Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Movie #1014 ........................."2015 Oscar nominated Live Action Shorts"

Movie #1014 "2015 Oscar-Nominated Live ActionShorts" was an okay batch this year, with a couple of possibilities of best one, I thought.  (whereas, the animated seemed to have "The Feast" leading the pack to me) I liked several of these.....

"Parvaneh" was really the one I liked the best because the characters were so endearing -- and this did what a short film should do --- by the end of it, both characters have been greatly affected by the other and it delivered a fine theme --- plus, I loved the mixing of the cultures in this one.  Such a simple story that packs a wallop of emotion!  Liked it a lot!

"Boogaloo and Graham" is cute and funny, but slight in its delivery of theme --- it reminded me of the much better, full length film "Millions" with two little brothers on a caper ---- One speaks way too loudly for the film, but other than that, it's a cute film --- just less of a punch than the others.  Nice humor, though!  and good ending!

"Aya" - now this one I really really liked, but it left a bit too many questions left for me that weren't answered.  I found the story intriguing with this woman, not knowing why, but deciding to act like the limo driver for this music critic and taking him, eventually, to his destination.  But then returning home to her family.  It pulled me in, and the two main characters really had an effect on me, but the ending left me wondering a little too much.  But it could've been me.....?

Let me disregard "Butter Lamp" by saying it didn't belong in this batch.  It was more a short documentary --- lacked story, or any punch at all.........disliked.

"The Phone Call" had the actors, the script, the emotions and no wonder it won.  It was very, very good.  The Crisis center answerer, Sally Hawkins, is a way under-rated actress and we should see more of her (last time we saw her was the sister in "Blue Jasmine" with Cate Blanchett) but I'm so glad I got to see her in this --- she does so much with the short minutes she is on the phone with this grieving man, played by Jim Broadbent, whom we never see.  It was very well executed and deserving of the top honors.


Parvaneh (Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger) – 25 minutes/Switzerland/Dari and German: A young Afghan immigrant travels to Zurich where she encounters a punk named Emily.
Boogaloo and Graham (Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney) – 14 minutes/UK/English: Jamesy and Malachy are over the moon when their soft-hearted dad presents them with two baby chicks to care for. Raising their tiny charges, declaring themselves vegetarian and dreaming of running a chicken farm, the two boys are in for a shock when their parents announce that big changes are coming to the family. Starring Martin McCann, Charlene McKenna, Riley Hamilton and Aaron
Lynch.
Aya (Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis) – 39 minutes/Israel and France/English, Hebrew, Danish: Two strangers unexpectedly meet at an airport. He mistakenly assumes her to be his assigned driver. She, enchanted by the random encounter, does not hurry to prove him wrong.
The Phone Call (Mat Kirkby and James Lucas) – 21 minutes/UK/English: The Phone Call follows Heather, (played by Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins), a shy lady who works at a helpline call
centre. When she receives a phone call from a mystery man (played by Oscar winner Jim Broadbent) she has no idea that the encounter will change her life forever.
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) (Hu Wei and Julien Féret) – 15 minutes/France and China/Tibetan: A young itinerant photographer and his assistant offer to photograph some Tibetan nomads in front of various backgrounds.
123 Minutes


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Movie #1013 .........................2015 Oscar nominated animated films

Movie #1013 "2015 Oscar nominated animated films were a good batch to see this year, just tough to watch out in Florida, where I was most of February.  It took an hour and some drive, but we finally got there, only to have missed most of the first film  "Me and My Moulton."  What we saw looked very different, and considering the little girl feels her family is abnormal, it sounds like it was filmed right on course.  But I didn't see enough of it to critique.  Sorry about that....

"Feast" was the best to me --- the POV was creative (only from point of view of the dog) telling the story of this dog's relationship with his master as the guy sits in front of the t.v., then meets a vegetarian health nut, breaks up with her, and then gets back together....it's all done through the food that is tossed to him on the floor and in his dish --- it's Disney and it was the best of the batch!

"The Bigger Picture" was what I would give 2nd to in this batch of films --- two brothers, completely different (and one favored by aging mom) try to put mom in a home, and when she refuses, they are forced to care for her , and as most of us know, it ain't easy!  I liked the story (all but the end) and the style of animation was intriguing and atypical.  A fun watch!

"A Single Life" was oh so creative, but oh so short --- it's a travel through time and that's about all you need to know!  Cute!

"The Dam Keeper" was an allegory that deals with bullying --- I didn't much appreciate the type of animation because it seemed smudged through the whole film (and this is one of the longer ones), and  the story's pacing was slow.  This one didn't seem as original and creative to me as the others --- seemed cliched, and it seemed forced to get to its point.  However, it is held in high esteemed, and I noticed that it seemed to be the biggest contender for top honors hear besides "The Feast."  I didn't like it as much, at all.  I would have placed it last in the batch.

As far as the bonus films, Loved, Loved, Loved "The Bus Story"--- so funny and so true!









Me and My Moulton (Torill Kove) – 14 minutes/Canada/English: One summer in mid-’60s Norway, a seven-year-old girl asks her parents if she and her sisters can have a bicycle. Me and My
Moulton provides a glimpse of its young protagonist’s thoughts as she struggles with her sense that her family is a little out of sync with what she perceives as “normal.”
Feast (Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed) – 6 minutes/USA/Non-dialogue: Feast, a new short from first-time director Patrick Osborne (Head of Animation, Paperman) and Walt Disney
Animation Studios, is the story of one man’s love life as seen through the eyes of his best friend and dog, Winston, and revealed bite by bite through the meals they share.
The Bigger Picture (Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees) – 7 minutes/UK/English: “You want to put her in a home; you tell her; tell her now!” hisses one brother to the other. But Mother won’t go, and their own lives unravel as she clings on. Innovative life-size animated characters tell the stark and darkly humorous tale of caring for an elderly parent.
A Single Life (Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen) – 2 minutes/The Netherlands/Non-dialogue: When playing a mysterious vinyl single, Pia is suddenly able to travel through her life.
The Dam Keeper (Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi) – 18 minutes/USA/Non-dialogue: The Dam Keeper, tells the tale of a young pig encumbered with an important job, and the meeting of a new classmate who changes everything. Set in a desolate future, one small town’s survival is solely due to a large windmill dam that acts as a fan to keep out poisonous clouds. Despite bullying from classmates and an indifferent public, the dam’s operator, Pig, works tirelessly to keep the sails spinning in order to protect the town. When a new student, Fox, joins Pig’s class, everything begins to change.
ADDITIONAL ANIMATED SHORTS:
Sweet Cocoon – 6 minutes/France/Non-dialogue: A caterpillar about to undergo her metamorphosis finds her cocoon is much too small to squeeze into. Two helpful insects come to her aid.
Footprints – 4 minutes/USA/Non-dialogue: A gullible man goes on a quest to find a mysterious, destructive monster, only to arrive at a surprising revelation. Directed by Bill Plympton.
Duet – 4 minutes/USA/Non-dialogue: Animated in its entirety and directed by Glen Keane, DUET tells the story of Mia and Tosh and how their individual paths in life weave together to create an inspired duet.
Bus Story – 11 minutes/Canada/English: Our protagonist dreams of becoming a bus driver in order to cruise down quiet country lanes and connect with nature, her young charges and their parents. But her idyllic view of her new job is sorely tested after she meets her surly boss, named Killer, and discovers that winding roads can prove treacherous in winter, especially with a faulty clutch.
NR, 76 Minutes
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Movie #1012 ........................."Two Days, One Night"

Movie #1012 "Two Days, One Night" was a bit of a disappointment.  I wanted to see it before the academy awards because it was the only oscar- nominated acting role I hadn't seen in a movie this year --- I am never disappointed with Ms. Cotillard's work in movies, but this movie was a bit of a let down.  In comparison to the other acting  jobs up for female awards this season, this seems to be "one note" --- that is, the part and the film don't sustain interest through a whole length film; perhaps a live action one, but the director doesn't keep it interesting. Here's the premise.  Sandra must convince 9 of her colleagues to give up their bonuses for her to keep her job.  So she has to visit each of them over the two days and one night (a total of 16) --- and the approach seems a lot the same.  It just goes on too long.  Ms. Cotillard and her hubby works their butts off trying to squeeze the drama out of each of the scenes, but it just goes on too long.  However, the ending is very good.  I wish I could say it was worth the wait, because I'm not convinced it was, but I'm personally glad I saw it.  i think if Ms. C was up for Immigrant, another movie she was in this year, the academy might have given it to her.  Knowing that she did both of this in one year cements the idea that she is one heck of an actress and someone to be reckoned with in the future.  But many of us know that already.





Two Days, One Night

2014 PG-13 
You rated this movie: 4.0
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On the verge of losing her job, Sandra comes up with a last-ditch strategy: get her workmates to give up their bonuses so that she can stay on. With a single weekend to make it work, Sandra and her husband take her crusade for sympathy all over town.
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Olivier Gourmet,
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Movie #1011........................"If I Stay"

Movie #1011 "If I Stay" --- I had the opportunity to view this film with my niece, whom I gave the book to a few weeks back to read, and she had just finished it today.  We both liked it, though we both agreed that we liked the theme better in the book.  In the film, it suggests that the ending happens (don't want to give anything away) BECAUSE of the love and support she gets from Adam, her boyfriend, but the book has a more family-oriented reason --- love for immediate family and the family in the waiting room, her love for the cello, along with support from her best girlfriend (who is reduced to a very small character with no backstory in the film), among other things.  So the ending and theme of the book was less cheesy than the movie's end.  That being said, we liked the music that was obviously added to the movie, esp. the scene with the cello AND the guitar at the Labor Day party, and the song at the end. In fact, we were impressed by the actor who played Adam and his ability to sing because he really sells the part that way.  This is a good teenage film full of real decisions that the main character must face, and we were very impressed with the lead,  Chloe Grace Moritz, and her ability to carry the movie alone.  Well done.







If I Stay

2014 PG-13 106 mins  I would give this 3 out of 5 stars
Average rating: 3.2zz
While trying to choose between love and a musical career, 17-year-old Mia Hall finds her life upended by a tragic car crash that puts her in a coma. As she lies unconscious, Mia has a vision of her life that leads her to another crossroads.
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Joshua Leonard
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Friday, February 13, 2015

Movie #1010 ........................."A Long Way Down"


Movie #1010 "A Long Way Down" is a movie I wanted to see because I had read the book.  I was also anxious to see it because the cast looked pretty good:  Pierce Brosnan (big fan of him since Remington Steele), Toni Collette (always a big fan of hers), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad young guy who showed what he could do in that show and this one) and someone named Imogen Poots, who, I think, stole the film.  The negatives?  not enough substance here at all, esp. for Martin and Jess's parts --- the film was missing the numerous interior monologues that filled the book, and missed a lot of the humor of the writer Nick Hornby.  But there's a problem with the tone anyway -- they are trotting a precarious line here because, after all, the film IS on suicide so how funny CAN you be?  Well, the book had a lot of humor, BUT it's always dark, and it had a lot of other substance in it ---- huge backstories on all the main characters, a luxury not afforded in this 90 minute film.  But I did like this film as a companion piece to the book --- it was nice to see the original idea played out in a short film --- that idea of the pact worked better in the film, than dragging the original premise out in a 300 page book.  I'm not sure how you can do everything (humor, good story, characters with substantial back stories) in a short amount of time, but neither the book or the film did that successfully.  I liked them both together, but if I had to choose, I would choose the book --- however, this cast was amazing, so when you read the book, maybe picture these people in the parts?  







A Long Way Down

2014R 1hr 35m    I give it 3 out of 5 stars

When a faded TV personality decides to jump off a London skyscraper on New Year's Eve, he meets three lost souls who had the exact same plan.










Cast:  Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Sam Neill, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Rosamund Pike
Genres:  dramas based on books, british movies, indie comedies, dark comedies, dramas, 
This movie is dark and quirky

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