To the top 20!
#20 Bridge of Spies
"Don't forget about us, academy!" -Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks
Not like you can go wrong with one of the more storied collaborations in Hollywood, I suppose, along with longtime cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln, etc.). However, many viewers of B.O.S. were lured in under false pretense; the preview had basically every exciting moment packed into a minute and half, making it look a lot more action/thriller than political chess match.
It's 1957. Hanks is James Donovan, an insurance lawyer tasked with defending Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), a Russian spy. With the cold war at its most frigid, he is of course convicted, but Donovan, arguing that he's worth more alive than dead, convinces the judge to give him 30 years and not the death penalty. This of course results in a sh*tstorm for his personal life (death threats, hate mail, gunshots at house), but he persists on, despite being labeled a sympathizer.
When US air pilot Gary Powers gets shot down over Russia and subsequently captured, the government realizes they can use Rudolf Abel as a bargaining chip to get him back. Also in the mix is a captured grad student in East Germany. Donovan is flown to Germany to handle the negotiations--he wants to get them both in exchange for Abel.
Some things about Bridge of Spies worked really well for me. The Coen brothers injected a lot of their Coen brothers wit into their script. Mark Rylance as the unconcerned Abel is every bit as good as advertised, and Hanks is ol' reliable as per usual. The tense, thriller-y parts are great, as is the climactic scene on the Gleinecke Bridge. Too often, though, time was spent on the back and forth of shadowy negotiations and both sides trying to outwit each other, and it slowed an otherwise well-paced train to a crawl. The good outweighs the bad, certainly--just don't expect return to form.
#20 Bridge of Spies
"Don't forget about us, academy!" -Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks
Not like you can go wrong with one of the more storied collaborations in Hollywood, I suppose, along with longtime cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln, etc.). However, many viewers of B.O.S. were lured in under false pretense; the preview had basically every exciting moment packed into a minute and half, making it look a lot more action/thriller than political chess match.
It's 1957. Hanks is James Donovan, an insurance lawyer tasked with defending Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), a Russian spy. With the cold war at its most frigid, he is of course convicted, but Donovan, arguing that he's worth more alive than dead, convinces the judge to give him 30 years and not the death penalty. This of course results in a sh*tstorm for his personal life (death threats, hate mail, gunshots at house), but he persists on, despite being labeled a sympathizer.
When US air pilot Gary Powers gets shot down over Russia and subsequently captured, the government realizes they can use Rudolf Abel as a bargaining chip to get him back. Also in the mix is a captured grad student in East Germany. Donovan is flown to Germany to handle the negotiations--he wants to get them both in exchange for Abel.
Some things about Bridge of Spies worked really well for me. The Coen brothers injected a lot of their Coen brothers wit into their script. Mark Rylance as the unconcerned Abel is every bit as good as advertised, and Hanks is ol' reliable as per usual. The tense, thriller-y parts are great, as is the climactic scene on the Gleinecke Bridge. Too often, though, time was spent on the back and forth of shadowy negotiations and both sides trying to outwit each other, and it slowed an otherwise well-paced train to a crawl. The good outweighs the bad, certainly--just don't expect return to form.
#19 The Martian
Matt Damon is beginning to be typecast as man stranded on distant planets. If you have not yet seen the other movie that I am referring to, I won't spoil the surprise. But come on man, this is twice in three years now!
Damon is astronaut Mark Watney, part of the crew of Hermes, a spaceship parked on the red planet to grab samples before heading home. Led by the stoic Commander Lewis (Jessica Chastain, the current go-to in terms of female stoicism) they are hit by a storm while exploring the surface; they see Watney get slammed by a satellite and go hurtling out of frame, leading them to think he's toast. They get in the ship and haul ass outta there.
Back on Earth, Jeff Daniels (NASA director) huffs and puffs, while Chiwetel Ejiafor (Mars Mission Director) requests a satellite image of his body to make sure Watney has actually bit the space dust (Daniels refuses), and Kristen Wiig (NASA P.R. & Media Director) looks pained and totally out of place. Right around the time young NASA engineer (MacKenzie Davis) sees movement in the satellite imagery, Watney sends out video transmissions into the ether, detailing his plan to try and make one year of food rations last for four.
"Oh, hell naw...he's alive?" Says NASA and the earthbound team of the Ares III.
As Watney uses his skill set to survive ("I'm gonna have to science the sh*t out of this," he says at one point), a weirdo hacker astrophysicist (not exactly a stretch for Donald Glover) presents a solution for the crew to go back and get him, and China steps into lend a hand. But will Commander Lewis's team (Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan) risk it all to BRING HIM HOME?
"Oh, hell naw...he's alive?" Says NASA and the earthbound team of the Ares III.
As Watney uses his skill set to survive ("I'm gonna have to science the sh*t out of this," he says at one point), a weirdo hacker astrophysicist (not exactly a stretch for Donald Glover) presents a solution for the crew to go back and get him, and China steps into lend a hand. But will Commander Lewis's team (Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan) risk it all to BRING HIM HOME?
Up to a point, the sci-fi details seem to check out. You can tell that copious research has gone into both the book and film and the fashion in which Watney troubleshoots and nonchalantly reacts to adversity (and eventually falls apart) feels especially authentic. Damon is really good, certainly, but I have seen him be better. The way that Mars is recreated, though, definitely helps make the case for Ridley Scott as a candidate for director of the year. The problems all more or less lie within the film's final act, which easily slips into cliché-ville, even somehow finding a way to emotionally involve the ENTIRE PLANET (Times Square, downtown Tokyo, Paris, etc.) in the rescue. Ugh.
#18 Youth
#18 Youth
What is it like to be old and rich and bored? Oscar-winning (The Great Beauty, 2013) Italian director Paolo Sorrentino (no relation to Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, unfortunately) does a perfect job of capturing the ennui of watching those around you kick the bucket, or get sick, or lose touch altogether. Set in a Swiss retreat, it's also undeniably gorgeous.
Youth follows Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) and Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel), composer and Hollywood producer, respectively, as they sit around a Swiss spa chatting, reminiscing (often about women that got away over the years), and watching the social dynamics unfold at the resort. Example: Every single day, they watch as a married couple sits down to dinner and does not exchange a single word. They entertain themselves by making bets, watching the much younger women, and finding mischief (spying on older couples getting it on in the woods, etc.). It's clear that they've been hanging out here for a while.
It's only so long before their lives creep in, however. Queen Elizabeth II sends word to the resort that she wants Ballinger to come back to England to conduct "Simple Song #3" for Prince Philip's birthday. Thanks but no thanks, he says--I'm retired. The invitation is tempting, though, and he knows it. One last blaze of glory before he hangs it up for good. Mick is trying to produce his swan song as well--meeting with his much younger writers and trying to get people interested in his "testament" of a screenplay. They are both trying their best to traverse the roadblocks in their way. Fred has a certain emotional attachment to the piece that makes it feel impossible to perform, and Mick is having trouble finagling finances from the studio and dealing with embittered star Brenda Morel (Jane Fonda), who flies all the way to Switzerland to confront him.
The duo is fantastic. There was talk of Michael Caine earning a bid, and if anyone on earth had actually seen this movie, maybe he would have. I like him better than both Damon and Cranston. And just as good as his crotchety counterpart is Keitel, stepping out of tough-guy purgatory to deliver true emotion. Others hanging out at the retreat include Rachel Weisz as Fred's spurned daughter Lena (who was married to Mick's son before he left her for a pop star), Paul Dano as wanderlust actor Jimmy Tree, Roly Serrano as a fat Diego Maradona, and Mādālina Diana Ghenea as Miss Universe. Beautiful, oftentimes surreal and equally packed with humor and sentimentality, Youth delivers.
See you tomorrow!
See you tomorrow!
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