Auntie Mame: 1958 comedy directed by Morton DaCosta and
starring Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne, Peggy Cass, and Joanna
Barnes. When young Patrick is suddenly
orphaned he is placed in the care of his free-spirited, lively Aunt Mame, his father’s
sister who lives in Manhattan. The
trustee of his inheritance becomes concerned about Mame’s lifestyle and the influence it’s having on the boy – Mame’s drunken
Broadway actress friend Vera who instructs Patrick on how to mix cocktails, the
progressive bohemian school he’s enrolled in – and insists he be taken to
boarding school. So Patrick leaves and
joins the patrician elite. He and Mame
stay in touch, but she becomes increasingly concerned that he’s growing up to
be stuffy and ordinary. How ever will she keep him from becoming a
bore?
It’s fantastic – I love Rosalind
Russell (or simply Rozz, as my mother
calls her), Peggy Cass is hysterical in her small role as Agnes Gooch, and
Joanna Barnes is an absolute stitch as Patrick’s WASP-y girlfriend. It’s light, frivolous even in its more
serious moments; I just smiled through the whole movie.
Red 2: 2013 action comedy sequel to Red directed by Dean Parisot and
starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine
Zeta-Jones, Anthony Hopkins, and Helen Mirren.
SPOILERS AHEAD if you haven’t seen the first movie! Sarah (Parker) and her ex-spy paramour Frank
(Willis) have settled into a nice suburban existence three years after the
hijinks of the last movie – in which Frank and his retired spy pals were marked
for death for being unknowingly involved in the cover-up of a mass murder
several decades ago and had to fight corrupt forces in the CIA. But all that danger is past them now. And Sarah is clearly bored. Thankfully the ever-paranoid Boggs
(Malkovich) shows up with news that they’re being hunted again! Frank tries to ignore him, but then Boggs is
murdered and the game is once again afoot.
Did you see the first movie? It was easy and and funny and cute and I
loved the cast. This is much the same,
but with not quite the same level of charm.
See the original, maybe skip this one.
The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty: 2013
action-romantic-dramedy directed by Ben Stiller and starring Stiller, Kristen
Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, and Sean Penn. Walter Mitty
is a dedicated employee of Life
magazine, managing the film negatives of its photographers and daydreaming of
adventures while spending his days in a storage facility. Then the magazine’s top photojournalist sends
Walter a valuable negative to be included in the last print copy of Life before their digital transition,
and he can’t find it. He is convinced by
his office crush (Wigg) that he should track down the negative – all while
avoiding the douchebag (Scott) in charge of downsizing the office so he doesn’t
lose his job. Suddenly he’s taking risks
and travelling and getting way out of his comfort zone.
I never read the story, so I had no
frame of reference. I liked the cast,
and it’s one of Stiller’s better acting performances. There is really heavy product placement and it’s
very predictable, but still enjoyable.
Like a travelogue - not a ton of substance but very pleasant to look at.
Blackfish: 2013 documentary about captive killer whales,
directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The
film focuses on Tilikum, a male orca held by SeaWorld Orlando who has been
involved in the death of three people, most notably trainer Dawn Brancheau in
2010. It also explores the history of
keeping marine animals in captivity, disputes claims made by SeaWorld and
similar organizations about the health of its animals, and interviews current
and former trainers and SeaWorld staff.
I saw
an orca show at SeaWorld when I was seven and it was magical, honestly. I just had no clue about any of this. Many of the claims the doc makes have been
hotly contested, even by Brancheau’s family, but even if only a few of them are
true it’s still deeply upsetting.
SeaWorld has had to make major changes to the way it treats its animals
and has suffered steep financial losses, bills have been introduced at the
state and federal level to address public concerns; this movie has had a major
impact. It’s worth seeing for the zeitgeist
factor alone, just prepare to be upset by it.
Erasing Hate: 2011 MSNBC documentary directed by Bill
Brummel, about the efforts of a reformed white supremacist to remove the racist
tattoos covering his body. Bryon Widner
joined the White Power movement at 14, eventually co-founding his own group
called the Vinlanders Social Club. The
Indiana organization grew quickly and gained a reputation for extreme
violence. Once Bryon married and became
a father, he and his wife decided to leave White Power behind, and faced death
threats, harassment, and a difficult transition back to Normal Midwestern
Suburbia. The racist tattoos covering
his face and neck made finding a job difficult, so with the help of the
Southern Poverty Law Center and an anonymous donor he underwent many painful
procedures to have them removed.
There. Now you don’t need to watch the
documentary. Honestly, I didn’t get much
out of it beyond that synopsis. The narration
is kind of obnoxious, it violates my First Rule of Documentaries (confusing
timelines are verboten), and reading this article covered the same ground. Skip it.
Bigger Than Life: 1956 drama directed by Nicholas Ray and
staring James Mason (who also produced and co-wrote the film), Barbara Rush,
Walter Matthau, and Christopher Olson.
Mild mannered teacher and loving father Ed (Mason) is diagnosed with a
rare disease. Told he may have only
months to live, he agrees to take an experimental drug that miraculously cures
his illness but has unforeseen side effects that threaten everyone around him.
Godard and Truffaut both praised
the movie. Most critics of the time felt
it was overwrought. I agree with the
latter group. I know that Mason doesn’t
really do subtle, but when coupled with Rush’s performance it was just melo- on
top of –drama. Matthau was great,
though. Viewed in the context of its
time, it is a forward-thinking approach to addiction and mental illness. And it’s fine, just not great.
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