie. Featuring knockout Aussie actress Margot Robbie as Leo's love interest…can't wait to see her on screen again. (9)




DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (2013)—Like American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street, this is yet another drama based on the story of a real-life hustler who ran afoul of the law. Matthew McConaughey (who does a cameo in Wolf) stars here as Ron Woodroof, a Texas lowlife who's diagnosed with HIV and who eventually starts distributing illegal medicines to other sufferers of the virus. We see a very repellent, homophobic side of Woodroof at first, but as time goes on, we gradually begin to see how his plight humanizes him—most strongly epitomized by how his relationship with a transgender character (Jared Leto) evolves. It's a sad picture—not entirely to my taste, but it's gotten universally good notices. (6)



THE PAST (2013)—My main reason for wanting to see this—other than the fact that reviews have been phenomenal—was because it stars dreamy French actress Bérénice Bejo of 2011's The Artist. (Coincidentally, Jean Dujardin, the male star of The Artist, cropped up in The Wolf of Wall Street, which I had seen only the day before.) In The Artist, Bejo played a sweet, adorable, nurturing, goody-two-shoes sort of character; with her role in The Past, nobody is going to accuse her of being typecast. Indeed, I am not sure I would have even recognized her in The Past, in which she plays a troubled, spiteful, chain-smoking, double divorcee. Moreover, she is made up to look significantly less beautiful than she appeared in The Artist. The Past (Le Passé) tells about how Bejo and her Iranian husband (Ali Mosaffa) reunite to finalize their divorce, while her new flame (Tahar Rahim) must deal with his own spouse, who is in a coma following an attempted suicide. During the course of the film, numerous family secrets are unearthed and hurt feelings come to the surface, so there's no end of drama as these three characters intervene (along with children from various marriages). It's a searing and emotional drama populated by characters we care about and want to see healed. I already want to see it again. It's something just short of a masterpiece. (9)



YOU'RE NEXT (2013)—A large family gets together when some killers wearing animal masks start to pick them off, one by one. This is a standard slasher movie with one genuinely surprising twist in the middle, but not much else. I feel like I've seen this movie before. It has a few good moments, but I'm stunned that it has a 75% (!) positive rating on the Tomatometer. (7)

October 2013

This will probably be a slightly abbreviated entry, as I haven't been feeling great lately and it's uncomfortable to sit in front of a computer. Briefly, I have continued on my Alfred Hitchcock Presents journey; I have now made it almost all the way through Season 3, which comprises well over 100 episodes. I am continuing to enjoy the series very much. In addition, I've been working my way through Series 4 of Downton Abbey, currently airing only in the UK (fortunately, I know how to bootleg), as well as first-run episodes of Homeland, SVU, Simpsons and Modern Family. And yet, even with all of the TV viewing, I saw a respectable amount of movies this month:

FIRST RUN:



GRAVITY (2013)—An exciting marooned-in-space adventure with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney grappling to survive after debris crashes into their space shuttle. Amazing direction and special effects enhance this edge-of-your seat thriller. (9)



CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013)—Real-life story of the 2009 Maersk Alabama cargo ship hijacking by Somali pirates. Tom Hanks plays ship captain Richard Phillips. The movie is divided into two sections: the ship part, and the lifeboat part. Both are very interesting, but the second half does drag on a bit. Still, this is an informative and often terrifying drama. I was somewhat saddened to read several accounts by actual sailors who objected to the virtual canonization of the real-life Phillips on the basis that he dropped the ball and made several mistakes that might have prevented the attack. (9)



ALL IS LOST (2013)—Second terror-at-sea thriller gives Robert Redford a chance to showcase his acting talents with almost no dialogue. Stranded on a sinking sailboat in the middle of the ocean, he must use his wits to stay afloat—and alive. Very enjoyable, except for the ambiguous ending, which I despised. (8)



JACKASS PRESENTS BAD GRANDPA (2013)—Taking a cue from Borat, this is a series of Candid Camera type pranks with several scripted linking scenes to glue it all together. Some of it is very funny, some of it is just stupid, and a lot of it is a combination of both. Sophomoric but undeniably amusing. (7)



12 YEARS A SLAVE (2013)—Despite the avalanche of accolades, I found this movie excruciating to watch, as it's torture porn of the worst sort—far worse than Saw, Hostel or Human Centipede. And yet people are applauding this unbelievably violent, ultra-sadistic movie as if it were The Godfather. Ugh! Nobody hates slavery more than I do, but this was so brutal I wanted to vomit. Some marvelous acting saves it. (7)



THE DIRTIES (2013)—"Found footage" comedy-drama about a pair of bullied high-school kids who decide to make a movie about their dilemma...and then one of them starts to imagine them as the new Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. A little too self-indulgent for my tastes, but it does have a jolt of an ending. (6)


FROM THE ARCHIVES:



THE ATTIC (1980)—I always enjoy Ray Milland, especially when he went slumming on TV shows and in horror movies like Frogs. This is from that second phase of his career, a lurid thriller about a woman (Diary of a Mad Housewife's Carrie Snodgress) and her grouchy, wheelchair-bound father (Milland). It's sort of a latter day grand guignol story along the lines of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Sort of trashy, but very watchable and the two leads are great, especially Snodgress. (8)



DARK PASSAGE (1947)—Jay Steele and I caught this mystery at Palo Alto's beloved Stanford Theatre revival house. Humphrey Bogart stars as a prison escapee who sets out to prove he didn't commit the murder he was sent up for; Lauren Bacall tries to help him. The gimmick of this movie is that you don't see Bogie's face for the first 40 minutes or so. I never realized how gorgeous the young Bacall was. The movie is entertaining but more than a little farfetched. Co-starring Agnes "Endora" Moorehead. (8)



WISH YOU WERE HERE (2012)—I continue to chip away at my "2012 Movies I'm Sorry I Missed" list with this mystery involving two Aussie couples who vacation in Cambodia...and only three of them come back. What happened to the one missing man is the secret that isn't revealed until the violent ending. It's a movie that plays around with a non-linear format (i.e., lots of flashbacks), but it's fairly well done. It definitely kept me guessing. (8)



WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2012)—Second of three that I missed last year. "Unique" is the first word that comes to mind about this drama about a couple (Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly) whose newborn son grows up to be a dangerous sociopath (Ezra Miller). Lionel Shriver's novel makes a compelling and sometimes frightening drama that explores the "nurture vs. nature" aspect of the sociopath and how his total lack of empathy for others breaks the family apart. It's a flashback-laden affair that grows in tension, leading up to a nail-biting finale. This movie kept me thinking for a couple of days after I screened it, and I consider that quite an achievement for a movie—few others get under my skin in that way. Only debit: how did homely Swinton and Reilly have such great-looking kids? (9)



BIG MIRACLE (2012)—This is the true story (from 1988) of the effort to rescue three Alaskan whales trapped in ice. Former TV actors John Krasinski (The Office), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Ted Danson (Cheers), Kathy Baker (Picket Fences) and Stephen Root (NewsRadio) join Drew Barrymore as some of the folks who try to save the whales. There's no real villain in this movie except for the very bad weather; the proliferation of TV actors—and the G-rated "family" type feel—make this feel a lot like a TV movie. And of course, since many of the scenes are obviously filmed in a studio, none of the actors walking around in 50-below freezing cold have any fog on their breath, which continues to be one of my all-time movie pet peeves. Still...it's a hard movie to really hate. (7)

September 2013

By the end of September, I had finished watching the first two seasons of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which represents 78 episodes, or roughly 34 hours—the equivalent of 17 two-hour movies. It's been a fun ride; obviously the time I would have spent watching older movies at home has been dramatically compromised. Other TV shows also proved to be a distraction, as Dexter and Breaking Bad wrapped up their final seasons and other current series (Modern Family, Law & Order: SVU, The Simpsons and South Park) made their fall debuts. The bottom line is that I "only" made it to the theater five times in September. Here's what I saw:


SHORT TERM 12 (2013)—Despite some totally unnecessarily scatological talk near the beginning (which almost had me bolting from the theater), this turns out to be a compelling drama about teens battling various demons, including drugs and parental abuse, and trying to come to terms with these issues in a facility for troubled youths. Director Destin Cretton has expanded and recast his 2008 short film to bring his story to a larger audience, and it's a good one. (8)



LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER (2013)—Forest Whitaker plays Cecil Gaines, a character based on the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who worked as a butler in the White House from 1952 to 1986, from Eisenhower to Reagan. The movie gives us a look at all the civil rights issues during these times, shows us glimpses of all the presidents during this time period, and provides a peek at Gaines' home life with wife Oprah Winfrey and two sons whose own lives are touched by racial tensions, politics and war. Some of it, like the actual goings-on in the White House, are interesting, but when the action shifts to Cecil's marriage with Winfrey, I got very bored. (6)



ENOUGH SAID (2013)—Writer-director Nicole Holofcener, who captured my attention with the 2010 sleeper Please Give, returns with a surprisingly conventional romantic comedy starring James Gandolfini (who died after filming) and Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Holofcener has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and her film contains an acceptable amount of comedy and good performances from the leads (as well as from Toni Collette and perpetual Holofcener actress Catherine Keener), but it doesn't have anything like the originality or freshness of Please Give. Even so, it's much better than the average Hollywood romcom, clever without being truly exceptional. (8)



DON JON (2013)—I have always enjoyed Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor; he's very memorable in movies like 500 Days of Summer and Looper. Now he's back on screen as a triple threat—writing, directing and starring in Don Jon (originally titled Don Jon's Addiction), about a bartender who really enjoys watching porn on his computer. Even though Jon is fit and good-looking—and can get virtually any lady he sets his eyes on—for a variety of reasons he still prefers watching and masturbating to dirty movies over having sex with a woman. Then Scarlett Johansson enters his life. She's a beautiful blonde bombshell who becomes his first very real prospect for a long-term relationship. When she discovers his secret passion for all things X-rated, though, their relationship is threatened. Or did Jon just dodge a bullet? What's interesting about the film is where the story goes from that point forward, with the introduction of a character played by Julianne Moore (who is about 20 years older than Gordon-Levitt), and the revelation that aspects of Johannson's character may be more troublesome than Jon's interest in dirty movies. Don Jon held my interest throughout, and is one of the few mainstream movies that's honest about how and why men love to watch pornography without totally tsk-tsking it. Although she only has a small role, this is the third movie I've seen in the past two months to feature the gifted actress Brie Larson—although used sparingly in this film, she is remarkable in both The Spectacular Now and Short Term 12. Note to self: I still need to see Gordon-Levitt in Premium Rush. (9)



PRISONERS (2013)—This 2½-hour-long movie about a cop (always reliable Jake Gyllenhaal) who tries to track down two kidnapped little girls feels like 3½ hours and needs to be much, much shorter. It contains a respectable amount of tension, suspense and action, but it also meanders and contains way too many super-slow parts for my liking. It doesn't help that I had basically figured out the solution to the mystery about halfway through. A fairly good thriller that could have and should have been much better with more editing. Some people were complaining about the somewhat sly and subtle ending, but I rather liked it. Melissa Leo is a standout. (8)

Currently playing in theaters that I hope to catch in October: Rush, The Dirties, Gravity, Elysium and You're Next. And opening in the weeks ahead: The Fifth Estate, Carrie, Great Expectations, Captain Phillips and Machete Kills. They're all on my to-do list.

August 2013

Owing to the fact that I decided to watch all five seasons of Twilight Zone, more or less chronologically, I only wound up seeing four movies in August. Of course, it didn't help that pickings are relatively slim this summer—I'm hardly the target audience for releases such as Planes, We're the Millers, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Smurfs 2, R.I.P.D., et al. Even movies I was looking forward to (Kick-Ass, Elysium, Austenland) earned ho-hum reviews. And now that T-Zone is in the can, I've started Season One of Alfred Hitchcock Presents...and there are a LOT more episodes of Hitch's show (361) than of Rod Serling's (a mere 156), so I don't expect a lot of September entries...



THE CONJURING (2013)—Director James Wan (Insidious, Saw) knows a thing or two about scaring audiences. But despite a strong performance by Lily Taylor, there's nothing new in this haunted-house outing, which plays like a mash-up of The Amityville Horror and The Exorcist. Could have been better with some judicious editing. (6)



RED 2 (2013)—Based on a comic book, Bruce Willis's 2010 action-comedy original was pure escapist fun, with a terrific cast that included the always reliable Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren (the sexiest 68-year-old on Earth). RED 2 reunites the whole gang except for Freeman, who died in the first installment; augmenting them for the sequel are Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-hun Lee and the slumming Anthony Hopkins, who gives the movie more panache than it deserves. The result is still entertaining, but slightly less successful than the first outing. Still, a comic book is a comic book, and if there's a Part 3, I'll mostly likely be in the audience. (7)



THE SPECTACULAR NOW (2013)—Sutter (Miles Teller) is a high-school senior who lives for the "now," a kid who's a little too forgiving of his own mistakes and bad habits (i.e., drinking too heavily). He's a charmer who smooth-talks an innocent classmate (Shailene Woodley) who's much less of a bombshell than the girl who's just dumped him; we cringe as his inner fool seems destined to break her heart...but fortunately, this is a redemption story. I dug this a bit less than most critics—spectacular it's not—but the film is competently directed and well acted, even if I wanted Sutter to walk into an open manhole through most of the picture. (7)



CISCO PIKE (1972)—Here's an example of two of my weaknesses leading me to an unfortunate scene. First of all, we lost the great Karen Black in August, so I was curious to check out something of hers I haven't already seen. And because I'm always interested in exploring movies from the 1970s (even though many of the blow), I chose this grimy, sloppily conceived garbage about a musician turned pot dealer (Kris Kristofferson) who is conscripted to sell some primo Acapulco Gold by the cop (Gene Hackman) who previously busted him. Black plays Kristofferson's long-suffering girlfriend, who's had enough of the drug busts and longs for a normal life. The movie starts off with a promising setup, but it's just not engaging enough; I didn't care about the musician character as much as I should have, and Hackman's cop behaves too idiotically for my liking. Moreover, there are something like five songs written and sung by Kristofferson, and it doesn't help that I'm not a fan of his music or his voice. Sexy Karen Black does do a nice topless scene, however. It is astonishing to me that the young, clean-shaven Kristofferson doesn't have a fraction of the appeal of his grittier, bearded persona. (5)

SIDE NOTE: Because much of Cisco Pike was filmed in the neighborhoods of Venice and North Hollywood—with lots of street signs and business landmarks—I was able to take some screen shots from the DVD and pair them up with images from Google Street View. It's not possible to get the exact angles and perspectives that the director shot from, but it's interesting to see how the areas have changed in the past 41 years, so I'm including them below.

July 2013

Although I took the trouble to visit the local cinemas about 10 times this month, I barely paid any attention to home releases because I rather suddenly decided to start working my way through five seasons of the old Twilight Zone TV series. (As of this writing, I've made it through nearly three seasons—a fairly respectable chunk.) This was the month I sold more than 200 issues of Hot Boat Magazine from my personal collection for $400+, digested the thrilling and seductive musical oeuvre of Rihanna, and planned an early August cruise with members of my family. I also managed to crack the screen of my fourth-generation iPad. Here's what I saw in July:



FRANCES HA (2013)—Having sufficiently enchanted me in her 2012 film Damsels in Distress (as well as her performances in Greenberg, To Rome With Love and Lola Versus), my hopes were high for Greta Gerwig's latest effort, which she co-wrote with director Noah Baumbach. Filmed in New York in gorgeous black and white, this comedy-drama can scarcely help reminding one of Manhattan, but thematically it's also a lot like the HBO series Girls, and even features Girls co-star Adam Driver. As with Damsels and Lola, the film traces Gerwig's loss of self-respect and self-esteem as bad things pile up, but it's all followed by a resurgence/redemption by the end. All three films in the trilogy mix comedy and drama in a very satisfying way. (9)



MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (2013)—Despite a wonderful score by Randy Newman, I was not a fan of the original Monsters Inc. by Disney/Pixar. Now, 12 years later, here comes a tardy prequel...and it's vastly more entertaining and engaging than the original. Thanks to Joan for encouraging me to see it with her. (9)



THE WAY, WAY BACK (2013)—Sort of a mashup of Meatballs and Adventureland, The Way, Way Back is a boyhood coming-of-age story with Liam James as a kid who has to put up with his mother's vile boyfriend (Steve Carell) during a summer-vacation trip to a beach house, among other assorted annoyances. Then he stumbles onto a job at the local water park, run by Sam Rockwell, who changes his life for the better. Rockwell is a comic genius, doing a variation of Chevy Chase's character in Caddyshack. It's not a perfect film, but there's enough good material in it to make it a very enjoyable summer treat. (8)



THIS IS THE END (2013)—One of the biggest hits of the summer, This Is the End give us comic actors Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, et al., playing themselves in an "apocalyptic comedy" that has the guys hunkered down in James Franco's mansion dodging demons and hellfire after the Rapture. Some of it is undeniably funny (a scene involving Emma Watson is roll-on-the-floor funny in its inappropriateness), but a lot of it is gross and the whole movie is probably much funnier to people who have seen Pineapple Express, which I have not. (I had no idea who stars Jay Baruchel and Danny McBride even were). The movie is a sophomoric crowd-pleaser, but I am not the target audience. (7)



STORIES WE TELL (2013)—Actress Sarah Polley definitively proved her savvy directorial chops in the charming 2012 movie Take This Waltz, featuring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman. Her new movie, Stories We Tell, is a documentary about her family, with extensive interviews with brothers, sisters, her father, et al. The ostensible subject of the film is Polley's colorful mother, who is revealed to have cheated on her father before her death from cancer. This inevitably leads into an investigation into who Sarah's biological father might be, and the results are quite surprising. The movie relies heavily on phony "home movie" footage, so we're never really sure of what's real and what's not, but the story is real enough, so it doesn't matter that much. The interviews and the intrigue are fascinating to watch, and this is just one more reason to keep your eye on this important storyteller. (8)



UNFINISHED SONG (2013)—There are plenty of bittersweet movies about old people coming to grips with the inevitability of life's final bow, and the importance of living life to the fullest, regardless of what your age is. Unfinished Song, starring Terrence Stamp as the grouchy husband of ailing sweetheart Vanessa Redgrave, is one of these movies. As corny and manipulative as it is, I totally fell for this British import (called Song for Marion in the UK). There are a couple of tiny plot points I felt could have been better handled, but this is a tearjerker of the first order, magnificently played by Stamp, and with a delightful performance by lovely Gemma Arterton as a choir director. (9)



BEFORE SUNSET (2004)—1995's Before Sunrise was a charming little love story about a young American guy (Ethan Hawke) and a young French woman (Julie Delpy) who meet on a train and spend a romantic evening together in Vienna. Nine years later, writer/director Richard LInklater reunited the couple for what the viewer assumes is going to be a second one-night stand. The first movie ended with the pair planning to meet in Europe a year later; in Before Sunset, we find out that didn't happen, but fate has brought them together again. Not much happens in either movie, except the couple emotionally bonding as they chat about life, religion, family and love. I missed the sequel when it was first released, but now that Linklater has apparently decided to turn this into his own personal Up series, I decided to check this one out in preparation for the third in the series. (9)



BEFORE MIDNIGHT (2013)—And again, nine years later, here we are again with Hawke and Delpy. This time out, we learn that romance finally did take root, and we join them on a vacation in Greece. This film differs from the first two in one important way: for the first half, it follows the basic walking-and-talking pattern of the first two movies, but in the second half, our lovers start arguing—and it turns into one colossal clash that threatens to tear them apart for good. It's a bittersweet affair, but compelling. Looking forward to the next one in 2022! (8)



STILL MINE (2013)—Perhaps I was still tingling over the geriatric romance of Unfinished Song, and took in this second old-people drama while I was still in the mood. (It didn't hurt that reviews were uniformly excellent.) James Cromwell, so fine in the TV series Six Feet Under, as well as movies like Babe, The Green Mile and The Artist, deserves this starring role as a Canadian carpenter who's caring for a wife (Genevieve Bujold, absolutely perfect) slowly succumbing to Alzheimer's disease. He decides to build her a smaller house on their large piece of property so he can better take care of her…and becomes entangled in a lot of legal red tape from the local building commission. It's a tender, moving and serious piece of work—the anti-summer movie. (9)



BLUE JASMINE (2013)—The latter third of Woody Allen's directorial career has been spotty, with disappointments like Hollywood Ending, Anything Else, Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Cassandra's Dream and Celebrity missing the mark so disastrously that one mourns the genius that produced classics like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Zelig and Stardust Memories. On the other hand, despite a rough patch, the Woodman has rebounded in recent years—I've enjoyed his last five movies, even if none of them stand with his best work. Happily, Blue Jasmine is an unqualified success, a comedy-drama that features, at its center, a truly bravura performance by Cate Blanchett as the wife of a Bernie Madoff-like financier (Alec Baldwin) whose life begins to crumble after he's sent to jail and is revealed to be a cheating louse. Superb performances are also turned in by Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay and the always-dependable Sally Hawkins (who, like Blanchett, is a British actress doing a thoroughly convincing American accent). I will want to see this film again. (9)



THE HEAT (2013)—The Heat is a raunchy summer comedy that I attended with a friend who wanted to see it. Rotund Melissa McCarthy—whom I enjoyed as part of the ensemble Gilmore Girls cast between 2000 and 2007—has become a popular star of both the small (Mike & Molly) and big (Bridesmaids, Identity Thief) screens. Her specialty has gone from second-banana characterizations to very broad, profane, physical comedy, scoring big laughs from the hoi polloi with her bellowing, extended-middle-finger shtick. In this buddy comedy with Sandra Bullock, she plays the pit-bull undercover cop to Bullock's prim, know-it-all FBI agent as they team up to bust up a drug-smuggling ring. It would be a lie to say I didn't laugh occasionally, but there's no escaping the fact that this is a contrived, calculated variation on an old formula, perfected by Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS. (7)