Films Worth Viewing

[zymurg]

"Chef"-John Favreau-2014

"You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth mainly. There was things he stretched, but mainly he told the truth."

Carl Casper is a well known chef in LA. Casper (John Favreau) has a disastrous personal life. He is divorced from Inez (Sofia Vergara), becoming increasingly distant with his son Percy(Emjay Anthony), having on and off
again relationship with Molly (Scarlet Johanssen) who works as head of the house, and his job while taking almost all his waking time, no longer brings him satisfaction. He is a man on the edge, and he is pushed over by a visit from Ramsey Michael (OliverPlatt) a noted food blogger and critic. Casper wants to make a new menu for the event, but profit conscious owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) stops that. Naturally, the critic finds the food wanting, and he writes a mean spirited review. Favreau becomes involved in a twitter war with Platt. Despite his son's coaching, Casper is basically unarmed. When he looses his cool and explodes live berating Ramsey Michael; he loses his job and becomes unemployable in his profession.

Favreau is a well known director largely for his work in the Marvel Universe (Iron Man) and a remake of "Jungle Book" for Disney. Like many other people he got his start in the Indie world. Some critics wrote this film off as a vanity project; others find the ending too pat. However, Favreau trained for this role with Roy Choi who served as technical advisor for the film. Choi had an LA based food truck. Five years after the film Choi and Favreau have a a show on Netflix called "Chefs." Choi gave his help only on the condition that the film would depict the culinary world accurately.

Casper is forced to return to his roots. He will cook from a food truck and make what he likes. On a trip to Miami, where he started his culinary career, he gets a ravaged truck from Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) another of Inez's ex-husbands. Casper restores the truck with the help of his son, Percy, and his former line cook Martin (John Leguizamo). They set off to drive the truck, El Jefe, from Miami to LA, selling food along the way. Casper is in love with his profession again.

Many of you may know that I am something of a food nerd, who has two privately published limited edition
cookbooks to his discredit. I am therefore not to be completely trusted as an observer in this case. My knowledge of how restaurant kitchens work is limited and in the distant past; however, the depictions are accurate. I do have one major caveat; Casper would have a working knowledge of Spanish. He came up in Miami, and he worked for years in LA. In most professional kitchens; the staff is predominately Hispanic, and this is even more true in Miami and LA.

The first half of the movie is o.k., but once the truck enters; the quality of the product improves. The acting by the guest stars is good; they were having fun. Oliver Platt's brother is a food critic for New York magazine, and Pratt has accompanied him. Leguizamo is excellent as Martin. The second part of the movie is excellent, but it is comfort food.

Recommended; if you like food and want an inside view of the restaurant world; this is a must see. Favreau told the truth mainly.

 

[storrsroars]

"Chef"-John Favreau-2014

"You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth mainly. There was things he stretched, but mainly he told the truth."

Carl Casper is a well known chef in LA. Casper (John Favreau) has a disastrous personal life. He is divorced from Inez (Sofia Vergara), becoming increasingly distant with his son Percy(Emjay Anthony), having on and off
again relationship with Molly (Scarlet Johanssen) who works as head of the house, and his job while taking almost all his waking time, no longer brings him satisfaction. He is a man on the edge, and he is pushed over by a visit from Ramsey Michael (OliverPlatt) a noted food blogger and critic. Casper wants to make a new menu for the event, but profit conscious owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) stops that. Naturally, the critic finds the food wanting, and he writes a mean spirited review. Favreau becomes involved in a twitter war with Platt. Despite his son's coaching, Casper is basically unarmed. When he looses his cool and explodes live berating Ramsey Michael; he loses his job and becomes unemployable in his profession.

Favreau is a well known director largely for his work in the Marvel Universe (Iron Man) and a remake of "Jungle Book" for Disney. Like many other people he got his start in the Indie world. Some critics wrote this film off as a vanity project; others find the ending too pat. However, Favreau trained for this role with Roy Choi who served as technical advisor for the film. Choi had an LA based food truck. Five years after the film Choi and Favreau have a a show on Netflix called "Chefs." Choi gave his help only on the condition that the film would depict the culinary world accurately.

Casper is forced to return to his roots. He will cook from a food truck and make what he likes. On a trip to Miami, where he started his culinary career, he gets a ravaged truck from Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) another of Inez's ex-husbands. Casper restores the truck with the help of his son, Percy, and his former line cook Martin (John Leguizamo). They set off to drive the truck, El Jefe, from Miami to LA, selling food along the way. Casper is in love with his profession again.

Many of you may know that I am something of a food nerd, who has two privately published limited edition
cookbooks to his discredit. I am therefore not to be completely trusted as an observer in this case. My knowledge of how restaurant kitchens work is limited and in the distant past; however, the depictions are accurate. I do have one major caveat; Casper would have a working knowledge of Spanish. He came up in Miami, and he worked for years in LA. In most professional kitchens; the staff is predominately Hispanic, and this is even more true in Miami and LA.

The first half of the movie is o.k., but once the truck enters; the quality of the product improves. The acting by the guest stars is good; they were having fun. Oliver Platt's brother is a food critic for New York magazine, and Pratt has accompanied him. Leguizamo is excellent as Martin. The second part of the movie is excellent, but it is comfort food.

Recommended; if you like food and want an inside view of the restaurant world; this is a must see. Favreau told the truth mainly.

The whole film was trite and pat for me, but I enjoyed it anyway for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Food and baseball are my two passions and I rarely don't enjoy a film focused on either. I could pick apart a ton of details as I used to manage a food incubator with a bunch of food truck clients and know that biz pretty well, but the "feel" was right.

As a side note, I love Oliver Platt for all the same reasons I don't like Robert Redford: No matter the role, he's always Oliver Platt.

 

[zymurg]

:Of Mice and Men"-Gary Sinise-1992

The story was adapted from John Steinbeck's novel by Horton Foote. If his name is not familiar; it should be. His screen plays include: "To Kill a Mockingbird,", "Tender Mercies," and "A Trip to Bountiful." Sinise was a co-founder of Chicago's Steppenwolf theater. This film has a very solid reputation among critics, and it was financially successful. However, I doubt that many yarders have seen it. It was filmed in California near where the novel is set. The time is the Depression (it's Steinbeck); two hard working drifters George Milton (Sinise) and Lenny Small (John Malkovich) move around California working at farms and ranches.

The film opens with images of a girl in a red dress running and screaming. Then we see George and Lenny running from a posse which includes dogs. They manage to escape, but George has to find new employment for himself and Lenny. George is reasonably intelligent and below average in height. Lenny is tall and immensely strong, but he is simple minded. He gets the pair into constant trouble. He can't keep a mouse because he pets them to death. The pair ends up at the Tyler ranch.

George and Lenny have a dream; they will buy a place of their own. They will have a cow, some chickens, and rabbits. Lenny asks George to retell the story on a regular basis; the part he loves is the rabbits.."And I get to tend the rabbits" is his regular contribution to the story. For once in their lives the dream seems very close. They meet Candy (Ray Walston) an older disabled worker. He has saved up enough money so that if George and Lenny can take their months pay and put it together with Candy's savings;they can achieve their dream.

There are dangers; Lenny pets a pup to death; Candy's dog is put down; the boss's son Curley is a sadistic bully, and his wife is flirtatious. The bad ending sees almost inevitable, but it is still devastating when it happens. The acting is superb; special mention must be made of Ray Walston and Joe Morton who plays Crooks the black hunchbacked horse wrangler. This is the type of film which is rarely made today;there are no tricks, no CGI, no hundreds of extras, just a very well written story told simply by actors who do their jobs, and a director who lets the story unfold naturally.

Very highly recommended. Next up "12 Monkeys."

 

[zymurg]

The 12 Monkeys"-Terry Gilliam-1995

This was a very successful film; it made a lot of money. Surprisingly, over 110 million of the 168 million was made overseas. Gilliam recruited a very solid cast many of whom worked for less than their normal rate. This was the first film where Gilliam had the final cut. The film is based on a French short classic "Le Jettee" directed by by Chris Marker.

A worldwide plague wiped out over 5 billion people; the survivors live underground. This is not the first time such a distopian picture of the future appears in the movies, think Dr. Strangelove. This film also plays with time. The remaining humans have perfected a time travel machine, they send "Volunteers" back to take samples and gather information. They will not be able to change the past, but they hope to find a cure for the
plague. "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor all your piety nor wit can cancel half a world of it."

One of those sent back is James Cole (Bruce Willis). Unfortunately, instead of being sent back to 1996; he is sent back to 1990. He is believed to be dangerously insane, and he ends up in an asylum. There he meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) who is key to the story. Willis escapes, but when he is sent back he ends up in the trenches in WWI. He is shot in the leg. He returns again where he finds the psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madaleine Stowe) who treated him in the institution. The secret of the Twelve Monkeys is unraveled. That turns out to be a false lead, and the real release of the virus comes from an unexpected source. The cast includes Christopher Plummer, Jon Seda, Frank Gorshin, and David Morse. They are universally solid to excellent.

There are several questions in the plot. What worldwide deadly virus would only affect humans and not even other primates? Second, if you can't change the past with time travel; can you really change the future? Where is the wiggle room?

Can a future disaster end to the world as we know it and still be quirkily fun viewing? The answer for this film is yes. Gilliam is strange, but compelling. Highly recommended.

Next up: "The 36 Chambers of Shaolin" and "Un Vrais Foussaire."

 

[dbmill]

The 12 Monkeys"-Terry Gilliam-1995

This was a very successful film; it made a lot of money. Surprisingly, over 110 million of the 168 million was made overseas. Gilliam recruited a very solid cast many of whom worked for less than their normal rate. This was the first film where Gilliam had the final cut. The film is based on a French short classic "Le Jettee" directed by by Chris Marker.

A worldwide plague wiped out over 5 billion people; the survivors live underground. This is not the first time such a distopian picture of the future appears in the movies, think Dr. Strangelove. This film also plays with time. The remaining humans have perfected a time travel machine, they send "Volunteers" back to take samples and gather information. They will not be able to change the past, but they hope to find a cure for the
plague. "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor all your piety nor wit can cancel half a world of it."

One of those sent back is James Cole (Bruce Willis). Unfortunately, instead of being sent back to 1996; he is sent back to 1990. He is believed to be dangerously insane, and he ends up in an asylum. There he meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) who is key to the story. Willis escapes, but when he is sent back he ends up in the trenches in WWI. He is shot in the leg. He returns again where he finds the psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madaleine Stowe) who treated him in the institution. The secret of the Twelve Monkeys is unraveled. That turns out to be a false lead, and the real release of the virus comes from an unexpected source. The cast includes Christopher Plummer, Jon Seda, Frank Gorshin, and David Morse. They are universally solid to excellent.

There are several questions in the plot. What worldwide deadly virus would only affect humans and not even other primates? Second, if you can't change the past with time travel; can you really change the future? Where is the wiggle room?

Can a future disaster end to the world as we know it and still be quirkily fun viewing? The answer for this film is yes. Gilliam is strange, but compelling. Highly recommended.

Next up: "The 36 Chambers of Shaolin" and "Un Vrais Foussaire."

I haven't seen this film in many, many years. At the time of its release, I loved it, and saw it several times.

 

[zymurg]

"The 36th Chamber of Shaolin"-Chia Ling Lu-1978

I feel the need to delve into the background of martial arts movies, however, I am ill prepared to do so. So let me make a few suggestions. This is a Shaw Brothers'film. The Shaw Brothers involvement in Chinese films dates back to the silent era. However, we are primarily concerned with their involvement and development of the martial arts film. "The One Armed Swordsman" made in 1967 , this is associated with Chang Cheh. He was probably one of the most prolific of Shaw Brothers directors. Read the Shaw Brothers article at IMDb.

For a really deep dive on this particular movie read the Jonathan Wilson article at Camp Asian Movie Pulse. I will return to this particular movie. It is considered by fans of the genre to be the film which sets the standard.
The director martial arts coordinator Chia-Ling Lu is justly famous. His godson, Chia-Hui Liu, played the lead, San Te, in the film. Years later as Gordon Liu he appeared in Tarantino's Kill Bill films. The film is divided into three sections. In the first section we are taken inside a revolt against Qing (Manchu) dynasty in Canton. It is a failure, and there is lots of bloodshed. Chia-Hui Liu escapes to a Shaolin monastery, he arrives near death. He is nursed back to health and becomes a servant after a year he starts Shaolin training. The training is the second section of the film. This is the part which is the highlight for me. I have no idea whether or not the training in each chamber has any relation to reality, but they make compelling film viewing. Each chamber adds something to the physical and mental conditioning of the monk. He learns to virtually walk on water, develop his arm and wrist strength, learn to focus his vision, and only then is he ready to learn the martial arts.
San Te's goal has always been to bring the Shaolin teachings to the people so that they may resist the Manchu oppression This the 36th Chamber of Shaolin. The third part of the film is San Te's mission to bring the martial arts discipline to thedevastated area he left. I neglected to mention that he invents a new weapon; the three piece staff. There is plenty of well directed action and a positive conclusion.

This is well worth watching; I should mention that the fights don't involve tricks. There are some philosophical problems. Monks were not trained to kill. The question is directly posed:"You can't kill me; you're a monk."

San Te replies: "Even the Buddha punished evil." We never see him actually kill someone, but the implication is clear. This is a classic for devotees, for the rest of us; it is still compelling film making.

 

[zymurg]

"A Genuine Forger"-Jean-Luc Leon-2016

Do you remember the Willie Sutton Line: "That's where the money is?" Sutton was of course the famous bank robber who was among other things a police favorite. Guy Ribes is perhaps the pre-eminent forger of early 20th century art. This movie is an extended interview with a cantankerous con man often while he is demonstrating his ability to create facsimiles of the work of great painters. I find the subject compelling; con men have always fascinated me. At his trial over 300 of his paintings often featured in catalogues, in important collections, and even in museums were identified as fakes. It was acknowledged that perhaps 3,000 more of his works are still in circulation.

The stories he tells about his background are unbelievable. His parents were a Gypsy fortune teller and the owner of a brothel who later shot and killed 3 people. He began painting fakes in his teens. He became a part
of an international world of art forgery in his late teens. This involved art dealers,organized crime figures, major collectors, and likely art experts who authenticated his works. He makes no apologies for how he made his living. He even dangles the possibility that he might return to his profession, and this time the police won't get him.

You might find this interesting. The film making isn't avant garde; in fact the director/interviewer sometimes seems like a jerk. Guy Ribes is exasperating and an ego maniac, but he is compelling.

 

[zymurg]

"The Princess Bride"-Rob Reiner-1987

William Goldman is one of the top screenwriters; "Princess" is a personal favorite. It was written for his two daughters, but it spent years in development hell. Goldman bought the script back. Reiner was given the book by his father in 1971. Dozens of actors were suggested for Fezzini; however when Andre the Giant became available, he was always the first choice. Unfortunately, he had physical problems, so elaborate workarounds were developed. Despite being a Fairy Tale; the film contains little magic, and the only supernatural animal is a super large rat. Even famous characters who appear fantastic, actual have logical explanations for there existence. The role of the Dread Pirate Roberts is played by different actors; in fact Inigo Montoya is offered the role. Of course he needed a change after spending 20 years searching for revenge. "I am Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." He had rehearsed that line for a generation; of course he finally gets to kill Count Rugan.

What Rob Reiner was able to do is to balance romance, adventure, and comedy. I have a problem with Buttercup, Robin Wright, let's face it she is a wuss. The part as written allows her little room for action or humor. Westley (Cary Elwes) has a better role and the classic line "As You Wish." He gets to become a feared pirate and return in time to save the princess. Of course he gets "nearly dead" and is brought back to life by Miracle Max (Billy Crystal). The Zorro costume is a hoot. This a fun picture and each of the co-stars gets some time in the spotlight; think Vizzini (Walace Shawn) and the poison in the cups sequence. It isn't as good as the scene the "Court Jester" remember the "Chalice from the Palace?" Of course casting Peter Falk as granddad is inspired. His scenes are a delight.

I'm pretty sure that all of you have seen the film, but if you haven't, well words escape me. For the rest of us watching this film is a reward, perhaps we don't deserve it, but each viewing is somehow familiar and new. A classic genre is re-invigorated, and surprise, surprise, even after 30 years this magic is still there.

 

[dbmill]

"The Princess Bride"-Rob Reiner-1987

William Goldman is one of the top screenwriters; "Princess" is a personal favorite. It was written for his two daughters, but it spent years in development hell. Goldman bought the script back. Reiner was given the book by his father in 1971. Dozens of actors were suggested for Fezzini; however when Andre the Giant became available, he was always the first choice. Unfortunately, he had physical problems, so elaborate workarounds were developed. Despite being a Fairy Tale; the film contains little magic, and the only supernatural animal is a super large rat. Even famous characters who appear fantastic, actual have logical explanations for there existence. The role of the Dread Pirate Roberts is played by different actors; in fact Inigo Montoya is offered the role. Of course he needed a change after spending 20 years searching for revenge. "I am Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." He had rehearsed that line for a generation; of course he finally gets to kill Count Rugan.

What Rob Reiner was able to do is to balance romance, adventure, and comedy. I have a problem with Buttercup, Robin Wright, let's face it she is a wuss. The part as written allows her little room for action or humor. Westley (Cary Elwes) has a better role and the classic line "As You Wish." He gets to become a feared pirate and return in time to save the princess. Of course he gets "nearly dead" and is brought back to life by Miracle Max (Billy Crystal). The Zorro costume is a hoot. This a fun picture and each of the co-stars gets some time in the spotlight; think Vizzini (Walace Shawn) and the poison in the cups sequence. It isn't as good as the scene the "Court Jester" remember the "Chalice from the Palace?" Of course casting Peter Falk as granddad is inspired. His scenes are a delight.

I'm pretty sure that all of you have seen the film, but if you haven't, well words escape me. For the rest of us watching this film is a reward, perhaps we don't deserve it, but each viewing is somehow familiar and new. A classic genre is re-invigorated, and surprise, surprise, even after 30 years this magic is still there.

Princess Bride is very much a solid movie watch, it is quite enjoyable. Quick note on the Court Jester which gets mentioned. If I had such a list, it would be on my list of the top musical comedies of all time, simply a wonderful film.

 

[zymurg]

"Bend it Like Beckham"_Gurinder Chada_2002

This film boasts a lot of firsts. The subject a girl's (women's) soccer(football) movie, is only one. The cast was a mixture of locals from Hounslow and professional actors. None of the actors had a big profile in England, and this was only Chada's third feature film. This was a very big success, the film made over 76 million off an investment of 6 million. It was the breakthrough film for Parminder Nagra, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and Keira Knightley. It was shot in and around Hounslow a London suburb with a substantial Sikh population abutting the Heathrow Airport.

Jess Bahmra( Parminder Nagra) is a football mad 18 year old with pictures of David Beckham on the wall of her room. Her sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi) is getting married to her longtime boyfriend. Jess gets offered the opportunity to play for a women's team. She has been playing pick-up games in a local park with a group of Indian young men. For the first time in her life, Jess will be playing real games for a proper team. The fact that she plays at all is unusual; proper Sikh girls don't do such things. Jess doesn't tell her parents she is playing. This sets up part of the conflict; Jess and Jules (Keira Knightley) are both offered full scholarships to play soccer at Santa Clara in California.

This is a very clever film with a lot of humor, but it also provides an insight to the lives of first and second generation immigrants who are caught between two cultures. The soccer team, the Hounslow Harriers, was made up of serious players and actors. They went to a soccer bootcamp for 14 weeks. They actually went to Germany and played a game against a local Hamburg women's team. This was the first time that were actually allowed to play freely and not in a scripted, Choreographed, sequence. There is a scene late in the film where Jess takes a free kick in the final of a local tournament. She sees a wall of disapproving Sikh women, but she bends her kick around the wall and scores the winning goal.

Gurrinder wrote the film with her husband a Japanese American. The film received awards from more than a half a dozen film festivals. It reached #1 in the English box office. Parminder Nagra recived the award for Football Personality of the Year from FIFA. She immediately got a job on ER which lasted until the series ended in 2009. Since then she has worked primarily in American television. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers has worked both in TV and films. One of his better known roles is Henry VIII in "The Tudors." Keira Knightley was 17 when she made "Beckham". She has twice been nominated for Oscars, and of course she was a star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. Archie Panjabi starred in "The Good Wife." Chada has a good eye for talent, and she handles actors well. She has a musical coming out this year featuring the effect of the music of Bruce Springsteen on a teen Pakistani immigrant.

This film seems to be a like/hate opus. By now if you have read many of these commentaries; you know some of what I bring to films. I coached girl's soccer, spent several years in South Asia as a Fulbright scholar and a Peace Corps Volunteer; so my judgement on the film may be suspect. Did I mention that the commentary has a solid recipe for Aloo Ghobi? I think this is a very good film, and well worth viewing.

 

[zymurg]

"Leon" or "The Professional"-Luc Besson-1994

Jean Reno became a major star because of his role in this film. He works primarily in French and Italian cinema, but he makes occasional films in English; "Ronin" is one example. This film was a stopgap for "The Fifth Element"; Bruce Willis wasn't available. Besson wrote the script for "Leon" in 30 days. The most difficult decision was choosing a young actress to play Mathilda. Around 3,000 actresses were considered. Nathalie Portman was rejected because she was too young, but she was re-tested and hired. She was 12 when the film was shot.

Leon (Jean Reno) is a cleaner or a hitman. He played a similar character in "La Femme Nikita". Besson liked him, and built this film around his character. Leon works for Tony (Danny Aiello) who ostensibly owna a restaurant. People who have problems contact Tony, and he gives the jobs to Leon. Leon basically has no life beyond his job; he has no friends; he lives alone, and he can't even read. He has been working with Tony for years; Tony even "Holds" his money. He lives in a building with a young girl and her family. Her father is involved in the drug trade; he holds and sometimes cuts product.

The film opens with Leon doing a job of warning off an out of town dealer. He does this by killing all of his gang. With Leon holding him; the dealer promises to never return. Leon returns home stopping at a local grocery to buy two quarts of milk and some other groceries. He sees Mathilda sitting overlooking the stairs. She attempts to hide her cigarette. Leon admonishes her and notices a bruise.

Her father has cut the dope left with him by a gang of criminal DEA agents led by Stansfield (Gary Oldham). Oldham smells him, and he says he will return the next day at 12 noon. The next day the gang returns and murders Mathilda's family. She is out at the store. She sees a lookout in the hall. She knocks on Leon's door
and waits until he finally lets her in. This begins their life together. Mathilda wants to become a hit man and she wants Leon to train her. They bond in several entertaining ways. Leon visits Tony and retrieves a sniper rifle. He takes her up on a roof top where he trains her in shooting. Mathilda fires her shoot which is a paint ball;she want to reload with real bullets, but Leon says no. He shows her how to exit inconspicuously. Mathilda teaches him how to read. They play a game of recognizing characters. Mathilda disguises herself as Marilyn Monroe, and Charlie Chaplin; Leon doesn't recognize them. She doesn't recognize John Wayne. Leon recognizes Gene Kelly from "Singing in the Rain." Leon gets her to promise not to swear or smoke. He warns her against young men in the streets. Leon even shares the care of his plant with her.

Their relationship develops partly guru to Chela and partly father daughter. They clearly love each other, but from almost the start of their life together we can see disaster ahead. Mathilda is determined to avenge the death of her four year old brother; she spies on Stansfield when he returns to the scene of the crime. She finds a stash of money that the DEA gang missed. She also identifies who they are and the location of their office. Stansfield has seen from family pictures that one member of the family is still at large.

I wont follow the plot any longer. Besson follows the development of the relationship between Leon and Mathilda using carefully developed scenes underscoring their individual humanity. The audience is drawn to them individually and collectively. We root for them. Stansfield is clever, but he is a weirdly evil man with no redeeming qualities. Tony we don't trust. The acting is uniformly excellent. This was Portman's first film.
She has had a major career including an Oscar for "Black Swan." Besson planned a sequel; a script exists, but when Besson left Gaumont; they retained the rights.

This is a quality film, highly recommended. Next: "The Fifth Element."

 

[zymurg]

"The Fifth Element"-Luc Besson-1987

This storyline had been evolving in Besson's mind since he was a teenager. It needed the technology revolution in film making to make it possible, and Bruce Willis' availability delayed it until after "Leon." The story is involved, but for our purposes it begins at an dig site in Egypt in 1914. The site has walls covered in writing in the "Divine Language." A spaceship appears and the Mondoshawans take the 4 stones representing the four classic elements: earth, wind, fire and water and a sarcophagus containing the fifth element, a super being. Every 5,000 years the earth will be threatened by absolute evil which only destroys life. The stones when activated coupled with the fifth element will create a weapon which can destroy this manifestation of evil.

The scene shifts to the present 2263. This is a world of flying cars, overpopulation, space flight, colonies, and a world government. Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) is a cab driver close to loosing his license. Meanwhile a large
growing astrological body is moving toward earth. This poses the possibility of total destruction. The natural impulse is to destroy it, but this fails spectacularly. The Mondoshawans contact the Earth government and inform them of the weapon. The Mondoshawans don't trust humans with good reason, but in attempting to bring them the stones and the divine being; their ship was destroyed. The evil force has a human ally, Zorg (Gary Oldman) who has recruited another alien race, the Mangalores, they destroy the Mondoshawans' ship, but the box supposedly containing the stones is empty. Zorg had promised the Mangalores weapons for the stones, he neglected to tell them about a failsafe button. The weapons blowup killing the Mangalores.

For thousands of years the stones had been guarded by religious leaders; a priest/astronomer Cornelius(Ian Holm) tries to inform the government about the nature of the threat with limited success. He is able to see the
reconstitution of the the divine being. Leeloo (Mila Jovavich) escapes the confinement and lands atop Korben Dallas's cab. She gets Dallas to take her to Father Cornelius. This is after a harrowing chase sequence, they make it. Meanwhile, Korben is sought out by a former commander. Korben is a retired interplanetary commando. Leeloo doesn't have the stones, they are in the possession of the Diva Plavalanga.
She is appearing on the luxury resort Floston. Everybody is going to the concert to get the stones: Cornelius, Leeloo, Zorg, the Mangalores, and Korben Dallas will meet and chaos will ensue.

Just a few notes about the filming. Besson went way over budget, but $80 million of the $90 million was spent on special effects. Digital Domain was responsible. Jean Paul Gautier designed the costumes. The most spectacular costume is the one worn by the Diva, Plavalanga. Actually it is a body suit. The concert where she sings "Il Dolce Suono" from "Lucia De Lammermoor" is for me the high point of the film. That is only one of the spectacular visuals. However, for me the film is over the top like Gary Oldman's acting. On the other hand one could argue that nothing succeeds like excess; after all I have watched this film several times, and I'm likely to watch it again. Recommended.

 

[storrsroars]

Oldman was so far over the top in "Leon", it comes close to ruining the film. And while he was certainly hamming it up in "Fifth Element", Chris Tucker's going to 12 pretty much muted Oldman's going to 11.

My favorite performance in that film was the late Brion James as General Munro.

While "Fifth Element" was interesting in a number of ways, as far as Bruce Willis movies that can't decide if they're comedies or thrillers go, I actually prefer watching the widely-panned "Hudson Hawk".

 

[Waquoit]

I can actually lump Bend It and the Professional together. Two films that were so much better than I expected going in. I recommend both.

 

[zymurg]

"Angels in the Outfield"-Clarence Brown-1951

This is a pretty good little film with a great story. Paul Douglas stars as "Guffy" McGovern manager of the Pittsburg Pirates. Douglas made his first film in 1949 when he was 42 years old. He only had a 10 year career; he died off a massive heart attack in 1959. His part in a Rod Serling TV show had to be re-shot at Serling's expense. Douglas was a radio sportscaster who moved on to become the announcer for a number of radio comedies including: Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and several others. He was making $2,500 a week, but he gave it all up to star in a Garson Kanin comedy "Born Yesterday" on Broadway in 1946. He stayed
with the production for all 1,024 performances. Hollywood came calling; his second role was in "It Happens Every Spring." This film stars Ray Milland as an inventor who makes a baseball which repels wood. This somewhat mirrors the Ealing comedy "The Man in the White Suit" starring Alec Guiness. He invented a fabric which repelled dirt. This film was a major success. He made a big impression in one of the great film noirs, "Panic in the Streets."

"Angels in the Outfield" is the story of a manager of one of the worst teams in the league. After his latest loss he goes out on the field to look for his lucky coin. An angel speaks to him, James
Whitmore uncredited, and tells him to change his behavior. He is known for fighting anyone who irks him, and his language is virtually all profanity. Two helping agents of change enter his life. The first Jennifer Page (Janet Leigh) is the household hints columnist for the local newspaper. The editor details her to cover the Pirates; she knows nothing about baseball. The second agent is an 8 year old orphan, Bridgette White (Donna Cocoran), who can see the angels.

Clarence Brown the director wasn't a familiar name, but he actually was nominated for the Best Director Oscar five times. He directed Garbo in her first talkie, "Anna Christie" and "Anna Karenina". Other notable films include: "The Human Comedy", National Velvet," and "the Yearling." While Bridgette sees the angels; the only visible manifestations are two white feathers. McGuffey's bad language is created by cutting speech into one or two syllable bites and mixing them up. This technique re-surfaced in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."

Naturally the Pirates start winning, but radio announcer Fred Bayles (Keenan Wynn) has it in for McGovern and he discovers the angels and goes after McGovern in public. They have several physical confrontations, and the angels withdraw their support after the last one. Is McGovern crazy? The issue must be resolved by the Commissioner of Baseball.

A few notes; Brown goes for subtlety. The relationships among the three principals develop organically. There is humor, but we laugh with the characters. There is a birthday party sequence where Jennifer Page cooks a dinner for the trio. She makes a special veal dish which tastes awful. Bridgette and Guffey try to hide their reactions, but Jennifer is quick to acknowledge the awfulness of her creation. At first she thinks it is the recipe; then she wonders if the olive oil is rancid. It turns out that it not olive oil, but kneats foot oil. Guffey uses it on his baseball glove. This is set up early on with two scenes of Guffey in the apartment kneeding his glove. The stadium announcer is Peter Graves not on the cast list. Janet Leigh had a wide range, and she appeared in some classic films including "Psycho" and "The Manchurian Candidate." She is excellent in this slight comedy, and Douglas is even better. This was re-made in 1994 by Disney, and it is over the top despite some excellent actors including Danny Glover and Brenda Fricker.

This is still a highly enjoyable film despite its age. Look for other films by Douglas and Leigh; you won't be disappointed.

 

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Janet Leigh had a wide range, and she appeared in some classic films including "Psycho" and "The Manchurian Candidate." She is excellent in this slight comedy, and Douglas is even better. This was re-made in 1994 by Disney, and it is over the top despite some excellent actors including Danny Glover and Brenda Fricker.

This is still a highly enjoyable film despite its age. Look for other films by Douglas and Leigh; you won't be disappointed.

Already mentioned here are my favorite two movies that Janet Leigh appeared in. I also would suggest the Orson Welles directed "Touch of Evil". Another excellent movie with Paul Douglas in it is "A Letter to Three Wives".

 

[zymurg]

"Rear Window"-Alfred Hitchcock"-1954

Let's talk a little about Hitch. He had a background in both German Expressionism and early British film. No director of his era was better technically; and probably no one ever was more meticulous. He said that sometimes the act of filming was boring because he had already made the film in his head. John Michael Hayes wrote the screen play from a Cornell Woolrich story. Hayes was primarily known for writing radio dramas; Hitch invited him to dinner to discuss scripting "Rear Window." However, the discussion was almost entirely about "Shadow of a Doubt." Fortunately, during WWII Hayes was a projectionist for "Shadow of a Doubt" 3 times a day for thirty days. Hitch often mentioned this as his favorite film; Hayes got the job.

This set is one of the most remarkable sets in cinema history. It is an enclosed courtyard where a half a dozen apartments interiors are visible. Little stories playout against the main story. We see into the lives of these apartment dwellers: an aspiring composer, a salesman and his very ill wife. a gregarious, curvy ballet dancer, a Miss Lonleyhearts spinster, a female sculptor, and a couple who lower their dog in a basket from the upper stories. The audience's view is that of L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) who is a top flight professional photographer.
He has been sidelined with a broken leg for weeks. He alleviates his boredom by viewing his neighbors without their knowledge. He sometimes resorts to using binoculars and/or one of his cameraswith a long range lens.

We are already in the kinky range, voyeurism. Jeff has two daily visitors, Thelma Ritter as his nurse, and Lisa Freemont (Grace Kelly) his girlfriend. Ritter was a topflight character actress with real acting chops; watch her work in film noirs. Here she is both comic interjector and realistic commentator. She chides Jeff for his isolation. Grace Kelly had recently starred in "Dial M forMurder" with Hitch. He wasn't entirely satisfied with her portrayal. He gave Hayes the assignment of getting to know her; he spent two weeks palling around so he could understand what type of action and speech would come most naturally for her. I think this is her best screen portrayal; she is glamorous, intelligent, something of a risk taker, and warm.

Of course we have a murder. Jeff doesn't actually see it committed, but he draws in Ritter and Kelly, and their contributions help fill out the conjecture. The film audience are actual participants, we evaluate the
evidence as well as the characters. I want to make one further technical point. The film only has a partial score, once the real action begins, we hear ambient sounds as Jeff hears them . I have one minor problem with the acting, one false note. I offer this in response to the question the murderer asks Jeff: "What do you want from me?' That's the question I believe Hitch is asking the viewer, and more importantly the viewer must be asking Hitch. There is real mastery here; we are caught up and involved in the story as we view this film. More importantly the experience doesn't end with the closing credits. This is undeniably a great film. It's my choice for Hitch's greatest film. Frankly, you can't watch this film too often.

 

[dbmill]

"Rear Window"-Alfred Hitchcock"-1954

Let's talk a little about Hitch. He had a background in both German Expressionism and early British film. No director of his era was better technically; and probably no one ever was more meticulous. He said that sometimes the act of filming was boring because he had already made the film in his head. John Michael Hayes wrote the screen play from a Cornell Woolrich story. Hayes was primarily known for writing radio dramas; Hitch invited him to dinner to discuss scripting "Rear Window." However, the discussion was almost entirely about "Shadow of a Doubt." Fortunately, during WWII Hayes was a projectionist for "Shadow of a Doubt" 3 times a day for thirty days. Hitch often mentioned this as his favorite film; Hayes got the job.

This set is one of the most remarkable sets in cinema history. It is an enclosed courtyard where a half a dozen apartments interiors are visible. Little stories playout against the main story. We see into the lives of these apartment dwellers: an aspiring composer, a salesman and his very ill wife. a gregarious, curvy ballet dancer, a Miss Lonleyhearts spinster, a female sculptor, and a couple who lower their dog in a basket from the upper stories. The audience's view is that of L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) who is a top flight professional photographer.
He has been sidelined with a broken leg for weeks. He alleviates his boredom by viewing his neighbors without their knowledge. He sometimes resorts to using binoculars and/or one of his cameraswith a long range lens.

We are already in the kinky range, voyeurism. Jeff has two daily visitors, Thelma Ritter as his nurse, and Lisa Freemont (Grace Kelly) his girlfriend. Ritter was a topflight character actress with real acting chops; watch her work in film noirs. Here she is both comic interjector and realistic commentator. She chides Jeff for his isolation. Grace Kelly had recently starred in "Dial M forMurder" with Hitch. He wasn't entirely satisfied with her portrayal. He gave Hayes the assignment of getting to know her; he spent two weeks palling around so he could understand what type of action and speech would come most naturally for her. I think this is her best screen portrayal; she is glamorous, intelligent, something of a risk taker, and warm.

Of course we have a murder. Jeff doesn't actually see it committed, but he draws in Ritter and Kelly, and their contributions help fill out the conjecture. The film audience are actual participants, we evaluate the
evidence as well as the characters. I want to make one further technical point. The film only has a partial score, once the real action begins, we hear ambient sounds as Jeff hears them . I have one minor problem with the acting, one false note. I offer this in response to the question the murderer asks Jeff: "What do you want from me?' That's the question I believe Hitch is asking the viewer, and more importantly the viewer must be asking Hitch. There is real mastery here; we are caught up and involved in the story as we view this film. More importantly the experience doesn't end with the closing credits. This is undeniably a great film. It's my choice for Hitch's greatest film. Frankly, you can't watch this film too often.

Rear Window is probably my favorite Hitchcock movie, it is magnificent. I've seen it many times since it was released in movie theaters during the 1980's. James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Thelma Ritter are all terrific in their roles, and I also quite like Wendell Corey (Stewart's cop friend) in this as well. The songwriter in one of the apartments that Stewart checks out with his binoculars is played by Ross Bagdasarian, who went on to create Alvin and the Chipmunks.

 

[huskyrob1]

Rear Window is probably my favorite Hitchcock movie, it is magnificent. I've seen it many times since it was released in movie theaters during the 1980's. James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Thelma Ritter are all terrific in their roles, and I also quite like Wendell Corey (Stewart's cop friend) in this as well. The songwriter in one of the apartments that Stewart checks out with his binoculars is played by Ross Bagdasarian, who went on to create Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Love Rear Window, one of my favorite Hitchcock mysteries along with Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train. As well as several great Hitchcockian movies not directed by Hitchcock, such as Niagara, Laura, A Kiss Before Dying (1956), and Charade.

 

[zymurg]

"The Lady Eve"-Preston Sturges-1941

"Don't be vulgar, Jean. Let us be crooked, but never common." Colonel Harrington (Charles Coburn) admonishes his daughter Jean(Barbara Stanwyck). There are standards for con men and women. For instance Edith Head provides 26 high fashion changes for Jean/Lady Eve. The Harrington's travel in the best suite on the best ship. Jean unfortunately falls for the mark, Charlie Pike (Henry Fonda). Pike is a rich bachelor, the heir to Pike's Ale, "The Ale that won for Yale." He studies snakes and he is just returning from a year up the Amazon with a sample in hand, Emily. Jean watches lesser women try to entice Pike; she takes the direct route and trips him. She blames Charlie for breaking her heel;so it's off to the luxury suite. By this time Pike is a goner; he puts Jean's shoes on her feet. His claim "Snakes are my life;" is no longer operative. Pike is lured into a three handed bridge game to set him up for a bigger stakes game. Jean is in love so she circumvents her father's cheating. She plans to tell "Hoppsie" and go straight. Pike's bodyguard, Muggsy (William Demerest) throws a wrench in the works when he convinces the purser to show a photograph identifying the Colonel and Jean as card sharps and con artists first class.

Pike breaks up with Jean; she takes it very hard. The Colonel has the satisfaction of retaining a $32,000 check from Pike. Don't ask, watch. Jean isn't willing to let him off that easily. This is the long set-up for an even bigger con. Sturges really liked Stanwyck; supposedly he wrote the script for her waiting for his third divorce in Reno'
He promised her a classic screwball comedy, and he delivered. Most found the choice of Fonda unusual, but he had made "The Mad Miss Manton" an enjoyable comedy with Stanwyck. The new element was the slapstick; Fonda takes seven pratfalls without injury, but breaks his ankle on the last day of shooting making a phone call.
Fonda brought his daughter (Jane) to the set. Fonda and Stanwyck enjoyed each other's company.

Barbara Stanwyck ideas of fashion were changed by working with Edith Head. The wedding gown was enormously popular and copied; it was called the Lady Eve Gown. She worked with Head more than a dozen times after "The Lady Eve." This expanded Stanwyck's range of roles again. Stanwyck started her acting career in the Ziegfield Follies as a 16 year old in 1923. Her peak years were the 1940's; she was nominated multiple times for an Oscar, but she never won. She had major success in TV. She worked well into the 80's;
she was extremely well liked in Hollywood. Jack Tourner had this to say :"She lives for only two things and, both of them are work."

Stanwyck becomes the Lady Eve visiting British nobility in Bridgefield, Connecticut. This the residence of the Pike family. Lady Eve is physically identical to Jean. It is because the resemblance is so exact that Charlie Pike
believes she must be a different person. They get married, and their honeymoon trip by train has the strangest and funniest wedding night on film. Mugsy's opinion is: "Positively the same dame."

The principals received strong support from Eugene Pallette (Mr. Pike) and Eric Blore and Mellville Cooper as additional con artists. My only criticism too many Fonda pratfalls. This is one of the shining lights of a wonderful period of comic invention in Hollywood. My highest recommendation.

 

[huskyrob1]

"The Lady Eve"-Preston Sturges-1941

"Don't be vulgar, Jean. Let us be crooked, but never common." Colonel Harrington (Charles Coburn) admonishes his daughter Jean(Barbara Stanwyck). There are standards for con men and women. For instance Edith Head provides 26 high fashion changes for Jean/Lady Eve. The Harrington's travel in the best suite on the best ship. Jean unfortunately falls for the mark, Charlie Pike (Henry Fonda). Pike is a rich bachelor, the heir to Pike's Ale, "The Ale that won for Yale." He studies snakes and he is just returning from a year up the Amazon with a sample in hand, Emily. Jean watches lesser women try to entice Pike; she takes the direct route and trips him. She blames Charlie for breaking her heel;so it's off to the luxury suite. By this time Pike is a goner; he puts Jean's shoes on her feet. His claim "Snakes are my life;" is no longer operative. Pike is lured into a three handed bridge game to set him up for a bigger stakes game. Jean is in love so she circumvents her father's cheating. She plans to tell "Hoppsie" and go straight. Pike's bodyguard, Muggsy (William Demerest) throws a wrench in the works when he convinces the purser to show a photograph identifying the Colonel and Jean as card sharps and con artists first class.

Pike breaks up with Jean; she takes it very hard. The Colonel has the satisfaction of retaining a $32,000 check from Pike. Don't ask, watch. Jean isn't willing to let him off that easily. This is the long set-up for an even bigger con. Sturges really liked Stanwyck; supposedly he wrote the script for her waiting for his third divorce in Reno'
He promised her a classic screwball comedy, and he delivered. Most found the choice of Fonda unusual, but he had made "The Mad Miss Manton" an enjoyable comedy with Stanwyck. The new element was the slapstick; Fonda takes seven pratfalls without injury, but breaks his ankle on the last day of shooting making a phone call.
Fonda brought his daughter (Jane) to the set. Fonda and Stanwyck enjoyed each other's company.

Barbara Stanwyck ideas of fashion were changed by working with Edith Head. The wedding gown was enormously popular and copied; it was called the Lady Eve Gown. She worked with Head more than a dozen times after "The Lady Eve." This expanded Stanwyck's range of roles again. Stanwyck started her acting career in the Ziegfield Follies as a 16 year old in 1923. Her peak years were the 1940's; she was nominated multiple times for an Oscar, but she never won. She had major success in TV. She worked well into the 80's;
she was extremely well liked in Hollywood. Jack Tourner had this to say :"She lives for only two things and, both of them are work."

Stanwyck becomes the Lady Eve visiting British nobility in Bridgefield, Connecticut. This the residence of the Pike family. Lady Eve is physically identical to Jean. It is because the resemblance is so exact that Charlie Pike
believes she must be a different person. They get married, and their honeymoon trip by train has the strangest and funniest wedding night on film. Mugsy's opinion is: "Positively the same dame."

The principals received strong support from Eugene Pallette (Mr. Pike) and Eric Blore and Mellville Cooper as additional con artists. My only criticism too many Fonda pratfalls. This is one of the shining lights of a wonderful period of comic invention in Hollywood. My highest recommendation.

Eugene Pallette, remember him best as Friar Tuck and Fray Felipe.

 

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Eugene Pallette, remember him best as Friar Tuck and Fray Felipe.

Also as the father in My Man Godfrey, one of the best screwball comedies of the 1930's. Pallette had a bunch of great supporting roles during this time period. No question, The Lady Eve has a great cast of supporting actors in addition to Fonda and Stanwyck in the leading roles. It's a great film, and my favorite from Preston Sturges, with Sullivan's Travels in the second spot.

 

[zymurg]

"Train to Busan"-Sang-Ho Yeou-2016

Zombies; let me say it again, zombies. E. Wright director of a zombie film many of you have seen, "Shaun of the Dead," said "best zombie movie I've seen in forever." Sang-Ho Yeou had never made a live action film before "Train to Busan." It cost $8.5 million and grossed $98 million world wide. This was a huge hit all over Asia; surprisingly including India where it was dubbed in four languages. Horror films have found a huge world wide market. Korea has produced a number of high action/high bloodshed films which have done well in the world market. We started this effort with "Oldboy"; that was probably the first Korean film I've watched. This film isn't of that undeniable quality.

The story concerns a bullet train trip between Seoul and Busan. An infected individual gets on the train and chaos ensues. The film hints at the cause of the infection as possibly radiation. Early on we see a deer run over and apparently dead, but it comes back to life. So the infection is not limited to humans; we don't know if it can be spread cross species. Any cut made by a zombie causes a full blown infection within minutes. Those infected lose all higher order brain functions. They are attracted by movement, and they can distinguish between zombies and non zombies. Darkness seems to quiet them. They attack humans and convert them to zombies; the zombie population increases exponentially; and they continue to attack. The government had no prior knowledge of the problem; they are trying to create safe zones protected by the military.

The central characters are a senior hedge fund manager and his 8 year old daughter. He is a workaholic and he is separated from his wife. His mother watches his daughter while he is consumed with work. This caused him to miss his daughter's performance of"Aloha 'Oe". She fails to finish the song because her father isn't there. She wants to visit her mother in Busan for her birthday; her father doesn't want her to travel alone. He ends up taking her to Busan on a high speed train.

The the zombies attack; they turn passengers into zombies. Each attack generates more zombies, and our protagonists come closer to disaster. We become acquainted with other survivors, each with his or her own story. The film ends with only the girl and a pregnant woman as survivors. The track is blocked so they must walk through a tunnel to reach safety behind military lines. The soldiers behind barricades think they may be zombies, but fortunately Su-an Kim the 8 year old girl sings the song she wanted to sing for her father . The soldiers know they are still human. The film ends.

I don't know what the zombie toll is; they aren't really a body count. This is well made, and some considerable effort is made to develop characters. The one memorable character is Su-an Kim; her facial expressions are amazing. Her caring and warm personality is shown; despite being in constant fear; she always shows concern for others. However, this is basically a film about a zombie dystopia. Is it worth viewing? Recommended.

 

[huskyrob1]

"Chef"-John Favreau-2014

"You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth mainly. There was things he stretched, but mainly he told the truth."

Carl Casper is a well known chef in LA. Casper (John Favreau) has a disastrous personal life. He is divorced from Inez (Sofia Vergara), becoming increasingly distant with his son Percy(Emjay Anthony), having on and off
again relationship with Molly (Scarlet Johanssen) who works as head of the house, and his job while taking almost all his waking time, no longer brings him satisfaction. He is a man on the edge, and he is pushed over by a visit from Ramsey Michael (OliverPlatt) a noted food blogger and critic. Casper wants to make a new menu for the event, but profit conscious owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) stops that. Naturally, the critic finds the food wanting, and he writes a mean spirited review. Favreau becomes involved in a twitter war with Platt. Despite his son's coaching, Casper is basically unarmed. When he looses his cool and explodes live berating Ramsey Michael; he loses his job and becomes unemployable in his profession.

Favreau is a well known director largely for his work in the Marvel Universe (Iron Man) and a remake of "Jungle Book" for Disney. Like many other people he got his start in the Indie world. Some critics wrote this film off as a vanity project; others find the ending too pat. However, Favreau trained for this role with Roy Choi who served as technical advisor for the film. Choi had an LA based food truck. Five years after the film Choi and Favreau have a a show on Netflix called "Chefs." Choi gave his help only on the condition that the film would depict the culinary world accurately.

Casper is forced to return to his roots. He will cook from a food truck and make what he likes. On a trip to Miami, where he started his culinary career, he gets a ravaged truck from Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) another of Inez's ex-husbands. Casper restores the truck with the help of his son, Percy, and his former line cook Martin (John Leguizamo). They set off to drive the truck, El Jefe, from Miami to LA, selling food along the way. Casper is in love with his profession again.

Many of you may know that I am something of a food nerd, who has two privately published limited edition
cookbooks to his discredit. I am therefore not to be completely trusted as an observer in this case. My knowledge of how restaurant kitchens work is limited and in the distant past; however, the depictions are accurate. I do have one major caveat; Casper would have a working knowledge of Spanish. He came up in Miami, and he worked for years in LA. In most professional kitchens; the staff is predominately Hispanic, and this is even more true in Miami and LA.

The first half of the movie is o.k., but once the truck enters; the quality of the product improves. The acting by the guest stars is good; they were having fun. Oliver Platt's brother is a food critic for New York magazine, and Pratt has accompanied him. Leguizamo is excellent as Martin. The second part of the movie is excellent, but it is comfort food.

Recommended; if you like food and want an inside view of the restaurant world; this is a must see. Favreau told the truth mainly.

Jon Favreau has done so many things both in front of and behind the camera, but for me he will always be "D-Bob". He steals every scene he is in, in that movie.

 

[zymurg]

"Arrival"-Dennis Villeneuve-2016

I'm not sure where to start. Dennis Villeneuve is a quality young director with some range. This was his fourth feature; he was brought on after the script By Eric Heisserer based on a short story/novella by Ted Chiang was written. While the concept of time manipulation/time travel is hardly novel; think H.G. Welles' "The Time Machine," this is a different take. The audience reaction based on comments on IMDb is fractured much worse than our current politics. Those who hate the film first contention is that it is totally boring. Some of them attack the film for plot holes. This is not Star Wars; there aren't any big action scenes. One reviewer compared it very unfavorably to "2001 A Space Odyssey;" noting that this film is still influential decades later and, that "Arrival" will be quickly forgotten. Can this reviewer see the future?

Huge alien spaceships land at 12 different places on earth. There seems no logical reason for the choice of landingpoints. There are many questions to be answered, Perhaps the single most important question is why have these aliens come. There is a semi coordinated effort to co-operate among the nations which have a space ship on their territory. Meanwhile, humans all across the globe are behaving badly. The ship in the US set down in Montana far from population centers. The government is scrambling to assemble a team to deal with the aliens. The government recruits Louise Banks (Amy Adams) a practical and theoretical linguist and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) a theoretical physics professor with practical experience to head sub-teams on site and to attempt to communicate directly with the aliens. not

Typically, the response to alien contact is paranoia. This dates back to Orson Welles' Mercury Theater radio presentation in 1938. This broadcast was accepted as news coverage of a real event by millions of Americans.
The fact that the military is running the US contact program is verification that paranoia is underlying this effort. That's not to say that the military is without intelligent representatives. The base commander Colonel Weber (Forrest Whitaker) who recruited the principals is highly intelligent and openminded. Louise Banks makes several communication breakthroughs; most importantly she is able to decode the written language. Secondly, she and Ian establish a personal bond with two aliens. They name them Abbot and Costello.

Let's take a break from the plot. The film had a budget of $47 million and returned $204 million worldwide.
It was very successful outside the US. The language of the aliens is termed logograms. This is far from alphabetic, closer to Mandarin which uses symbols to represent words, pairing of symbols create new words.
The hptapods writing appears in a circular form. It isn't read right to left or left to right. The communication pattern doesn't have a begining or end. The thought expressed is non-linear. I'm grappling here. Think back to Welles. Time is a fourth dimension; think perhaps a mobius strip. Time is continuous all points in time are on the strip. There is no begining or end merely points on the mobius strip. Thus the heptapod language can "predict" the future. Learning this language frees our minds from the necessity to think linear.

There have been longer and more profound explanations of this movie's intellectual moorings. Google "Arrival" and several immediately pop up. The logoram language was developed by Christopher and Stephen Wolfram. They developed over 100 thought patterns; 71 of which are visible in the movie. Two important concepts are developed in the movie. The first is a quote from the preface to one of Louise's books. She says of language:"It is the first weapon drawn in a conflict." This is dealt with not only in the "sticks and stones..."
sense, but also in the sense that misinterpretations can cause conflict. There are such things a using language not to communicate i.e. promote mutual understanding but to provoke conflict or to disguise intent. The second is an answer she gives her daughter Hannah "zero sum games." Virtually all the games we play have a winner and a loser. However, both theoretically and actually there are solutions which can benefit both sides or multiple sides. One major for instance is the Marshall Plan; the rebuilding of Western Europe benefitted not only the countries affected but the United States.

I found this to be far from boring; I found in enthralling. The focus is almost entirely on the efforts of the team to communicate and understand the aliens. The outside world emerges as a threat. Louise's understanding saves the situation. Remember her daughter's name Hannah is a pallindrome. It has no start or finish, like a circle, or a mobius strip.

I think Amy Adams' performance is one of the five best female performances I have ever seen. This is great film making. Obviously, it isn't everyone's choice, but I find it involving, invigorating, mesmerizing, and challenging. This is a must see, and I will watch it again today. Finally; this performance made me look over
her filmography. I own over 20 of her films. Just reading over the list of films including: "The Master", "Sunshine Cleaning", "Charlie Wilson's War", and Julie and Julia to name a few, gave me a warm feeling.
"Arrival" is a new level of achievement for this talented actress.