Movie – The Martian (2015)

I have seen five of the eight Oscar nominees for Best Picture so far and among them The Martian is my favorite.  It combines the best aspects of Apollo 13, Castaway, and Gravity.  And I’ll address this right up front – despite the Golden Globe wins for the film and star Matt Damon in the comedy categories, this is a drama with some lightly humorous moments, not a comedy.  It’s also a great story.

I like movies where smart people deal with issues by being smart, or to paraphrase a line from the film - by sciencing the shit out of it. We have far, far too many movies about idiots being idiotic, so it's nice when every once in a great while a film like this gets made.  This is easily Director Ridley Scott's best movie in quite some time.  Drew Goddard (who got his start with Joss Whedon writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer) delivered a great script, too.  It’s all based on a book that started out as free, serialized posts on the blog of writer Andy Weir.  He got so many requests to turn it into an e-book that he finally did and was selling it for 99 cents.  It attracted Hollywood’s attention and the result was this film.

Steve’s Selections #10 – The Orphanage (2007)

We have come to the tenth of twelve movie selections Steve Honeywell at 1001plus has made for me.  This one is The Orphanage, one of two horror films he included.  Over the years we have known each other it has been clear that Steve likes the horror genre quite a bit more than I do.  I was a little worried about having not one, but two horror films among the twelve he picked.  However, Steve also knows that I prefer suspense over gore and story over cheap scares, so he did a good job with the first one I watched – The Changeling (1980) – and as it turns out, an even better job with The Orphanage.  This is much more than “just a horror movie.”  It has a great story with a central mystery, but also has a lot of compassion for the characters in it. 

Movie – Death at a Funeral (2007)

First things first, this review is for the original 2007 U.K version of the film directed by Frank Oz, which had a primarily white British cast, not the 2010 U.S. version directed by Neil Labute which had a primarily black American cast.  The 2010 movie is a remake of the 2007 one.  While the later film kept a lot of the same jokes, I feel the original is funnier.  I will explain why further down.  For now, I want to say that this is a hilarious film.  I laughed my ass off at it.  I’ve given very few pure comedies five stars, but this is one of them.

Movie and Book – The Wizard of Oz (1939)

What can be written about The Wizard of Oz that hasn’t already been said in any of the many, many extras and stories and documentaries on the making and history of it?  Those have covered everything from the happy (impact on children) to the sordid (Garland being on drugs to make it through the long working hours) to the ridiculous (Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon supposedly being written to sync up with it – it wasn’t).  There’s no way to top those, especially the Pink Floyd one, but I can write about the personal aspects of it.  I can also write about the far less well known book upon which it was based.

A Tribute to Bill Knight and The Way We Get By

Chances are pretty good that unless you’ve seen the 2009 film The Way We Get By you’ve never heard of Bill Knight.  He was a Maine Troop Greeter.  And chances are pretty good that if you’re not from Maine or you didn’t serve in the U.S. military in the Middle East that you’ve never heard of the Maine Troop Greeters.  They are based in Bangor, Maine.  And chances are pretty good that if you’ve even heard of Bangor, Maine it’s only because Stephen King lives there.  So why should you care at all about a man you’ve never heard of, that’s part of an organization you’ve never heard of, in a place you’ve never heard of?  Because it’s a profoundly moving story.

Movie – Toy Story 2 (1999)

The tale of how Toy Story 2 came to be is a curious one.  It was only the third film to come from Pixar – Toy Story (1995) and A Bug’s Life (1998) being the first two – and they were already doing a sequel?  What happened is this little animation company got taught a lesson in real life business from the massive Disney Studios.  Pixar had signed a deal with Disney to produce five animated films.  After the success of the original Toy Story, Disney started prepping a cheap, knockoff, direct to video sequel of it.  This horrified Pixar, who offered to do the sequel themselves.  They also figured it would get them one film closer to not having to deal with Disney anymore.  After they released Toy Story 2 Disney said “not so fast, the deal calls for five original films; sequels don’t count.”  This meant that Pixar had to not only get back to Monsters, Inc., which they had set aside to work on Toy Story 2, but they also had to deliver Finding Nemo and The Incredibles to Disney.  After that Disney just bought Pixar outright.

The amazing thing is that despite all of this Toy Story 2 is a fantastic film.  In fact, I considered it the best film that Pixar had ever done until Toy Story 3 eclipsed it eleven years later. 

Movie – Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

What praise can be given to Lawrence of Arabia that has not already been spoken many times over?  What words can be written about both a movie and a man whose histories are both inextricably linked and also clouded in questions of reality vs. fiction?  To be clear, the film Lawrence of Arabia is epic, and even that’s a bit of an understatement.  While I know of at least one person for whom “epic” is a four letter word, I am using it in the most positive way.  I could joke, “Look up ‘epic’ in the dictionary and they will have a picture of Peter O’Toole as Lawrence.”  Instead, I will be completely serious when I write the following sentences.  I have seen all 85 films that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture – from Wings (1927) to Casablanca (1943) to The Godfather (1972) to Schindler’s List (1993) to Argo (2012).  If I were ever to be put in the “gun to your head, gotta pick only one as the best of the best” situation, then my choice would be Lawrence of Arabia as the greatest of all 85 Best Picture Oscar winners.

Movie – Das Boot (1981)

The best way to start my Submarine Movies category is with by far the best submarine film ever made – Das Boot.  I consider it not only the best sub movie ever made, but the best war movie ever made, too.  It is a German film (the title translates as “The Boat”) and it easily stands as one of the very best films to ever come from that country.  I would have a hard time picking between it and M (1931) as the best, quite frankly.  That means it is also one of the very best non-English language films ever made – definitely in the top ten, quite possibly in the top five.

Movie – Up in the Air (2009)

Up in the Air was nominated for six Oscars in 2010, including Best Picture.  Long before I had been working on seeing all the Best Picture nominees in Oscar history I had been trying to see every newly nominated film each year.  Somehow I never got around to seeing Up in the Air back in 2010.  I finally saw it about a year ago and kicked myself for waiting so long because I loved it.  It is both heartfelt and funny, both touching and bittersweet.  I had liked director Ivan Reitman’s prior two films (Thank You for Smoking and Juno) and this one seemed to combine the best elements of both of them.  And Up in the Air also contains what might be George Clooney’s best performance.

Movie – Hoop Dreams (1994)

I was watching TV at the end of 1994 when Siskel and Ebert had their year end awards show.  In prior years the two would often have a number one movie that the other didn’t even have in their entire Top Ten.  In 1994, though, both of them named Hoop Dreams the best film of the year; not Pulp Fiction, not Forrest Gump, but Hoop Dreams.  Years later Ebert would name the film the best of the entire 1990s.  As for myself, I feel that you can keep your blue lines that are thin, your truths that are inconvenient, and your jobs that are inside; Hoop Dreams is the best documentary film ever made.  Period.

Movie – Once Were Warriors (1994)

Once Were Warriors is a powerful drama from New Zealand that takes a look at a Maori family living in Auckland.  If the 2002 film Whale Rider was the rural, hopeful look at the Maori culture, Once Were Warriors is the much grittier city cousin.  I can’t remember why I picked this tape off the rental shelf back in 1994 or 1995, but I am glad I did.  It disappeared not long after and it was impossible to find a copy for many years.  Almost ten years passed before it was finally released on DVD in the U.S.  I bought it and watched it again.  I was a little worried that my memories of this film had been built up over the years and that when I saw it again I would end up disappointed.  As it turns out, my fears were unfounded.  Not only did this film’s impact on me stand up to my memories, if anything it grew in stature.  As great a year as 1994 was for movies I consider this film to be the best of the best.

Movie – Field of Dreams (1989)

I’ve only ever known one person who hated Field of Dreams.  She’s also the only person I’ve ever known who hated The Princess Bride, so make of that what you will.  Her reason for hating Field of Dreams was two-fold: she didn’t like baseball, and she didn’t like how unrealistic the movie was.  I can understand the first reason, but I had to really fight to hide my laughter at the second reason.  Watching a movie where a disembodied voice tells a man to build a baseball field in the middle of his corn crop and expecting it to be “realistic” seems really bizarre to me.  Since then I’ve seen other disparaging comments about this film that also boil down to the fact that it’s unrealistic.  I am not one of those people who feel that way.  Not only do I like baseball, but I have a very personal connection to this film because of my relationship with my father and the fact that he passed away a few years before this film came out.  I will talk about that in this post (in a well-marked section that can be skipped by those who have not seen the film and want to avoid spoilers.)

Movie – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was a bit of a revelation for me.  I had seen Humphrey Bogart in several films, but he seemed to always play the confident, tough guy who was usually in control of a situation.  In this film he is grungy, unshaven, and paranoid to the point of insanity.  Despite Bogart’s Oscar win for The African Queen, and two other nominations for Casablanca and The Caine Mutiny, I consider his performance in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre to be the best of his career.

Movie – Casablanca (1942)

Look at pretty much any movie-related person’s or publication’s list of the greatest films of all time and you will find Casablanca at or near the top.  It is considered one of the all time classic films by both critics and viewers alike.  And considering that this movie partially owes its existence to a quick attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Maltese Falcon, as well as the U.S.’ entry into World War II, that’s pretty damn good.

Nowadays we’re used to top tier movies having months, or even years, of pre-production with every single element carefully planned out.  Casablanca is an example of almost nothing being planned and serendipity providing all the right elements.

Movie – A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

The movie A Fish Called Wanda opened in the U.S. to not much fanfare in July of 1988.  By August it was getting such great word of mouth that its box office was increasing each week, not decreasing.  By mid September it actually became the number one movie at the box office.  When Awards season came around it received three Oscar nominations (including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), and had a win for Kevin Kline as Best Supporting Actor – one of the very few times a comedic performance has won an Oscar.  Over the years this movie has been named one of the top comedies ever made by such entities as the American Film Institute (AFI), Premiere magazine, Bravo, Total Film magazine, and Reader’s Digest.  I consider it one of the funniest films I have ever seen.

Movie – M (1931)

Fritz Lang’s 1931 film M is a landmark in movie history.  While he directed other films that are classics (most notably 1927’s Metropolis) this is the film that I consider to be his very best.  It also features the greatest career role for lead actor Peter Lorre – and this is a man who was in almost 100 films, including The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.  M isn’t just some dusty, dated film that is only watched now because of its place in history, though.  It is every bit as relevant and chilling today as it was back when it first came out more than eighty years ago.

Movie – Cabaret (1972)

Question:  Which film was the most honored at the 1973 Oscars – The Godfather or Cabaret?  Answer: It’s not even close.  While The Godfather had eleven nominations to Cabaret’s ten, The Godfather won only three (Picture, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay).  Cabaret won eight (Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Music and Score, Art Direction, and Sound.)  In the seven categories where they went head to head, Cabaret won five of them.  In fact, its loss to The Godfather for Best Picture has made it the film that has won the most Oscars without winning the biggest one.

Movie – The Avengers (2012)

First things first, I realize this is probably the umpteenth review of the Avengers you’ve come across.  I want to say thanks in advance for taking the time to read it and comment.

Anyone who has read enough of my reviews and comments knows that my expectations for a movie usually end up affecting how I feel about it.  If those expectations are low I can find myself pleasantly surprised by an okay movie; if they are high, I can find myself disappointed by an above average one.  My expectations going into The Avengers, a film written and directed by Joss Whedon, were very high.  I am here to tell you that not only was I not disappointed by this movie, it even exceeded my expectations.  It had everything I could have ever hoped for from a Joss Whedon Avengers movie.

Movie – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

When Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was first released it generated a lot of hate from politicians because of the way some federal Senators and state government officials in the film were portrayed as corrupt.  At the same time, the Press also despised the film because some in their profession were shown to be opportunistic and in cahoots with the politicians – just making up stories for the sake of selling newspapers.  Hell, more than seven decades later the Press still tries to tar director Frank Capra as nothing more than a maker of cheesy, lightweight movies (despite his three Oscars for Best Director).  I say any film that simultaneously pisses off both politicians and the Press is one that is well worth seeing.

Movie – Amelie (2001)

I have saved the year ending IMDB Top 250 lists since 1998 (more on that in a week or two).  I have used them over the years to get suggestions on films I might want to see.  Back in 2001 a film named Amelie showed up on the list.  It sounded interesting, so I rented it.  I absolutely loved it.  To this day this film still remains one of the very best finds I have ever had from a list of recommended movies.