by Bob Martin | Mar 5, 2009 | Actors, Art, Directors, Film, Movies
I decided to look at (review) “There Will be Blood” as if this was a movie about today, these times. I can see easily the similarity between the turn of the last century and the “The Great Depression”. For over a hundred years we have been in a battle with greed, religion, and oil and we seem not to know how to break free.
PT Anderson, does not do a prequel to Giant, there are no good guys, then or now. Rather he deconstructs the USA, how we’ve become the country we are, through Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis).
Texas Oil Rigs 1920's
Plainview has a permanent chip on his shoulder, never feels respected or appreciated by his family and when given the chance is a bully.
The first time I saw this film, I missed the significance of Plainview’s remarks to Henry. “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.” followed by “There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking.” and “I don’t need to look past seeing them to get all I need. I’ve built my hatreds up over the years, little by little, Henry… to have you here gives me a second breath. I can’t keep doing this on my own with these… people.”
Over the past decade or more I’ve gotten the feeling that we sometimes give lip service to caring about people. In order for us to really care we need an incentive, like a tax deduction or in Plainview’s case, the right to lease land for a pipeline.
by Sandy | Mar 1, 2009 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Film, Movies
Are you still lucky enough to live in a 2 + newspaper town? Local papers are folding, no pun intended, all over the country. My San Francisco Chronicle is supposed to be on its last legs (but, true, this is being reported by T.V. news anchors) and the Colorado Rocky Mountain News just closed its doors. Many papers are choosing other options to daily publishing, like becoming internet only.
This sad scenario is being repeated everywhere. Has the “daily” become obsolete due to technology? Is it because of short attention spans, due to video games, to all day cable news talking heads, to just plain lack of interest? Well, if newspapers go the way of the 8 track, we still have movies that show “newspapering” as not only necessary and vital, but sometimes a very noble profession. I’m sure there are tons more, but I’ve seen and liked the films below:
”His Girl Friday”, 1940 – Editor tries to keep ace reporter from leaving (film adaptation of 1930’s comedy by MacArthur & Hecht)
”The Front Page”, 1974 – same plot, but this time with Jack Lemmon & Walter Mathau, directed by Billy Wilder
”Call Northside 777”, 1948 – .James Stewart and Richard Conte in a true story, told in documentary style, about a newsman racing to save an innocent man on death row.
“Deadline – USA”, 1952 – Humphrey Bogart as a crusading editor, of a closing newspaper, on a mission to expose a local gangster
“All The President’s Men”, 1976 – Robert Redford & Dustin Hoffman (Watergate and the Washington Post reporters Woodward & Bernstein)
I like newspapers – I like turning pages and getting ink smudges on the tips of my fingers.
by Sandy | Feb 24, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Directors, Film, Movies
I sometimes forget how good some actors are until I see them again in a well done film.
Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer are excellent in – “The Insider”, 1999. (Not to be confused with Spike Lee’s “The Inside Man”, which I also enjoyed)
Based on a 1996 Vanity Fair magazine article “The Man Who Knew Too Much“, by Marie Brenner, the movie was directed by Michael Mann and stars Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand, an employee of a large tobacco company, who has a juicy story to tell.
He has secret documents in his possession that reveal that top executives of major cigarette companies perjured them selves before a congressional inquiry – all knew that tobacco was addictive, even while telling the public that nicotine was harmless.
After he sought out Mike Wallace to offer up the smoking gun, Wigand found himself in the midst of a game of hard ball – the players being the tobacco company, the U.S. government and CBS’ “60 Minutes”.
His attack of conscience catches him up in a giant publicity shredder, his personal life unravels, he is threatened with bodily harm, but, he’s still got information that can affect the health of thousands and cost big tobacco millions.
Our whistle blower discovers that sometimes the raw truth is not enough. It often depends upon how deep your pockets are and how much money you’re willing to lose.
Great performances by all – this “docudrama” is a very entertaining movie.
by Sandy | Feb 13, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Events, Film, Movies
I rented it again. This is a good movie! “Children of Men” (Released in 2006, now on DVD).
Set 20 years into the future, women are no longer able to bring a fetus to full term. A 17 year old, the youngest person in the world, dies suddenly and there is universal mourning. Perhaps as a result of air and earth toxins new life stopped being created and supported by the universe. Based on results, mankind is on a slippery slope.
Enter the “miracle” – a sole pregnant woman is discovered in England and she must be saved if the human race is to go on.
A reluctant savior, Clive Owen, at his craggy faced/ 2 day stubble best, is enrolled by his ex-wife in taking the young woman to safety. Thru bullets, treachery and strange, fierce characters, he must get the mother-to-be to an outlawed group called the” Human Project”. They search for doctors that can keep her and the baby alive – and so the adventure begins.
The movie is both dark in atmosphere and premise, the film’s city scenes are mostly sepia and gray contrasting greatly with the few lighter, green country locations. The director, Alfonso Cuaron, wrote the screen play based upon a 1992 novel by P. D. James, famous for the Inspector Adam Dalgliesh mysteries. Her vision of a barren future was translated by Cuaron into a cramped, desperate city filled with angry, lonely people.
While on the run, the fugitives do get a chance to experience the lush greenness of the countryside, but, the pastoral is slowly being encroached by the urban insanity. Huge betrayal and huge amounts of violence is encountered while trying to escape those who wish to use the baby for propaganda and gain. In the midst off all this dreck, there is a possibility of “future”.
The baby represents “hope” and many are enlisted to assist in preserving the miracle, keeping it alive and getting it to a haven, even at great risk to themselves.
A totally engrossing film. The actors are all terrific, regardless of the length of their scenes or dialogue. Owen is wonderful, and so is Michael Caine. (He makes an appearance as a kind eccentric.) The actress who plays the mom to be, Claire-Hope Ashitey, makes you believe that she would be a great mother – even though her character only remembers seeing children on television. The ending is both triumphant and tragic.
“Children of Men”– this is a good movie!
by Sandy | Feb 10, 2009 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Directors, Film, Movies
Award season is here – SAG, Directors Guild, Golden Globes and of course the Academy Awards in 2 weeks. Was just thinking over past winners and there are many multi-taskers among them.
They say that everyone has at least one good book in them (The rules: “write what you know”. “Write about what is real for you”, etc). To paraphrase a little, every good actor has at least one great directing job in them. Quite a few of them have won Academy Awards for their efforts. These actor/directors don’t always put together a movie about what they themselves have experienced, but they do direct films with subjects that you can tell they are passionate about:
*Warren Beatty* Beatty was nominated for 4 academy awards, best Director/Picture/Actor/Screenplay for “Reds” 1981 – a film about John Reed who went to Russia in 1917 to report about the revolution. At one time, many thought Communism to be the utopia of the people and Beatty was able to bring a lot of that era to life. He won for Best Director.
*Robert Redford * “Ordinary People”, 1980, Best Director for this dysfunctional family drama. (Also gave us a good movie called, “Quiz Show” 1994 – I’m dating myself, but I remember that scandal from the early days of television)
*Kevin Costner* Early in his career, Costner was cast as the dead friend in “The Big Chill”. I’m sure realizing there was no where to go but up, he gave us “Dances with Wolves” 1990, Best Director, Best Picture.
*Clint Eastwood* Much more than just a squint eyed cowboy with no name and a cigarillo, he has won critical acclaim for tons of films and was nominated several times, same film, for Best Actor/Director/Picture. Eastwood won Academy Awards for “Unforgiven” 1992 and ”Million Dollar Baby” 2004. (“Mystic River”, 2003 did not win, but it is still brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.)
*Ron Howard* And, of course, can’t forget “Opie” (Andy Griffith Show) /” Richie Cunningham” (Happy Days). He won Best Director in 2001 for “Beautiful Mind”. He has been nominated again, Director/Picture this year for “Frost/Nixon”. (I thought another of his movies, “Apollo 13” was awesome. I remembered how the space flight ended, but I was still totally wrapped up in the drama of it all.)
I know there are other terrific movies directed by actors, but these are just some of my Academy Award winning favorites.
by Bob Martin | Jan 26, 2009 | Actors, Film, Movies
Albert Finney as John Newton
Keri Russell - The Waitress
Seems this is the time of the year to get caught up with all the movies you said you would see and didn’t. This habit is related to the Academy Awards, basically because I have difficulty in being judgemental (a sin, but like chocolate a necessity) if I’ve not seen any of the movies. What always happens is that I find older movies that I overlooked like the The Waitress a film that filled my need for a lighthearted, cynical and comical conclusion to this past week. I also came across Amazing Grace, which brought me back to the significance of inauguration of President Obama this past Tuesday. Albert Finning who portrays John Newton a man who is personally tormented by his contribution to slavery. Newton is not the main character but maybe the most important as it relates present day history.
