Movies 2015

I saw 28 movies in 2015.  Of these my Top Ten favorites were:

1. Still Alice
2. Wolfpack (doc)
3. Carol
4. Love and Mercy
5. Finding Vivian Meier (doc)
6. Wild
7. Room
8. Spotlight
9. She's Beautiful When She's Angry (doc)
10 Mr. Turner

My least favorites were:  Palo Alto, Magic in the Moonlight, While We're Young, This is Where I Leave You, and Trainwreck.

Five years of Movies

I have seen 140 movies and documentaries in the last five years.  I know this fact because of the lists I've been keeping on this blog - a thing I wish I'd always done.  I'd love to be able to look back at my movie list from ten or twenty years ago.  I'm sure I've forgotten so many.  

I have rated each film with one to five asterisks, (based only on my personal enjoyment of the film.) And after five years, only eleven were deemed worthy of a five asterisk rating: Doubt, The Visitor, Frozen River, UP, Julie & Julia, Iris, An Education, A Single Man, Midnight in Paris, The Flat, and Five Broken Cameras.

The films I hated and gave only one asterisk are:  Gran Torino, District 9, Inception, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I'm Still Here, I am Love, and Blue is the Warmest Color.

So:  I only hated 7 out of 140 films.  But I only loved 11, which seems pretty low to me.  I am so often disappointed at the movies these days.  So many films are ho-hum.  

Inception

I went to see the movie Inception because I thought it would be interesting and visually compelling, but it turned out to be one of the most boring movies I have ever seen.

I feel like I was duped. Swayed by the hype. I was led to believe that this movie would be something special, but it's just another action flick with LOTS of explosions, shooting guns, and chase scenes.

I was so bored I wished I was at home doing laundry.

What a waste of movie making technology. I couldn't even appreciate the special effects because I wasn't drawn into the story and didn't care about the characters. The premise was too far-fetched and implausible for me to be able to "suspend" my disbelief.

The Kids Are All Right

I was really looking forward to seeing The Kids Are All Right, the movie about the children of lesbian moms who meet their biological father. But maybe I was looking forward to it a little too much. It's been so highly praised that maybe my expectations were a tad too high.



Not that I didn't like it, I did. It just that I can't help being bugged that in this mainstream, potentially Oscar quality movie about a lesbian couple, one of them ends up having a sex with a man. I completely buy that this is what happens, I completely understand it, and I get that it's vital to the plot, but it still bugs me.

I am also perplexed by the fact that the lesbian couple in the movie gets off on gay male porn. WTF?!%$! That doesn't make any sense AT ALL.

In spite of this & a few other little quibbles I have, it's a pretty good film and and I heartily recommend it. It's funny, touching, and the performances are great. Annette Bening plays a lesbian to perfection, and I appreciate that the lesbian characters aren't caricatures.

Winter's Bone

It was so hot yesterday we didn't even want to go to the pool! We went to a nice, cool movie theater instead and saw the Sundance Festival award winning movie, Winter's Bone.

Winter's Bone is the story of a 17 year old girl, Ree, who needs to find her meth cooking father or lose the family homestead, which he's put up as bond. As she goes looking for help among her kin the mystery of her father's disappearance unfolds.



This film is certainly deserving of awards and accolades, and it's certainly engrossing, but I can't say it's enjoyable to watch. Its depiction of poverty and violence in the Ozarks is stunningly realistic. The authenticity of the cast, the sets, and the dialogue is amazing.

Even though this movie took me to a place I didn't enjoy being, I was fascinated by the strong, smart, resourcefull character of Ree. She has your heart from the beginning and she's certainly someone to root for.

I'm in a trailer!!!!

I enjoyed watching the Academy Awards last night. I'm SO glad that Kathryn Bigelow won as Best Director and The Hurt Locker is Best Film. And I'm proud to say that 14 of my 19 Oscar predictions were correct. But the really exciting news I have to share today is that I'm in a trailer!!

I worked as a extra last October for the upcoming HBO film, You Don't Know Jack, which was partially filmed here in Michigan. It will be on HBO next month. Here's the trailer. I'm one of the protesters.

9 = Ten

I have now seen all 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees.

I rented District 9 last night and HATED IT. What a stupid movie. It has a compelling premise: stranded aliens with a stalled spacecraft end up living in Johannesburg, South Africa, but that's just about the only good thing I can say about it.

Made to live in a slum called District 9, the aliens resemble giant shrimp, and are known, derogatorily, as prawns.

Of-course there are analogies to apartheid, but they're not particularly thought-provoking. The story is completely unbelievable and the movie can't quite decide what it is. It occasionally turns into a comedy that doesn't quite work, and then finally becomes a cliche buddy flick. And I haven't even mentioned all the violence and gore. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

So why is a movie that could only appeal to the most hard-core Sci-fi fan an Oscar nominee you ask? The way I understand it, the Academy decided to nominate more movies than usual in order to boost the TV ratings: if more people have a movie to root for, then more people will watch the show. So movies like District 9, Up, and A Serious Man got nominated, but there's no way they'll win.

The Hurt Locker

I went to see The Hurt Locker last night, another movie I probably wouldn't have viewed if it wasn't for the fact that it's nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. I never would have guessed that an action movie about war and warriors would appeal to me, but this one sure did.

The Hurt Locker is about three members of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq. And yes, there's lots of action, but it's action that's believable, not the Hollywood blockbuster cartoon type. The Hurt Locker is suspenseful, tense, and completely engrossing. Filmed in a way that seems like a documentary, it's as if you're embedded with this team of men.

This is a movie that's unsentimental, non-cliche', and doesn't try too hard to make a statement or convey a message. It's a movie that leaves you thinking. And still thinking about it the next day. I'm really glad I went to see it.



In addition to being nominated as the Best Picture of the year, The Hurt Locker's director, Kathryn Bigelow, has been nominated as Best Director, and I'll sure be rooting for her. She is one of only four - yes FOUR - women directors to have ever been nominated in this category, and NONE have ever won.

Considering that Kathryn is the ex-wife of James Cameron (director of Avatar) makes this all the more interesting, and makes me root for her all the more!!!

I've now seen eight out of the ten nominated movies, and hope to see the last two sometime soon.

Avatar

We went to see Avatar last night, mostly to be in the pop-culture loop, and also because it's an Academy Award nominee, but otherwise I don't think this is a movie I would have bothered to see, and that would have been a good decision.

When we came out of Avatar last night (after THREE hours) I made a vow that no matter what award a movie might have won, if I have a feeling it won't appeal to me I should pay attention to that feeling.

I knew that Avatar probably wouldn't be my kind of film, but gave it a chance because it's so popular, so talked about, the Golden Globe winner, the Oscar front-runner. And yes, it has wonderful, amazing visual effects. But that's about it. The story is flimsy, the characters are one-dimensional caricatures, it's hokey, smug, and at times I felt like I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon show.

And what I disliked about it the most is the way it tried to be a message film but talked down to the audience as if they were 5th graders. (Or maybe that was their target demographic?)

What a shame. What a shame! It could have been so good. The story of the paralized Marine being transported into the body of the alien, and the whole alien world was fascinating. Really good stuff. Great potential. Wasted!

An Education

I finally went to see An Education yesterday - a film I've been wanting to see for months - and I'm so glad I did. I won't be surprised if it turns out to be one of the best films of the year.

Based on a coming-of-age memoir set in 1961 London, it tells the story of 16 year-old Jenny, a bright girl headed to Oxford, who falls for a charming older man. He brings romance, sophistication, and fun into her dull life, causing her to question the value of academics.

This naturally leads to disillusion and a broken heart, but the story of this journey is superbly told, with wonderful period details, great music, and an incredibly good young actress. Jenny is played by Carey Mulligan, a name I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of.

Solitude & Iris

While BB is away on a trip I've been enjoying the solitude. Today is the fifth day and I'm not the least bit lonely or in need of company. I'm getting tons of things done and appreciating the quiet & calm. It's a lovely little lull.

I rented three movies this weekend, Away We Go, which was a big disappointment, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which was only mildly entertaining, and Iris, which I loved.

I missed this movie when it was released (and nominated for several Academy Awards) in 2002. It tells the story of Brittish novelist Iris Murdoch, played by Kate Winslet as the 1950s Iris, and Judy Dench as the 1990s Iris.

In back and forth scenes between the decades the young, vibrant Iris is contrasted with her older self as Alzheimer's takes hold. It's a heartbreaking film, but the performances are incredibly good.

Here's a clip of Kate as Iris singing :

Julie, Julia, & a rainy beach vacation

It was a bittersweet feeling when my feet hit the sand at Lake Michigan on Friday - I was glad to be there, but it made me a little homesick, too. Although the sky was overcast and the water chilly, we managed to enjoy three hours of beach time before it began to rain. We returned to our little roadside room, cleaned up, and went to the movies.

We saw Julie & Julia and I loved it. It's the best movie I've seen in a long time. Completely enjoyable.

There was more rain on Saturday so we decided to head home, stopping along the way to have breakfast with friends in Grand Rapids, and then visit family in Kalamazoo. It was nice to have unplanned, relaxing time with my sons and their wives. We played a game of Scrabble, golf on the Wi, ordered Chinese take-out, and had quality time with Ben - such a sweetie. He's thirteen months old now and is beginning to dance and bop his head to music. He has also learned to give kisses.

Happy-Go-Lucky

I finally rented and watched Happy-Go-Lucky last night. I was really looking forward to finally seeing this 2008 Golden Globe and Academy Award nominated movie, but it was a disappointment.













Maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe I wasn't in the right mood, but it just didn't engage me and I found the main character, Poppy, to be more anoying than charming. Happy-Go-Lucky has been called a "joyous feel-good film" but it didn't make me feel happy or lucky. It had it's moments, but not enough of them. For much of this movie I was simply bored.

There are several threads in this overrated film that go nowhere. I kept waiting for the plot to develop, but it never really did. She met a guy, her driving instructor is nuts - that's about it. I usually don't mind a movie without a lot of plot. I love character studies. But this was a character I just didn't care about.

Star Trek

So, we went to see Star Trek, and it was pretty good. Even though the action blockbuster genre doesn't usually appeal to me, I have to say it was fun to see the well-known Star Trek characters as their younger selves, meeting each other for the first time.

The movie had a lot of humor, and the development of the relationship between Kirk and Spock was interesting, but it was mostly a movie about fighting. From bar brawls to battling space ships there was plenty of action, including a hideous monster chasing Kirk on an ice planet, and hand to hand combat on a giant drill that is creating a black hole.

The plot involves time travel and an alternative reality that left me a tad confused - in the end the alternative reality seems to be the actual reality and old Spock is left living in the past. But most importantly, of-course, is that good prevails over evil.

I understand that plenty of people enjoy the kind of action that this Star Trek movie has, but I'm not one of them. During scenes of battles or fighting or chasing I tend to get bored. These kind of scenes do not engage me. My mind wanders. I become aware that I'm sitting in a theater watching a movie. I am definitly not an action movie fan, but for a movie with a lot of action this one isn't too bad.

Frozen River

I just watched Frozen River. Wow. What a great film. I liked it a lot, but I'm not completely sure I enjoyed it. It took me to a place and a culture I didn't know, I was absorbed in the story, fascinated with the characters, appreciative of the realistic details, and captivated by the fine performances, but I could hardly stand the tension! You spend most of this movie expecting something very bad to happen, and bad things do happen, just not necessarily what you were expecting.

Frozen River was the 2008 Grand Jury prize winner at Sundance, and the lead actress, Melissa Leo, was nominated for an Academy Award. All very deserving. I won't give anything away if you haven't seen it, but I will say that I was very relieved at the end. The end made all the tension worth it. Not that it's necessarily happy, but it is hopeful. I especially enjoyed the performance of the kid who plays the 15 year old son, and also the woman who plays the Mohawk smuggler.

The Station Agent

It was a gorgeous day, 55 degrees, and I finally got to spend some time outside with my camera. I shot 140 pictures of one of my favorite subjects: rusty, graffiti covered trains.

And then this evening we watched The Station Agent, a wonderful movie that won at Sundance in 2003. I don't know how I manged to miss this treat of a film till now. It's original, funny, and filled with great characters. I highly recommend it. (Though it was somewhat of an odd little coincidence to watch a film with so many trains in it after spending my day with trains!)

 You can tell it's Spring Downriver because the bait shops are open, the ducks are paddling around on melted ice-rinks, and classic cars and bikers are on the roads.

The Visitor

It's cold and snowing again, several inches expected, but I don't mind since there's so much inside to keep me occupied. I watched the movie "The Visitor" last night and really enjoyed it. Richard Jenkins (the actor who played the father on Six Feet Under) plays an isolated college professor who's life is changed when he discovers a pair of illegal immigrants living in his seldom used NYC apartment. His performance is brilliant and the story is fascinating - I was completely engrossed and sorry when the movie was over. It's a movie with something to say, but doesn't hit you over the head with its message. I highly recommend it.

Frost/Nixon

I went to see the movie Frost/Nixon yesterday and liked it a lot more than I'd expected. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes details of how this unusual and significant television interview came to be, the character study of these two very different men, and the drama of the interview itself, which plays out like a prize fight. I also enjoyed all the period elements, and of-course the great acting. I totally believed Frank Langella was Nixon.

So, I've now seen all five movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but I can't say which one I like best. I'll be rooting for Milk, but I'm sure the winner will be Slumdog Millionaire, which was a little too contrived for my taste, or Benjamin Button, which I thought was a tad too full of itself, and too long.

Revolutionary Road

I've been on a bit of a movie kick lately. If I get to see Frost/Nixon sometime soon I will have seen all five Oscar nominees for best picture - something I don't think I've ever done before.

This afternoon I went to see Revolutionary Road and it wasn't quite what I'd expected. It was certainly engrossing - I loved the look of it & the acting was terrific, but the story was disappointing. It bugged me that I didn't know enough about the main female character to really understand her, she wasn't very well-rounded. And while I understood that she felt stifled by her 1950s suburban life, the movie could have done a better job of demonstrating what was SO stifling about it. As it's depicted her life doesn't seem so bad & she comes off as completely selfish, self-involved & neurotic. Much more so than her husband. It's hard to have much sympathy for this character. And I really hated the end, with Leonardo DiCaprio saying "She did this to herself!" And then a little coda of a scene with a woman - the real estate agent played by Kathy Bates - blathering on and on while her husband turns down his hearing aid. That's how this movie ends - with a man completely tuning his wife out! What was the point of that?? There are some very good supporting players in this movie, and the costumes and art direction are great, but on the whole I didn't like it much & I think it's offensive to women.

The Reader

We stopped to watch these deer about a block from our house tonight on our way home from the movies.

We went to see "The Reader" and it was excellent. Definitely one of the best movies of the year. It's a fascinating, thought-provoking story, the acting is great, and it's thoroughly engrossing all the way through. I rank it much higher than either Slumdog Millionaire or Benjamin Button, both of which were good, but flawed.

My favorite movies of the current awards season (so far) are:
#1 The Reader
#2 Doubt
#3 Milk
#4 Rachel Getting Married
#5 Vicky Christina Barcelona