In a very different mode from my recent review of Spotlight, today I went to see Deadpool, the latest film in the X-Men franchise. Since I am more aware of the Avengers in the Marvel universe, I didn't realize Deadpool is part of the X-Men. Well, actually he is on the fringes. Two of the X-Men are trying to recruit him to join, but so far he has resisted their attempts.
Okay, this one is rated R for language, nudity, and sexual situations. It deserves the R rating. This isn't a movie to take your ten year olds to see, unless they are surprisingly mature. I was told by a friend her sister-in-law had gone to see this one and walked out soon after it started, offended by the language and content.
I can understand her reaction, although I would never do that...Deadpool is hilarious, but it is funny like Animal House on steroids. Most of you are probably wondering what I mean by Animal House...it was a raunchy, frat-boy comedy, back in the day.
Both the opening and closing credits are very much a part of the show. The opening credits are hysterical. I'll give you examples but I was laughing so hard, don't take them as exactly correct. For example - the credits for producer referred to a "douchebag", while the credits for the writers was something like "the real talent around here..." Like I said, don't quote me, but you get the idea. All those credited were listed by description, not by name.
It's an outrageous, over-the-top comedy, which laughs at every superhero film, including the X-Men. Oh, the two X-Men who want to recruit Deadpool are a huge metal man known as Colossus and a sullen teenaged girl known as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Her ability is pretty impressive when she uses it.
The villain is an enhanced man known as Ajax, but whose given name is Francis. Deadpool while undergoing transformation to his ultimate superhero status, refuses to call his tormentor anything but Francis, even though Ajax frequently demands Deadpool say his name.
It seems Deadpool was once a disgraced special forces officer, Wade, who worked as a mercenary. He meets a woman and falls in love. No, there are no hearts and flowers, just down and gritty sex scenes with many comic elements. He proposes with a Christmas bulb ring. She accepts and they are happy for about ten minutes until he gets diagnosed with terminal cancer. A strange little man comes to him in his favorite bar and tells him he can be cured. Desperate, though he first refuses, he thinks about what he has to lose and calls the number on the card the man left him.
Thus, Wade is transformed into Deadpool...nobody explained the side effects of making him immortal. To make matters worse, Ajax is a sadist and takes pleasure in the pain his subjects endure. Wade vows revenge. Disfigured, he does not think he can inflict his new condition and face on the woman he loves, so he becomes Deadpool - after a few comic missteps.
Of course Deadpool is triumphant in the end. He wins back his love and defeats Francis in a final cataclysmic battle on and around a dry-docked wreck of a helicarrier. What can I say, it's a comic superhero movie.
If you have ever seen any of the Marvel movies you know they always put a teaser scene foreshadowing the next movie after the entire credits roll. This was no exception. The scene was played for laughs like the rest of the movie. I was shaking my head and laughing as I left the theater.
Oh, and the closing credits, which used the actual names of the people involved in the film, were just as raunchy as the first. They used cartoon characters doing things no young child should ever see cartoon characters do.
Ryan Reynolds is a hoot as the title character. One review I saw referred to Deadpool as the "snarkiest" super hero in the Marvel universe. I'd say that's right on.
If you are in the mood for this freaky, funny film, take a chance and see it. Just be warned, absolutely nothing is withheld in this one. It's not like Captain America and goes much farther than Iron Man ever dreamed of going. But that's the beauty of this character.
I'm seriously considering switching gears drastically again and going to see The Revenant tomorrow.
Stay tuned...
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Spotlight
This year my Academy Award preparation is not the usual. I'm not making an effort to see all the nominees prior to the awards being presented. For one thing, I'm not up to sitting through what many people think will be the Best Picture Winner, The Revenant. Too much emotional baggage over the last year.
Of the nominees for Best Picture I have seen Bridge of Spies and now Spotlight. I hope to see The Martian this week on pay-per-view.
I saw Spotlight yesterday at a one time only showing at my local multiplex. Don't know why they did that as the film is coming out on video very soon. But I'm glad I got to see it on the big screen.
This is based on a true story. The Spotlight unit of the Boston Globe begins an investigation of rumors of children being molested by Catholic priests in the Boston Diocese. Even though 9/11 happens in the middle of the investigation and pushes back their release date, they do not give up on the story.
The editors and reporters do not stop the research, even when they are blindsided by the far-reaching power of the Church. Bit by bit, they dig up the truth, resurrect it and publish it for the world to see.
As you would expect, this film is charged with emotion, tense, and unrelenting, just like the reporters who ferret out the awful truth. Starting with a list of 13 priests known to have molested children, the list grows to over 70 verified priests when the research is concluded.
At the end of the film credits, they run three triple column pages of single-spaced lists of other locations where reports of abuse by the priests have been verified all over the world. You will be amazed.
As a retired social worker who dealt with victims of such abuse, I found the portrayals realistic as the reporters interviewed adults who were molested as children.
There are excellent performances from the cast - notably Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber as staff members at the Boston Globe, Stanley Tucci as an Armenian attorney who brought suits against the church, and Len Cariou as the arrogant Cardinal Law. This is not to short change the rest of the cast members. Everyone did an admirable job with the difficult roles. This is a solid cast who worked as a unit within a cohesive script.
The cast of Spotlight recently won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for best cast. It was a well-deserved award.
My interest was caught and held from the beginning of the movie to the end - no checking the time or being distracted by the sounds in the theater. My attention was glued to that screen.
As I walked out of the theater after it was over, I remembered hearing Pope Francis speak last year about ending the silence on sexual abuse of children by priests and the practice of transferring a known predator to another parish where he could find new victims.
No this is not a topic for everyone, but it is something which happened. The film version of the brave staff of the Boston Globe taking on a story of such magnitude in a predominantly Catholic city is incredible to watch.
I say good job to the real people portrayed in this film and bravo to the cast who portrayed them.
On a personal note, I have to say Mark Ruffalo is becoming one of my favorite actors lately. From the HBO biopic The Normal Heart, to the Marvel Comics films, The Avengers, and The Age of Ultron, and now for his passionate portrayal of reporter Mike Resendez in Spotlight.
Who knew the big green guy with few verbal skills had it in him?
This is an excellent film. Check it out.
Until next time...
Of the nominees for Best Picture I have seen Bridge of Spies and now Spotlight. I hope to see The Martian this week on pay-per-view.
I saw Spotlight yesterday at a one time only showing at my local multiplex. Don't know why they did that as the film is coming out on video very soon. But I'm glad I got to see it on the big screen.
This is based on a true story. The Spotlight unit of the Boston Globe begins an investigation of rumors of children being molested by Catholic priests in the Boston Diocese. Even though 9/11 happens in the middle of the investigation and pushes back their release date, they do not give up on the story.
The editors and reporters do not stop the research, even when they are blindsided by the far-reaching power of the Church. Bit by bit, they dig up the truth, resurrect it and publish it for the world to see.
As you would expect, this film is charged with emotion, tense, and unrelenting, just like the reporters who ferret out the awful truth. Starting with a list of 13 priests known to have molested children, the list grows to over 70 verified priests when the research is concluded.
At the end of the film credits, they run three triple column pages of single-spaced lists of other locations where reports of abuse by the priests have been verified all over the world. You will be amazed.
As a retired social worker who dealt with victims of such abuse, I found the portrayals realistic as the reporters interviewed adults who were molested as children.
There are excellent performances from the cast - notably Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber as staff members at the Boston Globe, Stanley Tucci as an Armenian attorney who brought suits against the church, and Len Cariou as the arrogant Cardinal Law. This is not to short change the rest of the cast members. Everyone did an admirable job with the difficult roles. This is a solid cast who worked as a unit within a cohesive script.
The cast of Spotlight recently won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for best cast. It was a well-deserved award.
My interest was caught and held from the beginning of the movie to the end - no checking the time or being distracted by the sounds in the theater. My attention was glued to that screen.
As I walked out of the theater after it was over, I remembered hearing Pope Francis speak last year about ending the silence on sexual abuse of children by priests and the practice of transferring a known predator to another parish where he could find new victims.
No this is not a topic for everyone, but it is something which happened. The film version of the brave staff of the Boston Globe taking on a story of such magnitude in a predominantly Catholic city is incredible to watch.
I say good job to the real people portrayed in this film and bravo to the cast who portrayed them.
On a personal note, I have to say Mark Ruffalo is becoming one of my favorite actors lately. From the HBO biopic The Normal Heart, to the Marvel Comics films, The Avengers, and The Age of Ultron, and now for his passionate portrayal of reporter Mike Resendez in Spotlight.
Who knew the big green guy with few verbal skills had it in him?
This is an excellent film. Check it out.
Until next time...
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Pride + Prejudice + Zombies
Well, I did it. Today I went to see Pride + Prejudice + Zombies. Previously I read the book. I debated about reviewing it here in this forum, but honestly, I was offended that the author Seth Grahame - Smith had used the original book, complete with much of the dialog and narrative to build his own novel. Granted he gave credit to Jane Austen, but as a devotee of the original work, I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
Today the film put it all in perspective. Yes, the basic story is there - the five Bennet sisters live with their marriage-minded mother and their bemused father. Each of them knowing her purpose in life is to marry. Enter Mr. Bingley, his friend Mr. Darcy, eventually George Wickham, and the Reverend Mr. Collins.
So far so good, right? Yes, but this England is a far cry from Austen's land of restrictive manners among the gentry. In this England, zombies are growing in number. Men and women are encouraged by their king to study "the deadly arts." Read that Asian martial arts...The most snobbish among the aristocratic study in Kyoto, Japan. The ones who want the best training study in China with Shaolin monks. Thereby comes the friction between Darcy and Elizabeth. He's a student and proponent of the Kyoto school while she is Shaolin trained. Plus women are expected to cease their "warrior ways" when they marry in this cockeyed version of England. Elizabeth vows she will never stop fighting.
The film wasn't as bloody as the book. Most of the scenes of Zombie attacks were muted with long shots, camera filters, or the use of night settings.
The film's action and plot elements differed from the novel which surprised me. It was a very different story. It tells the tale of an upcoming Zombie apocalypse and the four Zombie horsemen who will signal the end times.
I have to admit I loved the scene of the Bennet sisters, all five of them, dressing for the ball at Netherfield, with knives hidden in their garters, along with primitive firearms. When the inevitable attack comes, they become a formidable group with choreographed fighting in which the camera stays on the sisters, not their assailants. It was a great scene.
There is also combat between Elizabeth and Darcy when he first proposes marriage to her. The subsequent fight is sexy and fun, the likes of which we rarely see in films.
Notable among the cast are the following:
Bella Heathcote - who played Johnny Depp's love interest in Dark Shadows, plays Jane Bennet, the eldest sister. Ms. Heathcote is ethereally beautiful and is a surprisingly spunky Jane, second only to her sister Elizabeth as a warrior.
Lily James stars as Elizabeth Bennet. She is up to the challenge of the role, and a challenge it is, both physically and emotionally. According to what I read on the Web, Natalie Portman was originally slated to play the part but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. She still gets producer credit.
Sam Riley plays Mr. Darcy, who makes an immediate first impression. He is a clever, great warrior who is a colonel in the British military. He is attracted against his will to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, with the added problem of her Shaolin training.
Douglas Booth plays Mr. Bingley, not the warrior his friend is. He is a handsome young man, well matched with the lovely Miss Heathcote. He does a heroic turn in the climax of the story.
Jack Huston plays the scheming Mr. Wickham. One of my favorite contemporary actors, memorable for his role as Richard Harrow, the horribly wounded WWI vet in HBO's series Boardwalk Empire, he makes an evil villain indeed.
Lena Headey, known as the dangerous matriarch of the Lannister clan in Game of Thrones, does a great job as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt. The premier female warrior in all of England, she is an amazing woman, much more compassionate than the original Miss Austen penned. Ms. Headey created a memorable character.
For me, Matt Smith, as the Reverend Mr. Collins, stole the show. Mr. Collins is usually played as a stuffy little obnoxious man. Smith's interpretation was a bit different. He was a hoot. For you Whovians out there, of course he was the eleventh actor to play the Doctor in the venerable series. His portrayal of Mr. Collins has elements of the Doctor, but is much more obnoxious and unctuous (love that word!) He is a delight as he performs the double wedding at the end of the film.
Now then, I am usually not into spoilers, but I will say, if you leave when the credits begin to roll, you will miss a very important scene. So don't be fooled when the cast credits start to roll...The film isn't concluded yet. There might be a sequel, that's all I'm sayin'.
I know there are some of you out there who will never willingly see any Zombie movie, but for the rest of you, this is a fun one, very well done.
I recommend it.
Like with any such film, leave your belief system at the door, get some popcorn, and enjoy the ride.
Until next time...
Today the film put it all in perspective. Yes, the basic story is there - the five Bennet sisters live with their marriage-minded mother and their bemused father. Each of them knowing her purpose in life is to marry. Enter Mr. Bingley, his friend Mr. Darcy, eventually George Wickham, and the Reverend Mr. Collins.
So far so good, right? Yes, but this England is a far cry from Austen's land of restrictive manners among the gentry. In this England, zombies are growing in number. Men and women are encouraged by their king to study "the deadly arts." Read that Asian martial arts...The most snobbish among the aristocratic study in Kyoto, Japan. The ones who want the best training study in China with Shaolin monks. Thereby comes the friction between Darcy and Elizabeth. He's a student and proponent of the Kyoto school while she is Shaolin trained. Plus women are expected to cease their "warrior ways" when they marry in this cockeyed version of England. Elizabeth vows she will never stop fighting.
The film wasn't as bloody as the book. Most of the scenes of Zombie attacks were muted with long shots, camera filters, or the use of night settings.
The film's action and plot elements differed from the novel which surprised me. It was a very different story. It tells the tale of an upcoming Zombie apocalypse and the four Zombie horsemen who will signal the end times.
I have to admit I loved the scene of the Bennet sisters, all five of them, dressing for the ball at Netherfield, with knives hidden in their garters, along with primitive firearms. When the inevitable attack comes, they become a formidable group with choreographed fighting in which the camera stays on the sisters, not their assailants. It was a great scene.
There is also combat between Elizabeth and Darcy when he first proposes marriage to her. The subsequent fight is sexy and fun, the likes of which we rarely see in films.
Notable among the cast are the following:
Bella Heathcote - who played Johnny Depp's love interest in Dark Shadows, plays Jane Bennet, the eldest sister. Ms. Heathcote is ethereally beautiful and is a surprisingly spunky Jane, second only to her sister Elizabeth as a warrior.
Lily James stars as Elizabeth Bennet. She is up to the challenge of the role, and a challenge it is, both physically and emotionally. According to what I read on the Web, Natalie Portman was originally slated to play the part but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts. She still gets producer credit.
Sam Riley plays Mr. Darcy, who makes an immediate first impression. He is a clever, great warrior who is a colonel in the British military. He is attracted against his will to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, with the added problem of her Shaolin training.
Douglas Booth plays Mr. Bingley, not the warrior his friend is. He is a handsome young man, well matched with the lovely Miss Heathcote. He does a heroic turn in the climax of the story.
Jack Huston plays the scheming Mr. Wickham. One of my favorite contemporary actors, memorable for his role as Richard Harrow, the horribly wounded WWI vet in HBO's series Boardwalk Empire, he makes an evil villain indeed.
Lena Headey, known as the dangerous matriarch of the Lannister clan in Game of Thrones, does a great job as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt. The premier female warrior in all of England, she is an amazing woman, much more compassionate than the original Miss Austen penned. Ms. Headey created a memorable character.
For me, Matt Smith, as the Reverend Mr. Collins, stole the show. Mr. Collins is usually played as a stuffy little obnoxious man. Smith's interpretation was a bit different. He was a hoot. For you Whovians out there, of course he was the eleventh actor to play the Doctor in the venerable series. His portrayal of Mr. Collins has elements of the Doctor, but is much more obnoxious and unctuous (love that word!) He is a delight as he performs the double wedding at the end of the film.
Now then, I am usually not into spoilers, but I will say, if you leave when the credits begin to roll, you will miss a very important scene. So don't be fooled when the cast credits start to roll...The film isn't concluded yet. There might be a sequel, that's all I'm sayin'.
I know there are some of you out there who will never willingly see any Zombie movie, but for the rest of you, this is a fun one, very well done.
I recommend it.
Like with any such film, leave your belief system at the door, get some popcorn, and enjoy the ride.
Until next time...
Friday, February 5, 2016
Hail Caesar
Those feisty Coen Brothers are at it again. This time they have given us a film that is a send up of the early 1950s in Hollywood, at the height of the Communist scare.
Like most of their films, there is a zany component, an off-kilter recreation of an ugly piece of American history.
Though fictional, some of the characters are spoofing actual Hollywood celebs of their day. For example, Scarlett Johansson plays an Esther Williams' clone - a swimming sweetheart with a broad Brooklyn accent and a penchant for indiscriminate love play.
George Clooney does a comic turn as Baird Whitlock, the suave leading man of his day. Turns out Mr. Whitlock is none too swift in the brains department, as we Texans would say. But, boy, can he turn out a performance when properly motivated...
Alden Ehrenreich plays the popular cowboy star of his day, complete with riding and roping tricks, and cowboy songs. The fun comes when he is cast in a drawing-room drama with actors using English accents. I laughed like a fool. But our cowboy turns out to be a hero off the screen as well. (I think we'll see more of this talented young actor.)
Ralph Fiennes plays the conflicted (in many ways) director who is forced to use the cowboy in his drama, complete with British accents.
Jonah Hill plays straight man as the studio's go-to guy for solving difficult situations that could ruin the career of a star or a valuable director. Depending on your point of view, he ends up either the happiest or saddest man of the story...
Channing Tatum does a surprising job as a song and dance man in a big production number complete with acrobatic moves and tap shoes. I didn't know he had it in him! But his character has more depth as the plot progresses. Still all of his scenes, even the ones in which he's not being a movie star, are shot like scenes in a film of that era...if that doesn't make sense just see the film. You'll understand. I LOVED the shot of him silhouetted in the moonlight holding his little dog.
Oh yes, I loved the dog...
Tilda Swinton does a classic turn as battling twin gossip columnists, Thora and Thessaly.
And what would a Coen brothers film be without Frances McDormand? Look for her in a hysterical bit as a distracted, cigarette smoking, film editor, ensconced in her dark little office late at night when the studio head comes to visit her. I'm not sure, but I think a case could be made that one bit in this film eclipses her, "Nope, I'm goooonnna baaaarrrff" moment in Fargo. She is always a delight.
Wayne Knight (Newman of Seinfield) does a great "Lurking Extra #1" - I'm not kidding that's his character name in the credits. He's a hoot with his nervous tics and comic timing.
Robert Picardo of Star Trek Voyager fame does a great job as a Rabbi brought in with other clergy leaders by the head of the studio to give the all-clear to their production of the story of the Crucifixion of Christ, which they called Hail Caesar.
And speaking of the studio head, Josh Brolin does a wonderful job as Eddie Mannix, the hard drinking, trying-to-quit-smoking, stressed head of the studio. The movie really belongs to him as he moves through the action trying to solve problems at the studio, not the least of which is the kidnapping of his biggest star, Baird Whitlock...
The latter event ends in a bizarre way only the Coen brothers could conceive.
I have to tell you, I laughed like a lunatic in this one. It is a pluperfect hoot. Not a minute of it is serious, even when Lawrence Laurent (Fiennes) is attempting to direct his drama.
The audience in the movie theater was not huge, but I saw it at a time when most people would be at work. The age of the patrons skewed older, retirees, yep, like me. There were a lot of us laughing, but some of the people in the audience clearly didn't get the joke. That's okay, I understand. Satire isn't always readily evident to those whose minds don't bend that way.
Hail Caesar is another gem from this talented team of brothers. It's a great way to forget about your problems and suspend your disbelief for a couple of hours.
Check it out...my next review will be Pride + Prejudice + Zombies which also opened today in general distribution.
Until next time...
Like most of their films, there is a zany component, an off-kilter recreation of an ugly piece of American history.
Though fictional, some of the characters are spoofing actual Hollywood celebs of their day. For example, Scarlett Johansson plays an Esther Williams' clone - a swimming sweetheart with a broad Brooklyn accent and a penchant for indiscriminate love play.
George Clooney does a comic turn as Baird Whitlock, the suave leading man of his day. Turns out Mr. Whitlock is none too swift in the brains department, as we Texans would say. But, boy, can he turn out a performance when properly motivated...
Alden Ehrenreich plays the popular cowboy star of his day, complete with riding and roping tricks, and cowboy songs. The fun comes when he is cast in a drawing-room drama with actors using English accents. I laughed like a fool. But our cowboy turns out to be a hero off the screen as well. (I think we'll see more of this talented young actor.)
Ralph Fiennes plays the conflicted (in many ways) director who is forced to use the cowboy in his drama, complete with British accents.
Jonah Hill plays straight man as the studio's go-to guy for solving difficult situations that could ruin the career of a star or a valuable director. Depending on your point of view, he ends up either the happiest or saddest man of the story...
Channing Tatum does a surprising job as a song and dance man in a big production number complete with acrobatic moves and tap shoes. I didn't know he had it in him! But his character has more depth as the plot progresses. Still all of his scenes, even the ones in which he's not being a movie star, are shot like scenes in a film of that era...if that doesn't make sense just see the film. You'll understand. I LOVED the shot of him silhouetted in the moonlight holding his little dog.
Oh yes, I loved the dog...
Tilda Swinton does a classic turn as battling twin gossip columnists, Thora and Thessaly.
And what would a Coen brothers film be without Frances McDormand? Look for her in a hysterical bit as a distracted, cigarette smoking, film editor, ensconced in her dark little office late at night when the studio head comes to visit her. I'm not sure, but I think a case could be made that one bit in this film eclipses her, "Nope, I'm goooonnna baaaarrrff" moment in Fargo. She is always a delight.
Wayne Knight (Newman of Seinfield) does a great "Lurking Extra #1" - I'm not kidding that's his character name in the credits. He's a hoot with his nervous tics and comic timing.
Robert Picardo of Star Trek Voyager fame does a great job as a Rabbi brought in with other clergy leaders by the head of the studio to give the all-clear to their production of the story of the Crucifixion of Christ, which they called Hail Caesar.
And speaking of the studio head, Josh Brolin does a wonderful job as Eddie Mannix, the hard drinking, trying-to-quit-smoking, stressed head of the studio. The movie really belongs to him as he moves through the action trying to solve problems at the studio, not the least of which is the kidnapping of his biggest star, Baird Whitlock...
The latter event ends in a bizarre way only the Coen brothers could conceive.
I have to tell you, I laughed like a lunatic in this one. It is a pluperfect hoot. Not a minute of it is serious, even when Lawrence Laurent (Fiennes) is attempting to direct his drama.
The audience in the movie theater was not huge, but I saw it at a time when most people would be at work. The age of the patrons skewed older, retirees, yep, like me. There were a lot of us laughing, but some of the people in the audience clearly didn't get the joke. That's okay, I understand. Satire isn't always readily evident to those whose minds don't bend that way.
Hail Caesar is another gem from this talented team of brothers. It's a great way to forget about your problems and suspend your disbelief for a couple of hours.
Check it out...my next review will be Pride + Prejudice + Zombies which also opened today in general distribution.
Until next time...
Saturday, January 30, 2016
The Finest Hours
Okay, I admit it, as an aging Trekker, I am a great fan of Chris Pine. He makes a wonderful Captain Kirk on the JJ Abrams Enterprise. His Kirk is brash, buoyant, cocky, and always heroic...just what you want in your starship captain. I've seen him play similar characters in most of his films. But today, for the first time, I saw his range as an actor. He plays Boatswain's Mate Bernard Webber, a quiet man uneasy at voicing his thoughts. In the first scene of the movie, he is stalling outside a diner where he is to meet a young woman with whom he's been communicating via telephone for a few weeks. He is shy, diffident, and unsure of himself. At their first meeting he is charmingly awkward with her, stumbling for what to say. As the story progresses, she proposes marriage to him...
I've seen the previews for The Finest Hours for several weeks. It looked intriguing, so I decided today I'd go see it...in 3D.
I'm still not ready to take on the new Star Wars and watch one of my favorite characters die...later, I'll do that later.
Back to The Finest Hours...the story is aptly named. This is a true story of the U S Coast Guard and remains the most successful small boat rescue in their history to this day.
There is a terrible winter storm on land and a gale at sea, creating huge waves and navigational nightmares.
Two oil tankers are caught out in the maelstrom, miles apart. First one breaks up and then the other. The second tanker's radio is not functioning so they cannot broadcast their plight. (It went down with the bow section of the vessel.)
Meanwhile at the Coast Guard Station on the coast, they pick up radar blips of the first one and see the second one, but think it's an echo or anomaly because there is no radio confirmation.
The Station Commander, well played by the talented Eric Bana, with a broad Texas accent, which really alienates his New Englander crewmen, decides to send out their remaining rescue boat when a plane dispatched finds the floating stern of the second tanker.
Meanwhile the film's action switches back and forth from the Coast Guard and the tanker where the men try valiantly to stay afloat and alive. Michael Raymond James plays a crewman determined to lower the lifeboats into the wildly churning sea. He argues with his superior played by Casey Affleck (as Ray Sybert) in his best performance to date. Finally Sybert takes an ax and cuts the lifeboat loose. The waves smash it against the hull of the ship splintering it into matchsticks. The crew is not yet convinced but follow Sybert's lead. There is no other way off the ship. They know they cannot survive afloat in the huge waves of frigid water.
I kept trying to remember where I had seen Michael Raymond James before. I could remember his face but he looked different in this role. Finally when I got home I googled the cast list and realized he played Rene, the serial killer, on the first season of True Blood...How could I have forgotten that?!!
Meanwhile, Bernie and his small crew start out to sea. The hardest part for them will be to make it over the shoals in the churning water. There are harrowing scenes where the small boat (think an elongated ski boat) literally travels under the water until it surfaces in the waves. Some of the waves encountered on the shoals reminded me of the pipeline off the north shore of Oahu, or to give it a cinematic reference, the big one in The Perfect Storm.
Since I wrote earlier it is still considered the most successful small boat rescue ever, you can imagine what happens. But seeing it is amazing. These men were brave even though most of them on the tanker and the rescue craft did not think they had a chance of success. The climax of the film is especially moving when they sail into port, guided by unusual means, and find the citizens of the town braving a blizzard in the cold dark of the night to welcome everyone ashore, with blankets, coffee, and hot food.
Other cast members were memorable, particularly Graham McTavish, known to us Outlander fans as Dugald McKenzie on the romantic series. He played Frank Fauteux, a chief aboard the tanker, and the true leader of the men.
In the role of Miriam, Bernie's girlfriend and soon to be wife, was Holliday Grainger. She plays a strong woman of her day (early 1950s) determined to be a part of saving the love of her life.
The film is beautifully made and historically accurate for the most part to 1951-1952. Ms. Grainger looks like the "girl-next-door" or at least the way one would be portrayed in the films of that era. The location shots are memorable. The effects of the snowstorm unforgettable, especially in 3D. I was cold just sitting in the theater watching it...remember I'm a warm weather girl, no snow for me, thankyouverymuch.
But I have to admit the 3D aspects delighted me. It was like being in the snowstorm as the flakes floated by your field of vision...I also saw previews to Tim Burton's sequel to Alice in Wonderland, World of Warcraft, and Disney's new version of The Jungle Book, all in 3D.
The Finest Hours is a true story of heroes who risk their lives on a regular basis to save those endangered off our coast.
It is an excellent film. The special effects, particularly those at sea, are amazing. I don't think I'll ever forget how the floating stern of the doomed ship looked.
Check out this great movie. You may be craving a big cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate when it is over, but what's wrong with that?
Until next time...
I've seen the previews for The Finest Hours for several weeks. It looked intriguing, so I decided today I'd go see it...in 3D.
I'm still not ready to take on the new Star Wars and watch one of my favorite characters die...later, I'll do that later.
Back to The Finest Hours...the story is aptly named. This is a true story of the U S Coast Guard and remains the most successful small boat rescue in their history to this day.
There is a terrible winter storm on land and a gale at sea, creating huge waves and navigational nightmares.
Two oil tankers are caught out in the maelstrom, miles apart. First one breaks up and then the other. The second tanker's radio is not functioning so they cannot broadcast their plight. (It went down with the bow section of the vessel.)
Meanwhile at the Coast Guard Station on the coast, they pick up radar blips of the first one and see the second one, but think it's an echo or anomaly because there is no radio confirmation.
The Station Commander, well played by the talented Eric Bana, with a broad Texas accent, which really alienates his New Englander crewmen, decides to send out their remaining rescue boat when a plane dispatched finds the floating stern of the second tanker.
Meanwhile the film's action switches back and forth from the Coast Guard and the tanker where the men try valiantly to stay afloat and alive. Michael Raymond James plays a crewman determined to lower the lifeboats into the wildly churning sea. He argues with his superior played by Casey Affleck (as Ray Sybert) in his best performance to date. Finally Sybert takes an ax and cuts the lifeboat loose. The waves smash it against the hull of the ship splintering it into matchsticks. The crew is not yet convinced but follow Sybert's lead. There is no other way off the ship. They know they cannot survive afloat in the huge waves of frigid water.
I kept trying to remember where I had seen Michael Raymond James before. I could remember his face but he looked different in this role. Finally when I got home I googled the cast list and realized he played Rene, the serial killer, on the first season of True Blood...How could I have forgotten that?!!
Meanwhile, Bernie and his small crew start out to sea. The hardest part for them will be to make it over the shoals in the churning water. There are harrowing scenes where the small boat (think an elongated ski boat) literally travels under the water until it surfaces in the waves. Some of the waves encountered on the shoals reminded me of the pipeline off the north shore of Oahu, or to give it a cinematic reference, the big one in The Perfect Storm.
Since I wrote earlier it is still considered the most successful small boat rescue ever, you can imagine what happens. But seeing it is amazing. These men were brave even though most of them on the tanker and the rescue craft did not think they had a chance of success. The climax of the film is especially moving when they sail into port, guided by unusual means, and find the citizens of the town braving a blizzard in the cold dark of the night to welcome everyone ashore, with blankets, coffee, and hot food.
Other cast members were memorable, particularly Graham McTavish, known to us Outlander fans as Dugald McKenzie on the romantic series. He played Frank Fauteux, a chief aboard the tanker, and the true leader of the men.
In the role of Miriam, Bernie's girlfriend and soon to be wife, was Holliday Grainger. She plays a strong woman of her day (early 1950s) determined to be a part of saving the love of her life.
The film is beautifully made and historically accurate for the most part to 1951-1952. Ms. Grainger looks like the "girl-next-door" or at least the way one would be portrayed in the films of that era. The location shots are memorable. The effects of the snowstorm unforgettable, especially in 3D. I was cold just sitting in the theater watching it...remember I'm a warm weather girl, no snow for me, thankyouverymuch.
But I have to admit the 3D aspects delighted me. It was like being in the snowstorm as the flakes floated by your field of vision...I also saw previews to Tim Burton's sequel to Alice in Wonderland, World of Warcraft, and Disney's new version of The Jungle Book, all in 3D.
The Finest Hours is a true story of heroes who risk their lives on a regular basis to save those endangered off our coast.
It is an excellent film. The special effects, particularly those at sea, are amazing. I don't think I'll ever forget how the floating stern of the doomed ship looked.
Check out this great movie. You may be craving a big cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate when it is over, but what's wrong with that?
Until next time...
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Peering Through Lace
I haven't posted a blog in almost two months. Right after my last post, my father went into his final decline. The ensuing weeks were filled with anger, anguish, and pain for me, emotions which are not conducive to writing about movies or books. I didn't think about movies and haven't even seen the new Star Wars epic. Just not interested right now...
My vision is clouded by the events. So many emotions come into play. Before his hospitalization and a battery of tests he had refused in the past, I didn't fully understand the depth of his confusion, how badly his brain was damaged. Dad could be manipulative. The part of me which resisted seeing the truth kept insisting he was trying to play me for attention. The anger would blossom, fury born of fear. It was the anger that spurred me, kept me going during those awful weeks, kept my feet walking into the hospital and hiking to the room.
Each day when I left, I would be a shell, drained of all emotion, the effort of putting one foot in front of the other almost too much. At night I would sit staring straight ahead, a wounded animal too damaged to react.
Then came the day the palliative care physician came to talk to me. Dad was refusing all food. It wasn't that he couldn't eat, he refused to eat. I realized then he wanted to control the end of his life in the only way he could. As his "little girl" I wanted to make him eat. As a retired social worker who had seen this in others, I knew I couldn't. The doctor mentioned hospice care. We would have to honor his last wish for autonomy and make him as comfortable as possible. I spoke to my brother, sister-in-law, and niece who agreed with me we would take no extraordinary measures. I signed the "do not resuscitate" orders, the hardest thing I ever had to do, bar none.
Dad went to an assisted living apartment with round-the-clock sitters and hospice care. He was not an easy patient. He kept demanding to be let out of the bed. His dementia had expanded to the point he no longer remembered how to walk. He couldn't even stand with help, much less alone. But his strident voice kept insisting the first couple of days to be let out of the bed. When I tried to tell him why he couldn't get out of bed, he cursed me frequently and vividly.
I learned about the phenomenon of "comfort food" - no I don't mean Southern cooking. It is common for people willingly starving to death to take bites of their favorite foods. Dad was brought three meals a day which he usually refused. Once in a while he would take a few bites of breakfast. The last thing he ate was a piece of bacon two days before he passed. Odd, the things we remember...
Two days before he died, my brother and sister-in-law arrived from another state. It was a Sunday. We were all there. The Hospice chaplain was affiliated with Dad's church. She informed the minister who came that afternoon. Dad smiled and smiled to see his son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and minister in the room. The minister led us all in prayer. Dad seemed to relax against the pillow with a deep sigh.
The last couple of days of his life, he was taken off his meds and given morphine. He was quieter then, though he spoke to my late mother often the first day, insisting he could see her in the room. He said, "Sugie (his pet name for her), come get me out of this bed..."
In the end, I wasn't with him. I had gone home for a bit, having been with him since early morning. A couple of hours later my brother called and said Dad's breathing had changed and I better come back. It took me twelve minutes to leave my home, drive to the nearby facility, walk into the building and catch the elevator to walk into Dad's room. He was already gone when I got there.
Before I left that day, I brushed his hair off his forehead, kissed him and told him he had done a good job in his life. We would all be okay. He could let go and let God.
That's what he did.
In the aftermath, I bulldozed my way through the after death requirements, the funeral planning, etc. It was all done on adrenalin which evaporated the minute I got into my car.
I got used to the parchment colored face and the basset hound eyes. I got used to feeling nothing as I stared off into space. I even got used to not being able to eat, some psychological quirk apparently due to allowing my father to starve to death.
These days I am occupied with the running of the family trusts, dealing with the banks, the insurance companies, sending out death certificates, dealing with the government, the taxes, etc. Thankfully the sale of his house closed the week after his passing. I was called by one of Dad's neighbors yesterday. They had received a piece of mail addressed to him, so I went to pick it up. His former home has a huge dumpster in the driveway. The kitchen cabinets, the carpets, the linoleum, were mounded in the pile. Looks like it will be a completely different house when they are through, all trace of my family removed...not a bad thing for anyone but me.
When I finish one monumental task like dealing with his attorney, I think I am done, but something always comes up...
So ends the saga of the six years I took care of my father...looking back is like peering through lace. Emotions restrict my vision the way pieces of lace do when held over fabric. The pieces have their own beauty, but obscure the fabric beneath.
Images from my childhood pop up and I remember the man he was, laughing, dancing with Mom, telling jokes, holding our little poodle, not the frail sick man he became. My dad was a genuine hero of World War II. He never spoke about his service, in fact, I've received condolence letters from some of the men who worked for him over the years. They never knew about his service at all.
My dad was a celestial navigator - only using the stars. He flew fifty missions on B-25 bombers in the Pacific. Most men were shipped home after twenty-five combat missions. But the Army Air Corps needed good navigators. They bombed small islands, just dots in the vast ocean, hundreds of miles from their take-off point, or ships, moving targets. He always got the men to the target and got them safely back home again. He saw many of his buddies shot down in other planes. From above, he watched them die. But his men always came home.
My last act with my father was to pin his Army Air Corps wings on his suit jacket before he was taken for the gravesite service. The funeral director had to help me as I was too short to reach his chest in the casket. I kissed my fingers and pressed them to Dad's forehead. He was ice cold, my last image of my beloved father and the final proof for that little crying child inside he is gone.
Though it still makes me weep, or scream in vexation when dealing with bureaucrats, I am honored I was able to guide my dad home to rest over these last years.
In time the emotions will quiet down, the anger will fade, and I will go on...but maybe that's just the dratted lace obscuring my vision.
Rest in Peace, Dad.
My vision is clouded by the events. So many emotions come into play. Before his hospitalization and a battery of tests he had refused in the past, I didn't fully understand the depth of his confusion, how badly his brain was damaged. Dad could be manipulative. The part of me which resisted seeing the truth kept insisting he was trying to play me for attention. The anger would blossom, fury born of fear. It was the anger that spurred me, kept me going during those awful weeks, kept my feet walking into the hospital and hiking to the room.
Each day when I left, I would be a shell, drained of all emotion, the effort of putting one foot in front of the other almost too much. At night I would sit staring straight ahead, a wounded animal too damaged to react.
Then came the day the palliative care physician came to talk to me. Dad was refusing all food. It wasn't that he couldn't eat, he refused to eat. I realized then he wanted to control the end of his life in the only way he could. As his "little girl" I wanted to make him eat. As a retired social worker who had seen this in others, I knew I couldn't. The doctor mentioned hospice care. We would have to honor his last wish for autonomy and make him as comfortable as possible. I spoke to my brother, sister-in-law, and niece who agreed with me we would take no extraordinary measures. I signed the "do not resuscitate" orders, the hardest thing I ever had to do, bar none.
Dad went to an assisted living apartment with round-the-clock sitters and hospice care. He was not an easy patient. He kept demanding to be let out of the bed. His dementia had expanded to the point he no longer remembered how to walk. He couldn't even stand with help, much less alone. But his strident voice kept insisting the first couple of days to be let out of the bed. When I tried to tell him why he couldn't get out of bed, he cursed me frequently and vividly.
I learned about the phenomenon of "comfort food" - no I don't mean Southern cooking. It is common for people willingly starving to death to take bites of their favorite foods. Dad was brought three meals a day which he usually refused. Once in a while he would take a few bites of breakfast. The last thing he ate was a piece of bacon two days before he passed. Odd, the things we remember...
Two days before he died, my brother and sister-in-law arrived from another state. It was a Sunday. We were all there. The Hospice chaplain was affiliated with Dad's church. She informed the minister who came that afternoon. Dad smiled and smiled to see his son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and minister in the room. The minister led us all in prayer. Dad seemed to relax against the pillow with a deep sigh.
The last couple of days of his life, he was taken off his meds and given morphine. He was quieter then, though he spoke to my late mother often the first day, insisting he could see her in the room. He said, "Sugie (his pet name for her), come get me out of this bed..."
In the end, I wasn't with him. I had gone home for a bit, having been with him since early morning. A couple of hours later my brother called and said Dad's breathing had changed and I better come back. It took me twelve minutes to leave my home, drive to the nearby facility, walk into the building and catch the elevator to walk into Dad's room. He was already gone when I got there.
Before I left that day, I brushed his hair off his forehead, kissed him and told him he had done a good job in his life. We would all be okay. He could let go and let God.
That's what he did.
In the aftermath, I bulldozed my way through the after death requirements, the funeral planning, etc. It was all done on adrenalin which evaporated the minute I got into my car.
I got used to the parchment colored face and the basset hound eyes. I got used to feeling nothing as I stared off into space. I even got used to not being able to eat, some psychological quirk apparently due to allowing my father to starve to death.
These days I am occupied with the running of the family trusts, dealing with the banks, the insurance companies, sending out death certificates, dealing with the government, the taxes, etc. Thankfully the sale of his house closed the week after his passing. I was called by one of Dad's neighbors yesterday. They had received a piece of mail addressed to him, so I went to pick it up. His former home has a huge dumpster in the driveway. The kitchen cabinets, the carpets, the linoleum, were mounded in the pile. Looks like it will be a completely different house when they are through, all trace of my family removed...not a bad thing for anyone but me.
When I finish one monumental task like dealing with his attorney, I think I am done, but something always comes up...
So ends the saga of the six years I took care of my father...looking back is like peering through lace. Emotions restrict my vision the way pieces of lace do when held over fabric. The pieces have their own beauty, but obscure the fabric beneath.
Images from my childhood pop up and I remember the man he was, laughing, dancing with Mom, telling jokes, holding our little poodle, not the frail sick man he became. My dad was a genuine hero of World War II. He never spoke about his service, in fact, I've received condolence letters from some of the men who worked for him over the years. They never knew about his service at all.
My dad was a celestial navigator - only using the stars. He flew fifty missions on B-25 bombers in the Pacific. Most men were shipped home after twenty-five combat missions. But the Army Air Corps needed good navigators. They bombed small islands, just dots in the vast ocean, hundreds of miles from their take-off point, or ships, moving targets. He always got the men to the target and got them safely back home again. He saw many of his buddies shot down in other planes. From above, he watched them die. But his men always came home.
My last act with my father was to pin his Army Air Corps wings on his suit jacket before he was taken for the gravesite service. The funeral director had to help me as I was too short to reach his chest in the casket. I kissed my fingers and pressed them to Dad's forehead. He was ice cold, my last image of my beloved father and the final proof for that little crying child inside he is gone.
Though it still makes me weep, or scream in vexation when dealing with bureaucrats, I am honored I was able to guide my dad home to rest over these last years.
In time the emotions will quiet down, the anger will fade, and I will go on...but maybe that's just the dratted lace obscuring my vision.
Rest in Peace, Dad.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Hunger Games: The Mockingjay, Part 2
The last film in the popular Hunger Games series opened last weekend to the smallest opening weekend audience in franchise history. Don't know why that should be, but it is. Like Harry Potter, Twilight, and other series, the filmmakers on this one elected to split the last book into two films. Granted the industry may make more money that way, but the results are sometimes watered down versions of what they could be.
In the case of The Mockingjay, Part 2, it essentially split the climax into two, which can sometimes dilute the impact of the story.
I've read other reviews calling this sequel "grim" and it is. There is lack of explanation of motivation of some of the characters in the climactic events. Anyone unfamiliar with the novel may wonder why some of these things happened and how one character, in particular, escaped punishment.
The original cast reprised their roles in this final sequel, including the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Everyone did a fine job, though some of them were reduced to little more than cameo roles.
Don't get me wrong, the film is entertaining. I enjoyed it, but it would be so much richer as one film instead of two.
There were moments in Part 2 that dragged, slogging along with the speed of molasses. I actually checked my watch a couple of times.
Of course I cheered for Katniss and the rebels and applauded the ultimate conclusion. We were just not given as much to cheer about this time around.
I think taken as a set The Mockingjay films will do justice to the last novel. We'll just have to wait for this one to come out on video.
Until next time...
The new Star Wars film opens December 18th.
In the case of The Mockingjay, Part 2, it essentially split the climax into two, which can sometimes dilute the impact of the story.
I've read other reviews calling this sequel "grim" and it is. There is lack of explanation of motivation of some of the characters in the climactic events. Anyone unfamiliar with the novel may wonder why some of these things happened and how one character, in particular, escaped punishment.
The original cast reprised their roles in this final sequel, including the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Everyone did a fine job, though some of them were reduced to little more than cameo roles.
Don't get me wrong, the film is entertaining. I enjoyed it, but it would be so much richer as one film instead of two.
There were moments in Part 2 that dragged, slogging along with the speed of molasses. I actually checked my watch a couple of times.
Of course I cheered for Katniss and the rebels and applauded the ultimate conclusion. We were just not given as much to cheer about this time around.
I think taken as a set The Mockingjay films will do justice to the last novel. We'll just have to wait for this one to come out on video.
Until next time...
The new Star Wars film opens December 18th.
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