Tag: movies

M is for Michael Douglas is 70 (tomorrow)

I managed to miss some of Michael Douglas’ iconic roles,

Michael_DouglasIn the 1960s and 1970s, I used to watch The Fugitive and Cannon and Barnaby Jones, virtually all the Quinn Martin productions, including the cop show The Streets of San Francisco. It starred Karl Malden as the wise senior partner, and Michael Douglas as the impetuous junior partner.

I didn’t really know who Michael Douglas was, except that he was the son of Kirk Douglas, the guy whose jaw was so square that the mimics on the Ed Sullivan Show just had to grit their teeth to “do” him. Continue reading “M is for Michael Douglas is 70 (tomorrow)”

Movie Review: Boyhood

In creating the movie Boyhood, writer/director Linklater somehow transforms the viewer into his or her own passages of time.

boyhood.ellarmasterSteven Rea, the Philadelphia Inquirer film critic wrote of the film Boyhood, “Is it dumb to say, ‘Wow?'” I don’t care. Wow.” I’ll buy that.

From IMDB: “Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha…” This project was somehow completed, more or less, secretly.

So it is a visionary CONCEPT of a movie, a brilliant stunt, filming a few days every year for a dozen years, in the life of a boy and his family. So many things could have gone wrong.

Over more than a decade, an actor could have died or decided not to continue to participate. Linklater had gotten Hawke to agree to direct the rest of the film if HE died. On the Daily Show, Linklater told Jon Stewart that he agreed to allow his daughter to costar because he figured he’d always know where she was.

But what’s amazing is how well it works as a narrative, even though it often tends to note the day-to-day experiences of growing up. There are no on-screen titles or chapter breaks signifying “next year,” but are woven together like a quilt with slightly different colored material, a function of film editor Sandra Adair; give her the Oscar now.

Olivia, the Mom, holds the family intact, in spite of choices that don’t always work out. The sibling rivalry, particularly in the early years, was credible. The Dad, who’s not living with the family, is trying to find ways to be there for his kids, the way non-custodial parents often do, to the irritation of the primary caregiver. Both child actors went through that awkward-looking stage, as adolescents do.

One of my favorite scenes involves Mason Sr. and Mason Jr. in a vehicle, discussing the disposition of the father’s previous car. Totally different perceptions of a conversation that took place seven years earlier, and totally believable.

In creating this movie, writer/director Linklater somehow transforms the viewer into his or her own passages of time. I think that when the specifics of a narrative resonates, it becomes universal. As people come and out of the core family’s lives, you wonder what happened to them, as we do in real life. You CARE about these people.

The only thing I can even remotely compare this to is the amazing Seven-Up series that records seven-year-olds, then catches up with them every seven years. But that is currently eight non-fiction films.

A great soundtrack also helps this film along. Oh, another piece of dialogue I especially loved involved the father giving the son a mixed two-disc CD.

Eh, just go see it, like The Wife and I did at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany last week. Visit the loo first, because it’s 165 minutes long. Rated R, mostly for language and alcohol/drug use, I’d be inclined to let the Daughter see it in a couple of years.

MOVIE REVIEW: Magic in the Moonlight

The movie Magic in the Moonlight that was about sleight-of-hand was rather slight,

magic+in+the+moonlight+posterWednesday night at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany, the Wife and I went to see Magic in the Moonlight. There are still several films we want to see, but at 97 minutes, this was the shortest; when you hire a child watcher, time is definitely money.

I am a huge Woody Allen fan. Afterward, I thought it was a better than OK movie, though my wife thought it lagged in the first half. Maybe it was that we’d see too much in the preview?

We knew that a magician, Stanley (Colin Firth) is brought to the south of France by his friend Howard (Simon McBurney) to try to debunk this American “mystic”, Sophie (Emma Stone), before she defrauds the Catledge family: mother Grace (Jacki Weaver, who for some reason reminded us both of Sally Struthers), smitten son Brice (Hamish Linklater), and daughter Caroline (Erica Leerhsen, with not much to do).

Much to the consternation/irritation of the arrogant Englishman with a dislike of spiritual claims, yet he has difficulty discovering how Sophie pulls off the ruse if it IS a ruse.

Most of that I knew from the ads, and to say more would be a spoiler, except that whatever laughs to be had are in the second half, after all the above is established. Oh, and that the biggest delight of the movie is Stanley’s aunt Vanessa (Eileen Atkins) in a movie that also features Catherine McCormack as Stanley’s girlfriend, Olivia, and Marcia Gay Harden as Sophie’s mother.

A lot of the reviews were lukewarm towards the movie. Several critics made a similar pun/suggestion that the movie that was about sleight-of-hand was rather slight, and maybe that’s the issue. The film touches upon the issues of God, Nietzsche, and faith versus rationalism, yet perhaps isn’t substantial enough to bear the weighty topics.

I liked it well enough, particularly the period outfits and cars from the 1920s, and it has a suitable ending. But after seeing recent Woody movies such as Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine, this is clearly a lesser effort.

MOVIE REVIEW: Begin Again

Keira Knightley told Jon Stewart that in her last 10 movies, her character dies seven or eight times.

Begin-Again-2I had heard that Begin Again was an Americanized version of the movie Once, which was not a particularly inviting prospect. I mean, I liked the 2006 movie about an Irish busker quite a bit, but didn’t need to see a variation. But Begin Again is largely a different thing, though it does share the fact that music is being performed outdoors, and has the same writer/director, John Carney.

Dan, a music-business executive (Mark Ruffalo) who drinks too much, sees the performance of Gretta, a shy young singer-songwriter (Keira Knightley), and visualizes what her music could sound like in the right hands. Unfortunately, he’s burned a few bridges with his former label partner Saul (Mos Def, billed as Yasiin Bey). So they have to be a bit more creative to realize their vision.

As the story develops, you might think you know why Dan is separated from his wife Miriam (Catherine Keener, who my wife knows I have a crush on) and is only a part-time dad to Violet (Hailee Steinfeld, star of the True Grit remake), but it’s more complicated. Even more so, Gretta’s back story before she ends up crashing on the sofa of her friend Steve (James Corden) is much richer, involving her partnership with Dave (Adam Levine), and is not what one might have expected. The movie also features Cee Lo Green as Dan’s old music colleague Troublegum.

I saw Knightley on The Daily Show a few weeks ago, and she told Jon Stewart that in her last 10 movies, her character dies seven or eight times. This is a nice change of pace. She sings more than adequately, though no particular song, save for the first one, I remember that well.

There are contrivances here and there, and the movie does develop a certain let’s-put-on-a-show vibe, as though it were a Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney film, so I suppose it’s not as fresh as Once. Still, you feel as though Dan and Gretta earned their chance to…(see title).

Circular question answering New York Erratic

Let me say that while Thanksgiving and Christmas are wonderful and all, there seems to be a lot of sense of obligation.

happinessrunsAnd in an act that defies logic, I am now answering questions that New York Erratic answered for me, even though I gave them to her, based on questions Lisa posted, and which Dustbury also answered… Oh never mind.

1. What is your dream vacation spot and why?

It would be a place by the water, preferably running water, like a river or waterfalls, because I love water; maybe it’s the Pisces in me. It would be neither too hot nor too cold. MaybeVictoria Falls, in September.

2. Where did you come up with the name of your blog?

There was a long-running radio talk show called Rambling with Gambling, from which I got the Ramblin’ part. The Roger part, I have no idea.

3. How do you define blogging success?

It really does vary. While I don’t especially care, when my Times Union blog is trending, or when Chuck Miller declares it one of the week’s 10 best, I enjoy that.

But the real success is that I find people with whom to have reasonable, usually rational, dialogue. Such as with New York Erratic.

4. What is your favorite type of “going out” entertainment?

I like going to the movies because I like seeing movies in the theater. Watching videos often creates the temptation to pause it and do something else. That’s OK with something I’ve seen before, but not the first time. That’s why I ultimately canceled Netflix; I had The Hurt Locker for four or five months, and never found two solid hours to watch it without The Daughter around, or being too tired, or too busy.

5. How many states (name them) have you lived in?

North Carolina (for four months). New York (the rest of my life.)

6. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Ash Wednesday. Let me say that while Thanksgiving and Christmas are wonderful and all, there seems to be a lot of sense of obligation. The beginning of Lent is a time of quiet reflection. When I was a kid, it was only the Catholics I knew that got the ashes on the forehead, but lots of Protestant churches, including the last two I’ve belong to, participate, and I think it’s an easy, but symbolic, way for religious rapprochement.

7. What’s your favorite number and why?

I really do like zero. It’s nothing, yet it’s massive in combination. It’s that dividing line between the positive and the negative. What’s not to like?

8. What would be your dream vehicle to own?

Some motorized bicycle that I’d turn on for hills, and pedal otherwise.

9. What is your favorite hobby?

I suppose it’s singing, though, until you brought it up, I never thought of singing as a hobby, but rather just WHAT I DO, WHO I AM. Or blogging.

10. How do you try and keep your blog fresh?

I change the blog filter every 3,000 miles. Cereally, I actually plotted out 2014, or parts of it. I decided on my ABC Wednesday topics for every week in Round 14, back in October; didn’t write them, of course, but knowing what I was going to write about gets the brain working. Then I found the half dozen people who turn 70 I want to write about. Then there are holidays and observances. And anything I find interesting I don’t have anything to write about, I link to at the end of the month. This leaves the rest of the time for movie reviews and life experiences. In other words, I throw the blog against the wall and see what sticks.

11. Where do you do your best thinking?

In the shower, or riding the stationary bike. Or when I first wake up, which is why I like to blog when I first wake up (and don’t particularly like to blog at night).

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