Through Oscar Night

Yes, I watched the whole Oscar show - after all, I am retired. It was the same old formulaic hodge podge of industry commercial, stand up comedy, celebrity roast, mutual love fest, celebrity worship and thanks by the winners to numerous people who are unknowns to us including the obligatory nods to parents, current spouse and acknowledged children. 

I use the award nominees as another list to check into to see if they might be films I want to watch. But I could do that by just going to the list on the Internet and not have to watch the awards broadcast. There was no particularly memorable moment last night. The tribute to those who died in the past year is always touching and should be expanded, perhaps into a separate show. In fact the awards show would be more useful to film lovers if it was made into several one hour shows: the tribute to deceased; actors and writers (more fathomable to the general public; English language films by genres; foreign films, documentaries and shorts; and technical awards including directing.

The line from an acceptance speech that most hit the nail on the head for me was one several years ago from a young Asian-American woman who had won the award for , I think, best documentary short, who said [I paraphrase], "You know something is wrong when my dress cost more to rent than my picture did to make."

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. They are listed in declining order as I rated them. The ratings I give are on my own number system as explained previously in this blog.

How about letting us know if you have any comments regarding any of these films and about what you have been watching at home or in the theater?

Elsa & Fred - 2005    I was quite pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this Spanish film about two octogenarians, a recently widowed quiet man and a quirky woman who lives in the apartment to which he just moved. This 3.5 film is somewhat like Harold and Maude with Harold more age appropriate. China Zorilla who plays Elsa is absolutely delightful.

The General - 1927.  This is Buster Keaton's favorite film and the one you should see before you typecast him. The General was a railroad locomotive that was hijacked from the Confederates in Georgia during the Civil War by a clever group of undercover Yankees, who were immediately chased by the determined engineer who overcame thrilling obstacles to get his engine back. Because of his comedy reputation, the State of Georgia refused to cooperate in the filming, so Keaton ended up making this 3.5 film in Oregon. As the excellent special features point out, this is not slapstick but an accurate looking drama with some moments of broad humor, some of subtle comic acting by Keaton and many examples of this trained acrobat's amazing stunts.
               
Every Stewardess Goes to Heaven - 2002. This Argentine film has a touching sweetness in spite of the fact it touches on death, suicide and unintended pregnancy. I still think its 90 minute length is ideal for a movie, with an economy of montage. Every minute of this 3.3 film is worth watching, the leads are engaging without rubbing glamour in our faces and the cinematography of Patagonia in the winter is beautiful and thematically appropriate. The minor characters all have charm and appeal, even the boorish pilots who act like fools on the ground to balance the seriousness of their airborne task.

Touching the Void - 2003. Filmed 18 years after the harrowing mountaineering experience that spawned the famous book, this 3.2 film combines interviews of the two climbers with re-enactments using them and also actors in their place. The result is an exciting drama and documentary mix that comes across as a full documentary. The Andes mountain scenery and the Alps where some was filmed are breatrhtaking.

Far from Heaven - 2002. This is sort of a film of a film, an homage to melodramas of the fifties and particularly those of director Doug Sirk, a director's director. While Mad Men recreates the fifties in what to me seems a heavy handed way, this 3.2 film creates the fifties the way people back then saw them, which I think is ultimately more accurate and more enjoyable. Dennis Quaid did well with the role of the crumbling executive and Julianne Moore as his wife did an excellent job.

Coming Home - 1998. Based on Rosamunde Pilcher's novel, this 1998 British production tells the story of an upper crust young girl living in a boarding school while her parents and younger sister are in the foreign service in Singapore on the eve of WWII. The girl is befriended by the family of a school mate and this 3.2 film follows her family and romantic developments, in the context of showing the affect of the War on the home front. The special feature interview with Pilcher shows her to be a very enjoyable woman.

Berkeley in the Sixties - 1990. This was a pretty good 3.2 documentary about the development of the protest movement on the Berkeley campus and spreading wider, starting with the Free Speech Movement, then moving into civil rights, Vietnam War protests, the Black Panthers, women's lib and some anarchy. Using archival footage and interviews with participants looking back, the film presented a picture of idealistic youth working within the system and then becoming disillusioned as the power structure met protest violence with greater institutional violence. These were turbulent times that led to worthwhile changes and also spawned a conservative backlash, both of which continue to this day.

The Wrestler - 2008.  Mickey Rourke inhabits this role as a washed up wrestler hanging on, because he is not capable of change. This 3.1film stays so intently focused on the hero (the most memorable exception being its exciting movement to watch Marisa Tomei's exciting movements as an exotic dancer) that everything we learn about him comes from him as the source and we end up almost feeling like we inhabit him too.

What Makes Women Laugh - 1997. In this Spanish film, three half-sisters have minor success as a trio of uninhibited singers, though one of them is actually happily married, only to find out after the death of her husband that he was a philanderer. This bit of a sex farce, complete with advice to the widow from the ghost of her husband, did not have any great morality or immorality to convey, other than to say in a 3.1 way, life is to be enjoyed and not taken too seriously

The Buddy Holly Story - 1978. The best thing about this movie is the liberal performance of the songs of Buddy Holly, whose short career fell entirely within my high school years. Gary Busey did a very good job in the title role, but the script was not much and the opportunities for character development and dramatic tension were almost non-existent. Other contemporary music is also played on the soundtrack and it is the music and the performance of Busey that got this my 3 rating. The DVD is not full screen width, which is always annoying.

Adam - 2009. This movie is about a young man with Asperger's syndrome finding love with a young woman writer who moves into his building. Well acted and an interesting showing of this newly identified form of autism, with a self-proclaimed subtle ending (in two barely distinguishable versions), I give it a 3, in spite of the lack of potential drama.

Her Name Is Sabine - 2007. For 25 years French Actress Sandrine Bonnaire filmed her younger sister, Sabine, who as a young girl was quite attractive and a free-spirited non-conformist. A bad experience in public school caused the family to keep her at home and she eventually became too hard to handle and was institutionalized, with devastating results. Finally diagnosed with autism and a sort of infantile non-development, Sabine was placed in a group home where she did better, but the life of separation anxiety and sedation medications has taken a sad toll. We must respect Sandrine for doing what she can to maintain a relationship Sabine and for using this 3.0 film to call attention to a need for better societal treatment of special needs people.

Sequins - 2004. In this French film the woman director uses an abundance of close ups and fine cinematography to tell a simple story of a bonding that begins between a young woman facing an unintended pregnancy and an older woman coping with the unexpected death of her son. Not much plot, and maybe too much embroidery for some, but a very watch worthy 3 rating.

El Alamein - 2002.  This Italian film tells the story of the desperate plight of a unit in the Italian army during the North African campaign in 1942. Unsupplied by Mussolini and all but abandoned by their officers, these men faced insurmountable odds and were ultimately overwhelmed. Though the performance of the Italian army in WWII is nothing to be proud of, this 3 rated film shows that there were individual soldiers who deserve to be remembered for their honorably brave service.

George Wallace -1997. This political biopic of the four (non-consecutive) time Alabama Governor, directed by John Frankenheimer, showed him to be an ego driven Southern politician of no depth, who learned to use racial discord to court white voters before blacks had been able to vote in effective numbers, and then, after being extensively disabled by an assassin's bullet, was "born again" and sought forgiveness from blacks, and of course, their votes. Fairly evenly done and earns my 3 rating, with the apology of Wallace, well played by Gary Sinise, appearing genuine.

The Servant - 1963. This British film about a valet who schemes to overturn the social tables on his employer, was not dark and brooding as I expected, nor was it particularly dated by its style, other than the music was a little blaring and eclectic. The adaptation screenplay by Harold Pinter and direction by black listed American Joseph Losey, which is what made me curious to finally see the picture, hold up well enough, as does the acting, to earn my 3 rating.

The Long Way Home - 1998.   This Hallmark presentation showed Jack Lemon was always good, even in the twilight of his career. Young Sarah Paulson did commendable with her role as a lonely rich girl who bonds with the elderly Lemon. The story did not actually have a lot to offer to lift it beyond a 2.9 for me, but the scene at the end where two people whose paths had crossed and who had formed an instantly deep bond went their separate ways, probably never to have contact again was evocative and effectively wistful. Far from Heaven had a similar scene. One always wonders whether renewal would verify the depth and durability of the bond.

The Invention of Lying - 2009.  Ricky Gervais is always interesting and fun, and he had an interesting premise for this movie, but it came across uneven and unsure of what it really wanted to say, so I only give it 2.8. In a world where everyone speaks with complete honesty ("I just had a really great poop. Have you ordered yet?"), Ricky's fabrication of the wonderful afterlife and its terrible alternative for evil doers, all as revealed to him by "the Man in the sky", had great satirical possibilities, which were barely explored. I often watch double bills with unintended connections, which occurred when I followed this film with "Adam", in which the "Aspie" speaks the blunt truth and fails to grasp irony, pun or the unexpressed feelings of others. Good fodder for a philosophical discussion of truth, morality and human relations.