Cold War

Movies to See Right Now

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Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen in GREEN BOOK

Here’s my Best Movies of 2018, The Movie Gourmet’s Top Ten.

OUT NOW

  • Roma is an exquisite portrait of two enduring women and the masterpiece of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Will win multiple Oscars. It is streaming now Netflix.
  • Green Book: Tony Lip is a marvelous character, and Viggo Mortensen’s performance is one of the great pleasures of this year in the movies.
  • Shoplifters won the Palm d’Or at Cannes. This is a witty, and finally heartbreaking, look at a family that lives on the margins – and then is revealed to be not what it seems.
  • Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind and its companion documentaries, all available to stream on Netflix.
  • The masterful documentary Monrovia, Indiana is a fascinating movie about a boring subject.
  • Pawel Pawlikowski’s sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War is not as compelling as his masterpiece Ida.
  • The Favourite: Great performances by three great actresses, sex and political intrigue are not enough; this critically praised film didn’t work for me.
  • Skip First Man – a boring movie about a fascinating subject.

ON VIDEO

Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn in BEAST

My Streams of the Week are eight of my Best Films of 2018 – So Far that are already available to stream: Leave No Trace, The Rider, The Death of Stalin, Beast, Custody, Monrovia, Indiana, Three Identical Strangers, Quality Problems and Outside In.

ON TV

Once again, Turner Classic Movies is giving us a wonderful New Year’s Eve present – an all day Thin Man marathon. William Powell and Myrna Loy are cinema’s favorite movie couple for a reason – just settle in and watch Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man and its sequels do what they do best – banter, canoodle, solve crimes and, of course, tipple.

Myrna Loy and William Powell as Nora and Nick Charles during the Holidays

Movies to See Right Now

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Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in GREEN BOOK

Tis’ the Season for Holiday movies and to listen to The Movie Gourmet’s appearance on the Silicon Valley’s Cinema Club podcast. Here’s our 42-minute podcast.

OUT NOW

  • Roma is an exquisite portrait of two enduring women and the masterpiece of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Will win multiple Oscars. It is streaming now Netflix.
  • Green Book: Tony Lip is a marvelous character, and Viggo Mortensen’s performance is one of the great pleasures of this year in the movies.
  • Shoplifters won the Palm d’Or at Cannes. This is a witty, and finally heartbreaking, look at a family that lives on the margins – and then is revealed to be not what it seems.
  • Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind and its companion documentaries, all available to stream on Netflix.
  • The masterful documentary Monrovia, Indiana is a fascinating movie about a boring subject.
  • Pawel Pawlikowski’s sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War is not as compelling as his masterpiece Ida.
  • The Favourite: Great performances by three great actresses, sex and political intrigue are not enough; this critically praised film didn’t work for me.
  • Skip First Man – a boring movie about a fascinating subject.

 

ON VIDEO

Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor in THE DEATH OF STALIN

My Streams of the Week are eight of my Best Films of 2018 – So Far that are already available to stream: Leave No Trace, The Rider, The Death of Stalin, Beast, Custody, Monrovia, Indiana, Three Identical Strangers, Quality Problems and Outside In.

 

ON TV

On December 23, Turner Classic Movies brings us that Holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, and I’m talking about the 1951 version with Alastair Sim. Since the 1908 Tom Ricketts silent version, this Charles Dickens story has been made over 60 times for the screen. Scrooge has been played by George C Scott, Bill Murray, Rich Little, Cecily Tyson, Patrick Stewart, Jim Carrey and Kelsey Grammer. (But NOT, to my knowledge, by Nicolas Cage, Christopher Walken, Toshiro Mifune or Zac Efron.)

Alastair Sim’s performance as Scrooge elevates this 1951 version; Sim perfectly modulates Scrooge’s transformation from impervious meanness to vulnerability. A Christmas Carol was, by far, the highlight of Sim’s screen credits; he was primarily a stage actor, who appeared in 46 West End productions. It’s a simple but compelling story, and everyone can relate to the curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge, his touching backstory and his joyous redemption.

Alastair Sim in A CHRISTMAS CAROL

COLD WAR: tragic sacrifice for enduring love

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COLD WAR

In the sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War, Wiktor (Tomasa Kot) is a talented musician/arranger in post-War Poland and an archivist of folk music. He becomes the musical director of a communist state-sponsored folk music revue, and falls for the ensemble’s comely and spirited lead Zula (Joanna Kulig), despite her being a bit of a brat. This being the Cold War, the question is whether the couple can flee Poland to freedom, artistic and otherwise. Zula is so unreliable that this is not cut and dried. Instead, the story spans a decade and four European countries as writer-director Pawel Pawlikowski explores the depths of sacrifice that humans will make for love.

The story in Cold War is inspired by that of Pawlikowski‘s own parents. Cold War is not as compelling as his recent masterpiece Ida. Virtually every shot in Ida could be hung in a gallery, which is not the case in Cold War although there are many beautifully filmed sequences. Both Ida and Cold War are shot in exquisite black-and-white and in a boxy aspect.

Joanna Kulig’s appearance changes dramatically depending on her makeup – to an unusual extent. The Wife suggested that this reflected a chameleon-like aspect to the character of Zula.

I enjoyed the character of the slime ball toadie Kaczmerak (Boris Szyc), the administrative manager of the folk music group. Kaczermak is so accepting of the corruption in Cold War communist society, that he greets every development with tranquil aplomb.

Fans of Ida will recognize Agata Kulesza, who played Ida’s aunt, as Wiktor’s musical partner Irena.

I saw Cold War at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October.  It releases in theaters on December 21 and, having been financed by Amazon Studios, will be streamable from Amazon.

MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL: what a program this year

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COLD WAR

The Mill Valley Film Festival always showcases many of the prestige films that are scheduled for release during Award Season. It’s the best opportunity for Bay Area film goers to catch an early look at the Big Movies.

For example, last year’s festival featured The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name and The Florida Project. Those five films combined for 28 Oscar nominations and 7 Oscars. You get the idea.

ALL FOUR of the movies I am expecting to be the year’s best are playing at this year’s MVFF:

  • Cold War from Pawel Pawlikowski, the Oscar-winning director of Ida.  Pawlikowski will appear in person at MVFF.
  • Roma – from Alfonso Cuarón, the Oscar-winning director of Gravity (and Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Cuarón will appear in person at MVFF.
  • If Beale Street Could Talk – from Barry Jenkins, the Oscar-winning writer-director of Moonlight. Jenkins will appear in person at MVFF.
  • Shoplifters, which won the Palm d’Or at Cannes for writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda.  He’s had art house hits with Maborosi, Still Walking and The Third Murder, but this could be his masterpiece.

Other highlights include:

  • Widows, the latest from director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave).  Stars Viola Davis and the trailer is a hoot.
  • A Private War, for which Rosamund Pike is getting Oscar buzz (she wears an eye patch!).
  • Green Book with Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.
  • Wildlife – actress Carey Mulligan and director Paul Dano will appear in person.
  • Boy Erased, Joel Edgerton’s “gay conversion therapy” drama starring Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea and Lady Bird).
  • The Kindergarten Teacher, the remake of the recent Israeli film. Star Maggie Gyllenhaal will appear at MVFF.
  • Ben Is Back with Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges – very intriguing trailer.
  • Non-fiction, a comedy of manners from Olivier Assayas, starring Juliette Binoche, Guillaume Canet and the funny, funny character actor Vincent Macaigne.
  • What They Had a family drama that I reviewed at Cinequest, with Blythe Danner, Robert Forster, Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon.
  • Capernuaum – this drama about Palestinian refugees could be the festival dark horse.

This year’s festival runs October 4-14 at four different Marin County venues. You can peruse the program and buy tickets at Mill Valley Film Festival.

ROMA

DVD/Stream of the Week: THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

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Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint and Carl Reiner in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!
Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint and Carl Reiner in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

One of my favorites comedies is the still timely satire on the Duck and Cover Era, the 1966 The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!.  At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet nuclear submarine runs aground and is trapped just off a tiny New England coastal village, and the crew sends a party ashore to heist a boat. The landing party encounters a vacationing American family and the two groups must work together to find a solution to help the sub escape without igniting World War III.

The superb cast includes Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters and Alan Arkin in his breakthrough performance. Although it primarily satirizes the paranoia of the Cold War, there are plenty of laughs sparked by small town New England, family dynamics, teen love and the recurring joke of the town drunk with his reluctant horse.

I watch The Russians Are Coming! every other year or so, and it still holds up.  Besides showing regularly on Turner Classic Movies, The Russians Are Coming! is also available to streaming from Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.

Blogging from Cinequest: War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them

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This documentary tells the remarkable Cold War spy story of Army Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski.  In his service on the Polish General Staff, Kuklinski saw that the Warsaw Pact’s war plans for an invasion of Western Europe would inevitably lead to the nuclear obliteration of Poland.  To avoid that horror, he passed on the Warsaw Pact war plans to the West so NATO could strengthen its stance and thereby deter the invasion by making it a less attractive option for the Soviets.

Kuklinshi passed over 40,000 pages of secret Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA – the largest act of espionage in world history.  After the screening, Director Dariusz Jabloński said that Kuklinski considered himself a Polish soldier doing his duty, not a spy for the West.

Kuklinski died just before he could be interviewed for this documentary.  However, Jabloński did secure interviews with the senior commanders of the Soviet and Polish militaries, former Polish heads of state, CIA officers and Kuklinski’s widow, as well as screen shots from Warsaw Pact war simulations.  At 110 minutes, it’s a little long, but the story is compelling.