Dogs Bark

Dark Knight Nevermore - - American Hustle (2013, USA) - - 25 December 2013

Strongly recommended. So the four main actors in American Hustle, each nominated this year for Golden Globes, have four Oscar nominations, and two wins . . . all under David O. Russell’s direction (The Fighter, Silver Lining Playbook). Do you see a pattern here? What I saw was one of the most screwball of comedies of many years and maybe the year’s best picture. It all begins with those four brilliant actors, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence and Christian Bale. Mr. Bale gives us one of his best performances ever - - all of the pathos and comedy of The Fighter, with emphasis on the latter. Amy Adams plays to his every note and Cooper and Lawrence back them up with gusto. Jeremy Renner is also poiniently delightful as a desperate New Jersey politician. The story is outrageously absurd . . . in the best possible way. And without a doubt, Kathrine Gordon deserves the Best Hairdresser Oscar.

Positively The Same Dame - - The Lady Eve (1941, USA) - - 22 December 2013

Strongly recommended. In 1941, Barbara Stanwyck made The Lady Eve for Preston Sturges, Ball Of Fire with Howard Hawks and Meet John Doe by Frank Capra.  Such a year the Yankees never had! After demonstrating this world-class talent for romantic comedy, Ms. Stanwyck went back to black for the remainder of her career. All three of these movies are classics but The Lady Eve is her masterpiece. The story is completely absurd; to sell it we need to accept Ms. Stanwyck’s ability to flit back and forth in Charles Pike’s (Henry Fonda) affection, showing absolute confidence in her feminine powers. Who else but Barbara? Granted, she’s ably assisted by Sturges and Monckton Hoffe’s great lines. And the supporting screwballs around her, including Charles Coburn (‘Handsome’ Harry Harrington), William Demerest (Mugsy Murgatroyd) and Eric Blore (Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith), get the Gold Glove of comic timing. But Missy is the MVP.   

Mid-West Crisis - - Nebraska (2013, USA) - - 18 December 2013

Strongly recommended. By now it should be clear that the fragility of existence fascinates Alexander Payne. He tells unvarnished truth about bullshit, the kind of fantasy that allows a person to soldier on through pain. It should also be clear that he finds such fragility very amusing. From Election, through About Schmidt, Sideways and The Descendants, to Nebraska, Payne has brilliantly run this course. Nebraska, however, is his most poignant fable, largely because of Bruce Dern’s powerfully unsentimental and uncompromising construction of lead character, Woody Grant. Woody initially appears to be sliding into dementia but it’s slowly revealed that his alcoholic - - and possible self-induced - - hypnogogic state started in his youth. Will Forte (Saturday Night Live), as his son, the wonderful June Squibb (About Schmidt) and Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad), very nicely frame Dern, as does the silvery loveliness of Phedon Papamichael’s (The Descendants, 3:10 to Yuma) heart-breaking photography.

Lost Weekend - - The Long Good Friday (1980, UK) - - 9 December 2013

Strongly recommended.  The other night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart made a big deal comparing Jennifer Lawrence to a young Helen Mirren. If you want to see the real thing, screen the 35-year old Dame Helen in The Long Good Friday (or at 28 in O Lucky Man). And also check out Bob Hoskins’ first leading role as a put-upon London hood whose tidy world goes into the dustbin over the titular holy days. The picture was helmed by Scot John Mackenzie (Ruby) off a script by Barrie Keeffe.  Neither did much after outside of TV and that’s a shame since The Long Good Friday is a great film. The film definitely sings in the John Boorman/Don Siegel, downbeat 70’s, crime choir but it’s Hoskins remarkably complex characterization that turns this into opera. The plot and Cockney slang is a bit confusing but this one’s worth the effort

Cold and Rolled - - Out Of The Furnace (2013, USA) - - 7 December 2013

Recommended.  Director/screenwriter Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) newest effort is a movie one can severely beat on. Yes, this is an outstanding cast (Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Willam Dafoe, Casey Afflack, Sam Shepard, Forest Whitaker and Zoe Saldana) inconsistently used and the story is weak. But Bale is superb and Woody may get the Oscar that eluded him in The Messanger. This is the year Harrelson said bye-bye to Cheers and joined the seriously bad-ass Bergen County hillbillies. Dafoe is also good as a minor crime boss, Whitaker and Shepard are wasted and Casey Afflick mumbles through another shapeless performance. The photography (Masanobu Takayanagi, Silver Linings Playbook) and music (Dickon Hinchliffe, Winter's Bone) join forces very nicely to set the desolate, western PA scene. Out Of The Furnace begins life as social commentary but lurches off into a revenge drama. Overall, it’s an enjoyable 116 minutes but it could have been much better.

Good Movies to Screen When the Dalai Lama Sleeps Over . . .

1.       Vanilla Sky (Abra Los Ojos)

2.       The Matrix

3.       Groundhog Day

4.       O Lucky Man!

5.       The Wizard of Oz

6.       Sansho the Bailiff

7.       It’s A Wonderful Life

8.       Inception

9.       Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

10.     Sullivan’s Travels

Bonus Feature: Little Buddha