The Hummingbird Project

Movies to See Right Now

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Aretha Franklin in AMAZING GRACE

OUT NOW

  • The Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace is, at once, the recovery of a lost film, the document of an extraordinary live recording and an immersive, spiritual experience.
  • In The Chaperone, Downton Abbey’s writer Julian Fellowes and star Elizabeth McGovern reunite for a pleasing character study of self-discovery in 1921 America – it’s deeper than it first appears to be.
  • The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: after 25 years of misfortune and missteps, Terry Gilliam has succeeded in making a Don Quixote movie – and it’s good.
  • In Teen Spirit, Elle Fanning plays an underdog teenager who has the chance to win a talent contest and become an instant pop star – yes, it’s a genre movie, but it’s a pretty fair one.
  • The Brink is documentarian Alison Klayman’s up-close-and-personal portrait of Steve Bannon, the outsized personality who coached Donald Trump’s race-baiting right into the White House. As Bannon unintentionally reveals himself to be pathetically craving relevance, I found The Brink to be irresistible, and I watched with fascination.
  • For the first hour-and-a-half of Sunset, I was convinced that I was watching the best movie of the year. Then the coherence unraveled, but I still recommend Sunset, even with its flaws, for its uncommon artistry.
  • The puzzling thriller Transit, with all its originality, just isn’t director Christian Petzold’s best.
  • Ramen Shop is a lightly-rooted dramedy about a Singaporean-Japanese family’s reconciliation. There’s also a metaphorical foodie angle.
  • Skip The Hummingbird Project – two good scenes just isn’t enough.
Elle Fanning in TEEN SPIRIT

ON VIDEO

My video choice, the psychological suspense movie Una, revolves around two twisted people who make for two unreliable narrators  (Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn).  I originally saw Una at the 2017 Cinequest.  You can stream it from Netflix Instant, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

On April 27, Turner Classic Movies will air the 1950 version of M, directed by Joseph Losey. This is a remake of Fritz Lang’s great 1931 M with Peter Lorre. The Losey version is not a masterpiece like the original, and I find it pretty odd. However, Los Angeles’ storied Bradbury Building, which has been in many a movie, was never been as gloriously revealed from basement to roof as in M. The Bradbury Building and the film as a whole benefit from the cinematography of Ernest Laszlo; Laszlo also shot D.O.A., The Well, The Steel Trap, Stalag 17, The Naked Jungle, Kiss Me Deadly and While the City Sleeps, before being Oscar-nominated eight times for more respectable, but lesser films. The cast is filled with film noir faves – Raymond Burr, Norman Lloyd, Howard Da Silva, Steve Brodie and Luther Adler. M is playing on TCM’s Noir Alley series, and I look forward to Eddie Muller’s intro and outro.

On May 1, TCM airs The Rack (1956): A returning US army captain (Paul Newman) is court-martialed for collaborating with the enemy while a POW. He was tortured, and The Rack explores what can be realistically expected of a prisoner under duress. It’s a pretty good movie, and Wendell Corey and Walter Pidgeon co-star.

Joseph Losey’s M

Movies to See Right Now

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Elizabeth McGovern in THE CHAPERONE

There are some good movies on Silicon Valley and Bay Area screens, and this is the final weekend of the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival):

OUT NOW

  • In The Chaperone, Downton Abbey’s writer Julian Fellowes and star Elizabeth McGovern reunite for a pleasing character study of self-discovery in 1921 America – it’s deeper than it first appears to be.
  • The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: after 25 years of misfortune and missteps, Terry Gilliam has succeeded in making a Don Quixote movie – and it’s good.
  • In Teen Spirit, Elle Fanning plays an underdog teenager who has the chance to win a talent contest and become an instant pop star – yes, it’s a genre movie, but it’s a pretty fair one.
  • The Brink is documentarian Alison Klayman’s up-close-and-personal portrait of Steve Bannon, the outsized personality who coached Donald Trump’s race-baiting right into the White House. As Bannon unintentionally reveals himself to be pathetically craving relevance, I found The Brink to be irresistible, and I watched with fascination.
  • You can still stream Tre Maison Dasan, the unwavering and emotionally powerful documentary about boys with incarcerated parents from PBS.
  • For the first hour-and-a-half of Sunset, I was convinced that I was watching the best movie of the year. Then the coherence unraveled, but I still recommend Sunset, even with its flaws, for its uncommon artistry.
  • The puzzling thriller Transit, with all its originality, just isn’t director Christian Petzold’s best.
  • Skip The Hummingbird Project – two good scenes just isn’t enough.

ON VIDEO

The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) in underway, and this week’s video pick comes from the 2016 festival:  the absorbing neo-noir romance Frank & Lola. You can stream it on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

On April 20, Turner Classic Movies presents the movie that invented the mockumentary: This Is Spinal Tap, co-written by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and the director Rob Reiner. Guest, of course went on to direct the mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, Mascots and his masterpiece, Best in Show. This Is Spinal Tap follows a dim-witted rock band on the decline. Tony Hendra is brilliant as the band’s long-suffering road manager; he downplays their cancelled show in Boston with, “I wouldn’t worry about it though, it’s not a big college town.” Watch for Dana Carvey and Billy Crystal as mimes. It’s difficult to pin down the funniest moment – the Stonehenge-themed stage set, the band’s succession of ill-fated drummers or the guitar amp that goes to eleven.

Easter always triggers television networks to pull out their Biblical epics. If you’re going to watch just one Sword-and-Sandal classic, I recommend going full tilt with Barrabas, broadcast by Turner Classic Movies on April 21. This 1961 cornball stars Anthony Quinn as the Zelig-like title character.

The story begins with the thief Barabbas avoiding crucifixion when Pontius Pilate swaps him out for Jesus (this part is actually in the Bible). Because the Crucifixion isn’t enough action for a two-hour 17-minute movie, Barabbas is soon sent off as a slave to the salt mines, where he is rescued by a miraculously timely earthquake. He then joins the Roman gladiators, complete with a javelin-firing squad, gets lost in the catacombs and emerges to the Burning of Rome. He has encounters with the Emperor Nero and the Apostle Peter before he converts to Christianity – just in time for the mass crucifixion. Watch for an uncredited Sharon Tate as a patrician in the arena.

Anthony Quinn in BARABBAS
Anthony Quinn in BARABBAS

Movies to See Right Now

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Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce in THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE

Lots of new recommendations this week.  Of course, I’m covering this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival). ICYMI:

OUT NOW

  • In The Chaperone, Downton Abbey’s writer Julian Fellowes and star Elizabeth McGovern reunite for a pleasing character study of self-discovery in 1921 America – it’s deeper than it first appears to be.
  • The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: after 25 years of misfortune and missteps, Terry Gilliam has succeeded in making a Don Quixote movie – and it’s good. (link to full review will be live later.)
  • In Teen Spirit, Elle Fanning plays an underdog teenager who has the chance to win a talent contest and become an instant pop star – yes, it’s a genre movie, but it’s a pretty fair one.
  • The Brink is documentarian Alison Klayman’s up-close-and-personal portrait of Steve Bannon, the outsized personality who coached Donald Trump’s race-baiting right into the White House. As Bannon unintentionally reveals himself to be pathetically craving relevance, I found The Brink to be irresistible, and I watched with fascination.
  • You can still stream Tre Maison Dasan, the unwavering and emotionally powerful documentary about boys with incarcerated parents from PBS.
  • For the first hour-and-a-half of Sunset, I was convinced that I was watching the best movie of the year. Then the coherence unraveled, but I still recommend Sunset, even with its flaws, for its uncommon artistry.
  • The puzzling thriller Transit, with all its originality, just isn’t director Christian Petzold’s best.
  • Skip The Hummingbird Project – two good scenes just isn’t enough.

ON VIDEO

The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) in underway, and this week’s video pick comes from the 2014 festival. On its surface, the brilliant comedy Dear White People seems to be about racial identity, but – as writer-director Justin Simien points out – it’s really about personal identity (of which race is an important part). Dear White People, which has been spun off into a popular Netflix series, is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, and Google Play.

ON TV

On April 16, Turner Classic Movies presents the gold standard of Civil War films, Ron Maxwell’s 1994 Gettysburg. It follows Michael Shaara’s superb historical novel The Killer Angels and depicts the decisive three day battle. It was filmed on the actual battlefield with re-enactors. Maxwell took great care in maintaining historical accuracy. Civil War buffs will recognize many lines of dialogue as historical, as well as shots that recall famous photographs. In addition, Gettysburg is especially well-acted, especially by Jeff Daniels, Tom Berenger, Stephen Lang, Sam Elliott and Brian Mallon.

Jeff Daniels (center) in Gettysburg

Actor Seymour Cassel’s dies this wek at age 84. His singular performances were often eccentric and exuberant – and always no bullshit. The most recent of Cassel’s 213 screen credits was in 2015, but he is best remembered for his association with writer-director John Cassavetes. Two of my favorite Cassel performances are in Cassavetes’ Minnie and Moscowitz (1971) and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976).

Seymour Cassel in MINNIE AND MOSCOWITZ

Movies to See Right Now

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Right: Juli Jakab as Irisz Leiter
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

OUT NOW

  • The Brink is documentarian Alison Klayman’s up-close-and-personal portrait of Steve Bannon, the outsized personality who coached Donald Trump’s race-baiting right into the White House.  As Bannon unintentionally reveals himself to be pathetically craving relevance, I found The Brink to be irresistible, and I watched with fascination.
  • You can still stream Tre Maison Dasan, the unwavering and emotionally powerful documentary about boys with incarcerated parents from PBS.
  • For the first hour-and-a-half of Sunset, I was convinced that I was watching the best movie of the year.  Then the coherence unraveled, but I still recommend Sunset, even with its flaws, for its uncommon artistry.
  • The puzzling thriller Transit, with all its originality just isn’t director Christian Petzold’s best.
  • Skip The Hummingbird Project – two good scenes just isn’t enough.

ON VIDEO

This week’s Stream of the Week is the riveting psychodrama Phoenix. It’s better than director Christian Petzold’s Transit, and you can stream it from Netflix Instant, Amazon, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

Tonight and again on April 7, Turner Classic Movies airs one of my Overlooked Noir. Film noir tends to be about guys with bad luck, but NOBODY would trade their luck with Ernie Driscoll, the anti-hero of 1953’s 99 River Street. Driscoll (John Payne) was leading in a championship boxing match before a fluke cut ends both the fight and his pugilistic career. Now he’s driving a hack, and his highest aspiration is to open a gas station. But the wife he adores (the movie’s Bad Girl) hurls hurtful invective at him constantly. At the same time, she’s cuckolding him with a hood. If that weren’t enough, he gets framed for a murder. And, mid-movie, he even gets set up by the Good Girl! That Good Girl is played by Evelyn Keyes, who knocks it out of the park in two scenes, one on a darkened theater stage and one in a dive bar

Evelyn Keyes and John Payne in 99 RIVER STREET
Evelyn Keyes and John Payne in 99 RIVER STREET

THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT: it’s a movie about nanoseconds, but it slows to a muddle

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Salma Hayek and Jesse Eisenberg in THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT

In The Hummingbird Project, two brothers take on Wall Street power in a race to build a fiber-optic cable network from Kansas City to New York City. They plan to take advantage of getting financial data several nanoseconds before everyone else and to become zillionaires. Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) is the wheeler-dealer and Anton (Alexander Skarsgård) is the technical whiz.  It’s a ridiculously audacious bet, and the movie is about whether they can pull it off.

Their ruthless Wall Street competition is personalized in the character played by Salma Hayek.  Hayek is okay, but she appears to be performing in a different (and better) movie than the other leads.

The Hummingbird Project doesn’t quite work.  Eisenberg is not a stranger to jittery, fast-talking roles.  But here, he accelerates into auctioneer-pacing, and he speaks so quickly that it’s hard to follow.  There’s too much film footage invested in the cable-laying procedural.   And why the hell does Vincent return a THIRD time to visit the Amish farmers in the rainstorm?

There are two good scenes in The Hummingbird Project, both involving Anton.  In one, he decides to physically run away from the FBI and, in the other, he exacts some hacking revenge on the Wall Street baddies.

I saw The Hummingbird Project at Cinequest, and it is now playing in Bay Area theaters.

Movies to See Right Now

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A scene from Denali Tiller’s TRE MAISON DASAN, playing at the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival, April 4 – 17, 2018. Courtesy of SFFILM.

The unwavering and emotionally powerful documentary Tre Maison Dasan was my top pick from the world premieres at the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) – and you can finally watch on TV this weekend. The title reflects the names of three Rhode Island boys with incarcerated parents. Unfettered by talking heads, Tre Maison Dasan invites us along with these kids as they interact with their families – both on the outside and the inside.  PBS is airing Tre Maison Dasan on its Independent Lens series on April 1; you’ll also be able to stream it on PBS.

Look for some binge-posting from me this weekend as I catch up from Cinequest and get ready for SFFILM. Of new movies out now, I’m surprisingly ambivalent on Transit and a thumbs down on The Hummingbird Project. Details to follow.

ON TV

On March 31, there’s George Cukor’s Dinner at Eight, an all-star 1933 Hollywood dramedy that mostly still stands up today. Jean Harlow is hilarious as the trophy bride of the course noveau-millionaire played by Wallace Beery. Marie Dressler is at least as funny as a former star yearning to relive an old romance. John Barrymore adds a heartbreaking performance as a man facing disgrace. If all this weren’t enough, we also get Lionel Barrymore, some ditziness from Billie Burke and a splash of sarcasm from quick-patter artist Lee Tracy. Harlow, who died at 26, is usually remembered as a platinum blonde sex symbol, but Dinner at Eight reminds us of her comic brilliance.