NEW YORK MOVIE JOURNAL (Dec. 2015-Jan. 2016)

[Chris Knipp]

NEW YORK MOVIE JOURNAL (Dec. 2015-Jan. 2016)

Movies I will see ASOP, now showing in NYC:

The Big Short
The Danish Girl
James White
Mustang
MacbethOthers from my wish list opening before the end of the year:

Beasts of No Nation--on Netflix now
Opening Dec. 23:
45 Years
Opening on Christmas Day:
The Hateful Eight
Joy
The Revenant
Opening Dec. 30:
Anomalisa I will seek to provide at least thumbnail reviews of all these over the holidays. And some others.

Also will see:

The Look of Silence -- I skipped this screening
Rams (opening Feb. 3) -- this screening was cancelled
Film Forum revivals:
Ball of Fire
The Chimes at Midnight
Richard III (Olivier)
MoMA revival:
I Knew Her Well/Io la consoscevo bene

[Chris Knipp]

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THE DANISH GIRL (Tom Hooper 2015). Starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, with Ben Whishaw and Matthias Schoenaerts, this is a not-too-literal depiction of the life of early male-to-female sex change person Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe (played by Redmayne in another Oscar-bid role after playing Stephen Hawking last year). This is a sensitive, beautiful film, and Eddie is sensitive and beautiful in it. It will be an inspiration to trans people, though they have some complaints, like having a non-trans person play Einar/Lili. A criticism from others including me is that it doesn't show the hard parts and the ugly parts of its story enough. The scenes, with their plethora of Art Deco decor, often symmetrically framed, at a distance, are heavy on the aesthetic. Watched at Regal Union Square 13 Dec. 2015.

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THE BIG SHORT (Adam McKay 2015). Another movie about the financial meltdown, this time from the POV of smart, cynical investors who anticipated it and, sometimes unwillingly, bet on it and when their prophesy of doom came true, won big. This is an instructional comedy, if that is not an oxymoron: critics have pointed out that satire ought not to be scolding and finger-wagging, and this is. It also addresses the audience frequently and has novelty celebrity instructional cameos (Anthony Bourdain, Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez). If these seem to you hilarious and you loved McKay's feature debut Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, this busy, wacky, semi-documentary movie might seem to justify the raves (MetaCritic 82%). Featuring Christian Bale as the oddball who starts the big-shorting, with Ryan Gosling as an ambitious prick, and Brad Pitt as a disillusioned insider. Steve Carell does most of the heavy lifting articulating all the disgust and anger as he discovers the extent of the greed, criminality, and stupidity fueling the crisis. Being pretty technical, this is really boring to some people and I like Todd McCarthy found it repetitive and unfunny, and partly just a reminder of how much better Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street was, or the intelligent, straightforward doc Inside Job (Charles Ferguson NYFF 2010); or the close look at Florida's real estate meltdown this year in Ramin Bahrani's 99 Homes. There is a lot of information in this, and it's been called with reason "The Wolf of Wall Street with a conscience," but I still don't get the raves; they must find McKay's mix of genres really original. Watched at Regal Union Square 13 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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MUSTANG (DANIZ GAMZE ERGÜVEN 2015. Ergüven was born in Turkey but grew up and was educated in France, graduated from the film school La Fémis in 2008; she collaborated with French director Alice Wincour (Augustine (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3443-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-at-Lincoln-Center-2013&p=29689#post29689), R-V 2013) on the scenario of this first feature about five young sisters in rural Turkey orphaned ten years earlier who revolt against repression to different degrees and with different results, some conventional, some shocking. A "mustang" is a wild horse, and that may refer to the sisters, but it applies to the film itself. The handheld camera; the jumps from one scene to another without explanation. The actors are non-professional, and seem out of control -- but that's the effect Ergüven seems to want, both from the repressive uncle and grandmother and the sisters. Events seem both unpredictable and preordained. There is tremendous life here -- the girls interact so naturally and freely. I wish particularly at this time there might be a picture of the more civilized and sophisticated side of the Muslim world; but then, repression of women is a big current issue. Introduced at Cannes; now the French entry for the 2016 Best Foreign Oscar. At IFC Center NYC 14 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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LIFE (Anton Corbijn 2015). A touching, elegant little film about the memorable encounter of Dennis Sotck, the Magnum photographer, with James Dean, who had just finished Eaast of Eden and was on the cusp of fame. Stock and Dean were in a sense both struggling to establish themselves as artists. Stock recognized Dean's extraordinary talent and thought a photo story abut him for Life Magazine might make them both famous. Stock had difficulty accomplishing this, his ideas not accepted by his Magnum boss, his sketchy career, an estranged wife and neglected little boy; Dean had difficulties of his own with the studio's need to manipulate his image. Somehow they went to the farm in Indiana where Dean grew up, and the legendary Life photo story resulted. The brief friendship followed Stock all his life and long, successful career. He made many great photos, none so memorable as these. Dean was dead in seven months. Anton Corbijn is first and foremost a photographer, and was the man to make this movie. Dane DeHaan isn't as handsome or striking as Dean, but he is a terrific actor. It's like catching lightening in a bottle. But it has some memorable moments. Robert Pattinson plays Stock. Watched in VOD (Amazon) 14 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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LOUDER THAN BOMBS (Joachim Trier 2015) A family - father and two sons - struggle to deal with the death of the wife and mother, a war photographer who committed suicide but the youngest doesn't know that yet. A deliberately disjointed film with dreams, flashbacks, and entries into different consciousnesses, this doesn't work as well or seem as authentic as Trier's excellent first two films, and the artificial setup and switch to English language are reasons. Still, fascinating to watch because he and his co-writer/collaborator are so thoughtful and smart. With Gabriel Byrne, Jesse Eisenberg, Isabelle Huppert, and newcomer Devon Druid, along with Amy Ryan, David Strathairn, and others. It was released in Paris after the attacks and retitled Back Home. Opens in the US in late March/early April (released by The Orchard). Full review coming then. At Magno2 Screening Room, Seventh Ave. 15 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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BALLS OF FIRE (Howard Hawks 1941). A revival of the 1941 comedy about naive scholars working on an encyclopedia under the leadership of Gary Cooper, who are entranced by accidental involvement with gangster moll and cafe singer Barbara Stanwyck, who helps Cooper with words for the encyclopedia's article on slang. Silly and funny, and just the thing Americans wanted as the country entered the War. Coauthored by Billy Wilder. Preview screening at Film Forum, 16 Dec. 2015 for 25-31 Dec. run.

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LEGEND (Brian Helgelund 2015). A dramatization of the grizzly careers in the Fifties and Sixties of twin London gangsters Reggie and Ron Kray, this movie is nasty, violent, and dull. The only reason for watching it is for the, as usual, remarkable performance(s) of Tom Hardy, this time in the roles of both brothers whom, of course, he neatly distinguishes and delineates. At Regal Union Square 16 Dec. 2015.

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45 YEARS (Andrew Haigh 2015). (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4083-45-YEARS-(Andrew-Haigh-2015)&p=34168#post34168) A sudden discovery of the body of an old lover frozen in ice for 50 years disturbs the equilibrium of a 45-year marriage between an English couple retired in Norfolk, northeast coast. Adapted from a short story by David Constantine based on an actual event. Perceptive writing by Haigh, whose first film also dealt acutely with a relationship, though of a young gay couple just starting out, and superb acting by Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay, who won Silver Bears for their performances at the Berlinale, make this one of the year's best films. Opening 23 Dec. At Magno2 Screening Room 16 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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FALSTAFF: CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (Orson welles 1965). Welles integrated elements from Shakespeare's plays that include Falstaff, The Merry Wifes of Windsor, Henry IV Parts One and Two, Richard II and Henry V and assembled a cast that includes, among others, himself as Falstaff, John Guilgud as Henry IV, Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly, Jeanne Moreau as Doll Tearsheet, and Ralph Richardson reading excerpts of Holinshed's Chronicles by way of narration. Striking black and white photography, including the remarkably staged Battle of Shrewsbury; some images evocative of Eisenstein. A full restoration by Janus Films, this looks immaculate. A classic. Screened 17 Dec. 2015 at Film Forum where it will run 1-12 Jan. 2016 as part of Film Forum's three-week Stratford on Houston festival commemorating the 400th anniversary of the bard's death.

[Chris Knipp]

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JAMES WHITE (Josh Mond 2015). A super-intense trip through five months of the life of a twenty-something New York City young man whose life is a mess while he must deal with the death of his long estranged father and the fatal illness of his mother, who raised him by herself. With some periods of heavy-duty partying in between, "retreating" into a "self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle" that makes him at least for now wholly unemployable, he yet manages to be present for his mother and so, in a sense, for himself, in her very last days. The movie belongs primarily to Christopher Abbot, in a go-for-broke performance as James White, with disturbingly realistic dying act by Cynthia Nixon as his mother, Gail White, and able assistance from Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi)as James's cool best friend Nick. First-timer Mond has settled for crafting a powerful picture of life moment-to-moment, not delving into the protagonist's psyche or telling us how he got here. This movie is convincing and involving without being enlightening or satisfying; yet it's still a strong debut for Mond. At Landmark Sunshine 18 Dec. 2015. (It opened 13 Nov.)


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I KNEW HER WELL/IO LA CONOSCEVO BENE (Antinio Pietrangeli 1965). The star of this cautionary tale, the director's last before his death in an accident at 49, is Stafania Sandrelli. She was only 19, yet this was her eleventh film. She is Adriana Astarelli, a country girl who comes to Rome to become a movie star and goes through a series of little jobs that improve but lead only to her humiliation. Like Stefania, Andriana has been in a beauty contest; unlike her, she never gets to be in a real movie. This is a fascinating, surreal film, but Pietrangeli's amalgam of Sixties Italian comedy, neorealism, and pessimistic social commentary doesn't seem to work very well: we're expected to perceive Adriana as alternately comically air headed, tough and resilient, and tragic, but without seeing into her head enough to understand how all these qualities coexist. The editing looks very rough at times. The film is a jerky series of short scenes, tableaux more than links in a narrative chain (wherein Adriana goes through various paces -- and men), emphasizing spectacle over character development. Pientrangeli's clout shows in the inclusion of stars like Jean-Claude Brialy, Nino Manfredi, Ugo Tognozzi, and Franco Nero. Even though the lowliest socially, (Nero), a garage mechanic, loves her best -- the failure to distinguish social levels is a missed opportunity. The young men are just generically handsome. Part of a retrospective curated by Dave Kehr, adjunct curator at MoMA, and Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero of Luce Cinecittà. Kristen M. Jones provided a survey of the series in the WSJ (http://www.wsj.com/articles/antonio-pietrangeli-a-retrospective-review-1449092819). At MoMA 18 Dec. 2015. This will have a run at Film Forum starting 5 Feb. 2016.

[Chris Knipp]

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MACBETH (Justin Kurzel 2015). (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4084-MACBETH-(Justin-Kurzel-2015)&p=34176#post34176) A version that is violent and more visual than verbal, fatal for a Shakespeare adaptation, which must make sense of the text. This is a Macbeth with a glamorous couple (Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard) who, as directed, don't have that much chemistry. And Kurzel chooses to have everyone speak with a Scottish accent, some authentic enough so you can't understand, while the others speak v.e.r.r.r.y.. . . s.l.o.w.y. . . in deep whispers, so what they're saying is lost. It's Shakespeare on Quaaludes. But bloody. Opened limited 3 Dec. wide 11 Dec. At Landmark Sunshine 19 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (J.J. Abrams 2015). Abrams "awakens" the space opera with reliable elements including a new Amazonian young Brit woman and a new robust young black man, wisely bringing back old favorites, the original Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia. Plus the adorable robotic critters and Han's furry-faced copilot, Chewbacca. Non-stop action never gets in the way of humanness and the importance of hugs. It is a welcome and too-rare shared experience to sit in a packed theater where the audience actually applauds when favorite actors come on, like in a live play. US and world release 18 Dec. 2015. At Regal Union Square 20 Dec.

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THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES (Michael Winterbottom 2015). The witty, smart British comic Russell Brand has turned himself into an acute political advocate and commentator and in this documentary by Michael Winterbottom he focuses on neoliberalism, class disparities, and increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of the 1%, which he mainly traces back to 1980 when Thatcher and Reagan took power. He focuses particularly on how bankers caused the great crash and were rewarded not punished for it, giving themselves ever more astronomical bonuses. Offshore tax shelters are wrecking society and the majority grow poorer. Sequences where Brand tries to gain access to various overpaid corporate czars owe a little too much to early Michael Moore, but there is a lot of good information plus many interviews with distressed UK working class people. Brand's flamboyant style is not much known or understood in the US, hence this film will have little impact and has not been well reviewed. The picture he paints is a depressing one. I have a lot of time for Brand and think he's on the right track. US release 16 Dec. 2015. At IFC Center 20 Dec.

[Chris Knipp]

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CHI-RAQ (Spike Lee 2015). It's okay to say as Ignatiy Vishnevetsky does on AV Club (http://www.avclub.com/review/spike-lees-chi-raq-fumble-worth-making-229075) that this adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, to black women withholding sex to get guns out of the ghetto of Chicago was "a fumble worth making," but it's still thoroughly misguided, repetitious and boring. Samuel L. Jackson is brought in to give the story a ceremonial flavor. John Cusack as the ghetto pastor delivers a sermon against the NRA. There are occasional unmemorable musical numbers, and most of the dialogue is rhymed. But why is so little use made of hip hop flavor, and why didn't Lee stick to New York, which he knows, and avoid Chicago, which he hasn't a clue about? Teyonah Parris, Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, and Jennifer Hudson also work hard but are wasted. Full of contemporary references, though. And yes, Spike Lee cares. Opened 4 DEc. 2015. At Angelika Film Center 21 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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BEASTS OF NO NATION (Cary Joji Fukunaga 2015). From the eponymous novel, shot in coastal Ghana, the best child soldier film so far and strongest work by Fukunaga (Sin Nombre, Jane Eyre, "True Detective" first season). Stunning performances by Idris Elba as the Commandant and 14-year-old Abraham Attah as Agu, the narrator who loses his family and is drafted into a rebel army and made a trained killer. Fukunaga wrote the adaptation, directed, and due to an injury became the cinematographer. The images are remarkable. A tough watch but fine, awards material. This is Netflix's international debut feature film, first shown at Venice. Opened 16 Oct. Also at a NYC theater. Watched online 22 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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THE HATEFUL EIGHT (Quentin Tarantino 2015). (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4086-THE-HATEFUL-EIGHT-(Quentin-Tarantino-2015)) A Western that's like an Agatha Christie mystery with an ultra-violent finale. It's a little weird that it's almost all talk in a single room and the N-word is sprinkled more than ever, but overall I liked it -- and the 70mm Roadshow version I saw, in 2.76:1 aspect ratio projected on 70mm film with original Ennio Morricone Overture and Intermission, was pretty hard to resist. Rich back stories, many references to movie tradition, wonderful use of actors. Samuel L. Jackson rules. QT knows how to deliver movie pleasure. At Village East 2nd show 7 pm Christmas Eve 2015. A young crowd most of whom could not possibly have seen Pulp Fiction when it first came out.

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THE REVENANT (Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu 2015). (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4087-THE-REVENANT-(Alejandro-Gonzalez-I%F1%E1rritu-2015)) The fun of last year's Birdman forgotten, Iñárritu is ultra serious again and out to impress us. See Leonardo DiCaprio's frontiersman/fur trapper/leader be mauled three times by a CGI bear, then get abandoned by Tom Hardy's bad guy in the snow and crawl back to life surviving in the wild and find revenge. Leo works really hard for his big paycheck (this movie cost $100 million more than any other Iñárritu movie), but this is almost purely a physical role for him. The harsh landscapes, Terrence Malick-esque style lensing and musing are impressive. But alas I did not believe any of it. It may be more successful than I know. At Regal Union Square noon Christmas Day 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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JOY (David O. Russell 2015) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4088-JOY-(David-O-Russell-2015)&p=34186#post34186). Jennifer Lawrence is luminous and plucky as a loose version of Joy Mangano, creator of the TV sales sensation the Miracle Mop. Édgar Ramirez, Robrrt De Niro, and Isabella Rossellini play supporting roles as Joy's nutty family and Bradley Cooper is on hand as the maestro of QVC. But there is no love, only a struggle to business success. Smoothly edited and fun to watch, and I was rooting for the mop from first to last, but this is thin compared to Russell's best work. At AMC Village 7 on 3rd Ave. 26 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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POINT BREAK (Ericson Core 2015) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4089-POINT-BREAK-(Ericson-Core-2015)&p=34192#post34192). This is a remake of the 1991 Katherine Bigelow classic about the surfer bank robbers, counter culture daredevils who rob banks in rubber Dead Presidents masks in the off season to finance their searches for the perfect wave. Patrick Swaze (in one of his cult roles) was Bodhi, their leader and guru, Keanu Reeves, in his own coolest and sexiest role, was Johnny Utah, the bold young FBI agent under Gary Busey who goes underground and falls for the illegal life and for Bodhi's gf Tyler Endicott (Lori Petty). Flea, James Le Gros, and Anthony Kiedis also appeared. Well, this was one of the most original and enjoyable thrillers of the Nineties, a springboard for the Furious franchise, proving Bigelow to be a brilliant action director with visual flare and a sense of humor. The new version with relative unknown Luke Bracey as Johnny Utah and Ray Winstone in Busey's role and Édgar Ramírez as Bodhi, quite loses the focus and point, switching to multiple outdoor challenges instead of just surfing and turning this into a pointlessly busy international extreme sports travelogue. Spectacular mountain set pieces don't make up for the loss of character development and hopelessly muddle the points of the original plotline that had so many sweet spots and classic lines. Released Christmas Day in 3D and 2D versions. Le Gros, who was one of the bank robbers, appears in a minor role. Opened Christmas Day. At Regal Union Square 29 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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ANOMALISA (Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman 2015) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4090-ANOMALISA-(Duke-Johnson-Charlie-Kaufman-2015)&p=34194#post34194). Stop-motion animation with urination, masturbation, cunnilingus, and a Kafkasesque Willy Loman experience, a dull business trip to Cleveland by a Brit living in L.A. who seduces a young woman, and has a paranoid syndrome that makes everybody but her sound to have the voice of Tom Noonan. David Thewlis voices the man and Jennifer Jason Leigh voices the young woman in this hallucinatory celebration of ordinariness and loneliness. A "masterpiece"? The jury, for me, is still out on that. But a Charlie Kaufman original and maybe the last standout to be US-released at the end of the year. Opened in NYC Wed., 30 Dec. 2015, seen that day at Landmark Sunshine. (Also showing at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas 6.)

[Chris Knipp]

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CONCUSSION (Peter Landesman 2015) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4091-CONCUSSION-(Peter-Landesman-2015)&p=34196#post34196). About Bennett Omalu, the Nigerian forensic pathologist with seven degrees whose work in Pittsburgh revealed how multiple concussions in normal play caused brain damage in NFL players. I was unprepared for how well Will Smith submerged into the role. He is still a star and he can act. Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are fine in supporting roles and David Morse memorable as the first identified victim. The critics are right that this is weakened as a whistleblower story by its distracting immigrant story and marriage story; but what they reveal of its sterling real-life hero will be inspiring to to African Americans it ways white movie reviewers just don't get. Director Peter Landsman is a former investigative journalist. Opened Christmas Day 2015. At AMC Village 7 31 Dec. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

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THIS IS BOSSA NOVA (Paulo Thiago 2005) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?4092-THIS-IS-BOSSA-NOVA-(Paulo-Thiago-2005)&p=34197#post34197). A US theatrical release (DVD coming?-there is a UK one) of what must be the definitive documentary history of the the best known Brazilian musical style, the Fifties-Sixties syncopated singing outgrowth of samba with jazz tie-ins, told by many of the original artists (prime movers Jobim and Gilberto weren't around any more, though). Sometimes this soft-spoken, laid-back music may seem a bit blah, but somebody must like it, since Antônio Carlos ("Tom") Jobim is the most-covered pop composer other than the Beatles, and, as he liked to say, there were four of them. Many interviews, comments, stories from present-at-the-inception Roberto Menescal and Carlos Lyra, with a dozen or more others and many clips, including Sinatra and Jerry Mulligan riffing (separately) with Jobim. Most people know "The Girl from Ipanema" and "The Waters of March"; but there's a whole lot more where that came from. In Portuguese, 126 mins. Original title: Coisa Mais Linda: História e Casos da Bossa Nova. On a screener; opening a fanning-out US release at Cinema Village New Year's Day 2016.

[Chris Knipp]

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YOSEMITE (Gabrielle Demeestere 2015). Another first-time director's collaboration with James Franco on some of his short stories, this about ten-year-old boys. Demeestere and Franco met at NYU film school and worked out the idea of adapting two of his stories, and she added a third intertwining characters and winding up episodes a bit. Franco plays the father in the first story, set in the eponymous park. This is more slight than the excellent Palo Alto by Gia Coppola, but well done in its way and precise in every detail of age, milieu and period--including primitive video games and primordial internet. One trouble is that the pedophile young man (Henry Hopper) who invites home one of the boys -- a repeated situation Demeestere keeps in suspension -- is more disturbing than anything else and so tends to overwhelm the film with the effect of making every relationship by extension also seem (unnecessarily) potentially inappropriate or weird. Another is how sketchy and episodic it all is; a third that, as treated here, without much plot, ten-year-old boys don't seem all that interesting or distinguishable from each other. But Demeestere works really well with the boys, and they are very natural. There are many nice moments. Watched at the first theatrical showing of the film before a friendly audience including friends and relatives, among others, and followed by a Q&A with the director. At IFC Center, New Year's Day 2016.

[Chris Knipp]

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Güeros (Alonso Ruizpalacios 2014). A hip coming of age road movie is the first feature from gifted Mexican writer-director Alonso Ruizpalacios. Shot in academy ratio and black and white and marked by a fresh use of camera, editing, sound, and humor and a breaking the fourth wall that owe something to the Nouvelle Vague, it focuses on Tomás, a slim, pale teenage bad boy ("güero" is Mexican slang for light-skinned) whose mother can't cope with him, so sends him from Veracruz to live in Mexico City for a while with his older brother "Sombra" ("dark-skinned"). Sombra is a student at the national university, but it's disrupted by a huge strike (loosely based on the 11-month strike of 1999), and he's "on strike from the strike," sitting idly in his trashy concrete apartment, a depressed slacker trying to teach himself card tricks. They get out, with his roommate and best friend Santos and girlfriend Ana (a strike leader), on a mission to find a cult Mexican rock idol of the Sixties called Epigmenio Cruz admired by their late father and both brothers, reportedly dying of cirrhoisis of the liver, to pay him homage. It's said that Cruz once "made Bob Dylan cry." Ruizpalacios has acknowledged a debt to Truffaut, Godard, Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, and Fellini, but his light touch, wit, and grasp of earthy Spanish vernacular (though he studied in London and speaks perfect English too) also link Güeros with Latin American youth films like Alex dos Santos' 2006 Glue, Che Sandoval's You Think You're the Prettiest, But You Are the Sluttiestt (2009), and the work of Fernando Eimbcke and Gerardo Naranjo. This won prizes at Berlin and Tribeca and had a limited US release May 2015 (see A.O. Scott's enthusiastic and detailed description in the NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/movies/review-gueros-amid-the-mexican-student-protests-of-1999.html?_r=0)). Now out on DVD from Kino Larber. Watched on a DVD provided by Rodrigo Brandão (Indie Strategy) 2 Jan. 2015.

[Chris Knipp]

Final films before leaving New York till February. Nothing I was too excited about, but this rounds it out.

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SISTERS (Jason Moore 2015. It was impossible to see anything remotely funny or in any way worthwhile in Sisters.I will quote Richard Brody's short review of it for The New Yorker, which is thorough. I don't want to remember it further.
This hectic and sentimental comedy, though built on a firm foundation of familiar experience and stifled pain, is a sad waste of sparkling talent. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler star as the fortyish Ellis sisters. The elder, Kate (Fey), a cosmetician, is the free-spirited single mother of a teen-age girl, Haley (Madison Davenport); the younger, Maura (Poehler), a childless and recently divorced nurse, is compassionate to a fault. When their parents (Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) sell the family home in Orlando, the Ellis sisters rush there to clear out the room that they shared throughout childhood. Once they’re back in their home town, their old friends turn up, and their old memories well up, along with frustrations and grudges. Maura needs to cut loose, Kate needs to calm down, and both seek to fulfill their needs by throwing a wild party in the empty house. The belabored raunchiness of the physical and verbal humor is further burdened with facile psychologizing. There are solid subjects at hand—adults’ seemingly unending adolescence, the burden of solitude in middle age, the unspoken demands of family ties—but they remain undeveloped. Directed by Jason Moore; with Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, and John Cena.--Richard Brody, "Movies - Now playing," The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/sisters), 4 Jan. 2016.

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MEET ME AT THE FAIR (Douglas Sirk 1953) Meet Me at the Fair was part of the FSLC's Douglas Sirk retrospective. It is an odd musical about a runaway orphan, dishonest city politicians, and a traveling seller of a fake elixir of health. Amusing enough in its way, it seems a bit lacking in unity and not very typical of the melodrama and social and political subtlety Sirk is noted for. Unfortunately my education in the art of Douglas Sirk still needs a lot of work. With Dan Dailey, Diana Lynn, Chet Allen. Allen, who played the orphan, a boy of radiant charm and good looks with a beautiful voice, came to the sad end that too often befalls child actors, committing suicide by overdosing on antidepressants at the age of 43, having met with nothing but disappointment in the rest of his life. I still need to view or review and comment upon Imitation of Life (1959) All That Heaven Allows1955) Written on the Wind (1956) Magnificent Obsession and Magnificent Obsession (1954). Seen at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, 4 Jan. 2016.

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RICHARD III (Laurence Olivier 1955.) A lovingly restored boxy-formatted Technicolor film whose bright colors looked like renaissance paintings, notable for gorgeous flaming reds. But there isn't much feeling of scope or grandeur; it's more like a small sound stage being busily filled with nothing beyond. Bright clear readings of the text, and the film is 155 minutes long. An excellent cast, led by Olivier in the main role with Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Richardson, John Guilgid, Pamala Brown and others, making this a must-see or students of Shakespeare on film. But but a pall is cast over it all from the start by a pallid, ghostly Olivier as Richard, stiff rather than warped or strange. There isn't much energy, or much rhythm or pulse to the production, astonishing considering the excellence of a cast that includes I remember the more 1995 film version with Ian McKellan and Annette Benning, cast in Fascist Thirties style. McKellan gave it some heft and nastiness. The protagonist should be a real villain, creepy, physically repellant, and possessed of a terrifying, maniacal energy. Probably the Olivier Shakespeare film that counts is Henry V, despite its being overshadowed recently by Kenneth Branagh''s brilliant 1989 debut. Press screening for a short revival run of the restored print of the 1955 film at Film Forum, 5 Jan. 2016.

I am now no longer in NYC. This was certainly going out not with a bang but a whimper. But though it might not seem so, movies aren't all I do. The last days of this sojourn were were softened by hours of good times with friends (even a fascinating conversational companion assigned me by lucky chance by an airline) and lovely visits to the new Egyptian exhibition and my old favorite the Jacques and Nathasha Gellman Collection of School of Paris art at the Met and second and third visits to the massive (if a tad too much so) Frank Stella retrospective at the new Whitney and the Picasso sculpture show at the Museum of Modern Art.

[Johann]

Thank you for another great New York Movie Journal, and thank you for your eternal cultural edification.
For one man, you do the work of a thousand.
The site doesn't need any members, to be honest. It just needs you. :)

[Chris Knipp]

You exaggerate, but thanks. The site needs you and other members. And it needs readers. And our able webmaster and Founder PW.

[Johann]

What happened to Peter? I think I scared him off. His hair must be white over my posts.

[Chris Knipp]

Peter speaks of you fondly. I didn't see him this time because he was on the road. He's busy with other things but his hair still retains its color.

[Chris Knipp]

It is not good to be away from New York. Film Forum (where I always spend time) has current program that is not too shabby:

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/fF.jpg (http://filmforum.org/)

Go to their website here. (http://filmforum.org/)

BLEAK STREET
Wednesday, Jan 20 - Tuesday, Feb 2
12:30 2:40 4:50 7:10 9:25

Legendary Mexican director Arturo Ripstein’s gorgeous true crime noir drama has U.S. theatrical premiere today, Wednesday, January 20.

“Creepy and beguiling. Turns a lurid tabloid true-crime story into a somber, surreal, monochromatic dream… unfolds in a stylized world that recalls old movies and pulp novels… Ripstein’s hallucinatory, deliberate style is engrossing…full of strange, vivid images and scenes.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times

TOP 10 FILMS OF 2015!
– James Quandt, Artforum

“A VISIONARY TRIUMPH.”
– Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

“(A) FANTASTIC TRUE-CRIME MELODRAMA, filmed in lurid black-and-white.”
– Gary Kramer, Metro

“A WILD, CARNIVALESQUE DIVE. PHANTASMAGORIC.”
– Peter DeBruge, Variety
Buy Tickets NowWatch Trailer

BLEAK STREET filmmaker Arturo RipsteinSkype Q&A with BLEAK STREET filmmaker Arturo Ripstein & screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego!

Friday, January 22, 7:10 show
Buy Tickets Now

Special deals on delicious local Mexican cuisine
with your BLEAK STREET ticket stub!

Café habana HENCHO EN DUMBO TOBACHE
Free elote or Mexican street corn
with $15+ food purchase
Valid through 2/9
2-for-1 margaritas
or micheladas
Valid through 2/2
10% off total bill
(with meal purchase)
(Thompson Street location)
Valid through 2/2


FARGO
Friday, Jan 22 - Thursday, Jan 28
DAILY: 12:30 2:50 4:50 7:00 9:10
SUN: 1:40 3:40 5:40 7:40 9:40

20th anniversary 4K restoration of Joel & Ethan Coen’s neo-classic black comedy, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Steve Buscemi opens Friday.

"TINY, PERFECT DETAILS: ear hats, car window scrapers, Paul Bunyan statues, tan Cutlass Cieras, woodchippers — iconography so singular that you could dangle miniatures from a charm bracelet and people would recognize the reference… a work of brick-by-brick world-building in the service of characters whose ordinariness is just as carefully crafted.”
– Village Voice

"STEADILY MOUNTING DELIGHT! COMPLETELY ORIGINAL!… The kind of movie that makes us hug ourselves with the way it pulls off one improbable scene after another. FILMS LIKE FARGO ARE WHY I LOVE THE MOVIES!”
– Roger Ebert
Buy Tickets Now

STRATFORD ON HOUSTON - LAST 2 DAYS - ENDS THURS

Zeffirelli’s THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Polanski’s MACBETH

Festival of classic Shakespeare screen adaptations, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death, ends this Thursday.

WED, JANUARY 20
Franco Zeffirelli’s THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Brando in Mankiewicz’s JULIUS CAESAR

THU, JANUARY 21
Roman Polanski’s MACBETH

Buy Tickets NowComplete Schedule


SON OF SAUL
NOW PLAYING
12:30 2:45 5:10 7:30 9:50

László Nemes’s astounding, critically acclaimed debut film, set in Auschwitz.

ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE!
Best Foreign Language Film

WINNER! GOLDEN GLOBE® AWARD
Best Foreign Language Film

“AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE.”
– Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly

*****! [5 STARS]
[highest rating]
“STAGGERING.”
– Dave Calhoun, Time Out New York

Click here to watch Charlie Rose’s interview with filmmaker László Nemes and star Géza Röhrig.

WINNER!
Grand Prix - 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Best Foreign Language Film
– National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Online
Best First Film – New York Film Critics Circle
Best Actor – Village Voice Critics’ Poll

BEST FILMS OF 2015!
J. Hoberman, Tablet
Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
Andrew O’Hehir, Salon
Eric Kohn, Indiewire
The Playlist (Indiewire)
Anne Thompson, Thompson on Hollywood (Indiewire)
Slant
Rex Reed, New York Observer
and many more!
Buy Tickets NowWatch Trailer



EXPLORERS
introduced by Ethan Hawke
Sun, January 24
11:00 AM

All seats: $8.00

Joe Dante’s 80s sci-fi comedy, starring child actors Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix in their film debuts. Archival 35mm print.

“It looks terrific, moves along at a gallop, and is marvelously good-natured.”
– Geoff Andrew, Time Out (London)
Buy Tickets Now


BARTON FINK

THE COEN BROTHERS
Friday, Jan 29 - Thursday, Feb 4
A two-week, 15-film tribute to writers/producers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen.

“THE SIBLING AUTEURS INVITE US INTO A FIERCELY INDEPENDENT WORLD!”
– Time Out



Film Forum
209 West Houston St. west of 6th Ave.
Map and Directions (http://filmforum.org/map_directions)
Box Office: 212-727-8110
Tickets: $8.00 Member $14.00 Regular

[Chris Knipp]

I think I forgot to include this preview, so here it is -- from a Dec. screening but the film is coming to NYC & LA in three weeks and I'll publish my full review then.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/bh.jpg
French poster for the film

LOUDER THAN BOMBS (Joachim Trier 2015) A family - father and two sons - struggle to deal with the death of the wife and mother, a war photographer who committed suicide but the youngest doesn't know that yet. A deliberately disjointed film with dreams, flashbacks, and entries into different consciousnesses, this doesn't work as well or seem as authentic as Trier's excellent first two films, and the artificial setup and switch to English language are reasons. Still, fascinating to watch because he and his co-writer/collaborator are so thoughtful and smart. With Gabriel Byrne, Jesse Eisenberg, Isabelle Huppert, and newcomer Devon Druid, along with Amy Ryan, David Strathairn, and others. It was released in Paris after the attacks and retitled Back Home. Opens in theaters 8 of Apri 2016l (released by The Orchard). Full review coming then. At Magno2 Screening Room, Seventh Ave. 15 Dec. 2015.