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Reviews
The Soloist (2009)
Music Menanced By Madness
Within a one-week period, I saw my second screening of this powerful movie today. I am mystified by some of the "bilious-type" reviews found here, seemingly driven by an anti-Joe Wright campaign. I found no cheap sentiments in the story line and I was awed by the high-octane performances of Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. Nothing being perfect in an imperfect world, as "adult" entertainment, "The Soloist" did not once insult my intelligence. I marveled at the complexity of the screenplay and the realization of it by its gifted director and the camera-work of Seamus McGarvey. The gifted Dario Marianelli is credited as the film's composer, anecdotally, in the gigantic shadow of Ludwig van Beethoven. Mental illness, genius, homelessness, journalism and music has rarely been so well presented as an "entertainment." Yes, Mr. Ayers is depicted as experiencing a "light show" when attending a rehearsal of the L. A. Philharmonic. At least we didn't see pink hippopotamus in tutus or dinosaurs on a rampage in a prehistoric setting. Being so accustomed to televised concerts, I expected the camera to focus on the instruments themselves in this sequence. And, "clapping pigeons." Great idea that works. A brave film directed at a "non-art house" audience. I also want to cite the wonderful work of Nelsan Ellis who plays David at LAMP. So much compassion comes off the screen with his presence. There is no way we can make "light" of the tragedy of the homeless, so many with mental illness. Thank you Mr. Steve Lopez for introducing me to Mr. Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. My life is richer for the experience. LisaGay Hamilton, as Jennifer Ayers, Nathaniel's sister, deserves recognition in a small, but pivotal role that brings dignity and catharsis to a heart-wrenching experience.
In the Valley of Elah (2007)
Not memorable
I was sort of glad when this movie ended, and I refer to it just as a "movie." Not a great work of "art," and only my second outing with Paul Haggis. I have never seen "Crash" and I'm one of those viewers who howled at "Million Dollar Baby," one of the trashiest movies that I've ever seen. The trailer (I miss 'previews') for Elah looked like it would be potent. It's not a flop, and the only pleasure that I derived from the movie is the performance of Tommy Lee Jones. I find that Charlize Theron is just a mediocre talent and it is unfortunate that the great Susan Sarandon was hardly used in the movie.
Haggis doesn't seem to know if he wanted to make a "political" movie, a crime drama movie (something you can see on television every night of the week,) or a pretentious, symbolically Biblical parable (think "Babel," without a plausible script.) I think that he did better with the crime drama part of the movie than he did with the political or biblical.
The "politics" of this movie pales in comparison to "No End in Sight," which I saw last week and which was riveting. Interesting that Haggis is so much a part of Hollywood that his take on tragedy is so tinsel town.
Evening (2007)
Yuck
I stayed only because of Vanessa Redgrave. A critic is The New York Times wrote that she "chewed up the scenery." Nothing could be furthest from the truth. Everyone else chews up the scenery; Miss Redgrave is magnificent. The over praised Meryl Streep looks like a second-rate high school beginning-actress in comparison to Miss Redgrave. It's not unusual for me to laugh at Streep's performances. In this one I snickered. Poor Glenn Close is made to be a caricature of herself. Danes and Richardson can not overcome the material and are disasters. Mamie Gummer has to be riding on her mother's coat tails. It all sounded good on paper and the trailer made it appealing but the verdict is that this is an embarrassing dud. Viva la Redgrave.
Volver (2006)
Lifeless from frame to frame
Truly hard to believe that Almodovar got this filmed. Had it been meant to be a daffy comedy, it might have worked. As it is, the "humor" falls like a thud. I think that the Penelope Cruz beauty is merely skin deep.
I'm not much into "fart" jokes and find them crude when men make them. Here, women make them with much glee and love and affection for the farter! Really, Mr. Almodovar. You're an artist, but maybe some taste might do in order to elevate your worth a little higher?
None of the "dramatic truths" ring true. Everything seems forced and unnatural. And after awhile I got wearily exhausted by each character.
I do heartily agree with another poster to this forum who wrote that this film is truly a study of reversed misogyny. Not any kind of artistic apology from the director merits nothing more than a 3 out of 10. A bad movie.
That Hamilton Woman (1941)
The Legendary Beauty of Vivien Leigh
I am delighted in owning an excellent, prerecorded Beta video tape of this engaging film. I tracked down a Betamax Video Recorder on eBay last year and have had fun going through an extensive library in the Beta format.
I watched the film last night, the second time in a month, and was enchanted and moved by what is referred to as a "propaganda" film. I read the postings here and was amazed to find what must be improbabilities, i. e., that Alexander Korda filmed the movie in America. I don't know how that would have been possible, because the featured stars had returned to England for the duration of World War II after their Hollywood stays for "Wurthering Heights" and "Gone with the Wind." I could be wrong, but Leigh and Olivier do not work in the U. S., again, until they appear in Shakespeare with The Old Vic Company in the 1950s. I hope to be corrected should I be wrong.
I agree with all those who wrote of Miss Leigh's ethereal beauty. She is perhaps her most beautiful here, even outshining her amazing beauty in "Gone with the Wind." Beauty, of course, is only skin deep, to use an old adage, and if that were the case with Miss Leigh she would have been forgotten a very long time ago. Beauty in this case in outward and inward. The spirit with which she imbues Emma Hamilton is worthy of the highest praise of both historians and thespians (and critics.) Because both Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were so glamorous in real life, one could be seduced into thinking that they weren't acting at all in this movie. I truly enjoyed watching these classically trained actors emote in the grand fashion, with the knowledge that "the method" style is looming on the horizon. I love Miss Leigh's "mannerisms;" the far-away look when you can see the brain in her head leading her to her next and always breathtaking action. There is something so mysterious about her. One can only wonder how "calculated" these "mannerisms" are. I find Olivier's performance very moving.
Why this exquisite film is not available in a resurrected VSH or DVD format is a mystery.
And now, my favorite scene/line in the film; in Palermo (I first thought that it was in Naples, but our lovers are in Sicily where Nelson has rescued and taken the Hamiltons and the Royal Naples family after an insurrection)on a terrace overlooking the English fleet. It is New Year's Eve 1799. The ship's bells begin to ring and Emma asks what they signify. Nelson reminds here that it is New Year's Eve 1799 and they recall the historical events of the closing century. Then Nelson embraces and kisses Emma and tells her that he's "kissed her through two centuries." Wonderful stuff.
Note: After more research "That Hamilton Woman" was filmed in Hollywood. And, of course, Vivien Leigh arrived in Hollywood to play Blanche Dubois in 1951. Sometimes gushing enthusiasm can display lack of knowledge. My apology to anyone here if I discounted any facts. January 23, 2007.
The Painted Veil (2006)
Interesting material, but . . . . .
something doesn't gel. I'm going to blame it on the director.
I went to see the first New Orleans screening yesterday afternoon and it must have been an omen, but the film broke twenty minutes into it. I got a refund because my mood had been broken.
I ventured to see it again tonight at the 7 p. m. showing knowing that the theater would be empty -- The New Orleans Saints vs. The Philadelphia Eagles football game was live at the same time. We were only six people in the house for the screening.
Diana Rigg as a French Mother Superior didn't sound French in the least. One reviewer said that she was almost unrecognizable in the role. Incredible! She looked like the Diana Rigg of all time.
The lead stars were producers of the film and they must have believed in it, but somehow their performances fall flat. The trailer teases us to believe that this will be an exotic love story pictured in an equally exotic setting. Sometimes I found myself not believing that there would be any dramatic truth to the finale and I wasn't mistaken. I think that the director, John Curran, is a so-so talent and his lack of imagination short changed the drama.
Disappointing, and unusual for me, I'm not interested in seeing this movie again.
The End of the Affair (1955)
Quite Good for 1954
I am indebted to Turner Classic Movies for televising this film today. I had not seen it. I am a great admirer of both the novel and the 1999 film version by Neil Jordan. I count it as one of the greatest love stories in literature.
Yes, Van Johnson is miscast as Maurice Bendrix. Still, he is a sincere actor and his work is good considering that Maurice has been "Americanized." I wasn't prepared for the devastating performance by Deborah Kerr. Sarah Miles is one of literature's greatest creations. The "saint" as "whore." Or is it the "whore" as "saint?" I found myself engrossed and deeply moved watching her. It only confirmed my belief that she was with Vivian Leigh one of the two best English actresses in cinema. I love Julianne Moore in the 1999 version and equally love Deborah Kerr in the 1954 version. Sarah Miles is such a great creation that it would be wonderful to see another filmed version and compare the work of three actresses.
Incidentally, "The End of the Affair" is one of those notable works of literature that went from the page to the screen to the opera house (Jake Heggie, composer -- commission by The Houston Grand Opera -- 2004.) I do like the treatment given to the other characters in the 1954 film version. We get to meet Smythe and the priest and Sarah's mother. In the Neil Jordan screenplay, Smythe and the priest are combined into one character, a Catholic priest named Smythe. Sarah's mother is omitted in that version. If I was disappointed in the 1954 version it has to do with the character of Smythe. His character has a horrible facial birthmark that Sarah kisses when she parts from him. In the novel we are told that the birthmark disappeared upon her death. We have no idea that this happens in the 1954 film version. In the 1999 film version, the birthmark is given to Lance, Parkis's son. Also, in the novel, Lance suffers from stomach disorders. We learn that he is cured of that upon Sarah's death. No mention is made of this disorder in the 1954 film version.
Henry Miles, the cuckold, is more tragically portrayed in the 1999 film version. I tip the scales in favor to Stephen Rea whose performance is so true to the gravity of Graham Greene's creation.
A great story of human and Divine love with Maurice and Henry fighting for possession of Sarah's soul and only God receives it.
The Queen (2006)
Masterpiece Theater Type "Entertainment"
I only went to see this movie because of my deep admiration for the great actress Helen Mirren. I certainly weeped many tears because of the death of Princess Diana nine years ago. I had no need to re-open the still stinging feelings surrounding her tragic demise. And so when the movie ended, I had a feeling of being sullied, a feeling still with me almost 24 hours later.
I certainly do not know what could have possessed Mr. Frears to put his hand in this work. If the paparazzi are villainous to the point of murder regarding Princess Diana, then Mr. Frears and producers are equally guilty in using this material to cheapen her memory and profit on her terrible misfortune. It is to the credit of Miss Mirren, however, that this monstrous type of "TV" entertainment, didn't collapse on the weight of its presumptions. This is nowhere anything akin to great "cinema." For anyone looking for "great cinema," see "Babel," easily the best film of the year with many riveting performances.
Babel (2006)
Engrossingly Great Story Telling
Alejando Gonzalez Inarritu has remarkable vision. I find that one viewing of any of his two previous films is not enough to take in all of the overreaching extension of plot and the fascinating way in which the stories, although separate set pieces, are actually part of a complex design that use leit-motifs which integrate time and space and provide for satisfying the audience's intelligence while not cheating on that audience's emotional needs. And so I here confess to seeing "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams" many times each, with "21 Grams" hitting some very powerful emotions in me and which I consider to be one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had in movies.
And so with "Babel," which I have just returned from seeing at The New Orleans Film Festival, it is impossible to take in all of the director's vision on one viewing, but, yet, I say that this film is easier to access than are the two previous films. One viewing of it hasn't displaced my love and affection for "21 Grams," and I truly look forward to at least another big screen viewing before I one day own a DVD copy of it.
There is little that I can fault with the movie, with the possible exception of it's length. But then, one viewing, again, is impossible to fairly argue on the point of length. The audience was captivated and responded with appropriate revulsion during a scene in Mexico with chickens. Is it possible that we feel more for the killing of animals than we do of humans? The acting of Mr. Pitt, Miss Blanchett and Mr. Bernal, the universally known screen stars in the movie is impeccable and seamless. There are so many other outstanding performances from so many actors and actresses that a true ensemble has been achieved from many non-professional actors. I found the work of the children, Moroccan, American and Japanese to be outstanding. If Mr. Inarritu can be praised for anything in this film, it can be for eliciting the great performances from those young people. Outstanding.
The film is visually stunning and the music is quite beautiful. I recommend this movie to any of the fans of Mr. Inarritu, but then, I'm sure that I don't have to recommend it to them; they can't wait to see it and marvel at this great artist's vision and deep sense of compassion for us fellow humans. I am convinced that Mr. Inarritu is a great fellow human being.
All the King's Men (2006)
Beautiful Powerful Moving
Just returned from seeing a very moving experience. "All The King's Men" is better than what I expected and will go on to become a screen classic. Sean Penn is a genius and is one of the most riveting of all screen actors.
Everyone in the cast is splendid. I was deeply moved by the cinematography. I live in Louisiana, in New Orleans specifically, and the poetry that is Louisiana has never been more ethereally presented; thank you Pawel Edelman. Louisiana is like no other place. Seeing the live oaks in City Park moved me to tears. I've been afraid to go there since Hurricane Katrina came this way thirteen months ago. The "slow" pace of the movie is not a discredit to the director. There is a lot of story here and it can not possibly be taken in in one viewing. I look forward to seeing it again on the big screen and also owning the DVD edition when it hits the stores.
I have one recommendation to anyone reluctant to see this movie: read the review in The Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan.
Patricia Clarkson is our hometown gal. I truly hope that her portrayal of Sadie Burke will garnish her a nomination for at least best supporting actress.
What can one fault in Jude Law's performance?
Accents? In New Orleans we hear so many accents one would think that they're in Brooklyn, N. Y.