Disappointment and Delight

When I saw the trailer for Captain Phillips, I knew I was supposed to want to see it.  I knew it was going to be highly dramatic with world class acting and still, I did not much want to  see it.  I saw it this weekend  and I now know why that was the case.  I knew going in that the good Captain Phillips' ship would be taken and eventually some large, sea-faring vessel would arrive with big guns and rescue him.  The middle part was not presented in such a way that I cared much about how it all went down.  The final half hour of the film was tight, suspenseful and enjoyable but honestly, the film had so far lost me by that point that I was just kind of mad at the movie's director, Paul Greengrass for waiting so long to make it interesting. 


Nebraska is real without being boring.  These are characters that you know or have known, maybe your family or neighbors.  They manage to be familiar and yet still surprise you from time to time.  Nebraska is funny without trying too hard.  There is humor even in the more mundane, disappointing, and sad aspects of life.  This movie finds those moments with honesty and without going over the top.  It's a small movie with heart and personality and it may just end up being my favorite of the Best Picture Nominees.

(I swear this has nothing to do with Peyton Manning shouting Omaha in all of my dreams.  They didn't even visit that city in the movie!)

The American Wolf of Wall Street Hustle

Full disclosure: I did not like the 80'S. I didn't like the fashion, the music, and most especially the movies.  I didn't like watching all the excess of drugs, parties, sex and capitalism. So, The Wolf of Wall Street was difficult for me to get into.  It was a couple hours of me thinking, "Not these assholes, again!"  I kept wondering if everyone watching felt that way or if this was specific to my allergy to the '80s.  I appreciated that Martin Scorcese was not glorifying the actions of these self-destructive greed-whores, but even so, there were still a lot of lines of cocaine on and in the bodies of prostitutes.  Boring!

It took a few days before I found myself thinking back fondly on scenes from the film, and I realized I had enjoyed the film, despite my allergies.  The acting was great, the style of story-telling was as bare and brazen as ever, the cleverness of The Wolf was echoed in the directing in lovely ways.  Scorcese's film-making always has "punch".  I have to love that.

Coincidentally, somehow the billboards for American Hustle called to mind a Scorcese film.  All that 1970's hair work seemed to promise in your face film-making.  I was waiting edgy choices and cinematic style to spare. I forgot that this is not Russell's game. I felt the first act of the movie was so slow!  I kept waiting for something to really get cooking.  I had to remember to have patience because sometimes a good story takes time.  It was important for me to be invested in the relationship between Amy Adams and Christian Bale or else I would never know how much they were risking later in the film.

So here are two films with bold, flawed characters who are trying and failing, at life and success and comb-overs.  In the Wolf of Wall Street, there is nary a soul with redeeming qualities.  In American Hustle the characters manage to alternately earn my scorn and empathy.  If I have to choose, I'll go with the film that allows me to like its characters, even if it is in spite of myself.  The '70s win!

Two for Cinematography: Inside Llewyn Davis and Prisoners

I'm okay with a melancholy film as long as it hits a certain threshold of poignancy. If it resonates with me or affirms some basic tenet I hold true, then I don't need a plot-heavy or fast-paced film..  Unfortuantely, Inside Llewyn Davis did not resonate with me, but I bet it did with some of its viewers. I enjoyed it fine while watching it but as soon as it had finished I experienced buyer's remorse.  Maybe I should have seen something else? Surely there was some laundry at home that I should have been working on?

That said, the cinematography was the talent in question and it was beautiful.  So dreamy, hazy and muted, like old memories, kind of sad because the color was going out of them, but also more beautiful because of that aging process. (As a side note, too bad there is no Oscar for animal actors because two cats were great in this film!)


On the other hand, the look of Prisoners seemed so run of the mill to me, I could not figure out why it got nominated in this category.  Despite my expensive film school education, I still know very little about how to work a camera, so I am completely open to someone explaining to me why this film was a work of genius. I do recall one fabulous shot of an eye barely lit by a shaft of light.  Super cool shot, but is it enough for an Oscar?

As for the rest of the film, I had a devil of a time staying awake, which was probably not the fault of the film.  I thought I would be an emotional wreck for the plot line of two young girls being kidnapped, but thankfully the film makers did not pull those strings.  Instead the focus was logical, tactical, detached.  I liked the creepy, off characters and the question, "What does it take to make a monster?"

Nominees are coming to tooown...

Listen up film buffs, fans, snobs and hopeless escapists!  Oscar nominations are announced at 4am tomorrow morning!  I've got my Netflix cue hanging by the fire in anxious anticipation of jolly old St. Oscar stuffing it to the brim with cinematic delights! 

I've even set my alarm so I can be the first to hear the good news...Just kidding!  Did you really think I would get up early for that?  Nah, the same nominee information will be available to me whether I deprive myself of sleep or not, so why bother?  But I am excited...super-excited!

I've been thinking about my favorite movie moments from 2013.  They are kind of scattered and sparse.  My kids aren't quite ready to accompany me to such family fare as Blue is the Warmest Color, so for now, movies remain catch-as-catch-can.  Which is pretty much why I partake in yearly Oscar gluttony of heroically obsessive proportions.  I will attempt to watch all of the films nominated for Oscars.  In ANY category.  I got pretty close last year.  There are always a few foreign films that are completely unattainable (without Academy screeners, that is) but I will not be deterred.

So while I wait for the Oscar gods to determine my fate, here are my top three (or so) movie moments of 2013.

1. Sound Design in World War Z.  I read the internet from time to time, so I am aware that everyone hates this movie.  It was too much, too little and too different from the book.  I didn't know anything about it going in and I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this film.  What notched it up from a good time at the movies to a great time at the movies was sound design.  Sound was used as a plot device, good use was made of all the speakers in the theatre, and silence was used to perfection. 

2. Acting in The Heat.  Nope. I'm not joking.  We all know that Melissa McCarthy is awesome because she commits to her comedy.  In The Heat, she committed to her character and the plot as much if not more so.  The choices she made in that film were so magical I didn't even know what to do with myself.  It's completely true that I was at least a little inebriated when I saw the film, but I'll stand by it!  She is an amazing talent!

3. Visual Effects in Gravity.  Well, at least on this one the Academy is likely to agree with me.  I must have thought three times during the film, "This movie wasn't even possible five years ago."  And then the Visual Effects did my favorite thing ever - they disappeared beneath the plot.

4. Honorable Mention to Frozen.  Disney's new take on True Love made me cry like John Boehner.  I seriously need to go into a sensory deprivation tank and sing Let it Go over and over again until I can hear it without weeping.  Or future jaunts to Disneyland with my kids are going to get really embarrassing, really quickly.

Now get some sleep!  The madness begins tomorrow!