Fellow Move Lovers
A SINGLE MAN
Never has a broken heart been rendered as achingly beautiful as Colin Firth’s portrayal of Professor George Falconer in Tom Ford’s A Single man. Anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one will empathize with the excruciating pain and realization that the absence, the void is eternal.
George moves through his life, a life where everything is obsessively organized; shirts, ties, bedroom, kitchen all sterile and bereft of warmth, knowing that one uncontrolled movement will shatter into a thousand points of light, the havoc within. He looks in the mirror and sees not what the world sees but a vessel housing and protecting his pain. He has made it sacred.
An art historian said that a work of art interrogates the time in which it was created.
This movie based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood takes place in 1962. Tom Ford (a fashion designer); Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and the musical score by Abel Korzeniowski have depicted a story of love and loss with such dignity and integrity that it will rest forever on a pedestal of movie masterpieces.
FIVE STARS!!!!!!!!
For Now……………..Peneflix
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Fellow Movie Lovers
Fellow Movie Lovers
“IT’S COMPLICATED”
“It’s complicated”, a major ingredient of twenty-first century vernacular, is a euphuism for our inability to explain our ineptitudes, poor decisions or complications from personal or professional relationships gone awry. The situation we manufactured but no longer want ownership of, and are too mortified to confess to its creation and too embarrassed to seek help. But Nancy Meyers masterfully tackles the complications of the divorced Jane and Jake Adler with such skill and wisdom that never again will I utter the words “it’s complicated” without a silent but joyous chuckle. This movie charms, pleases and succeeds in lifting the spirits to unchartered heights.
Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are flawless. Their characters exude confidence, charm and vulnerability. They have been wounded; the scars are obvious, but endured. The screen pulsated with their humanness.
The trophy goes to Meyers. She climbed into the minds, hearts and psyches of “women of a certain age” turned them inside out, so the beauty within, the sensuality that never withers but intensifies with time spilled off the screen onto an audience relishing and rooting for a woman who could be a grandmother. Why not, can’t grandmothers be desirable?
Myers has been doing this for years (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want) but “It’s Complicated” is the 24 carat diamond in the crown. Her females are accomplished women; secure and mature. Primarily they like what they have become; the youthful unrealized fantasies are no substitute for the power of surmounting life’s obstacles, unscathed. Wrinkles, widening hips, drooping lids are badges to be flaunted, not flaws to be surgically erased. They are ensconced in beautiful but lived in homes; reflecting the security of their taste, not a decorators.
The script is hilarious; every line by every actor delivered with precise comedic timing.
Special applause to John Kraniski, whose portrayal of Harley, the soon to be son-in-law, is rich in subtle nuances.
The movie is most sensual in the cuisine creating scenes. You salivate as Jane (like Julia Child) prepares Croque Monsieurs (open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches) for Adam or at his request warm chocolate croissants in her shuttered pastry shop; ideal setting for an eventual assignation. Food and love, a partnership that satiates both the palate and the heart; a copious theme on the screen (Tom Jones, Julie/Julia) and the real world.
In conclusion it is Jake who says “It’s Complicated”. No impediment will halt Jane’s evolution to be a “woman of a certain age”, shining and thriving in every glorious minute.
FOUR & 1/2 STARS!
For Now…………
Peneflix
“IT’S COMPLICATED”
“It’s complicated”, a major ingredient of twenty-first century vernacular, is a euphuism for our inability to explain our ineptitudes, poor decisions or complications from personal or professional relationships gone awry. The situation we manufactured but no longer want ownership of, and are too mortified to confess to its creation and too embarrassed to seek help. But Nancy Meyers masterfully tackles the complications of the divorced Jane and Jake Adler with such skill and wisdom that never again will I utter the words “it’s complicated” without a silent but joyous chuckle. This movie charms, pleases and succeeds in lifting the spirits to unchartered heights.
Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are flawless. Their characters exude confidence, charm and vulnerability. They have been wounded; the scars are obvious, but endured. The screen pulsated with their humanness.
The trophy goes to Meyers. She climbed into the minds, hearts and psyches of “women of a certain age” turned them inside out, so the beauty within, the sensuality that never withers but intensifies with time spilled off the screen onto an audience relishing and rooting for a woman who could be a grandmother. Why not, can’t grandmothers be desirable?
Myers has been doing this for years (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want) but “It’s Complicated” is the 24 carat diamond in the crown. Her females are accomplished women; secure and mature. Primarily they like what they have become; the youthful unrealized fantasies are no substitute for the power of surmounting life’s obstacles, unscathed. Wrinkles, widening hips, drooping lids are badges to be flaunted, not flaws to be surgically erased. They are ensconced in beautiful but lived in homes; reflecting the security of their taste, not a decorators.
The script is hilarious; every line by every actor delivered with precise comedic timing.
Special applause to John Kraniski, whose portrayal of Harley, the soon to be son-in-law, is rich in subtle nuances.
The movie is most sensual in the cuisine creating scenes. You salivate as Jane (like Julia Child) prepares Croque Monsieurs (open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches) for Adam or at his request warm chocolate croissants in her shuttered pastry shop; ideal setting for an eventual assignation. Food and love, a partnership that satiates both the palate and the heart; a copious theme on the screen (Tom Jones, Julie/Julia) and the real world.
In conclusion it is Jake who says “It’s Complicated”. No impediment will halt Jane’s evolution to be a “woman of a certain age”, shining and thriving in every glorious minute.
FOUR & 1/2 STARS!
For Now…………
Peneflix
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Fellow Movie Lovers
Fellow Movie Lovers
AVATAR
In Hinduism the word avatar, derived from the Sanskrit, avatana (incarnation) is primarily associated with the god Vishnu, the preserver. To straighten out the foibles of man he appears in human form; the two most recognized avatars are Krishna starring in the Mahabharata and Rama the hero in the Ramayana epic.
James Cameron’s (Titanic) Avatar is based on the 1992 book Cyber Punk by Neal Stephenson. You create your own three dimensional alter ego. Barely capable of navigating my DVR this is the culmination of my Virtual reality sensibility. But cloning I comprehend; never missing a party, how divine!
The story is preposterous but if you can suspend belief and don the three dimensional glasses you can enjoy the experience; although the bonding with one’s seat seems interminable.
We westerners have invaded Pandora (in Greek mythology the woman created specifically by Zeus to open the box and deluge the world with disease, evil, pain but softened with a sprinkle of hope); to mix with and understand the indigenous population and persuade them to relocate or suffer annihilation. The gestation occurs in a huge Petri tank and the process is fascinating.
The moral is achingly obvious; man’s greed for territorial expansion unchanged through the millenniums. An efficacious touch was the arrows vs. the artillery.
The actors, all gave notable performances but Stephen Lang, the epitome of military intransigence, is staggeringly real as Col. Miles Quaritch. He soars and scores a perfect missile in every scene.
What was problematic is the 3-dimensional filming technique; it has been around for many years yet never massively appealed to movie audiences.
The first attempt was in 1915 followed in 1922 by Power of Love at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The Italians and Russians venture into the genre in the 30’s and 40’s. The pivotal breakthrough was Warner Brother’s 3-D stereophonic sound, The House of Wax in 1953.
James Cameron a god in the film world creates the finest scenario for the 3-D experience. He eliminates the boundaries between the viewer and the film; we are in Pandora. Perhaps the flaw is the glasses; during the three hour Avatar I occasionally removed them and saw the blurred images and could no longer suspend my belief and with a shrug of the shoulders decided Pandora was not for me!
THREE STARS!
NINE
Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ opened in 1963. I was a student in Rome, Italy and this film, so revolutionary changed forever my expectations or satisfactions with the traditional Hollywood fare (Doris Day/Rock Hudson); guts, glory, fantasy and freedom, packaged so lusciously and sensually that Fellini became a shaman, guru to us expats in Rome.
Inebriates of Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimee, Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita); appetites never satiated, we went in ever expanding groups over and over to 8 ½, until every scene was permanently etched on our impressionable and fertile souls.
So my anticipatory taste buds were on high alert as I waited for the commencement of Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) rendition of Fellini’s 8 ½ …Nine. My hopes plummeted within minutes.
Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood) plays the stooped, tortured, ghoulish Guido, hiding behind dark glasses and cigarettes; so bereft of substance that at any second he might evaporate ghostlike in a haze of nicotine. He is a brilliant actor, miscast.
The plot revolves around the women he needs to survive; they are his sycophants. It is inscrutable what they see in him.
Fellini always said that 8 ½ referenced the number of films he had directed up to this point: not the women.
The women are resplendent. They sing, dance, gyrate, cry and pay homage to the dysfunctional Guido. Penelope Cruz (mistress) flawless; Marion Cotillard (wife) perfectly poignant; Nicole Kidman (muse) magnificent; Sophia Loren (mother) iconic;
Judi Dench (costume designer, his Edith Head) always dignified; Kate Hudson (journalist) completely compelling.
But the most sensational, lustfully luscious, Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) is mesmerizing as Saraghina, Guido’s youthful initiation into the enchantments of the female species. She bears a strong resemblance to Anita Ekberg and is hypnotic performing the only song worth humming or remembering, “Be Italian”.
A more satisfying two hours would be spent watching Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960),
8 ½, or my all time favorite Fellini flick, Juliet of the Sprits (1965).
Nine receives not 8 ½ but only………
TWO & 1/2 STARS!
For Now……..
Peneflix
AVATAR
In Hinduism the word avatar, derived from the Sanskrit, avatana (incarnation) is primarily associated with the god Vishnu, the preserver. To straighten out the foibles of man he appears in human form; the two most recognized avatars are Krishna starring in the Mahabharata and Rama the hero in the Ramayana epic.
James Cameron’s (Titanic) Avatar is based on the 1992 book Cyber Punk by Neal Stephenson. You create your own three dimensional alter ego. Barely capable of navigating my DVR this is the culmination of my Virtual reality sensibility. But cloning I comprehend; never missing a party, how divine!
The story is preposterous but if you can suspend belief and don the three dimensional glasses you can enjoy the experience; although the bonding with one’s seat seems interminable.
We westerners have invaded Pandora (in Greek mythology the woman created specifically by Zeus to open the box and deluge the world with disease, evil, pain but softened with a sprinkle of hope); to mix with and understand the indigenous population and persuade them to relocate or suffer annihilation. The gestation occurs in a huge Petri tank and the process is fascinating.
The moral is achingly obvious; man’s greed for territorial expansion unchanged through the millenniums. An efficacious touch was the arrows vs. the artillery.
The actors, all gave notable performances but Stephen Lang, the epitome of military intransigence, is staggeringly real as Col. Miles Quaritch. He soars and scores a perfect missile in every scene.
What was problematic is the 3-dimensional filming technique; it has been around for many years yet never massively appealed to movie audiences.
The first attempt was in 1915 followed in 1922 by Power of Love at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The Italians and Russians venture into the genre in the 30’s and 40’s. The pivotal breakthrough was Warner Brother’s 3-D stereophonic sound, The House of Wax in 1953.
James Cameron a god in the film world creates the finest scenario for the 3-D experience. He eliminates the boundaries between the viewer and the film; we are in Pandora. Perhaps the flaw is the glasses; during the three hour Avatar I occasionally removed them and saw the blurred images and could no longer suspend my belief and with a shrug of the shoulders decided Pandora was not for me!
THREE STARS!
NINE
Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ opened in 1963. I was a student in Rome, Italy and this film, so revolutionary changed forever my expectations or satisfactions with the traditional Hollywood fare (Doris Day/Rock Hudson); guts, glory, fantasy and freedom, packaged so lusciously and sensually that Fellini became a shaman, guru to us expats in Rome.
Inebriates of Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimee, Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita); appetites never satiated, we went in ever expanding groups over and over to 8 ½, until every scene was permanently etched on our impressionable and fertile souls.
So my anticipatory taste buds were on high alert as I waited for the commencement of Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) rendition of Fellini’s 8 ½ …Nine. My hopes plummeted within minutes.
Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood) plays the stooped, tortured, ghoulish Guido, hiding behind dark glasses and cigarettes; so bereft of substance that at any second he might evaporate ghostlike in a haze of nicotine. He is a brilliant actor, miscast.
The plot revolves around the women he needs to survive; they are his sycophants. It is inscrutable what they see in him.
Fellini always said that 8 ½ referenced the number of films he had directed up to this point: not the women.
The women are resplendent. They sing, dance, gyrate, cry and pay homage to the dysfunctional Guido. Penelope Cruz (mistress) flawless; Marion Cotillard (wife) perfectly poignant; Nicole Kidman (muse) magnificent; Sophia Loren (mother) iconic;
Judi Dench (costume designer, his Edith Head) always dignified; Kate Hudson (journalist) completely compelling.
But the most sensational, lustfully luscious, Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) is mesmerizing as Saraghina, Guido’s youthful initiation into the enchantments of the female species. She bears a strong resemblance to Anita Ekberg and is hypnotic performing the only song worth humming or remembering, “Be Italian”.
A more satisfying two hours would be spent watching Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960),
8 ½, or my all time favorite Fellini flick, Juliet of the Sprits (1965).
Nine receives not 8 ½ but only………
TWO & 1/2 STARS!
For Now……..
Peneflix
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Fellow Movie Lovers
Fellow Movie Lovers
THE YOUNG VICTORIA & BROKEN EMBRACES
Never I have seen two movies in a twenty-four hour span that were so deliciously satiating; comparable to a titillating, palate- pampering dining experience, each exquisite swallow, gone but not forgotten.
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
The beguiling Emily Blount (The Devil Wears Prada) captures the innocence, grace and metal of the seventeen year old queen to be. Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice) is aptly cast as Albert, her cousin and suitor. Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) gives a superb performance as Lord Melbourne, the politically adroit advisor to the inexperienced Queen.
Sara Ferguson adds a royal touch as a producer.
Julian Fellows (actor turned screen writer) won the Oscar for Gosford Park and will rank once again, among the contenders for this finely tuned piece of scripting.
Victoria and Albert both born in 1819; married in 1840; and with impressive fecundity produced nine children while ruling jointly over England’s economic and imperial expansion for twenty years.
This film is glorious to look at; the manicured English gardens, sculptured to perfection; the luscious opulence of the palaces; wardrobes and jewels glisten with excessive and stunning wealth.
Primarily this is a love story. Victoria as Queen must propose to the man of her choice and this is a scene that transcends their positions; two people who rise above the awkwardness and embrace as any loving couple would.
They also suffer the tensions of the first year of marriage: pregnancy, his role as the Queen’s husband and striving to come to terms with everyday life together.
The viewer will relate and rejoice as these trials are resolved.
As the film reached it conclusion, I silently screamed NO! Does this mean I have to leave? I stayed and watched every credit, the lights came on and the cleaning crew politely worked around me, until with dreaded alacrity I departed.
FOUR STARS!
BROKEN EMBRACES
This is the fourth and most successful pairing of Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz.
A partnership reminiscent of Pygmalion/Aphrodite, Svengali/Tilby, Professor Higgins/Eliza Doolittle. In the case of Almodovar and Cruz it has been mutually beneficial to both parties.
Penelope Cruz is rapturous, luminescent and at the peak of her powerful career; she is totally captivating and believable as Lena, the sprite who inspires love and obsession. It is a magical performance. She seems much more comfortable in her native tongue; audiences often feel that the character is diminished by an accent. She proved audiences wrong in garnishing the academy award for best supporting actress in Vicky, Cristina,
Barcelona!
I was emotionally ambushed from the first line. Without exception every character exudes humanness, flawed but genuine to the core. Mateo (aka Harry Caine) is given a depth of such magnitude by Lluis Homar that you empathize but not pity the man from the initial humorous moment.
Blanca Portillo as Judit is outstanding, she possess and controls and dominates every scene she appears in. Watching her was heart rendering. She is the glue that holds the story together; her catharsis is revolutionary in its candidness.
The story is unveiled in a series of flashbacks over a fourteen year period. It involves a love triangle, jealousy, and lessons in human fragility. The intimate scenes are passionate but not lewd; even hilarious and fraught with levity. There was not a maudlin or manipulative moment in this spectacular film.
Ultimately it is Penelope Cruz who takes full ownership for the success and vitality of Broken Embraces. There is one fleeting moment when she passes a Matisse like painting and her beauty matches and surpasses the work of art.
Leaving I realized with rarefied and painful clarity that all embraces are ephemeral and doomed to be broken.
FIVE STARS!
Caveat. For those of you who missed The Hurt Locker, it has been re-released. It is one of the best non-documentary war stories ever told. Kathryn Bigelow’s genius should be recognized by the Academy in the spring. It is a four star must see!
For Now…………Peneflix
THE YOUNG VICTORIA & BROKEN EMBRACES
Never I have seen two movies in a twenty-four hour span that were so deliciously satiating; comparable to a titillating, palate- pampering dining experience, each exquisite swallow, gone but not forgotten.
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
The beguiling Emily Blount (The Devil Wears Prada) captures the innocence, grace and metal of the seventeen year old queen to be. Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice) is aptly cast as Albert, her cousin and suitor. Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) gives a superb performance as Lord Melbourne, the politically adroit advisor to the inexperienced Queen.
Sara Ferguson adds a royal touch as a producer.
Julian Fellows (actor turned screen writer) won the Oscar for Gosford Park and will rank once again, among the contenders for this finely tuned piece of scripting.
Victoria and Albert both born in 1819; married in 1840; and with impressive fecundity produced nine children while ruling jointly over England’s economic and imperial expansion for twenty years.
This film is glorious to look at; the manicured English gardens, sculptured to perfection; the luscious opulence of the palaces; wardrobes and jewels glisten with excessive and stunning wealth.
Primarily this is a love story. Victoria as Queen must propose to the man of her choice and this is a scene that transcends their positions; two people who rise above the awkwardness and embrace as any loving couple would.
They also suffer the tensions of the first year of marriage: pregnancy, his role as the Queen’s husband and striving to come to terms with everyday life together.
The viewer will relate and rejoice as these trials are resolved.
As the film reached it conclusion, I silently screamed NO! Does this mean I have to leave? I stayed and watched every credit, the lights came on and the cleaning crew politely worked around me, until with dreaded alacrity I departed.
FOUR STARS!
BROKEN EMBRACES
This is the fourth and most successful pairing of Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz.
A partnership reminiscent of Pygmalion/Aphrodite, Svengali/Tilby, Professor Higgins/Eliza Doolittle. In the case of Almodovar and Cruz it has been mutually beneficial to both parties.
Penelope Cruz is rapturous, luminescent and at the peak of her powerful career; she is totally captivating and believable as Lena, the sprite who inspires love and obsession. It is a magical performance. She seems much more comfortable in her native tongue; audiences often feel that the character is diminished by an accent. She proved audiences wrong in garnishing the academy award for best supporting actress in Vicky, Cristina,
Barcelona!
I was emotionally ambushed from the first line. Without exception every character exudes humanness, flawed but genuine to the core. Mateo (aka Harry Caine) is given a depth of such magnitude by Lluis Homar that you empathize but not pity the man from the initial humorous moment.
Blanca Portillo as Judit is outstanding, she possess and controls and dominates every scene she appears in. Watching her was heart rendering. She is the glue that holds the story together; her catharsis is revolutionary in its candidness.
The story is unveiled in a series of flashbacks over a fourteen year period. It involves a love triangle, jealousy, and lessons in human fragility. The intimate scenes are passionate but not lewd; even hilarious and fraught with levity. There was not a maudlin or manipulative moment in this spectacular film.
Ultimately it is Penelope Cruz who takes full ownership for the success and vitality of Broken Embraces. There is one fleeting moment when she passes a Matisse like painting and her beauty matches and surpasses the work of art.
Leaving I realized with rarefied and painful clarity that all embraces are ephemeral and doomed to be broken.
FIVE STARS!
Caveat. For those of you who missed The Hurt Locker, it has been re-released. It is one of the best non-documentary war stories ever told. Kathryn Bigelow’s genius should be recognized by the Academy in the spring. It is a four star must see!
For Now…………Peneflix
Friday, December 18, 2009
Fellow Movie Lovers
Fellow Movie Lovers
Yes, I have returned from a warm and luscious hiatus. While relishing the only place in the continental United States that was bathed in sunshine I still managed to sit in a darkened and cool theatre to view:
INVICTUS
After a week of digesting this film, another jewel by Clint Eastwood (a man who never tires of reinventing himself) I have reached the prescient conclusion that the poem Invictus is the true star of this movie.
It was written in 1875 by British poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1902). It is worthy of
repetition;
Invictus (unconquered in Latin)
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods that be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
As a child Henley was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone and eventually lost a foot to the disease. His spirit remained undaunted throughout his life. It was this poem that served as a beacon of fortitude for Nelson Mandela during his twenty- seven years of incarceration.
Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela; a role he was destined to play. So rarely does an actor have the attributes of the character he portrays, either real or fictional that the viewer could not fathom anyone else in the role. (Only Clark Gable could capture the inimitable charms and skullduggery of Rhett Butler; or Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice).
The plot revolves around the challenges Mandela had to conquer as the first black president of South Africa; he legitimately feared polarization and brilliantly decided that the game of rugby was the chemical needed to narrow the monumental divide between the Afrikaners and the blacks they so loathed and feared. He goes against the advice of his aids and keeps the Springbok mascot (gazelle), a symbol of oppression and white domination. He enlists as his disciple the captain of the Springbok team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and together conceive the illusive miracle……winning the World Cup in one years’ time.
Pienaar’s conversion fueled by Invictus is masterfully crafted. Matt Damon, accent and all, gives Pienaar the gentle grace and strength of a leader without a splash of sentimentality.
Watching the film I realized that something was lacking. Looking for a depth at least a thousand leagues under the sea; but instead remained at the lake level. Maybe Morgan Freeman’s imitation of Mandela was too perfect. Or possibly an over abundance of the rugby game and its rutting sound effects.
Nelson Mandela is an icon of our modern times, almost godlike in his accomplishments.
Always in the top ten of whom you would “like to have as a dinner partner”. But as I watched the film, lines from a poem by Richard Lovelace waltzed through my mind:
Stone walls do not a prison make
Nor iron bars a cage
Minds innocent and quiet
Take that for a hermitage.
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free
Angels alone, that soar above
Enjoy such liberty.
Nelson Mandela is a dazzling example that there are no shackles that can hinder the flight of a soul so pure it reigns with the celestial.
THREE & 1/2 STARS!
For Now……….Peneflix
Yes, I have returned from a warm and luscious hiatus. While relishing the only place in the continental United States that was bathed in sunshine I still managed to sit in a darkened and cool theatre to view:
INVICTUS
After a week of digesting this film, another jewel by Clint Eastwood (a man who never tires of reinventing himself) I have reached the prescient conclusion that the poem Invictus is the true star of this movie.
It was written in 1875 by British poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1902). It is worthy of
repetition;
Invictus (unconquered in Latin)
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods that be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
As a child Henley was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone and eventually lost a foot to the disease. His spirit remained undaunted throughout his life. It was this poem that served as a beacon of fortitude for Nelson Mandela during his twenty- seven years of incarceration.
Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela; a role he was destined to play. So rarely does an actor have the attributes of the character he portrays, either real or fictional that the viewer could not fathom anyone else in the role. (Only Clark Gable could capture the inimitable charms and skullduggery of Rhett Butler; or Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice).
The plot revolves around the challenges Mandela had to conquer as the first black president of South Africa; he legitimately feared polarization and brilliantly decided that the game of rugby was the chemical needed to narrow the monumental divide between the Afrikaners and the blacks they so loathed and feared. He goes against the advice of his aids and keeps the Springbok mascot (gazelle), a symbol of oppression and white domination. He enlists as his disciple the captain of the Springbok team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and together conceive the illusive miracle……winning the World Cup in one years’ time.
Pienaar’s conversion fueled by Invictus is masterfully crafted. Matt Damon, accent and all, gives Pienaar the gentle grace and strength of a leader without a splash of sentimentality.
Watching the film I realized that something was lacking. Looking for a depth at least a thousand leagues under the sea; but instead remained at the lake level. Maybe Morgan Freeman’s imitation of Mandela was too perfect. Or possibly an over abundance of the rugby game and its rutting sound effects.
Nelson Mandela is an icon of our modern times, almost godlike in his accomplishments.
Always in the top ten of whom you would “like to have as a dinner partner”. But as I watched the film, lines from a poem by Richard Lovelace waltzed through my mind:
Stone walls do not a prison make
Nor iron bars a cage
Minds innocent and quiet
Take that for a hermitage.
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free
Angels alone, that soar above
Enjoy such liberty.
Nelson Mandela is a dazzling example that there are no shackles that can hinder the flight of a soul so pure it reigns with the celestial.
THREE & 1/2 STARS!
For Now……….Peneflix
Monday, December 7, 2009
Fellow Movie Lovers
Fellow Movie Lovers
BROTHERS
This is a well acted but not quite successful film. It is based on the 2004 movie Brodre by Danish director Susanne Bier (After the Wedding, Things We Lost in the Fire). The film’s success or failure rests with director Jim Sheridan. The subject matter, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and its victims is indeed timely and worthy of consideration. The Cahill family Sam, Tommy and Grace represent ordinary people living in extraordinary times.
Sam (Toby Maguire) is the flawless son of a military family; Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) the ne’er-do well son, an ex con, the perfect black sheep; Grace (Natalie Portman) the exquisite, ideal wife of soldier Sam. The plot revolves around Sam’s return to Afghanistan, being shot down, captured and tortured by the Taliban. Meanwhile back home Sam is presumed dead, buried and his grief ridden family struggles with the aftermath of eviscerating loss.
The patness and predictability of the story; the stereotypical Taliban; the metamorphosis of the characters all flowed downstream into a pool of mediocrity.
The movie is saved by the actors who are still young enough that their off screen personas have yet to transcend their screen roles (Fates suffered by Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey). Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) is gifted at portraying the vulnerable wounded soul and is mesmerizing as Tommy. Natalie Portman (Closer and The Other Boleyn Girl) elevated the act of crying to the Olympic level and remains ethereal with each tear. Toby Maguire (better known as Peter Parker, Spider Man) does the Hyde to Jekyll transformation too convincingly for my taste; but is a talent still evolving.
See, if you have two free hours and enjoy watching three actors in the embryonic stage of their film careers.
TWO AND 1/2 STARS!
UP IN THE AIR
A week ago I saw and reviewed The Messenger. The protagonist in Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman (Juno), is Ryan Bingham played with unwavering charm by George Clooney, a messenger in an unusual category. He flies with limited baggage around the country firing employees of companies that management lacks the courage to terminate personally. He tries, with great skill and aplomb, to spin a positive side to their trauma. These interviews played primarily by real individuals who have been euphemistically “down sized” are the focal point, and most successful aspect of the film.
Mr. Clooney whose countenance has improved with age gives a credible performance; Ryan Bingham blissfully accepts his flaws but is not intransigent to change. The catalyst for his development rests in the powers of two women. Alex (Vera Farmiga) sexually provocative and just as savvy in negotiating the elite lane of frequent fliers. Ryan’s goal is to achieve the ten million mile stratosphere, where the air is purified and shared by a privileged few. And Natalie (played with comedic brilliance by Anna Kendrick) the precocious twenty three year old hired to ground the “Ryan’s” of the corporation by firing folks via video conferencing. Natalie’s epiphany is profound.
The movie is entertaining but both Reitman and Clooney have reached higher professional peaks. Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking should be at the pinnacle of your Netflix list. Clooney’s Intolerable Cruelty exhibits his comedic flair and adroitness to perfection.
There are many contemplative messages in Up in the Air but unfortunately for the viewer it never maximizes its cruising altitude.
THREE STARS!
For Now……………..Peneflix
BROTHERS
This is a well acted but not quite successful film. It is based on the 2004 movie Brodre by Danish director Susanne Bier (After the Wedding, Things We Lost in the Fire). The film’s success or failure rests with director Jim Sheridan. The subject matter, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and its victims is indeed timely and worthy of consideration. The Cahill family Sam, Tommy and Grace represent ordinary people living in extraordinary times.
Sam (Toby Maguire) is the flawless son of a military family; Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) the ne’er-do well son, an ex con, the perfect black sheep; Grace (Natalie Portman) the exquisite, ideal wife of soldier Sam. The plot revolves around Sam’s return to Afghanistan, being shot down, captured and tortured by the Taliban. Meanwhile back home Sam is presumed dead, buried and his grief ridden family struggles with the aftermath of eviscerating loss.
The patness and predictability of the story; the stereotypical Taliban; the metamorphosis of the characters all flowed downstream into a pool of mediocrity.
The movie is saved by the actors who are still young enough that their off screen personas have yet to transcend their screen roles (Fates suffered by Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey). Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) is gifted at portraying the vulnerable wounded soul and is mesmerizing as Tommy. Natalie Portman (Closer and The Other Boleyn Girl) elevated the act of crying to the Olympic level and remains ethereal with each tear. Toby Maguire (better known as Peter Parker, Spider Man) does the Hyde to Jekyll transformation too convincingly for my taste; but is a talent still evolving.
See, if you have two free hours and enjoy watching three actors in the embryonic stage of their film careers.
TWO AND 1/2 STARS!
UP IN THE AIR
A week ago I saw and reviewed The Messenger. The protagonist in Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman (Juno), is Ryan Bingham played with unwavering charm by George Clooney, a messenger in an unusual category. He flies with limited baggage around the country firing employees of companies that management lacks the courage to terminate personally. He tries, with great skill and aplomb, to spin a positive side to their trauma. These interviews played primarily by real individuals who have been euphemistically “down sized” are the focal point, and most successful aspect of the film.
Mr. Clooney whose countenance has improved with age gives a credible performance; Ryan Bingham blissfully accepts his flaws but is not intransigent to change. The catalyst for his development rests in the powers of two women. Alex (Vera Farmiga) sexually provocative and just as savvy in negotiating the elite lane of frequent fliers. Ryan’s goal is to achieve the ten million mile stratosphere, where the air is purified and shared by a privileged few. And Natalie (played with comedic brilliance by Anna Kendrick) the precocious twenty three year old hired to ground the “Ryan’s” of the corporation by firing folks via video conferencing. Natalie’s epiphany is profound.
The movie is entertaining but both Reitman and Clooney have reached higher professional peaks. Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking should be at the pinnacle of your Netflix list. Clooney’s Intolerable Cruelty exhibits his comedic flair and adroitness to perfection.
There are many contemplative messages in Up in the Air but unfortunately for the viewer it never maximizes its cruising altitude.
THREE STARS!
For Now……………..Peneflix
Friday, December 4, 2009
Fellow Movie Lovers
Fellow Movie Lovers
Like many of you I have never been a fan of movies depicting massive world wide annihilation; especially the destruction of our United States. The majority of us are particularly sensitive after the catastrophic effects of 9/11. That being noted I did see two films where the universe as we know it has seen the apocalypse or is in the process of experiencing it. The best of the pair is………
THE ROAD
This movie is based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 Pulitzer winning novel. It is eerily enticing and at the same time disturbingly depressing. We are unaware of the cosmic reason for the death of civilization but know that most who survived have resorted to cannibalism and bestiality to move through each bleak and grueling day. The barren but still smoldering landscape adds unmitigating tension to every waking and sleeping moment.
The movie is brilliantly acted by Viggo Mortensen as a father whose sole mission is to keep his son alive and unharmed. The son played by Kodi Smit-McPhee; so perfect is his characterization of a child whose world has only witnessed starvation and evil, you mourn his never realized innocence.
The essence and the beauty lie in the unwavering bond of dignity, affection, poignancy and love that only increases in strength as they travel the road to the sun. Their devotion is palpable and constantly compelling.
Wonderful cameo roles by Charlize Theron as the wife and mother who lacked the fortitude to thrive is this altered state; Robert Duvall, barely recognizable as one of the “good guys”; and Guy Pearce, the ultimate knight.
This is a dark, rough and brutal film but for those who endure, its message is refined and purified, an unexpected gift.
FOUR STARS!
2012
Some believe that it took less than a week to create the universe. What can one say about a film that cost over 200 million dollars and seemed interminable before the catastrophic conclusion?
Destruction can have its entertaining value: Godzilla vs. Tokyo; King Kong vs. New York; James Bond vs. any and all evil empires! But here all boundaries and continents (except parts of Africa) are erased and the process actually becomes boring; very Warholian, repetition breeds ennui.
This is not a bad film; it is just not a great one. Based on the nonfiction book Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock, it deals with the heating of the earth’s core resulting in crustal displacement…………….hence flooding to rival Noah’s trials. There is even a scene where animal pairings are being hoisted on board major water vehicles!
The actors, in different stages of horror, meet the directorial challenges. Especially the ubiquitous Woody Harrelson (the man never takes a vacation), as a shaman or soothsayer.
John Cusak, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Amanda Peet, escape the ridiculous by feats of physical dexterity and calm under insurmountable pressure. Vintage stars, Danny Glover and George Segal add a touch of class and depth to the film.
But all the actors are secondary to the special effects, at times tedious, but still stunning in their virtuosity.
On the positive side, we have two years to book our ark, and with any luck, use miles for an upgrade.
TWO & ½ STARS!
For Now…………….
Peneflix
Like many of you I have never been a fan of movies depicting massive world wide annihilation; especially the destruction of our United States. The majority of us are particularly sensitive after the catastrophic effects of 9/11. That being noted I did see two films where the universe as we know it has seen the apocalypse or is in the process of experiencing it. The best of the pair is………
THE ROAD
This movie is based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 Pulitzer winning novel. It is eerily enticing and at the same time disturbingly depressing. We are unaware of the cosmic reason for the death of civilization but know that most who survived have resorted to cannibalism and bestiality to move through each bleak and grueling day. The barren but still smoldering landscape adds unmitigating tension to every waking and sleeping moment.
The movie is brilliantly acted by Viggo Mortensen as a father whose sole mission is to keep his son alive and unharmed. The son played by Kodi Smit-McPhee; so perfect is his characterization of a child whose world has only witnessed starvation and evil, you mourn his never realized innocence.
The essence and the beauty lie in the unwavering bond of dignity, affection, poignancy and love that only increases in strength as they travel the road to the sun. Their devotion is palpable and constantly compelling.
Wonderful cameo roles by Charlize Theron as the wife and mother who lacked the fortitude to thrive is this altered state; Robert Duvall, barely recognizable as one of the “good guys”; and Guy Pearce, the ultimate knight.
This is a dark, rough and brutal film but for those who endure, its message is refined and purified, an unexpected gift.
FOUR STARS!
2012
Some believe that it took less than a week to create the universe. What can one say about a film that cost over 200 million dollars and seemed interminable before the catastrophic conclusion?
Destruction can have its entertaining value: Godzilla vs. Tokyo; King Kong vs. New York; James Bond vs. any and all evil empires! But here all boundaries and continents (except parts of Africa) are erased and the process actually becomes boring; very Warholian, repetition breeds ennui.
This is not a bad film; it is just not a great one. Based on the nonfiction book Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock, it deals with the heating of the earth’s core resulting in crustal displacement…………….hence flooding to rival Noah’s trials. There is even a scene where animal pairings are being hoisted on board major water vehicles!
The actors, in different stages of horror, meet the directorial challenges. Especially the ubiquitous Woody Harrelson (the man never takes a vacation), as a shaman or soothsayer.
John Cusak, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Amanda Peet, escape the ridiculous by feats of physical dexterity and calm under insurmountable pressure. Vintage stars, Danny Glover and George Segal add a touch of class and depth to the film.
But all the actors are secondary to the special effects, at times tedious, but still stunning in their virtuosity.
On the positive side, we have two years to book our ark, and with any luck, use miles for an upgrade.
TWO & ½ STARS!
For Now…………….
Peneflix
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