Son of Saul (2015) and Hail Ceasar! (2016)

Son of Saul is a  Holocaust story, set in the Auschwicz concentration camp in Poland. It's sad, but a very well made film, directed by directed by László Nemes.

Saul is a Jewish prisoner forced to worked in a crematorium.
As he attempts to give a dead child a proper burial, he finds out that the child may or may not be his son.

As he continues to uncover the truth, he learns that either situation is likely.

The man risks his life devoting himself to the cause of a proper burial, especially during an uprising of the camp that causes many in the camp to doubt his loyalties.

The director's style is impressive; the entire film is told from Saul's perspective, with the camera focused on him the entire time, even when there's horrible violence taking place in the background of the frame.

Read a blog post by Cliched Monologues on this film here.

Read a blog post by Avvaganda.com here

Read a blog post by Korova Theater here

Another film I saw this past week was Hail Ceasar! directed by the Cohen brothers. The trailer showed some snippets of what looked like homages to old Technicolor movies of the '40s and '50s, which really intrigued me. I've seen some of the Cohen Brothers films but not all, so wasn't sure what to expect.

It's an ensemble comedy satire, and focuses on Josh Brolin's character, a Hollywood "fixer" who keeps actors' scandals out of the press. We meet some of the actors he helps, including George Clooney who's playing a Roman soldier in a Biblical epic called "Hail Caesar" (with dialogue very much - almost identical - to Ben Hur); his character is kidnapped by Communists. Yes, it's absurd. There's also a submarine in it. You have to see it to believe it.

The movie also spoofs musicals, westerns, and melodramas, as well as gossip columnists, communists, and censorship boards. There's a musical number with sailors in the bar; Channing Tatum is supposed to be playing a Gene Kelly-type sailor (like from Anchors Aweigh). I liked that the song used was an original piece, not a copycat number from a real '50s musical; kudos to the songwriters.

I have to say that George Clooney in the Roman solider uniform really looks as if he could play the part in a Roman epic from that time period.

The movie is pretty entertaining. A little crazy, but entertaining.  I enjoyed it.

Here's another review, from a blog about biblical epics.

Bobby Rivers wrote about this movie several times on his blog. Read the posts here:
Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3

Gravity (2013)

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Gravity, the much talked about adventure/thriller set in space that many have said makes you feel like you are up there. I must say, the film succeeded at that, and exceeded my expectations; I never thought it would be so life-affirming. Modern-day box-office stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play American astronauts adrift in space trying to make their way back home. At first I was skeptical of the casting, but Sandra turns out an impressive, award-worthy performance, and Clooney (who previously went up "in the air" in 2002's Solaris and 2009's Up in The Air) brings an honest sincerity to the role and the right amount of humor.  The film also gave me a glimpse of what astronauts do when they're up there, as well as the dangers they face (some experts have questioned some of the details). And needless to say it's visually stunning.  If you have not yet had the experience of seeing this movie in theaters, I would highly recommend it.  I think it's a modern-day classic.  Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. 

The Descendants, Young Adult, The Muppets (2011)

The Descendants

Very good film, but sad. Set in Hawaii. George Clooney's wife is comatose after a boating accident.

Clooney must explain to his two estranged daughters, one age 17 and the other age 10. They are mean and bratty at first, but they mature as their mom's condition deteriorates and they grow closer to their dad.

Clooney is good. The scene when he discovers that his wife was having an affair with another is heartbreaking.
Clooney knows how to make this character sympathetic and real.

Later in the film, Clooney and his cousins must settle a real estate deal with land given to them by their ancestors; they are the titular descendants. This is a serious movie, and explores how these characters deal with their greif and pain. The director Alexander Paine knows just when add a dose of humor. A very moving film filled with great regional music and great scenery throughout.  Co starring Robert Forster and Beau Bridges.

The Muppets was much better than I expected.  Very nostalgic, with references to 80s pop culture and songs, past Muppet movies, and the original Muppet Show TV series, which was filmed in London. I liked how they even got one of the original hosts of the show to have a cameo, Alan Arkin.  I give the writers (including Jason Segal) credit for bringing back the Muppets.

The movie's story centers around "the world's biggest Muppet fan"  Walter, and his desire to see the Muppets back together again. (My interpretation of this odd character is that Walter is supposed to represent any Muppet fan) According the story, the Muppets have all gone their separate ways---Scooter works for Google, Inc,....Sam The Eagle works for a network news show...etc.  Kermit and Miss Piggy still have their "on-again/off-again" relationship and it's amusing to see them together again. There are some very funny moments and the jokes are witty and fast paced, continually breaking the fourth wall.  According to some reports, the film was edited down considerably --- and it shows; some celebrity cameos go by too quick and are less-than inspired.  For example, rather than seeing just a 2-second glimpse of Mickey Rooney, it would have been neat to see him encourage Kermit to go "put on a show" or have some related dialogue.


Young Adult

Directed by Jason Reitman (Up In the Air, Juno, two movies that I liked). And written by Diablo Cody. With this writer-director team I felt this would be a very interesting movie, and it is. In a nutshell, Young Adult is a character study of an alcoholic, single thirtysomething writer (Charlize Theron) who finds inspiration for her young adult/teen novels from her own experiences. She lives alone with her cat in her big-city high rise apartment and watches reality television when she has writer's block. One day, an email from an old flame inspires her to return to her hometown and rekindle the relationship. Well, perhaps rekindle isn't the accurate term...she actually wants to steal him away from his wife and kid! She also manages to bump into several other people from her past and we learn more about her through these characters. For example, we learn midway through the film that she was the prom queen of the high school, and was once the most popular girl in school. Now, she's an outcast with unrealistic expectations about life and relationships. By the end of the film, she's ready to head back to the big city of Minneapolis to start all over again. There is no epilogue; we can only imagine what her life would be like, a good way to end this film, I think.