The Walk (2015)

Tags

Drama, History, Thriller

 

Spanning the gap                                                     between each tower,
Not a trap,                                                               but source of power,
Hangs a cord                                                            you pray is taut,
In which is stored                                                     your only shot.
Your heart is racing, mind is bracing for the danger you’re embracing,
It’s, you know,                                                         a dream worth chasing.
You stand so high                                                     upon the brink,
The edge of sky,                                                       the towers’ link.
The world must fade,                                                the thought of loss
Or accolade,                                                             to walk across
The peril you                                                            yourself have set
For public view                                                         and public fret.
You must not fear;                                                    you must not stumble.
Wisdom here                                                            will keep you humble.
Take a breath                                                           and tread with care;
Think not of death                                                    when in the air.
Dreams unskilled                                                      can get you killed,
Yet all are thrilled                                                     when they’re fulfilled.
________________________

MPAA rating: PG

Except for those who remember the headlines back in 1974, most were probably first introduced to Philippe Petit’s daring tightrope walk between the Twin Towers by 2008’s Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire. I, however, did what anyone would do who isn’t well-versed in documentaries; I waited until Hollywood made a “real” movie about it. Luckily, Robert Zemeckis took up the project and created a film that is not only entertaining as a fact-based drama but actually makes me curious to see the “real real” story in Man on Wire.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt effortlessly adopts a French accent to play Petit from the beginning of his tightrope career to his greatest achievement. In many ways, he’s the definition of a misunderstood artist, bearing the weight of a dream that most people consider foolhardy, even his own father. We watch as he “learns the ropes” from high wire master Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), gains a few supporters like the lovely Annie (Charlotte Le Bon from The Hundred-Foot Journey), and draws ever closer to his ultimate dream of traversing the space between the towers of the World Trade Center, which was still under construction at the time.

Since his exploit is clearly illegal, involving much trespassing and personal risk, the lighthearted dream morphs into something of a heist, as Petit scopes out his target, meets accomplices, and memorizes careful plans that could easily go wrong. The climactic walk itself is a marvel of invisible effects work (alas, no Oscar nomination), placing Gordon-Levitt in what appears to be the most dangerous place imaginable. I happened to watch The Walk with my mom and dad on either side of me, neither of whom knew how Petit’s dream would end, and I got a huge kick out of watching their reactions. I, of course, did know and was able to watch much more calmly and chuckle as they practically went into anxious convulsions with more unrelieved tension than Petit’s tightrope. Suffice to say, the protracted finale is not for anyone even mildly afraid of heights.

The Walk is a highly enjoyable biopic that lets Petit’s dream come to fruition with pleasant fluidity, making him someone worth celebrating while acknowledging his mysterious obsession with his goal. Why does he want to walk between the towers when it’s so dangerous? To prove he can? To be the first to try? Because they can’t resist? Even though this question is asked right from the start, it’s never fully explained, but I suppose the answer isn’t far from why mountaineers climb Everest. It doesn’t make sense to us mundane folk, but the thrill and the satisfaction of accomplishment are everything to them. In recreating the Twin Towers and one man’s fascination with them, The Walk also takes on a bittersweet note in the final scene. The World Trade Center towers may no longer stand, but Petit’s dream at least lets them live on in our memory as more than just the site of tragedy.

Best line: (Barry, who works in the WTC after being told of Petit’s plans) “It’s something only a twisted, antisocial, anarchistic, pissed-off malcontent would have anything to do with…. You have your inside man!”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
391 Followers and Counting

 

The Luzhin Defence (2000)

Tags

Drama

 

Bishop to knight and rook to queen,
As pawns patrol the ranks and files.
Spectators gawk as masters preen
And intellects complete their trials.

Obsession is a healthy thing
While meditating o’er a board,
But once you’ve captured every king,
You’ll find the game of life ignored.
______________

MPAA rating: PG-13

There are plenty of movies about unique contests: spelling bees, dancing competitions, even ice sculpting, and in the case of The Luzhin Defense, a chess competition. Based off a book by Vladimir Nabokov, the film shows how unexpectedly intense a seemingly “boring” game like chess can be. John Turturro plays Aleksandr Luzhin, a chess prodigy with clear mental issues. He’s a strategic genius, but years of pressure to prove his brilliance have left him fragile and antisocial. At one fateful contest in Italy, Luzhin encounters his greatest fear in his manipulative former mentor (Stuart Wilson), as well as his greatest love in Natalia Katkov (Emily Watson).

Turturro is quite good as the troubled mastermind, though his personal eccentricities and obsessive tendencies make one wonder what Watson’s character sees in him. Years before her stern motherly roles in War Horse and The Book Thief, Watson manages to outshine Turturro’s attention-grabbing oddness with a performance that sells the unlikely attraction between them and makes it that much more bittersweet. While good overall, The Luzhin Defense is ultimately a less inspiring version of A Beautiful Mind, which was to follow the next year, and I’d rather see Russell Crowe’s troubled genius any day.

Best line: (Luzhin, preparing to play his rival) “As Pushkin’s doomed duelist said, ‘Let’s start if you’re willing.’”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
390 Followers and Counting

 

For Greater Glory (Cristiada) (2012)

Tags

Drama, History, War

If your freedoms were taken, your rights undermined,
To worship, to write, or to speak your own mind?

Would you flee?
Would you fight?
Would you stay out of sight?
Would you trigger a war?
Would you pray less or more?
Would you just play along,
With no thought to the wrong,
And in fear knowing well
That one word could bring hell?

Would you plot and resist?
Would you cease and desist?
Would your final resort
Be but silent support?
Would you bear the blood spilt
And accept your own guilt?
Would you think yourself smarter
As traitor or martyr?

Now ask what must happen, what action or vision,
To weigh on your conscience and change your decision?
___________________

MPAA rating: R (for scenes of war and torture, could be PG-13)

This is my contribution to the Remembering James Horner Blogathon over at Film Music Central, where the music of the late great film composer is being celebrated. I’d wanted to see For Greater Glory for years now, and this gave me the perfect opportunity, while illustrating how Horner was equally at home scoring small-budget historical dramas as well as multi-million-dollar blockbusters.

I’ve been waiting for that moment when Christian filmmaking manages to keep up with Hollywood, because despite the inspirational appeal of movies like Fireproof and Miracles from Heaven, Christian films always tend to lack the polish of their secular counterparts. Thankfully, For Greater Glory has that polish, boasting cinematography, editing, and a name-recognized cast worthy of Hollywood while telling a story at once faithful, gritty, and timely.

Most people have probably never heard of the Cristero War, a Mexican revolt from 1926 to 1929 caused by the viciously anti-Catholic policies of President Plutarco Elías Calles (played by Rubén Blades). Because of the history of devout Catholicism that seems synonymous with Latin America, it came as a surprise to me that anti-religious positions were written into the Mexican constitution, and when Calles began enforcing them by deporting foreign priests and killing priests and parishioners alike, the people rose up against him with the battle cry of “Viva Christo Rey!” It’s a struggle largely forgotten but comprehensively recounted through the experiences of various freedom fighters: famed general Enrique Gorostieta (Andy Garcia), lone wolf Victoriano Ramirez (Oscar Isaac), priest-turned-general Father Vega (Santiago Cabrera), peace-seeking lawyer Anacleto Flores (Eduardo Verástegui), and pious youngster José Sánchez del Río (Mauricio Kuri).

The entire cast deliver excellent performances, from Garcia’s conflicted attitude toward defending a religion he doesn’t share to a brief but impactful role for Peter O’Toole. Garcia as General Gorostieta is the most intriguing, an atheist like Calles who nonetheless staunchly believes in religious freedom; his calls of “Viva Christo Rey” encourage the troops as they become perhaps more heartfelt, reminding me that impartial atheists can do wonders with spiritual material. (For example, Amazing Grace was directed by Michael Apted.) The sporadic action is also tense and visceral (though more worth a PG-13 than an R), with ambushes, battles, and an especially cool one-against-fourteen shoot-out with Oscar Isaac. As for Horner’s score, it’s not among his most memorable soundtracks but one which masterfully complements every scene, rousing during the war scenes and suitably intense in the most emotional moments.

 

Despite the epic scope that the film mostly achieves, it’s rather slow-paced overall, and one might have trouble telling the various characters apart at first. What makes For Greater Glory worthwhile, though, is its commitment to telling a story that has been swept under the rug of history, an injustice explained by the fact that history is told by the winning side. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that this is more tragedy than triumph, and sacrifices toward the end bring to mind death scenes in The Passion of the Christ and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Even if none of the characters are deeply explored, the historical notes before the end credits give them the depth of reality as we learn that many have since been beatified or canonized as saints.

With ever-growing distress over religious freedom in America and throughout the world, it’s important to see where religious intolerance can lead. Again, it’s hard to imagine that, in the country of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Christians were hanged from telephone poles less than a century ago, like crosses along the ancient Appian Way. Some have considered the film to be one-sided in its blessing of the rebels who committed some glossed-over atrocities of their own, but the heroics and devotion on display are still worthy of admiration, remembrance, and prayers that such abuses may never happen again.

Best line: (Calles, speaking of Gorostieta) “Filio Diaz used to say, ‘A dog with a bone in his mouth doesn’t bark and doesn’t bite.’ In politics, everything has a price. Go find his.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
389 Followers and Counting

 

Opinion Battles Round 12 – Favourite Chris Evans Role

Don’t forget to vote in the latest Opinion Battle for your favorite Chris Evans character. *cough* Captain America *cough*

Movie Reviews 101

Opinion Battles Round 12

Favourite Chris Evans Role

Chris Evans is your current Captain America, he has been involved in 7 comic book adaptations in his career to date but between these roles he has also taken his chances at a range of different genres. Today we will be picking our favourite roles but which one do you think it the best?

If you want to take part in later rounds on Opinion Battles the next round will be ALIEN BASED FILM so any film with an alien in a major involvement in the story. the entries will be needed by 26^th June 2016 and email your choices to moviereviews101@yahoo.co.uk.

Darren – Movie Reviews 101

Mace – Sunshine

Mace is on the crew of the Icarus II with the last of Earth resources to reignite the dying sun. Mace is the engineer who brings his military side opinions…

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Cartoon Comparisons: Sleeping Beauty (1959) / Maleficent (2014)

Tags

Animation, Disney, Family, Fantasy, Musical

 

There she lies, fair Sleeping Beauty,
Cursed to slumber and to wait.
Those who kiss for wealth or duty
Cannot change her dreamless fate.

Only true love can awaken
And unlock her heavy eyes.
Fear not that she is forsaken.
Love will find her where she lies;
He will come, and she will rise.
________________

 

MPAA rating for Sleeping Beauty: G
MPAA rating for Maleficent: PG

 

Now that my cable has been restored after a bad storm knocked it out for a few days, it’s time once again for a Cartoon Comparison, this time between Disney’s classic Sleeping Beauty and its subversive live-action counterpart Maleficent. Sleeping Beauty was the last cinematic fairy tale of Walt Disney’s lifetime and really the last traditional fairy tale until The Little Mermaid thirty years later. Since it’s widely considered one of Disney’s best, modern Disney executives decided to use it (and Alice in Wonderland) to kick off their crusade to translate the entire canon to CGI-filled live-action. So how do these two compare?

I’ll be honest: Despite its reputation, Sleeping Beauty has never been among my favorite Disney films, which is why I haven’t reviewed it until now. Even compared with Disney’s classics, I’ve always leaned more toward Cinderella and Fantasia, simply because I grew up watching them more. I probably saw Sleeping Beauty once or twice as a kid and not since, and I was pleasantly surprised when this latest viewing reminded me of why it truly is a Disney classic. At first, some of the opening animation appears simple and angular, like an illustration from the Middle Ages, but as it continues, backgrounds become increasingly detailed. Close-ups of stone walls and tree trunks border on photo-realistic, and the layering of the forest adds beautiful depth as trees stretch away into the distance. As much as I love Disney’s follow-ups like One Hundred and One Dalmatians or The Jungle Book, the animation quality clearly started declining after this, making Sleeping Beauty, in a sense, the height of early Disney animation.

Not so much, though, when it comes to the story. One thing I always associated with Sleeping Beauty was its namesake being rather boring, and indeed Aurora herself is basically a placeholder, a damsel in distress who doesn’t do things as much as things happen to her. What I forgot was how enjoyable the fairies are. The three colorful fairy godmothers Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are the true protagonists here, first blessing baby Aurora, then hiding her away from the evil Maleficent, raising her, and playing a key role in the famous climax. Their likable bickering over method and favorite color adds humor to scenes that otherwise might be dull. Likewise, Maleficent is a memorably evil villainess (voiced by Eleanor Audley, who also voiced Lady Tremaine in Cinderella), whose dragon transformation is the most thrilling scene of the movie.

While the film and the story it’s based on are undoubtedly classics, Sleeping Beauty does have more than its fair share of flawed fairy tale logic. For instance, why does King Stefan ban spinning wheels and force his kingdom into sixteen years without thread when Aurora is hidden anyway? Why do the fairies bring Aurora back to the castle the day of the curse rather than the day after, just to be safe, and then promptly give her some risky “alone time?” Why do the fairies put everyone to sleep when, for all they know, Aurora’s true love could be right there and unable to awaken her if he’s asleep too? Regardless of little plot holes like these, Sleeping Beauty has that timeless Disney touch that still captures imaginations, especially during the forest dance between Aurora and Prince Philip as they waltz to Tchaikovsky.

And then, fifty-five years after Sleeping Beauty, someone at Disney had a grand thought and asked, “Why is Maleficent so evil? She just wants to curse this baby out of spite for not being invited to her christening? Traditionally, evil villains are so old-fashioned, so why don’t we turn her into a good guy?” Thus, borrowing a page from Wicked minus the musical numbers, what should have been dismissed then as a foolish idea became 2014’s Maleficent, a film I fully intended to dislike. I’m not wholly against these live-action remakes, but Disney should be trying to honor and flesh out its classics, not transform them into their opposites.

As I watched Maleficent, I began to accept that it’s honestly not a bad film nor a bad fairy tale. It’s just not Sleeping Beauty, and unfortunately the comparison does make it a bad film. Gone is the line about Maleficent using “all the powers of hell”; instead, she’s just a cute little girl fairy who happens to have big devil horns and eagle wings and a name implying harm and destruction. She starts out good, the guardian of a magical realm called the Moors, whose one meaningful relationship with a human ends in betrayal, pain, and bitterness. As far as villain backstories go, I can actually accept this; the writers do a decent job in providing a reason for Maleficent’s hatred. Once the baby Aurora is born, though, and we get a re-creation of Sleeping Beauty’s opening scene, the sorry consequences of these story changes play out.

Eventually, Maleficent’s rage dwindles to annoyance as she watches Aurora from afar, repeatedly saving her from the thoughtlessness of the three “good” fairies, renamed Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit, whose bickering loses all its likability when it becomes clear what morons they are. Over the course of sixteen years, Maleficent and her shapeshifting raven Diaval (not Diablo as in the cartoon) are Aurora’s real caretakers, and by the time the curse is to be fulfilled, Maleficent tries first to cancel it and then to break it. Something just doesn’t feel right about giving all these laudable duties to the villain; in making Maleficent good at heart, every other character suffers. The three fairies, or pixies, are negligent fools; Aurora’s father King Stefan is the real villain, an obsessive monster who cares more about killing Maleficent than about his own wife and is nothing like his cartoon counterpart singing “Skumps!”; even Prince Phillip is deprived of everything that made him an appealing character in the original. By the time “true love’s kiss” rolls around, the story borrows a page from Frozen, reminding us that true love doesn’t have to be romantic in nature. That worked in Frozen because it was original; don’t mess with something that is supposed to be romantic!

Basically, everything worthwhile about Maleficent is original. Every time it thinks for itself, it entertains (the magical Moors, the battle scenes, Diaval’s transformations). Every time it tries to borrow from Sleeping Beauty, it pales in comparison (the fairies and their gifts, Aurora and Phillip’s unmemorably unmusical meeting, Phillip’s ineffectual kiss). Perhaps fans of Angelina Jolie could look past all this, but I’m not one of them, and nothing in her turn as Maleficent changed that. I did rather like Elle Fanning as the buoyant Aurora, but most of the cast was intentionally unpleasant, with the girl power message effectively ruining every male character. It’s not just I as a man who felt that way too; my VC felt the same distaste.

Maleficent is a prime example of where Disney should have left well enough alone, letting its past animations speak for themselves. It might have worked better as an original story, but when a voiceover tries to convince us that this live-action subversion with the cool visuals is the real story, it loses credibility. Please, I know the real story, and it’s from 1959.

Best line from Sleeping Beauty: (Merryweather, as Flora uses her as a dummy to make Aurora’s dress) “It looks awful.”   (Flora) “That’s because it’s on you, dear.”

Best line from Maleficent: (Aurora, practicing to tell her aunties) “You’ve been very good to me…well, except that time you fed me spiders.”

 

Rank for Sleeping Beauty: List Runner-Up
Rank for Maleficent: Dishonorable Mention

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
388 Followers and Counting

 

VC Pick: Music and Lyrics (2007)

Tags

Comedy, Musical, Romance

 

Music alone can be grand in all kinds,
For banging of heads or relaxing of minds,
And lyrics alone, whether plain or highbrow,
Can be poetry, like what you’re reading now.

But lyrics can caper and dance with the notes
When coupled and wed by the truest of throats,
And music can whisk up the words in its pull
And render fair splendor from mere doggerel.

Just one by itself could exist happily
Alone, on its own, not unlike you and me.
But if they can merge as a unified song,
We still will be humming it all our life long.
_______________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I love a good rom-com, and there aren’t nearly as many as I’d like that could actually be described as good. So many fall flat, whether because they’re more crude than romantic or because they’re just not funny, and their success always hinges on two key ingredients: chemistry and the script. One without the other leaves the film wanting, but when both are present, it’s magic, like the blissful merging of words and music. For me, When Harry Met Sally… and You’ve Got Mail rule the genre, but Music and Lyrics takes a comfortable spot not too far beneath them, thanks to (you guessed it) the script and its two leads (Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore).

Alex Fletcher (Grant), formerly of the popular ‘80s band PoP!, is content to coast on his past fame, a “happy has-been” whose career consists mainly of state fairs and throwback nights. When his manager (a welcome Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond) urges him to salvage his career by writing a song for megadiva Cora Corman (Haley Bennett), he grudgingly agrees to the music but needs a lyricist. Enter Sophie Fisher (Barrymore), a mousy substitute plant waterer, who accidentally lets her talent for lyrics show and is drafted to assist Alex in writing a hit song.

As far as the plot is concerned, Music and Lyrics is wholly predictable, with Alex and Sophie’s relationship budding and rollercoastering exactly as you’d expect in such a film. Alex has confidence issues and an ego; Sophie has a painful past romance. They need each other professionally and then on a deeper level. It’s all stuff we’ve seen before, but what could easily be written off as clichéd is enlivened by amusing character quirks, some surprisingly catchy tunes, and clever dialogue that ensures frequent chuckles. Grant’s dry wit mixes well with Sophie’s slight neurosis, and rare chemistry is the result.

In addition, many modern romances manage to turn me off with some kind of boundary-pushing crudity, but Music and Lyrics is a pretty clean affair. While Cora delights in her “steamy and sticky” dance routines, she actually serves as a reminder of how a lot of modern music has degraded from Alex’s good ol’ days of the ‘80s and acts somewhat as a critique of overly sexualized pop stars with fans far too young for their on-stage gyrations. Heck, Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” sounds exactly like something Cora Corman would sing. Ugh. (Not to offend Katy Perry fans; I do love “Wide Awake.”)

I’d rather have PoP’s “Pop Goes My Heart” any day; played at the beginning and end, this little earworm perfectly recreates the cheesy charm of ‘80s pop, and though Alex himself derides it as “dessert,” the song and film alike are my kind of dessert. I convinced my VC to watch Music and Lyrics after a rough day at work when she was in the mood for some undemanding fluff, and she ended up enjoying it even more than I, even insisting I review it as a VC pick. Sure, it’s not the most original of rom-coms, but when clichés are done this well, it doesn’t detract from the entertainment one bit.

Best line: (Sophie’s sister Rhonda, calling to her kids in the bedroom) “Okay, okay, everybody goes to bed. I’m sending your father in there.”
(one of the kids, giggling) “Whoa, we’re so scared!”
(Rhonda) “And then I’m coming in!”
[giggling immediately stops]
(Rhonda’s husband) “I’ll just go check to make sure they’re still breathing.”

VC’s best line: (Sophie) “How was the movie?”
(Rhonda’s husband) “I enjoyed it.”
(Rhonda) “He fell asleep.”
(her husband) “I enjoy sleeping.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput

388 Followers and Counting

 

My First Liebster Award…in Verse!

Tags

Award

 

Just why I have waited this long, I’m not sure,
But it’s about time to accept and secure
The Liebster Award I was honored to get
From Carly of Carly Hearts Movies. No sweat!
And like the award I received the last time,
I’ll write my acceptance completely in rhyme!
At least that’s the plan.
Why? ‘Cause I can.

From my understanding, I answer some questions,
Eleven of my nominator’s suggestions,
And after I’m finished, I make my own quiz,
And task several more in the blogosphere biz
To answer each question, whatever it is.

Thus, here’s the eleven-count quiz Carly chose,
Along with my lyrical answers. Here goes!

 

Which director would you most want to have a beer with?

 

Although I don’t drink, I can see myself licking
A large chocolate milkshake and casually picking
The brain of the great Steven Spielberg, by name.
(You may not have heard of him, which is a shame.)
His film repertoire’s such a varied creation
That I’d like to ask where he finds inspiration.

 

Name three movies that every film student in college/university should watch if they’re serious about the medium. Explain your reasoning.

 

I may not be an expert in the art of making films
Since I mainly do analysis for fun,
And I tend to be turned off by strange, pretention-ridden films
Like the endlessly acclaimed 2001.

So with that little caveat, a film I would propose
Is Orson Welles’s great Citizen Kane.
From mirror shots and angles to foreshadowing exposed,
Its artistry and themes will never wane.

As far as moving drama goes, Shawshank Redemption reigns,
And with good reason, multitudes revere it.
Both audience and critic see how well it entertains
And renders something of the human spirit.

And lastly, I would be remiss if I did not include
All three of Peter Jackson’s trilogy
That brought Lord of the Rings to film with epic magnitude,
An adaptation everyone should see.

 

Who is one movie villain that you can’t help but love?

 

Captain Barbossa from Pirates might count,
Though “love” isn’t quite the right word.
One worth both hate and love in equal amount
Is Hook’s Captain Hook, my preferred.
Oh, Dustin Hoffman plays him perfectly,
With the swagger, the menace, the look,
And as he concludes, what would the world be
Like without the depraved Captain Hook?

Is there a movie generally considered bad that you love unironically?

 

I’m generally pretty soft on most movies,
Yes, even the ones mostly hated,
Like Spider-Man 3, Brother Bear, and the like,
But my fondness for one must be stated.

In 2006, High School Musical came out
When I was the perfect tween age.
I didn’t let lackluster acting detract
From the music, both on and off stage.

For all of the cheesiness born from the ‘80s
That people forgive and embrace,
This film and its sequels are my kind of candy,
Which critical flak can’t erase.

 

Name three actors of any gender you’d want as your sibling, best friend, and significant other.

 

This is a hard one, since actors on screen
Are rarely the same in real life, I have seen.
So I’ll be selecting the three you suggest
Based on the role that would fit them the best.

For sibling, I guess I can’t pick animation
(Tadashi from Big Hero 6 is temptation),
So maybe I’ll choose Ferris Bueller since, hey,
He’s the coolest at school, and if Jennifer Grey
Hadn’t been so resentful, she might have realized
That a brother with that much clout ought to be prized.

For best friend, the first that came on my radar
Is Ansel Elgort in The Fault in Our Stars.
As Gus, he’s the nicest guy you can believe
And lets his friends damage his trophies to grieve.

For girlfriend or wife, I’ve a crush, you can bet.
(Too bad Lindsey Stirling’s no actress, not yet.)
Winona Rider in her prime makes me wilt,
Like in How to Make an American Quilt.
In The Mummy films too, Rachel Weisz is on fire,
A heroine too lovely not to admire.

What category(ies) should they add to the Oscars? They can be as serious or nonsensical as you please.

 

Best Cameo could join its recognized brothers,
Though such roles mean more to some people than others.
While a prize for Best Remake would spawn even more,
Competitiveness could make quality soar,
Or
The main category I would like to add
Would be Best Soundtrack, which so many have had,
A collection of used unoriginal songs
With a judgment of each and how well each belongs.
Cameron Crowe, Tarantino, the Coens, and such
Excel with soundtracks, having done them so much.
Best Soundtrack could go to films Oscar ignores,
Like Elizabethtown, The Big Chill, or The Doors.

 

In 1,000 years, when paper money is a distant memory, how will we pay for goods and services? (Yes, I pulled this from Cards Against Humanity. Humor me here.)

 

We’ll probably go back to silver and gold,
The tangible money that people can hold,
But maybe
The world will be run by the digital token,
Earned by the hour and lost by laws broken,
And tokens in people all over the globe
Could be stored in a chip in the temporal lobe
Of the brain, which is linked to a scan in your eye
So that you could look closely at something and buy.
Then the chip in your brain, with the power of thought,
Would transfer the digital tokens you’ve got.
Then again maybe not.

 

Tell me about an advertisement you absolutely hate and makes you immediately change the channel. It can be a commercial, infomercial, or PSA.

 

Cialis ads of ill repute
Are cured by buttons labeled “Mute.”

 

Do you have a favorite meme?

One does not simply single out memes.
There must be “over 9000”, it seems,
From “This is Sparta!” to Rick Astley’s roll,
From O RLY owls to the face of a troll,
From Hitler in Downfall creating a fuss
And “All your base are belong to us,”
To cute feline photos, both grumpy and shy,
And notes that remind us “the cake is a lie.”
I could keep on but for the “arrow in my knee.”
So shut up and take my poetry!
(For those who don’t know what this poem even meant,
Look it up! It’s then cooler by 20%.)

 

You can talk to animals but only one kind of animal. What is it?

 

I’d love to converse with a cat,
The one critter in my habitat,
Though I fear she’d grow bored
And just leave me ignored,
Even with the new option to chat.

 

Your non-dominant hand has been replaced with a rubber stamp. What does it say?

 

A strange question indeed.
(How’d it happen, I wonder?)
The one thing I’d need
If my hand was asunder
Is my signature.
I’d then rest my good hand,
When signings occur
For that novel I’ve planned.
If I had to be lame,
I’d at least stamp my name.

________________________

 

So now that I am finished with this fun new waste of time,
I suppose I should apologize to those who dislike rhyme.
You’re welcome.
And now my nominations, blogs deserving likes and fame,
Though most of them most likely have some Liebsters to their name.
You’re welcome to take part or not in something that, I guess,
Is a glorified chain letter that can be fun nonetheless.

 

Nominees:
MovieRob
Cinema Parrot Disco
Movie Reviews 101
Alex Raphael
A Fistful of Films
Emmakwall (explains it all)
Abbi Osbiston
Vinnieh
Damien Riley
54 Disney Reviews

 

Questions:

 

1. If any franchise could be revived with a truly awesome sequel, what would you choose?
2. What book would you most like to see adapted to screen? (It will probably happen eventually.)
3. If you were stranded on Mars like Matt Damon, what five movies would you most want on hand?
4. If you were stranded on Mars like Matt Damon, what would your preferred music playlist look like?
5. If you could wink any three films out of existence, what would they be?
6. What play or musical do you wish would be adapted to screen?
7. Who do you consider the best actor of all time?
8. What’s your favorite poem?
9. What bad movie do you wish could have been good (and not in a “so bad it’s good” kind of way)?
10. Is there any Oscar year where you completely agree with the Academy’s choices?
11. What movie do you most wish you could have seen as a kid?

 

Again, thanks to Carly for thinking of me,
And blessings and good luck to each nominee.

 

Counterpoint (1967)

Tags

Classics, Drama, Thriller, War

 

The wave of the constant conductor’s baton
Arises and dips as each note’s liaison.
It nods to the strings
As the clarinet sings
And the audience clings
To the melody’s wings.

The music is steady and blind to the world,
Where battle is brutal and bullets are hurled.
The music will stay,
If the artists still play
And the hearers, like they,
Let war’s din fade away.
_____________________

MPAA rating: Might as well be PG

In the annals of semi-classic Hollywood, there are bound to be undiscovered gems, and I’m glad to say I found one, a World War II thriller worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as The Great Escape. Counterpoint begins on the front lines of the European theater, where a USO symphony orchestra plays for the troops only to have their performance cut short by the advancing German army. Quickly captured by the Nazis, the orchestra’s director Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) demands they be released, but the Germans have orders to kill any and all prisoners. The only thing that saves them is the cultured admiration of the Nazi General Schiller (Maximilian Schell), who wants a concert and offers no guarantees of what is to follow it.

Heston and Schell make an outstanding pair of rivals, both self-absorbed and confident and used to getting their own way. Evans’ personality is summed up by an early line to his orchestra: “Each one of you will be responsible for your instruments, your music, and yourselves, in that order of importance.” Only two members of the seventy-member orchestra are actual characters (Leslie Nielsen, Kathryn Hays), but they and the rest know Evans’ ego all too well, and when he refuses to give in to General Schiller’s demands, they assume he’s satisfying his own opinions at their expense. Below the surface, however, he does care for his people and tries to stall the shooting squad that awaits them once the concert hall goes silent. Opposite Heston, Schell has a grinning, scheming charisma, looking perfectly at ease as he threatens his “guests”, like a precursor of Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. His treatment of an antique chair implies that he cares little for art, yet he’s a firm admirer of Evans and trades sharp-witted barbs with him to either convince or coerce him into submission. With one of his underlings clamoring for the prisoners’ blood, Schiller wants his concert before the war must resume.

I’m honestly surprised that Counterpoint isn’t a better-known film. The Nazis’ periodic acts of aggression keep the tension high, and close calls and narrow escapes are juxtaposed with the grandeur of the Los Angeles Philharmonic playing Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Wagner. The climax even kept me guessing right up to the end. It’s not necessarily an award magnet that got spurned, but it’s an excellent and thoroughly underrated film that deserves far more recognition.

Best line: (Schiller) “To paraphrase Napoleon, morality is on the side of the heaviest artillery.”   (Evans) “Whatever happened to Napoleon?”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
386 Followers and Counting

 

Bridge of Spies (2015)

Tags

Drama, History

 

Before you, a bridge rises out of the mist,
The near side your own side; the far, you resist.
On your side, so many are pleased to deride
The enemy wretches on their other side
And know in their hearts that their odious foe
Hates your side in equal amount, quid pro quo.

You fear them and jeer them and anyone near them
And anyone shy or unwilling to smear them,
And they do the same with no ending in sight
As hate begets hate and the threat of a fight.
You don’t really want one, and why would they too?
But they are untrustworthy, which they call you.

One day, though, you happen to meet one of “them,”
And though your first instinct’s perhaps to condemn
Like everyone else on the bridge’s two sides,
You doubt if it’s more than a bridge that divides.
Then, having suppressed your presumptive suspicion,
You look past the cover to read the edition.

Indeed, there’s a man behind labels and threats,
Not too unlike you, full of hopes and regrets.
You still disagree, thinking your side’s the best,
But men are more kindred than one might have guessed.
The bridge separates your two sides still suspect,
But now you await the day it may connect.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

The first review I heard of Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies was from a coworker who described it as “really boring but really good.” While the first part is arguable, I sincerely agree with the latter. Spielberg’s latest stab at significant historical drama may not be his most accessible, but it’s a solid addition to an already legendary filmography.

I’d wager that anyone other than a history buff probably has little more than name recognition when it comes to Gary Powers and the U-2 incident; I consider myself a semi-history buff, and I had no clue of the true story behind it, which began with the capture of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Oscar winner Mark Rylance). Since even criminals are given due process and no lawyer actually wants to defend an enemy spy, the powers that be task attorney James Donovan (ever-watchable Tom Hanks) with the duty of representing him in court. Donovan exhibits surprising commitment to the defense of his hated client, but it quickly becomes clear that Abel has already been convicted in the minds of both public and judge, making the prosecution nothing but a show trial.

I was reminded of how John Adams defended the British soldiers responsible for the Boston Massacre and somehow succeeded in acquitting most of them, proving the impartiality of American justice. However, such open-mindedness did not extend to the Cold War; not to say that Abel was innocent, but Donovan treats him with a laudable “innocent-until-proven-guilty” mentality and earns much hate for himself in doing so. Dirty looks on the train are one thing, but when cowardly haters take potshots through Donovan’s windows, we’re reminded that people’s respect for the law extends only as far as their own prejudices. (To be fair, I’ve read that such an incident never actually happened.) Of particular note is a scene that jumps back and forth between Donovan’s work and the secret deployment of Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 pilot shot down over enemy territory; the juxtaposition is subtle, but both men perform their duty for an unappreciative nation. The court battle could have made a good film by itself, but we see little of the legal proceedings as Donovan’s efforts are put into the larger context of international espionage, placing the attorney in the unfamiliar waters of prisoner exchanges and clandestine negotiations.

I can see how Bridge of Spies may not be a riveting experience for disinterested viewers, but I found the legal and political maneuvering consistently intriguing and not nearly as opaque as it could have been. Between the Coen brother’s intermittently witty script and Spielberg’s nuanced direction, the story flows naturally from one significant event to the next. I especially admired how certain scenes were foreshadowed or mirrored, whether for a sentimental payoff or for comparison, such as the contrast between the Soviets’ rough handling of Powers and the more civil treatment of Abel by the Americans. It may not be as exceptional a performance for Hanks compared with his more acclaimed roles, but I thought his principled character still deserved an Academy Award nomination. Rylance, who did win Best Supporting Actor, deserved praise for his drily sympathetic portrayal of Abel, but honestly I’m not sure that it would have warranted an Oscar in a more competitive year. In fact, I would have appreciated a little more interaction between Abel and Donovan, whose friendship is relegated mainly to the first half.

Despite these quibbles and the deliberate pacing, Bridge of Spies is quite close to a masterpiece. The historical basis and the focus on diplomacy and “spy stuff” through a personal lens distinguish their latest collaboration as one more success of which Hanks and Spielberg can be proud.

Best line: (Abel) “What’s the next move when you don’t know what the game is?”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
386 Followers and Counting

 

School of Rock (2003)

Tags

Comedy, Musical

 

(Best sung to AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)”)

Knowing next to nothing,
Except for rock and roll
May well get you nothing
Resembling a goal.

Roll the rock,
Rock the roll,
If the music’s
In your soul.
Getting paid
For it, though—
It may be rare, but that’s the way to go.

It’s a grand gig worth a song,
Teaching what you know the best.
It’s a grand gig, just as long
As it’s legal and you’re dressed.

If you want to try and buck “the Man’s” control,
Takes passion to go make your own goal.

It’s a grand gig when you rock
To the rhythm of your soul.
________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Don’t you love it when you expect very little from a movie and end up enjoying it far more than you thought possible? I found that the case with School of Rock, a comedy that many seem to consider a classic and yet I never have had any desire to see. I suppose it’s Jack Black that turned me away; I’ve always considered his comedy odd and lowbrow, akin to Adam Sandler’s, and yet what little I’ve seen of his, I’ve liked. He was good in Shallow Hal and The Muppets and the Kung Fu Panda movies, quite good in King Kong, and more charmingly low-key in The Holiday. I should really check out more of his movies, since both my VC and I thoroughly enjoyed School of Rock.

Black starts out as the kind of slobbish loser he seems to enjoy playing, a jobless rocker named Dewey Finn, who is kicked out of his own band after a pathetic concert. Living with his former bandmate Ned Schneebly (screenwriter Mike White) and Ned’s overbearing girlfriend (Sarah Silverman), Dewey’s life and career are going nowhere fast, and when Ned “demands” the rent he’d owed, there’s only one reasonable thing to do. Dewey impersonates Ned as a substitute teacher at an elite prep school, which strangely checks neither his references nor his ID. Faced with a class full of fourth-graders better educated than himself, Dewey trains them in his one area of expertise – classic rock – and prepares them to participate in a “Battle of the Bands” while trying to keep everything secret from their parents, Ned, and the uptight school principal Ms. Mullins (Joan Cusack).

The implausible setup alone is ripe with comedic opportunities, and the film rarely misses a beat. From Dewey’s rant against “the Man” to his students’ faking a blood disease, the dialogue finds the right balance between funny and believable. Aside from the general humor, though, School of Rock’s greatest appeal is to anyone who has ever banged their head to AC/DC or Fleetwood Mac or Led Zeppelin; not only are many classic rock songs played and sampled, but Black praises and explains them with such infectious gusto that both audience and class are won over, despite his quirky ineptitude.

Another plus is how Dewey manages to “touch” his students (figuratively): encouraging the shy boy who’s convinced himself he’s uncool, sympathizing with an overweight girl, showing some maturity by enforcing discipline with one kid who takes his reckless teaching to heart. There’s a bit of smart-mouthing by the kids, but both they and Dewey manage to grow while still remaining uniquely themselves. It was also nice to recognize young overachiever Summer as Miranda Cosgrove, who went on to play evil sister Megan on Drake and Josh. (I grew up with that show. I know she can sing, so it was odd that she pretended to be a poor singer here.) Even the final concert delivered on the expectations that had been growing throughout the movie, only making me wish that the performance could have been longer.

School of Rock is still popular today, spawning a Broadway play and a Nickelodeon TV series just this past year, and I now see why. Since she’s a bigger rock fan than I, my VC enjoyed it even more; she even started watching it again as soon as it was over. It’s not often that a film totally exceeds my expectations, but if you’ll forgive the pun, School of Rock rocks!

Best line: (Frankie) “Ms. Mullins, you’re “the Man.”   (Ms. Mullins) “Thank you, Frankie!”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
386 Followers and Counting