|
Occasionally, I'll be asked "hey, have you seen anything good lately?" Well, yeah probably. There's always stuff that
I've recently watched or rewatched and am willing to commit to the suggestion for folks to check it out if they hadn't
seen it or even heard of it. So maybe you'll find something here that peaks your interest.
If you would like to see some more of my reactions to a variety of films, you can find more short reviews,
along with a variety of ramblings
at my blog.
My BLOG...Right here!
|
 Moneyball
(2011)
"How can you not be romantic about baseball?"
As the Oakland Athletic's begin their 2002 season, general manager Billy Beane faces the realization the old way of putting together his team just doesn't work. The low-budgeted A's can't possibly compete against their super rich rivals by trying to assemble a team in the traditional sense. So Beane tries something radically different.
Moneyball tells the story of how Beane (Brad Pitt) implemented a statisical system to find the value in undervalued players. Being unable to offer astonomical big league salaries Beane and economics graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) try to form a baseball team by using theories that would help them find cheaper untapped talent and still give them a chance of winning the final game of the season.
Based on the true story, Moneyball isn't the typical 'baseball movie'. With a story filled with statistics, numbers, data being calculated and analyzed one might think the story could be very dry. But it's just the opposite. Thanks to a smart script, excellent performances and tight direction, Moneyball kept me engaged from beginning to end.
I would never have thought of it but, Pitt and Hill make a very good team pairing. With Pitt's energetic Beane and Hill's soft-spoken Brand, the two characters create an interesting partnership. They have some fun scenes. There's also plenty of dramatic ones recounting Beane's own personal history of being a player with promises of greatness, players being casually traded or let go for the sake of business decisions and the question of 'does it mean anything if you don't win the big game in the end'.
Naturally, despite their faith in this whole numbers idea there are conflicts by owners, managers, fans and the players towards the whole thing. Confusion and apprehension by everyone around make Beane's plan even more difficult to even just try. All those scenes add up to the building pressure on Beane and how much he really is shaking things up with America's favorite past time.
Even if you know how it all ends, baseball fans and non-fans should find Moneyball a very entertaining film.
|
 They Live
(1987)
For me They Live was the last gasp of Carpenter's bizarre, scary, funny film career. Early in his career he was on a role creating classic horror stories and strange worlds in his films. Granted maybe not all were huge hits financially, but they would eventually be embraced by fans and have a more lasting impact than how they looked at the time of their release.
Before the steep decline with the quality his films took in the 90's, with a three million dollar budget Carpenter would write and direct one of the most famous cult films from the 1980's starring a pro wrestler and a pair of sunglasses.
Roddy Piper stars as a drifter who inadvertently puts on a pair of shades and suddenly sees aliens and subliminal messages all around us. What's a good honest drifter to do? Start kicking alien ass of course!
Filled with quote worthy dialogue, some pretty cool looking aliens and a five minute slugfest between Piper and David Keith in an alley, They Live is a fun diverting B-movie. Since first seeing it upon it's initial release my reaction has always been - "well, it's not a great movie, but it's an amusing one!". Watching it years later I still feel the same way.
Piper is very well cast as our lead hero. He obviously handles the stunts very well. He spouts out his overblown, ridiculous lines with real relish. ("I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass....and I'm all out of bubblegum." How can you not love that!) He's also a surprisingly charismatic, taciturn, likable guy onscreen.
The visuals of seeing the true black and white world through the sunglasses is a real kick. It's such an incredibly simple idea, but it's a powerful one. Years later those huge signs saying 'Obey', 'Consume', 'Don't Question Authority', still gives me a nice jolt. The aliens themselves are a pretty creepy, weird looking lot. Seeing them in black and white maybe makes them more sinister to me.
Unfortunately, the film doesn't go as far with this idea as I think it could have. It's a very rich concept - aliens controlling us with subliminal messages through the media. Plus, you have the potenital allegories and criticisms of the 'excess 80's that could be targeted, the upper class abusing the lower class, selling out for the sake of the mighty dollar, there's a lot of exploring you can do here. However, the movie just touches on the concept without getting any deeper and sticks to shoot outs and running.
But still for what it is They Live is a pretty satisfying, unusal movie. It's got the sci-fi, the action, the humor and it earns it's place as one of the most enjoyable cult movies from the 80's. It's kind of strange when I consider this was the last of Carpenter's films I liked. It's been a really long time and I wish he would find his way again.
|
 Crimes And
Misdemeanors
(1989)
Woody Allen’s films can be hit or miss. Some I adore, while others I find it a struggle to sit through. After writing, producing, directing and/or acting in so many films for such an extended period of time they can’t all be great.
One of his standouts on his film resume for me is 1989’s Crimes and Misdemeanors. Allen plays a struggling documentary filmmaker who is attempting to complete a film about a philosophy professor. Needing money to finance this endeavor he lowers himself to film a cushy profile doc about a narcissistic, successful sitcom creator who happens to be his brother-in-law (Alan Alda). While working on this project he falls for the producer (Mia Farrow), but as luck would have it so does Alda.
The other parallel story concerns successful ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthan (Martin Landau), who has been having an affair with a woman (Anjelica Huston) who now is putting real pressure on him to leave his wife for her. Threats of confronting Judah’s wife herself, willing to reveal some of his past creative finance maneuvers and constant phone calls backs Judah into a corner. He can’t reason with her and now faces losing everything in his life by this woman. How can he possibly get out from this?
Although the film tells two stories and all the actors are very good, (the idea of casting Jerry Orbach as Landau’s brother is inspired) it’s Landau who shines the most. His performance of a man constantly under stress, trying to hold it together, but realizing the hole he is now is in is terrific. Just the way he sits staring blankly in scenes, you really feel there is a storm of conflicts going through his head that he is just trying to process.
The film raises questions of morality, ethics, religious beliefs, values, along with the required unique Allen dialogue and humor. It’s a very rich film and it’s one I enjoy revisiting.
|
 The Gauntlet (1977)
Years ago Clint Eastwood didn't have the revered status he has now. He was mainly seen as just a movie star. Sure he directed some films, but he was most known as simply being a popular star, like Burt Reynolds. He was churning out Dirty Harry films, a few westerns and starring in films alongside his main squeeze Sandra Locke and funny orangutans.
The Gauntlet was one of the films he directed and starred in with Locke. It's a straight forward story. Clint plays a cop from Phoenix who has to escort a prisoner from Vegas back for a trial. Of course it's not as simple as hopping back on a plane. The mob and police force are willing to do anything to get rid of this prisoner. Now Clint can't trust anyone and is avoiding deadly obstacles all the while having this hooker with an attitude nag him to death.
It's certainly not a great film, but it is entertaining for what it is. Clint as always is great fun to watch and is a much more vulnerable character than his Dirty Harry persona. Locke is also very good. I have never been a fan of hers, but here she is pretty good. Two characters grating on each other throughout a wild road trip is something we've seen done plenty of times and while here it's not the best example of that kind of film, it is still enjoyable. In fact I was surprised how much time the film gave to the two characters simply bickering, trying to one up each other and finally talking.
As for the action, it's pretty standard but nicely handled. Eastwood does a lot of shaky, handheld camerawork that today might feel overdone, but for a 1977 film feels pretty fresh and adds some additional excitement to some of the sequences. There really isn't much mystery to solve, you'll probably figure out the entire story in a matter of minutes. The climax at the end has a nice builidup, but unfortunately from there feels like a rushed ending that doesn't feel very satisfying. It's pretty awkward and just jumps to a resolution.
Despite all that, I still I think it's one of Eastwood's more underrated earlier films and it was an entertaining, old fashioned, Saturday night action flick, just as long as your not expecting any more than that.
|
Drive (2011)
He's a movie stunt driver, who moonlights as a hired wheelman for robberies. Plus, he's qutie a taciturn fellow too! Sounds like a cool character.
Ryan Gossling gives a quiet, subdued performance as the 'Driver'. His morals are confusing, but not to him. Whether he's crashing a car for an action scene or outmanuevering the cops with acouple of robbers in his backseat he sees no difference. He's hired to drive.
His life gets taken for a detour when he meets his lovely neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son. He develops a connection with them and suddenly can find satisfaction in not just speeding down California streets, but quietly spending time with them.
Then Irene's husband returns from prison and things get really complicated.
With a diverse supporting cast (Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Pearlman) Drive is a stylish neo-noir film. Greed, mistrust, violence - those classic noir elements fuel the rest of the story. The inevitable driving sequences are not just exercises in speed, but are made the more exciting because of the stakes for the characters involved. The Driver doesn't just specialize in speed when he gets behind the wheel, but intelligence, patience and knowing the street landscape and how best to utilize it.
The cast are all very good, but it's Gossling who shines the most. His Driver is a quiet character who is exciting to watch whether he's flooring the gas pedal or sitting staring off in the distance with the wheels turning in his head. You just wonder what is he thinking. I can imagine 'The Driver' becoming one of those beloved fan favorite characters. He seems ready-made for it with his ever-present sliver jacket. It's no surprise to me how many film fans have already latched onto the film and Gossling's no name driver.
|
Sahara (1943)
A year after he made the classic film Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart starred as Sergent Joe Gun, who with a mix of soldiers are forced to face down a squad of Nazi's during the height of WWII. There were plenty of war films during this time and Sahara is one of my personal favorites.
Navigating his tank Lullabelle with a ragtag group of soldiers aboard, Bogie ventures deep into the Sahara with the hopes of finding something just as vital to their survival as their allies - water. Managing to find a nearly dried up well, the men get to rest and try to come up with a plan. That is until they realize a squadron of Nazi's are just as desperate for water as they are and are headed their way. Now this eclectic mix of soldiers are forced to make a stand at the well. They either have to hold off the German's until backup arrives, the water runs completely out or they are killed. It's a rough situation.
There's a lot to like about Sahara. First you have Bogie, who was at his peak of popularity. His tough attitude and good-hearted screen persona was by now already sealed. He's the classic Bogart here. He might not be wearing the trenchcoat and hat, but he looks awful cool in his army outfit.
Then we have the never-can-miss story of a group of outnumbered good guys who are forced to deal with an insurmountable situation. This always has the makings for some great drama. So many war films have used this setup and when it's done well it can be suspenseful and inspiring. Here it's done very well.
The film does slip into the flag waving mode that was prevalent at the time. There is clearly a we have to work together even though we're different - kind of message illustrated by some of the scenes and dialogue. The whole we can learn from each other and band together for the greater good lessons can feel clunky and preachy now, but that's the message Hollywood was trying to get across with these films at the time. They weren't just meant to be entertaining, but also help the war effort by inspiring everyone.
It is somewhat blatant watching it now that every character in the film has some redeeming qualities, except the German officer who has no shadings at all. He's just plain bad and can't be trusted, but you need a villain and that's what they wanted the public to accept.
Despite that it's a unique and satisfying WWII war film and one that I find a very entertaining one to watch.
|
|
|
