Recently viewed films

[Otis Westinghouse]

A Late Quartet, well yeah, enjoyable. Good acting. Somewhat over saturated in ageing man fantasies of gorgeous young woman finding them irresistible (and come on, the flamenco dancing is sooooo corny), but all in all entertaining and sad stuff and a good celebration of Op. 131.

[Jack of All Parades]

Yes- that was the weak spot of the film. But that said is it not every male's fantasy who loves Iberia and its culture ? As to the first violinist, tough to take in hindsight but I do recall the daughter does push the coupling, too. Equally tough for me to watch as my oldest is involved with a middle aged Frenchman who is most adept at yoga and who is Harvard educated and a cancer research doctor. I have learned to be accepting as the 'heart wants what the heart wants'. He does ply me with good "Cote du Rhone' and hearth baked fresh olive bread, though.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Sounds like you got a good deal.

Yes, the daughter totally initiates it, and Mr Precision eventually responds, but even more sense of an Allenesque older male fantasy to have gorgeous youngster (English actress, I note) make the move. The bedroom scene when mom comes round is well done. Moving from comedy to dark drama as it does. Not sure if it was an interesting/believable point that the youngster's life was dominated and adversely affected by 'The Fugue' parentally and yet there she was in lessons with its senior member and finding it's lead violinist irresistible. My wife took the view that it was understandable that she'd find him so attractive as he was divinely sexy. Didn't see that myself. He was Ukrainian. Flamenco chick was Israeli, as is Zilberman and much of the crew. Pretty assured for a first feature and pretty amazing to get the likes of Walken and PSH in it:

http://www.toromagazine.com/features/ta ... Zilberman/

I enjoyed coming home and whacking the CD on, though I was waiting for Mr Precision to pop up and agonise over the lack or excess of vibrato at select points.

[Jack of All Parades]

Yes, Otis, I do have it good. Like the first violinist in the film- he is incredibly fit-which is probably part of the attraction for both your wife and my daughter. That he hails from Arles- Van Gogh's last stamping grounds is a plus as I have been able to talk with him about Roman France and the Medieval church seat. He treats her well and that is most important. And then there is the strong possibility that she could move off to Paris to live.

That piece you shared catches something important. When I have talked about this movie with musician friends who have seen it, they all agree it is the best movie they have seen about being a working musician. That and Christopher Walken's performance.

I know that it is good movie because when it ended I remember turning to my wife and saying that was unexpected. Meaning that was a thoroughly enjoyable movie experience.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I thought the ending was v powerful. The scores, etc. Somewhat far-fetched, but hey, it's a movie. My missus was in tears, somewhat unexpectedly.

[Jack of All Parades]

I would credit that to the power of the opus 131 and to Mr. Walken's subtle performance. I must admit when he walked off the stage at the end and the camera focuses upon his face as he is seated at the rear of the theater- I, too, broke down.

[Jack of All Parades]

"The Skin I Live In"- never saw this Almadovar film when it first came out in 2011. Playing catch up as it never came to my area and I only finally had a chance to watch a DVD last night with the missus. Visually scrumptious as ever- he has a way with pointing a camera and painting pictures with it. In this case I was entertained by his visual playing with the Odilisque image- the female form. The actress he used is beautiful and she makes for a stunning 'subject'. The visual puns throughout the film kept my attention. His usage of color, textures and style to visually tell his story is not diminished. I could watch his movies just for that. I even liked the multiple layers of stories and the cross cutting of time. The mixture of horror, sci- fi, melodrama, erotica and thriller worked most of the time. As a study of obsession and madness I am not certain it held together. First time I have ever seen Antonio Banderas so vulnerable on the screen.

[ice nine]

Rather enjoyed Robert Redford's new film The Company You Keep. Many good actors in it: Redford, Julie Christie, Stanley Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Chris Cooper, Brendan Gleeson, Nick Nolte, and Susan Sarandon.

[Jack of All Parades]

Seen two great comedies recently: Potiche (translated as 'Trophy Wife'), film version of a French 80s stage comedy set in 1977, starring the magnificent Catherine Deneuve and the enormous and also magnificent Gerard Depardieu. Very witty, beautiful recreation of the era, a comedy about patriarchal roles being subverted. Warmly recommended; and Bridesmaids, which is comedy gold. I only really knew Irish actor Chris O'Dowd, known here from The IT Crowd, and more recently as English Victorian patriarch in the excellent TV adaptation of Michael Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White, but lead player and co-writer Kristen Wiig was superb. She's done a lot on Saturday Night Live, along with fellow actor Maya Rudolph, who also turns out to be the daughter of Minnie Ripperton of 'Loving You' fame - remember that? There are about 5 scenes in this film that leave you helpless with laughter. It seems to be marketed as a feelgood chick flick, when in fact it's a satire on the nonsense surrounding weddings and female competitiveness within that. Very sharp and witty. Reminded me of Sideways in some ways.

Great to see two excellent comedies that genuinely made you LOL for much of the time.

Finally got to view "Potiche" last night. A gentle enough French farce. Though I liked "La Cage aux Folles" more in its day. The two leads- Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu- are consumate pros and hardly seem to be acting. But the story had to work for its laughs for my taste. Did like the visual pun of the Umbrella factory. God- is Depardieu huge these days- but still light on his feet as the one club scene showed. Eerily with the recent passing of Ms. Thatcher, I noted Ms Deneuve's hair style strangely copied Margaret's- ironic given that Ms Deneuve's character is going into politics in 1977 around the same time that a certain British female politiican was beginning her rise to power!

[Jack of All Parades]

"Not Fade Away" by David Chase. His first feature film. My first blu ray film. I and my wife enjoyed it but I am not overwhelmed. A coming of age film, this time in suburban New Jersey with the sixties as the back drop with the attendant musical, sexual and political revolutions of the time. The young actor, James Magaro, who plays the main character, Douglas, is convincing in his growth from awkward young adolescent to front man for a band. And bands were everywhere back then. This one teaches itself slavishly how to play by copying note for note the looks and songs of the British Invaders. I liked being reminded what it felt like to spend time in a real music store; the rush one had in pouring over record album covers and pondering the lyrics printed on the back. Chase, like he did in The Sopranos, effectively uses music in his storytelling. It is another actor. Maybe because I lived it, the music hit memory spots for me. Perhaps that is why I was able to stay with it. It might not resonate with someone born in 1990. The way he wrapped the time in music starting with the opening notes of the 'Peppermint Twist" and then ending with the jarring sounds of the Sex Pistols has stayed with me since last night. It reminded me of how much music shaped my young life and how it continues to do so.

[bambooneedle]

^
That's the story of my life, except it didn't work out with the frontman of the band bit... still working on that...

ps: It's 'my wife and I', never 'I and my wife'. Ladies before gentlemen...

[Otis Westinghouse]

The Great Gatsby. Feels like a music video much of the time, enhanced by the Jay Z et al music, which is just irritating. Doesn't get the full power of the story, though Di Caprio, Mulligan and Maguire are pretty good, and Joel Edgerton just right as Tom Buchanan. But this high octane, visual extravaganza is highly watchable fun. It's a book that deserves less glitz and more emotional depth, though. I haven't read it in decades and was shocked to find how much I didn't recall of the plot (I tend to remember scenes, descriptions, symbols, atmospheres much more than plots). Worth seeing at the cinema. It's hilarious how obvious the 3D moments are when watching in 2D. It's vertiginous enough that way, I think I'd have thrown up in 3D! So silly that they do this (other than Life of Pi).

[bambooneedle]

The trailer for The Great Gatsby looks amazing. I love all that Art Deco stuff. We don't get it until the 30th. Leonardo is going for some big iconic names... Romeo, Hugh Heffner, The Great Gatsby.... he's read all of F Scott Fitzgerald's books, it's well known...

[Jack of All Parades]

Sounds good. Had a family outing to the cinema yesterday myself to see Life of Pi. Read the book when it came out and liked it, wondered how Ang Lee would reimagine it and was not disappointed for a second. Commentators have criticised it as boring, too long at sea with the tiger, etc., and The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw lambasted its ending, the same as in the book, but I like the framing device of the telling of the story and how it concludes very much indeed. First-time actor Suraj Sharma is excellent as the boy, the CGI animals and tiger in particular are mind-blowingly good, and it has the best use of 3D I've seen (one to definitely see in this format over 2D as some of the ocean-going visual magic would be much weaker in 2D). Ang Lee is building up a varied and remarkable body of work and I think pulls off the rare thing here of a film that matches its literary source for magic (more visual, less psychological, inevitably). For me it didn't drag for a second, there are consistently interesting things happening in all moments, and all 5 of us inc 12 year old liked it. Recommended without hesitation.

The visit to the cinema was memorable for another reason. Some 30 mins or more into the film, after most/all of the India sequences, Cambridge's most famous resident Stephen Hawking came in. I've been near him in restaurants before, but never the cinema. Although he was quite far away to the side of the theatre, it was hard not to be aware of his presence throughout, not least due to his bright screen and especially the very regular bleeping from the computer. For a lesser being I don't think I could have resisted shouting out 'Hasn't it got a silent mode?', but maybe the bleeping is an essential part of monitoring his status. It seems incredible he's made it to 70. Pure comedy came a few times when that unmistakeable voice said, also at a level very far from silent mode 'Yes', 'Thank you' and 'I hope so'. It made a good talking point at the party I was at later on.

It's a curious juxtaposition, a story that vouches it will make its listener believe in God and the great scientist who recently said that 'heaven and the afterlife are fairy tales'. He's also written metaphorically of the mind of God. I hope he liked the film. The God theme is one that would be fun to discuss in a literary class, but it's certainly one that is handled in such a way as not to irk someone of my atheistic persuasion (nor even that of my student son's more hardcore version!). The humour of Pi's pantheistic vision is wonderfully done. Check out the closing note on this ASTONISHING website's review for the (fascistically) hardcore Christian take on this!

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenti ... of-pi.aspx

And tomorrow the 5 of us will reconvene for The Hobbit. I think Hawking would enjoy that one too.

Finally caught up with this one the other night while my middle daughter was home for the holiday along with her boyfriend who had not seen the movie, as well. Saw it on Blu Ray too which now I understand all the fuss. The picture definition was exquisite. Only thing missing was the 3d which would probably have enhanced the computer generated scenes of phosphorescence towards the middle or all the meerkats. Has to be the strongest usage of computer generated animation I have ever seen. It was seamless and extremely lifelike. As to the story, I am not drawn to the God stuff. I did, however, like the ending if I read it as a metaphor for story telling. In truth, which would one prefer as a watcher and listener? A straight adventure story about a cook, a sailor, etc lost at sea in a boat or one of exotic animals adrift- in essence fiction and the art of story telling. I had a good time viewing this one. Yet again a solid example of Mr. Lee's noticeable ability to work well within so many genres and to produce watchable results when he does. He also seems to naturally work well with actors.

[Jack of All Parades]

"Behind the Candelabra" by Steven Soderbergh. With its mantra 'too much of a good thing is wonderful' this was a highly entertaining study of excess, showmanship, control, frustration and disguise[both figuratively and psychological]. This story of Liberace and his 'protege' and paramour Scott Thorson is never less than gripping in Mr. Soderbergh's hands. Like last year's "Magic Mike", he has a real empathy with these type of morality tales. He gets the garishness and vulgarity and then peels it back to show the actual humans living these lives. Michael Douglas never overplays Liberace- it is not a parody. He gives a finely calibrated performance that is carefully nuanced and oddly sympathetic in its approach. You see a flesh and blood man trying desperately to convince himself he is 'entertaining' his audience and that he is 'more' than he really is in real life . Matt Damon, as the 'assistant', does not look 18 years old but he does manage to convey a real sense of innocence and worshipful devotion. The supporting cast of Dan Ackroyd, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, as a very creep plastic surgeon, and especially Debbie Reynolds, as Liberace's thinly veiled controlling mother, are all quite good. It is a grand look at lives stuck in a hellish fishbowl.

[Otis Westinghouse]

And allegedly Soderbergh's cinematic swansong...

[Jack of All Parades]

I certainly hope it is not his swan song as a director- if it is, he exited strong and with a solid display of his vision and skill.

[Jack of All Parades]

Rust and Boneby Jacques Audiard, whose A Prophet I so enjoyed a few years back. This one is a melodrama that is elevated above its cliches by the performances of the two leads- Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Cotillard , in particular, opens my eyes. Her performance is fierce and lacerating.When she slowly returns to life following her accident at her job as an Orca trainer you follow her progression on the screen with Cortillard's imaginative and stunning face. The look on that face when she is put back into the ocean following her accident is stunning. The recognition on her face when she wakes in the hospital and first realizes that she no longer has her legs will stay with you. The sex scenes are not gratuitous and they serve to make the growing relationship between the two leads all the more believable, as the one character is only alive in the now of physical activity and the other is only brought back to life through physical contact with the world and its inhabitants. Cortillard may be currently one of the main faces I will readily watch on the screen these days. The movie capably involves you in the lives of two damaged people and draws you into their pain and their growing need for one another. Its message that if one's spirit is willing enough than the body will follow is a positive one.

[Jack of All Parades]

Have this one to look forward to in the coming weeks- this trailer has my curiosity piqued:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/201 ... ike_a.html

[Otis Westinghouse]

Looks interesting. I couldn't face seeing the Rome one, but the Paris one I loved, so by the law of alternation, this one might be worth it again. Funny to see an Ozzie and a Brit playing two American sisters. The wonderful Cate B as American is nothing new, but it's funny to see Sally Hawkins being one. Accent slip-up detection alert, particularly for those over there.

Hoping to see Shane Meadows' Stone Roses film this week.

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis- to my wife and I it appears to be a decent twist on Blanche DuBois. We are excited,

An entertaining and legitimately scary film last night- Mama. It did not have to rely on slashing, gore, zombies, apocalyptic nightmares, etc, to get its chills across. Instead just good old fashioned retelling of a ghost story, in this case the leitmotif of the imperiled babes lost in the woods. Jessica Chastain, as the goth girlfriend of the other protagonist, her boyfriend, is quite watchable in her severely cut hair , dyed black and her arm fully tattooed. The plot involves two young girls who have been kidnapped by their estranged father and left in a cabin in the woods after their father has murdered their mother. I will leave it at that. Their reclamation to 'normal' society following their discovery in the woods is the crux of the movie with the war of wills between two maternal forces fighting over them. The chills do not come cheaply but through intelligent and unnerving camera work. Bottom line it is one of the better ghost stories I have watched. The best since The Others or The Devil's Backbone. One other treat was the score which is chock full of nursery rhymes which helps to accent the horror on the screen.

[Jack of All Parades]

My summer escape film- this time World War Z. I actually enjoyed this one; it was 'fun' and slightly terrifying because it was smart enough to keep its chills human. The movie's action sequences have a solid, visual flow and are not gratuitous. They are exciting, believable, almost natural in that they mirror something that the human mind could comprehend as plausible and they keep you on the edge of your seat. Zombie Apocalypse indeed. What makes this movie eminently watchable is the human, small scale element of most of the scenes You find yourself rooting for this one family headed by Brad Pitt and Misielle Enos as they struggle to stay together and comprehend and avoid the viral onslaught that is overcoming the world. The camera consistently sets up shots and points of view that are entertaining and genuinely scary. The acting is also never over the top- Pitt is quite likable as the calming husband, father and professional soldier. Most of all the movie does not overstay its welcome. It takes the many threads of concern that fill the news today in an opening montage of themes and melds them into an entertaining film of just under two hours. It was a most engaging two hours of fantasy and fear.....

[Jack of All Parades]

Finally caught up with the documentary- "Waiting for Sugarman"- last evening. Fun, Fun, Fun- if a film that uses a forgotten life and a decaying urban center as its backdrop can be that. I have to admit I found his music mawkish and derivative- smaking of Neil Diamond, poor Dylan and Cat Stevens all at once. But Rodriguez's voice is easy to listen to as a smooth tenor. What makes the film very watchable is the almost child like nature of this man- his ability to live in the moment. To suddenly find out decades after your muscial career tanked that you are a patron saint in South Africa is astonishing. Particularly in this information age. You come away happy that this man has found some success, made a difference within his own family, his community and in another part of the world. That he has remained a simple soul is all the more astounding. Well worth a watch for anybody.

[Otis Westinghouse]

As a South African chum I met in NYC recently told me, 'Sugarman is my life!' Then someone in Ireland was praising the film and kindly gave us a copy of the film + soundtrack to check out. Looking forward to it.

[Jack of All Parades]

Journeys the documentary from last year by Jonathan Demme on Neil Young[its the third film he has done on the man]. Not entirely satisfying as the film could not get into a rhythm for me as it bounced back and forth between being a concert film and a documentary on Neil's hometown Wemeeme, Ontario. The parts where he is interacting with his brother and revisiting childhood haunts were effective but most of the concert footage was hohum at best as it featured mostly material from his Le Noise effort of a few years back[an album that has not aged well for me] and some older classics. One element of the stage performance did come to life when he sat down in front of an old pump organ and began to play. There were some odd camera angle sequences on the stage too that were none too flattering to Neil. I wish Demme had made up his mind and just done a straight documentary- it would have been interesting to observe Neil prowling around his childhood memories. As it is I cannot rightly recommend wasting time with the film.