Goodfellas (1990), and State of Grace (1990)

I recently watched Goodfellas in its entirety (not just bits and pieces) and enjoyed it. When I first tried watching it, I thought it was really boring, but now I find great appeal to it because it shows how an "outsider" like Ray Liotta's character, who is Irish, finds community and respect with the Italian mobsters.  Speaking of mob films, I still haven't seen Martin Scorcese's 2019 movie The Irishman yet; it was nominated for several Oscars a few years ago, but didn't win any.  

State of Grace (also from 1990) also features an Irish-Italian mob theme. I've known about it for years, but never watched it until recently. It's about an Irish cop (Sean Penn) who goes undercover and gets caught up with an Italian mob, who fight against the Irish mob including his friends. It's really suspenseful and makes you wonder how Sean Penn is going to get out of the predicament he's in. Ed Harris and Gary Oldman are in it and they are great as well. I liked the scenes showing New York. One day I want to go there, I keep saying that. 

Best Picture Winners I don't like: Grand Hotel and Green Book, plus Round Midnight

I recently caught up with two Best Picture Winners for the first time; both of them I didn't like!

Grand Hotel is a movie I've known about forever but never saw --- finally I had a chance to watch recently, but realized I wasn't missing much. I felt the characters were introduced to the audience too quickly and I kept trying to follow with what everyone's purpose in the hotel was. Joan Crawford shows up as a stenographer/reporter needing to interview Wallace Beery for some reason but gets distracted for about 20 minutes fighting off flirtatious advances from John Barrymore's character. Beery has a German accent in this film and his character is different from other tough-guy roles I've seen him in. Lionel Barrymore comically plays a doctor but is ultimately un-interesting. Greta Garbo also shows up but also was really un-interesting to me.

This movie didn't work for me! Apparently it was turned into a musical about 30 years ago but I can't imagine how better or worse it would be with songs. 

I also did not like Green Book.  I didn't find the Viggo Mortensen character very likeable or believable at any stage of the film. At the very start of the movie he is shown throwing two glasses in his garbage can at home because two Black workers drank from them. If he hates Black people so much I can't believe that he would ever take the job as a driver for Mahershala Ali's jazz musician character, which is almost made to be slightly comical when more seriousness should have placed on his character, I felt. And the movie should have focused more on him instead.  

The movie as a whole just didn't work for me. The blogger and former TV personality Bobby Rivers wrote about Green Book and I tend to agree with his assessment; he explains a bit better than I can - Blog post from Bobby Rivers' blog talks about Green Book

I also recently watched another movie about a Jazz player and his white friend -  Round Midnight - it's been on my "to-see" list for years and I finally watched it for the first time, and I liked it. Liked it much better than Green Book. Like Green Book, Round Midnight is also about a Black jazz musician (Dexter Gordon) in the 1950s-early 60s era, but in a different country and in a neighborhood with less racial prejudice. Instead of at the prime of his career, Dexter Gordon is at the end of his career - and life. He's a heavy drinker. 

The film shows how he befriends a white Parisian man who has idolized him all his life. When they meet and become friends, the white man becomes his caretaker and lets him live in his home with his daughter.

It's similar to Green Book in that it is ultimately a bout how an artist inspires another man's life. But in Round Midnight there's lots of jazz and musical performances from start to finish. I was convinced that Dexter Gordon was this jazz musician in Paris, and that he really was an alcoholic. It was almost difficult to watch because I really felt I was watching a real person disintegrate on film. 

New York Stories (1989)

This film came out in 1989, an anthology, composed of three short films (about 40 minutes each) from 3 directors.

Woody Allen has one of the films, called "Oedipus Wrecks". He plays himself, a single man who is dating Mia Farrow (who has 2 kids - one of them Kristen Dunst). He also has a mother who is always making disapproving comments, is overly critical, and generally overbearing. I have a relative with the same personality! There's a part where she comes over to his office and interrupts a business meeting. The old mother is played by Mae Questel who was the old senile lady in Christmas Vacation. She's really funny in this and should have been in more movies. I liked the short because it shows how Woody deals with her and learns to cope with her and accept her and I could relate to that.

I couldn't relate to the short film that Francis Ford Coppola directed. It's about a rich girl who lives in a hotel in New York. She has a famous musician dad (Giancarlo Gianni) and wants to see him reunite with her mom played by Talia Shire. There's also a new rich boy who comes from royalty from an unnamed country. The girl befriends him. There's also a robbery, and some funny moments with her butler played by Don Novello. He's the only down-to-earth character in this and funny; I don't know why he hasn't done more movies. Most critics don't like this short. It feels really choppy as if were three half-hour sitcom episodes cut to 40 minutes. His daughter Sophia Coppola co-wrote this, so there may be some personal/semi-autobiographical content in this, but I'm not sure. I know Francis' father was a professional flautist, so certainly there's a familial connection there.

In one scene, some of the characters take a stroll in New York's Central Park, and there's a cool shot of this awesome-looking bridge (see below). I'd love to see that bridge one day if I ever get a chance to visit New York:

Finally, Martin Scorsese's film Life Lessons is the first short, and it's pretty good. Scorsese only directed; he didn't write this film. Nick Nolte plays an artist in New York with a big studio apartment with lots of paint and canvases, and he has an apprentice/former lover (Rosanna Arquette) who lives there too. It's basically a simple story, and it's lighthearted and funny.  Nolte makes a good artist, I thought. Believable as he whips his paintbrush and oil paints on the canvas. He reminds me of a friend I had (who died last year) who was about the same age as Nolte's character in the film. We went to art galleries together and browsed and talked about the art. He even loved to paint on canvas (I have some of this paintings I want to keep) and inspired me to do more painting as well.

Under the Sun of Satan (1987) and Silence (2016)

The common thread is that these two movies are about priests. And they both have endings that stuck with me long after seeing them. I'll go into that at the end of each post - spoiler warning.

The first is the 1987 French film Under the Sun of Satan (Sous le soleil de Satan), starring Gerard Depaurdiu; he plays a priest in a small French village. I saw this at a revival screening in Chicago.

Movies about priests can be depressing. This is one of them.

At the very start of the movie, Gerard has a long tedious conversation with his superior (Maurice Pialat - the film's director) who is disappointed in him. Then we see Gerard whipping himself after having sinful thoughts.

Then the director focuses on a different story about a young emotionally tormented woman who may or may not have killed someone.  After a constant struggle with his faith and worthiness, the priest finally meets face-to-face with the woman (which seems to take forever), and we realize that the priest is almost as emotionally tormented to the same degree as the woman.  By the end of the film, the priest is looked upon as a something of a saint by the villagers.

I like the last scene of the movie, when the priest dies in the confessional -- he's laying there dead while Catholic after Catholic pass through and confess their sins, unknowing that a corpse is on the other side of the screen.

There's some deep meaning in that. After all, there are a lot of dead people in churches, even if they are alive.

Another blogger's perspective:

Surrender to the Void

Silence, directed by Martin Scorcese

Silence is also a dark film, but it has a different tone, an epic scale (nearly 3 hours), and set in Japan.

It is 1633 in Japan, and Christians and priests are being murdered and live in fear, as Christianity is outlawed. Liam Neeson plays a priest who survived persecution; he now lives in Japan but has renounced the priesthood. Two of his mentees (Adam Driver and Adam Garfield) travel from Portugal to Japan on a mission to find him, but they risk their lives every day they stay there. They meet a group of secret Christians who befriend them and want them to be their priest. One character they meet continually proves to be untrustworthy. Eventually both of the priests come to a crossroads where they are faced with the decision to renounce their faith.

The focus of the story is on Andrew Garlfied's  priest. We follow him throughout the duration of the film, and hear his narration throughout; frequently commenting on what life is like as a priest, providing a sense of his mind.

Having been raised Catholic and hearing about missionaries of the past who went out to other countries to bring Catholicism, this movie interested me.

The film is based on a book by a Japanese Catholic,  Shūsaku Endō, and directed by Martin Scorsese, also a Catholic who has tackled God and spirituality in some of his other films such as The Last Temptation of Christ and Kundun, about the life of the Dalai Lama. I read somewhere that Scorsese himself wanted to be a priest before he became a filmmaker. I think this film was his way to explore what life as a priest is like. It certainly gave me some further insight into the devotion of such priests.

Essentially what happens in this movie and in the book is that the priests have to renounce their faith, and end up living the rest of their lives in Japan. I'm guessing the book goes into more detail. But we learn that the priests eventually help officials identify Christian symbolism in the society where it is not allowed. I wish the film focused more on this part of the story.

At the end, Adam Garfield's character dies, and he's buried with a Christian cross in his casket, even though he could not practice his religion most of his adult life. It's an interesting image, and profound. Makes you wonder if a person leaves the faith tradition they were raised in, is it still a part of you until you die?

Kennedy Center Honors 2015

The annual Kennedy Center awards are given to people in the performing arts who have made an impact on American culture. Usually there are 5 recipients per year, but this year, there are 6  (Sources: Rolling Stone.com, Washington Post), a welcome change, I think; I'm sure there is a large backlog of worthy recipients - why not open it to 10?

This year's  honorees include:

George Lucas, creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. A filmmaker receiving a Kennedy Center distinction is rare; in the past 40 years, only a handful have been selected: Steven Spielberg, Billy Wilder, and Martin Scorsese are among the few.

Rita Moreno, a consummate performer who has excelled on the stage and screen for over 60 years. (Oscar-winner for West Side Story).

Cicely Tyson, another consummate actor of stage and screen for over 60 years, with a legacy of legendary film (Sounder) and television performances  (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, King, A Woman Called Moses)

Also honored: from the field of popular music: The Eagles and Carol King, and the field of classic music: conductor Seiji Ozawa.

The Kennedy Center televisions specials are always some of the most entertaining and classy shows on television. Not only do you get to learn about the career of a lesser-known performer from those influenced by them, but you also get to enjoy a variety of performances in one program: where else can you see a ballet performance, a classical piece, a Broadway performance, a soliloquy or monologue from a play, and a rock performance in on program?

Georges Méliès at a theater near you

The other day I mentioned in a post that I thought the new Martin Scorcese-directed film Hugo was one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen. It tells the story of an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station circa 1930, and the relationship he forms with an old man in the train station, who turns out to be pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley). This film tells the story of Méliès in a creative, imaginative way and will remind you of why you love the movies.

Top 10 reasons why I love Hugo

10. Wanted to see it twice in the theater.

9. The Paris setting, and the train station. I just loved every minute inside those walls. The set designers should get an Oscar nomination.

8. The scenes in the bookstore, library and movie theater. I loved these parts. It's so refreshing to see Hugo and Isabelle inspired by books and silent films.

7. The beautiful musical score by Howard Shore. (I've included a snippet at the end of this post)

6. Though actual footage of real movies are shown in the film (including clips of Méliès's own films) , there are other moments in the movie that reminded me of other films; subtle nods, perhaps. I can't tell you them all without giving away too much, but there were some parts that reminded me of Vertigo, and even Scorcese's Shutter Island.  A writer for the Huffington Post expressed my thoughts when she wrote: "you've got...the exquisite little human dramas in the train station a la Rear Window,  and Hugo looking occasionally like Truffaut's Antoine Doinel of the 400 Blows to name a few."

5. The 3-D effects.  The 3D works very well in this film; I felt like I was actually in the train station among the crowd. 

4. It has some comedic moments without going over the top. The humor mostly comes from the station inspector played by Sacha Baron Cohen  ("Borat" "Bruno")  who has created another memorable cinematic character. And his doberman Maximillian provides some very funny moments. 

3. The cast. Brilliant cast. Ben Kingley is perfect in this role, and so are the actors who play Hugo and Isabelle. I don't know their names but they are simply wonderful. There are a few small roles in the station such as the flower girl played by Emily Mortimer, and the bookstore owner played by Christopher Lee.Jude Law plays Hugo's father and he's terrific. They are small roles, but give the film a richness and atmospheric quality. 

2. Made me want to seek out more about the origin of this story, the book by Brian Selznick. There's a website about the book, and an old interview Selznick did for NPR : you can listen to it here.

1. This is a movie-lover's movie; it touches on the history of cinema and film preservation. How often do we see that in a modern day film?  And this is an artist's movie, with many themes an artist can relate to such as finding inspiration and purpose in your talent and gifts.  

Read KC's biography of Georges Méliès here:

More positive reviews from other bloggers:

The Most Beautiful  |  Mythical Monkey  |  The Siren  |  Shadowplay  |  Lindsay's Movie Musings  | Bit Part Actors  (interesting information on the Franklin Institute automaton |  City Lights  |  

10 Reasons Why I Love "Hugo"

The other day I mentioned in a post that I thought the new Martin Scorcese-directed film Hugo was a masterpiece of film making. After seeing it a 2nd time I can confirm without exaggeration that Hugo is one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen.  Hugo tells the story of an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station circa 1930, and the relationship he forms with an old man in the train station, who turns out to be pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley). This film tells the story of Méliès in a creative, imaginative way and will remind you of why you love the movies.

Top 10 reasons why I love Hugo

10. Made me want to pay to see it again. Rarely do I want to see a first-run movie again in a theater. In the past 10 years I've seen three movies in the theater more than once (not counting classics from pre-1960): Indiana Jones 4 (two times; I'm a sucker for Indy adventures), Toy Story 3 (two times), and True Grit (three times). I liked Hugo better than any of them, and will probably see it a third time. 

9. The setting in the Paris train station. I just loved every minute inside those walls. The set designers should get an Oscar nomination. An then there's the automaton but the less I tell you about him the better.

8. The scenes in the bookstore, library and movie theater. I loved these parts. It's so refreshing to see Hugo and Isabelle inspired by books and old films, especially silent films! And going to the library to do research.... On the subject of films!!!

7. The beautiful musical score by Howard Shore. (I've included a snippet at the end of this post)

6. Though actual footage of real movies are shown in the film (including clips of Méliès's own films) , there are other moments in the movie that reminded me of other films; subtle nods, perhaps. I can't tell you them all without giving away too much, but there were some parts that reminded me of Vertigo, and even Scorcese's Shutter Island.  A writer for the Huffington Post expressed my thoughts when she wrote: "you've got...the exquisite little human dramas in the train station a la Rear Window,  and Hugo looking occasionally like Truffaut's Antoine Doinel of the 400 Blows to name a few."

5. The 3-D effects. I have only seen a handful of films in 3-D:  Bolt (a forgettable kiddie film), Clash of the Titans, Coraline, and Robert Zemekis' A Christmas Carol. IMO,  Hugo is a better movie than all of these combined. The 3D works very well in this film; I felt like I was actually in the train station among the crowd. 

4. It has some comedic moments without going over the top. The humor mostly comes from the station inspector played by Sacha Baron Cohen  ("Borat" "Bruno")  who has created another memorable cinematic character. And his doberman Maximillian provides some very funny moments. And the humor from the inspector isn't all slapstick buffoonery; instead of being completely on the dark side, he is shown to have some depth of character and has some moments of humanity.

3. The cast. Brilliant cast. Ben Kingley is perfect in this role, and so are the actors who play Hugo and Isabelle. I don't know their names but they are simply wonderful. There are a few small roles in the station such as the flower girl played by Emily Mortimer, and the bookstore owner played by Christopher Lee.Jude Law plays Hugo's father and he's terrific. They are small roles, but give the film a richness and atmospheric quality. 

2. Made me want to seek out more about the origin of this story, the book by Brian Selznick. There's a website about the book, but I haven't had time to go through it all yet. Yesterday at Thanksgiving I saw my cousin who's a grade school teacher; she said she knew all about the book and was interested in seeing how it is adapted on film. Me on the other hand, didn't know much about the story at all (perhaps that's another reason why I love this film). But I did find an old interview Selznick did for NPR : you can listen to it here.

1. This is a movie-lover's movie; it touches on the history of cinema and film preservation. (How often do we see that in a modern day film?) . And this is an artist's movie, and there are so many themes an artist can relate to such as finding inspiration and purpose in your talent and gifts.  

Hugo (2011)

Seeing a movie on the day before Thanksgiving has become a tradition for me; tonight I went to see Hugo and let me tell you, I'm pretty sure I've just seen a modern day masterpiece. Hugo -  based on a novel I wasn't familiar with -is by far the best "new" movie I've seen all year, and one of the best films in 3D I've ever seen. From beginning to end I was captivated. Stunning visuals (Oscar worthy for sure). An enchanting story (part fantasy, part adventure, part mystery and pure magic). It's one of those films where the less you know about it, the better it is, so I won't tell you much. Trust me. I didn't know anything about it other than it was was a 3D film directed by Martin Scorcese (that alone intrigued me and got me in the door), takes place in a train station in Paris, and that one of the characters in the story is Georges Méliès, the pioneering silent film director.

This is absolutely without a doubt a tribute to Melies, movies, and movie making. Bravo Martin Scorcese! I loved this film so much and can't wait to see it again. 

 See this movie, and if you don't like it I will give you your money back.

Ben Kingsley plays Georges Méliès.