Michael Caine, Gillian Anderson & Clemence Posey in Last Love - Review

Sometimes I like to watch movies over a couple of days. Especially if I really like it. I don't want it to be over. You can never watch it again for the first time. I have found that this process brings out a mini-series quality to certain films. The characters get to live with you just a little bit longer.

It doesn't work for every movie and you can't do it in the theatres but it can enhance certain films that you watch at home. Just a little tid bit.

Some might say that that can give certain movies an advantage or disadvantage. I say, who the fuck cares? It's my movie watching experience. No one elses. And if it takes me nearly 2 weeks to watch Speilberg's Lincoln than so be it. Some nerve making a 150 minute historical extravaganza.

Last Love I watched in 2 parts. For what it's worth.

LAST LOVE - 2013 - ***
dir. Sandra Nettelbeck.
Michael Caine, Clemence Poesy, Gillian Anderson, Justin Kirk, Jane Alexander.

A film that moves casual and with a deliberate pace is like a bottle of red wine that you share leisurely with your best friend. In between the sips and the laughs and the hints of blackberry is life. Last Love is like that. It's a movie about what happens in between life's "big" moments. It is a reminder that we are not shaped by one or two big events. Life carves out a little bit of us everyday. We are malleable until the day we die.

It's been three years since Matthew Morgan (Michael Caine) lost his wife Joan (Jane Alexander). He has fallen into a routine, that's quotidian at best. His since of time relies on when then cleaning lady arrives at his Parisian flat or when the phone rings and he's late for another lunch. His lust for life has passed. He has lived in France for years and hasn't learned a word of French. He always relied on Joan. He always had things to do and always had a dinner date because he always had Joan. He has no one now.

That all changes when he meets the young and beautiful Pauline (Harry Potter's Clemence Poesy) on the bus. The two unlikely friends hit it off. Not in a weird way. In a father-daughter way. Her family has passed and his are in the states. A match made in France.

Gillian Anderson.

Pauline is a dance teacher and gets Matthew to come to her classes. They go out to fancy dinners and row boats and eat hot dogs. But all this is just too much for Matthew. He realizes, by spending time with Pauline, how much he misses his wife and attempts to take his own life.

When his son and daughter (a strong Justin Kirk and a splendidly selfish Gillian Anderson) come to visit Matthew in the hospital, family drama ensues.

There is by no means any reason that Michael Caine still needs to be doing movies. He has nothing to prove. He has done everything. Won 2 Oscars. Was in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. He even starred in the surprise summer hit Now You See Me. But I'm glad to see that he is still challenging himself in these small, intimate movies. He is brilliantly restrained as the grieving widower. There are some tender moments that only Caine could deliver. Check out the heartbreak in his eyes when Pauline gets a ride to town with a handsome stranger. What could have been a very creepy performance (think Peter O'Toole in Venus) is not in the hands of Michael Caine.

However, I was most delighted and impressed with Ms. Poesy. A beautiful actress who gives so much life to Pauline. When she's happy, every part of her is happy. Even her hair.

A pleasant score from Hans Zimmer and some very lush cinematography by Michael Bertl.

A sweet litle movie.

(3 stars *** out of 4 ****)

She's a Hustler Baby and Wants You to Know - Jennifer Lawrence and the American Hustle Review

What a treat!

Nora Lewis, one of my dearest friends, came and visited Old Man Baine here yesterday. Why, she even took me out to lunch and then to the picture show.

Yes, the sweet, gorgeous and nothing short of extraordinary, Nora Lewis. For those of you that know her, you realize that that description is an understatement. She is also habitually late, has no track of time and thinks her Garmin is the end-all be-all of street navigation.

But that's what makes her so sweet. Not only that, she has a blog on the eats of Las Vegas. You can check out Nora's blog here. (Nora's Blog)

We lunched at my favorite lunch spot in Orange County. Rutabegorz. There are 3 very quaint locations throughout OC and we visited the Fullerton location. Food is great, staff is great. We both highly recommend it. But be forewarned. If you order a salad, it's big enough to feed the Pygmy population of Papua New Guinea.


Pygmys eating Nora's leftover Rutabegorz salad.

After lunch, Nora dutifully punched in the address of the theatre into her little buddy Garmin and we were on our way. Never mind that it was down the street and I knew the quickest way to get there. We went the way that little fucker told us to. Nora is nothing if not consistent. So sweet she is.

We made it to the theatre. Bought our tickets. We were about to get our American Hustle on.

AMERICAN HUSTLE - 2013 - ***

dir. David O. Russell.

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Jack Huston, Michael Pena, Shea Whigham, Alessandro Nivola, Robert DeNiro.

Let's just talk about Jennifer Lawrence for a moment. I have loved this actress since I saw her in 2010's Winter's Bone, my favorite film that year. Last year she was in Silver Lining's Playbook, again, my favorite movie of the year and she won an Oscar for it. And I would put The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in my top 10 this year. So it is no surprise that Ms. Lawrence was my favorite thing in American Hustle.

Now let's talk about director David O. Russell. I admire his films. They are some of my favorite. Flirting with Disaster. Three Kings. The Fighter. Silver Linings Playbook. I was really looking forward to American Hustle.

I was a little disappointed.

Here's the question. Can actors raise a sub par movie to greatness? The answer here, is yes. American Hustle would not be the movie it is without the outstanding performances of the five leads.

Here, David O. Russell is reuniting with stars from his previous films to bring you a glossed over, at best, retelling of late 70's, early 80's, ABSCAM fiasco. The FBI's public corruption investigation that led to the downfall of nearly a dozen elected officials.

Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld. A small time con artist who teams up with Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams, who looks a lot like a young Nicole Kidman here) to scam thousands of dollars from the people who need it the most. Very desperate people looking for the easy way out by taking a loan they shouldn't. Irving is the pole. Sydney the bait. A match made in heaven. They're probably in love with each other. Never mind that Irving has son and young wife named Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence.) 

It can't last forever. They are soon busted by a bumbling agent (Bradley Cooper in a performance that has to be seen to be believed) and forced to help entrap government officials.

For me, the film stayed in the same gear from start to finish. A sense of urgency was never built. I never felt the plight of what these characters were going through. The screenplay and the directing did not hustle me the way the acting did.

The attention to detail in American Hustle is reminiscent to that of the 2009 Soderbergh film The Informant! Another flashy period film that focused a lot of attention on costume, set and makeup when really they should have been focusing on rewrites. Russell's film doesn't suffer the same demise that that film did because of the bravura performances of his cast.

Adams. Cooper. Renner. Bale. Lawrence

Christian Bale is unrecognizable, brilliant, pathetic, hilarious with every word he utters and every

move he makes. He gives one of the best performances of the year as the balding, overweight Irving. Amy Adams is solid as usual and I think her breasts might get a nomination this year for Best Supporting Actresses. Bradley Cooper. Oh, Bradley Cooper. You're just so god damn cute. Even when you are sitting on the toliet, eating fried chicken, with curlers in your hair. He's a maniac in this role. He tears it apart and it's awesome to watch. Jeremy Renner might give the best performance of his career as Mayor Carmine Polito.

But it's my Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn who does it for me. She's fucking hilarious. Some people say she was over the top. Not me. Spot on. What else do you expect from a depressed, alcoholic, stay at home Mom? In the 70's? Some of the funniest lines in the film belong to Lawrence. And don't even get me started on the Science Oven.

I wouldn't be surprised if all 5 actors walked away with Oscar nominations for this film. It's their movie. They make it work. It's not the best picture of the year but it sure is fun.

(3 stars *** out of 4 ****)

Do Not Mess With Hugh Jackman- Prisoners Review

I got a little bored last night and walked to the video store to rent a movie. Yes, I am still fortunate enough to live next to a real live actual video store. And what a luxury it is. I prefer it to the likes of Netflix and Hulu. Call me nostalgic. Call me old-fashioned. Call me I-used-to-work-at-a-Blockbuster :/ If you don't have a local video store in your area, the local library is a good resource for DVD's and they are usually free to check out. I know this now because I'm an old person with nothing to do.

Any way here goes.

 

PRISONERS - 2013 - ***½
dir. Denis Villeneuve.
Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoe Borde.

Holy fucking shit that was intense! Jesus Christ! I don't even know where to begin.

I can't imagine the helplessness a parent must feel when their child is taken from them. Losing someone is hard enough. Losing someone and not knowing what happened to them and not knowing how to help them has to be worse.

It's Thanksgiving time. Keller and Grace Dover (a career best Hugh Jackman and Maria Bello) are taking their kids down the street to enjoy a holiday dinner with their best friends Nancy and Franklin Birch. (Viola Davis and Terrence Howard.) Within hours of being there, the two youngest girls go missing. Then all hell breaks loose.

You can tell from the get go this is going to be an uncomfortable film. With the king of cinematography, Roger Deakins, (who has been nominated for an Oscar 10 times and has yet to win) behind the camera and a haunting score by Johann Johannsson, (that's his real name, I'm not kidding) there's no getting away. Your are trapped.

The case of the missing girls is assigned to Detective Loki, played fantastically by Jake Gyllenhaal as I've never seen him before. I can't help but wonder about the name Loki. Fans of the Marvel world will recognize the name Loki and the Asgardian God of mischief, madness and evil. Loki is covered in tattoos hidden by his detective uniform that elude to a troubled past. Perhaps he has become a detective to live a life of redemption. After all, he has solved every case he's ever been assigned.

Paul Dano plays Alex Jones, the only suspect that the police can come up with. Dano has established himself as the great young character actor of his generation. On par with Dennis Hopper. The scenes with him and Jackman are among the hardest to watch. Canadian director Villeneuve, in his first American feature, is unflinching in they way he portrays violence. Which will alienate some viewers.

Davis. Gyllenhaal. Howard.

Melissa Leo turns in a great performance as Alex's Aunt. Viola Davis and Maria Bello have the distraught mother roles down pat. (Bello played a very similar role in the 2010 movie Beautiful Boy about a high school shooting.) All four children in this movie are amazing. Usually child actors can pull you out of a film that has this much intensity. They don't. They're great. The cast is nothing short of epic.

Prisoners will undoubtedly be compared to such films as Mystic River, Zodiac, In the Bedroom even The Brave One. These film asks very tough questions. Moral questions. What do you do when you think the police aren't doing enough to help you? Do you take matters into your own hands?

I knew very little about this movie going into it. So, I don't want to give away all the surprises. But it is full of twists and turns. Solid, solid screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski. The first hour and a half is hard to watch. However, the last hour, I felt like Murder, She Wrote trying to put the pieces together.

The film was near perfect for me but at 2 hours and 33 minutes, it was simply to long.

There are some powerful themes in this motion picture. Guilt. Vengeance. Atonement. If you can sit through it, it's rewarding. Trust me.

(3½ stars ***½ out of 4 ****)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and His Don Jon - Review

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