Nebraska (2013)
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Will Forte, Bruce Dern
Brief Thoughts: Will Forte is somehow an underrated talent, but I guess it’s always going to be difficult for the majority of Saturday Night Live alum to have breakout careers (it took Will Ferrell years to reach that point, and he seemed like a given from the start, but he’s also an object lesson in finding that one perfect role, in his case the aging frat boy in Old School, to contextualize himself to mass audiences). In Forte’s case, he found it, oddly enough, in a drama, but I guess it was too confusing. I mean, do you keep doing dramas at that point or do you go back to the comedies that were already not working? So that explains what happened to him, unfortunately. Nebraska is an affecting story about an aging father (Bruce Dern) who becomes convinced he’s won the lottery. Anyone else would have relentlessly mocked him, but Alexander Payne instead crafts his story around the son (Forte) who does everything possible to help preserve his dignity. Anyone with aging parents will appreciate the effort.
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
Director: John M. Chu
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine
Brief Thoughts: I haven’t gotten around to seeing the first one, but I figured Daniel Radcliffe’s tongue-in-cheek casting in the second was reason enough to catch that one. The results are of course slick heist magic with a fun cast. The only possible complaint would be how easily Lizzy Caplan is accepted into the close-knit Horsemen family. If they played their cards right (heh) they could expand this into a whole franchise, Fast & Furious style. And c’mon, the next one would obviously have to be entitled Now You See 3.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
A to Z Challenge 2020 - M
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber
Brief Thoughts: Yes, the remake, not the original. Two of the very good reasons: Meryl Streep, before she entered Living Legend mode, both at awards ceremonies and the roles she took, filled with knowing winks to the audience (critics) about how great she is. At the time, her performance in Manchurian Candidate was considered a biting satire of Hillary Clinton, but I have the idea that now, not only would Streep not pursue such a role, but it would never be accepted as “a good thing” (a phrase used by someone in one of her later roles). Also: Liev Schreiber, folks. This movie is literally his closest shot at cinematic immortality, folks. He deserves it. He earned it. Don’t take it away because you’re horrified at the thought of remakes. And, of course, Denzel Washington. It’s always great to see him in a role that isn’t calculated based on his race, or one of his action movies. He’s a star. Let him be a star, at the magnitude he’s capable of reaching. Which is as high as anyone. And at least as interesting. This whole thing holds up better than the original. Of course it does.
Midnight Special (2016)
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver
Brief Thoughts: This is one of those great cinematic experiences they tell you can’t be done anymore, thanks to all the remakes and sequels Hollywood pumps out. It is exactly equivalent to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and hails Jeff Nichols at exactly the level of Spielberg. But you wouldn’t know it. And that’s kind of the level of sophistication we have at the moment.
The Missing (2003)
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood
Brief Thoughts: This is exactly the kind of western that ought to be getting made at this point. Tommy Lee Jones completes a transformation into a kind of modern John Wayne (the poster always made me think the allusion was intentional). He plays an absent father who lived for years with Indians. The antagonist of the movie is a crazy Indian, but in no sense is the guy meant to represent all Indians. Jones, who is not being sold as appropriating the identity of an Indian but rather representing the idea that this is a character who thought that was the best way to live, even at the expense of his own family. And as counterpoint you’ve got, well, Cate Blanchett, who excels at making everything she touches compelling.
Munich (2005)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig
Brief Thoughts: This is one of my all-time favorites, and as far as I’m concerned, Spielberg’s finest achievement. As a sober reflection of the times, it’s second to none. And it’s Eric Bana’s best role, his absolute career peak. Also, Daniel Craig just before Bond, the unheralded final development of the style he had when he finally got there.
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber
Brief Thoughts: Yes, the remake, not the original. Two of the very good reasons: Meryl Streep, before she entered Living Legend mode, both at awards ceremonies and the roles she took, filled with knowing winks to the audience (critics) about how great she is. At the time, her performance in Manchurian Candidate was considered a biting satire of Hillary Clinton, but I have the idea that now, not only would Streep not pursue such a role, but it would never be accepted as “a good thing” (a phrase used by someone in one of her later roles). Also: Liev Schreiber, folks. This movie is literally his closest shot at cinematic immortality, folks. He deserves it. He earned it. Don’t take it away because you’re horrified at the thought of remakes. And, of course, Denzel Washington. It’s always great to see him in a role that isn’t calculated based on his race, or one of his action movies. He’s a star. Let him be a star, at the magnitude he’s capable of reaching. Which is as high as anyone. And at least as interesting. This whole thing holds up better than the original. Of course it does.
Midnight Special (2016)
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver
Brief Thoughts: This is one of those great cinematic experiences they tell you can’t be done anymore, thanks to all the remakes and sequels Hollywood pumps out. It is exactly equivalent to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and hails Jeff Nichols at exactly the level of Spielberg. But you wouldn’t know it. And that’s kind of the level of sophistication we have at the moment.
The Missing (2003)
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood
Brief Thoughts: This is exactly the kind of western that ought to be getting made at this point. Tommy Lee Jones completes a transformation into a kind of modern John Wayne (the poster always made me think the allusion was intentional). He plays an absent father who lived for years with Indians. The antagonist of the movie is a crazy Indian, but in no sense is the guy meant to represent all Indians. Jones, who is not being sold as appropriating the identity of an Indian but rather representing the idea that this is a character who thought that was the best way to live, even at the expense of his own family. And as counterpoint you’ve got, well, Cate Blanchett, who excels at making everything she touches compelling.
Munich (2005)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig
Brief Thoughts: This is one of my all-time favorites, and as far as I’m concerned, Spielberg’s finest achievement. As a sober reflection of the times, it’s second to none. And it’s Eric Bana’s best role, his absolute career peak. Also, Daniel Craig just before Bond, the unheralded final development of the style he had when he finally got there.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
A to Z Challenge 2020 - L
La La Land (2016)
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Brief Thoughts: This is a movie I resisted for a while, in large part because I thought it appealed to critics for all the wrong reasons (critics don’t often seem to consider the quality of the film itself as the determining factor in their assessments). It felt like celebrating the increasingly unpopular Classic Hollywood Aesthetic, like an act of defiance to modern audience trends (which of course is exactly what people have been saying about the Oscars for years). And it stars Ryan Gosling. I’ve had a hard time processing Gosling, too. He’s one of those actors who’s been working since he was a Mouseketeer, presumably because he just kept auditioning well, not because he had any specific real appeal. So for a long time I watched his career unfold and had absolutely no interest. When I finally did see La La Land (and Blade Runner 2049), I saw an actor who was doing something I hadn’t seen before, a pretty boy world weariness. “City of Stars” is difficult to forget, too, even though it seems it should be, the antithesis of the usual movie song, which tends to go out of its way to be noticed (but I guess that’s every pop song).
The Last Kiss (2006)
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Starring: Zach Braff
Brief Thoughts: I’m a big fan of the sitcom Scrubs. I was happy when Zach Braff made a successful (for a brief moment, anyway) transition to film with the cult classic Garden State, but I ended up preferring his later effort The Last Kiss, which if it had landed better might have positioned Braff into a Dustin Hoffman-like career. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ken Watanabe
Brief Thoughts: Originally conceived as merely a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, which was expected to be a big hit, Letters from Iwo Jima instead arrived like a miracle, a movie that would have been impossible decades earlier (there was Tora! Tora! Tora!, but that leaned pretty heavily into standard WWII memories). A movie from the perspective of, and sympathetic to, Japanese forces, spoken in Japanese, by an American filmmaker, and of all people, Clint Eastwood! Completely unforgettable.
Liberal Arts (2012)
Director: Josh Radnor
Starring: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney
Brief Thoughts: I’m an even bigger fan of How I Met Your Mother than I am of Scrubs, so it was kind of amusing when Josh Radnor attempted to duplicate Zach Braff’s movie adventure. He ended up with about the same results, but in the process got to direct and star in two movies, the second of which was better, Liberal Arts, which features him as a college graduate whose life sort of loses meaning off-campus, until he finds his way back there and rediscovers himself. I find that easily relatable. Life was far simpler on campus. A microcosm of the world is far easier to navigate. But eventually I started figuring things out.
Life (1999)
Director: Ted Demme
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence
Brief Thoughts: Dipping past the millennium line again; this is another movie that’s criminally ignored, arguably Eddie Murphy’s best movie (and pretty much by default, Martin Lawrence’s), a buddy movie that tosses them into prison for, well, life, sort of the tragicomic version of The Shawshank Redemption.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett
Brief Thoughts: Bill Murray was a huge family favorite growing up, though we mostly shackled him to Groundhog Day (our introductions were Caddyshack, but that was kind of rowdy for a bunch of Catholics to watch repeatedly, and Ghostbusters, but we ended up spending far more time watching the cartoon) and What About Bob? (Baby steps!). I honestly don’t think my siblings would be able to appreciate later Murray, world weary Murray, whether Lost in Translation or the comic absurdity of Life Aquatic (so yes, I am easily the family’s cinephile).
Life of Pi (2012)
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: a tiger (probably?)
Brief Thoughts: A work of genius in book and film.
Lions for Lambs (2007)
Director: Robert Redford
Starring: Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Andrew Garfield, Michael Peña, Derek Luke
Brief Thoughts: A wordy thought piece, but a brilliant look into the times, with an excellent cast. I got the DVD at Target, which included a copy of the script. Somebody at the time realized that it was probably a significant film. And they were right.
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Brief Thoughts: This is a movie I resisted for a while, in large part because I thought it appealed to critics for all the wrong reasons (critics don’t often seem to consider the quality of the film itself as the determining factor in their assessments). It felt like celebrating the increasingly unpopular Classic Hollywood Aesthetic, like an act of defiance to modern audience trends (which of course is exactly what people have been saying about the Oscars for years). And it stars Ryan Gosling. I’ve had a hard time processing Gosling, too. He’s one of those actors who’s been working since he was a Mouseketeer, presumably because he just kept auditioning well, not because he had any specific real appeal. So for a long time I watched his career unfold and had absolutely no interest. When I finally did see La La Land (and Blade Runner 2049), I saw an actor who was doing something I hadn’t seen before, a pretty boy world weariness. “City of Stars” is difficult to forget, too, even though it seems it should be, the antithesis of the usual movie song, which tends to go out of its way to be noticed (but I guess that’s every pop song).
The Last Kiss (2006)
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Starring: Zach Braff
Brief Thoughts: I’m a big fan of the sitcom Scrubs. I was happy when Zach Braff made a successful (for a brief moment, anyway) transition to film with the cult classic Garden State, but I ended up preferring his later effort The Last Kiss, which if it had landed better might have positioned Braff into a Dustin Hoffman-like career. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ken Watanabe
Brief Thoughts: Originally conceived as merely a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, which was expected to be a big hit, Letters from Iwo Jima instead arrived like a miracle, a movie that would have been impossible decades earlier (there was Tora! Tora! Tora!, but that leaned pretty heavily into standard WWII memories). A movie from the perspective of, and sympathetic to, Japanese forces, spoken in Japanese, by an American filmmaker, and of all people, Clint Eastwood! Completely unforgettable.
Liberal Arts (2012)
Director: Josh Radnor
Starring: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney
Brief Thoughts: I’m an even bigger fan of How I Met Your Mother than I am of Scrubs, so it was kind of amusing when Josh Radnor attempted to duplicate Zach Braff’s movie adventure. He ended up with about the same results, but in the process got to direct and star in two movies, the second of which was better, Liberal Arts, which features him as a college graduate whose life sort of loses meaning off-campus, until he finds his way back there and rediscovers himself. I find that easily relatable. Life was far simpler on campus. A microcosm of the world is far easier to navigate. But eventually I started figuring things out.
Life (1999)
Director: Ted Demme
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence
Brief Thoughts: Dipping past the millennium line again; this is another movie that’s criminally ignored, arguably Eddie Murphy’s best movie (and pretty much by default, Martin Lawrence’s), a buddy movie that tosses them into prison for, well, life, sort of the tragicomic version of The Shawshank Redemption.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett
Brief Thoughts: Bill Murray was a huge family favorite growing up, though we mostly shackled him to Groundhog Day (our introductions were Caddyshack, but that was kind of rowdy for a bunch of Catholics to watch repeatedly, and Ghostbusters, but we ended up spending far more time watching the cartoon) and What About Bob? (Baby steps!). I honestly don’t think my siblings would be able to appreciate later Murray, world weary Murray, whether Lost in Translation or the comic absurdity of Life Aquatic (so yes, I am easily the family’s cinephile).
Life of Pi (2012)
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: a tiger (probably?)
Brief Thoughts: A work of genius in book and film.
Lions for Lambs (2007)
Director: Robert Redford
Starring: Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Andrew Garfield, Michael Peña, Derek Luke
Brief Thoughts: A wordy thought piece, but a brilliant look into the times, with an excellent cast. I got the DVD at Target, which included a copy of the script. Somebody at the time realized that it was probably a significant film. And they were right.
Monday, April 13, 2020
A to Z Challenge 2020 - K
Killshot (2009)
Director: John Madden
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Rosario Dawson, Thomas Jane
Brief Thoughts: With this one I’m not going to talk about the movie itself (still baffles me that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has had such a hard time finding respect with audiences, though, despite years of interesting material), but how I ended up watching it. I spent five years working at a bookstore chain. One of the things I got to experience was special ordering. Special ordering is great, don’t get me wrong (I suspect people using it, especially at a bookstore chain, either can’t figure out ordering on the internet, don’t trust the internet, or it’s the only way some of them interact with the outside world), but it was always interesting. This particular guy, whether because customer service is always uneven or not, but he was always grumpy. He claimed we never got any of the really good movies inside the store (he always called in his orders), which forced him to special order. Killshot is a fine movie, but I’m not sure I would call it a really good movie. Different tastes, sure, but...Anyway, in the long run I guess I did end up agreeing with him about it once. I special ordered myself a copy of Tom Hardy’s Bronson, which was a really good movie, and would never have passed through the store otherwise. Still, I doubt this guy would have ever seen it, or thought to. Different tastes, sure. Anyway, I still remember his name, a decade later, and not just because I used it for a story. So there’s that!
Director: John Madden
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Rosario Dawson, Thomas Jane
Brief Thoughts: With this one I’m not going to talk about the movie itself (still baffles me that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has had such a hard time finding respect with audiences, though, despite years of interesting material), but how I ended up watching it. I spent five years working at a bookstore chain. One of the things I got to experience was special ordering. Special ordering is great, don’t get me wrong (I suspect people using it, especially at a bookstore chain, either can’t figure out ordering on the internet, don’t trust the internet, or it’s the only way some of them interact with the outside world), but it was always interesting. This particular guy, whether because customer service is always uneven or not, but he was always grumpy. He claimed we never got any of the really good movies inside the store (he always called in his orders), which forced him to special order. Killshot is a fine movie, but I’m not sure I would call it a really good movie. Different tastes, sure, but...Anyway, in the long run I guess I did end up agreeing with him about it once. I special ordered myself a copy of Tom Hardy’s Bronson, which was a really good movie, and would never have passed through the store otherwise. Still, I doubt this guy would have ever seen it, or thought to. Different tastes, sure. Anyway, I still remember his name, a decade later, and not just because I used it for a story. So there’s that!
Saturday, April 11, 2020
A to Z Challenge 2020 - J
Jane Got a Gun (2016)
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor
Brief Thoughts: Hey, those are three actors from the Star Wars prequels! And yeah, for me that’s enough of a hook right there. For a lot of critics, the only thing they needed to know was that the movie had a troubled production history, and yeah, it’s literally a thing with critics that it matters how a movie was made, rather than, y’know, the movie itself, and because journalists in general cover movies like that, audiences learn about it and of course their opinions are needlessly swayed...And this has been going on forever, of course. Citizen Kane had an uphill battle to immortality thanks to the fact that it heavily skewered a famous newspaper mogul, who used his influence to bury, as much as possible, the movie in its original release. Arguably this single act nearly buried Orson Welles’s entire resulting career, making it increasingly difficult for him to work with major studios, get the recognition he deserved, and his movies appreciated for what they were. Am I suggesting Gavin O’Connor has received a comparable fate? Am I comparing Gavin O’Connor to Orson Welles? Half the reason Joel Edgerton keeps showing up in these selections is because of Warrior, his breakthrough film, and O’Connor’s, one of my all-time favorite films, instantly. So yeah, when O’Connor has a new film, I pay attention. And I have yet to be disappointed. One of the truly unsung great talents working in film today.
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor
Brief Thoughts: Hey, those are three actors from the Star Wars prequels! And yeah, for me that’s enough of a hook right there. For a lot of critics, the only thing they needed to know was that the movie had a troubled production history, and yeah, it’s literally a thing with critics that it matters how a movie was made, rather than, y’know, the movie itself, and because journalists in general cover movies like that, audiences learn about it and of course their opinions are needlessly swayed...And this has been going on forever, of course. Citizen Kane had an uphill battle to immortality thanks to the fact that it heavily skewered a famous newspaper mogul, who used his influence to bury, as much as possible, the movie in its original release. Arguably this single act nearly buried Orson Welles’s entire resulting career, making it increasingly difficult for him to work with major studios, get the recognition he deserved, and his movies appreciated for what they were. Am I suggesting Gavin O’Connor has received a comparable fate? Am I comparing Gavin O’Connor to Orson Welles? Half the reason Joel Edgerton keeps showing up in these selections is because of Warrior, his breakthrough film, and O’Connor’s, one of my all-time favorite films, instantly. So yeah, when O’Connor has a new film, I pay attention. And I have yet to be disappointed. One of the truly unsung great talents working in film today.
Friday, April 10, 2020
A to Z Challenge 2020 - I
Idiocracy (2006)
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Luke Wilson, Dax Shepard, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews, Justin Long
Brief Thoughts: Office Space became an instant cult classic and one of my all-time favorites, so it was always going to be a tough act for Mike Judge to follow. Idiocracy is basically the Terry Gilliam version of Office Space, and a somewhat, surprisingly accurate vision of the future about a decade ahead. Still waiting to be embraced as another Judge classic.
The Illusionist (2006)
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel
Brief Thoughts: Even though Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige was released the same year, I continue to prefer The Illusionist. Edward Norton has a complex history, and while he’s apparently difficult to work with (which matters not at all to the audience), he delivers reliably excellent results. His ability to star in major releases, though, ended around this time, so that’s another reason to celebrate this film. Also, Paul Giamatti was coincidentally cooling as an attraction after American Splendor made him leading man material. But he remains fascinating no matter the size of his role. With apologies to Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, this is a truly irresistible one-two punch for me.
In the Valley of Elah (2007)
Director: Paul Haggis
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, James Franco, Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin
Brief Thoughts: The movie itself immediately resonated with me as a sober meditation of the times, but what continues to interest me about it (other than “Elah” leaving an imprint on my poetry) is the fact that it’s one of several supporting roles from Josh Brolin that littered the period. I still can’t account for why Brolin was suddenly such a hot commodity after toiling for years in relative obscurity (other than having a famous dad), but the happy result was, a few years later a highly visible career and, of course, Thanos. (I mean, it was probably No Country for Old Men, but it’s more fun to make it sound mysterious.)
Instinct (1999)
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Maura Tierney, Donald Sutherland
Brief Thoughts: Dipping below the millennium divide for a moment, in honor of one of my favorite obscure movies, at the time dismissed as Anthony Hopkins playing another prisoner of questionable character. But Ethan Powell is a far cry from Hannibal Lecter. This is one of the most deeply affecting human dramas I’ve ever seen. It also features Cuba Gooding Jr. in his second best role (Jerry Maguire), and Maura Tierney in her best movie (second best: Liar Liar).
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Dogs
Brief Thoughts: Obligatory listing.
It Comes At Night (2017)
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Starring: Joel Edgerton
Brief Thoughts: I’ve never gotten around to catching A Quiet Place, since I caught It Comes At Night first. They’re both horror movies about desperately trying to remain silent. This one’s about a self-isolating family (perfect for the pandemic era!) and filled with moody atmosphere and, well, Joel Edgerton.
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Luke Wilson, Dax Shepard, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews, Justin Long
Brief Thoughts: Office Space became an instant cult classic and one of my all-time favorites, so it was always going to be a tough act for Mike Judge to follow. Idiocracy is basically the Terry Gilliam version of Office Space, and a somewhat, surprisingly accurate vision of the future about a decade ahead. Still waiting to be embraced as another Judge classic.
The Illusionist (2006)
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel
Brief Thoughts: Even though Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige was released the same year, I continue to prefer The Illusionist. Edward Norton has a complex history, and while he’s apparently difficult to work with (which matters not at all to the audience), he delivers reliably excellent results. His ability to star in major releases, though, ended around this time, so that’s another reason to celebrate this film. Also, Paul Giamatti was coincidentally cooling as an attraction after American Splendor made him leading man material. But he remains fascinating no matter the size of his role. With apologies to Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, this is a truly irresistible one-two punch for me.
In the Valley of Elah (2007)
Director: Paul Haggis
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, James Franco, Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin
Brief Thoughts: The movie itself immediately resonated with me as a sober meditation of the times, but what continues to interest me about it (other than “Elah” leaving an imprint on my poetry) is the fact that it’s one of several supporting roles from Josh Brolin that littered the period. I still can’t account for why Brolin was suddenly such a hot commodity after toiling for years in relative obscurity (other than having a famous dad), but the happy result was, a few years later a highly visible career and, of course, Thanos. (I mean, it was probably No Country for Old Men, but it’s more fun to make it sound mysterious.)
Instinct (1999)
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Maura Tierney, Donald Sutherland
Brief Thoughts: Dipping below the millennium divide for a moment, in honor of one of my favorite obscure movies, at the time dismissed as Anthony Hopkins playing another prisoner of questionable character. But Ethan Powell is a far cry from Hannibal Lecter. This is one of the most deeply affecting human dramas I’ve ever seen. It also features Cuba Gooding Jr. in his second best role (Jerry Maguire), and Maura Tierney in her best movie (second best: Liar Liar).
Isle of Dogs (2018)
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Dogs
Brief Thoughts: Obligatory listing.
It Comes At Night (2017)
Director: Trey Edward Shults
Starring: Joel Edgerton
Brief Thoughts: I’ve never gotten around to catching A Quiet Place, since I caught It Comes At Night first. They’re both horror movies about desperately trying to remain silent. This one’s about a self-isolating family (perfect for the pandemic era!) and filled with moody atmosphere and, well, Joel Edgerton.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
A to Z Challenge 2020 - H
Hancock (2008)
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Brief Thoughts: Obviously, superhero movies are somewhat omnipresent these days, but they’re mostly adaptations from comic book source material. Just as the boom was hitting, along came Hancock. Will Smith was still on his incredible box office hot streak at the time. Later, when he’d fallen out of it, he ended up joining up with the genre again in one of the adaptations with Suicide Squad. Here, though, he was pure Will Smith as a superhero who’s completely out of control, and as far as the trailers were concerned, that’s all you needed to know. Except there’s a huge twist involving Charlize Theron. I love the twist. I love this movie.
Hanna (2011)
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett
Brief Thoughts: Saoirse Ronan had a long lead time before breaking out with Lady Bird, being featured in various movies while most people still couldn’t pronounce her name (“Sher-sha,” for the record). Here’s one of the more interesting ones, costarring two huge names in Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett, Bana just as he was losing his star status (sadly) and Blanchett reliably picking the most interesting projects. Anyway, the concept was later adapted into a TV show, so there were definitely people who noticed how awesome this movie was.
Hell or High Water (2016)
Director: David Mackenzie
Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges
Brief Thoughts: Chris Pine is one of the most interesting actors working today, but he rarely gets parts that showcase his value. This is by far his best role to date, and best film. Tagging along are Ben Foster (who seems to have caught the eye of casting directors much more effectively based on his work in the film), uttering the best line in the movie (“I am a Comanche.”) and Jeff Bridges, doing his best No Country for Old Men.
Hollywoodland (2006)
Director: Allen Coulter
Starring: Ben Affleck, Diane Labe, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins
Brief Thoughts: The significance of George Reeves’ Superman on the generation of kids who grew up watching him can’t be understated. There’s a picture of my uncle trussed up in a Superman costume. I had a teacher in middle school talk, during math class, decades after the fact, about the trauma of Reeves’ death. This movie is about the continuing murky circumstances surrounding it, whether murky because fans don’t want to admit what seems likely (much as the JFK conspiracy theories are mostly motivated by needing a bigger story than a lone gunman to explain the assassination) or because (like JFK) there’s just enough potential to make things sound a lot more interesting. Ben Affleck began a popular comeback with this unexpected role, as Reeves, with my personal (second) favorite Adrien Brody performance as the classic noir private investigator trying to discover the truth. (His best is clearly Dalí! in Midnight in Paris.)
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Brief Thoughts: Obviously, superhero movies are somewhat omnipresent these days, but they’re mostly adaptations from comic book source material. Just as the boom was hitting, along came Hancock. Will Smith was still on his incredible box office hot streak at the time. Later, when he’d fallen out of it, he ended up joining up with the genre again in one of the adaptations with Suicide Squad. Here, though, he was pure Will Smith as a superhero who’s completely out of control, and as far as the trailers were concerned, that’s all you needed to know. Except there’s a huge twist involving Charlize Theron. I love the twist. I love this movie.
Hanna (2011)
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett
Brief Thoughts: Saoirse Ronan had a long lead time before breaking out with Lady Bird, being featured in various movies while most people still couldn’t pronounce her name (“Sher-sha,” for the record). Here’s one of the more interesting ones, costarring two huge names in Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett, Bana just as he was losing his star status (sadly) and Blanchett reliably picking the most interesting projects. Anyway, the concept was later adapted into a TV show, so there were definitely people who noticed how awesome this movie was.
Hell or High Water (2016)
Director: David Mackenzie
Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges
Brief Thoughts: Chris Pine is one of the most interesting actors working today, but he rarely gets parts that showcase his value. This is by far his best role to date, and best film. Tagging along are Ben Foster (who seems to have caught the eye of casting directors much more effectively based on his work in the film), uttering the best line in the movie (“I am a Comanche.”) and Jeff Bridges, doing his best No Country for Old Men.
Hollywoodland (2006)
Director: Allen Coulter
Starring: Ben Affleck, Diane Labe, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins
Brief Thoughts: The significance of George Reeves’ Superman on the generation of kids who grew up watching him can’t be understated. There’s a picture of my uncle trussed up in a Superman costume. I had a teacher in middle school talk, during math class, decades after the fact, about the trauma of Reeves’ death. This movie is about the continuing murky circumstances surrounding it, whether murky because fans don’t want to admit what seems likely (much as the JFK conspiracy theories are mostly motivated by needing a bigger story than a lone gunman to explain the assassination) or because (like JFK) there’s just enough potential to make things sound a lot more interesting. Ben Affleck began a popular comeback with this unexpected role, as Reeves, with my personal (second) favorite Adrien Brody performance as the classic noir private investigator trying to discover the truth. (His best is clearly Dalí! in Midnight in Paris.)
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