Weekly Movie Recommendations

Movies to See Right Now

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56 UP

I haven’t yet seen 56 Up, the next chapter in the greatest documentary series ever. Starting with Seven Up! in 1964, director Michael Apted has followed the same fourteen British children, filming snapshots of their lives at ages 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49. Choosing kids from different backgrounds, the series started as a critique of the British class system, but has since evolved into a broader exploration of what factors can lead to success and happiness at different stages of human life. The ultimate reality show. I’ve included the 7 Up series in my list of Greatest Movies of All Time. It opens today, as does The Gatekeepers, a documentary centered around interviews with all six surviving former chiefs of Shin Bet, Israel’s super-secret internal security force. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

It’s you last chance to catch the Oscar-nominated movies before the Academy Awards: Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained and Life of Pi.  The French language drama Amour is a brilliantly made and almost unbearable to watch.  If you really like musicals, you will probably like the lavish but stupefying Les Miserables (I didn’t).

The best new movie is Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects with Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances. The charmingly funny Warm Bodies has made my list of Zombie Movies for People Who Don’t Like Zombie Movies. The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

My DVD/Stream of the week is the Oscar winning Gosford Park, a fitting companion to the just completed third season of Downton Abbey.

Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. This week, the lineup includes one of the funniest movies ever, Mel Brook’s glorious The Producers.

DVD/Stream of the week: the orginal Downton Abbey

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Fans of Downton Abbey – do not despair because Season 3 has run its course.   Before he created Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes wrote the 2001 film Gosford Park, also set at the estate of an English aristocrat in the 1920s. The period between the world wars marked the final decline of the Upstairs Downstairs world, and Fellowes, descended from such an upper class family, grew up with relatives who had lived through it.  In fact, he modeled the scathingly dismissive character of Constance, Countess of Trentham (Maggie Smith), after his own great-aunt.

Gosford Park won an Oscar for its legendary director, Robert Altman.  Altman was a master of weaving together characters and multiple story lines, employing the kind of simultaneous, overlapping speech that people use in real life.  In Gosford Park, instead of recording all the actors with the normal boom microphone, he placed radio microphones on each of twenty actors in the large scenes.  The result, a triumph of cinematic sound design, is that we can hear key lines of dialogue amidst the realistic cacophony of a large gathering, and our attention can move from group to group within a single camera shot.

Ever unconventional, Altman also showed his genius in the solitary scenes.  In one, Helen Mirren’s character has repaired to her own room to reflect on an emotionally shattering development.  Instead of a closeup on Mirren’s face, Altman shoots in long shot, allowing Mirren to act with her whole body and emphasizing the loneliness of her life and the situation.

Altman was also known for attracting very deep, top rate casts.  Gosford Park contains exceptional performances by Mirren, Kelly Macdonald and Emily Watson.  Watson has an outburst at a formal dinner that leaves the audience gasping.  American audiences had only seen Clive Owen in the modest art house film Croupier, and the brooding determination in his Gosford Park performance helped make him a star.

As in Downton Abbey, Maggie Smith gets some great lines and makes the most of them.  Her performance triggered a stream of spunky roles for Smith, including in the Harry Potter movies, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Quartet and, of course, as Downton Abbey’s Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham.

Gosford Park is a great movie, and you’ll recognize its world as Downton Abbey’s.  Gosford Park is available on DVD and streaming from Netflix Instant.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jude Law in SIDE EFFECTS

The best new movie is Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects with Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances. The charmingly funny Warm Bodies has made my list of Zombie Movies for People Who Don’t Like Zombie Movies. The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man. Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all-star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the underrated 2012 thriller Deadfall.

Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. In the next week, the especially rich lineup will include Double Indemnity, A Place in the Sun, Seven Days in May, All the King’s Men, Anatomy of a Murder with its great jazz score, On the Waterfront, The Caine Mutiny, Easy Rider, The Last Detail, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and Tootsie.

Movies to See Right Now

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THE KID WITH A BIKE

Okay, here we are, and I’m recommending a zombie movie and a horror film.   In the charmingly funny Warm Bodies, Rome and Juliet meets Beauty and the Beast in a zombie movie.  The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.  In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline.  Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.

The Oscar Nominated Short Films are in theaters only for another week.  Last night I saw the Live Action and Animated Shorts.  If you can see just one, I recommend the Live Action Shorts, especially Curfew.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.  Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is my pick for the very best film of 2012, The Kid with a Bike.

Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films.  Don’t overlook the overlooked film noir thriller The Narrow Margin or the WW II spy thriller The Fallen Sparrow with John Garfield and a 22-year-old Maureen O’Hara.

DVD of the Week: The Best Movie of 2012

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The Kid with a Bike is an extraordinary film that tells a riveting story of unconditional love.  It is emotionally powerful without being sentimental and is gripping without stunts and explosions.   The Kid with a Bike topped my list of Best Movies of 2012.  It’s out today on DVD – available from by Criterion Collection, no less.

A 12-year-old boy wants to find the father who dumped him at a children’s home, but meets a woman who becomes his de facto foster mom.  In the face of overwhelming evidence, the boy refuses to acknowledge the possibility that his father doesn’t want him.  He becomes angry, acts out and is poised to make life-ruining choices.  His one chance in life is the woman who is drawn to caring for him, but he could alienate her, too.

The writer-directors, the Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardennes, are two of my favorite film makers (The Son, Rosetta).  Their gift is minimalistic filmmaking that addresses fundamental themes like love, loss, forgiveness and belonging.  To avoid sappiness, they set their stories in gritty industrial towns and employ vividly realistic characters.  As all their work, The Kid with a Bike is an unvarnished and utterly realistic looking film.  This helps them create a fable about absolute goodness and the saving of another human being and present it in a credible, unsentimental and immediate package.

The Dardennes are known for their success with untrained actors, and here Thomas Doret is excellent as the kid – energetic, longing and single-minded.  The Belgian-born French star Cecille De France (Hereafter, The Spanish Apartment) is wonderful as the foster mom – steadfast but unknowable.  The compelling actor Olivier Gourmet (The Son, Rosetta, Mesrine) briefly appears in a bit part.

Movies to See Right Now

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AMOUR

Try to catch the Oscar Nominated Short Films – in theaters only for this coming week.  The pretty good horror movie Mama, with Jessica Chastain, can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.  The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.  I have not seen Movie 43 –  it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

I haven’t seen the Pacino/Walken/Arkin geezer mob film Stand Up Guys or the inventive zombie movie Warm Bodies, which open this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the deliciously pulpy neo-noir The Paperboy.

Today Turner Classic Movies begins its annual 31 Days of Oscars, celebrating the Oscars by filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films.

DVD of the Week: The Paperboy

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Set in 1969 Florida, The Paperboy is a coming of age film nestled within a deliciously pulpy crime drama.  The story is centered around an overlooked younger son (talented up-and-comer Zac Efron) who is thrilled when his older brother (Matthew McConaughey) returns to their swampy backwater after making it in the big time of Miami.  The older brother is an investigative reporter who seeks the truth about a sensational death row case.

The strength of the film is in the supporting characters.  David Oyelowo plays the older brother’s cynical and self-absorbed partner.  John Cusack’s death row inmate is utterly animalistic, a real departure for Cusack.  Nicole Kidman plays the convict’s pen pal fiance; the younger brother falls for her, but she’s apparently screwing everyone except him.

But the surprise performance in The Paperboy is by recording artist Macy Gray, who plays the family domestic.  With complete authenticity, Gray is playful, hurt, dignified, angry, funny, tough, cagy and vulnerable and, as the narrator, she keeps the movie together.  It’s a really superb performance, and I look forward to seeing Gray in more high profile parts.

This is director Lee Daniels’ follow up to his heart rending Precious.  Once again, his  character driven story-telling is first rate.  The Paperboy is dark, violent, sexy and gripping with vivid characters.

Watch for Kidman’s particularly alarming treatment for jellyfish stings.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jessica Chastain in MAMA

The pretty good horror movie Mama, with Jessica Chastain, can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.  Quartet, which opens this weekend, is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life. It’s a lead pipe cinch to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar. It’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

I haven’t yet seen the raunchy all-star comedy Movie 43, which opens today.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the gripping cop thriller End of Watch.

DVD of the Week: End of Watch

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End of Watch is a top notch thriller of a cop movie, and it made my list of Best Movies of 2012.   Two cops, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, patrol a hell hole beat in South Central LA.  They are well-intentioned cops, but they are testosterone-fueled young guys. They are always looking for action, and this neighborhood has plenty of action.  They ultimately bite off more than they should try to chew.

Writer-director David Ayer (Training Day) has made a movie that rises above the genre because of the well-written main characters and their relationship.  We watch them chiefly from a camera on the dashboard of their squad car.  We learn that they are both decent guys and both adrenaline junkies, but one is more aspirational and one is more settled.  They are both funny, and the multiracial theater audience at my screening was howling at the ethnic ball-breaking.

There are also some impressive chases, often filmed with the dashboard camera facing forward.  It’s thrilling stuff.  There’s a lot of shaky cam (which I usually hate), but here it works well to enhance the chaos of the setting as well as the action.

The rest of the cast is excellent, most notably Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) as the love interests, David Harbour, America Ferrera and Frank Grillo as fellow cops, and Diamonique as a fierce gangbanger.

And here’s a shout out to Michael Peña.  In End of Watch, Peña nails both the humor and the action; he’s on-screen almost the whole movie and has an engaging presence.  He has played so many Latino cops, and he really deserves a chance to show what he can do with a different type of role.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jessica Chastain in ZERO DARK THIRTY

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012. and all nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. My top pick remains the enthralling Zero Dark Thirty tells the story of the frustrating, wearying and dangerous ten-year man hunt for Bin Laden.  In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man. Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.

The French language drama Amour is a brilliantly made film about the end of life.  It’s a lead pipe cinch to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar.  It’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man. Matt Damon’s stellar performance leads a fine cast in Promised Land, an engaging (until the corny ending) drama about exploitation of natural gas in rural America.  Not Fade Away is a pleasant enough, but unremarkable 60s coming of age story by The Sopranos creator David Chase and rocker Steven Van Zandt.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast.   Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the French odd couple movie The Intouchables – a real crowd pleaser and the second most popular movie of all time in France.