Friday, March 29, 2024
Grizzly Man
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Timothy Treadwell Timothy Treadwell Werner Herzog Werner Herzog
By far, the most interesting and informative review of this movie is an Amazon Customer Review written by Tracy H and posted here. This reviewer wrote a fascinating and detailed analysis of not only the movie, but on the personalities, characters and motivations of the human participants and many others who felt compelled to ruminate aloud about what Timothy Treadwell did, what happened to him and how Werner Herzog packaged the experience. It is the most interesting and thoughtful commentary on this movie that I've read, so far. Thank you, Tracy H.
By the way, in case you're interested, Roger Ebert's site has several excellent articles about Werner Herzog and this movie. I pulled a search of these by simply typing "Grizzly Man" into the search box on Roger Ebert's site. The articles give extra insight into the movie, one of its presentations and Werner Herzog, if you're interested.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2005
Directed by Werner Herzog.
Labels: adventure4, docu-drama, road-movie, tragedy3, werner-herzog
Friday, December 16, 2022
Citizen X
- Commentary: I am thrilled that I happened to be reminded of this movie and found it available at a very cheap price. I initially saw this movie when my mother was alive and we were companions. At that time, my mother had a full-tilt subscription to a cable outlet and received, among many, many stations, HBO. I'm sure that my mother also saw this movie. I don't remember her reaction to it because my involvement in it was so intense. My guess is that, being the kind of movie it is, involving the vagaries of working in a hamstrung bureaucracy, which is what the movie is really about, she probably didn't pay much attention. I was riveted by this movie and never forgot it. Doubtless, I probably also watched it more than once through my mother's subscription, which may account for my vivid memories of particular scenes. At any rate, it's been years since I've seen it, so I'm looking forward, with anticipatory pleasure, to it becoming a part of my collection, soon.
Update 12/31/22: After having just finished watching this movie the first time since I added it to my collection, well, it's weird, because it's very easy to spend most of this movie bristling with indignation, frustration and depressing disgust at the situations portrayed in this film in which we humans find ourselves simply by virtue of being human. And, yet, at the end, in the last minutes of the movie, and the last day of the legal detention of Andrei Chikatilo, he is broken by a psychiatrist who uses an innovative and very personal technique for eliciting a full confession of his crimes ... and is, by the way, executed. Somehow, the resolution of this nasty, brutal case, despite the many failures that almost allowed Chikatilo to go free, again, gave me hope for humanity. Not that I believe execution is a good idea. I feel the opposite. Not that I can excuse the beaurocratic nonsense that allowed this man to offend against his fellow humans for so long. But, there is something heartening in the fact that a few people stayed with the task, with true hearts, until it was correctly concluded. A lot of the time it is frustrating as hell to be human, but, sometimes, a few humans get it right and renew the faith in humanity that the rest of us desperately want reason to have. That is the crux of this lightly fictionalized version of this true story.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Stephen Rea Lt (later Cnl) Viktor Burakov Donald Sutherland Cnl (later Gnrl) Mikhail Fetisov Jeffrey DeMunn Andrei Chikatilo Max von Sydow Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky Joss Ackland Bondarchuk John Wood Gorbunov Ion Caramitru Tatevsky Imelda Staunton Ms. Burakova
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1995
Directed by Chris Gerolmo.
Labels: detective1, docu-drama, donald-sutherland, imelda-staunton, TV3
Thursday, June 02, 2022
JFK
- Commentary: It shouldn't surprise anyone that I own this film, the director's cut with a second disc of extras. I'm not someone who constantly talks political conspiracies, or even thinks about them, but I love a good, real life political mystery and this is one of biggest. Although it is clearly not a documentary, it has a documentary feel about it, which I love and which Stone handles with mastery. This is definitely one of the films he was born to make.
Roger Ebert's site contains several reviews and commentaries on this film:
- Firstly, of course, is his initial review, attached to the title of this post.
- Secondly, Ebert interviewed Oliver Stone specifically about this movie of his in 1991.
- Thirdly, in 1992 Ebert published a touché article criticizing others who criticized this film.
- Fourthly, Ebert christened it one of his Great Movies in 2002.
- Fifthly (is there such a word), in 2012 Gerardo Valero, a compatriot reviewer on the site, questions whether ths movie should have been made in a very interesting historical analysis of the film.
- Some months after Roger's death, Matt Zoller Seitz published an interview with Oliver Stone regarding Ebert's critiques of many of his movies, including JFK. It's likely that I'll include a link to that article in a few other write-ups here.
- And, that's not all. The film comes up as a mention in several articles having nothing, directly, to do with it. Pull a search and see.
Whew! Someone, and other of his compatriot reviewers, were deeply impressed, in many ways, by this film over the years. I must admit, I'm with him. I'm with them all. I find myself watching this film at least twice a year, for a variety of reasons.
Update 6/2/2022: This post was originally published on 8/14/16 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
Update 6/3/2022: Oliver Stone packed his cast with notables. I listed as many as I recognized, in order to make sure this role came up when any of them are searched individually. One notable cast member I did not insert in the Actor/Role table includes a non-actor who deserves to be mentioned: Jim Garrison played Earl Warren in this movie.
Actorc Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kevin Costner Jim Garrison Kevin Bacon Willie O'Keefe Tommy Lee Jones Clay Shaw/Bertrand Laurie Metcalf Susie Cox Gary Oldman Lee Harvey Oswald Jay O. Sanders Lou Ivon Sissy Spacek Liz Garrison Joe Pesci David Ferrie Jack Lemmon Jack Martin Walter Matthau Sen. Russell B. Long Donald Sutherland Mr. X Ed Asner Guy Banister John Candy Dean Andrews Jr. Sally Kirkland Rose Cheramie Tony Plana Carlos Bringuier Vincent D'Onofrio Bill Newman Lolita Davidovich Beverly Oliver John Larroquette Jerry Johnson Ron Rifkin Mr. Goldberg/Spiesel Bob Gunton News Anchor
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1991
Directed by Oliver Stone.
Labels: bob-gunton, docu-drama, donald-sutherland, joe-pesci, laurie-metcalf, mystery1, oliver-stone, political2, presidential, sissy-spacek, tommy-lee-jones, vincent-d'onofrio
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Schindler's List
- Commentary: This movie came to me (as several in this new list did) when I was scanning the Hastings going-out-of-business shelves for movies I don't own but would like to. What can I say. It's masterful. I've watched it twice since I bought it. Every performance is spot on and, despite its length, there is no fat in this movie.
Although this movie was released long before my mother died, since it was not in my collection until after she died and I can't recall that we ever ran across it on television, she never saw it. My guess is that she probably would not have enjoyed it and would have snoozed through it. My mother was in the U.S. Navy in WWII. She was a gunnery instructor. She taught soldiers how to shoot. That's how she met my father. He was one of her students. In addition, she outranked him. Her view of WWII does not include detailed musings of what happened to Jewish people and many others during the war. She was certainly aware of this, and, obviously, was on the side of defeating Hitler's forces. But she was single-minded in preparing "our boys" for the front, not in what was going on in the nether regions of the war.
In sum, we, those of us who were likely not even a gleam in our parents' eyes, during WWII, see this war differently than the participants. Our perspective is valuable. This movie proves that. But, fighting a war is very different than contemplating the war after the fact. This is probably the most valuable lesson this movie has to offer.
Update 11/17/2021: This post was originally published August 14, 2016. It was one of the accidental deletions that occurred, which is covered in this post.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Liam Neeson Oskar Schindler Ben Kingsley Itzhak Stern Ralph Fiennes Amon Göth Caroline Goodall Emilie Schindler Jonathan Sagall Poldek Pfefferberg Embeth Davidtz Helen Hirsch Andrzej Seweryn Julian Scherner Piotr Polk Leo Rosner
One of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1993
Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Labels: anti-fascist, ben-kingsley, docu-drama, historical2, period2, steven-spielberg, war1
Sunday, May 06, 2007
The Queen
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: I bought this movie sight unseen, the day it was released, based strictly on Mom's (and, now, my) love of stories about English Royals and my admiration for Helen Mirren. One of my best purchases to date! Mom and I so loved the movie that we watched it twice the day it arrived, then again the next day. We (almost) endlessly discussed details of the movie, including: The appearance of the stag, that it was actually a 15 pointer and wondered if odd numbered points were excluded when rating a rack; the importance of Diana as an icon; the likelihood that the portrayal of Prince Charles was accurate; the difficulty of being a monarch in today's world, depending on where one lives; the history of the political significance of the English monarchy and whether it would outlive this century; Queen Elizabeth II's dogs; the ick factor of lamb stew, especially when it's cold; Mirren's astonishing range, considering her performance in Elizabeth I and this movie; and many other aspects of the movie.
Yet another movie we'll watch over and over and over.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Helen Mirren Queen Elizabeth II Michael Sheen Tony Blair James Cromwell Prince Philip Helen McCrory Cherie Blair Alex Jennings Prince Charles Roger Allam Robin Janvrin Sylvia Syms The Queen Mother Tim McMullan Stephen Lamport
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2006
Directed by Stephen Frears.
Labels: biography1, docu-drama, helen-mirren, historical3, period3, political3, royals, shared-favorite
Bobby
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: This movie was given to us by a friend who is interested in politics, clearly remembers the 1960's (better than me, actually, since I went through a somewhat different 60's experience on Guam) and was sure she'd love the movie. She picked it up at Costco, where it was being sold with a free copy of a biography of RFK. She was completely disappointed in the movie, although not in the book, but said she wouldn't read it again and passed that off to us, too.
Mom only sat through half the movie. I watched all of it. I understand what Estevez did in the movie and think he accomplished his goal, but I also understand why the critics were so divided on this movie. If I'd rented the movie, I'd've made a mental note not to buy it, even though many of its moments have stuck with me. I felt cheated that a lot of it was fictionalized...it seemed to me there was little to no reason to do this. However, I also found the vignettes involving and many of the performances excellent (I especially liked the vignette with Helen Hunt and Martin Sheen). Interesting and effective splicing of actual newsreel footage, too, although, frankly, The Queen does this better and more effectively.
I don't think this is a movie that, on a second attempt at watching, Mom would discover she enjoyed. It isn't one I expect to watch again, at least not soon. I may add it to our ever expanding pile of movies for trade-in. I'll probably read the book, although I may not get around to it until after Mom dies.
Update 5/21/2022: By the way, this cast is so loaded with stars that some of them aren't even mentioned in either Wikipedia, or IMDb. Sidney Poitier for instance. This is the reason I used the particular capsule review that I attached to the title of this post: it mentions Sidney Poitier's involvement in the film, whereas no one else did.
At any rate, I never question why a movie was made. Someone involved in its creation always has a reason. I do, however, often question why a movie was released. This is one of those questionable movies. I can only "blame" the star power behind it. And, believe me, there is so much blame to be had that the movie deserved an overwhelming star list in order to smooth the blame a bit thinner. I can't imagine that it was hard to solicit so much star power, either. Actors are, if nothing else, eager to participate in something that promises high visibility. Unfortunately, it was a promise that didn't deliver.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Harry Belafonte Nelson Joy Bryant Patricia Nick Cannon Dwayne Clark Emilio Estevez Tim Fallon Laurence Fishburne Edward Robinson Dave Fraunces Robert F. Kennedy Jeridan Frye Ethel Kennedy Lindsay Lohan Diane Howser Anthony Hopkins John Casey William H. Macy Paul Ebbers Demi Moore Virginia Fallon Martin Sheen Jack Helen Hunt Samantha Stevens Sharon Stone Miriam Ebbers Elijah Wood William Avary Shia LaBeouf Cooper
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2006
Directed by Emilio Estevez.
Labels: anthony-hopkins, docu-drama, historical3, laurence-fishburne, period3, political3
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The World's Fastest Indian
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: I rented this movie out of dim curiosity because I enjoy Anthony Hopkins' work and like to see everything in which he acts. Lo and behold, I know this man. This man is my very extraordinary Chandler nephew and this is a portrait of what he will be like when he is middle aged and old. He is in his 20's, now, and is such a natural, as well as, now, well-trained and highly skilled inventor/repairer, and such an adventurer that it could be said that he does both in his sleep. Both Mom and I were astonished at this portrait and practically fell over each other exclaiming, "That's [nephew's name] in sixty or seventy years!" That's why we own this movie. And, yes, I recommended it to the nephew in question. I figured he'd get a kick out of seeing himself in the future.
One of RogerEbert.com's Far Flungers, Omer M. Mozaffar also weighed in on this movie in 2012. Fascinating article.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Anthony Hopkins Burt Munro Jessica Cauffiel Wendy Joe Howard Otto Chris Williams Tina
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2005
Directed by Roger Donaldson.
Labels: adventure3, anthony-hopkins, biography1, docu-drama, popcorn-and-soda4, shared-favorite, sport1
United 93
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: The "mention" is so complete that it may as well be a review of how Mom and I related to this movie. No need to add anything, I think.
Aside from his formal review, linked to the title of this post, Roger Ebert.com published more than once about various aspects of this movie and the actual incident: The missing facts in 'United 93'; "United 93:" What came before "Let's roll!"; NORAD, 9/11 and United 93; 'United 93': A study in empathy; Debunking 'United 93' debunkers; Whose story is 'Flight93'?. Additionally, the film is mentioned in at least half a page of reviews about other "disaster" movies, fiction and non-fiction. I find it fascinating that a film made about the United 93 disaster so captured the imagination of film watchers and film critics. I don't have much to say about this, but I thought recording it might be, hmmm, helpful? Interesting? Not sure what word to use, here.
The cast for this film was huge, and largely actors I don't recognize, so I'm only recording the first four on the Wikipedia list in the table below. If you're curious, the link to the article, below, will take you directly to the cast list. You can peruse the rest of the article from there.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Christian Clemenson Tom Burnett Cheyenne Jackson Mark Bingham David Alan Basche Todd Beamer Peter Hermann Jeremy Glick
Although the exclusive use of little known actors to play the roles in the film is nowhere discussed (at least not that I've found), my (uneducated) guess is that the anonymity of the actors is meant to enhance the possibility of audience members identifying with the passengers and crew on the flight.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2006
Directed by Paul Greengrass.
Labels: docu-drama, historical3, political3, popcorn-and-soda4, violence3
