Chris Knipp
12-31-2013, 10:07 AM
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Three-week New York holiday movie journal, mid-Dec. 2013-early Jan. 2014.
My two favorites so far: Neil LaBute's typically stylish, well-written and well-acted closet drama SOME VELVET MORNING (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3648-SOME-VELVET-MORNING-%28Neil-LaBute-2013%29)and Clio Barnard's deeply touching and real THE SELFISH GIANT (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3651-THE-SELFISH-GIANT-(Clio-Bernard-2013)&p=31502). I was disappointed by AMERICAN HUSTLE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3645-AMERICAN-HUSTLE-%28David-O-Russell-2013%29), not sweeping and fun like Russell's previous SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, or earlier work, though admittedly, a new thing, and worth watching. That's less true of Scorsese's vulgar, voyeuristic and over-long THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3654-THE-WOLF-OF-WALL-STREET-%28Martin-Scorsese-2013%29&p=31532#post31532), which I found repellant, though I guess one has to see it if one follows the big names in American filmmaking. I liked AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3656-AUGUST-OSAGE-COUNTY-%28John-Wells-2013%29) more than most critics, who needed to better appreciate that it's a play, and would profit by prior acquaintance with Tracy Letts, the playwright. He's a little too theatrical for the screen (as shows in film versions of BUG and KILLER JOE) but this has adapted to screen better than they did. A.O. Scott's comment that this is more cage fighting than acting is a gratuitous smear and he admits he never saw the play; well, he'd have understood better what this is all about if he had. Not a requirement for viewers, but for critics, background knowledge is not optional but required.
SAVING MR. BANKS (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3657-SAVING-MR-BANKS-%28John-Lee-Hancock-2013%29&p=31546#post31546)loses its main points (such as what the title means) if you have not read the Mary Poppins books and seen the famous movie (I haven't). There are other big holiday releases I didn't see because I'd already reviewed them, HER (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3583-New-York-Film-Festival-2013&p=31070#post31070)(Spike Jonze) and THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3583-New-York-Film-Festival-2013&p=31044#post31044) (Ben Stiller).HER is turning up on best lists and got good reviews, MITTY lousy ones. HER is highly overrated; MITTY may be off, but it's more fun than the creepy and pointless HER. It's a self-congratulatory, schmaltzy sci-fi "warning" about something we all know already. Don't get too into your hand-held device, laptop, or TV screen. Duh. Is this news to anybody? It might have been a good idea twenty years ago. Joaquin Phoenix, as you might expect, makes an icky leading man. I can't blame the juicy voice of Scarlett Johanssen for the weakness of this movie, though; she's fine. She was slick, crude fun in Joe Gordon-Levitt's not-so-great directorial debut DON JON too.
I'm enjoying a lot of viewings of older films. Michael Ritchie's dry, vivid, minimalist study of a driven, asshole ski champion DOWNHILL RACER (IFC Center mini Robert Redford retrospective) ) shows Redford's cool, athletic style. He embodies this handsome, remote guy as convincingly as the estranged, desperate "Man" in my favorite American movie of this year, ALL IS LOST.
I'm getting to see a couple press screenings of Film Forum revivals (shown for a short period). Dino Risi's IL SORPOSSO (1962) is a snapshot of Italian life during the "Boom" when babes were babes and even old men did the Twist. It's also a showcase of Vittorio Gassman's extraordinary talent when he was at his absolute peak playing this charming asshole who sweeps away Jean-Louis Trintignant's (dubbed into Italian) timid, self-conscious law student and takes him on a wild couple of days of freeloading and partying. This movie is fast-paced, action-packed, in-your-face hilarious, yet devastatingly satirical and subtle. The other one I'll be seeing at Film Forum is Nagisa Oshima's 1969 BOY.
Geore Cukor's films shown in the Film Society of Lincoln Center's impressive 26-day, 50-film retrospective provide a panorama of his style or styles and the many faces of Hollywood from the Thirties into the early Eighties. I will never be an expert on George Cukor. His "style" seems a rather elusive item, given his genre flexibility and long working life. But at least the ten Cukor films I'm seeing out of the series 50 provide a representative slice. For these, see my upcoming post giving a brief run-down and journal of my Cukor viewings.
Dec.-Jan NY viewing calendar:
Tue. Dec. 17 Some Velvet Morning (Neil LaBute 2013))
Wed Dec. 18 Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (Michel Gondry 2013)
Sat. Dec. 21 11 am Downhill Racer (Michael Ritchie 1969)
Sat. Dec. 21 2:40 The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard 2013)
Sun. Dec 22 Edward, My Son (George Cukor 1949)
Mon. Dec. 23 Dinner at Eight (George Cukor 1933)
Mon. Dec. 23 Anchorman 2 (Adam McKay 2013)
Tues. Dec. 24 2 pm A Double Life (George Cukor 1947 )
Tues. Dec. 24 4:110 pm Gaslight (George Cukor 1944)
Fri. Dec. 27 10 am August: Osage Country (John Wells 2013)
Fri. Dec. 27 3 pm A Star is Born (George Cukor 1954)
Sat. Dec. 28 In a World (Lake Bell 2013)
Sun. Dec. 29 Saving Mr. Banks (John Lee Hancock 2013)
Mon. Dec. 30 Il Sorpasso (Dino Risi 1962)
Tues. Dec. 31 1:15 pm Les Girls (George Cukor 1857)
Tues. Dec. 31 4:45 pm Born Yesterday (George Cukor 1950)
Tues. Dec. 31 7 pm It Should Happen to You (George Cukor 1954)
Thurs. Jan. 2 11 am Boy (Nagisa Oshima 1969)
Thurs. Jan 2 2:40 pm The Best Offer (Giuseppe Tornatore 2013)
Fri., Jan. 3 2 pm Heller in Pink Tights (George Cukor 1960)
Sat., Jan. 4 7 pm Bhowani Junction (George Cukor 1956)
Three-week New York holiday movie journal, mid-Dec. 2013-early Jan. 2014.
My two favorites so far: Neil LaBute's typically stylish, well-written and well-acted closet drama SOME VELVET MORNING (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3648-SOME-VELVET-MORNING-%28Neil-LaBute-2013%29)and Clio Barnard's deeply touching and real THE SELFISH GIANT (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3651-THE-SELFISH-GIANT-(Clio-Bernard-2013)&p=31502). I was disappointed by AMERICAN HUSTLE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3645-AMERICAN-HUSTLE-%28David-O-Russell-2013%29), not sweeping and fun like Russell's previous SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, or earlier work, though admittedly, a new thing, and worth watching. That's less true of Scorsese's vulgar, voyeuristic and over-long THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3654-THE-WOLF-OF-WALL-STREET-%28Martin-Scorsese-2013%29&p=31532#post31532), which I found repellant, though I guess one has to see it if one follows the big names in American filmmaking. I liked AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3656-AUGUST-OSAGE-COUNTY-%28John-Wells-2013%29) more than most critics, who needed to better appreciate that it's a play, and would profit by prior acquaintance with Tracy Letts, the playwright. He's a little too theatrical for the screen (as shows in film versions of BUG and KILLER JOE) but this has adapted to screen better than they did. A.O. Scott's comment that this is more cage fighting than acting is a gratuitous smear and he admits he never saw the play; well, he'd have understood better what this is all about if he had. Not a requirement for viewers, but for critics, background knowledge is not optional but required.
SAVING MR. BANKS (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3657-SAVING-MR-BANKS-%28John-Lee-Hancock-2013%29&p=31546#post31546)loses its main points (such as what the title means) if you have not read the Mary Poppins books and seen the famous movie (I haven't). There are other big holiday releases I didn't see because I'd already reviewed them, HER (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3583-New-York-Film-Festival-2013&p=31070#post31070)(Spike Jonze) and THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3583-New-York-Film-Festival-2013&p=31044#post31044) (Ben Stiller).HER is turning up on best lists and got good reviews, MITTY lousy ones. HER is highly overrated; MITTY may be off, but it's more fun than the creepy and pointless HER. It's a self-congratulatory, schmaltzy sci-fi "warning" about something we all know already. Don't get too into your hand-held device, laptop, or TV screen. Duh. Is this news to anybody? It might have been a good idea twenty years ago. Joaquin Phoenix, as you might expect, makes an icky leading man. I can't blame the juicy voice of Scarlett Johanssen for the weakness of this movie, though; she's fine. She was slick, crude fun in Joe Gordon-Levitt's not-so-great directorial debut DON JON too.
I'm enjoying a lot of viewings of older films. Michael Ritchie's dry, vivid, minimalist study of a driven, asshole ski champion DOWNHILL RACER (IFC Center mini Robert Redford retrospective) ) shows Redford's cool, athletic style. He embodies this handsome, remote guy as convincingly as the estranged, desperate "Man" in my favorite American movie of this year, ALL IS LOST.
I'm getting to see a couple press screenings of Film Forum revivals (shown for a short period). Dino Risi's IL SORPOSSO (1962) is a snapshot of Italian life during the "Boom" when babes were babes and even old men did the Twist. It's also a showcase of Vittorio Gassman's extraordinary talent when he was at his absolute peak playing this charming asshole who sweeps away Jean-Louis Trintignant's (dubbed into Italian) timid, self-conscious law student and takes him on a wild couple of days of freeloading and partying. This movie is fast-paced, action-packed, in-your-face hilarious, yet devastatingly satirical and subtle. The other one I'll be seeing at Film Forum is Nagisa Oshima's 1969 BOY.
Geore Cukor's films shown in the Film Society of Lincoln Center's impressive 26-day, 50-film retrospective provide a panorama of his style or styles and the many faces of Hollywood from the Thirties into the early Eighties. I will never be an expert on George Cukor. His "style" seems a rather elusive item, given his genre flexibility and long working life. But at least the ten Cukor films I'm seeing out of the series 50 provide a representative slice. For these, see my upcoming post giving a brief run-down and journal of my Cukor viewings.
Dec.-Jan NY viewing calendar:
Tue. Dec. 17 Some Velvet Morning (Neil LaBute 2013))
Wed Dec. 18 Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (Michel Gondry 2013)
Sat. Dec. 21 11 am Downhill Racer (Michael Ritchie 1969)
Sat. Dec. 21 2:40 The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard 2013)
Sun. Dec 22 Edward, My Son (George Cukor 1949)
Mon. Dec. 23 Dinner at Eight (George Cukor 1933)
Mon. Dec. 23 Anchorman 2 (Adam McKay 2013)
Tues. Dec. 24 2 pm A Double Life (George Cukor 1947 )
Tues. Dec. 24 4:110 pm Gaslight (George Cukor 1944)
Fri. Dec. 27 10 am August: Osage Country (John Wells 2013)
Fri. Dec. 27 3 pm A Star is Born (George Cukor 1954)
Sat. Dec. 28 In a World (Lake Bell 2013)
Sun. Dec. 29 Saving Mr. Banks (John Lee Hancock 2013)
Mon. Dec. 30 Il Sorpasso (Dino Risi 1962)
Tues. Dec. 31 1:15 pm Les Girls (George Cukor 1857)
Tues. Dec. 31 4:45 pm Born Yesterday (George Cukor 1950)
Tues. Dec. 31 7 pm It Should Happen to You (George Cukor 1954)
Thurs. Jan. 2 11 am Boy (Nagisa Oshima 1969)
Thurs. Jan 2 2:40 pm The Best Offer (Giuseppe Tornatore 2013)
Fri., Jan. 3 2 pm Heller in Pink Tights (George Cukor 1960)
Sat., Jan. 4 7 pm Bhowani Junction (George Cukor 1956)