Frank and April Wheeler (the reunited Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) are having struggles but that instantly changes when April suggests that they move to Paris to fulfill a life-long dream of Frank's. And besides, they're in a rut, April's acting career is garbage and Frank is working in advertising and while it pays the bills, it is far from his dream occupation.
For a while, things are better between the couple, Frank ends his meaningless affair with a secretary, Maureen (Zoe Kazan), but then April finds out that she's pregnant again and doesn't want the baby. Frank manages to talk her out of an abortion (keep in mind that this is the 1950s), but the damage has been done. Frank decides to take this fancy promotion at work so Paris is off the table and April is devastated. They go back to bickering at each other constantly and a confrontation meeting with their friend's son, John (Michael Shannon) only makes their fragile relationship much worse.
Instead of Leo dying, as he did needlessly in Titanic (there was totally room for him on that door), Kate dies, bleeding to death after attempting (and succeeding) with aborting the baby herself.
While it ends sadly, the entire film is rather sad, full of drinking and chain smoking cigarettes. Frank doesn't support April's dream, April tries to support Frank but he changes his mind without telling her, letting the money do the talking, and he barely has pride in his job despite his obvious talent. While the Wheelers long to be extraordinary, they will, unfortunately, just remain a cautionary tale. Here, Winslet and DiCaprio deliver their best work I've seem to date, despite Leo portraying the typical 1950s husband (aka, an asshole), not even lifting a finger to help his pregnant wife whisk eggs in their final scene together. Winslet should have won her Oscar for this role, not The Reader, though she was good in that role as well. Still, the basic plot is rather timeless, when are your dreams worth giving up? Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Kathryn Hahn and David Harbour as good friends of the Wheelers, Milly and Shep. Shep really loves April, and the two have coitus in the passenger seat of his car.
-Poor Kate Winslet. In this film, she has sex on the kitchen counter and in the car, but never in the bed.
-The poor Wheeler daughter, her first name is never mentioned while their son's is mentioned several times. His name is Michael.
-Despite brilliant performances all around, only Michael Shannon got a nomination, fully deserved as the disturbed former mathematician.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Friday, April 24, 2020
Up in the Air (2009)
While this film has a strange concept, just watch it, you won't be disappointed.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flies around the country, firing people from companies who are consolidated. He loves flying, loves hotels and airport bars. Basically, he's an asshole. He doesn't do long-term relationships and his contact with his sisters is almost non-existent.
But times are changing. Technology is about what he loves most obsolete. Enter Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), she is a brilliant young mind from Cornell and has the great idea to fire people virtually a concept Ryan loathes. So now, he has a partner in the air, something that he's never had before.
Natalie is a young idealist, thinking that she can have it all, the ideal marriage and excel at her career, but she's naive and even when her boyfriend dumps her via text (no shame, I dumped the only guy I've ever dumped via text), she declares that she could have made that relationship work, truer love there's never been. However, while Natalie came up with this idea, she's not like Ryan, she thrives on companionship and has a heart and real feelings, feelings that Ryan refuses to acknowledge.
While Natalie plays a pivotal role in Ryan's life, so does Alex (Vera Farmiga). Alex's job is not really described but basically she's the female version of Ryan, flying across the country constantly. They start a casual, no strings attached sort of relationship and Ryan's fine with that, until he flies back to his hometown for his younger sister's (Melanie Lynskey's) wedding when he starts to realize that maybe he wants something more, even though just weeks ago, he claimed that that was the last thing he wanted. Too bad it won't be with Alex. Alex, as it turns out, in one of the most shocking scenes captured on film in the last decade, is married and has a family, though you would have never guessed it based on her inspiring speech to Natalie.
While the film ends in what would have been a happy ending for Ryan at the start of the film, he's been on a journey and is left hollower than he was before, proving that you're allowed to change your mind. It's a shame that getting everything you've ever wanted doesn't come with the happy ending you always anticipated.
Despite the ending that, as the title suggests, is up in the air, the journey is a brilliant one, with aerial shots of the various cities Ryan travels to, interlaced with reactions to those he fired, the film is a quite masterpiece. The acting is top-notch and all three of the main actors earned fully deserved Oscar nominations, though sadly none of them would win. And the scenery is brilliant, with a realistic feel to it, but most importantly, this film forces you to think as all great movies should do and you'll remember it long after the credits have rolled. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-The supporting cast is brilliant, with Jason Bateman, Chris Lowell, Sam Elliott, Danny McBride, Amy Morton and J.K. Simmons.
-This film is also proof that ever the most casual mention of suicide should be taken seriously.
-Ryan finally thinks of his family toward the end, transferring some of his many miles to his sister and her new groom.
-For the record, the other times I was dumped, one guy did it over the phone and the other guy did it in person.
-You should never quit a job via text.
-I don't blame Natalie for bringing her pillow with her, I bring my pillow with me wherever I go.
-Also, for the record, I hate flying and honestly, traveling in general.
-While you die alone, hopefully won't have to journey alone.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flies around the country, firing people from companies who are consolidated. He loves flying, loves hotels and airport bars. Basically, he's an asshole. He doesn't do long-term relationships and his contact with his sisters is almost non-existent.
But times are changing. Technology is about what he loves most obsolete. Enter Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), she is a brilliant young mind from Cornell and has the great idea to fire people virtually a concept Ryan loathes. So now, he has a partner in the air, something that he's never had before.
Natalie is a young idealist, thinking that she can have it all, the ideal marriage and excel at her career, but she's naive and even when her boyfriend dumps her via text (no shame, I dumped the only guy I've ever dumped via text), she declares that she could have made that relationship work, truer love there's never been. However, while Natalie came up with this idea, she's not like Ryan, she thrives on companionship and has a heart and real feelings, feelings that Ryan refuses to acknowledge.
While Natalie plays a pivotal role in Ryan's life, so does Alex (Vera Farmiga). Alex's job is not really described but basically she's the female version of Ryan, flying across the country constantly. They start a casual, no strings attached sort of relationship and Ryan's fine with that, until he flies back to his hometown for his younger sister's (Melanie Lynskey's) wedding when he starts to realize that maybe he wants something more, even though just weeks ago, he claimed that that was the last thing he wanted. Too bad it won't be with Alex. Alex, as it turns out, in one of the most shocking scenes captured on film in the last decade, is married and has a family, though you would have never guessed it based on her inspiring speech to Natalie.
While the film ends in what would have been a happy ending for Ryan at the start of the film, he's been on a journey and is left hollower than he was before, proving that you're allowed to change your mind. It's a shame that getting everything you've ever wanted doesn't come with the happy ending you always anticipated.
Despite the ending that, as the title suggests, is up in the air, the journey is a brilliant one, with aerial shots of the various cities Ryan travels to, interlaced with reactions to those he fired, the film is a quite masterpiece. The acting is top-notch and all three of the main actors earned fully deserved Oscar nominations, though sadly none of them would win. And the scenery is brilliant, with a realistic feel to it, but most importantly, this film forces you to think as all great movies should do and you'll remember it long after the credits have rolled. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-The supporting cast is brilliant, with Jason Bateman, Chris Lowell, Sam Elliott, Danny McBride, Amy Morton and J.K. Simmons.
-This film is also proof that ever the most casual mention of suicide should be taken seriously.
-Ryan finally thinks of his family toward the end, transferring some of his many miles to his sister and her new groom.
-For the record, the other times I was dumped, one guy did it over the phone and the other guy did it in person.
-You should never quit a job via text.
-I don't blame Natalie for bringing her pillow with her, I bring my pillow with me wherever I go.
-Also, for the record, I hate flying and honestly, traveling in general.
-While you die alone, hopefully won't have to journey alone.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Little Fires Everywhere: Series Recap and Reaction
While the show was great, the book was probably just a bit better.
Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington disappear into their roles as Elena Richardson, seemingly perfect housewife and Mia Warren, an inspiration artist, the main characters of the crowded drama.
While the book and show begin with Mia's arrival to the picturesque town of Shaker Heights, the plot doesn't kick into high gear until Mia meets the young baby of Elena's good friend, Linda (Rosemarie DeWitt). This baby happens to be the biological child of Mia's co-worker, Bebe (Huang Lu), an illegal immigrant who didn't have the means to care for little May Ling, or Mirabelle, depending on whose side you're on so she left her at a fire station, and Linda, who always longed for a baby after multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth, finally got a baby. But a legal battle ensues, which ends predictably, but the story is how the two families interact.
While Elena may seem to have it all, she didn't want her fourth child and longs for a career she will never have while Mia has fewer regrets except for the whole conception of her daughter, the lovely Pearl (Lexi Underwood) and Bebe has the biggest regret of all, abandoning her daughter.
The men, namely Bill Richardson (Joshua Jackson), seem to have fewer regrets, mainly because he wasn't the one making the sacrifice.
While the mini series follows the book's overall plot quite well, there are some changes in dialogue that make the moment less effective, such as when Lexie Richardson (Jade Pettyjohn) breaks up with her boyfriend, Brian (Stevonte Hert), instead of saying that she needs all of the space, she says something else. And when Elena finds out about the abortion and confronts Moody (Gavin Lewis) he says that she should let Trip (Jordan Elsass) know because they're screwing (insert adult word instead), here he just says that she should let Trip know. And while the book ties up the loose ends, the mini series just lets them float in the wind.
Despite being only minor changes, that one line was what I was looking forward to the most in the whole series, so I was disappointed. Still, the acting is spot on, and this series forces you to think, who should have been awarded custody in the end? Me, I can't decide. While money isn't everything and you can't buy happiness, Bebe should have never abandoned her baby, that was wrong and downright illegal, but being illegal herself, she couldn't have applied for any of the government assistance programs, so the right decision isn't black or white. What I find curious is that May Ling's biological father isn't mentioned here, and he should also be held responsible (unless he's back in China).
But this series also shows how strong a mother's love is, Elena taking the fall for the fire and Bebe kidnapping her own baby and fleeing to Canada. It's just a shame that the mothers always need to be ones to make the bigger sacrifice. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Huge kudos to AnnaSophia Robb and Tiffany Boone for nailing their roles as young Elena and Mia.
-Another shout out to Megan Stott as the youngest Richardson, Izzy. She and Underwood probably give the best performances of any of the young actors.
-I hope the kids are all right in the end.
-Why did Britt Robertson take that cameo role?
Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington disappear into their roles as Elena Richardson, seemingly perfect housewife and Mia Warren, an inspiration artist, the main characters of the crowded drama.
While the book and show begin with Mia's arrival to the picturesque town of Shaker Heights, the plot doesn't kick into high gear until Mia meets the young baby of Elena's good friend, Linda (Rosemarie DeWitt). This baby happens to be the biological child of Mia's co-worker, Bebe (Huang Lu), an illegal immigrant who didn't have the means to care for little May Ling, or Mirabelle, depending on whose side you're on so she left her at a fire station, and Linda, who always longed for a baby after multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth, finally got a baby. But a legal battle ensues, which ends predictably, but the story is how the two families interact.
While Elena may seem to have it all, she didn't want her fourth child and longs for a career she will never have while Mia has fewer regrets except for the whole conception of her daughter, the lovely Pearl (Lexi Underwood) and Bebe has the biggest regret of all, abandoning her daughter.
The men, namely Bill Richardson (Joshua Jackson), seem to have fewer regrets, mainly because he wasn't the one making the sacrifice.
While the mini series follows the book's overall plot quite well, there are some changes in dialogue that make the moment less effective, such as when Lexie Richardson (Jade Pettyjohn) breaks up with her boyfriend, Brian (Stevonte Hert), instead of saying that she needs all of the space, she says something else. And when Elena finds out about the abortion and confronts Moody (Gavin Lewis) he says that she should let Trip (Jordan Elsass) know because they're screwing (insert adult word instead), here he just says that she should let Trip know. And while the book ties up the loose ends, the mini series just lets them float in the wind.
Despite being only minor changes, that one line was what I was looking forward to the most in the whole series, so I was disappointed. Still, the acting is spot on, and this series forces you to think, who should have been awarded custody in the end? Me, I can't decide. While money isn't everything and you can't buy happiness, Bebe should have never abandoned her baby, that was wrong and downright illegal, but being illegal herself, she couldn't have applied for any of the government assistance programs, so the right decision isn't black or white. What I find curious is that May Ling's biological father isn't mentioned here, and he should also be held responsible (unless he's back in China).
But this series also shows how strong a mother's love is, Elena taking the fall for the fire and Bebe kidnapping her own baby and fleeing to Canada. It's just a shame that the mothers always need to be ones to make the bigger sacrifice. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Huge kudos to AnnaSophia Robb and Tiffany Boone for nailing their roles as young Elena and Mia.
-Another shout out to Megan Stott as the youngest Richardson, Izzy. She and Underwood probably give the best performances of any of the young actors.
-I hope the kids are all right in the end.
-Why did Britt Robertson take that cameo role?
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Gangs of New York (2002)
While this film takes place in 1862 with the draft for the Civil War in full effect, the main plot is rather timeless. The birthers don't wish to have immigrants enter their country, at least in this film. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Vallon who watched his father (Liam Neeson) die as a boy before spending time in some sort of prison/religious orphanage. But now he's a grown man and is out. His old friend, Johnny (Henry Thomas) is once again at his side. The city is now basically ruled by Bill Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) and at first, despite knowing the truth, Vallon scoops up the praises of Bill before deciding to form his own gang of minorities to rally against Cutting, essentially destroying the city in the process.
It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist. What is most impressive is the scenery as you can truly believe that you are back in New York in 1862, which is no small feat. However, I don't think the one Catholic prayer that Vallon says was written until later in that century. The performances are mostly solid though every once in a while, DiCaprio's or Cameron Diaz's accent slips, which is not acceptable. Still, after the rocky beginning with almost comically-bizarre fight sequence, the film is surprising watchable and moves by rather quickly, again no small feat for a two and a half hour film. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Cameron Diaz delivers solid support as a female pickpocketer, Jenny. She was taken under Cutting's wing and was also his former lover, until she had a caesarian section (it's never mentioned what happened to the baby), because despite his name, his women can't have scars. The love triangle is painfully underdeveloped.
-There are also supporting turns from Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly and Brendan Gleeson.
-Though Vallon is called Amsterdam, you never learn his actual first name.
It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist. What is most impressive is the scenery as you can truly believe that you are back in New York in 1862, which is no small feat. However, I don't think the one Catholic prayer that Vallon says was written until later in that century. The performances are mostly solid though every once in a while, DiCaprio's or Cameron Diaz's accent slips, which is not acceptable. Still, after the rocky beginning with almost comically-bizarre fight sequence, the film is surprising watchable and moves by rather quickly, again no small feat for a two and a half hour film. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Cameron Diaz delivers solid support as a female pickpocketer, Jenny. She was taken under Cutting's wing and was also his former lover, until she had a caesarian section (it's never mentioned what happened to the baby), because despite his name, his women can't have scars. The love triangle is painfully underdeveloped.
-There are also supporting turns from Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly and Brendan Gleeson.
-Though Vallon is called Amsterdam, you never learn his actual first name.
Friday, April 17, 2020
All About Eve (1950)
Be careful who your friends are.
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is a huge Broadway star and has many fans, including the young Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), who through her kindness and generosity worms her way into Margo's life, first becoming her assistant and then understudy.
Now, Margo is almost Bette Davis on the screen, lively and fully-fleshed out, but she is aging and is rather depressed about the whole thing, especially since her boyfriend (and director), Bill (Gary Merrill) is eight years younger than her, his birthday party is one of the highlights. However, unlike Bette Davis, Margo accepts her lot in life and understands and feels that Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe), the playwright, should have a younger actress for his new play, which is how Eve really becomes famous.
But Eve isn't who she says and the columnist, who is rather nasty despite his well-meaning intentions, Addison DeWitt (George Sanders, in his Oscar-winning role) discovers that Eve is a liar and manipulator. So that story Eve tells you in the beginning isn't true. And that the fact that she lied about her husband dying in the war is truly an insult to those brave men who did actually died in the war and the women who loved them, truer words have never been said.
Despite the heavy dialogue, there are some brilliant, witty lines and the acting is impeccable, with fully fleshed characters filling every nook and cranny of this film. And while this story has been told time and time again, this film is still worth watching as it is brilliant and Davis delivers probably her best performance. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-Lloyd does not wear a wedding ring but Bill does.
-Merrill would marry Davis in real life.
-Thelma Ritter would earn her first nomination as Birdie, Margo's dresser. Only Birdie is skeptical of Eve from the beginning.
-Celeste Holm also provides excellent support as the third lead, Karen Richards, who gets the plot moving by introducing Eve to Margo but she can be nasty when she wants to be as well, though she feels quite guilty about it later.
-This film churns the debate: is friendship or fame better?
-The ending never ceases to surprise me and I've seen the film three times.
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is a huge Broadway star and has many fans, including the young Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), who through her kindness and generosity worms her way into Margo's life, first becoming her assistant and then understudy.
Now, Margo is almost Bette Davis on the screen, lively and fully-fleshed out, but she is aging and is rather depressed about the whole thing, especially since her boyfriend (and director), Bill (Gary Merrill) is eight years younger than her, his birthday party is one of the highlights. However, unlike Bette Davis, Margo accepts her lot in life and understands and feels that Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe), the playwright, should have a younger actress for his new play, which is how Eve really becomes famous.
But Eve isn't who she says and the columnist, who is rather nasty despite his well-meaning intentions, Addison DeWitt (George Sanders, in his Oscar-winning role) discovers that Eve is a liar and manipulator. So that story Eve tells you in the beginning isn't true. And that the fact that she lied about her husband dying in the war is truly an insult to those brave men who did actually died in the war and the women who loved them, truer words have never been said.
Despite the heavy dialogue, there are some brilliant, witty lines and the acting is impeccable, with fully fleshed characters filling every nook and cranny of this film. And while this story has been told time and time again, this film is still worth watching as it is brilliant and Davis delivers probably her best performance. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-Lloyd does not wear a wedding ring but Bill does.
-Merrill would marry Davis in real life.
-Thelma Ritter would earn her first nomination as Birdie, Margo's dresser. Only Birdie is skeptical of Eve from the beginning.
-Celeste Holm also provides excellent support as the third lead, Karen Richards, who gets the plot moving by introducing Eve to Margo but she can be nasty when she wants to be as well, though she feels quite guilty about it later.
-This film churns the debate: is friendship or fame better?
-The ending never ceases to surprise me and I've seen the film three times.
Monday, April 13, 2020
The Apostle (1997)
This movie was a wretched nightmare.
Sonny (Robert Duvall) is, well, sort of a creep. He's not described as a creep, but rather a celebrated southern pastor, which is also true, but mostly, he's a creep and an asshole.
First of all, he starts the film by trying to pray or convert a young man, trapped in his car after a nasty car accident, rather than getting the paramedics to come down and help the trapped people or help them escape himself. But the weirdest part is that the woman in the car with him is his mother, not his wife, despite the small age gap. Yeah, this film has some major issues.
Instead, he's married to the younger Sister Jessie (Farrah Fawcett) who is separated from him and already with someone else. And his crime of 'passion' is swinging a baseball with Jessie's new boyfriend, knocking him to the ground, and then grabbing his wife by the hair in front of the crowd outside the stadium plus their two young children.
So he goes on the run but somehow gathers the money to open, or rather re-open another church, with his crazy empty promises before finally getting caught and surrendering easily.
While Duvall is great, he is not a character you can admire. He thinks nothing of pinching a woman (Miranda Richardson) on the waist to get her attention and leaves reluctantly after realizing that he wasn't to talk his way into her pants. At least he isn't a racist but rather a sexist and asshole.
The film also has no point to it. He doesn't apologize for his evil deeds but rather tries to escape and continue preaching the word of God while not living it himself. So, needless to say, the film didn't sit well with me at all. Was it rustic and realistic, yes, but that is not enough for me to recommend a film. Grade: C+
Side Notes:
-The only positive note is that this film boosts a diverse cast.
-Sonny needs serious therapy. He quits his diner job when he sees Richardson reconcile with her husband and two young sons.
-Warning, beware of any father who calls his children his beauties.
-Duvall was also too old for the role, though he delivers a great performance, but I found him better in The Great Santini, though I wish he wasn't always an asshole, but a completely different one from who he was in this film.
Sonny (Robert Duvall) is, well, sort of a creep. He's not described as a creep, but rather a celebrated southern pastor, which is also true, but mostly, he's a creep and an asshole.
First of all, he starts the film by trying to pray or convert a young man, trapped in his car after a nasty car accident, rather than getting the paramedics to come down and help the trapped people or help them escape himself. But the weirdest part is that the woman in the car with him is his mother, not his wife, despite the small age gap. Yeah, this film has some major issues.
Instead, he's married to the younger Sister Jessie (Farrah Fawcett) who is separated from him and already with someone else. And his crime of 'passion' is swinging a baseball with Jessie's new boyfriend, knocking him to the ground, and then grabbing his wife by the hair in front of the crowd outside the stadium plus their two young children.
So he goes on the run but somehow gathers the money to open, or rather re-open another church, with his crazy empty promises before finally getting caught and surrendering easily.
While Duvall is great, he is not a character you can admire. He thinks nothing of pinching a woman (Miranda Richardson) on the waist to get her attention and leaves reluctantly after realizing that he wasn't to talk his way into her pants. At least he isn't a racist but rather a sexist and asshole.
The film also has no point to it. He doesn't apologize for his evil deeds but rather tries to escape and continue preaching the word of God while not living it himself. So, needless to say, the film didn't sit well with me at all. Was it rustic and realistic, yes, but that is not enough for me to recommend a film. Grade: C+
Side Notes:
-The only positive note is that this film boosts a diverse cast.
-Sonny needs serious therapy. He quits his diner job when he sees Richardson reconcile with her husband and two young sons.
-Warning, beware of any father who calls his children his beauties.
-Duvall was also too old for the role, though he delivers a great performance, but I found him better in The Great Santini, though I wish he wasn't always an asshole, but a completely different one from who he was in this film.
Saturday, April 11, 2020
The Letter (1940)
This film could have really good, could have been a great he said, she said sort of film, but it wasn't. Probably because it was made in 1940, when the Hays Code was firmly in place in Hollywood.
The film begins with Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) killing a man, shooting him five times, the last few were probably after he was already dead. She acts surprisingly calm with the whole ordeal and presents a story to her lawyer and the investigator of a plausible, he tried to rape me and I was just protecting myself, story.
While that seems believable, she is nevertheless arrested and charged with murder, and somehow a piece of evidence is uncovered which changes the whole plot. Her lawyer (the solid James Stephenson) breaks the law by paying to retrieve the letter so it would never see the light of day as the letter would prove that Leslie was guilty. She was having an affair with the dead, but married man.
Turns out Leslie's a racist. Davis was known for playing rich women and Leslie is no exception, married to a rubber planation owner in Singapore, she is furious when her elicit lover, Jeff Hammond, marries a Chinese woman (though she is portrayed by the Oscar winner Gale Sondergaard, who is as Chinese as my grandmother). She couldn't stand that he was with someone else so she killed him.
While Davis would play a role similar to this in the future (see the better 1941's The Little Foxes), in this one, she gets her just dessert. She herself is killed in the end.
While Davis was constantly cast as wealthy characters, she manages to make each one of them just a bit different than all the others. But I found Stephenson's performance most effective, sacrificing his dignity for his client and feeling guilty for his actions. Herbert Marshall provided solid support as Leslie's devoted husband, Robert. At least he lived to see the end of the film.
While the film may have been good when he was released, now it is very dated and lacks the freshness needed to keep the viewer truly interested. This is one of Davis's weaker films, not timeless as many of the others. It would have been better if Hammond survived the shooting and tried to say that the sex was consensual and Leslie tried to say it was rape, that would have kept my interest. The fact that the letter was revealed so early on meant that the majority of the film was a waste, which is a shame as Davis deserved better. Grade: B
The film begins with Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) killing a man, shooting him five times, the last few were probably after he was already dead. She acts surprisingly calm with the whole ordeal and presents a story to her lawyer and the investigator of a plausible, he tried to rape me and I was just protecting myself, story.
While that seems believable, she is nevertheless arrested and charged with murder, and somehow a piece of evidence is uncovered which changes the whole plot. Her lawyer (the solid James Stephenson) breaks the law by paying to retrieve the letter so it would never see the light of day as the letter would prove that Leslie was guilty. She was having an affair with the dead, but married man.
Turns out Leslie's a racist. Davis was known for playing rich women and Leslie is no exception, married to a rubber planation owner in Singapore, she is furious when her elicit lover, Jeff Hammond, marries a Chinese woman (though she is portrayed by the Oscar winner Gale Sondergaard, who is as Chinese as my grandmother). She couldn't stand that he was with someone else so she killed him.
While Davis would play a role similar to this in the future (see the better 1941's The Little Foxes), in this one, she gets her just dessert. She herself is killed in the end.
While Davis was constantly cast as wealthy characters, she manages to make each one of them just a bit different than all the others. But I found Stephenson's performance most effective, sacrificing his dignity for his client and feeling guilty for his actions. Herbert Marshall provided solid support as Leslie's devoted husband, Robert. At least he lived to see the end of the film.
While the film may have been good when he was released, now it is very dated and lacks the freshness needed to keep the viewer truly interested. This is one of Davis's weaker films, not timeless as many of the others. It would have been better if Hammond survived the shooting and tried to say that the sex was consensual and Leslie tried to say it was rape, that would have kept my interest. The fact that the letter was revealed so early on meant that the majority of the film was a waste, which is a shame as Davis deserved better. Grade: B
Saturday, April 4, 2020
127 Hours (2010)
James Franco is so good in this film, I can almost forgive him for the wretched hosting gig at the Oscars in 2011. Almost.
James Franco is basically a one-man show as adventurer Aron Ralston who decides to go hiking in the canyons in Utah on a rather warm April day.
Everything seems to be going fine, even accidentally diving with some random girls before a rock slips, crushing his right arm between this large boulder-sized rock and the cave, meaning Aron is stuck.
The majority of the film takes place either in Aron's mind and in that gap between cliffs and is is very realistic down to the gruesome scene where Aron cuts off his own arm.
Now, to be fair just as in Apollo 13, the film is spoiled in the beginning as it is based on Aron's memoir, meaning that he survives though you don't fully understand how as he has limited water, has to cut off his own arm and then drinks his urine and after he finally escapes, he drinks this dirty water, which is enough to make me gag. But he survives, thank goodness. And now, he always tell his wife (he got married after the timeline of the movie) where he's going, so he at least learned one lesson from his hellish ordeal.
While the film is simple, it still was rather intricate as some of the camera angles are from inside the water bag or bottle showing just how essential water is to the human body, which is absolutely is.
Also of note, Danny Boyle directed this film and it couldn't be any more different from Slumdog Millionaire, which is a true masterpiece. But both of films of survivors and both are worth watching. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-I wonder how low and desperate I would be to drink my own urine and blood.
-Also, it must have been difficult to eat your contacts and that leads me to wonder how difficult it would have for Aron to see his surroundings afterwards.
-This film occurs in 2003, but it doesn't appear that Aron brought a cell phone with him. To be fair, it probably wouldn't have had a signal, but he still should have had one with him.
-I guess the crazy rainstorm was all in his head.
James Franco is basically a one-man show as adventurer Aron Ralston who decides to go hiking in the canyons in Utah on a rather warm April day.
Everything seems to be going fine, even accidentally diving with some random girls before a rock slips, crushing his right arm between this large boulder-sized rock and the cave, meaning Aron is stuck.
The majority of the film takes place either in Aron's mind and in that gap between cliffs and is is very realistic down to the gruesome scene where Aron cuts off his own arm.
Now, to be fair just as in Apollo 13, the film is spoiled in the beginning as it is based on Aron's memoir, meaning that he survives though you don't fully understand how as he has limited water, has to cut off his own arm and then drinks his urine and after he finally escapes, he drinks this dirty water, which is enough to make me gag. But he survives, thank goodness. And now, he always tell his wife (he got married after the timeline of the movie) where he's going, so he at least learned one lesson from his hellish ordeal.
While the film is simple, it still was rather intricate as some of the camera angles are from inside the water bag or bottle showing just how essential water is to the human body, which is absolutely is.
Also of note, Danny Boyle directed this film and it couldn't be any more different from Slumdog Millionaire, which is a true masterpiece. But both of films of survivors and both are worth watching. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-I wonder how low and desperate I would be to drink my own urine and blood.
-Also, it must have been difficult to eat your contacts and that leads me to wonder how difficult it would have for Aron to see his surroundings afterwards.
-This film occurs in 2003, but it doesn't appear that Aron brought a cell phone with him. To be fair, it probably wouldn't have had a signal, but he still should have had one with him.
-I guess the crazy rainstorm was all in his head.
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