Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part eight: Movies 104-120

Pencilstorm contributor Rob Braithwaite is watching 366 movies this year, so you don't have to, here is part eight of his continuing 2016 rundown......

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

104
Gilda (1946) ★ ★
stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready
director: Charles Vidor

A crooked gambler, fresh off the boat to Argentina, goes to work for a casino owner who happens to marry his ex. That’s a big coincidence considering the exes weren’t from Argentina. There’s still a hateful passion between them. Sabotage, self and outward, run rampant. No one is likable. And there are two musical numbers.

Fresh off the Boat is a funny show.

watch The Shawshank Redemption instead

105
The Ascent (1977) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
director: Larisa Shepitko

Two Soviet partisans search for food in German-occupied Russia during World War Two. What begins as a mission for sustenance for their group becomes a exploration of what it means to survive in an occupied land. Leaning on the idea that righteousness is death and compromise fuels guilt, it’s a tough call.

double feature pairing: Red Dawn (1984)

106
Notorious (1946) ★ ★
stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
director: Alfred Hitchcock

The U.S. government whores out the daughter of a German spy to infiltrate a Nazi collective in Rio de Janeiro. She falls in love with her U.S. handler. He loves her. They would run away together if they would only tell each other how they feel. But they don’t, so she goes on with the mission and he acts like a hurt puppy because she’s “going all the way” (read: sex).

Jesus. This is a classic? I’ve always been too critical of Brian De Palma because of his sometimes on-the-nose camera work. I’m aware of his Hitchcock influence but thought he lead the audience much more. My apologies. Hitchcock is just as bad.

If you haven’t figured it out, THE POISON IS IN THE TEA!

watch The Boys from Brazil instead

107
Breathless (1960) ★ ★ ★
stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg
director: Jean-Luc Godard

A man kills a policeman after stealing a car. Risking capture, he returns to a girl he’s infatuated with in hopes that she will run off with him despite not knowing each other that well.

I liked this much more thinking about it afterwards than when I was watching it. His checking the latest version of the newspaper for details of his crime was subtly tense. And the long bedroom scene is great in retrospect.

double feature pairing: Miami Blues

108
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray
director: Agnès Varda

Cleo is a singer with a few hits on the radio. Her pampered lifestyle is shaken during an afternoon as she awaits test results from her doctor. Her world and mindset free from a restrictive state as the afternoon rolls on. The set design and camera work in her apartment are brilliant.

double feature pairing: Nick of Time

109
The Browning Version (1951) ★ ★ ★
stars: Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Nigel Patrick
director: Anthony Asquith

A stick-in-the-mud Latin teacher of a prep school is leaving for health reasons. The kids are happy. His adulterous wife couldn't care less. He lives with regret of not being better or fully understood. The movie is fine. He makes some nice inroads with a student and his wife’s lover. There’s a reason Latin isn't taught in high school anymore: Bor-ring.

double feature pairing: Dead Poets Society

110
Captain America: Civil War (2016) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Sebastian Stan
directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Finally! Someone’s punching something! Whoa! That totally blew up! HAHAHA!!!

This is the best Marvel movie*. The action is great. It’s really funny. And there is emotional weight. I never would have guessed the best Marvel series would have been Captain America’s.

“That sounds great,” you say. “I’ve never seen a Marvel movie.”

Well, don’t start here. We’ve reached the point where you can’t jump in and still get the full impact. You’ll be able to follow it, sure — events and personal ties are referenced — but showing is always better than telling.

Don’t worry. You don’t have to watch the twelve others. Six will do…

triple double feature marathon (+1): Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron

*confirmation in 5-10 years.

111
Dealin’ with Idiots (2013) ★ ★
stars: Jeff Garlin, Bob Odenkirk. J.B. Smoove
co-writer/director: Jeff Garlin

What if the camera filming The Bad News Bears were pointed the other way, filming the parents? Then I’d say to turn the camera back around.

There are funny people saying funny things. If it was a straight forward presentation of the personalities of little league parents it might have been better. However, Garlin’s character tells the parents he wants to interview them for a movie he’s researching. This forces some of the interactions in an artificial way that makes the scene look just like that, a scene.

double feature pairing: The Sandlot

112
Remember (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Christopher Plumber, Martin Landau, Dean Norris
director: Atom Egoyan

An Auschwitz survivor with dementia goes on the hunt for the Nazi-in-hiding who killed his family.

Don’t watch the trailer. It gives too much away.

Don’t believe the poster being used for the video release. This isn’t a Taken movie.

Christopher Plumber is amazing. And there are turns I wasn’t expecting.

double feature pairing: Memento

113
The Family Fang (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Nicole Kidman, Jason Bateman, Christopher Walken
director: Jason Bateman

The Parents Fang used The Siblings Fang as instruments in their real-world art projects. Now grown, the siblings are less-than-stable when their parents disappear. One suspects this is another art piece, while the other is prepared for the worst.

I hope Jason Bateman continues directing. Bad Words is good, and this showed some style. It was nice to see Nicole Kidman in something again. Christopher Walken wasn’t the caricature I’ve come to expect.

double feature pairing: The Royal Tenenbaums

114
The League of Gentlemen (1960) ★ ★ ★
stars: Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough
director: Basil Dearden

A retired military officer recruits fellow military men for a bank heist, the idea for which he got from the plot of a novel. No joke. These men, each their own brand of shady, robbed a bank like it happened in a book. Where was the Outraged Parents Society in 1960? Books are a path to criminal activity!

The movie is fine. Good bank robbing technique. What was the name of the book again?

double feature pairing: Heat

115
In a Lonely Place (1950) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
director: Nicholas Ray

A screenwriter with a short fuse is accused of murder. He enters into a relationship with his new neighbor who provided his alibi. She begins to wonder if his jealousy, paranoia and fits of rage aren’t the makings of a murderer after all.

Based on one throw-away line and a 21st century eye, this has an undercurrent of a man suffering from PTSD. I don’t think that is intentional, but it certainly helps in finding some sympathy for an unlikable lead, expertly performed by Bogart.

Includes a descriptor that you don't hear much these days: he made all his money before the income tax.

double feature pairing: Seven Psychopaths

116
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) ★ ★
stars: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam
director: Sidney Lumet

Murder was the train that they gave me.

Maybe this movie wouldn’t have been such a grind if there weren’t as many characters. After an epilogue, we meet fifteen to sixteen people. There’s a murder. Then there are thirteen interviews. There’s a resolution. Then we watch eleven people individually toast two others. Guh, get on with it!

watch Clue instead

117
The Trust (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Nicolas Cage, Elijah Wood
directors: Alex Brewer, Benjamin Brewer

Two cops rob a mysterious vault.

Nicolas Cage has muddied his filmography a great deal, so saying this is his best movie in years isn’t saying much. But, it is his best movie since Joe and his best comedic and vibrant performance since Kick-Ass.

The motivation of Cage’s character is heavily inferred. The movie seems to rely on the viewer knowing this genre to pick up on certain things. It was off-putting at first but I think I liked it this way. As the story progresses, we learned who this person really is, just as his partner does.

If nothing else, this gave me one of my favorite montages.

double feature pairing: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

118
Hell in the Pacific (1968) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Lee Marvin, Toshirô Mifune
director: John Boorman

American Soldier washes up on an island shore that Japanese Soldier solely inhabits. How will they react to one another as World War Two rages on with out them?

The lack of subtitles allows us to share in the men’s frustration in dealing with each other. The cinematography and framing are artful. The performances are impressive. The ending is abrupt and, if IMDb is to believed, a complete fabrication of the studio without John Boorman’s approval. The director’s superior ending is on the DVD as an extra and is in keeping with the rest of the movie.

double feature pairing: Enemy Mine

119
Poltergeist (2015) ★
stars: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris
director: Gil Kenan

What was the point?

watch Poltergeist (1982) instead

120
Night and the City (1950) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers
director: Jules Dassin

A hustler who's always on the lookout for the next big score finds himself in a position to become a successful wrestling promoter if he can orchestrate some powerful people the right way.

An impressive noir story that doesn’t involve a single gun. The way the plan falls apart is very unique.

Gene Tierney is second billed but has very little to do as the put-upon girlfriend/club singer. Her chummy neighbor is introduced for the sole purpose to make sure she has a man to pick her up at the end. A sign of the times, certainly genre. At least now, she would have… eh, maybe it wouldn’t be too different now. Someone of lower stature would have had that role instead.

double feature pairing: Barton Fink

Counters:
120/366 movies (16 movies off pace)
17/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Comic Book Movies - by Ricki C.

COMIC BOOK MOVIES, AND WHY THE CREATORS OF ART ARE NEVER THE ONES WHO
MAKE ANY MONEY, or WHY STAN LEE OF MARVEL COMICS IS A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE,
WHILE YOU’VE BARELY EVER HEARD OF JACK KIRBY.
by Ricki C.

(Before there was rock & roll in the Ricki C. universe there were comic books.  I was born in 1952 and when I was four years old I taught myself to read with comic books that my brother & sister – ten & seven years older than me – left around the house.  Al & Dianne were too old to be bothered with me at that point, and my mom & dad – children of The Depression that they were – both worked two jobs to keep our little West Side family afloat, so I had a pretty solitary childhood existence.  Not a bad existence, by any stretch of the imagination, just extremely quiet.  Before The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was twelve, superheroes brought The Noise to my world.)

The latest Marvel Studios movie – Captain America: Civil War – opens today and I’m definitely going to see it this afternoon, ‘cuz I’m kind of a sucker for comic book movies: but I’m not going to feel that good about  it, since Jack Kirby’s family is not gonna see a penny from it, and Stan Lee is just gonna get richer.  

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were once a team.  At Marvel Comics in the early 1960’s Stan Lee wrote comic book stories and Jack Kirby drew them.  In rock & roll terms they would have been John Lennon & Paul McCartney.  Or – more accurately – they would have been Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, since Marvel Comics were the Bad Boy counterparts to the ever-so-much more straight-laced DC Comics.  (Home of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc.)

Lee & Kirby ushered in the Age of Marvel in comic books – The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, The Hulk, The X-Men, Thor, Iron Man.  Marvel superheroes were Superheroes With Problems:  problems getting along with one another, problems with girls, problems turning into rage-filled green monsters, problems dealing with mutant powers while still teenagers, you name A Problem, a Marvel superhero had it.  DC superheroes were a pretty homogenized lot – millionaire playboys, scientists, test pilots, Amazonian princesses, etc. – none of them had any trouble paying the rent, if you get my drift.

I liked DC comics, but I LOVED Marvel comics.  And, as I look back now, I realize I loved Marvel comics more because of Jack Kirby’s artwork than because of Stan Lee’s writing.  Plus I learned much later in life the modus operandi at Marvel comics was that Stan Lee would present his artists with a general outline of a story, the artist would go away and draw the entire comic book – essentially plotting the issue – and then Lee would fill in the dialogue & captions after the fact.  I can’t imagine how that was a workable creative model, but that’s how it was done at Marvel in the 1960’s. 

(editor’s note: Ricki, any possibility you could get to the point about your title? / author’s note: I’m tryin’.)

So really, by 1963 when The X-Men debuted at Marvel when I was 11 years old, I had fallen hopelessly in love with Jack Kirby’s story style, still thinking then that it was Stan Lee I liked.  But by February 1964 – when The Beatles Hit America – my comic book days were all but over.  By my 13th birthday in 1965, when economic realities (and teenage hormones) made it necessary for me to choose between buying rock & roll records or my first love – comic books – The Dave Clark 5 and Lovin’ Spoonful won out.  

Here’s where my comic book and rock & roll analogy kicks in…….NOBODY in the comic book industry really made any kind of money back in the 1960’s.  Comic books were still a kid’s medium, there were no dedicated comic book stores, no graphic novels, certainly no superhero movies.  (There were bad, hokey Superman and Batman TV shows, but the budget for special effects in those was probably upwards of $80 or so per episode.  CGI, indeed.)

Jack Kirby left Marvel Comics in a squabble over money & creative control at the end of the 60’s (hey, just like in a rock & roll band) and went over to competitor DC.  There he engineered what I consider the highpoint of all comic book history, The Fourth World of The Forever People, New Gods & Mister Miracle (which actually should and maybe someday will be a whole separate blog).  Ultimately Kirby wasn’t treated much better at DC than at Marvel, where he eventually returned.

Kirby died February 6th, 1994, exactly two weeks before Kurt Cobain and I didn’t even hear about it until more than a year later, after all the Nirvana noise died down.  He left behind a wife & four children, owned a modest home in Southern California and was enough of a stand-up guy that I’ve never read a hateful interview about Stan Lee that issued from his mouth. But think about this: on our 21st century planet, Marvel Studios films – like today’s Captain America: Civil War – now generate BILLIONS of dollars for the parent company and – I have to believe – MILLIONS of dollars for Stan Lee (who rather egotistically makes a cameo appearance – a la Alfred Hitchcock – in EVERY Marvel movie).  

What does Jack Kiby’s estate (and grandchildren) get?  A quick mention of their gramps as a co-creator of the characters in the closing credits.  (About the same as Cleveland boys Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster get in the Superman movies, after selling their rights to Superman to DC for $135 in the late 1930’s.)

Imagine an alternate universe where The Beatles never really made it big in the 1960’s: if they’d made a few singles, an album or three, had a couple of hits and then faded away to memory.  Paul McCartney plugged away – did the Vegas circuit, kept things going – and John Lennon died of something other than a gun-wielding fan/madman in 1980.  

Then, somehow, in the 2000’s some hipster movie maker finds the old Beatles records, throws them in his movies and Beatlemania EXPLODES 40 years AFTER it actually did.  Paul McCartney – who’s still around, though creatively diminished – reaps the royalties windfall, and Cynthia & Julian Lennon (John is never famous enough in this alternate reality to meet & woo Yoko) get nothing but a mention of John in the credits.  Does that seem fair?

Think about Jack Kirby while you’re watching Captain America: Civil War.  I will be.  – Ricki C. / May 1st, 2016

ps. The best book I've ever read about all this stuff is Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison.  Check it out if you have any interest in comic books and/or superheroes. 

Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part se7en: Movies 88-103

Pencilstorm contributor Rob Braithwaite is watching 366 movies this year, so you don't have to, here is part seven of his continuing 2016 rundown......

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

088
Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) ★ ★.5
stars: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Joaquim de Almeida
director: David Gordon Green

She was out, but they pulled her back in! A retired political consultant comes down from the hills to head a presidential campaign in Bolivia against her fiercest rival.

The movie does a pretty good job of illustrating how a campaign can be more a personal battle between competitors who aren’t running for office, and in this case, don’t even live in the country in which they are campaigning.

A few moments of levity swing too broadly. And the principle of keeping the native tongue is abandoned when the American needs to overhear something.

watch The War Room instead

089
Black Mass (2015) ★ ★
stars: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch
director: Scott Cooper

An FBI agent allows his childhood friend and adulthood gangster James “ Whitey” Bulger to go unchecked under the guise of an informant.

The much more interesting story of how an FBI agent covers for a criminal is buried under the distraction of making scenes for a Goodfellas remake. It’s only at the end that we get a sense of how the agent was able to protect Bulger. Even then it's glossed over. Bulger should have been like the shark in Jaws. Rarely seen.

watch The Departed instead

090
The 33 (2015) ★ ★.5
stars: Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche
director: Patricia Riggen

Despite being a true story, it opens like a bad disaster movie. We meet some of the thirty-three miners who will be trapped in a mine. There’s the I’m Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today guy, the My Wife Is Pregnant guy, the Two Weeks Until Retirement guy, and the I’m Telling You The Mine Isn’t Safe guy.

The second half is a better, even though it continues to have characters speak in exposition.

watch Ace in the Hole instead

091
Too Late (2015) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: John Hawkes, Crystal Reed, Dichen Lachman
writer/director: Dennis Hauck

A private detective receives a call from an old acquaintance for help.

An incredibly familiar yet unique movie experience. Shot on 35MM film and only shown in theaters able to project it in 35MM. Each reel, about 10-15 minutes, is a single take, except for one, which falls into the narrative line but gives it a feeling of unreality and gives Tarantino a run for his grindhouse sensibility. It would have added up to a gimmick if the storytelling wasn’t sound. The movie unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, revealing surprises and humor all along the way.

double feature pairing: Rope

092
Kilo Two Bravo (2014) ★ ★ ★
stars: David Elliot, Mark Stanley, Scott Kyle
director: Paul Katis

A company of British soldiers find themselves trapped in a Afghanistan minefield.

Knowing this really happened brought a little reality to it. As a movie, it was fine.

double feature pairing: Fury

093
Paper Moon (1973) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, Madeline Khan
director: Peter Bogdanovich

A cross country hustler agrees to take a recently orphaned child to her nearest relative. He quickly learns he has met his match in the grifting game.

Easily one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. Tatum O’Neal, 10 years old at the time, crushes this movie. Her fire is that of a Marion Ravenwood. In the scene when Addie first goes toe-to-toe with the hustler Moses,  I heard Marion screaming at Indiana Jones: until I get my money back, “I’m your goddamn partner!”

double feature pairing: The Brothers Bloom

094
The Driver (1978) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani
writer/director: Walter Hill

In a movie where no one has a name, The Detective is so determined to catch The Driver that he goes beyond the limits of the law to get him.

This is some fine pulp grit. Excellent car work that employs Peter Hyams’ patented car POV shots.

double feature pairing: The Transporter

095
When Worlds Collide (1951) ★ ★ ★
stars: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen
director: Randolph Maté

In short: we are going to die!

This isn’t an era of film making and genre that plays it subtle. It opens with a bible scripture of Noah and his ark. See, the first body, a star, will cause great earthquakes and tidal waves, the second body is a planet that possibly could support life. A rocket ship is created for a select few to make the journey.

It’s an enjoyable watch. Some dated unintentional humor. The lack of subtlety is a hoot. A sign over the animal pens reads: WEIGHT WILL BE A PROBLEM. DO NOT OVERFEED.

double feature pairing: Knowing

096
Midnight Special (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Jaeden Lieberher, Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton
writer/director: Jeff Nichols

A boy with mysterious powers is tracked by the government and a religious cult from which he’s escaping.

I’m looking forward to seeing this again. Nothing is laid out. Information comes slowly as the boy and his father try to get away. Seems, however, the light touch might be too light at times. A few questions linger of destination and backstory, and how one character pulls a critical piece of information out of the air. Maybe clues are there in a re-watch.

double feature pairing: Starman

097
Black Sunday (1977) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller
director: John Frankenheimer

“What is this… ‘Super Bowl’?”

An engaging and suspenseful thriller about a terrorist group’s plot to detonate a bomb over Super Bowl X via the Goodyear blimp grinds to a screeching halt for the climatic event. I probably saw more football during that movie than I did all year. We see the players of both teams walk from the buses into the stadium. We hear the introductions of the starting line ups. We hear the national anthem. We see several touchdowns, turnovers and tackles. All quickly cut and scored with great intensity because, when it’s all said and done, we’re watching a blimp slowly make it’s way to the stadium.

double feature pairing: The Last Boy Scout

098
The Killing (1956) ★ ★
stars: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards
director: Stanley Kubrick

A bunch of crooks hatch a scheme to rob a race track.

It’s a good scheme. But it’s presented like an episode of Dragnet. The omniscient narrator tells us who people are, the time things are happening and other useful information like, “Four days later, at 7:30 AM, Sherry Peatty was wide awake” as we watch Sherry Peatty get out of bed.

watch Let It Ride instead

099
Hotel Transylvania (2012) ★ ★.5
stars: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez
director: Genndy Tartakovsky

Dracula is overprotective of his daughter.

It’s cute. There’s a song and dance number at the end to get the runtime over 80 minutes. If you have a kid that plays movies over and over again, you could do worse.

watch Transylvania 6-5000 instead

100
Green Room (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat
writer/director: Jeremy Saulnier

This trailer is safe to watch. Don’t watch any others because they ruin so much of the movie. If you need to know something, a traveling punk band plays a gig and something happens. It’s suspenseful and plays out in logical ways.

double feature pairing: Cube

101
Murder By Decree (1979) ★.5 [AS, Re]
stars: Christopher Plumber, James Mason, David Hemmings
director: Bob Clark

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson take a crack at the Jack the Ripper case.

This is soooooooo booooooring.

watch Without a Clue instead

102
High-Rise (2015) ★ ★ ★
stars: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller
director: Ben Wheatley

A tough movie to summarize due to a lack of a clear plot and probably a bear to adapt from the J. G. Ballard novel, in which residents of an apartment high-rise double for a capitalist society. Screenwriter Amy Jump and Wheatley turn in another fascinating movie.

double feature pairing: The Towering Inferno

103
The Big Red One (1980) ★ ★ ★
stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine
writer/director: Samuel Fuller

The missions of a military unit during World War Two are tied together by some terrible narration. Some sections are presented better than others. It’s amazing how far the portrayal of war in film has come. I’m guessing this was thought of as gritty in 1980. Now, it’s a bit small scale.

double feature pairing: Patton

Counters:
103/366 movies (19 movies off pace)
15/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

HBO's "VINYL" Is A Wild Ride With More Than a Few Bad Bumps - by Jon Peterson

When HBO first announced that they were producing a new dramatic series about the radio & record industry that was set in the 1970's, I got really excited.  Even more reason to get "amped up" when it was announced that Martin Scorsese was co-creating this series with Mick Jagger and Terrence Winter, the writer of dozens of great Boardwalk Empire and Sopranos episodes.  With that creative team, Vinyl would surely feature a mind-blowing blend of sex & drugs & rock n' roll... all in the appropriate dosages... with top-notch storytelling. But that was a rock and roll fantasy.... all happening in my head.  

I had hoped for a synergistic blend of these major talents to knock it out of the park and create my favorite HBO show ever.  At the very least, all the earmarks were certainly there for a fantastic series.  Scorsese is a director who has utilized rock music in his films better than anyone else.  Anyone who has seen Mean Streets and Goodfellas knows what I'm talking about.  With Vinyl, he was teaming up with HBO's finest writer and Mick Jagger, the ultimate rock icon with six decades of first-hand music industry knowledge.  

If you are late to the party, the Season One finale just aired last night.  So perhaps it's time to binge... especially if you are an insane music freak or radio & records insider. 

Or... maybe not?   I mean, you would naturally think that folks like us should dig this show the most!!

Well, although I am still enjoying the show, it is not without a struggle.  For me, knowing a lot about rock n' roll history has actually made it a more difficult experience to just "let go" and enjoy the sensory overload.  But I can't let go of all the inside knowledge and rock background:  like the liner note details on the inside sleeve of "Let It Bleed"; it's the kind of shit I tend to memorize.  Folks like myself (and I'm sure most of the regular Pencilstorm readers) tend to be sticklers for historical accuracy and detail.  

Did Robert Plant really have last minute doubts about re-signing a deal with Atlantic?  Were Grand Funk Railroad, Donny Osmond, America and Robert Goulet all on the same label... real or otherwise?  Did a Sex Pistols-like UK Punk band exist in 1973 that the fictional band here (The Nasty Bits) were based on?  Last time I checked, The Sex Pistols formed in 1975 while The Clash and The Damned formed in 1976.  

Last time I checked the timelines, The New York Dolls were an underground cult band that got virtually no radio airplay at all.  To a younger viewer or mini-rock fan, Vinyl makes you think that they has some of the top selling records of 1973.  As a reality check, some of the top hits of that pretty dreadful year include "Tie A Yellow Ribbon," "Half Breed," "Delta Dawn" and "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia."  

Okay, there was some decent rock stuff too that year.  But even some of the better hits were all pretty mainstream songs, including "We're An American Band," "Little Willie," Frankenstein," "Smoke On The Water" and "Crocodile Rock."  All of that, a far cry from Sex Pistol-like songs that say "fuck, fuck, fuck."

So that's where Vinyl has some real issues. I have no problem at all with fictional characters intersecting with historical timelines... but those timelines have to be correct.  And the overarching vibe of the plot details must resemble something close to the reality of 1973... or don't set the damn show in 1973.  Happy Days had an amorphous blob as to what year is actually was supposed to taking place in.....same here!

I I truly think that the less one know about rock/pop hit music of 1973 or the radio & record industry, the better.  Indeed, some of my twenty and thirty-something colleagues at work think the series is amazing... as good as "The Wolf of Wall Street," as they say. Get it? They love that cartoon-like hedonism!  "It's all old and before my time. Correct details don't really matter!"

But here is a better analogy. "The Goldbergs" is a current comedy on ABC set in the 1980's that zips around the entire decade to mix historical tidbits and fads with the fictional narrative because they don't think the audience will know (or care) anything about the actually historical timeline,... all to broad comic effect.  With Vinyl, a similar thing is happening.  Yeah, it's a drama, but it's also a bit of a broad "cartoon" of non-stop-partying and hedonistic excess. And the more clueless about the actual shenanigans of rock n' roll sausage-grinding and hit-making of 1973, the better! 

So in true rock nerd style... here are some bullet-pointed Cliff Notes:

THE GOOD

--- The Production Design - It sure looks and feels like the streets of NYC in 1973... dirty, raunchy and bursting with musical excitement. It's also pretty damn cool seeing historical landmarks like Max's Kansas City and a Sam Goody's record store.

--- The Physicality of the Acting - Bobby Cannavale (from Boardwalk Empire and Nurse Jackie) has the perfect blend of ego, attitude and over-the-top wild kinetic energy as record company president Richie Finestra.  He does his lines of coke with the same zeal and screams of madness as Al Pacino in Scarface.  Also impressive is James Jagger (Mick's son) who plays Kip Stevens, the lead singer of a proto-punk band called The Nasty Bits.  He's got the 'fuck off' attitude and sneer down perfectly. Like father, like son...probably not a hard acting stretch for him.. given his pedigree.  But despite all the great technical acting and period hair/makeup and costumes..... there is definitely a lack of emotional depth to it all.  That problem, however, could be inseparably tied to the show's writing and premise.  See next section below.

--- The Acting of Ray Romano - Probably the most impressive dramatic acting comes courtesy of Ray Romano from the great TV comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond."  As Zack Yanovich, the Head of Radio Promotion at the mythical American Century Records, Ray brings surprising depth and nuance to his character who laughs, cries and tries to bring a creative edge and common sense to his senior leadership position,

--- (Some of the) Rock Stars that intersect with the fictional story-line -  Throughout the season, we are treated to more than a handful of re-created rock star encounters. These appearances are most successful when they are not integral to the plot and do not change important facts in Rock History.  It sure is fun to see John Lennon & May Pang out partying and having a night on the town, or seeing The New York Dolls on stage in present day 1973, or The Velvet Underground on stage in 1967 (via a flashback).  It also is pretty cool that Richie's wife was one of Andy Warhol's former Factory girls... providing alot of insight into her character's party girl past. See, none of that fiction messes up anything in Rock History.  Or if David Bowie is soundschecking during the Ziggy Stardust tour and is friends with a women publicist at the record company and comes over to chat with her... all that can provide for a colorful backdrop. Where all this becomes a lot more problematic is when these characters are more than just cameos.  Sometimes they  are fully integral into the plot.. with the result of that fictional storyline bastardizing rock history in the process.  See "The Bad" below.....

--- The Most Revealing Scene about the Music Industry - When a wild-man radio station group owner (played by Andrew Dice Clay) attacks Richie in a drug-fueled rage, an Indy Promo Man named Joe Corso (hired by Richie) pulls him off and kills him with violent gusto.  After he bludgeons him and bashes in his skull with a lamp, Richie says "Why did you do that?"  Corso replies, "I didn't do it, you did!" This totally illustrates the symbiotic need for record labels to hire indy promo people.  They hire these Indy Promo guys to "do what needs to be done" to secure radio airplay. Thinking they are finding easy solutions, they actually are creating their own scary monsters for the future.

--- The Coolest Intersection of Fact and Fiction - comes in the episode where Richie gets a meeting with Elvis in the Las Vegas Hilton after a show. Elvis is getting fat and bloated, but listens to Richie's passionate plea to get out of his RCA deal and come to the fictional American Century.  Richie promises to hire all Memphis session men and have Pops Staples produce.  Elvis says "You get it, you get" and is all set to jump ship... until Col. Parker comes back to room and he caves.   This is awesome because it doesn't fuck with rock history... because it didn't actually happen... and it didn't create a convoluted outcome.  It's cool because it happened behind closed doors and  makes us all think... "Wow.. what if! What if?!?"  

THE BAD

--- The Lack of Emotional Depth - It's hard to say the problem here is entirely with the cast.  Bobby Cannivale is a top notch actor and is certainly capable of creating a complicated portrayal. The script tells us we are to believe that he also loves his wife, and really wants to live a sober life too. It just all goes to hell as soon as he sees the bags of drugs.  I guess that emotional depth thing is tough when you are rockin' a 70s 'shag haircut' and a polyester shirt and snorting blow like Tony Montana.

--- Rock Stars that become part of the story line - The cameos are usually fine.  What I don't like is when there is an inference or fictional plot detail that flies in the face of rock history.  In the finale, we see The Ramones in the audience watching the fictional Nasty Bits on stage..... supposedly getting inspiration and stealing their sloppy style. Okay, something like that might have actually happened, but if it did, it was from seeing The Dictators, an American Pop Punk band from 1973 that  was also a total flop in terms of hit-making, not from a fictional UK band resembling the Sex Pistols that were still three more years in the future. Then there's the Alice Cooper episode, where an American Century A&R guy tries to get Alice Cooper to dump his band and go solo.  Alice outs him in front of his boys and they tie him up and scare the shit out of him by sticking his head in their stage guillotine. The problem here?  Alice did dump his band and go solo in 1975... so it's not to much of a stretch to think he might have been thinking about that in 1973.  But this fictional outcome was a lot more inherently visual.  Then of course, there's the pilot where Robert Plant is thinking about jumping ship from Atlantic and signing with another label at the end of their five year contract. Fictional here, but it would make someone not aware of that fact think that the mighty Zeppelin actually contemplated that.  The truth of the matter is that Atlantic was more than happy to let them form their own imprint label (Swan Song) and continue with their distribution... which, by the way, happened in May of 1974, not 1973.

--- The Transitional "Rock Ghost" storytelling device - The writers/producers use a "Rock History" ghost to act as a Greek Chorus, of sorts, to provide a recurring transitional device. Ritchie and Zack travel to Southern California? Then create a "Rock Ghost" segue by showing Jan & Dean singing "Surf City, here I come."  Ritchie is feeling sad and delusional? Their visually re-occurring solution is to have the Rock Ghost sing "It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty.  Conway Twitty?!?!? Even without the running gag of the Rock Ghost, music is used in a similar "broad stroke" manner. Richie is feeling nervous and psychotic, play "Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five from 1965.  None of all this has anything to do with 1973 making hit records on vinyl.  All this reminds me of a bad version of what was done much more artfully in American Graffiti. The season ends on the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams".....which is obviously super-cool and bad-ass.  I'm just not certain it's relevant. In fact, I can't even see Seymour Stein picking that as 'theme music' for Sire Records.

--- The Name of the Series - A Hipster underground reference, Vinyl was actually a 1965 experimental film by Andy Warhol.  Who the hell knows that?  I didn't even know that.  'Vinyl' was a term said very rarely and didn't come into more prominent use until the 1990's.....when nostalgic club DJ's and others lamented the death of vinyl records.  It was not a term ever used in the 1970's in any kind of meaningful way.  It was all 45, LP, cassette or eight track!

--- The Opening Title Sequence - I have nothing against expressionism: indeed, Boardwalk Empire's title sequence was absolutely mind-blowing.  But there is nothing going on here.  A B&W shot of a needle skipping grooves interlaced with bouncing coke powder and/or sizzling heroin, quick abstract images.....I guess I just expected Kodachome's nice warm colors and the greens of summer.

THE UGLY

--- The Overall Writing - and all the dud scenes.  Get a research team to interview industry folks and have them write down record company terms like "rackjobbers" or let them tell you about the "buying back cut-out" scams... and then write dialogue about it.  Research the names of radio stations and DJ's and figure out ways to "name check" them in.  Read Tommy James' book about how the Mob owned him and figure out a way to work it in.  Create a fictional label that has an actual roster of America, Donny Osmond, Grand Funk Railroad, Robert Goulette and others.....all of whom were on different labels.  Hearing an insider thing like "Musicians Cemetery of America" (a common joke about MCA) and somehow equating it to this fictional label.  Yeah, all that makes for a fun "Oh, I know the cross-checked reference"... but does it actually move the plot forward?  Or it is just "insider dictionary" swallowing?

--- The Lack Of Ht Music from 1973 - If you are trying to make the point that radio music of the day was super lame... and that Richie is trying to create something fresh and exciting, then play us something lame like The Carpenters "Sing."  If American Century is about to sign a huge fictional early Disco act, then play us some actual songs like "Keep On Trucking" or "Love Train."  Make it actually feel like 1973... that would be "good history."  It would also cost the producers a lot of money in publishing and licensing rights. Let's not forget that Mick Jagger was also a graduate of the London School of Economics.  

--- The Overall Premise - That Richie, as a boy loved the rawness and power of jazz and blues... and that somehow correlates to his desire for something similar in 1973.  The music business is, first and foremost, a business! Indeed, his fictional American Century label made a boatload of money on mainstream pop music (like Donny Osmond) that sold through.  It was not a charity or hipster appreciation society. 

--- The Overarching Dramatic Story line - Sure, it was a dirty game back then.  But there were never any record company presidents murdering owners of radio station clusters like here.  Yes, there was the Mob and a lot of illegal activity.  It's all just a bit silly and over the top.  But then again, Vinyl is a drama... and Martin Scorsese is involved.  

So with all this complaining, the truth is that I am still enjoying it enough to see where Season Two takes us.  Hey, a name check of "Pet Sounds" in the finale can't be all bad!  

But there's a saying in the recording studio that "too many cooks will spoil the broth."  Indeed, there was only one Brian Wilson in charge of that masterpiece, not three.  What seems to have happened here is that too much of the creative work was a  "decision by the brain trust committee".. and the working in of all those "high concepts" was no easy feat.

Interesting side note, perhaps Terrence Winter thought so too.....as he is now gone. In April 2016 it was announced that Winter left his position as an Executive Producer due to "creative differences."  He was just replaced by Scott Z. Burns.  I'm sure that Vinyl will just "Keep On Truckin'!!!"

"Wild Jon" Peterson is the Host of "Shakin It" on WCBE.  He was also a radio programmer at KPFK Los Angeles, WRLT Nashville, WRNR Annapolis and WIVI/Pirate Radio in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  He was also Head of Promotion at Arista Austin Records.

Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part five: Movies 67-74

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

067
Dogfight (1991) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: River Phoenix, Lili Taylor
director: Nancy Savoca

The night before they ship off to fight in Vietnam, a group of soldiers play another round of Dogfight, in which they each try to find the ugliest girl for a cash prize.

Lili Taylor is amazing and a perfect counter to River Phoenix's intensity. It’s a shame he’s dead. And it’s a shame she’s not in more things these days. [checking Lili Taylor’s filmography] Whoa. She’s worked a lot lately. Consistently, really, since she started. OK, it’s a shame I don’t watch the things she makes these days.

double feature pairing: Tigerland

068
Ricki and the Flash (2015) ★ ★.5
stars: Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer, Kevin Kline
director: Jonathan Demme
writer: Diablo Cody

At first scene I thought this movie was going to correctly illustrate how few people will see an unknown, touring band. Ricki and the Flash play a show to virtually nobody. A few disinterested people at tables. A small handful are paying attention to the band, who belt out “American Girl.” It’s a cover, sure, but what band doesn’t pepper a few into their set.

As the movie went on it’s clear RATF is a cover band, with a residency. It’s the level she’s come to rest after an unsuccessful original music career, a broken marriage and a reluctance to keep in contact with her kids. I can sympathize a bit with Ricki, but her kids are right to be pissed.

Also, a cover band regularly playing the same venue pulls a bigger crowd than what's portrayed above. That? That's what Wichita looks like for a Columbus band.

The movie is fine yet frustrating. She plays a song of her own for her ex-husband and daughter. However, when it comes time to give the gift of song to her son at his wedding reception (because it’s all she has!), she opts to play a Bruce Springsteen cover.

Spoiler alert: she wins over all the stuffed shirts at the event. Everyone is happy and all is forgiven. [to the tune of a foghorn] Buuuuulll-shiiiiiit.

watch Crazy Heart instead

069
Stagecoach (1939) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
director: John Ford

A group of strangers take the stagecoach for various reasons. All secrets will be revealed as they try to stay one step ahead of the attacking Apache.

Yep, it’s a worthy classic. The ambush of the stagecoach is still thrilling. There’s suspense in the slow reveal of everyone’s motivations. No wonder its influence on the westerns and action movies that followed.

double feature pairing: Hombre

070
Seven Samurai (1954) ★ ★ ★ ★ 
stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima
director: Akira Kurosawa

Farmers of 15th century Japan hire samurai to protect their village from bandits.

Like Stagecoach, this movie inspired imitations. Unlike Stagecoach, I don’t think this original has been bettered. Great action and humor. Some incredibly heart-wringing moments.

Despite my appreciation for it, I got a little antsy. Three and a half hours is a long time to sit through something. I think any movie over three hours should be seen in the theater. There are too many distraction watching something that long at home.

double feature pairing: 13 Assassins

071
The Wave (2015) ★ ★ ★
stars: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Thomas Bo Larsen
director: Roar Uthaug

A rockslide in a Norwegian fjord causes and tsunami, turning the inhabitants’ lives into a world of hurt.

It’s a disaster movie that hits all the standard beats. There’s the geologist who sees the problem, even though everyone else thinks he’s overreacting. There’s the sullen teen who causes more trouble because he’s doing what he wants. And you’ve got people acting randomly because people, other than the leads, have to die.

It’s a disaster movie that doesn’t have to pile on a bunch of nonsense, either. Rockslide causes tsunami, people deal with it. That’s it. It doesn’t set off a chain of rockslide tsunamis or cause all the moose to attack. It’s simple tension within a well-known template and a thousand times better than anything I saw in the first hour of San Andreas, which is all I watched of that garbage.

And now, some Norwegian insight:

In the opening scene, our hero flips all through the dial trying to find some music not for these damned kids today. “I’m 40,” he screams as he finds “Splitter Pine” from DumDum Boys, the best Norwegian rock band. He and I both cheer.

Dagbladet was misplaced in the VG section of a newspaper rack in the hotel lobby. The production designer dropped the ball, I thought. Not so fast, says a VG representative. "We actually do find examples now and then that this happens in real life, and do constantly have to educate the retailers.” The production designer is a genius! Someone give Lina Nordqvist an award.

double feature pairing: Earthquake

072
The Naked Face (1984) ★
stars: Roger Moore, Rod Steiger, Elliott Gould
screenwriter/director: Bryan Forbes

A psychiatrist is on someone hit list. The cops are no help so he looks into the who and why himself.

A flatline thriller from the start. Rod Steiger plays it big. Elliott Gould plays it small. And Roger Moore plays it with huge eyeglasses.

watch D.O.A. instead

073
Harold and Maude (1971) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort
director: Hal Ashby

Death-obsessed Harold meets free-spirit Maude. A May-December romance for the ages.

It’s as great as they say. Very funny and dark. Some great juxtapositions that should be in a museum.

double feature pairing: The Fisher King

074
Bridge of Spies (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda
director: Steven Spielberg
writers: Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

An insurance lawyer is tapped to defend a captured Soviet spy and later to negotiate a swap for a fallen U.S. pilot.

It’s a lot better than the trailer made me think it would be. I’d heard people crying about its runtime. Sure, it’s long, but I couldn’t see anything substantial that could have been cut. It’s well written and acted. The first ten minutes is some delicious spy meat and potatoes.

double feature pairing: The Falcon and the Snowman

Counters:
74/366 movies (14 movies off pace)*
12/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

*Just because I didn't do my job watching movies doesn't mean you should be shorted on your entertainment. So here is a video sampling of DumDum Boys:

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part four: Movies 52-66

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

052
Southpaw (2015) ★ ★
stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker
director: Antoine Fuqua

Did you see Rocky III? Change who gets killed, add a child custody case, make two characters call each other “baby” so much that you’d get alcohol poisoning if you drank a shot every time they did, and you’ve got Southpaw.

watch Creed instead

053
Room (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen
director: Lenny Abrahamson

The reveal of the situation the two leads are in is so well crafted that I wish I hadn’t known anything about the movie before seeing it. An impossible feat then because how would I have known to see it? A bigger problem now because it’s an award nominee and winner. So, if you somehow don’t know anything about it, you're one luck duck. Just know that it is worth watching.

double feature pairing: Pan's Labyrinth

054
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Maureen O'Hara. Lucille Ball, Ralph Bellamy
director: Dorothy Arzner

Two dancers of a traveling dance troupe struggle to make it in the dance world. (One more time for luck? Dance!)  Judy has aspirations to be a world class ballerina. Bubbles knows how to work the stage and rich men.

Lucille Ball was a spectacular presence. A singing, dancing, joking spectacular presence.

Did you know night court was a real thing? I thought it was just a premise for a great sitcom. I spent a good amount of the scene’s time find-and-replacing characters from Night Court. Then I wondered if the show ever referenced this movie. Not for a whole episode, but the gag at the top of a court scene that would lead into the main story. Then I was introduced to Abraham Lincoln Johnson and Martha Johnson.

Earlier, Judy watched a dance routine in which two of the dancers were in black face. A surprise, but for 1940 maybe not so shocking. When Judy and Bubble’s night court case resolved, and the next case was called, two African-Americans walked past the camera.

I don’t know what to make of that. In both cases, the screen time was minimal to the point of being unnecessary. The inclusion of both blackface and black faces had to be intentional. For a movie that was progressive in its treatment of women (Judy is career-minded, forgoes pairing off with a rich man, breaks during a burlesque performance to berate the men who come to leer at them), it’s hard to think the filmmaker decided to be racist for a few seconds. I suppose one could be pro-woman and racist. Still, how much more American can you get with names like Abraham Lincoln Johnson and Martha Johnson?

double feature pairing: Footloose

055
Legend (2015) ★ ★
stars: Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Emily Browning
screen writer/director: Brian Helgeland

Reggie and Ronnie Kray were the most notorious criminals in London during the 1960’s. Or so Legend’s narration says. It wasn’t effectively shown. Maybe that’s because the narration came from Frances Shea, Ronnie’s eventual wife. The information was so dry that she could have been reading newspaper articles about the brother’s activities. No insight. No snap.

Remember when Spandau Ballet’s Kemp brothers played The Krays?

watch Adaptation instead

056
Intruders (2015) ★ ★
stars: Beth Riesgraf, Rory Culkin, Martin Starr
director: Adam Schindler

It’s a nice twist to make the victim of a home invasion agoraphobic, unable to have left her house in 10 years. The twist she turns against against her attackers is surprising then kinda dumb. The movie must have known this, since everything wrapped up in 80 minutes. That’s not enough time to get upset about it.

watch Vacancy instead

057
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman
directors: Glen Ficarra, John Sequa

The adaptation of Kim Barker’s book, The Taliban Shuffle, an account of her time as a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The power lies with Tina Fey, leading with her dramatic leg. Fey’s pairing with Christopher Abbott and Billy Bob Thornton are two of the best the movie has to offer.

Also, it’s tough to be down on a movie when it starts with “Jump Around.”

double feature pairing: Good Morning Vietnam

058
London Has Fallen (2016) ★
stars: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and others cashing in a paycheck
director: Babak Najafi

This story of a terrorist killing all the world’s leaders (except for America’s!) at the British Prime Minister’s funeral was written by a computer. Another computer compiled outtakes from the actor’s previous movies to create the images. (I’ll eat my hat if Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler were in the same room when they filmed their scene together.) And how is it that the President of the United States of America, the man who just help kill all the terrorists, isn’t the one giving the rousing speech about not minding our business in foreign affairs to cap it all off? Because Morgan Freeman is the Vice-President, and Morgan Freeman is hired to make speeches.

Sometimes I just want some movie popcorn. Maybe I should learn to make it myself.

watch water boil instead

059
The Last Days of Disco (1998) ★ ★ ★
stars: Chloë Sevingy, Kate Beckinsale, Chris Eigeman
writer/director: Whit Stillman

“The times, they are a-becoming quite different.”
- Seymour Skinner

double feature pairing: Diner

060
Love & Friendship (2016) ★ ★ ★
stars: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevingy, Xavier Samuel
screen writer/director: Whit Stillman

A lady searches for a husband for her daughter and herself. Based on Jane Austen’s Lady Susan.

Fancy dress and pretty locales. Funny words and portrayals. It’s the world of Jane Austen, a place I don’t frequent, though it’s nice to check in from time to time.  

double feature pairing: The Prestige

061
The Night Before (2015) ★ ★ ★
stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie
director: Jonathan Levine

It’s the final run of a Christmas tradition three friends have shared for 10 years. Hilarity ensues.

Would you believe mild amusement? The story is pat. Performances from Rogen, Ilana Glazer and Michael Shannon made it watchable.

double feature pairing: Three Amigos

062
Black Rock (2012) ★ ★ ★
stars: Katie Aselton, Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth
director: Katie Aselton

Three friends return to the isolated island of their childhood to reconnect. Trouble finds them. Survival tries to save them.

The movie’s strength is in its character moments and motivations. Even though a few action beats are a bit forced, it generally works.

double feature pairing: Backcountry

063
Rififi (1955) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel
director: Jules Dassin

This is widely considered to be one the best heist movie of all time. I now can agree. The heist of a jewelry store is still tense after all these years and the movies inspired by it. What I wasn’t expecting was the strength of the aftermath, when the success spirals out of control.

double feature pairing: Sneakers

064
Pixels (2015) ★
stars: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan
director: Chris Columbus

Video games from the 1980s attack Earth.

Sometimes I can’t sleep.
Bad movie, bring on the sand.
Man, that did not work.

watch The Last Starfighter instead

065
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) ★ ★ ★
stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.
director: Dan Trachtenberg

Michelle crashed her car. Howard has taken her to his fallout bunker just as the attack from…he can’t be certain, and she’s not certain about him.

I don’t know how much to say about this in-spirit sequel to Cloverfield. If you are looking for another Cloverfield, you’ll be waiting for the last 15 minutes. If you are looking for a tense thriller in an enclosed space, enjoy the monster movie at the end.

Since I’ve seen it, the original origin story I heard makes a lot more sense than the narrative I’ve seen in recent articles. It’s a good movie, however I was distracted by the seams, perceived or real. You should see it before investigating that too much.

double feature pairing: Attack the Block

066
The Brothers Grimsby (2016) ★.5
stars: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson
director: Louis Leterrier

I went for the spy comedy, forgot that gross-out comedies were still being made. Good golly, new level reached.

watch Spy instead

Counters:
66/366 movies (se7en movies off pace)
11/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index