First Man

First Man 2018

• Director: Damien Chazelle
• Based on book by James R. Hansen
• Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Ciarán Hines, Olivia Hamilton, Lukas Haas
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ryan Gosling – Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson, The United States of Leland
• Claire Foy – Breathe, The Lady in the Van, Wolf Hall,
• Ciarán Hines – The Woman in Black, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, Life During Wartime, Margot at the Wedding, Hallam Foe, Amazing Grace, Calendar Girls, Road to Perdition, Titanic Town, Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe, Cold Lazarus, A Mother’s Son, Mary Reilly, Circle of Friends
• Olivia Hamilton – La La Land
• Lukas Haas – Transcendence, Inception, The Darwin Awards, Mars Attacks, Witness
• Why? Ryan Gosling and space travel
• Seen: 15 December 2019      

       How in the world – or should I say solar system or even Universe – did they ever get to the moon? With rockets like rusty tins, battered door hatches, no computers, stowaways in the form of flies, Swiss army knives, fires, dead astronauts. Jan Armstrong was right when she told the Nasa men, ‘You’re nothing but little boys playing with Tinker Toys,’ or something like that. It makes the original Doctor Who look positively professional and high-tech.

       For those of us old enough to have followed the moon program this is an eye opener. Neil Armstrong (Gosling) was evidently not the smiling hero we saw then and later in photographs, but after the death of his little daughter introverted to the point of autism, leaving almost all family raising to his wife Jan (Foy). Not unusual at the time of course but he was extreme in shutting out people. Even as he set out for the moon, he had to be forced by Jan to say good-bye to their sons and he only managed an impersonal peck on Jan’s cheek as he walked out the door.

       Foy and Hamilton as the waiting-at-home-and-worrying-while-leading-a-normal-life-for-the-kids wives are very good. Gosling is good. The rivalry amongst the astronauts is interesting. The background protests against the Vietnam War and the Space Program for spending billions when money was so desperately needed to fight poverty are also good. I was torn. I loved the Space Program, and I was in the streets protesting.

       Just one thing. Where are all the women whose research and mathematical genius made the Space Program possible?

       The film is very slow, very detailed, very dramatic and ultimately very gripping.

      

4 ½* of 5

The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute 2006

• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Based on Mozart’s opera. Libretto by Stephen Fry.
• Cast: Joseph Kaiser, Amy Carson, Ben Davis, Silvia Moi, René Pape, Lyubov Petrova, Liz Smith
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Liz Smith – Keeping Mum, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Keep the Aspidistras Flying, Karaoke, Secrets and Lies, Takin’ Over the Asylum
• Why? Branagh
• Seen: Once before, the Swedish premiere at the cinema. Now 14 December 2019

             Try as we might we have never learnt to appreciate opera. There are exceptions. This is one.

       Not so much for the music, though some of it is pleasurable, despite its opera-ness. It is, after all, Mozart (though I prefer Beethoven). Not because of the story, which is silly, as they usually are.

       There are two things in this film that move me deeply. The World War I setting. And the visual beauty. In some of the scenes Branagh outdoes Branagh, they’re so brilliant.

       It’s the opera stuff I don’t like. Unfortunately, being an opera, there’s quite a lot of it.

      

4* of 5 (Hal gives it 5, opera and all!)

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded 2003

• Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Harold Perrineau
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keanu Reeves – John Wick, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lake House, A Scanner Darkly, The Matrix Trilogy, Sweet November, The Gift, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, Much Ado about Nothing, My Own Private Idaho, Thumbsucker, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Carrie-Ann Moss – Humans, Matrix 2 and 3, Snow Cake, Chocolat
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River, Matrix 2 and 3, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Colour Purple, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now
• Hugo Weaving – Mortal Engines, Strangerland, The Hobbit etc, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings etc, Matrix etc, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Harold Perrineau – 28 Weeks Later, The Matrix Revolutions, Romeo & Juliet, Smoke
• Why? Because
• Seen: Once or twice before. Now 13 December 2019      

       If the first one didn’t make a lot of sense this one probably makes even less but I’m not bothered. I’m just going to sit back, not think, and enjoy.

       Or not.

       It’s just endlessly boring.

       The only reason it doesn’t get 0* is that I’m sentimental about the first one (Reeves, Moss and Fishburne deserve so much better!). And Link (Perrineau) gets ½ * just because I like him.

      

1½ * of 5

Rachel Getting Married

Rachel Getting Married 2008

• Director: Jonathan Demme
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Anne Hathaway, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Rosemarie DeWitt, Anisa George, Mather Zickel, Tunde Adebimpe, Debra Winger
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Anne Hathaway – Interstellar, Song One, Les Misérables, The Dark Knight Rises, Alice in Wonderland, Becoming Jane, Brokeback Mountain, Ella Enchanted
• Bill Irwin – Across the Universe, Igby Goes Down, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Third Rock from the Sun
• Anna Deavere Smith – Nurse Jackie, The Human Stain, Philadelphia, Dave
• Rosemarie DeWitt – La La Land, Mad Men
• Debra Winger – Words of Endearment, Urban Cowboy
• Why? Remember liking it
• Seen: Once before. Now 8 December 2019      

       Kym (Hathaway) is released from rehab (for what we learn is repeated drug and alcohol abuse) to attend her sister Rachel’s (DeWitt) wedding. Her family welcomes her back enthusiastically and everyone pretends things are fine. Of course, they are not. Old conflicts flare up. Kym is touchy and volatile and carries old tragedies. Music, partying, family and friends, old memories, sweet speeches and laughter – it all makes Kym feel like an outsider, a pariah.

       Big bourgeois weddings really make me cringe. Family films are usually a chore. This one is very talky with a very long scene about how best and quickest to load a dishwasher. But even that is fraught with tragedy.

       I keep thinking that Christine Lahti should be playing Rachel, but DeWitt is good. Winger as the mother is good. Hathaway is very strong as always. The others are rather anonymous, their characters undeveloped.

       It is at times very dramatic, even gripping. The ending is very sugary though – must we see the entire wedding ceremony?  It’s far too long and there’s too much god and too much partying. I hate parties.

       Hathaway gets 5*. The film

      

3* of 5 but if it doesn’t end soon it will lose a star.

The Matrix

The Matrix 1999

• Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keanu Reeves – John Wick, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lake House, A Scanner Darkly, The Matrix Trilogy, Sweet November, The Gift, Feeling Minnesota, Johnny Mnemonic, Speed, Much Ado about Nothing, My Own Private Idaho, Thumbsucker, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Carrie-Ann Moss – Humans, Matrix 2 and 3, Snow Cake, Chocolat
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Akeelah and the Bee, Mystic River, Matrix 2 and 3, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Colour Purple, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now
• Hugo Weaving – Mortal Engines, Strangerland, The Hobbit etc, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, Little Fish, Lord of the Rings etc, Matrix etc, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert
• Why? Because
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 6 December 2019      

       Have you ever figured out what this film is about? I haven’t. Virtual reality or computers and the Matrix is some kind of hidden computer network that steers over our lives.

       Or something.

       Never mind.

       Reeves (so young!), Moss, Fishburne, Weaving (can he possibly) be the same guy as in Priscilla?) are so cool, and it’s exciting and pretty to look at. And it seems to be profound. Or something.

       It was super cutting edge when it came out in 1999. Is it hopelessly old-fashioned now (dial phones? Phone booths?) Who knows? Who cares?

       I don’t like Messiah stories or conspiracy stories or romantic love endings but who cares?

       Very probably I should not like this film at all. It’s pretentious, politically iffy and generally unlikely. Kung Fu fistfights are so booooooooring! And all that shooting? C’mon!

       But who cares? It’s stylish. It’s fun. I mean those boots. They’re worth half a * all by themselves.

      

3 ½ * of 5 (H says 1 ½ but 4* for absurdity)

Desperately Seeking Susan

Desperately Seeking Susan

• Director: Susan Seidelman
• Based on book: no.
• Cast: Roseanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum, Robert Joy, Laurie Metcalf, John Turturro
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Roseanna Arquette – Homicide Life on the Street, Pulp Fiction, Le Grande Bleu, After Hours, Silverado, The Aviator
• Madonna – Evita, A League if Their Own, Dick Tracy, Who’s That Girl?, Shanghai Surprise
• Aidan Quinn – Elle s’appelait Sarah, The Exonerated, Nine Lives, Practical Magic, Michael Collins, The Stars Fell on Henrietta, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Benny & Joon
• Laurie Metcalf – The Big Bang Theory, Absolutely Fabulous, The Norm Show, Third Rock from the Sun, Dharma and Greg, JFK
• John Turturro – The Miracle at St Ana, Margot at the Wedding, Romance & Cigarettes, Secret Window, The Man Who Cried, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Cradle Will Rock, The Big Lebowskie, Clockers, Quiz Show, Barton Fink, Jungle Fever, Miller’s Crossing. Mo’ Better Blues, Do the Right Thing
• Why? Like it
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 1 December 2019

             Having just watched two mediocre films that both happened to be from 1984 we thought we’d give the 80’s one more try with a film we know we like. And besides, we’ve recently listened to several Madonna CDs.

       Roberta (Arquette), a naïve young romantic, is fascinated by personal ads and has been keeping track of those signed ‘Jim’ with the heading ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’. She’s bored and married and when an ad appears calling Susan to New York she decides to go witness the meeting.

       Susan (Madonna), looking and dressing and acting remarkably like Madonna, is a con artist and a moocher.

       Roberta sees Susan meeting Jim (Joy) then things get complicated, with suspected murder, stolen treasures, handsome reluctant boy scout Dez (Quinn), amnesia, mistaken identities, villains.

       Finally, an 80’s film that is thoroughly enjoyable.

      

4 ½ * of 5

PS I know, I know, there are loads of good 80’s films. I’ve reviewed many.

Footloose

Footloose 1984

• Director: Herbert Ross
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Diane Wiest, Chris Penn, Sarah Jessica Parker
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kevin Bacon – X Men First Class, Frost/Nixon, Mystic River, JFK, Tremors,
• John Lithgow – Interstellar, Dreamgirls, Twelfth Night, Third Rock from the Sun, The Pelican File, Terms of Endearment, The World According to Garp,
• Diane Wiest – Rabbit Hole, Dan in Real Life, I Am Sam, Practical Magic, The Bird Cage, Little Man Tate, Edward Scissorhands
• Chris Penn – The Darwin Awards, True Romance, Reservoir Dogs, Rumble Fish
• Sarah Jessica Parker – Smart People, Mars Attacks!, The First Wives Club, Ed Wood
• Why? Music and dance
• Seen: Once before. Now 30 November 2019

             Fanatic Christian preacher Shaw (Lithgow) hates rock and roll music. The adults of the small town agree with him. New student Ren (Bacon) and Shaw’s daughter Ariel (Singer) have other ideas. In this town dancing is illegal. Cassette tapes are confiscated by the police (not the Police).

       I am seriously allergic to small towns, American high school films, religious fanatics (well, religion generally), and clichéd troubled teens. The whole film is one big cliché filled with tough guy/frilly flirty girl stereotypes.

       But young Bacon is a very good dancer, young Lithgow is a suitably zealous preacher (though he was much better as the nerdy alien in Third Rock from the Sun and pompously pathetic Malvolio in Twelfth Night) and it’s enjoyable at times. It’s hard to believe that dance-deprived kids can suddenly dance like MTV pros but it’s always fun to watch dancing and the shoes were cool.

      

2 * of 5