March Movie Reviews

*****  Exceptional

****    Great

***      OK

**        So So

*          Blah

Alfie with the ever-charming Jude Law, 2004 version. I've never seen the 1960s version although I'm sure it's the same story only updated. It's about Alfie, a womanizing player who flits from woman to woman never caring, avoiding commitment, and totally self-serving.  By the end he's questioning the meaning of life and purpose of his existence. "What's it all about, Alfie?"  (Love the song.) Jude Law is adorable although exasperating, devoid of life-affirming priorities. ***

Any Day Now takes place in 1979 about a female impersonator (Alan Cumming) who's drug-addict neighbor has a son with Down Syndrome who she neglects and abuses. When she is arrested and imprisoned, he petitions for custody with his new boyfriend and lawyer (Garret Dillahunt). The legal system is biased against gay couples as adoptive parents and they fight an uphill battle that focuses on their lifestyle rather on what is best for the child. Sweet movie, performances are great, sad ending that I could stop thinking about, I don't like the title...***

Code Black is a documentary film on Los Angeles County General Hospital, a little about its ground-breaking history and a lot on the sad state of modern health care as well as how ER doctors are drowning in regulations that prevent them from caring for patients. ***

Danny Collins is about a famous yet elderly former 1970s rock star (Al Pacino) who in his youth was compared to Bob Dylan. He sold his soul to the music industry when he stopped writing his own songs and began a miserable second career making millions off of idiotic pop hits for the masses. For his birthday, his agent (Christopher Plummer) finds an old letter written by John Lennon to Danny sent to a magazine editor and never received by the recipient. Inspired and tormented by how this letter might have changed his life for the better had he received it forty years ago, Collins decides to reinvent himself, give up his teenage girlfriend, stop doing drugs, and reconnect with his adult son (Bobby Cannavale) who he never met (who is married to Jennifer Gardner). He moves into the New Jersey Hilton where Annette Bening is the manager. It had some really great LOL lines and scenes, heartwarming, sweet, some romance for old people, and delightful. Pacino was wonderful. The perfect aging rock star. Loved it. ****

Dean is about a young man who's mother died and the ongoing loss he feels a year later when his life continues to be off track. Nothing seems to be going right. He broke up with his fiancé, he ends up being the second best man at his best friend's wedding, he falls for a married woman, and he can't seem to finish his second book. He's an artist and his drawings illustrate his emotions in situations throughout the movie. It was sad yet clever with quirky characters and LOL moments.  Not sure I like the title.***

Downsizing  Such a WEIRD movie. Scientists developed "downsizing" or making people five inches high to save space, save resources, and eliminate the overabundance of waste. People are opting to downsize because 1) they want to contribute to a better planet or 2) because they can't afford anything as normal size people so their money goes twice as far and they can live like the wealthy. Paul (Matt Damon), an occupational therapist, and his wife (Kristen Wiig) decide to go small, but at the last minute his wife opts out leaving him to wake up alone, small, and in a new miniature community. His life becomes empty and meaningless, he ends up getting a job as a customer service agent for Land's End while living in a dinky apartment after his wife files for divorce. It just gets weirder from there, but never really interesting. **

The Equalizer Denzel Washington has some serious superhero skills in this one! Bob/Robert is a mild-mannered, hardware store manager with a mysterious past, beloved by his employees as he tries to help them be better people by encouraging them to eat healthy and do the right thing. He lives a quiet life, alone, can't sleep and spends his nights in a diner drinking tea and reading classics. He meets Alina (Cloe Grace Moretz) who frequents the same diner in the middle of the night. She is a Russian prostitute controlled by Russian gangsters with dreams of getting out of the business. When her pimp beats her up as an example to the other prostitutes, Bob/Robert goes after them. Then the bosses come after him. In the meantime he rectifies wrongs in the community where ever he sees them. Some serious superhero-ness with a dash of vigilantism! Excellent use of power tools as weapons. Normally I don't like shoot 'em up corruption movies with emotionless characters, but this one was outstanding with more humanness than blood and guts. Loved it! The end is a little unrealistic. If he's lived incognito for so long then spends too much time killing bad guys in front of everyone, I can't imagine he'd be able to go back to his regular life and be left alone. If anything the cops would be all over him for all the mayhem he's caused even if it's killing bad people. Still good. *****

The First Monday in May is about organizing the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2015 exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass" and the annual Met Gala fundraiser. Lots of history on the perception of fashion as art. It's amazing the work that goes into these events. The costumes are spectacular. ****

Fury is a World War II movie about an American tank unit in Germany. Brad Pitt is the commander. When one of the crew members is killed, a very young rookie takes his place. He's been in the Army eight weeks, trained as a clerk, and has never shot a gun. It's a steep learning curve. Excellent performances. Great story, very bloody, very human. ****

Ice Castles (2010) I absolutely loved Ice Castles from the 1970s with that adorable Robbie Benson. I was so young when I saw it I don't remember if the acting was bad. This remake is the same story with not-so-great acting. I wasn't even sure the skating was that good in most scenes. Great ending, and maybe my memory is idealistic, but I think the original packed more of a punch. ***

Keep the Lights On is about two gay men who meet through some sex phone line. Eric is a filmmaker and Paul is a lawyer by day, crack head by night. The decade-long roller coaster ride of this relationship was exhausting. **

The Lovers is about a dispassionate married couple (Debra Winger and Tracy Letts) who are so bored with each other they don't know what to do when they are in the same room. They are both having extra marital affairs, but their lovers are emotionally demanding and draining, constantly throwing tantrums because they aren't getting undivided attention. The stress is wearing them down and it is exhausting to watch. They lie incessantly to everyone. Eventually they find it easier to just stay at home with their spouse which rekindles their relationship. It was a fable for bad behavior. I got bored (or irritated) and turned it off. I think people who have had extramarital affairs would identify with it and like it, but I'm not that person... *

Mystic River is about three boys growing up in Boston affected by a childhood event when one of them was taken by two pedophiles. Fast forward 25 years later and the 19 year old daughter of one of the boys (Sean Penn) is viciously murdered. Another boy is now a homicide detective (Kevin Bacon) who investigates the crime and the third (Tim Robbins), comes home on the same night with blood all over him. Incredibly sad story on so many levels. All-star cast (Lawrence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney) with outstanding performances by all and two Academy Awards (Penn and Robbins). I read the book and have probably seen the movie at least three times. How is it that Kevin Bacon so sexy? Just his presence, the way he walks, the way he moves. Is it any wonder he had such a following? So interesting. *****

Paris Can Wait was incredibly boring. It's about a woman (Diane Lane) who is traveling with her film producer self-centered husband (Alec Baldwin) in France and gets a ride to Paris with a goof ball who is a lousy driver and who prides himself on his time-wasting tour guide abilities. I think someone must have been trying to benefit from the rom-com Lane was in about Italy. Just boring and the performances were outstandingly lacking in realism with stunted dialogue. Nice tourist scenery. I turned it off. *

Pieces of April was about a young woman (Katie Holmes) who has had a life-long, contentious relationship with her family as the belligerent, rebellious pain in the ass. She is living some slum in New York and although unable to cook, she invites her family for Thanksgiving. Her mother (Patricia Clarkson) is dying from breast cancer so the family sees this an the last opportunity for a family celebration. Expectations are low since their daughter has been a constant disappointment throughout life. As she begins to prepare dinner, she realizes her stove is not working. At one point she attempts to mash uncooked potatoes suggesting she's way over her head and we should expect this to be a disaster. She has rely on all the quirky people in her apartment building to help her and through all this human contact understands the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Excellent. Very sweet. ****

A Sense of an Ending is about a man (Jim Broadbent) who gets bequeathed a college friend's diary, but his ex-college girlfriend has it in her possession. He reminisces about time spent in college, his relationships then and his relationships now, ending with the idea that we create our own life stories by picking and choosing memories. Interesting. **

Starlet is about a young woman who buys a thermos at a yard sale from an old woman who tells her everything is non-refundable. When she gets it home and attempts to fill it with water, she finds there is $10,000 in bundled $100s in it. She's not sure what to do, but attempts to return it to the woman who starts screaming at her there are no refunds. She embarks on a relationship with her, meeting her at the grocery store, showing up at bingo games, offering to do things for her and pay her way. Once they get to know one another, the old woman confesses her husband was a gambler and left her mega amounts of money. It's a great story about human relationships. Later we find out our main character is a porn star (you get to watch porn for about 15 minutes...) and her little dog's name is Starlet. ****

Tulip Fever is about the sixteenth-century tulip craze in Holland and with the associated wins and losses of fast profit. It's also about Sophia, a young orphan woman raised in the convent, who marries an older, wealthy Dutch trader but is unable to dutifully give him what he most desires - an heir. He hires an artist to paint their portrait  believing his only legacy in life will be his beautiful wife. Unfortunately she falls torridly in love with the painter who then tries to strike it rich in the tulip business so they may run away together. Her maid's fish-monger boyfriend struck it rich in the tulip market only to be robbed and then waylaid onto a ship. After his mysterious disappearance, the maid realizes she's pregnant and to hide her maid's pregnancy and save her from disgrace and unemployment, Sophia pretends to be pregnant...and then she fakes her death in order to escape undetected. The rollercoaster ride of a plot was very entertaining. Clearly greed (vanity) is evil - a popular Dutch Baroque art theme and beautiful filmed in this art style filled with wistful maidens posing in otherworldly light. Beautiful costumes. ***

A Very Long Engagement is a French war drama with a very surreal sense of comedy about a young man who goes off to WWI. Shocked by his early traumatic experiences, he decides to have his hand purposely shot off in order to be relieved of his duties so he can return home and marry his girlfriend. Unfortunately this is grounds for execution and he and four other soldiers who also self-mutilated are used as battlefield decoys thrown out in front of the Germans for distraction. Meanwhile back home his disabled-from-polio childhood sweetheart is told he's dead, but she's not having it. She searches for truth in imaginary tests: "If I can count to five before the dog comes through the door, he is alive." "If I reach the corner before the car passes me, he will survive." It's very sentimental and sweet. She begins a rather elaborate search for him, hiring a private detective, contacting other veterans who were in the same trench, reconstructing history through flashbacks. Beautiful costumes, filming, and photography. ***

Watchers of the Sky is about the history of the United Nations' Genocide Convention and its founder and promoter Raphael Lemkin OR how utterly ineffective international law is at protecting innocent people from slaughter with the USA at the forefront of arrogant, self-centered apathy. The documentary addresses various genocides in history: Armenians, Jewish Holocaust, Rwanda, and Sudan. Many world leaders who support and organize these atrocities continue to go unpunished because so countries don't want to get involved. Humans disgust me. Their evilness knows no bounds. ****

We Were Soldiers was about the Vietnam War and a combat platoon with Mel Gibson as the commander. I had to fast forward through most of it - too much gruesome death and mayhem for me with limbs exploding off bodies and flying through the air.  I think if you like war movies, this is the movie for you. **

Winter in Wartime is a Dutch film with English subtitles about a Dutch family during the Nazi occupation. The next door neighbor's sons are involved in the underground and inadvertently involve their thirteen year old friend. When one is arrested and the other shot, the kid figures out they were protecting and caring for a British RAF pilot who's plane crashed and is hiding in the countryside until he can escape to safety. It was good. It must have been frightening to not know who to trust during the war. ***