Classic Movie Picks: March 2017

by Lani

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies schedule for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

3/2, 11 PM - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
I'm sure that many classic movie fans are intrigued by the new TV mini series Feud: Bette and Joan, centered on the tumultuous relationship between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford during the filming of Baby Jane. Feud, starring Susan Sarandon as Davis and Jessica Lange as Crawford, premieres March 5, so this is the perfect chance to see the film at the center of the series. 
Davis and Crawford play sisters, Jane and Blanche, who both went into acting and now live together in a decaying Hollywood mansion. While Jane achieved early success as a child star ("Baby Jane"), Blanche eventually surpassed her sister and achieved stardom and respect as an adult. After Blanche is paralyzed in a car accident, she is left in the care of the increasingly unhinged Jane. The two women engage in a psychological battle as Jane torments Blanche while also entertaining hopes of reviving her stardom. 
The success of Baby Jane created a brief sub-genre of "grande dame" horror films, in which a glamorous actress-of-a-certain-age is psychologically and physically terrorized or does the tormenting herself. Notable titles included Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte with Olivia de Havilland and Davis, Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? with Geraldine Page, What's the Matter with Helen? starring Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds, and Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? also starring Winters. The genre ran out of steam in the early 70s, or maybe just ran out of questions to use as titles. 
However, my favorite coda to the making of this film came at the Academy Awards in 1963, when Davis was nominated for Best Actress, but Crawford was not. Crawford had contacted all the other nominated women and offered to accept the award on their behalf, should they be unable to attend the ceremony. So, when the Best Actress award was announced for Anne Bancroft, who was in New York at the time, it was a glowing Crawford who ascended the stage to accept the Oscar.

The film will also air on 3/22 as part of the "March Malice" programming series spotlighting villains on film. There are a lot of great films in the line up, from noir to westerns to sci-fi.

3/16, 12 AM - The Incredible Journey (1963)
TCM is opening the Disney Vault this month and has programmed four shorts and six movies themed around the great outdoors. The gem of the group is The Incredible Journey, a live-action film starring animals based on a book by Irish author Sheila Burnford. The main characters are Bodger (an old bull terrier), Tao (a Siamese cat), and Luath (a yellow Labrador Retriever), treasured pets of a family living in the Canadian countryside. When the family must travel to England for the summer, the pets are left on a friend's farm in Ontario. Feeling confused and homesick in their new surroundings, the three animals set off to cross over 200 miles of Canadian wilderness to return to the home they know. Of course along the way they have many adventures including encounters with wild animals - including a lynx, a bear, and a porcupine - as well as humans. The two dogs and cat are not provided with voices (as they are in the 1993 remake Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey), but their journey is narrated by the frequent voice of Disney nature documentaries Rex Allen. Author Burnford found inspiration for the story from her own pets and adopted home in Canada. Pet lovers are sure to see their own furry friends in the three main characters and may find themselves tearing up by the end of this one.

3/17: Irish Heroines
1:45 AM - Ryan's Daughter (1970)
5:15 AM - Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, TCM has scheduled a day's worth of films which take place in Ireland or feature Irish characters. I'm interested in these two films which both feature an Irish heroine; however, that's about where the similarities between them end. 
Ryan's Daughter is an epic following in the footsteps of director David Lean's previous three films Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and A Bridge on the River Kwai. The film is set in a small coastal Irish village during WWI and centers on three characters caught in a love triangle -- a schoolteacher and his wife, played by Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles, and a young British officer, played by Christopher Jones -- and pulled apart by conflicting loyalties of Irish nationalism and British rule. The screenplay was written by 3-time Oscar winner Robert Bolt with his wife, Miles, in mind for the title role. Lean's knack for showcasing beautiful imagery while also creating intimate character portraits is on full display. Though a hit in the U.K., the Ryan's Daughter was not as popular in the U.S. as Lean's previous films (and Lean would not complete another film for 14 years!). However, it did receive Academy Awards for its cinematography and supporting actor John Mills, as well as nominations for Best Sound and Best Actress for Sarah Miles.

In Little Nellie Kelly Judy Garland plays dual roles as Irish immigrant Nellie Kelly and her daughter, Little Nellie. It's a light musical in which Garland must patch up differences between her father and grandfather, while also finding romance and becoming the toast of Broadway. Along the way she performs "It's a Great Day for the Irish" and a swinging version of "Singin' in the Rain." Though it was adapted from a George M. Cohan stage musical, the film contains only one Cohan song - "Nellie Kelly, I Love You" - sung by Garland's love interest Douglas McPhail. This was one of Garland's first adult roles and in addition to her impressive singing and dancing, she got a chance to show some dramatic chops with a death scene, a birth scene, and her first on-screen romantic kiss. 

3/19: Lesser-Known Lubitsch
8 PM - Cluny Brown (1946)
10 PM -  Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
Ernst Lubitsch directed over 70 feature films in both his native Germany and, beginning in the 1920s, in Hollywood. In his heyday of the 30s and 40s, Lubitsch was considered one of the top comedy directors in Hollywood and he helmed such classics as Trouble in Paradise, Ninotchka, and The Shop Around the Corner. His ability to find moments of sophisticated grace and visual wit was nicknamed "the Lubitsch Touch."
Cluny Brown was the last completed film directed by Lubitsch. Jennifer Jones stars as the title character, a young woman of humble means with a knack for plumbing. Charles Boyer is her love interest, a poor Czech intellectual living off the hospitality of the British upper crust. The two characters create a commotion as they upend social norms at a country estate. The film satirizes the British aristocracy in the pre-WWII years and though it was a hit with American audiences, the Brits were not amused. (So much so, that English actor Sir C. Aubrey Smith felt the need to apologize to his homeland for appearing in the film.)

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife is not often listed among its director's greatest works, but with talents like Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, David Niven, and Edward Everett Horton (and the list goes on) working together, I'd say even an imperfect film is worth watching. Colbert is one of my favorite actresses and here she is doing what Colbert did better than anyone - wearing fabulous clothes and wittily rejecting the advances of a millionaire. Said millionaire, played by Cooper, has been branded a modern-day "Bluebeard" after being married and divorced seven times, each with a hefty settlement for the ex-wife which is certainly better than what Bluebeard's wives got. Colbert sets out to get the best of this inveterate ladies man by agreeing to marry him, but intending to get a divorce and live comfortably on her own settlement. For those keeping score, I'd say the bit with the pajamas is an example of the Lubitsch touch.

Best Pictures #39: 2016 Academy Awards, My Pick for Best Picture

by A.J.

Best Pictures #39: 2016 Academy Awards

My Pick for Best Picture

The 2017 Academy Awards ceremony for films released in 2016, held on February 26th, will go down in history for its unprecedented, weird, wild twist ending. La La Land, with its 14 nominations, was the front runner in nearly every category according to betting markets, critics, insiders, and amateur prognosticators. The night started out with some surprises, most notably Hacksaw Ridge winning two Oscars for Editing and Sound Mixing--giving veteran sound mixer Kevin O'Connell his first win after a record 21 nominations without a win. Though it took home the most awards of any film at the 89th Academy Awards with a total of six, La La Land unexpectedly underperformed and, most surprising of all, did not take home Best Picture.

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were the presenters of the Best Picture award at the end of the night. Beatty opened the envelope looked at the card, looked confused, then checked the empty envelope again, hesitated for a moment, then checked the envelope again. After a long awkward moment, he handed the card to Dunaway who read: La La Land. Two of the three producers of La La Land had gotten through their acceptance speeches and the third was about to speak when there was commotion on stage. The expressions of people on stage in the background were of confusion and disbelief. It was La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz that announced to everyone that, in fact, Moonlight had won Best Picture. Some of the La La Land cast and crew on stage were visibly, and justifiably, upset, but Horowitz was the epitome of class and dignity and graciously turned over the Oscar to the producers of Moonlight. 

The accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers counts all the of Oscar ballots and tabulates the winners, which are placed in the official envelopes and put in a locked briefcase handcuffed to a representative from the firm. For practical reasons, there are two sets of envelopes. Should anything happen and an envelope is missing, there is a backup. A close up freeze frame of the envelope in both Beatty and Dunaway's hands reveals that category on the envelope is: Actress in a Leading Role.

They were simply handed the wrong envelope. Beatty said that he opened it, it said "Emma Stone-La La Land" and he didn't know what to do, so when he showed it to Faye Dunaway she just read the name of the movie. Host Jimmy Kimmel tried graciously to take all the blame for the mix up saying that it was his fault and he won't be back next year. In reality, Kimmel was one of the best and liveliest hosts the Oscars has had in quite some time.

Early on in the night I thought: wouldn't it be nice if an independent film with no big name stars, about a troubled gay black man wins over the big Hollywood musical about the greatness of Hollywood? Then it didn't happen and La La Land won...then it did happen! I would not have voted for La La Land, but it would by no means be the Best Picture winner with which I most disagreed. It is a fine movie, but, frankly, I've seen it before, and I've seen it done better before. La La Land is simply another musical. Moonlight is filmmaking that approaches poetry. It takes a step back from the events happening to its main character, Chiron, allowing you to experience what he is experiencing. Moonlight is an art film, but it is open with its emotions and thus engaging. It is a special film that I've grown to like more and more.  

I'm very glad that Moonlight won, but it is still not the way I would cast my vote...

My Pick for Best Picture of 2016: Arrival

I didn't respond to any of the 2016 Best Picture nominees the way I responded to Arrival. It's rare that a science fiction film actually focuses on science instead of using the genre as a more interesting background for an action/fantasy story-- exactly what is the science in Star Wars? And, too often, when a science fiction film does focus on science it is to the detriment of the human aspect of the story. This is not the case with Arrival. It is a science fiction film brimming with pathos and thought provoking ideas.

There's so much to enjoy in Arrival: a new take on alien invaders, solid and even restrained filmmaking, and an excellent performance from Amy Adams. I was just as moved when I saw this film a second time as I was the first time I saw it in theaters. Perhaps the main reason for that is Adams' performance. The written language of the aliens is inventive and intriguing, as are the ideas it raises about language and time. The ideas it presents are interesting to ponder and move the story forward. Arrival is a serious science fiction film but it is also very entertaining. Genre conventions and references to other sci-fi movies are in the background, not the foreground, letting audiences enjoy this movie without constantly being reminded of other films in the same genre. Director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer have crafted something poetic and profound.

Best Pictures #38: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Hacksaw Ridge

by A.J.

Best Pictures #38: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is a good film, but too uneven to be a great film. There is noticeable talent at work both in front of and behind the camera. It has received a total of six Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director (Mel Gibson), Actor (Andrew Garfield), Editing, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing. Noticeably, and rightfully, not among those nominations is the screenplay by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, which is by far the clunkiest element in an otherwise well-made, well-acted war film.

It seems like a paradox that a movie about a pacifist should be so bloody and gory, but the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, is exactly that. Doss saved the lives of 75 fellow soldiers at the gruesome Battle of Okinawa in 1945 without even carrying a gun. Andrew Garfield plays Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist who enlisted as a combat medic during World War II, despite his vow to never touch a gun or take a life. His beliefs and refusal to use a weapon—not even for target practice—does not win any favor with his army superiors or fellow soldiers.

There are two distinct halves to Hacksaw Ridge: Doss’s life and experiences stateside at home in Virginia and at basic training, and his experience at the Battle of Okinawa. It isn’t just Doss’s religious beliefs that compel him to never use firearms. We see him as a child nearly kill his brother with a brick during a fight. There is also his abusive, alcoholic father, Tom, an emotionally and psychologically scarred veteran of WWI, played with a superb performance by Hugo Weaving. A brighter side of his life in Virginia is his sweet romance with a nurse named Dorothy, played by Teresa Palmer. They marry and he enlists in the army. If there were so many people taking life in the war, Doss thought, then he would be one person saving life. The movie stops just shy of making Doss into a saint thanks to Garfield’s performance. He makes Doss a believable person of strong conviction and goodwill.

When Doss arrives at basic training we meet characters with names like: Vito, Tex, Hollywood, Smitty, and Grease. You might think that Hacksaw Ridge accidentally used the screenplay of a war movie from the 1940s or 50s (and one that would’ve been clichéd even then). There is scene after scene of ham-fisted dialogue of people underestimating Doss, then realizing that they had him all wrong. It’s a bit much, but just as soon as you’re ready to write off Hacksaw Ridge, it wins you back, usually thanks to one of the strong performances. It’s at basic training that we meet Vince Vaughn (the lone American in a cast of Brits and Australians) as Doss’s tough and serious, but somehow hilarious, sergeant. It’s a role that is perfect for Vaughn. He’s great at delivering amusing insults to the new recruits, but his stern face and formidable stature, especially when confronting the slender Andrew Garfield—Vaughn is 6’5” after all—make him quite intimidating. Like Doss, he’s a character you believe because of the talent of the performer.

Hacksaw Ridge really shines in its second half at the Battle of Okinawa and the skillful direction of Mel Gibson takes the film to another level. Frantic, hellish, and horrific violence and battle sequences are what he excels at, but he never loses the underlying humanity that the first half of the film builds. The scenes set in Virginia are also well done, but only Gibson could craft the second half of this movie. Doss spends three days on the battlefield, day and night, finding wounded and dying soldiers and taking each one to safety by lowering them down a steep cliff one by one. Each time, Doss asks God to help him get one more. This film revels in blood and guts but it does not glorify or make war seem adventurous. It makes war look dirty and gross and frightening and bloody and scary and awful.

I’m perplexed that the movie telling the true story of Desmond Doss is steeped in war movie clichés. It’s almost frustrating. These clichéd scenes with stiff, uncreative dialogue occur throughout the movie. It is the excellently shot battle scenes and great performances from Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, and Hugo Weaving that make the film substantial. Despite its flaws, Hacksaw Ridge has enough quality moments and performances to make it well worth watching.

Nominees: Bill Mechanic, David Permut, producers

Director: Mel Gibson

Screenplay: Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving

Production Companies: Pandemonium Films, Permut Productions, Vendian Entertainment, Kylin Pictures

Distributor: Summit Entertainment, Icon Films

Release Date: November 4^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-Mel Gibson, Actor-Andrew Garfield, Editing-John Gilbert, Sound Mixing-Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, Peter Grace, Sound Editing-Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright

Best Pictures #37: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Hidden Figures

by A.J.

Best Pictures #37: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Hidden Figures

I’m not surprised at all that there are still untold stories of the early days of the space race and NASA. I’m also not surprised that one of those stories is of the crucial role played by intelligent African American women. Hidden Figures is the story of three of those women: Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) whose work helped send men into space. The film that tells their inspirational and genuinely interesting story is, unfortunately, a conventional one.

In the early 1960s NASA was based in Langley, Virginia; both Virginia and NASA were segregated. Stress and frustration levels are high at NASA as, at this point in the space race, the U.S. was routinely surpassed by the Soviet Union. It is in this climate that our three heroines find career and life changing circumstances. Katherine Johnson, a mathematical prodigy, is assigned to the elite (and all white and all male) Space Task Group to create and compute—Johnson’s official title is “computer”—the calculations for Alan Shepard’s spaceflight and John Glenn’s historic orbit. Mary Jackson is working with engineers to construct the Mercury capsule, but needs to further her knowledge of physics to remain with the project. This means she has to seek the permission of a judge to attend night classes held at an all-white high school. Dorothy Vaughan is the supervisor of the “colored” computer division at NASA, all she lacks is the official title and pay. When she discovers that an IBM computer is being delivered that will make her staff obsolete, she sets about teaching herself and then her staff computer programming. Each has an overwhelming job to accomplish and they have to do so in the face of institutional racism and sexism.

Though this is an ensemble movie, the focus is Henson’s character, Katherine Johnson. Her scenes working with the Space Task Group are what keeps the story moving. Kevin Costner plays Al Harrison, head of the Space Task Group, as a stern man of few words whose main concern is results. Jim Parsons plays the lead member of the group whose main concern is having Johnson compute his calculations, write up his reports, and expecting her to stay silent and in the background. She, of course, does not and a big dramatic speech ensues. Did such a moment actually happen? Perhaps. Many scenes in Hidden Figures feel simultaneously true and contrived or embellished for the sensibilities of a 21^st century audience. These scenes, however, are still satisfying because the racism and prejudice, both casual and direct, these women experienced is so awful and absurd that it feels good to see it confronted. Did Al Harrison really end segregation at NASA by ripping the steel “colored bathroom” sign down with a crowbar? I wouldn’t be surprised if this scene was more symbolic than factual, but it’s very satisfying to see happen.

Hidden Figures is directed by Theodore Melfi in a very straightforward, conventional way. It is most concerned with telling a true and inspirational story and making sure the audience leaves the theater with a warm, happy feeling. It does this quite well. There are good performances from the three leads (Octavia Spencer has picked up a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination) and the film moves along at a steady pace. Snappy one-liners and Johnson’s romance with a Colonel played by Mahershala Ali (who has a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in Moonlight), take Hidden Figures to the brink of feeling like a made-for-TV movie, but thankfully the cast and the Oscar-nominated screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi keep the movie on track. As a film, Hidden Figures is nothing out of the ordinary, but its story and cast make it enjoyable.

Nominees: Peter Chernin, Donna Gigliotti, Theodore Melfi, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams, producers

Director: Theodore Melfi

Screenplay: Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly

Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe

Production Companies: Fox 2000 Pictures, Chernin Entertainment, Levantine Films, TSG Entertainment

Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Release Date: December 25^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 3, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Adapted Screenplay- Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, Supporting Actress-Octavia Spencer

Best Pictures #36: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Lion

by A.J.

Best Pictures #36: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Lion

It’s odd that Lion is a film based on a true story, yet its premise seems familiar: a young man searches for the family he was separated from as a young boy. Yet, the events in Lion are so improbable-but-true that you can’t help but be surprised and awed at how the life its main character, Saroo Brierly, unfolded. Lion tugs at your heartstrings and stirs up emotions in all the ways you would expect and… it works. If you cry at movies, you’ll likely feel the tears flow while watching Lion and that’s okay.

There are two distinct parts to Lion. In the first half, we see little Saroo living with his mother and older brother in a poor rural village in India. His older brother, Guddu, takes random chores and odd jobs to help support their family. One night, a new job means traveling by train at night. Saroo is eager and excited to help, and Guddu reluctantly brings him along. Guddu leaves Saroo at a train station and tells him to wait while he sees about the job. Saroo falls asleep and wakes up in the middle of the night to find the train station deserted. He calls out for his brother and looks for him on an out of service train which springs into service and takes him thousands of miles away from his home.

Young Sunny Pawar, who plays Saroo as a child, is remarkably good on screen. His wide-eyed precociousness helps him survive on the streets of Calcutta where he doesn’t speak the local language and can’t pronounce the name of his hometown. He finds his way into an orphanage that seems too similar to a prison, but it is here that he is adopted by an Australian couple played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham.

A jump in time takes us to the second part of the film. As a young man, Saroo, now played by Dev Patel, feels more Australian than Indian. He is disconnected from his Indian heritage until a chance sense memory inspires him to track down his original home and mother and brother. It is at this point that Lion treads close to cliché territory. Dev Patel has many scenes where he is moody, depressed, and conflicted about his quest. Does searching for his real mother mean he’s ungrateful to his adoptive mother? The movie seems more concerned with the mechanics of how he finds out where his childhood village in India is (with much internet research and Google Earth), than with what is going on inside of the characters. Older Saroo’s emotions, which should be driving the second half of Lion, feel more obligatory than earned. That’s not to say that when the big scenes in this movie come they don’t bring pathos. The final scenes of Lion are genuinely moving.

I wouldn’t say that Lion is an uneven film, but from a technical standpoint the best part of Lion is young Saroo’s near dialogue free journey through the streets of Calcutta. He encounters uncaring adults, seemingly kind but actually sinister adults, and journeys by foot in a direction that he hopes will take him home. Director Garth Davis keeps the camera and the audience at a distance from young Saroo, giving this sequence the feel of a documentary. Every unlikely encounter young Saroo has seems unfortunately believable. It is a piece of incredible filmmaking that the rest of Lion doesn’t equal.

Dev Patel has some good scenes of emotional dialogue with Kidman and Rooney Mara, playing his supportive girlfriend. Mara is good, as always, but doesn’t have much else to do aside from be supportive. The actors handle these scenes well—Patel and Kidman have picked up Supporting Actor and Actress Oscar nominations, respectively. It is their interactions that keep the audience engaged. This is ultimately an uplifting and heartwarming story and the sentiment doesn’t feel forced. You may feel like you’ve seen this kind of movie before, and I’m sure you have, but Lion is still worth watching.

Nominees: Iain Canning, Angie Fielder, Emile Sherman, producers

Director: Garth Davis

Screenplay: Luke Davies, based on the book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose

Cast: Dev Patel, Sunny Pawar, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara

Production Companies: See-Saw Films, Aquarius Films, Screen Australia, Sunstar Entertainment, The Weinstein Company

Distributor: The Weinstein Company, Transmission Films, Entertainment Film Distributors

Release Date: November 25^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Adapted Screenplay-Luke Davies, Supporting Actor-Dev Patel, Supporting Actress-Nicole Kidman, Cinematography-Greig Fraser, Original Score-Dustin O'Halloran, Volker Bertelmann

Best Pictures #35: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Arrival

by A.J.

Best Pictures #35: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Arrival

We’ve been lucky enough to have had some excellent science fiction films recently—Interstellar in 2014, and last year’s Best Picture nominee, The Martian in 2015—and Arrival is among them. Those films, like Arrival, are not just fantasies, they are pro-science. The main characters are scientists or science minded people that use available information and resources to solve incredible problems. To borrow a phrase from NASA, they “work the problem.” This is what Amy Adams does as Louise Banks, a world-renowned linguist tasked with figuring out how to communicate with recently arrived alien beings. She doesn’t have much time, as the mysterious alien spaceships have appeared all over the world and world governments are nervous and frantic to figure out why the aliens are here.

You’re likely to be reminded of other science fiction films about “first contact”: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (in which François Truffaut also tries to communicate with aliens), Contact, and The Day the Earth Stood Still to name a few. The alien spaceships might even remind you of the monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The aliens themselves look like creatures from the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. But Arrival is far from derivative; it is the perfect example of what should happen with a new entry to a well tread genre. We’ve seen movies about aliens arriving on Earth before, but we’ve never seen one quite like this.

There are of course visual effects and computer generated images, but this film does not center around effects or spectacle. At the heart of Arrival is an incredible performance by Amy Adams that was inexplicably not nominated for Best Actress at this year’s Academy Awards. Adams excels at using small facial expressions and her eyes to convey clearly, but quietly what her characters are thinking and experiencing and that’s exactly what she does here. Her performance makes the character of Louise relatable and grounds the entire film in genuine emotion even as it moves into heady sci-fi territory. We have no trouble believing that Louise is the foremost authority on language and are frustrated when military and government officials (played by Forest Whitaker and Michael Stuhlbarg, respectively) stand in her way or won’t listen to her conclusions. We are with her every step of the way, even if we don’t know what it all means.

Even though Arrival does not go out of its way to simplify or explain itself, it never becomes inaccessible and only becomes more intriguing and entertaining as the story unfolds. Did I understand the intricacies and logic of Arrival’s climax? I think so. Regardless, I understood what was happening well enough to be thoroughly satisfied and moved emotionally. The Oscar nominated cinematography by Bradford Young and score by Johann Johannsson contribute greatly to the movie’s tone and along with skillful direction by Denis Villeneuve, a smart screenplay by Eric Heisserer, and, perhaps most of all, an amazing performance by Amy Adams elevate Arrival from just another science fiction film to something profoundly affecting.

Nominees: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde, producers

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay: Eric Heisserer, based on the story “The Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang

Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Production Companies: Lava Bear Films, 21 Laps Entertainment, FilmNation Entertainment

Distributor: Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing

Release Date: November 11^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 8, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director- Denis Villeneuve, Adapted Screenplay-Eric Heisserer, Cinematography-Bradford Young, Editing-Joe Walker, Sound Mixing- Bernard Gariépy Strobl, Claude La Haye, Sound Editing- Sylvain Bellemare, Production Design- Patrice Vermette (production design) Paul Hotte (set decoration)

Best Pictures #34: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Hell or High Water

by A.J.

Best Pictures #34: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Hell or High Water

You can think of Hell or High Water as a modern day western. It certainly has the plot, setting, and characters of a western. We follow a pair of bank robbing brothers and the lawman pursuing them across the dusty landscape of West Texas and the Texas plains. Hell or High Water doesn’t reinvent genre, but it doesn’t need to; it’s executed extremely well.

Chris Pine and Ben Foster play the outlaw brothers, Toby and Tanner, respectively. Pine’s Toby is the quiet, more reserved brother. Foster’s Tanner, recently released from prison, is the more volatile one. There’s more to their plan than just grabbing as much money as they can and going on the run. They have a specific amount to rob from a specific chain of banks, Texas Midlands Bank, which is set to foreclose on the family home. They will pay Texas Midlands Bank with money they robbed from its own branches. Toby wants to make sure that his ex-wife and children will have enough money for a secure future. Tanner wants to help his brother, and if that means robbing banks, he’s completely willing.

Jeff Bridges is the heavy hitter among the cast. It’s good to see Bridges give a great, solid performance in a role that is befitting of an actor of his talent, instead of the cartoonish roles he’s taken in recent movies. That’s not to say that Bridges doesn’t bring a certain amount of flair—or the tough, western man equivalent—to Marcus Hamilton, a surly Texas Ranger on the brink of retirement. He’s smart enough to catch on to the brother’s plan and crafty enough to use patience as his method for capturing them. He’ll figure out which branch they’ll rob next, then sit back and wait for them to mess up. Working with Hamilton is his half-Mexican, half-Native American partner, Alberto, who is the subject of relentless racist teasing from Hamilton. Bridges, however, is adept at portraying Hamilton as a man with an underlying, genuine affection for his partner that he has to mask with sarcasm. Bridges' Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor comes as no surprise.

There’s a lot of great acting in different styles from the leads. Bridges and Foster are ostentatious; Pine is more subdued and pensive. The screenplay by Taylor Sheridan has rightfully received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay; it creates full-fledged characters and successfully divides our sympathy between both cops and criminals. The climatic confrontation is intense and thrilling. It’s an action sequence the film earns by firmly establishing what’s at stake and building the characters. I wanted Toby and Tanner to get away as much as I wanted Hamilton to catch them. British director David Mackenzie seems to be the perfect fit for this modern day western. He doesn’t mythologize or glorify the setting or the characters. These are everyday people dealing with extraordinary circumstances and the final result is an extraordinary film.

Nominees: Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn, producers

Director: David Mackenzie

Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster

Production Companies: Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, OddLot Entertainment, Film 44, LBI Entertainment

Distributor: CBS Films, Lionsgate

Release Date: August 12^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 4, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Original Screenplay-Taylor Sheridan, Supporting Actor-Jeff Bridges, Editing-Jake Roberts

Best Pictures #33: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, La La Land

by A.J.

Best Pictures #33: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
La La Land

La La Land is one of best reviewed, most lauded, and most loved movies of 2016. It has already won several awards and is very likely to win more. It received 14 Oscar nominations, tying the record set by All About Eve (1950), though All About Eve’s 14 nominations was done with fewer categories, which seems slightly more impressive. La La Land is the front runner to take home the Best Picture Oscar. Let’s get one thing straight: I like La La Land. I might even really like it, but I did not love it, at least not the way everyone else did. 

The plot is simple enough: Struggling jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) meets and falls for aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone). Together they sing and dance through some of the loveliest scenes of Los Angeles on film. This is a side of L.A. not often seen movies. The center of American filmmaking is most often the setting of action and crime movies or it is meant to be a nonintrusive background. In La La Land, Los Angeles is stylized and romanticized. It is a city of purple sunsets, cool, blue nights, and hills and canyons and highways for song and dance numbers. I would not say that Los Angeles is a character because sets aren’t characters, but it is at the forefront of La La Land.

It’s no surprise that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have good chemistry; this is their third movie together after all. Each does a fine job in their respective roles. They sing and dance well enough, though they sing and dance like nonprofessionals that have been taught specific, not too challenging choreography. Each has a signature song: Sebastian has the melancholy “City of Stars” and Mia’s “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” serves as the film’s climax. Both songs have been nominated for the Original Song Oscar.

La La Land takes place in a daydream world and writer-director Damien Chazelle seeks to transport the audience to this wonderful musical world. He succeeds, to a point. La La Land is meant to be a loving, enthusiastic tribute to the musicals of the 1950’s and 40’s. The misstep it makes is this: instead of taking inspiration from the great musicals of the past to create a new, fresh take, it simply lifts from and imitates those films instead. Action and science fiction are the genres most often criticized for being derivative, but musicals can be derivative too. There are numerous visual references to other musicals (enough for a side by side video comparison). Some are indirect: the bold, bright color pallet of costumes and sets is reminiscent of the musicals of Jacques Demy. Others are more direct: Gosling jumps up on a lamppost just like Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain. Unfortunately, since I’ve already seen most of the movies La La Land references (Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherourg, Young Girls of Rochefort; Fred Astaire musicals: Shall We Dance, The Band Wagon, Funny Face; and, most of all, Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, and every other Gene Kelly musical), subtly and not so subtly, it comes off less as a tribute and more as a hollow imitation.

There’s a lot to like in La La Land. It’s a nice story about aspiring performers falling in love and trying to achieve their dreams. From the pink and purple sunsets to Stone’s bright, yellow dress, La La Land is filled with bold and vibrant solid colors that cannot help but catch the eye. The songs are pleasant and enjoyable, even if you don’t like jazz (and I don’t). Some of the musicals numbers are very visually appealing—I’m thinking of Sebastian and Mia’s dance at the observatory specifically—but others never open up to be as grand as I was expecting. The opening number plays like generic tableau of what someone that hasn’t seen a musical thinks a musical is like. I suppose I just can’t help but be reminded of the classic musicals with undeniably better performers and songs and wonder why I’m not just watching one of those again. I didn’t get the feeling of unabashed joy and love and wonder that I get whenever I watch Truffaut’s Day For Night, Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain, or even Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous (all about performers in the entertainment business). But still, I enjoyed this movie.

Nominees: Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt, producers

Director: Damien Chazelle

Screenplay: Damien Chazelle

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend

Production Companies: Black Label Media, TIK Films Limited, Impostor Pictures, Gilbert Films, Marc Platt Productions

Distributor: Summit Entertainment

Release Date: December 9^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 14, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-Damien Chazelle, Screenplay-Damien Chazelle, Actor-Ryan Gosling, Actress-Emma Stone, Cinematography-Linus Sandgren, Editing-Tom Cross, Costume Design-Mary Zophres, Production Design- David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (set decoration), Sound Editing- Ai Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou, Sound Mixing- Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, Steven Morrow, Original Score-Justin Hurwitz, Original Song-Audition (The Fools Who Dream): music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Original Song-City of Stars: music by Justin Hurwitz, lyrics by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul