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Wheelz 
"FWFR%u2019ing like it%u2019s 1999"
United States
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 Posted - 13/02/2015 : 02:08:28
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Hey Gang!
I know I haven't been hanging around much lately, but I figured since I'm planning to do the Best Picture Showcase this year (after skipping the last two), that was a good excuse to pop back in and start a thread about it. Selected AMC theaters are screening four BP nominees this Saturday (2/14) and the other four a week later. My wife and I are going to schlep across town on the Muni to the Van Ness 14 in downtown San Francisco. Anyone else going? I know Joe Blevins has done it in the past. It'll be fun to have some folks here share the experience.
I have actually not seen any of the eight nominees yet, so I'm truly going in cold. Can't wait! |
Edited by - Wheelz on 13/02/2015 02:15:49 |
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Wheelz
"FWFR%u2019ing like it%u2019s 1999"
United States
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Posted - 15/02/2015 : 06:33:20
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Great day at the movies today!
We saw The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash, Birdman, and Selma. I'll be back around Monday to post my impressions. |
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lemmycaution 
"Long mired in film"
Canada
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Posted - 15/02/2015 : 19:52:09
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Good to see you back.
Looking forward to your comments. |
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demonic 
"Cinemaniac"
United Kingdom
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Posted - 17/02/2015 : 18:02:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Wheelz
Great day at the movies today!
We saw The Grand Budapest Hotel, Whiplash, Birdman, and Selma. I'll be back around Monday to post my impressions.
That really is a great day in the cinema. :) |
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Wheelz
"FWFR%u2019ing like it%u2019s 1999"
United States
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Posted - 20/02/2015 : 02:47:59
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Well, here we go, just a couple days later than promised (busy week!):
I saw this year�s Best Picture Showcase in a theater I�d never been to before. I�ve lived in San Francisco for less than two years, and when my wife and I have gone to the movies since then it�s always been at a triplex close to our house which, alas, is not an AMC. So upon deciding to jump back into the Oscar-thon business, we were forced to step outside our comfort zone a bit, catch a train, and check out a new place. So we made our way across town on the Muni, and after a leisurely stroll of about a mile (uphill, but not too steep; and I was happy to have the downward slope at the end of the day), we arrived at the Van Ness 14. Housed in a narrow, architecturally interesting old building, the cineplex was built vertically, 14 auditoriums on 7 levels and a vertigo-inducing bank of escalators in the middle. Though the building is old, the theaters inside are modern and comfortable. We settled into our seats and waited for the first film to begin.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
I've enjoyed Wes Anderson's films to varying degrees in the past. This one boasts all of his unmistakable hallmarks, from the fussy, symmetrically-framed camera angles to the slightly surreal, dreamlike quality. Somehow, it seems like this is the film Anderson has been waiting to make all these years, a vehicle that finally fits all of his idiosyncrasies and trademarks in one perfect package.
The framing device is a unique one: A writer in 1985 recounts a story told to him in 1968 about events that occurred in 1932. This multi-layered approach puts the "unreliable narrator" trope firmly into play and allows the audience to go along for the ride without questioning the veracity of the retelling, and thus plays right into Anderson's quirky hands.
And a heck of a ride it is. The persnickety concierge of the titular establishment (Ralph Fiennes, in fine form), a greenhorn lobby boy (Tony Revolori; keep an eye out for this kid in the future!), a wealthy dowager with a contested will (an almost unrecognizable Tilda Swinton), an art theft, a jailbreak, murder, chases, and more all figure into a plot that is complex yet constantly moves forward apace. The rest of the ensemble cast is clearly having a ball, most notably Jeff Goldblum as an incorruptible, Jeff Goldblum-ish attorney and Willem Dafoe as the homicidal son of the aforementioned dowager.
The story is actually rather grim and ultimately quite sad, full of the inevitability of death and decay. But its telling is wrapped in such a delicious confection and presented in a lovely box with a satin bow, that it's impossible not to hungrily gobble down every bite with pleasure.
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Grand Budapest was a great way to start the proceedings, and put the audience of about 100 into a good mood. Between flicks, I participated in a trivia contest and won a movie pass for knowing that Midnight Cowboy was the only X-rated movie to win Best Picture, and failed to win a second one by not knowing that A Clockwork Orange was the only other X-rated BP nominee (I guessed Last Tango In Paris). It was lunchtime, so I grabbed a large bag o' popcorn and sat down for the next feature:
WHIPLASH
J.K. Simmons may be a lock for the Supporting Actor trophy, but I'm not sure his performance was quite enough to make up for this movie's flaws. Simmons plays Terrence Fletcher, a tough, abusive drill sergeant of a jazz band conductor at a prestigious New York music school, and Miles Teller is student Andrew Neimann, a promising young drummer hoping to become the next Buddy Rich. Fletcher is a perfectionist who in turn demands perfection of his students, and heaps on the screaming, insults, and even physical assault in its pursuit. We are left to wonder, is Fletcher simply a heartless bastard, or does he genuinely care for the students? Is there method to his madness, or just... madness? Simmons expertly keeps us guessing and turns in a truly riveting performance along the way.
Unfortunately, when Simmons is off the screen, the movie plods. Teller does a fine enough job, but what should be the compelling journey of an artist turning cold and hard under his tough mentor's tutelage, manages somehow to fall a bit flat. In a completely superfluous romantic subplot, Andrew dates a girl who works at the movie theater he frequents, and I couldn't have cared less about her or what happened between them. It's a relationship told entirely through dialogue; the film tells us she's his girlfriend, but we never really see it. Sure, she serves a purpose to the story, I suppose, but it's just a box being checked.
Spoiler territory now: I absolutely did not see it coming when Fletcher hangs Andrew out to dry at Carnegie Hall. It's a humiliating gut-punch that I really felt along with him. But then, turning his defeat into victory so quickly and so thoroughly afterward seemed like a cop-out, a cliche borrowed from a thousand cheesy sports movies, providing a too-pat ending to what had until then been a difficult film to pin down.
There is actually a lot to like here. Simmons, like I mentioned, is outstanding. Paul Reiser puts in a solid turn as Andrew's dad. And I dug the music. I didn't hate Whiplash. I just wish it had been better. It should have.
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Bloated from the popcorn, I wandered out to stretch my legs and take a bathroom break. The day was half over, I felt good, and the audience was abuzz with lively conversation. A good vibe. Up next, the film I had been looking forward to most:
BIRDMAN
It is not hyperbolic to say that Birdman is like nothing I have ever seen before. Writer/director Alejandro G. I��rritu does not play it safe for a single frame, and his risks pay off in spades.
Michael Keaton is Riggan Thompson, an actor once famous for having played the movie superhero of the title decades ago and now, in an effort to regain relevance, is writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play. Upon that framework hangs one of the most marvelous technical and creative achievements of this or any other year.
You�ve no doubt heard about the film�s main conceit: a series of long takes fused together to create the illusion of a single shot running (almost) the entire length of the movie. This may sound like a gimmick, but it�s truly not. In fact, it�s tough to imagine a better device to capture all the manic chaos going on, both surrounding the play�s production and inside Riggan�s troubled mind. Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, and Naomi Watts turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances, but it�s Keaton who runs away with this, trying to hold his world together while spiraling ever deeper into delusion and despair. (After the film, my wife and I chatted with the woman next to us, who said she was a psychiatric nurse, and that this was the most accurate portrayal of mental illness she had ever seen.) The ending might be either triumphant or tragic, or maybe both; I still haven�t settled on an interpretation.
Attempting to describe any further would not do justice to this work; it just needs to be experienced. In fact, this film has been begging for a second viewing almost since the closing credits started running � it has stayed in my head that much.
Even before having seen half of the nominees, a can confidently say that I�ll be surprised if Keaton and the film itself don�t take home the hardware.
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Three down, one to go. There�s a longer break before the day�s final movie (55 minutes instead of 20), so we take a ride up the escalators to the top floor and enjoy a nice view of San Francisco Bay. I�m feeling a bit peckish, so I take advantage of the free refill policy on popcorn. We mosey back into the auditorium one last time, for:
SELMA
As a middle-aged, middle-class white man, it can be tricky territory trying to honestly review a film like Selma. Any criticism I level could be countered by saying that I just don�t get it. On the other hand, it�s the job of the film to help me get it. 2011�s fictional The Help actually did this very well. I felt real empathy and emotional stakes for those going through a struggle that has, admittedly, seldom touched my real life.
Watching Selma, on the other hand, felt much more like sitting through a history lesson. The events depicted in the film are not sanitized by any means, but are perhaps presented just a bit too earnestly and somberly to carry all the emotional punch they should have. I cringed a little, for instance, when the filmmakers imagined that the four young girls killed in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing had been discussing Coretta Scott King�s hairdo just as the blast occurred.
From there, we follow Martin Luther King and his compatriots as they plan to march from Selma to Montgomery to support federal legislation guaranteeing black voters� rights. David Oyelowo is fine as King, but the script does him no favors; his every line comes across as an oration. In fact, therein lies my main complaint about Selma. The film has very little real dialogue � instead it�s mostly folks making speeches at one another, even when there are just two people in the room. When Coretta King tells Martin she fears for their family�s safety and confronts him about his marital infidelities, it�s essentially in the form of a speech. When John Lewis and James Forman argue over King�s involvement in their work, they trade speeches instead of engaging in a believable give-and-take. In one brief scene, the activists preparing for the march spontaneously break into a chorus of Harry Belafonte�s �Banana Boat Song� (�Day-O!�), and all of the passion, hope, fear and joy of what they are doing somehow pours out in the song. I wanted more moments like this. Sadly, it is over all too quickly and then it�s back to the speechifying.
If I sound like I�m being hard on this movie, it�s because it should have been a slam-dunk tour-de-force of emotional power. Instead, it�s a workmanlike, if interesting, school lecture in movie form. I kept waiting, and wanting, to be moved, but it never fully happened. Sadly, a missed opportunity.
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A little popcorn is a good thing. A lot of popcorn � bleagh. I didn�t make it halfway through that second bag. As the closing credits of Selma rolled, I reflected on the vast difference between seeing five movies in one day and seeing four. In previous showcases, it was always that fifth movie that had people head-bobbing themselves awake, or incessantly fidgeting in previously-comfortable seats. After four movies, though, we felt fine and had plenty of time to head home at a reasonable hour (might have grabbed some dinner but it was Valentine�s Day), enjoy some healthy protein and down a little wine to help wind down from the day. We are ready to go for four more this Saturday!
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Wheelz
"FWFR%u2019ing like it%u2019s 1999"
United States
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Posted - 25/02/2015 : 23:30:12
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However relevant this may be after the Oscars are over, here�s my recap of week 2. Another train ride to the Van Ness 14, and we were ready to go!
BOYHOOD
Richard Linklater�s grand experiment � a movie filmed over a 12-year span chronicling the life and growth of a boy from a small child to young adult � mostly works. Mostly. It runs the gamut from compelling to merely interesting to downright dull. The longest of this year�s nominees at 2 hours and 45 minutes, Boyhood felt very much like the longest of this year�s nominees. I think Linklater could have made another pass or two through the editing room and said what he had to say in at least a half-hour less.
That said, the film�s leisurely pace is kind of the point. Life is about the small moments as much as the big ones. We do get a few big moments and a lot of small ones, as Mason (Ellar Coltrane) navigates his growing years with his usually-single mom (Patricia Arquette) and his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater). These three suffer a number of trials over the years (most often due to Mom�s questionable taste in men), but they muddle through with a sweet family love that feels palpable on screen. Popping in and out of their lives is the kids� well-meaning screwup of a Dad (Ethan Hawke), who we see growing up in his own way right along with Mason.
Rather than a plot-heavy drama, the movie presents itself as a pastiche of interweaving character studies. Mason doesn�t grow up to be a hero or a villain; just a smart, thoughtful, underachieving young man. His ordinariness defines him more than anything else, and if that takes some excitement away from the film, it adds layers of realism and relatability.
It�s an ambitious and risky project. So much could have gone wrong here, but a lot goes right. The end result, while bloated and sometimes meandering, is definitely worth seeing, and worthy of the praise it has received.
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After eating way too much popcorn a week ago, I told myself I would skip it this time around. I am weak. I just can�t not eat popcorn when I go to the movies. So I got a refillable large, but only ate about two-thirds of it during:
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Last week I predicted that Michael Keaton would walk away with the Best Actor trophy. I changed my mind after seeing The Theory Of Everything. Eddie Redmayne is simply astounding as Stephen Hawking.
Playing a well-known and beloved public figure is full of pitfalls. Any false notes are instantly noticeable to anybody familiar with the real person, which in Hawking�s case is just about everybody. But Redmayne becomes Hawking so thoroughly and so convincingly that you almost forget you�re watching an acting performance and start thinking that you�re seeing the man himself. Redmayne perfectly captures Hawking�s intellect, humor, and humanity, and witnessing the juxtaposition of his soaring mind and failing body is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Redmayne well and truly deserves that gold man now standing on his mantle. Wrapped around this stunning performance, though, is a fairly by-the-numbers movie-of-the-week biopic that never really rises to the level of its lead actor.
As the movie opens, we see the beautiful Jane (Felicity Jones) meet and immediately fall for the bespectacled, socially awkward Hawking, causing us bespectacled, socially awkward guys everywhere to cheer in approval. They declare their undying love through a series of romantic clich�s (Hawking doesn�t dance, but he makes an exception for her. Then there are literal fireworks!). When Stephen is diagnosed with ALS, Jane vows to stand by him no matter what, but when he outlives his doctor�s two-year prognosis, she may not be up for the long haul. It�s a fairly interesting dynamic, and it�s not badly executed. But, aside from Hawking himself, the film doesn�t go very deep into its characters, or shed much new light on Hawking�s life or work.
That�s OK, though. Redmayne�s performance is the movie, and that alone is worth the price of admission.
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THE IMITATION GAME
I thought it was odd that AMC decided to screen the two scientist biographies back-to-back. But the two are entirely different in tone and intent. As The Imitation Game opens, a four-word disclaimer appears on the screen: �Based On True Events.� This simple statement provides license to deviate from the historical record in pursuit of an entertaining movie. It plays out like a great war-time thriller, full of drama, intrigue, and double-crosses. It may be the most exciting film about a mathematician ever made.
In the early years of World War II, Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is recruited by the British Army to attempt to break the Germans� coding device, nicknamed �Enigma.� Turing immediately butts heads with his colleagues and the Army brass, which is certainly greatly exaggerated from the way things really happened, but this conflict adds to the film�s drama. Along the way Turing enlists the assistance of Joan Clark (Keira Knightly), providing a neat bit of thematic symmetry as Clark�s struggle to be taken seriously as a woman is played alongside Turing�s later persecution as a gay man. Cumberbatch and Knightley have a crackling chemistry that subverts the traditional idea of a movie love story, and the movie takes a surprising turn as a moment of giddy triumph quickly turns somber in the cold light of calculated war strategy. It�s all very well-done, and any historical inaccuracies are forgiven in favor of an edge-of-the-seat moviegoing experience.
Alan Turing is one of history�s least-known figures in proportion to his accomplishments. And what was done to him later in life is truly horrifying. I hope that the success of this film helps raise awareness of the man and what he did; I truly feel this is a worthy tribute to him.
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With a full hour before the next film, we actually ventured into the outdoors for a while! We took a walk around the block with the idea of maybe grabbing a sandwich somewhere. A couple of historic San Francisco landmarks were nearby: Tommy�s Deli and Mel�s Diner. We decided against one of Tommy�s signature giant sandwiches because we didn�t want to feel too stuffed before watching the movie. And I was worried about getting in and out of Mel�s quickly enough to get back to the theater in time. So ultimately, we went back inside and opted for� more popcorn! We sat back down for the final film of the Showcase.
AMERICAN SNIPER
�Aim for a shirt button and you might miss by two inches,� says a sharpshooting instructor to a group of recruits, �Aim for a shirt and you might miss by two feet.� I wish director Clint Eastwood had taken this advice; he doesn�t always seem sure of where he�s aiming. The story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, his tours of duty as a sniper in Iraq, and the toll it took on him and his family, this film has so much emotion and politics around it that it�s difficult to judge purely on its own merits. Before it began, I tried to clear my mind of everything I�d heard and let myself experience it with an open mind and a clean slate. The result was uneven.
Bradley Cooper stars as Kyle, and he is terrific. There�s a bit of controversy over Kyle�s memoir and whether he exaggerated his exploits, but that�s neither here nor there as far as Cooper�s performance is concerned. He had a clear vision of how to present the character, and does so with laser-sighted accuracy. Through Cooper, I think I got a true sense of what it must have been like for Kyle � to be charged with protecting others while in danger himself, to make life-and-death decisions in mere seconds. To take a life. When Cooper says as Kyle, �I�m ready to meet my Creator and answer for every shot I took,� I believe him, because I saw it.
Eastwood�s direction lacks much of the focus of his lead actor. There are times when the film feels like a frank exploration of the moral ambiguity of war, and other times you can practically hear a rousing chant of �USA! USA!� under the action. There are some nerve-wrackingly unpredictable scenes full of real tension (A young Iraqi boy picks up a rocket launcher and points it toward a troop caravan. Kyle has him in the cross-hairs and doesn�t want to shoot, but knows he must if the boy doesn�t drop the weapon), but also some ridiculously over-foreshadowed war-film clich�s (Kyle�s buddy is all smiles talking about the ring he just bought. He�s going to propose to his girlfriend when he gets home! Guess what happens next). At best, you might say Eastwood has made a mirror which reflects the viewer�s own attitudes toward the war; less generously, I think he doesn�t clearly present a point of view of his own, and the film suffers for it.
But overall, Cooper�s performance and many scenes that do work make American Sniper an important film worth seeing, whatever your politics.
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I didn�t overdo the popcorn this time. I felt a little tired (Day 2 ran about 90 minutes longer than Day 1), but glad that I�d gotten to see all 8 nominees. On my Oscar ballot, I correctly picked the Best Picture, Best Director, and all four Acting categories and beat Mrs. Wheelz 14-12. Watching the Oscars was a lot more fun after having actually seen the movies. I think we�ll be doing this again.
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lemmycaution
"Long mired in film"
Canada
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Posted - 25/02/2015 : 23:58:31
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| Thanks for sharing your reactions to this year's eight, Wheelz. |
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Wheelz
"FWFR%u2019ing like it%u2019s 1999"
United States
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Posted - 28/02/2015 : 00:28:59
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My pleasure, lemmy!
Oh, and by the way, I realized that the ol' mouse-over-the-invisible-text trick doesn't really work on a smartphone, which is where most people are looking at the internet these days. So, in case anybody gives a rat, here are my spoilery comments regarding Whiplash in normal text.
DO NOT read further if you don't want to see spoilers regarding the end of Whiplash!
quote:
Originally posted by Wheelz
Spoiler territory now: I absolutely did not see it coming when Fletcher hangs Andrew out to dry at Carnegie Hall. It's a humiliating gut-punch that I really felt along with him. But then, turning his defeat into victory so quickly and so thoroughly afterward seemed like a cop-out, a cliche borrowed from a thousand cheesy sports movies, providing a too-pat ending to what had until then been a difficult film to pin down.
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2015 AMC Best Picture Showcase!
