Category Archives: FilmReview

1999, Feel Good Not For Children

Liberty Heights (1999)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

‘No Jews, dogs or coloreds,’ reads the sign outside a public
swimming pool in 1954 Baltimore. High school freshman Ben Kurtzman
(Ben Foster) and friends find themselves confronted with
anti-Semitism, racism and coming of age in a fast-changing world.
Writer-director and Baltimore memorialist Barry Levinson takes
viewers on a sentimental journey, complete with loving period
details and wry humor.

For those of you fortunate enough to not have grown up in Baltimore, Liberty Heights was
at that time a Jewish section of Baltimore. This movie takes place in 1954 when I was
a freshman at Mount Saint Joseph high school in Baltimore. The movie portrays a Baltimore
life of which I was completely unaware. I had many Jewish friends because I attended
also the Peabody Music School in Baltimore. I had NO black friends. I never really
experienced anti-Semitism. But among my family and friends there was much anti-black
prejudice. Fortunately, my mother’s influence was strong enough to combat the prejudice.

I can only hope the movie is an accurate portrayal. Was it realistic to have a white Jew
befriend a middle-class black girl in his forcibly desegregated high school behind her
disapproving father’s back and go with her to a black live theater to see a rock and
roll star while the audience was mixed black and white, all dressed well in shirts, ties, etc ?

That boy’s father supposedly ran the famous Gayety burlesque theatre. Even I had
heard of the Gayety. Baltimore has since cleaned up its act much in the way that
Boston has.

True or not, I loved the movie. It is warm and human enough to call it a “feel-good”. But
the sexual language and some few incidents might put the movie out of bounds for
children.

To me it was worth the trip back in time.

1998, Violent

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Eddie (Nick Moran) is usually slick with a deck of cards, but
after losing at a fixed table for London high rollers, he’s in
massive debt to a local porn kingpin (P.H. Moriarty). Eddie’s
irate father (Sting) refuses to hand over his bar to save his son’s
fingers, leaving Eddie and his friends few options. To come out
ahead, they craft a heist to steal the money from the criminals
next door — with overblown results.

This older film is still funny. The violence from beginning to end is that kind of exaggerated
nonsense not to be taken seriously. Not everybody appreciates that frame of mind (including
wife Kathy). This is basically many gangs that can’t shoot straight. There are many ironic
turns of events. The dialog sparkles. The British dialects are just plain fun. Ends with one
of the best cliff-hangers I have ever seen.

You also get to see some of today’s stars when they were just starting their careers:
Jason Statham, Stephen Mackintosh. Also Sting has a role. Lenny McLean died of lung
and brain cancer.

No ugly or upsetting sights.

2006, French, Unusual

Paris Je T’aime (2006)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

A collection of five-minute films about the City of Lights brings
Paris to life with a unique patchwork of 20 stories. Numerous
writers, directors and actors lend their distinctive vision to the
project, employing a wide variety of styles and subject matter.
Participants include Gérard Depardieu, Gus Van Sant, Ethan Coen,
Joel Coen, Wes Craven, Marianne Faithfull, Steve Buscemi, Juliette
Binoche, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gena Rowlands and many others.

Because this is one weird film, I have put it into the “not for everyone” category. Despite the
beautiful photography, most of the 20 episodes deal with some negative aspect of Paris: Steve
Buscemi gets beaten up in the subway; Juliette Binoche mourns her dead young son; a female
vampire (vampiress ?) turns a young man into a vampire; etc.

Although the film is never boring, after awhile Kathy started to get itchy. All French dialog is
subtitled automatically. In addition we put on the English subtitles for hard-of-hearing because
some of the English is mumbled.

It was a fun challenge trying to identify the actors. At the end there is an alphabetized list
of all the actors which doesn’t tell you the episodes in which each actor appeared.

After seeing this film, I would not feel safe in much of Paris. My list of safe places to visit
in this world seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Or as the Kingston Trio used to sing:
“Oh, they’re rioting in Africa, la la la la la la”.

Caution,

2007, Not Feel Good, TV Series

Mad Men (2007)

1 Comment

From NetFlix:

It’s 1960, and ad executive Don Draper (Jon Hamm) rules the roost at
New York’s Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency in this Emmy winner for
Best Drama Series. Living a glamorous existence of never-ending cocktail
hours, worry-free smoking and ego-stroking power, ladies’ man Draper makes
numerous conquests both at work and in his personal life. But the world is
beginning to change, and Draper will have to use all his smarts to stay one
step ahead of the game.

I have just finished devouring Season 1 of “Mad Men” which is certainly one of the best Soap Operas I have ever seen. The great thing about getting the season on 4 DVDs is that you don’t have to wait until next week to continue.

I was a child of the 50’s and 60’s. The re-creation of that era is as I remember as regards the clothing, music, and above all the SMOKING!!!! It is really disconcerting to see a beautiful woman lying on a psychiatrist’s couch smoking. I wonder if all the actors will eventually die of lung cancer. Maybe they “never inhaled”. It is just plain fun watching the ad men try to get around the dangers of smoking.

I never worked in an environment in which the male employees spent the majority of their time seducing the female employees, but I could have been naive. Still the openly macho atmosphere came as a shock.

Was it planned that among the men, only Don Draper and his boss are handsome alpha males whereas the other men are overweight or weak-looking ? Was it planned that among the women Don’s secretary Peggy is the least attractive and most capable ?

Season One ends in a manner that demands Season Two. I can hardly wait for Season Two to come out on DVD.

1993, DO NOT MISS, Feel Good Not For Children

This Boy’s Life (1993)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Moving from one unhealthy relationship to another, Caroline (Ellen Barkin)
and her son, Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio), roam the country and finally end up
in Washington state, where she marries Dwight (Robert De Niro), a modest
mechanic. But Dwight fails to be the role model she had hoped for , and
Toby is desperate to escape from under his heavy, abusive hand. Michael
Caton-Jones’s gripping drama is based on Tobias Wolff’s autobiography of
the same name.

I am not trying purposely to watch DiCaprio films, it just keeps happening. He IS a good actor. But in this film, in my humble opinion, Robert De Niro gives the best performance of his career. He plays an utterly despicable father to perfection. I was on the edge of my seat the entire film waiting for his comeuppance. I called this a “feel good”, but that is true only at the end. You just get more and more fearful for DiCaprio’s future until the end.

Don’t miss it!

1989, Not Feel Good

Triumph of the Spirit (1989)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Willem Dafoe fights the battle of his life as Salamo, a
Greek Jew (and former champion boxer) who’s incarcerated
in Auschwitz by the Nazis and must defeat all comers in
weekly boxing exhibitions. If he doesn’t, he faces the gas
chamber. Based on a true story, Triumph of the Spirit recounts
one man’s fight to stay alive against almost insurmountable odds.

As with most concentration camp movies, this film can be hard to watch. So I put into the category “Not feel-good, not for everyone”. But the acting is good. Willem Dafoe does an excellent job as the boxer. If you can stand to watch, I do recommend this film

2007, Not Feel Good

When Did You Last See Your Father (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

When his father (Jim Broadbent) becomes terminally ill, Blake
Morrison (Colin Firth) struggles to come to terms with the charming
but duplicitous man he really was, reliving the memories that shaped
their relationship through a series of flashbacks. As Blake travels
between his wife and two children in London and his childhood home,
his emotional difficulty is mirrored in the agony his father
confronts as he succumbs to the cancer.

The NetFlix fails to mention that the mother was played by Juliet Stevenson.
All three British actors (Broadbent, Firth, Stevenson) are accomplished and
well-known. It is not a feel-good movie until possibly the very end. The
father was not a monster, but he was extremely hard to live with. So the
film is basically the love-hate relation between father and son. Most of
the movie deals with the son’s resentful memories of the father. As much
as anything, the film is about forgiveness on the part of son and wife.
I do NOT rave about this movie.

Almost ho-hum.

2008, Super Hero

Iron Man (2008)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

After ultrarich inventor and weapons maker Tony Stark (Robert
Downey Jr.) escapes from kidnappers using makeshift power armor,
he turns his invention to good by using it to fight crime. But
when he must face the evil Iron Monger, his skills are stretched
to the limit. Based on the Marvel comic, this captivating superhero
tale from director Jon Favreau co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff
Bridges and Terrence Howard.

Yes, Movie Fans, Melissa intrigued me when she said she liked “Iron Man” so I watched it. Now I feel compelled to create another category “Super Hero”. Considered on its own merits without comparison with any other film, except perhaps another Super Hero film, the film doesn’t make a mistake. It strikes a current bell by relating to Afganistan. Super Hero movies almost have to
be black and white by definition, and indeed in this case the villain is really great. And of course the Super Hero never really gets the gal despite all the banter.

Raise your hands: how many of you believe that US weapons manufacturers would directly supply arms to the enemy ? We know that indirectly (for example, by theft) our weapons are used by the other side.

And besides, I really had fun watching the damn thing !

I LOVE TRASH.

1995, Violent

The Basketball Diaries (1995)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Jim Carroll’s autobiographical novel chronicles a young basketball player’s
descent into addiction. As Jim’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) experimentation gives
way to a heroin habit supported by prostitution, he’s unable to face his
mother (Lorraine Bracco) or his demons at home, and former addict Reggie
(Ernie Hudson) may be the only one who can save him. Haunting and real ,
director Scott Kalvert’s drama is a powerful portrayal of chaos and redemption.

I almost hesitate to recommend this almost-B movie which I put in the VIOLENT category. A very young Leonard DiCaprio shows what a promising actor he was. There is a moment in which he realizes how much of his life he has thrown away that is just stunning. Will you recognize the bald Bobby dying of leukemia as Michael Imperioli who together with Lorraine Bracco were characters in “The Sopranos” ? Also very young was Mark Wahlberg as Mickey.

The treatment of sex is crude, unrestrained, and explicit. But then part of the joy of this movie is the unrestrained approach to living enacted by this band of soon-to-be hoodlums. It is this lack of restraint that eventually is their undoing. But if I cannot stop watching a film, then I only hope there is something worthwhile for others to see as well.

You stand warned!

2007, Feel Good Not For Children

The Edge of Heaven (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

When his father (Tuncel Kurtiz) accidentally kills a prostitute
(Nursel Koese), Nejat (Baki Davrak) seeks out the woman’s 27-year-old
daughter, Ayten (Nurgul Yesilcay), to make amends. Nejat focuses his
search in Turkey, but Ayten, part of a closely scrutinized activist
group , has already fled to Germany. Lives intersect in unexpected ways
in writer-director Fatih Akin’s multilayered drama, which won Best
Screenplay at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Because the film’s philosophy is that most people are forgiving and loving, I have classified this film as “Feel-good but not for children”. I am learning from my Spanish (Joaquín) and Italian (Vincenzo) teachers that we Americans are much more prudish than other countries. I was taken aback when two of the women characters fell in love with one another. Joaquín says the gay culture is taken for granted in Mexico City. At any rate, not for children.

When the dialog is not English (i.e. German or Turkish) there are subtitles. The action takes place in Germany (Bremen ?) and Istanbul. I enjoyed getting a view of narrow German streets, and what Istanbul looks like.

As with all these films that intermingle several stories, the coincidences can sometimes seem forced. I agonized over the ending which leaves unresolved a discovery that the characters must make. If this were a Hollywood film, that discovery would be made and the violins would play. I nearly flipped when the final screen credits rolled without the resolution I was dying to see.

The film is slower than a Hollywood romp. But it held my attention.