2015 Honorary Oscars announced

The Oscars announced today on Twitter that this years Honorary Awards will be going to only three recipients: Director Spike Lee, Actress Gena Rowlands, and for Humanitarian efforts Debbie Reynolds, who also has a legacy of enduring film performances spanning 65 years.

I recently watched two more films starring Gena Rowlands, and will have reviews of them posted soon.

Details about each honoree can be found here at the New York Times and People.com

Locke (2014)

This year, Tom Hardy made a big impression on the big screen as the new Mad Max in Mad Max Fury Road (I have not yet seen it). And last year he gave another impressive performance in a smaller film, one that hasn't been seen by too many people, I don't think. I was interested in checking it out after hearing good reviews of the film and his performance; the entire film takes place with Hardy's character - Locke (his last name...can't remember his first name) - talking on the phone! It is never dull or boring, even with Hardy being the only character we see for 90 minutes. The cinematography and editing are impressive...I was convinced I was in the car with him the whole time. We do hear the voices of the people he talks to on the speakers - every character is somehow connected. For example, there are Locke's sons who want their dad home to watch a game on TV.  Then his wife calls him several times, upset. Locke has to call his boss several times to patch up something at work. His co-worker is furious with him for reasons I won't mention here. Then there's the woman Locke had an affair with - she's in the hospital and scared; Hardy tries to calm her down. It's a really compelling "race against the clock" type of film, and I would recommend it. Can't think of any other film I could compare it with.

Read a blog post by Bobby Rivers about this movie here.

Read a blog post review by Surrender to the Void:

Surrender to the Void: Locke (thevoid99.blogspot.com)

The Wolfpack (Documentary, 2015)

The 6 brothers, all cinephiles

The Wolfpack is a new documentary about how 6 brothers from NYC ( the titular "wolfpack") slowly emerge from their sheltered, zombie-like existence (they do call themselves zombies, and even dress like them for cosplay). For most of their lives, these young, bright kids are prohibited from leaving their housing project by their overprotective (and questionable) parents. The boys' only entertainment is watching movies and re-enacting them -- movies such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pulp Fiction and The Dark Knight (apparently not Hamlet, Macbeth, or anything by Shakespeare or Neil Simon).

The film also features some brief interviews with the parents, especially the dad, who loves to watch old TV shows like The Honeymooners. It's a really strange but a true story, and disturbing at times, especially when we learn that the father has been physically abusive (he took Ralph Kramden's line "Bang Zoom" too literally).

This doc feels right at home with other "reality/lifestyle" TV shows like the Kim Kardashian show or Honey Boo Boo; everything shown on camera is observational rather than investigative. The director doesn't pry too deep in their lives, nor asks difficult questions we may want to know about the family -- such as their cost of living arrangements and details about the physical abuse the mother and children had to put up with from the alcoholic father, who appears on camera briefly and envisions himself as an enlightened hippy.

One of the more interesting things about this whole story is not included in the film - the story about how the director - Crystal Moselle)- became interested in her subject matter. Apparently one day she happened to stumble upon the brothers in a park as they were acting out scenes from a Quentin Tarantino film. The family soon let her in the apartment, and she began her quest to put together a film about this quirky family. I give her credit for the film and for getting the family to appear on camera.

Gloria (1980) by Cassavetes and Trucker (2008)

At the beginning of Gloria, a young boy escapes from the mob after his entire family is killed; the killers want the boy, too, but Gloria (Gena Rowlands) steps in to protect him.

The movie was filmed entirely on location in New York, which is almost a third main character.  At one point I caught of glimpse of a Barnes and Noble bookstore, which was neat to see. And in the subway there's a billboard for a radio station with Kenny Rogers' picture on it (he was a big deal in that period of time).

It took some getting used to the actor who plays the orphan. As I understand, the child was not a professional actor, and not the best actor, either. Apparently he "won" a "Razzie" for Worst Supporting Actor that year, unfortunately.  It really does feel like the child was miscast, and he usually feels unprepared and unmotivated to act or deliver his lines. However this might have been a smart casting choice on the part of director John Cassavetes. Since the character's entire life is shaken to its core in a matter of minutes, there's an edge to the boy, and after awhile I got used to him.

In Peter Bogdanovich's book "Movie of the Week", Peter talks about how John Cassavetes - the film's writer-director - originally wanted Peter to direct and Barbra Streisand to star. Barbra didn't want to do it because she didn't think anyone would believe her in the role.

Gena is great Gloria, a complex character that is fascinating to watch. There's a touching scene in the middle of the film when Gloria takes the young boy to a cemetery and teaches him the importance of saying goodbye. She says to him (paraphrasing), "Your parents are not here, but you can still talk to them here. Pick any stones - those look like nice ones. Say whatever comes to your heart". The scene made me break down emotionally. Gloria cares about the boy even though she's connected with the mob herself.  She has a sense of decency.  The ending of the film is also a tearjerker.

I also watched another movie with a similar mother-son theme, Trucker from 2008. It stars Michelle Monaghan as a young trucker who is reluctantly reunited with her 10 year old son when the father becomes terminally ill.  After a number of arguments, the two both learn to accept each other. This film also has a few heartbreaking scenes including one involving the sick dad (Benjamin Bratt) trying to explain to his son he is going to die.  I recommend this movie, which co-stars Nathan Fillion as an unhappily married man who loves Michelle.

Here's a 2023 review of this movie from the blog Laura's Misc Musings. 

Another review from Flickers In Time (blog)

Ben-Hur (1959) and seeing it on a big screen

This past April I went to see Ben Hur at the Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge IL. I tried to imagine myself as a film goer of 1959 seeing this up on the screen for the first time. The lavish sets and cinematography really are nothing but impressive. Experiencing that chariot race again reminded me that none of it was done with CGI.

The Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, Illinois opened in 1928

"Ben-Hur" started at 7 PM, and left the theater at about 11 PM

Now Showing: "Ben Hur". 

I've always been curious about the film's subtitle "A Tale of the Christ". This subtitle made a bit more sense to me on this rewatch, seeing how the entire film leads up to the final miracle of Christ.  In the Bible a number of Christ's miracles are mentioned, including healings; what's not told are the life stories of those people that were healed, such as the blind man for example. This movie is an attempt to dramatize one of those families touched by the Christ. 

The Third Man (1949)

One of my favorite movies is The Third Man. In the film, an American writer (Joseph Cotten) tries to unravel his friend's mysterious death in a corrupt post-WWII Vienna run by all four Allied forces. The friend, named "Harry Lime", is played by Orson Welles.

This is one of those movies where I always seem to forget how it ends and what becomes of Harry Lime.

This movie always gets better and better every time I watch it.

I never owned a copy of the film, so recently I purchased the film on Blu Ray from my local Barnes and Nobles. It comes with a terrific commentary and is loaded with special features. My favorite is the short documentary about the real Third Man Museum in Vienna. Not surprising, most of the visitors who attend are Americans.

• More about this movie from Cinema Catharses here
• More from Greenbriar Picture Show here