Cold War

Poland’s entry into the Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category this year, Cold War is a black and white film directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. He won the Best Foreign Film Academy Award in 2015 for Ida, a film I enjoyed that year. Cold War was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Director at this year’s Oscars (lost to Roma in all three categories). I really enjoyed this bittersweet film set in the 1950’s in Poland and France at the height of the cold war between communist countries and the “free” world. The film is rated R for some sexual content, nudity and language.

Zula (Joanna Kulig) and Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) meet when musical director Wiktor is helping find young singers and folk dancers to form a traveling Polish dance troupe. Zula is a talented singer and dancer, and a charismatic young woman, and the two fall in love. Wiktor has dreams of being a composer and musician beyond the folk music of Poland, and loves jazz music of the West. 

When the state wants the troupe to sing and glorify Stalin and the communist propaganda, Wiktor especially finds his involvement in the group more and more draining. The two lovers dream of defecting and making their escape to France and the jazz clubs of Paris.

To say their relationship is a long and winding road is not exaggerating. Especially what Zula does to help Wiktor over the years shows her selflessness and deep love for him. 

Did you see Cold War? Do you think it should have won in any of the nominated categories over Roma?

Cold War - Official UK Trailer

2019 Academy Awards Wish List (and predictions)

Today is the big day when the envelopes are opened and the winners declared. I watched 14 films whose titles appear in the list of nominations, as well as the Animated Short Films selected for competition. Here is my wish list/predictions:

Best Picture: Green Book. Wonderful film with a happy ending. I love happy endings.

Best Director: Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman. He deserves his due and this was one of his best films ever.

Best Foreign Language Film: It will probably go to Roma, but I’d like it go to Cold War. Interestingly, both are in black and white cinematography. Cold War is an eloquent look at post WWII Europe in the lives of two entertainers. Although not a happy ending, it is an excellent film.

Best Animated Feature Film: The only one I saw was Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs. I love Wes Anderson films (The Grand Budapest Hotel; Moonrise Kingdom) and I loved Isle of Dogs.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Can You Ever Forgive Me? A true story about a writer, and the screenplay really worked.

Best Original Screenplay: First Reformed. Why not give it to seasoned screenwriter Paul Schrader, who deserves some recognition? It was a really thoughtful film, despite the rather strange ending.

Best Actress: Glenn Close in The Wife. She does a great job with this role, and the story had an ending I did not predict. Good movie.

Best Actor: Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody. No one else could have played Freddy Mercury. No one.

Best Supporting Actress: Marina de Tavira in Roma. Her portrayal of a middle class wife of a physician with four kids was convincing and real.

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali in Green Book. Sensitive, stellar performance. 

Best Original Song: When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The song fit what was happening onscreen so completely. That’s what this category should be, not just a song thrown in at the beginning or ending of a film.

Best Production Design: Give it to Roma.

Best Cinematography: A tie between Cold War and Roma. Roma will probably get this one.

Best Costume Design: Black Panther. Why not? I won’t give anything to The Favourite, the next contender.

Best Sound Editing: A Quiet Place. A good horror film, necessitating skill in the contrast between silence and chaos.

Best Sound Mixing: I don’t know much about this category. I think Bohemian Rhapsody should win given the amounts of music in the film.

Best Animated Short Film:  I loved the little film called Bao, about a dumpling. Perfect little animated story.

Best Original Score:  Isle of Dogs. The music was just so perfect for the action.

Best Visual Effects:  Often this award goes to sci-fi films. Let’s break out of that pattern and give it to Christopher Robin. About Winnie the Pooh and his friends, these little stuffed animals never looked so real! Great work!

Best Film Editing:  BlacKkKlansman. The choices made going from one integral part of the story to another were just brilliant.

I’m hoping for my favorites to win. Roma is predicted to win almost everything, and Glenn Close for Best Actress. The rest are up for grabs. 

I’ll be tuning in this evening. Who would you like to take home the Oscar?

The Favourite

The Favourite is not Academy Award material in any way, shape or form. I suspected this after watching the trailer, but then I thought I’d give it a try. How wrong can the Academy be? Plenty wrong.

It is a period piece in the time of Queen Anne of England. Several of the characters were indeed real people in her court, but they were given very different lives in this film. The Favourite is basically about very spoiled rich people doing nothing at all noble or worthwhile in their lives. Too much money and free time make for some very selfish, self-centered people.

Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman) finds herself in a triangle with two of her subjects, Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone). Sarah and Abigail are cousins, and Sarah gives down and out on her luck Abigail a job in the court. They soon are at each other’s throats, Abigail wanting to insert her way into a secure “good” life at the castle.

The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress Olivia Coleman, Best Supporting Actress for both Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, Best Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, and Film Editing. Did they just want to nominate a British film to round things out at the Awards? There is really nothing of redeeming value in this film, although individual people may have done a good job with what they were asked to do.

Did you see The Favourite? What did you think of the film?

THE FAVOURITE - Official Trailer

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Seeking A Friend for the End of the World is a really nice romantic comedy that my husband and I watched for Valentine’s Day. The title might make it seem like it could be depressing, but it is far from that. I found it to be an uplifting, sweet story. It is rated R for language including sexual references, some drug use and brief violence. (My husband later told me he didn’t like the film as much as I did, and in fact found it rather depressing. So, I think you will either love or hate this film.)

The world is basically given three weeks to live after a last ditch effort to avert a giant 70-square mile meteorite from hitting the earth fails. Once the meteorite hits the planet that will be the end for life as we know it. Dodge (Steve Carell) hears this announcement with his wife Linda (Nancy Carrell), who promptly leaves him.

The news of the impending extinction of the species is met with various reactions amongst the hapless humans. Some veer into unbridled sex and partying, others become suicidal, and even go so far as to ask for help from a hit man to kill them. Dodge’s neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley) is distraught and wanting to see her family who is across the ocean in Britain, and having trouble with her on again/off again boyfriend Owen (Adam Brody). Dodge and Penny team up to survive, as some of the citizens are looting like crazy and destroying everything in sight.

Their journey together is sweet as they come to know each other better, despite a bit of an age difference (Dodge initially is put off by this, but I didn’t think it that strange that they’d be attracted to each other). What else do you do when you know death is imminent? Make amends and patch old grudges with family members and ex’s.

The action takes place on the East coast of the U. S. and as the people retreat to their homes, stillness sets in that is somehow calming. I recently read the apocalyptic novel, The Stand by Stephen King and I found myself thinking about his story as this film progressed. His story is of course a very dark drama, but a similar question is asked: if the worst were happening, what would people do? Rise to a higher moral and ethical ground, or regress to become just a bunch of live for today hedonists?

I liked this film, and Steve and Keira do a great job with their roles. Steve especially shows such subtle emotion on his face and with his actions; he is a really skilled actor. What would you do if you knew the world was ending in three weeks? You know it will end for you someday, probably not all at once like in this film, but someday. Live every moment present, wouldn’t you? That is what Seeking a Friend for the End of the World suggests to me.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Official Trailer

BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee holds a mirror up to American society in his excellent film BlacKkKlansman. The film is based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, the first African-American police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director Spike Lee, Best Supporting Actor Adam Driver, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score by Terence Blanchard, and Best Film Editing. It is rated R for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material and some sexual references.

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) and his fellow officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) infiltrate the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. While Ron talks to clan members on the phone, including David Duke (Topher Grace), Flip attends the group’s meetings, target practice and pool games as Ron. He is suspected of being Jewish, which he is. Almost found out several times, it is a dangerous operation they’ve worked their way into. The local chapter of the KKK is suspected of planning a terrorist attack against the black student union at Colorado College. 

There is much tension and suspense in this film, as well as some really great moments between Ron and Patrice (Laura Harrier), president of the black student union. It is really disconcerting hearing the racial epithets and negative talk coming out of Ron’s mouth, a black man with his own trials living in the 1970’s.

I’ve always liked Spike Lee’s films and this one is another very finely crafted story. He deserves Best Director this year for this very timely film.

Did you see BlacKkKlansman? What did you think of the film? Do you think it should win Best Picture too?

BlacKkKlansman Official Trailer

Black Panther

Black Panther has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Original Song, Production Design, Costume Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Score. It is rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action violence, and a brief rude gesture. I don’t follow Marvel films, rarely see them, and I’m not really interested in action, super-hero films.

But I watched it (on streaming Netflix) due to all the buzz about its nominations this award season. As expected, it is a super-hero movie, with all the high tech wizardry the film industry has perfected in order to make other worlds seem almost plausible.

Where this film is unique is in its characters, who live in Wakanda, an entirely black community deep in Africa, hidden from the rest of the world. The story briefly travels to LA where some of the Wakandans had lived. Some things I liked about the movie was how the warrior-king, the Black Panther, time travels with the aid of a medicinal drug to speak to his ancestors. These are some of the most moving scenes. I also enjoyed a bit of a nod to James Bond movies, where T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and his companions run into a CIA agent (Martin Freeman) where the intrigue turns into spy kind of antics. 

I also really liked the ending where T’Challa is speaking to the United Nations with a message that taken a certain way could be important to our times. (Be sure to stay tuned for this, as it occurs after some ending credits.) The fighting was boring, as usual.

Did you see Black Panther? Do you like super-hero action films, and did you think this one broke out of the genre?

Marvel Studios' Black Panther - Official Trailer

Roma

Roma, by Alfonso Cuarón, has netted 10 Academy Award nominations, all very well deserved. A stunning film in black and white cinematography, it is one incredible look over a year in the life of a middle class family in Mexico City in the early 1970’s. The film is rated R for graphic nudity, some disturbing images and language.

The Academy Award nominations include Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actress Yalitza Aparicio, Best Supporting Actress Marina de Tavira, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.

Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) is a dedicated nanny/maid, and serves the family she works for in any way she can. The family’s father is a physician who is not often at home, and his four children and wife Sofia (Marina de Tavira) are mostly left to fend for themselves with the assistance of their “servants.” I found Cleo to be a self-aware young woman with strengths perhaps she didn’t even know she had at the beginning of the year in Roma.

I recall watching two other of Cuarón’s films, Y Tu Mamá También, and Gravity (for which he won Best Director). Very different films, and both wonderfully innovative. In Roma, I found myself wondering about his choices. There is nothing in a screenplay that is unintentional, and there are surprising situations and relationships that the film depicts. Not once did I feel anything was less than the truth about a fictional family. What women endure.

Have you watched Roma? It is easy to see as it is on streaming Netflix. How did you feel after watching it?

Roma Official Trailer

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

A Netflix original, I thought The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society might make a good romantic film to watch. It was. The film is rated TV-14.

It is 1946, and London is struggling in the aftermath of the bombings they endured during World War II. Juliet Ashton (Lily James) is an ambitious writer and author. She has a handsome American boyfriend, Mark Reynolds (Glen Powell), and a somewhat demanding publisher, Sidney Stark (Matthew Goode). She receives a letter from Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), a man living on Guernsey, a British island in the English Channel that was occupied by Nazi Germany during the war.

She begins a correspondence with Dawsey, and crosses the English Channel to see Guernsey and this literary society for herself, hoping to get a really great story out of it.

Although we see courage and even heroism in the flashbacks to the occupation, war is not a glamorous time. The children on Guernsey were sent away for their protection just as the children of London were sent to the country to protect them from the barrage of Nazi bombings.

What made the story that much more interesting was the historical background of World War II. Although a fictional tale, it is historical fiction with certain details true to the times. I recommend The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society if you like a story from this era. Be sure to have some tissue handy!

Have you seen this film? Do you think it recreated the times convincingly?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Official Trailer

First Reformed

Not everyone will want to watch this serious drama. It was written by Paul Schrader, screenwriter of several Martin Scorsese films, including Taxi Driver. First Reformed was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards, Schrader’s first nomination. It is rated R for some disturbing violent images.

Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the minister at the historical First Reformed Church in upstate New York. Unlike the nearby mega church, shepherded by Reverend Jeffers (Cedric Kyles), Toller’s services are sparsely attended and the building itself, as a historic landmark, mainly attracts sightseers.

Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a young parishioner, asks Toller to speak with her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger). He is a depressed young man, and a committed environmental activist. Once Toller meets Mary and Michael, his life changes in unforeseen ways.

I read that Paul Schrader considers First Reformed his masterpiece. It grapples with questions of faith, forgiveness, and morality, especially in the area of environmental care versus degradation. Do we choose despair or hope in these times? The story contrasts the two congregations and how different they are quite effectively; the one outdated and traditional, the other hip and trendy. The mega church seems overly fixated on expansion with wealthy donors of questionable financial dealings funding the bill. Reverend Toller on the other extreme, is a thoughtful religious man, with his own personal pain, and physical concerns that worsen over time.

I thought the actors all did a good job with their roles. The screenplay was thoughtful, up until the ending that was confusing and very strange. Did you see First Reformed? What did you make of that ending?

First Reformed - Official Trailer

Bohemian Rhapsody

I’ve been a fan of Queen ever since I first heard the opening voices of Bohemian Rhapsody. In 2005, I was fortunate to spend a week in Las Vegas, and attended the musical We Will Rock You. Entirely based on the music of Queen, it was a stage extravaganza complete with stomping to the iconic title song. I loved it.

As I did the film Bohemian Rhapsody, chronicling the genesis of the British band Queen, and most notably, the life and times of their lead singer, Freddie Mercury. It is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, suggestive material, drug content and language.

The film won Best Motion Picture - Drama (why not best musical, go figure?), and Best Actor (Drama) for Rami Malek at the Golden Globes. As Freddie Mercury, Rami’s performance was outstanding, and I felt myself being pulled into the story so deeply, I forgot I was watching an actor play the charismatic and self-destructive star.

There is a Bohemian Rhapsody Sing-A-Long at a local theater, which I assume means no one in the theater should care if you choose to sing along to the stellar lyrics of the songs being belted out as background, or during the Live Aid concert. Personally, I liked the quiet in the theater, other than the occasional laughter at a funny moment, or the sniffling with tissues during the deeper scenes. The film shows the creative spirit in all four of the band members, and paints a compassionate portrait of the gifted Freddie Mercury.

Academy Award nominations for the film include Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Film Editing, Best Actor Rami Malek, and Best Picture. Don't let this film pass you by without seeing it in the theater.

Have you seen Bohemian Rhapsody? How did you like it?

Bohemian Rhapsody - Official Trailer

Green Book

The film Green Book won three Golden Globe awards this year in the Motion Picture category: Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali, and Best Musical or Comedy. That last category is a strange one. Although this film had comedic elements, it is first and foremost a truthful look at race relations in America in 1962. It is rated PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material.

Based on a true story, Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian-American from the Bronx, accepts a position as a driver for Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) an African-American pianist who heads a musical trio that will be touring in the Deep South. What Dr. Shirley really needs is a bodyguard, as there remains a great deal of prejudice and danger in the South for him. Tony turns out to be the right person to see that he is safe. As they drive across the U. S. in a beautiful new Cadillac and get to know each other, their developing relationship shows how even people of widely different upbringings and social environments can find commonalities in just being human, each deserving of respect and compassion.

I never give a spoiler, and to tell you what the Green Book is would give away something. So you go see it and discover it for yourself. The performances are spot on, and the settings of the early 1960’s brilliantly staged and filmed.

Green Book is likely to be nominated for several Academy Awards, and it is still in theaters. This is one film you shouldn’t miss. Octavia Spencer, Academy Award winning actress, produced the film, and I’m glad she saw fit to help bring this important story to life for us.

Have you seen Green Book yet? Please comment below on how you liked it.

Green Book - Official Trailer

A Christmas Carol

My husband really appreciates the talent of Jim Carrey, so when I discovered Jim had starred as Ebenezer Scrooge in a 2009 animated version of A Christmas Carol I rented it. The stylization of the animation reminded me of The Polar Express, a film that came out in 2004. They clearly used the same computer process to create their films. This is not a cutesy version of the classic Victorian era Christmas ghost story. It is rated PG for scary sequences and images.

The tale is one that should be familiar to all of you as it is based on the classic tale A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. The miser Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, who foretells that he will be visited by three otherworldly spirits throughout the night. Because this is animation, the ghosts and the experiences they take Scrooge on are magical, delightful to watch, and sometimes downright scary.

Jim Carrey provided the voice of Scrooge at all the ages he is depicted (young boy, teenage boy, young man, middle aged man), and all three ghosts (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come). It may not be the best film version of A Christmas Carol, but it was entertaining and will appeal to a younger audience that is used to animated features. Not too young though, as some of these situations the ghosts take Scrooge on are really very frightening.

Colin Firth is the voice for Fred, Scrooge’s very kind and forgiving nephew, and Gary Oldman provides the voices for Bob Cratchit, Marley and Tiny Tim. Robin Wright is Belle. All the actors’ voices fit the characters well.

Written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, whose credits include Back to the Future among others, you can be sure if you watch this version of the classic tale of hope and redemption that it will be a wild ride.

Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas in 1843, and the story of how this classic was created was the subject of a beautifully written and directed film from 2017, The Man Who Invented Christmas. I wrote a review of it last year (my review of The Man Who Invented Christmas). I enjoyed how it got into Charles Dickens psyche as the characters and action are brought to life. I think the reason this particular story is still so popular today and has had so many versions of it filmed is because we need to believe that even a lifelong stingy and hateful person can have an awakening and work for the good of all society. Dickens certainly had that hope and wrote about that theme often.

Which is your favorite film version of A Christmas Carol? Have you seen it performed in live theater? What are your favorite holiday movies? I hope you enjoy your favorites again this year.

A Christmas Carol Trailer

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Enchantment reigns at each performance of the seasonal ballet The Nutcracker. With music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, it is a holiday classic and the fuel that allows most every ballet company to exist throughout the rest of the year.

Disney has jumped to the challenge of making a film about the characters brought to life in this classic ballet. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, currently in theaters, is an adventure fantasy that takes liberties with the story even while using familiar themes and characters throughout the revised tale. The film is rated PG for some mild peril.

With heavy use of special effects, Clara (Mackenzie Foy), the heroine of our story, ventures into the Four Realms (Land of Snowflakes, Flowers, Sweets and the scary fourth realm of Mother Ginger). She discovers that her now deceased mother visited these realms herself many years ago.

The story works well, and will bring a tear to anyone who is not hard hearted as we follow Clara as she grieves the loss of her mother. Herr Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman) is an inventor extraordinaire, and knew her mother well. He is the catalyst for Clara’s journey.

Once through the Land of Snowflakes, where Clara surprisingly walks in frigid weather in a world blanketed by snow in just a flimsy looking gown, she meets Sugar Plum (Keira Knightley). I would love to have Sugar Plum’s coiffure of cotton candy like hair! The costuming throughout this tale is equally exquisite.

Helen Mirren plays Mother Ginger. Good and evil are not at all what they first appear to be, and Clara learns about herself and her mother during her adventure. The beautiful and talented Misty Copeland of the American Ballet Theatre dances both during the film and through the final credits.

I would recommend this film to old and young alike, if you appreciate ballet and the story of The Nutcracker. Do you personally enjoy The Nutcracker each year, and do you know of any other films that celebrate this classic ballet?

 Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - Final Trailer

Leap

I am a ballet fan. I love everything about this form of dance, so when I saw available on Netflix Leap, an animated feature film about a girl who wants to be a dancer, I was intrigued. The film is rated PG for some impolite humor, and action.

Not a great story, but an interesting one, Felicie (voiced by Elle Fanning) and Victor (Dane DeHaan) are two older children in an orphanage in Brittany, France. They want to escape, and go to Paris to fulfill their dreams. Here is my first complaint. Why would anyone care if a few children escaped from an orphanage? It’s not like they were toddlers after all, but the Mother Superior sends Luteau (Mel Brooks) to pursue them and bring them back.

Eventually, the two friends do make a successful escape and arrive in Paris, a city where dreams come true. Felicie ends up at the Grand Opera House in pursuit of her dream to become a dancer, and Victor finds a job as an assistant in the workshop of the architect of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, both currently under construction.

I found the city of Paris during these famous changes to the skyline to be enchanting. Felicie encounters Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), (named after the ballerina in Swan Lake), a woman with a limp who is housemaid to a “dance mom” and her daughter Camille (Maddie Ziegler). Camille trains incessantly so she will win a role in the upcoming Nutcracker performance. Felicie steals the acceptance letter for Camille and enters the school of ballet under false pretences. At first awkward and a complete beginner, she prevails and begins to learn, especially when Odette begins instructing her.

The music of the film was taken from famous ballets, and that part was fun. Let me be clear: if you are a young girl who loves dance and especially ballet, you will like this film. If you are someone like me who is an adult and loves ballet, this little film may amuse you. Anyone else, please don’t bother.

The ending message is to not give up, and to follow your dreams, noble thoughts, but the stealing of the letter to get into ballet school is clearly not the way to go.

Leap Official Trailer #1 

Renoir

I am an art lover, and Renoir is one of my favorite impressionists. Last year I read Luncheon of the Boating Party, a novel of historical fiction by Susan Vreeland. It is about Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s creation of the famous painting of the same name, painted beside the river Seine in France near Paris. It’s an excellent, intriguing book depicting how the painting may have come to life.

Not long after I read the book, an artist friend recommended the film Renoir. My artist husband and I watched it. It is a French film with English subtitles, and is rated R for sequences of art-related nudity and brief language.

The film is set in 1915, during a time that the elderly Renoir (Michel Bouquet) lived in the French Riviera. He has three sons who are at different stages of life. The youngest, Claude “Coco” (Thomas Doret) is portrayed as a little disturbed, and his older brother Jean (Vincent Rottiers) has enlisted in the military. His oldest son Pierre was injured in the war. A young redheaded woman, Andrée Heuschling (Christa Théret) arrives in the life of the family, and the elderly, crippled Renoir uses her as a model.

Jean returns from World War I after being wounded to convalesce at the home of his father in the Côte d’Azur. Jean soon falls in love with Andrée, even as she faces prejudice from the all-female household staff for her perceived special treatment. She is a strong-willed young woman, and causes no lack of drama in the home. Renoir’s wife Aline, who was much younger than him, has recently passed away. I remember reading about how he first met her while she was a model for him as he painted Luncheon of the Boating Party (she was the one with the little dog held in her hands).

The film’s color cinematography is exquisite, really capturing the light on the landscape that the great artist chose to immortalize in his work. The other portion where the film shines is in featuring Jean, and learning about his life and what shaped his choices. I had not realized that Jean Renoir was a great French filmmaker, and his wife Andrée an inspiration to his films. I read that he is considered one of the four best filmmakers in the history of cinema.

I felt a great deal of compassion for the elderly Renoir, as he is so crippled with rheumatoid arthritis that he has to have his paintbrush tied to his hand in order to use it to work with. He passed away at the age of 79.

If you enjoy art, or just good filmmaking, watch Renoir. It’s a glimpse into another age and the masters that lived during that time.

Renoir Official Trailer English Subtitles 

The Artist and the Model

The Artist and the Model is a delightful black and white film with the backdrop of 1943 World War II occupied France as the setting. A well-regarded aging sculptor, still having the artistic yearning within him, uses a young model found by his wife to pose for his work. The film is rated R for sequences of graphic nudity. Languages spoken are French and Spanish, with English subtitles.

Léa (Claudia Cardinale) spots Mercè (Aida Folch), a young Spanish woman, on the streets while at the market, and befriends her. She gently suggests to Mercè that she pose as a model for her husband Marc Cros (Jean Rochefort). They will pay her and give her room and board during the time she is with them. Léa has to convince the young woman that no wrongdoing will occur during her nude modeling.

The couple lives in the countryside where nature provides the music to the silence of the art as it is undertaken. A bit frightened at first, Mercè becomes more comfortable with her body, and Marc finds inspiration, an idea for a new sculpture, from observing Mercè.

Amongst all of the modeling and sculpting, which seems to take several weeks at least, World War II continues. The Germans are nearby and pose a distinct threat. Allied paratroopers float into the woods, and Mercè reveals herself as a braver woman than her initial reticence at nude modeling might suggest.

I found the friendship between the German soldier Werner (Götz Otto) and Marc quite touching. Werner is an arts scholar writing a book about Marc, and his affection for the older man is genuine. That they can bridge the gap between whose side each is on is admirable.

Marc is philosophical and shares his thoughts on God and creation with Mercè, one of the more enchanting scenes in the film.

I didn’t care much for the ending. My husband, who is an artist, very much appreciated the film and seemed to have more of an understanding of what the artist did at the end once his sculpture was finished, once Mercè is on her way to Marseilles to a new life.

The black and white cinematography is exquisite in its play of light and shadow.  Fernando Trueba along with Jean-Claude Carrière wrote the screenplay and Trueba directed.

I recommend this splendid European film, a work of art in itself. You probably wouldn’t see a film like this come out of the U.S. or Hollywood. Too much repression, and artists are not really held in high regard here like they are in Europe. Most films glorify violence, not sensuality or the beauty of the human body like this one does.

I have seen the animated film Chico and Rita also by Trueba and his colleagues, which is a wonderful romantic adult animated feature film. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the first nomination for a Spanish full-length animated film. I highly recommend you watch that delightful film as well.

The Artist and the Model Official Trailer (2013) 

Fahrenheit 11/9

What do Fitbits, the U.S. Army bombing an American city for training, and greed have to do with the USA?

Michael Moore’s documentary film, Fahrenheit 11/9, will give you the answers. (His previous film, Where to Invade Next, is a good look at what could be improved in the USA and warrants a viewing if you haven’t yet seen it.) Michael Moore won an Academy Award in 2003 for Best Documentary Feature with his film Bowling for Columbine, and Fahrenheit 11/9 lives up to the high standard of that award winning film.

I almost didn’t attend the movie because I thought it would be too depressing. I’m glad I saw it. The film will affect you emotionally as it did me. I was aghast and angry with some of the things I saw on screen. Later, my husband fact checked a few situations, and found it was all true. The things that are happening with health care, the safety of drinking water, and engendering fear in order to control the population is truly disturbing.

The film is rated R for language and some disturbing material/images. I need to warn you that at the very end of the film, you’ll think something is wrong with the DVD or at the theater. What is shown is intentional and you need to just sit out the very powerful ending.

Watch this film as soon as you can, then take action by voting and becoming involved while it can still make a difference.

Fahrenheit 11/9 Official Trailer 

A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story was not what I expected. Casey Affleck dressed in a white sheet like it’s a little kid’s Halloween costume? Unusual. I watched it with my husband anyway, and it’s the kind of story that I appreciated more when it came to a conclusion than I did while I was watching it. The film is rated R for brief language and a disturbing image.

C (Casey Affleck) and his wife M (Rooney Mara) are getting ready to move when his life is abruptly and unfairly cut short. He becomes a ghost and returns to the home they shared together. I can’t give the story line away in case you decide to watch it, but I will say that the writer and director, David Lowery, took some risks as a storyteller with his extreme uses of SILENCE, and very long scenes of not much happening at all. The reasons for the silence and stillness become clearer as the story goes along.

I asked my husband to be a guest reviewer, as he really liked the film, and had a different take on it than I did. Here is his review:

My wife, who writes movie reviews, and I (an artist) watched this movie together. My wife thought it was "weird" and she seemed disturbed by it enough to say she probably won't write a review. It must have hit a sensitive spot, one that is otherwise impervious to blood and guts and depraved acts that appear regularly on the silver screen. For my part, the longer I watched the film, the more intrigued and captivated I became — probably because I'm lost in some existential limbo land myself. There are a number of impressions the film left me with, but a couple of things I would like to mention, which I haven't read in any of the reviews are these: A Ghost Story might be too slow for today's short attention span audiences. Too bad. Second, I think the use of the sheet for the ghost was perfect and worked in a way that any other depiction of a ghost would not have. It hid all facial expressions of the ghost that might otherwise have cued the audience for a specific response. What’s more, the living can't know what the dead are feeling. Therefore, the sheet served as a blank surface for the viewer to supply his or her own emotional response. The sheet also represented a literal and figurative veil or barrier between the world of the living and the dead.

What the film is ultimately about, is time. Is time really a linear concept like we in the western world like to schedule our lives around ? Or is it a circle like native cultures profess? Is all of existence occurring simultaneously? Do ghosts really exist, and why do they hang around on earth when they could head into the light?

All of this and more is what A Ghost Story asks.

A Ghost Story Official Trailer 

The Desert of Forbidden Art

The Desert of Forbidden Art is a fascinating documentary film about the Nukus Museum in Soviet Uzbekistan that houses thousands of works of art by Russian artists. The man responsible for this extraordinary collection was Igor Savitsky, whose mission was to acquire and safeguard important works of art that had been condemned by the Soviets. The film is rated PG.

Beginning in the 1930’s, the Soviet government forced artists to depict images that promoted Soviet tenets. Some artists complied and painted canvases of factories and farm workers, happy comrades and families existing under the regime of Stalin. Other artists who would not paint along party lines were arrested and locked up as dissidents, or worse yet executed, with others sent to Gulags or mental hospitals.

Igor Savitsky was an art lover and collector extraordinaire. Fascinated by the art created by Russian artists who were suppressed by the Soviet government, he bought thousands of works of art from the creators or their family members. Savitsky was perceived as honorable and trustworthy, convincing the families of the artists to sell the works to him for safekeeping and eventual display in a less dangerous place. The art had often been hidden in a family’s attic or storeroom to evade confiscation by the KGB.

Savitsky transported the art, often under arduous conditions by rail and car, to the remote northwestern desert town of Nukus. He had visited Nukus in Uzbekistan on an archeological expedition, and decided this was the perfect remote place to keep the controversial pieces of art safe.

The art we see in the film is indeed beautiful, some very unusual, most with a political statement in their character. The fact that the government did not wish these artists to express themselves is a testament to the repressive conditions that countries endure under corrupt and fearful leaders.

The director of the museum, Marinika Babanazarova, has guarded this collection for three decades. The museum’s works include the early 20^th century art by these Russian innovators in the style of Fauvism, Expressionism, Futurism and Constructivism. Savitsky eventually accumulated approximately 40,000 works of art that he brought to the remote desert location, far, far from the KGB.

The vocal talents of Edward Asner, Sally Field and Ben Kingsley (as the voice of Igor Savitsky) add to the pleasing quality of the film as they voice the diaries and letters of Savitsky, and of the artists that he approached for his collection. The story is told well, and the cinematography, especially of the art itself, is first rate. There are many interviews with experts in the field of art, and great archival footage.

What Savitsky did to safeguard art for future generations unfortunately does not end with the museum he filled. The art remains endangered, the threats being Islamic fundamentalists, art profiteers, and corrupt bureaucrats. I highly recommend The Desert of Forbidden Art. Whether you are a lover of art, a lover of travel, or of the truth, this documentary has something in it for you.

 The Desert of Forbidden Art - Trailer

Skyfall

Finally. A Daniel Craig/James Bond film I really loved! Skyfall is the best of at least the first three Bond films Craig has been in (I haven’t watched Spectre yet). Skyfall is rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking. It was released in 2012, and won two Academy Awards: Best Original Song written by Adele and Paul Epworth, and Best Sound Editing. Skyfall is the opening song sung by Adele.

I felt like I was back in a classic Bond film, with the technology and cinematography updated a bit of course, but with a solid story this time. I can’t find fault really with any of it. There is an opening chase scene, but it is not obnoxious. Another agent, Eve (Naomie Harris), takes aim at the man she and Bond are chasing, and the bullet strikes Bond instead. Bond takes a plunge into the river and is presumed dead.

Meanwhile, a terrorist attack inexplicably targets MI6 Headquarters in London. M (Judi Dench) seems to be the main target for whoever is trying to destroy her and her staff.  Bond resurfaces, just in time to hunt for the terrorist who knows far too much about MI6, and is thus suspected to be a former operative. Arriving on the scene is Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, who questions how M is handling the hunt for the terrorist group.

During the film, we are introduced to Q (Ben Wishaw) the purveyor of fancy cars and hidden weapons to Bond. We also meet other characters who are classic to the story of British intelligence. See for yourself. We see iconic trademarks of the Bond story sprinkled in amongst the action, details that were welcome and made me smile. If you are a James Bond fan and have seen previous films through the years, you will pick up on and be delighted by these tidbits. There’s a bit of humor throughout, a convincing back-story, and excellent direction by Sam Mendes.

The cinematography is stellar, and the locations grand. Just what a good spy story should provide. We go to Shanghai and Macau with Bond in pursuit of Patrice (Ola Rapace) hoping to get information about the terrorist he works for.

A villain needs to have an eccentric personality, yet not be so demented that we can’t relate to him. Silva (Javier Bardem) is that villain, a good foil for Bond, and a very worthy opponent. Bardem was relatively fresh off his Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actor for the 2007 film No Country for Old Men when Skyfall was filmed. The role of Silva was superbly cast, and I can’t imagine watching anyone but Bardem play the very threatening and crazy villain. He and Bond play off each other very well, and it makes the whole film work.

Have you seen Skyfall? What did you think of it? Next time, my review of the final (to date) Daniel Craig Bond film, Spectre.

SKYFALL - Official Trailer