Friday, December 28, 2012

Richie's Reel Reviews--My top 11 films


Richie’s Reel Reviews—My FAVORITE Films and other CLASSICS
I present my top few movies.  The first 4 are locks.  The remaining 7 on the are nearly interchangeable in terms of actual position.  I will present additional favorites in subsequent entries. 

1.      NORTH BY NORTHWEST

The occasion of my serendipitous introduction to the film certainly contributes to its being my favorite movie of all time (although it’s close with 2-4).  It was October, 1977.  Kentucky was playing football at Penn State, who was heavily favored.  I was with my friend and law school classmate that weekend at his home in Louisville.  We were listening to it on the radio and to our great surprise and joy, KENTUCKY WON!  As it happened the game was going to be replayed in Lexington that very Saturday night, so we drove back to my house to see the replay.  Exhilarating!

Well, immediately following the game the station, WKYT, went right into its late movie, something called North by Northwest.  Doug and I were all smiles after the game so we just sat contented watching this movie unfold, from its alluring intro and incredible Bernard Herrmann soundtrack, all the way to the end, with very few commercial breaks.

We just looked at each other afterwards and said, WOW, where did this come from?!  A different joy replaced the now long forgotten game played earlier that day. 

North by Northwest has EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, a superlative movie SHOULD have—scintillating story, humor, drama, suspense, class, photography, acting, a surprise yet satisfying ending, a moving soundtrack, action--and has NOTHING, and I mean nothing, that a great and entertaining film should NOT have—graphic violence, crude language, irrelevant or meddlesome dialogue, depressing and humorless aura.

The action starts in New York, the late 1950’s, with the quintessential Cary Grant as an advertising executive dictating orders to his secretary in the back of a Yellow cab on a typically busy Manhattan ride en route from his Madison Ave. office to a business lunch meeting at the venerable (but now defunct) Oak Bar[1] located within the even more venerable Plaza Hotel (but also just as defunct—now converted into private condos).

From there a classic case of mistaken identity has Roger Thornhill (Grant) stalked and kidnapped by the bad guys, taken to a lavish estate whereupon the action begins in earnest.  The movie moves from well-heeled Long Island, where we meet cold war-era bad guy spies James Mason and a young Martin Landau, back to Manhattan, to the Plaza, to the United Nations, to Grand Central Station, aboard a train to Chicago, upon where he meets who to my younger eyes then, and still now!, the most gorgeous woman ever, Eva Marie Saint.

The action is just starting—to the corn fields of Indiana (first famed scene--“strange, that cropduster’s dustin’ where there ain’t no crops” a brown-suited Hoosier says to Grant moments before the plane turns on him), back to Chicago, to Rapid City, South Da-KOT-ahh, as Cary would pronounce it, culminating in the famed cliffhanger scene on Mt. Rushmore.  Along with CIA master spy, Leo G. Carroll ("War's hell, Mr. Thornhill, even a cold one"), he flies on Northwest Orient airline from Chicago to Rapid City, which is apparently the basis for the film’s title.

We get to see Americana as it existed in her heyday.  Luxurious hotels, newly developed national parks, city, countryside, Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, classy clothes (I am still on the hunt for Cary’s slate blue suit with matching tie that he wears from beginning to end, and I still believe Eva’s red and black print dress that she wears to the art auction is the most stunning I have ever seen), and incomparably witty dialogue—the best since Casablanca, which is number two on my list. 

Never is a long time, but I don’t believe another movie will ever rival this one—at least for me.  You just may like it too. 

2.      CASABLANCA

Released in 1942, the story of Europeans trying to escape the Nazis through about the only point left at that time, Casablanca, Morocco, could not have been more timely.  It takes just a little imagination to imagine yourself as a patron of Rick’s CafĂ© Americain, maybe looking to get—by any means possible—a letter of transit, and if you were really fortunate, an audience with Rick himself, played by the only guy in the world ever who COULD play that role, Humphrey Bogart.

What makes Casablanca perhaps THE greatest movie of all time?  I don’t know, I can only answer, as with all my reviews, why they are special to me.  First, every line’s a classic.  And I mean EVERY SINGLE LINE of dialogue is quote-worthy.  Not one wasted syllable, hem or haw, much less a wasted word. 

The acting even by the smallest roles is dynamite.  The film noir quality, which today could never be duplicated, adds to the drama and suspense, as does the fabulous music.  Dooley Wilson deserved an Oscar for his piano playing and singing (As Time Goes By, Knock Three Times) alone, much less his acting.   

True suspense, a surprising and MOST INSPIRING ending, to which Woody Allen famously paid homage in his movie Play it Again, Sam (which I believe I actually saw before I had even seen Casablanca).  Add a star-studded cast including Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre along with truly amusing character actors like S.Z. Sakall (who played Carl) and you have…a MASTERPIECE.

3.      To Kill a Mockingbird

Great movies often come from great stories, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird ranks as one of the all-time best.   However, a great story is no guarantee that the movie will do it justice.  Thankfully, this movie captures, distills and delivers in a way that is for me very personal and emotional, and to just about anybody who watches it, a powerfully moving experience.

Shot in black and white, set in the depression-era southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, the story focuses on racial injustice and the efforts to rectify that injustice by one of the most noble and pure character of all time, Atticus Finch, who is played by my late mother’s favorite actor, Gregory Peck. 

The storyline, the setting, compelling child actors and a mostly anonymous cast of adult actors (Robert Duvall plays Boo Radley, a central character but with little on screen presence) along with a heart-tugging Elmer Bernstein soundtrack all combine to elicit smiles, tears and a yearning to stand tall for truth and justice. 

Again, what takes this movie over the top for me are two factors.  One, my mother’s favorite actor was Gregory Peck, she just loved him.  Also, it was my mother who encouraged me to go to law school, and I made a deathbed promise to her to do so.  Two, I saw this movie at the University of Kentucky Student Center while taking a break studying for law school finals.  I was not that well-read, and I really had no idea what the movie was about, only that it was a classic. 

To say that the movie influenced my life and encouraged my desire to be an agent for positive change is a vast understatement.   Thanks mom, thanks Ms. Lee, thanks Robert Mulligan (the director), thanks Mr. Peck, thanks Mary Badham and Phillip Alford (Scout and Jem), thanks to EVERY actor, stagehand, costumer, errand boy and musician for making this life-changing movie.


4.      IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
 
Surely, you know this movie.  The fact that it is one of my favorite films points to MY criteria and therefore EXPECTATIONS of a truly great film: uplifting, positive theme and ending, along with humor, acting, photography and the like.  Many of the “Best Picture” Oscars I could give a tinker’s damn for, either because of the dark and cynical subject matter, the graphic nature or otherwise depressing storyline which many of them contain. 
 
It’s a Wonderful Life, as you know, is one of the most uplifting and truly, truly RELEVANT movies OF all time.  Which one of us could not use an occasional reminder how special our life—OUR life—truly is.  Even if we suffer, there are those who would suffer even more, the world would suffer even more, were we not in it, or had we never been in it! 

Wow, that is an awe-inspiring concept and generations of humanity have this film to thank for it.  Ahh, but I just gave the GRAVY of a great film.   What makes it great before you even get to the gravy, i.e. the fact that it is so inspirational, of course, is the incredibly moving performances by all the actors, particularly Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, the incomparable directing of Frank Capra, the soundtrack and…well you know!
 

5.      The Verdict
 
Paul Newman plays a down on his luck, alcoholic lawyer who tries to  turn his luck—and life—around on a gutwrenching case of medical negligence (his client was turned into a vegetable by being given the wrong anesthetic) against the best defense lawyer around (expertly played by the legendary James Mason). 

This movie reeks of old Boston.  Director Sidney Lumet makes sure that everything is consistent and authentic, from properly-accented character actors to setting, to a most appropriate TOTAL LACK of music!  Never was the saying “less is more” more fitting than the fact that there is nary a note of music in this entire film!
 
The foreboding, muted colors of a cold New England winter mirrors the increasingly desperate situation Paul Newman’s character finds himself in, out-maneuvered by a slick defense lawyer, and with virtually no chance to win a recovery for his client’s sister and her family who are utterly dependent on it.   The mahogany benches and diamond shaped old tile floor of the court room put you THERE, in the juror’s box as each side presents its case. 
 
A surprise ending that vindicates a positive, never-say-die attitude culminates what for me is an understated tour-de-force, one that I take the chance to see again whenever I can.  Oh, and by the way, I just happen to love Paul Newman, so that certainly contributes to this movie’s high standing on my list.  Perfect supporting roles by Jack Warden, Charlotte Rampling and Milo O’Shea complete what may be for you a surprising entry but what I consider…a masterpiece!
 

6.      The Graduate

Again, it was not only the actual movie, but also the circumstances under which I got to see it, that make this one of my favorites.  I was working one day after school in our store at the old Lexington Mall when Uncle Martin comes in from Whitesburg and asks if I want to see a movie with him.  “You’re the boss, SURE!” I said.  We went to the cinema in the Mall (in those days you got ONE movie if you were lucky).  I had no idea that I was about to see what turned out to be one of the best movies ever!   

Humor and outright laughs galore, fabulous acting from Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross, Murray Hamilton, Alice Ghostly, cool California setting—Mrs. Robinson’s house still looks modern and contemporary, without a hint that this was shot in 1967.   Add to that director Mike Nichol’s ground-breaking use of Simon & Garfunkel’s[2] incredible soundtrack to create much of the aura and emotion and you have what is perhaps a new generation’s first Masterpiece.  At least for me it was…and is.
 

7.      Woody Allen  (early years)
 
I LOVE, love, love early Woody Allen—and some of his later stuff too, but particularly his early films,  upon which I cut my “independent” movie-going experience, i.e. movies to which I could drive myself.  The first Woody Allen I saw was with my cousin Eddie (he was at UK, I a junior at Lafayette High), Everything you wanted to know about Sex but was Afraid to Ask which we saw at the old and long gone Turfland Mall cinemas. 

I recall us just laughing HYSTERICALLY at what was truly a never-before-seen subject matter and style of cinematic delivery.  I was hooked on Woody from that point forward.   

Next came Bananas, then Play it Again Sam, then Love and Death, then Sleeper, Manhattan, then his universal biggie, the Oscar winner, Annie Hall.  Before that he had made Take the Money and Run, (“No that says gub (not gun) what’s a gub” says the bank manager as hapless bank robber, Virgil Starkwell, played by Woody, hands over a poorly written demand note to the teller) but one I did not see until after I had seen his later fare.   

Oh my God, so many funny, reality-based vignettes and lines in those movies.  This guy is pure, unadulterated genius.  He makes me laugh like crazy, he makes me love New York evermore, and he introduced me to jazzy and classical music the likes I have never heard before.  He is a consummate artist, with a purpose—to make us see the often incredible inanity of everyday life, and to highlight enduring virtues in a MOST FUNNY way.  He is the best! 

Also, he bears a remarkable resemblance to my cousin, Joe.  Just an aside, but one that I guess endeared me to him even more.  So I include all these Woody Allen movies collectively as number 7.
 

8.      The Odd Couple/The Out of Towners

RE The Odd Couple:  For a guy in 7th grade, to break cherry on such Neil Simon magnificence—the likes of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, along with a cast of characters including Vinnie, Murray the cop, Speed, Roy, the Pigeon sisters was bound to be an unforgettable experience.  HI-larity, absolutely and complete hilarity from near-beginning to end.  “Oscar, you missed it!  The greatest triple-play in history and you missed it!!” If you don’t know what I’m referring to you are just going to have to see it, I ain’t givin’ it up for free. 

And The Out-of-Towners, again pure comedic genius.  Jack Lemmon, Sandy Dennis, unforgettable character actors, a fabulous romp through New York, which would shortly thereafter become like a second home for me until our company closed shop in 2008, this is a film I could see over and over and over again.  As these two movies show, I just love movies shot in New York!
 

9.      Peter Sellers Pink Panther series
 
I again include these films as a set.  I could see ANY Peter Sellers movie over and over and over again.  Peter Sellers is the funniest, most effective comedic actor of all time.  His inspector Clouseau—well, you know, surely you know.  For me, not only him, but the European setting and all the other elements of great movie-making come into play to make him and his films some of my all time favorites.


10.   Three Days of the Condor
 
A perfect thriller.  Perfect.  Robert Redford and his literary team read books for the CIA, looking for hidden clues and plots that may be hidden within.  He goes out to pick up lunch, comes back and…they are all dead!  Thus begins a realistically haunting cat and mouse where he eludes the assassin’s hunt, while trying to outmaneuver his way to a solution. 

What makes this a masterpiece is the incredibly efficient dialogue (no wasted anything), much of which is artful, even poetic at times, the setting, again NEW YORK—and a little in Washington D.C.  Director Sydney Pollack orchestrates every nuance perfectly.  The Dave Grusin soundtrack  is superb AND, bonus! It was shot during Christmas so there are background holiday songs throughout—from the Salvation Army brass playing Good King Wenceslas to what I believe may be the Ray Coniff Singers singing Joy to the World, all while spies are looking to kill good Robert.
 
The New York cold accentuates Joe’s (Redford’s character) sense of utter loneliness and isolation.  The cast, unreal:  Faye Dunaway is Catherine Hale, who Joe kidnaps so that he can hide out in her pad, Cliff Robertson is the CIA control agent, ostensibly on Redford’s side, John Houseman is the CIA chief pulling all the strings and Kurt Von Sydow is the assassin, who listens to classical music as he details mini-figurines in his hotel while awaiting his next move.   Colorful character actors, the sights and sounds of New York life in the 70’s, suspense, action and as surprising an ending as you will ever see make this…a MASTERPIECE.  As I said, a perfect thriller.

 
11.  Forrest Gump

Tom Hanks, one of my favorites, in a Gomer Pyle (also one of my favorite tv characters) type character who exudes nothing but pure goodness and innocence and for whom, because of such innate faith, everything turns out well in the end for him and for those around him.  Over-the-top creativity from director Robert Zemeckis, lots of classics songs from the 60’s and 70’s, an incredibly touching story and a great ending.  What’s not to like, make that love!


[1] The Oak Bar became my favorite NY hangout for years until it closed thanks to this movie.  The old portraits behind the famed bar, along with the whole room remained unchanged since the movie was shot!
 
[2] Simon and Garfunkel were a musical duo for ALL ages.  My dad, the late Woodrow Wilson Dawahare, detested “rock” music.  He was a fan of his music—big band, swing, the crooners he could dance to—and he loooovvved to dance.  But one day in his office I caught him hum-singing “Mrs. Robinson!”  I was elated, because they were and are one of my favorite groups.  It’s a scene I will always remember!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Richie's Reel Reviews--UPDATE! Django Unchained


Dec. 26, 2012 UPDATE: 

                **  NEW  Django Unchained

                I’m always torn after watching a Quentin Tarantino movie.  They are imminently watchable and entertaining yet they are also inordinately violent and bloody---ALWAYS, and this movie is no exception.  HOWEVER, except for a fight to the death scene between mandingo slaves wherein I hid my eyes, I found that while there was lots of shooting and lots of spraying blood, I….LAUGHED.  It—the shootings and blood—were comic-book like exaggeration, as if INTENDED to elicit amusement.  And you really did not see gruesomely graphic close-ups corpses of bodily mayhem.   Just justice-be-done freed slave Django (Jamie Foxx) and his benefactor, Dr. Schultz (the INCREDIBLE! Christoph Waltz) taking aim at the bad guys with obviously fake blood spraying everywhere as bullets splayed through the devil flesh that by God deserved TO be shot!

                Though there is nothing funny at all about slavery and while one can argue the righteousness of making a movie about slavery that has humor as an essential element the fact is that there are tons of laughs in this movie.  And that is how this movie works for me:  satisfying justice, a la Inglorious Basterds, in what is basically a comic movie.  If you can stand more than a fair amount of shooting and blood you will whiz through this 2 hour and 46 minute movie.  Just get the large popcorn—no butter, water instead of soda!—and refill in the middle.   But it’s strictly for laughs, and entertainment.  Outside of Waltz, and to a lesser degree Samuel L. Jackson, DeCaprio and Foxx, there is nothing “great” about this movie.

-------------------------------------------------------------

                The only thing I love more than movies, is movie POPCORN!  And that’s a good thing, because quite frankly most movies are just not very good, and vastly, vastly over-hyped and overrated.  But even in many of those, one can appreciate a lot about it—whether the scenery, some great lines, the action and special effects, the music, an actor or actress who happened to shine.  I can also appreciate all the behind-the-scenes work that went into getting this particular movie in front of me.

                But if none of this is sufficient to have you part with upwards of $10 and 2 hours to see a movie and you want to know a really GOOD movie, this review list is for you. 

FIRST, a word about my subjective criteria for a GOOD movie (that is, what I like, not technical experts like the “Academy” many of whose choices for Best Picture I find simply disgusting—like No Country for Old Men, like The Hurt Locker, like American Beauty, just for instance).  “Good” is the minimum.  When I say “Great” then in my estimation, the performance is much above the average.  This criteria will fit most movie genres:

1)       Compelling story line—one that keeps your interest, and also one that is plausible, even though it may be remotely so.

2)      Good acting—period, end.  And not just the main actors, but even to the most minor background characters.

3)      Moving dialogue—seamless, efficient (no wasted, irrelevant banter or lulls!!)

4)      Visual beauty—usually means COLOR, even if it is the rich wooden chairs in San Francisco’s Union Station, or the authentic red bricks of an old Manhattan brownstone.  More often it includes some panoramic outdoors scene, but always, from beginning to end—interesting visuals.

5)      In general—NO VIOLENCE, or at least none that is excessive, either in quantity or content (graphics).  NO movie will make my list where in body parts are severed by madmen/women, or where over-the-top violence is prominent.

6)      HAPPY, at least, satisfying endings, which is to say, fitting with the storyline, even if a surprise.

7)      GRAVY—the BEST of the best movies INSPIRE as well as do all the above. 

Now, on to the movies, starting with the newest releases that I have seen:

LIFE OVER 40

                Wayyyy overrated.  There are some humorous lines and ultimately a fairly good ending, but the torture of getting there is not even close to being worth it.  Corny slapstick, unnecessary dialogue, overdone clichĂ©s, gratuitous raunch abound.  Capturing what turning 40 may be like for MWK (married with kids) families is to be expected, but BIG DEAL, we already KNOW that.  Don’t waste your money unless, like me, you just need something to watch while taking care of your popcorn fix.

 

 

LINCOLN

                Very good.  Acting is incomparable.  You see Daniel-Day Lewis, you SEE Lincoln.  All the acting is just terrific, from Tommy Lee Jones, to Sally Fields, spot on.  One reason for this is the TERRIFIC costuming, makeup and period detail.   The photography, the color, the storyline—which details Lincoln’s prodigious work to get the House of Representatives to pass 13th Amendment outlawing slavery.  No surprise that this is a near-masterpiece—Steven Spielberg directs.  Not a masterpiece because it is too long, the story, while extremely important and true, is but a portion of what moved this nation forward out of slavery.  A picture that would have successfully captured Lincoln from beginning to end may well have qualified for the “masterpiece” label.

Life of Pi

                Very good.  From the best-selling book, this is a never-a-dull moment story with a surprise ending.  Some of the most compelling visuals in a movie that I have seen in a long time, to match great acting.  The young actor who plays the prime character--who is stuck with a tiger on a lifeboat after the ship he and his family were on from India to America capsized—was not even an actor!  It was his first acting gig of ANY KIND!  And he was terrific.  Great story, great movie.

Skyfall

                Ugh.  No Bond movie should be mired in dust and dirt.  No Bond movie should be devoid of humor.  This is one sad affair.  The makers seem to think that over-the-top wrecks and blow-em-up scenes are enough to carry a movie.  The fact is great movies need none of that.  I challenge anybody to cite more than a couple of lines that elicit a laugh.  Even the couple that do are anemic.  In all, a bad movie, made worse because it carries the 007 legacy.  I needed to see the first Sean Connery Bond flick I could find to wash the taste of this muck out of my mouth.

Jack Reacher

                Don’t.  Just don’t.  More violence, less humor.  For me the highlight was watching the beautiful actress Rosamund Pike.  A good mystery, but that’s not enough to save it. 

The Hobbit…

                Don’t know, didn’t see it, and won’t see it.  The reason I write this review is that because I HAVE seen the previous Hobbits I know what it’s basically about:  pure fantasy/fiction, with parallel real world moral relevance.  So what—there’s plenty of that in plausible, everyday real world life.  I will assume the visuals, graphics and special effects are stunning.  The acting and storyline, as far as fantasies go, are probably top notch too.  If that’s your schtick, go for it!  But the mere hype and hoopla surrounding this movie as with the other Hobbits—AND LIKE OTHER SUCH LOSERS (except at the box office) as Batman and Harry Potter—make it thoroughly unappealing to me. 

 

Taken 2

                Good!  Not as good as the first Taken, but good nonetheless.  Although this would seem to violate my “no violence” rule, the violence is herky-jerky close up so you really don’t see actual blood and guts gore.  Liam Neeson is just an outstanding actor.  Maggie Grace shines.  The bad guys are believable.  On scene locations in Istanbul.  One of the best car chase scenes you will ever see.  And a good-guy-wins-in-the-end sense of satisfaction.  Enjoy!

Loopers

                Ho hum, yet more violence, darkness, sadness.  Nothing to redeem this movie except the ending.

Alex Cross

                Horrible.  Most of Tyler Perry’s stuff is outstanding.  This one is just bad.  Severed body parts is enough to nix this from my list.  There is just nothing to relish in this, while the violence is disgusting.

End of Watch

                Don’t even start.  Violence, violence, violence to NO GOOD END.  Disgusting!

I have to end on a positive note so re-visit one from last Christmas that was recently on cable:

War Horse

                An outstanding movie by any measure!  Storyline, setting, scenery, period detail, ACTING and a horse with more character and charisma than all but the leading classy male stars (i.e. Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Andy Griffith).  The abundant heart and pure goodness of War Horse inspires as it entertains. The central character, the teenage son of the down on his luck farmer who buys “Joey” (the War Horse) is wonderfully played by Jeremy Irvine.  His is one of the purest, most humble and class-filled roles ever seen in a movie.  He is pure goodness, innocence and selflessness, without pride or guile.  He is the Golden Rule personified, much like Atticus Finch, and even Gomer Pyle, who are two of my favorite all time characters.  Movies should feature characters like this ALL…THE…TIME.  With Steven Spielberg directing, again, it is no surprise that War Horse is a winner!  Buy it.

 

More to come as the popcorn urge strikes again!  Merry Christmas!

 

 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Richie's Reel Reviews



                The only thing I love more than movies, is movie POPCORN!  And that’s a good thing, because quite frankly most movies are just not very good, and vastly, vastly over-hyped and overrated.  But even in many of those, one can appreciate a lot about it—whether the scenery, some great lines, the action and special effects, the music, an actor or actress who happened to shine.  I can also appreciate all the behind-the-scenes work that went into getting this particular movie in front of me.
                But if none of this is sufficient to have you part with upwards of $10 and 2 hours to see a movie and you want to know a really GOOD movie, this review list is for you. 
FIRST, a word about my subjective criteria for a GOOD movie (that is, what I like, not technical experts like the “Academy” many of whose choices for Best Picture I find simply disgusting—like No Country for Old Men, like The Hurt Locker, like American Beauty, just for instance).  “Good” is the minimum.  When I say “Great” then in my estimation, the performance is much above the average.  This criteria will fit most movie genres:
1)       Compelling story line—one that keeps your interest, and also one that is plausible, even though it may be remotely so.

2)      Good acting—period, end.  And not just the main actors, but even to the most minor background characters.

3)      Moving dialogue—seamless, efficient (no wasted, irrelevant banter or lulls!!)

4)      Visual beauty—usually means COLOR, even if it is the rich wooden chairs in San Francisco’s Union Station, or the authentic red bricks of an old Manhattan brownstone.  More often it includes some panoramic outdoors scene, but always, from beginning to end—interesting visuals.

5)      In general—NO VIOLENCE, or at least none that is excessive, either in quantity or content (graphics).  NO movie will make my list where in body parts are severed by madmen/women, or where over-the-top violence is prominent.

6)      HAPPY, at least, satisfying endings, which is to say, fitting with the storyline, even if a surprise.

       7)      GRAVY—the BEST of the best movies INSPIRE as well as do all the above. 

Now, on to the movies, starting with the newest releases that I have seen:

LIFE OVER 40
                Wayyyy overrated.  There are some humorous lines and ultimately a fairly good ending, but the torture of getting there is not even close to being worth it.  Corny slapstick, unnecessary dialogue, overdone clichĂ©s, gratuitous raunch abound.  Capturing what turning 40 may be like for MWK (married with kids) families is to be expected, but BIG DEAL, we already KNOW that.  Don’t waste your money unless, like me, you just need something to watch while taking care of your popcorn fix.

LINCOLN
                Very good.  Acting is incomparable.  You see Daniel-Day Lewis, you SEE Lincoln.  All the acting is just terrific, from Tommy Lee Jones, to Sally Fields, spot on.  One reason for this is the TERRIFIC costuming, makeup and period detail.   The photography, the color, the storyline—which details Lincoln’s prodigious work to get the House of Representatives to pass 13th Amendment outlawing slavery.  No surprise that this is a near-masterpiece—Steven Spielberg directs.  Not a masterpiece because it is too long, the story, while extremely important and true, is but a portion of what moved this nation forward out of slavery.  A picture that would have successfully captured Lincoln from beginning to end may well have qualified for the “masterpiece” label.

Life of Pi
                Very good.  From the best-selling book, this is a never-a-dull moment story with a surprise ending.  Some of the most compelling visuals in a movie that I have seen in a long time, to match great acting.  The young actor who plays the prime character--who is stuck with a tiger on a lifeboat after the ship he and his family were on from India to America capsized—was not even an actor!  It was his first acting gig of ANY KIND!  And he was terrific.  Great story, great movie.

Skyfall
                Ugh.  No Bond movie should be mired in dust and dirt.  No Bond movie should be devoid of humor.  This is one sad affair.  The makers seem to think that over-the-top wrecks and blow-em-up scenes are enough to carry a movie.  The fact is great movies need none of that.  I challenge anybody to cite more than a couple of lines that elicit a laugh.  Even the couple that do are anemic.  In all, a bad movie, made worse because it carries the 007 legacy.  I needed to see the first Sean Connery Bond flick I could find to wash the taste of this muck out of my mouth.

Jack Reacher
                Don’t.  Just don’t.  More violence, less humor.  For me the highlight was watching the beautiful actress Rosamund Pike.  A good mystery, but that’s not enough to save it. 

The Hobbit…
                Don’t know, didn’t see it, and won’t see it.  The reason I write this review is that because I HAVE seen the previous Hobbits I know what it’s basically about:  pure fantasy/fiction, with parallel real world moral relevance.  So what—there’s plenty of that in plausible, everyday real world life.  I will assume the visuals, graphics and special effects are stunning.  The acting and storyline, as far as fantasies go, are probably top notch too.  If that’s your schtick, go for it!  But the mere hype and hoopla surrounding this movie as with the other Hobbits—AND LIKE OTHER SUCH LOSERS (except at the box office) as Batman and Harry Potter—make it thoroughly unappealing to me. 

Taken 2
                Good!  Not as good as the first Taken, but good nonetheless.  Although this would seem to violate my “no violence” rule, the violence is herky-jerky close up so you really don’t see actual blood and guts gore.  Liam Neeson is just an outstanding actor.  Maggie Grace shines.  The bad guys are believable.  On scene locations in Istanbul.  One of the best car chase scenes you will ever see.  And a good-guy-wins-in-the-end sense of satisfaction.  Enjoy!

Loopers
                Ho hum, yet more violence, darkness, sadness.  Nothing to redeem this movie except the ending.
 
Alex Cross
                Horrible.  Most of Tyler Perry’s stuff is outstanding.  This one is just bad.  Severed body parts is enough to nix this from my list.  There is just nothing to relish in this, while the violence is disgusting.

End of Watch
                Don’t even start.  Violence, violence, violence to NO GOOD END.  Disgusting!
 
I have to end on a positive note so re-visit one from last Christmas that was recently on cable:
War Horse
                An outstanding movie by any measure!  Storyline, setting, scenery, period detail, ACTING and a horse with more character and charisma than all but the leading classy male stars (i.e. Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Andy Griffith).  The abundant heart and pure goodness of War Horse inspires as it entertains. The central character, the teenage son of the down on his luck farmer who buys “Joey” (the War Horse) is wonderfully played by Jeremy Irvine.  His is one of the purest, most humble and class-filled roles ever seen in a movie.  He is pure goodness, innocence and selflessness, without pride or guile.  He is the Golden Rule personified, much like Atticus Finch, and even Gomer Pyle, who are two of my favorite all time characters.  Movies should feature characters like this ALL…THE…TIME.  With Steven Spielberg directing, again, it is no surprise that War Horse is a winner!  Buy it.
 
More to come as the popcorn urge strikes again!  Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Mothers will save us from the gun culture

America may need to toughen its gun laws. But America must change its gun culture. The mind-set that elevates guns and gun rights to a godly status, esteemed even more than the God most weapon worshipers claim to profess, is literally killing us.

There is nothing godly about guns. Nothing. During this high holy season it bears remembering that when Jesus was threatened he had Peter sheath his sword. He was and is the ultimate prince of peace. The supreme hypocrisy is to pretend obeisance to Jesus and faith in God, while succumbing to a fear induced death-grip on guns.

The root of the problem is that right-wing conservatives have both used — and been used by — the gun lobby for deeper political interests. Guns are yet another flash point for those who oppose our government. They have become for the "get government out" (unless used for me or my corporation) crowd a huge chip on the shoulder. And that chip grows exponentially as each new gun crime threatens to upend their senseless and immoral fixation on firearms.

With such knee-jerk emotionalism, any talk of rational gun reform is wrongly heard as a call to outlaw any and all gun ownership. Yet not once has any mainstream politician or credible leader called for outlawing responsible gun ownership.

Falsely fanning the fears that any reasonable gun restriction is akin to confiscation is all too typical for anti-government propagandists. It has further divided us. It has weakened us. And it has enabled the ever-growing number of such preventable tragedies as the Sandy Hook slaughter.

To be sure, more than just guns were involved in that shooting. But pro-gun intransigence has prevented crucial talks on preventing gun possession by those who should never have access to them, be they ex-felons, the mentally ill or any person with whom they reside.

Even now, the pro-gun forces are shouting their solution to prevent future Sandy Hooks: more guns!  They are calling for schoolteachers to be armed and trained. They would even prefer arming older students. They truly want every healthy American to be armed and ready, and to live in this perpetual state of faithless fear.

Many politicians have here-to-now been scared senseless to whisper as much as a hiccup against unfettered gun proliferation. They have yet to say that above all we should be protecting our children and teachers, not arming them.

However, there is one entity that they are about to fear even more: mothers. And with this latest outrage, mothers are coming out. Mothers have helped curtail drunk driving and there is no doubt they will lead us out of the dark despair created by the gun culture.
 
A mother's love for life knows no bounds; it will bear all and resist all. The NRA doesn't stand a chance against mom.

It is an incredible, yet fitting, coincidence that this salvation of motherhood is reawakening now, during Christmas. For another mother 2,000 years ago boldly answered the call of God to save a broken world. She gave birth to Jesus, who came to save the world.

If only we will let him.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/12/22/2452889/ky-voices-gun-culture-rooted-in.html#storylink=cpy

Friday, November 02, 2012

Becoming the United STATE of America


There was a boy, about 4 or 5. He tagged along his mother’s skirt as she went to town. The grocer, the drug store, but what he most remembered was the post office! So official! So…AMERICAN! Posters imploring good citizenship plastered the walls. “Buy war bonds!” Uncle Sam pointing, “I want YOU to love your country!” “Vote!” “God bless America.”
While the boy could not verbalize it, nor even cared to, what he felt was a sense of…belonging. The flag, the stars, the stripes, the uniforms with patches and medals, the slogans all pointed to something bigger than him and his own little hamlet. We were America, and we were one. One with each other and one with the world. There was only unity. There was only one possible attitude, only one way of thinking and doing, and that was the good way, the way of coming together for something good. Anything else just did not exist.
He knew intuitively that what was good for Americans was good for America. What helped Americans helped America. While in time he would learn to extend this truth to the world beyond, this sense of unity started here, in the smallest of burgs in the greatest of nations.
So it is with head-shaking sadness that that the now much older boy rues the amazingly dis-united state of the United States of America. How could a people with so much in common, with similar wants, identical needs, and a universal sense of morality allow themselves to become so fractured, he wondered.
He’s been through their universities, he’s studied, he’s prayed, he’s listened and spoken (perhaps too much when he should be listening even more). The reason he discovered was simple: a loss of focus. Too many Americans have lost sight of America’s essence. We’ve allowed the discordant voices of hate, fear and division distort this reality. They shape our emotions, form our opinions and dictate our hard-held ideologies. They do so with half-truths or outright lies, many of which confirm the prejudices and distortions with which many of us were raised.
Republicans are not greedy, uncompassionate souls no matter how many support their conservative causes. Some of the most generous people known to the now not-as-little boy are rock-ribbed Republicans. Democrats are not socialist/communists bent on destroying America, no matter how much they want collective action for the greater good. Some of the most enterprising of business people are Democrats.
When the little boy cut his teeth on the meaning of America Republican Dwight David Eisenhower was president. “I like Ike” was everywhere. And why not! Here was a real American, who cared about all of America. No division, no rancor, no denial of American unity. It would be years before this truth really sunk in to the little boy. Looking back Ike truly was a unifying president. He believed in the collective goodness of the federal government. He used it to protect human rights, to build the interstate highways, and strengthen social programs. He promoted progressive taxation and left in place a top rate of 90% (it was Democratic president John F. Kennedy who lowered that to 70%). Ike also famously warned of the military-industrial complex.
Ike was a man for all ages, but particularly for today’s. He could and should be the standard-bearer for all political parties. His message: govern in a way that helps the average American, period. Ike knew that social welfare, that unions that government aid, whether through SBA loans, unemployment insurance, Pell grants or a hundred others did not weaken America but made her stronger. They helped turn the United States of America into a united state of America.
This is our heritage. And our future.


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Mitt’s Military: a march to Armageddon

$718 billion. $722 billion. 0. $2 TRILLION.

The first number is America’s 2012 military budget. And this does NOT include the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (the military budgets of past years did not include those wars either!). These wars have cost nearly $1 TRILLION dollars to date, and costs will continue soaring for decades to come.

The second numbers is the military spending of THE NEXT 14 countries combined. America has always had this kind of spending disparity.

The 0? This is the number nations that truly threaten us, long or short term. This number has been about the same since the end of WWII. Contrary to popular belief, largely driven by fear and a lack of perspective on reality and history the Communist world was not a threat. We were allies with the Soviets and China during WWII. Vietnam and red loathing were more the result of raw emotionalism and a lack of understanding that Vietnam and China just wanted to be free of the yoke of colonialism.

The fourth number: despite this historic lack of lethal enemies, during a time when we and the world should be relishing a real “peace dividend” Mitt Romney and the Republicans want to VASTLY increase this already obscenely gargantuan military spending by TWO TRILLION DOLLARS, $2,000,000,000,000.

This is pure arrogance. It is the same arrogance as the Bush neocons who waged illegal, immoral and counterproductive war based on lies and an egotistical sense of superiority. For them might makes right, regardless of how contrary to justice and morality.

In fact, where your treasure is so goes your heart. Such fear-induced negative attitude-based military spending WILL become a self-fulfilling prophecy leading to Armageddon.

Ironically, what will lead to peace is more effort on the POSITIVE. Stuff like, well, Big Bird! Yet Mitt Romney and Republicans want to cut all spending on PBS, a truly great organization.

As Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted, cutting PBS support (0.012% of budget) to help balance the Federal budget is like deleting text files to make room on your 500 Gig hard drive. All Mitt would have to do is take just .002225% off his proposed military increase and he could save Big Bird. But to that he gives the big bird.

As has been said, and forgotten, many times before: those who forget—or ignore—their history are doomed to repeat it.