Tuskegee airmen

Rather good, even if a little labored.

Moneyball

On 4 January 2011 I made a calendar entry to be on the lookout for the eponymous film version of Michael Lewis's book. The book was grand reading fun, for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative style, the language and its expert use, and the story. I felt as if it was unnecessary to know baseball to enjoy the story (though, of course, it added a dimension to know the sport). Thus, when I read about the film, I looked forward to seeing it.

Finally, last night I watched it, and I was disappointed. Critics liked it. Manohla Dargis of the NY Times praised it: The hungry heart of “Moneyball,” a movie about baseball in the digital age, is a beautiful hard case named Billy Beane. Coiled yet cool, Billy has the liquid physical grace and bright eyes of a predator. He was built to win. Even his name, with its short syllabic bursts, sounds ready for ESPN exultations. That he’s played by Brad Pittgiving the quintessential Brad Pitt performance just seals the deal.. The LA Times critic also liked it, Pitt and Seymour Hoffman (who returns here, letter-perfect as Oakland Manager Art Howe - I thought he was completely miscast), and Ebert does, too (I walked in knowing what the movie was about, but unprepared for its intelligence and depth.) I wasn't too impressed.

Lincoln Lawyer

Brisk and good legal thriller. Lincoln refers to the car that is his office, this lawyer looking for a big payday, willing to defend anyone who has the cash. Some cops think he's too slick, unprincipled, and dislike him, intensely in cases. His ex-wife (Marisa Tomei, one of the few higher-profile American actresses in her age group (she was born in 1964, five years before Mr. McConaughey) who’s actually allowed to act her age, who conveys intelligence and sexiness, and suggests a life that’s been lived and without a face frozen by filler and fear. She plays a character and not just the love interest. She isn’t the star, of course, but without her and the other exceptionally well-cast supporting players, Mr. McConaughey would have a tougher time making you believe that he was to the sleaze born) is a prosecutor.

The story, and there’s a lot of it, nicely condensed from Mr. Connelly’s page-turner best seller, largely turns on a case that looks like a slam dunk or, as one of Mick’s bail bondsmen, Val (John Leguizamo), insists, a jackpot.


That NY Times review, one of many, sums it up well. A good movie.

Switch

Weak script. Didn't laugh for the first twenty minutes, even though I could tell I'd been prompted to laugh. Finally did laugh, and did enjoy the film, but it was as weak as near-beer. The acting is good. Thomas Robinson, who plays the kid Sebastian, is wonderful. But ...

A woman approaching middle age yet still childless decides to get pregnant by artificial insemination, only to discover that the donor she chose may not be the father of her child in this comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. Wally Mars (Bateman) is a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist. Hopelessly neurotic and unrepentantly narcissistic, he gets no joy out of life except for the time he spends with his best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston). However, despite the fact that Wally pines to be more than just friends with Kassie, she isn't convinced they'd make a good couple. When Kassie announces to Wally that she's found the perfect sperm donor, he's crestfallen; as far as he's concerned, the ideal candidate is standing right in front of her. Later, Kassie selects handsome stranger Roland (Patrick Wilson) to provide the seed. Things get complicated when Kassie's best friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis) throws an "insemination party" to commemorate the big event, and Wally intercepts Roland's special delivery, drunkenly replacing it with his own before blacking out. Pregnant and content, Kassie leaves the city for Minnesota, where she gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Flash-forward seven years, and Kassie returns to New York with her son, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), who shares an uncanny number of physical and psychological traits with embittered bachelor Wally. Before long Wally and Sebastian have become good friends, and Wally becomes convinced that the boy is his biological son. His ideal family is finally within reach, and if he can just figure out a means of breaking the news to Kassie gently, perhaps she'll find it in her heart to forgive him, and recognize that he'll make the perfect father for Sebastian. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In the electric mist

Violent, yes, but a good film. Well told story, good acting, great pace.

Will Rogers: a political life

How can someone so interesting be made so uninteresting?

A gem, a dud

Laura (1944) is a timeless gem. Gene Tierney is the title character, who is presumed to have been murdered – until she shows up. Detective Lt. Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) falls for her, her image in the painting in her apartment, and then falls hard for her when she appears. But, who is dead? The zinger is that the body is never seen. Vincent Price is Laura's coy


Critics in Rotten Tomatoes give it 100%, the audience 90%, a rather rare combination of taste. But not everyone likes it. The Village Voice critic: Elevated by studio boss Darryl Zanuck from "B" picture status, Laura opened at the Roxy, became a critical and popular hit, was nominated for five Oscars (winning for cinematography), and launched Preminger's directorial career. Still, alternately sprightly and turgid, if abetted by its haunting, ubiquitous score, it's far from a great movie—most beloved by second-generation surrealists who appreciate it for its time-liquidating dream narrative of l'amour fou. See that movie if you can; for me, Laura is a flavorsome but flawed anticipation of two far more delirious psychosexual cine-obsessions: Vertigo and Blue Velvet.

In contrast stands We own the Night (2007). I didn't like it, or finish it.