Taxi Driver (1976)

1976 was a rich year for the movies. All the President's Men. Rocky.  Network.  Bound For Glory.  Marathon Man. Heck, even The Bad News Bears. All of these are rich and vastly different films worthy of acclaim even if they fall into genre categories. Yet there's one other 1976 film that most critics put among this group if not above it, and that is Taxi Driver.  Until last night, I had never seen it.

Why? I ask myself. To be honest, the subject matter never appealed to me despite the rather eclectic cast (Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel). When it was originally released, I was beginning my lifelong love affair with the movies, and was too immature to appreciate some of the complex, adult films that I saw in that period. Network -- a movie I regard as a great and prescient masterpiece -- needed to be reevaluated with a second viewing later in my life. And while director Martin Scorsese is among my Top 5 all-time favorite directors (with Steven Spielberg, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, and Robert Altman), I was a relative latecomer to his fan club. I just never had the drive to see the movie. In fact, I was pretty sure I knew what I would think of the movie: well-acted and dull between the violent bits.

Boy, was I ever wrong about that dull part.

I also tend to like movies with heroes and heart, and have trouble with anti-heroes. Well, maybe that's not so true anymore but I still tell myself that.  How could a taxi driver loner bent on assassinating a presidential candidate ever be worthy of my attention? Yet De Niro delivers one of his greatest performances, and he does so with such subtlety and charisma that it's almost breathtaking. As he pursues Shepherd's classy political worker, we understand why he gets rebuffed. Then the horror starts mounting because we know that this Travis Bickle, the taxi driver, the ex-Marine, is a ticking time bomb. We see his generosity and concern towards the pre-teen prostitute Iris (searingly played by Foster), and our opinions of Bickle are hopelessly turned inside out. We develop hope and a respect (of sorts) for Bickle. But is that hope a futile one?

Bickle just can't connect with the people he encounters in life. He's sexually frustrated, yet he is sickened by the sex and drug lifestyles around him. Nothing ever goes his way until life finally throws him the curve ball which would redeem most people. Then Bickle seems to see his life trajectory reboot  and finds himself on the same path to destruction that he was on.

I can't speak highly enough of Scorsese's direction.  It is one of the most self-assured and wise jobs behind the camera that I've ever seen. The cinematography is spot-on; Bernard Herrmann's score couldn't be more appropriate, and Paul Schrader's script borders on brilliance.  Add the acting to that: Shepherd was rarely ever cast to better effect in the film, Brooks and Keitel are barely recognized at first, and Foster uses her childlike precocious ness to superb effect. In fact, I've never seen her type of character better portrayed anywhere. And De Niro is simply masterful. I'm talking wickedly good.

I find most movies that are set in the time in which they are made tend to get dated.  The opposite is true with Taxi Driver.  Rarely has a movie made 40 years ago ever felt so timely and fresh.  Taxi Driver is a masterpiece, one that any film buff should never miss.  Grade: A.

I watched this film on Netflix's streaming service.

Quartet (2012)

Quartet is a fine film based on the stage play by Ronald Harwood and directed with subtlety and restraint by Hollywood superstar Dustin Hoffman. The story is set in a beautiful English mansion that has been turned into a retirement home for musicians. Three of the residents are formerly three-fourths of an operatic quartet: Wilford, the good-humored aging lothario;  Reggie, the earnest teacher who finds the similarities between opera and rap; and the kind-hearted Cissy, whose hold on sanity is more fragile than many of the other residents.

Enter Jean, the fourth member of the quartet. Jean reluctantly moves into the retirement home and initially tries to isolate herself from the other residents.  Her former partners are unaware that she was coming to their home. Wilford and Cissy try to draw Jean into a more social lifestyle. They are partially hindered by the stormy past of Jean and Reggie, who had been briefly married.

Then the quartet is offered a closing performance of the annual Verdi celebration. Jean adamantly refuses to perform, apparently due to a deteriorating aging voice. When Cissy tries to talk Jean
into performing, Jean reacts badly and the resulting effect is to push Cissy into a mental break.

The four actors who play the quartet are perfectly cast.  Maggie Smith plays Jean, wounded, egocentric, wistful, regretful. She captures all the character's nuances exquisitely.  Billy Connolly, an actor best known for his stand-up comedy routines, brings a good-natured humor and sexual potency to Wilford. He's so good that it's hard to imagine that Peter O'Toole was originally cast in the role. (O'Toole dropped out because he realized that he no longer had the stamina for a movie shoot.) Tom Courtenay is fine as the contemplative and still love-struck Reggie. Pauline Collins beautifully walks the tightrope between sanity and lunacy, and gives Cissy a golden soul.

I'm a little surprised at director Hoffman's choice of material for his first directorial feature. His results are laudable, though. He allows the actors to expertly ply their trade. He was wise enough to cast the supporting roles with actual aging musicians.  The look of the film seems right and the movie didn't strike me as having originally been a play at all. The choice of music in the play and the score itself was cannily selected.

All in all, Quartet is a beautiful look at the artistic soul as it ages. It was a far better film than I anticipated, well-written and tightly directed. It's a feast for anyone who loves full-blooded acting by thespians who know how to deliver the goods. Grade: B+.

I watched this film on Netflix's streaming service on April 25, 2016.

Touch of Evil (1958)

Touch of Evil has a backstory nearly as interesting as its pulpy plot. The story goes that the Universal Studios wanted Charlton Heston to star in the film, and Orson Welles had been hired to act in the film's major male supporting role.  Heston agreed to do the film if Welles would direct.  Welles had been out of favor with American movies studios for about a decade and had been living abroad. He wanted a foot back in the door of American movies, and agreed to direct Touch of Evil while receiving only his acting fee. Welles was aware that he had a reputation for being difficult to work with as well as finishing a film way over budget. He promptly re-wrote the screenplay and began casting his film.

Surprisingly, Welles delivered the film under budget and on time. He delivered his initial cut of the film to the studio executives who did not like what they saw as they felt the film was too confusing. Welles was fired from the film and banned from the editing room. Universal hired another director to finish the editing and to film reshoots they the executives deemed necessary. A revised edit of Touch of Evil was screened for Welles.

Welles didn't hate the edited film. Instead, he sat down and promptly wrote a 58 page memo to Universal executives that urged a number of changes to the film. Most of these were minor and only involved tweaking the sound and score of the film. However, Welles's memo was largely ignored and the film was released as the bottom half of a double feature. It failed miserably in the United States, though it was hailed in Europe.

I can't comment on the version of Touch of Evil that was released in 1958 because that isn't the version that I watched.  I watched the most recent re-edit of the film.  In the mid-1990s, Touch of Evil was re-edited to closely approximate the suggestions that Welles wanted in the 58 page memo.  The result is simply a masterpiece.

Welles's achievement as a director is no less remarkable than his groundbreaking work on Citizen Kane.  He shoots from odd angles and uses creative jumps and cuts to propel the narrative along. His opening 3-minute-plus shot is an astounding creation, truly beautiful to behold as it sets up the movie's plot beautifully.  It definitely influenced later film opening shots such as those in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, Robert Altman's The Player, and Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights.

I've never been one to think that genre films couldn't make great movies.  Night of the Hunter, The Silence of the Lambs, Pulp Fiction, and a score of gangster films spring immediately to mind. Touch of Evil arrived near the end of Hollywood's film noir heyday.  It tells a juicy plot. American Janet Leigh marries Mexican Heston, a drug enforcement border agent. When a car bomb that was set in mexico explodes in a border town on U. S. soil, the authorities begin their investigation with Heston's character observing.  Heston's character observes the planting of evidence to secure a conviction, so the corrupt American prosecutor frames Leigh for the car bomb muder and suggests that Heston has a drug problem. 

The Laramie Project (2002)

Original movies produced by and for HBO are, generally speaking, fine quality productions these days -- often to the point that they could be theatrical films. Generally, they have a degree of importance to them. Often they are about real people or real events.  The Laramie Project has all of these qualities.

Writer-director Moises Kaufman created a play made up of the actual words spoken by actual Laramie, Wyoming residents following the brutal murder of young gay Matthew Shepard by two Laramie residents. Kaufman then adapted his play into this affecting telefilm. The result is a glimpse of a town thrust into the national spotlight in the aftermath of Shepard's tragic murder.

Kaufman populates his film with many acclaimed character actors, all with relatively small roles. The cast includes Christina Ricci, Margo Martindale, Dylan Baker, Frances Sternhagen, Janeane Garofalo, Amy Madigan,  Ben Foster, Laura Linney, Camryn Manheim, Peter Fonda, Jeremy Davies, Steve Buscemi, Joshua Jackson, Lois Smith, Clancy Brown, Bill Irwin, and Tom Bower, among others. The most moving was Terry Kinney as Dennis Shepard, Matthew's father, who gives an eloquent speech at the sentencing hearing of one of the murderers.

The film is so well-constructed and well-edited with different threads of the fabric of Laramie that I didn't notice its dramatic holes until after the film was over. It seems to me that the filmmakers want to indict the people of Laramie, to hold them responsible in part for the culture that led to Shepard's horrific beating and murder.  I don't want to lessen the cruelty of the crimes against Shepard, but the crime could have happened in New York City just as easily as it did in Wyoming (and in my opinion, justice may not have been so sufficiently served in a more liberal state.) The people of Laramie were outraged, shocked, dismayed, and horrified by what happened to Shepard, no less than people anywhere else in the country would have been had it occurred in their back yards.  I don't mind movies that stack the cards to illustrate their points of view so much as I get bothered by the constant attitude that good, moral people who believe that the homosexual lifestyle is wrong are complete idiots. Most people that I know who have this attitude are tolerant and respectful of gays -- they would just prefer to not have gay culture in their faces all the time. I'm sure that if a television drama actually tried to be sympathetic to such Americans that a publicity nightmare would ensue. My point is that the savage beating of Shepard in Laramie is no more or less abhorrent than gay-bashing anywhere. But the majority of people who oppose special rights for homosexuals are not gay-bashers and in fact are just as repulsed by such behavior as people supportive of gay causes.  The Laramie Project does not make this distinction.

Ultimately, The Laramie Project is a consistently fascinating, complex, important piece of filmmaking that errs by villanizing  the people of a good city in a good state when the only villains here were the two perpetrators of the murder of Shepard.  For that reason, I have to give The Laramie Project a B+.

I watched The Laramie Project on DVD on May 17, 2014.

All About Eve (1950)

Incredibly, I had never seen 1950's All About Eve before this weekend.

Yes, I know that the film is legendary. I'm aware of its position in Hollywood history.  I'm aware that it is tied with 1997's Titanic as the movies with the most Oscar nominations (14).  I understand that by being cast in this film, Bette Davis felt that director Joseph L. Mankiewicz had rescued her film career.  And I can quote several lines from this movie that I had never seen, including the famous "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to seek out All About Eve. Friends who are fellow film buffs have consistently urged me to watch the film. This  weekend finally seemed like the right time to do that.

The story is relatively well-known.  Eve Harrington, a seemingly naïve young woman from the
Midwest, attaches herself to Broadway diva Margo Channing and her circle of theatrical friends. Margo becomes aware that Eve may be trying to gain stardom at Margo's expense, but the people around her seem seduced by Eve's charms.  Eventually Eve makes calculated moves that thrust her into the limelight, though there are hints that her fame may not be long-lasting.

The first two-thirds of the movie showcase Davis's tour-de-force performance as Margo Channing.  Channing has created a persona for the public that masks her personal insecurities as she feels threatened by her middle-age in a youth-oriented career. She also longs for passionate love. Davis nails the role perfectly. Her Margo Channing is such a force of nature that the film misses her when she isn't onscreen.

Less successful -- though still effective -- is Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington.  Eve's adopted persona is demure and kindly; a perfect contrast to the in-your-face Margo. Unfortunately, Baxter isn't nearly as strong an actor as Davis, and in my mind, the film suffers a little because Baxter isn't as natural a fit in the film as Davis. 

An argument could be made that Baxter's role is supporting, although the movie allows her to take front and center in the last half hour. Yet both Davis and Baxter were nominated as Best Actress for All About Eve, both losing to Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday.  Other nominees were Eleanor Parker in Caged and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd.  I haven't seen either Holliday's or Swanson's performances but both are probably deserved, and Parker gave a fine performance in a gutsy role. I suspect that Davis or Swanson should have won the Oscar, but I feel that Baxter's nod was undeserved.  (There's also a theory that the vote was split between Davis and Baxter, allowing for Holliday's win.  I don't subscribe to the split-vote theory as the math doesn't work out.)

(But MovieRAM, my readers ask.  If Baxter wasn't nominated in 1950, or if she was nominated in the supporting category instead, who should have gotten the 5th nomination? Easy answer, my friends.  I'd have given the fifth slot to the incandescent Betty Hutton for Annie Get Your Gun.)

All About Eve crowded the supporting actress category too.  Celeste Holm played Karen, the playwright's wife, who wields a surprising of influence in her inner circle before she sees that she never should have been supportive of Eve. It's a great, multi-layered  performance, and I probably would have been happy had she won. Surprisingly, the great character actress Thelma Ritter got the first of her six Oscar nominations as Birdie, Margo's loyal assistant. It's a small role, and while Ritter excels in it, it is not an award-worthy role. Both Holm and Ritter lost the award to stage actress Josephine Hull in Harvey, another movie that I need to see. (Other nominees were Hope Emerson, who was excellent as a brutal prison matron in Caged, and Nancy Olson in Sunset Blvd.)

While Davis, Baxter, Holm, and Ritter all lost the Oscar for All About Eve, supporting actor George Sanders won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Addison DeWitt, the acerbic theater critic with the poison pen who can make or break careers.  While I haven't seen any of his fellow nominees, it is hard to see how any of them could be better than Sanders, who inhabits his role perfectly. It's a magnificent performance in a great role.

All About Eve won Best Picture, Best Director for Mankiewicz, and a Best Screenplay Oscar for Mankiewicz's excellent screenplay.  Edith Head won the Best Costumes award, and the film won an award for Best Sound Recording.

A few more thoughts on the film. Marilyn Monroe has an early supporting role in in this movie, and she acquits herself nicely.  I thought Gary Merrill as the play's director and Hugh Marlowe as the playwright were too similar in type to share so many scenes together. Mankiewicz's screenplay and direction are extremely first-rate.

Is this Davis's best screen work? It could well be -- though I'm terribly fond of her roles in The Letter and The Little Foxes. I don't think I've ever seen Holm or Sanders quite as good as they are in All About Eve.

All About Eve perfectly depicts the theater world with colorful characters and insightful dialogue. I wish Baxter's portrayal of Eve didn't pale when viewed next to Davis's Margo. Baxter's casting weakened the film for me (I think Donna Reed could have pulled it off.) Therefore, instead of a perfect classic, I have to deem it a very good one instead.  Grade: B+.

I watched All About Eve on Netflix Streaming on Sunday, May 4, 2014.

Noah (2014)

It's only fair that a critic of a movie acknowledge his biases if he is commenting on a film where those biases will color his perspective. In order to speak about Darren Aronofsky's Noah, I need to first assert that I am a Christian, I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its original form, and I hold the Bible to be sacred truth.  Generally, I find movies based on the Bible or those to designed for Christian audiences to be artistically inferior productions regardless of how good their intent might be.  There are exceptions. I am an ardent supporter of The Passion of the Christ.  I enjoy the grandeur of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. I appreciate the earnestness of The Greatest Story Ever Told, even if my eyes roll when John Wayne appears as the Roman centurion.  I find interest in some movies that are set with Biblical events in the background, such as The Robe, Ben-Hur, or Quo Vadis (these tales were apparently popular in the 1950s).  There is a lot of mediocrity in Bible adaptations like King David or King of Kings or Samson and Delilah.  John Huston's The Bible is excruciatingly dull, and Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation of Christ is blasphemous.

Initially, I had no interest in seeing Noah. Upon its release, the slight preponderance of positive critical reviews swayed me and I then wanted to see it for myself. I'm not a big fan of director Aronofsky.  Requiem for a Dream is too abstract in a world that doesn't interest me. Black Swan had some great strengths but the fantasy elements were distracting to me.  I'm a big fan of The Wrestler, however. I knew that some things were in the movie that were not a part of the Genesis record of the event, and I attempted to keep an open mind about that.  Obviously, I know that any filmed Bible story is going to be interpretive on some level but I doubted that Aronofsky was the man to present the story of Noah.

The best thing I can say about the movie is that it never bored me -- and that's a major plus since this is a Biblical epic running over two hours. Russell Crowe was a fine choice to play Noah. Jennifer Connelly, playing Noah's wife, elevates most movies when she's in them and she doesn't disappoint here.  Aronofsky keeps the film moving, and I liked his view of the Ark itself. He also uses CGI to good advantage with the storm , the flood, and the arrival of the animals.

But I can't deny that the major deviations from the Biblical record troubled me greatly.

Much of the film was a lot more Lord of the Rings rather than Lord of All Creation.  I'm specifically referring to the angels that are consigned to Earth. They seemed to have a lot of inspiration from Middle-Earth with a touch of reference to Transformers.

I don't know what kind of a toll it would take on a man to be one of the last 8 survivors of humanity, and there may have well been emotional turmoil with the real Noah. But he is presented in the Bible as being resolute in his faith, and his depiction in the film Noah as an irrational, nearly crazed man after the Ark closes is disturbing and the most distasteful thing about the film.

I could accept the fiction involving Tubal-cain (well-played by Ray Winstone) as the power hungry leader of the community closest to the Ark until he stowed away on the Ark.  I wanted to laugh at the absurdity then.

The soap opera elements such as Ham's betrayal of his family to assist Tubal-cain and having Shem's wife (demurely played by Emma Watson) deliver twin daughters out-of-wedlock with Noah threatening to slay them were not only complete poppycock but they also diluted the powerful story of salvation and redemption which is what the actual life of the Biblical Noah illustrates.

If I could separate MovieRAM the moviegoer from MovieRAM the Christian, Noah as a work of fiction and as a cinematic experience is a better film than a lot of modern fantasy films (such as the bloated The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey). But the film Noah is too far outside my comfort level for of a telling of the sacred Biblical story of Noah, and I still fell dirty for not only seeing the film, but for enjoying it in the limited amounts that I did.  I wish I could shake the film, but it bothers me to my core.

It saddens me that this is the only exposure to the Bible that some people will see, or that some people will perceive this presentation as truth.

I remember several years ago when I refused out of principle to see Michael Moore's hit documentary
Fahrenheit 9/11. I knew that the views expressed in that film would offend my moral sensibilities and I wisely chose to ignore it for the drivel that it was. I wish that I had followed the same principles for Noah, but I can't unwatch the film. Watching it certainly wasn't worth troubling my soul this extensively though.  Grade: C-.

I watched Noah at the Pullman Square Marquee Cinemas on Friday evening April 25, 2014 with my friend Brian.

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Admittedly, I knew very little about Carnal Knowledge before I saw it.  While I thought it had a good cast, it never seemed like a movie that held much interest for me.  Since I've made it a mission to see every movie that has been nominated for a major Oscar (Best Picture, Director, or an acting award), Carnal Knowledge fell on the list of films to see because Ann-Margret garnered one of her two nominations for Best Supporting Actress (her other nomination was for 1975's Tommy, the cinematic adaptation of The Who's rock opera!).

I should know by now to never discount movies from the incredibly fertile 1970s. Carnal Knowledge looks as if it could have been a period piece made in 2014 -- it hasn't aged a bit other than we know the primary actors are now senior  citizens. It looks terrific, and even though it is a talkie movie, the script is very well-written.

One of the big reasons why 1970s drama was so successful is that so many of the characters in those movies are textured and deeply flawed. I'm not even sure that I would call any of the characters in Carnal Knowledge likeable -- but they are constantly fascinating. Kudos for Jules Feiffer's incisive script.  The story goes that Pfeiffer brought the idea to director Mike Nichols with the hopes of mounting a play. Nichols said he saw the story as a movie. To be honest, it feels like a well-done adaptation of a play to me. There are three defined acts, each building on what has transpired before. Nichols has been such an uncommonly successful Broadway director that it is easy to forget about his strong cinematic successes that include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, Silkwood, and Working Girl. Carnal Knowledge can comfortably sit amongst the best of Nichols's film accomplishments. It is an intelligent and daring film that is every bit as timely today as it was in 1971.

Carnal Knowledge tracks the changing sexual mores of mid-20th century America as it examines a pair of college roommates from the late 1940s through the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s.  The result isn't pretty and there are no happy endings here in this dark drama. While the film never judges the choices that the characters make, it certainly never endorses them either. If the viewer passes judgment on the film -- as any respectable viewer should -- it seems to me that the viewer would have to see traditional morality as a viable (and maybe preferable) option.

The story in a nutshell: College roommates Jonathan (Jack Nicholson) and Sandy (Art Garfunkel, here billed as Arthur Garfunkel) are virginal college roommates obsessed with getting laid. They both have ideals of the type of woman that interests them. At a mixer, Jonathan challenges Sandy to hit on attractive co-ed Susan (Candice Bergen). Susan is intelligent and possesses a detached demeanor. She and Sandy become friends, and she gives in to his feelings of love for her, though she isn't certain that she feels the same.  Jonathan, jealous that Sandy is making headway with Susan, begins to date her behind Sandy's back and eventually sleeps with her before she sleeps with Sandy.  Susan professes love for Jonathan but is unwilling to end things with her friend Sandy. Frustrated, Jonathan breaks things off with Susan.

The second act finds Jonathan meeting the sexy, voluptuous Bobbie (Ann-Margret), a woman who seems to epitomize Jonathan's fantasies.  Jonathan and Bobbie move in together, and Bobbie discovers that she wants marriage. Jonathan becomes impotent at the thought of that, and their relationship deteriorates as Bobbie succumbs to severe depression and Jonathan grows angry with his life.  The situation culminates badly when Sandy shows up with the lady he is having an affair with, and the envious Jonathan suggests that two men swap females for the evening.

Years pass. Middle-aged Sandy's latest conquest is a teenager (Carol Kane), and Jonathan can only get aroused by visiting the prostitute Louise (Rita Moreno) who must roleplay to a very specific script. It seems that Jonathan and Sandy may have won a few battles in the Sexual Revolution, but they certainly lost the war.

The four leads are remarkable.  Candice Bergen captures the angst of the brainy Susan as she is torn between the two men in her life who happen to be best friends.  It's the type of role in which she was practically typecast at the start of her career, but she handles the adult material beautifully. And Art Garfunkel -- well, who knew he could act? Why didn't he have a bigger screen career? He's perfect as the insecure Sandy and his performance never musters a false note. Nichols is a master of casting and his gutsy choice of Garfunkel pays off handsomely.  Ann-Margret is a revelation as Bobbie. Having spent the 1960s in mostly bad movies, she is given a chance to shine in this role of an aging sex kitten who wants a traditional marriage.  She succeeds admirably; her performance is complex and riveting.

The center of the film is Jack Nicholson's Jonathan. I could make an argument that Nicholson was the movies' greatest actor for 35 years. I've never seen Carnal Knowledge referred to as one of Nicholson's iconic roles, but it is. Jonathan is a beast of a man. and Nicholson doesn't shy from revealing the layers of ugliness within, all barely underneath the devilish grin and twinkling eyes. When I think of my very favorite Nicholson performances in films like Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Reds, Prizzi's Honor, Ironweed, and About Schmidt, I realize that his performance in Carnal Knowledge could easily stand up to his stellar work in these better-known films.  Nicholson truly is an actor of the highest order.

Intellectually, I know that great movies can be made about subjects in which I have little interest. (2001's The Piano Teacher springs to mind.) The more I think about Carnal Knowledge, with its cast of irritating characters making bad choice after bad choice -- well how can I recommend this film? Then my mind is drawn to the stylish filmmaking, the flawless dialogue, and the perfection of the performances, and I realize that Carnal Knowledge is a movie that will stay with me for a very long time.  Artistically, it flirts with greatness. Grade: A-.

I watched Carnal Knowledge on DVD on Saturday, April 26, 2014.

Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 (2012)

Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 is a documentary that explores how the James Bond movies have become the longest-running film franchise in history. It was made for television, though it got a brief theatrical run in Great Britain.  The purpose of the film was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movies, which began in 1962 with Dr. No and ended most recently with 2012's Skyfall.

The film starts with a look at how author Ian Fleming, himself a former intelligence agent, created suave super-spy James Bond. Then the movie examines how Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman became partners and acquired the rights to make the films.  All of the actors who have played Bond onscreen -- Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig offer commentary throughout the movie, although Connery's comments seems to have come from pre-existing recordings.

It was interesting to see the passion behind the films, and to hear about the troubles behind the scenes as well.  Connery left the franchise because he was dissatisfied with the money he was making. Lazenby tells why he was fired after only one appearance as Bond. There's the fascinating tale of how a man named Kevin McClory held the rights to Fleming's book "Thunderball" which led to decades of litigation. It was interesting to hear about the dissolving of the Broccoli-Saltzman partnership, how Pierce Brosnan got a second chance to be Bond after NBC surprisingly un-cancelled his TV series "Remington Steele", and how most of the powers that be did not want Daniel Craig to be hired as Bond.

The children of Broccoli and Saltzman also contribute to the narrative, as do a few of the Bond directors and other friends and relatives of the principals. Even Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton endorse Bond.

If the film has a flaw, I would say that it is too abbreviated.  I would have liked to have seen more film clips, some info on the onscreen Bond villains, and a little more of the supporting cast of Bond characters. That's quibbling though. What Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 accomplished most is that it whetted my appetite to watch all 23 of the Bond films in chronological order.  I thoroughly enjoyed this overview of Bond's success. Grade: A-.

I watched Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 via Netflix Streaming on April 1, 2013.

Fun fact: Broccoli and Saltzman's partnership was EON Productions, which was allegedly an acronym for the phrase "Everything or Nothing."

Bronson (2008)

The only reason that I watched Bronson was because I've become a fan of Tom Hardy in recent years. He had a compelling screen presence in films like Inception, Warrior, and The Dark Knight Rises. I stumbled across Bronson on Netflix Streaming and saw where Hardy won a British Independent Spirit Award for his work in this film, and decided to give the movie a watch.

I really disliked the film. It is a character study of Michael Patterson, a petty thief who always worsens his situation by acting out violently -- injuring policemen, prison guards, and fellow inmates alike. He adopts the name "Charles Bronson" after the Death Wish action movie star. He spends a lot of time in solitary confinement, and his extensive jail time far exceeds the penalty for the crimes that caused him to be incarcerated. The prison system tried to palm him off to the mental health system by pronouncing him crazy, but that didn't last long. Bronson became Britain's most famous -- and violent -- criminal. The only reason offered up for Bronson's behavior was his desire to be famous.

Hardy delivers an admittedly powerful performance. I hated the character, which always makes viewing a film difficult. The script was weak as well. The movie uses a device where Bronson addresses a fictional audience, and the movie audience as well, to punctuate the events of his life. Hardy is also the only actor in the movie with whose work I am familiar. His street-wise British accent was so thick that at times I wished that I had been using subtitles. It took real effort to understand Hardy, and in that regard the movie reminded me of Sexy Beast, though Sexy Beast is a far more interesting film.

Bronson is the second film that I've seen by up-and-coming acclaimed director Nicolas Winding Refn. In the fall of 2011, I saw Refn's Drive. I admired a lot of Drive, even though I stop short of recommending that film. Drive has a lot more style to it; Bronson doesn't have anything of merit in it except a fearless performance by Hardy.

Bronson was surprisingly well-reviewed, but I found it to be an excessive exercise without  substance.  Character studies rarely make good movies. Good drama needs to have a point, and  Bronson as a film doesn't have much to say at all.  It doesn't entertain, and the re-watchability factor for me is non-existent.  I don't mind violence in films where it serves the story like in a Quentin Tarantino movie, for example.  There's really no story in Bronson. I suppose it's an important film in the oeuvre of Tom Hardy, and someday it may show how far Refn has matured as a director.  Skip this one, though.  There are too many far better films to see. Grade: D-.

I watched Bronson on March 9, 2013 via Netflix Streaming.

The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)

I first watched The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox on commercial TV during my college days. I hadn't remembered anything about it other than it was an unfunny comedy-western starring Goldie Hawn and George Segal. One thing I've learned over the years is that you can't really judge a movie if you watch it edited for television. So I was looking for something light to watch and stumbled on this title on Netflix, and decided to give it another viewing.

Guess what? The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox is still a (mostly) unfunny comedy-western, though it plays a little better than my mind remembered. Segal is a con man, and when he makes a big score, the bandits that he conned come looking for him to retrieve their money.  He encounters Hawn, a dance hall girl/occasional hooker who is working a con of her own -- she wants to get out of her business so she attempts to appear as a proper lady and is hired by a wealthy Mormon to tutor his large brood of children.  Segal and Hawn find themselves on the run as they travel to Utah from California. Naturally they fall in love. 

It's to Hawn's credit that she is so charismatic onscreen that she can appear in such a weak movie and emerge with her charm intact.  Segal is also likable here, and audience goodwill toward the two leads carries a lot of weight.  Ultimately, the script betrays Segal and Hawn as it is low on laughs and weak on plot and adventure. 

Melvin Frank directed this mess. He was much more successful in directing Segal and Glenda Jackson previously in 1973's A Touch of Class, which won Jackson a Best Actress Oscar. Here his work is heavy-handed and even amateurish at times.  The highlight of the film for me was Hawn's ribald rendition of a bar song called "Please Don't Touch Me Plums". It is funny, sexy, and strikes the tone that the rest of the movie needed.

The concept of The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox is a good one, and the casting of Hawn and Segal was smart.  It's too bad that the concept wasn't executed well. Director Frank should have scrapped his screenplay and either started over or farmed it out. Most of the blame for the failure of this movie can be placed on him.  Grade: C-.

I watched The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox on Netflix Streaming on February 28, 2013.

Angels in America (2003)

Angels in America is a six hour telefilm made by HBO that is an adaptation of Tony Kushner's mammoth Pulitzer Prize-winning play. It stars Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Mary-Louise Parker, Emma Thompson, Jeffrey Wright, Patrick Wilson, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, and James Cromwell. Many of the actors play more than one role.  In fact, Streep plays an angel, an elderly male rabbi, the ghost of executed spy Ethel Rosenberg, and Hannah Pitt, a middle-aged Mormon mother who moves to New York when her son tells her that he is gay. The film was capably directed by Mike Nichols, who did a nice job opening the film up so that it didn't feel stagy.

There are many instances when Angels in America flashes brilliance. Then there are many moments with theatrical conceits that may have worked well on stage but are schlocky and cumbersome onscreen. The material also bashes people who don't promote the gay agenda, includes a lot of needless profanity, and ironically, is very naive in its theological discussions. Make no mistake -- Angels in America has a leftist agenda which I found to be offensive at times and patronizing at others, and it mocks traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs.

The heart of the story is really good, however. Prior Walter finds out that he has full-blown AIDS, which is a death sentence in 1985. Louis Ironson, Prior's lover, has trouble dealing with the disease and leaves Prior. Meanwhile, young attorney Joe Pitt, married to pill-popping Harper, is fighting his strong homosexual urges. He meets Louis and eventually the two have an affair. When Joe reveals his homosexuality to Hannah, his Mormon mother, she moves to New York but she and Joe remain distant with each other. Hannah meets Prior and forms an unlikely friendship with him. Joe is a professional acquaintance of Roy Cohn, a real-life personality that was vicious to suspected Communists during the McCarthy Senate hearings in the 1950s. He was allegedly largely responsible for the death sentences of spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Cohn, a closeted gay man, finds himself with full-blown AIDS and tells everyone it is liver cancer. He is haunted by visits from the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, and his hospital nurse is the fey Belize, best friend of Prior.

These plot lines explore a lot of important messages: the boundaries and responsibilities of love, the impossibility of being someone besides oneself, questions of faith and despair, the need for acceptance, what is right and moral, and if attitudes can be changed.  Unfortunately, Kushner's screenplay suffers from being overly ambitious and ventures into heavy-handed meta-fiction which brings the film to a standstill. The most successful of these conceits involves Cohn's interaction with the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg. There is also an angel that proclaims Prior to be a prophet, though his gifts of prophecy are never revealed in the movie. Harper, Prior, and Hannah all have bizarre interactions with angels that really add nothing to the story. Prior even has a laughable visit to Heaven where he proclaims that God deserted mankind and is never coming back.

The performances are uniformly good, except for the angel played by Emma Thompson -- but that's such a seriously stupid role that I doubt any actor could have emerged unscathed from it. Pacino's Cohn is written to be a vile and nasty character -- and perhaps Cohn truly was. Pacino gives a larger-than-life performance, and somehow finds the humanity in the core of Cohn. Streep excels as Hannah, especially during her scenes with Prior. Harper, played by Parker, annoyed me throughout the film, though admittedly her husband had not been honest with her. Louis was well-played by Shenkman, though I found him unlikable. The best performances were from Wilson as Joe, Wright as Belize, and Kirk as Prior.

Pacino, Streep, Wright, and Parker won Emmys for their work in this production, and Kirk, Shenkman, Wilson, and Thompson were Emmy-nominated. Wright reprises his Tony award-winning performance.

Angels in America would have been a masterpiece had a third of the running time been excised (all the stuff with the literal angels and the demagoguery). The point that should have been more clearly made is that even in the worst of times, angels walk among us -- both natural, as exemplified by Belize, and unlikely, as seen in Hannah. The human interest story here is exceptional but the bloated esoteric material nearly sinks the production. The movie always kept my attention, even when it irritated me. It's a missed opportunity. Grade: B-

I watched Angels in America on DVD on March 18-21, 2013.

Holy Smoke (2000)

Holy Smoke is an Australian drama starring Harvey Keitel and Kate Winslet and directed by Gillian Armstrong. When the story opens, Ruth (played by Winslet) has joined a cult and moved to India, to the consternation of her family. Her mother travels to India to see her daughter and initially has trouble gaining access to her, but eventually Ruth sees her mum and tells her that she is happy in her life. Troubled Mum returns hone where the family makes sacrifices to hire American deprogrammer PJ Waters (Keitel, in a strong performance). Acting on Waters's advice, the family lures Ruth back to Australia by telling her that her father is near death from a heart attack.

Ruth finds herself in the middle of a family intervention and is then left in an isolated ranch house with Waters for his three-day deprogramming process. Ruth is furious with her family and Waters, and refuses to cooperate in any fashion. She finally realizes that she has sexual power, and seduces Waters repeatedly to destroy his credibility.

The film is very well acted by the leads.  Julie Hamilton, as Mum, gives a nice supporting performance. If only I bought into any of he drama. There are two points that I thought were particularly glaring. One, Ruth is a smart and independent woman. I don't believe she would ever get sucked into a Hare Krishna-like cult. Secondly, she never seemed desperate enough to seduce a man nearly 40 years her senior -- no matter how charismatic he was. (Maybe director Armstrong has a thing for Keitel? She used him as Holly Hunter's leading man in 1992's The Piano.) No doubt about it, Keitel is used to good effect here, but the age difference is as creepy as his moral shortcomings.

A third thing that bothered me is how Ruth, presumably an adult, was held against her will. I don't know anything about Australian law, but I question the legality of the situation - even if her family was behind it. Nor do I know anything about customary deprogramming tactics, and I suppose I might feel differently if cult brainwashing happened to a loved one of mine. The script wasn't strong enough to make me believe in Armstrong's interpretation, though.

And what is the title Holy Smoke supposed to mean in the context of this movie?

Despite all the annoying aspects of Holy Smoke, I never found it dull. Keitel, Winslet, and Hamilton are fascinating to watch.  I only wish they had found a different film to be in.  I'm sure that there is a good movie to be made about deprogramming a cult member, but this isn't it.  Grade: C.

I watched Holy Smoke via Netflix Streaming on February 19, 2013.

Me and Orson Welles (2008)

Me and Orson Welles is a fun "what if" look at Welles's Mercury Theater troupe and their acclaimed production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in 1937. Zac Efron plays Richard Samuels, a teenager who lands a small role in the play. He is thrilled to be among such a vibrant and talented cast, and enjoys working with the demanding but talented Orson Welles. Richard falls for Sonja Jones, Welles's pretty assistant. When Richard realizes the lengths that Sonja will go with Welles to advance her career, he manages to deeply offend Welles. The antagonism between the two threatens Richard's theatrical ambitions.

I liked the production values of the movie, and the name-dropping of acting icons of the day such as Joseph Cotten, Norman Lloyd, John Houseman, Martin Gabel, and George Coulouris. These actors were all ably portrayed by the supporting cast, with James Tupper as Cotten and Ben Chaplin as Coulouris being the standouts. Claire Danes seems to be having fun playing Sonja.

The leads are excellent. Efron brings a lot of innocence and naive charm to the role of Richard. Christian McKay thunders magnificently in his performance as the brilliant, temperamental Welles. He reminded me a lot of the real Welles, and he received some acclaim for his performance, including a Supporting Actor Independent Spirit Award nomination. Richard Linklater skillfully directed this little gem. I know that he's been around awhile, but I haven't seen much of his work. After seeing this and Bernie a few weeks ago, I need to be on the lookout for some of his other films. Kudos also go to screenwriters Holly Gent Palmo and Vince Palmo for their adaptation of Robert Kaplow's novel. I don't know if the character of Richard was based on a real person; it seems that he was entirely a fictional creation set among the actual Mercury Theater company.

The form of Me and Orson Welles reminded me a lot of My Week with Marilyn, though not as meaty. Entertaining as this little film is, it doesn't seem to have any substance to it other than as a heartfelt paean to the brilliant personalities of 1937 Broadway. That's fine with me, because it makes for an entertaining movie night at home. Grade: B.

I watched Me and Orson Welles via Netflix Streaming on February 16, 2013.

The Bourne Identity (1988)

Long before any of us knew who Matt Damon was -- and Damon may still have been in high school --  there was a two-part miniseries of Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity. It starred popular television actors Richard Chamberlain (then King of the Television Miniseries) and Jaclyn Smith. I never had the opportunity to watch the original version and decided to rectify that oversight.

I read Ludlum's novel prior to seeing Matt Damon's 2002 remake, and it was one of the best spy thrillers that I've ever read -- not that I've read that many. I thought that the Damon movie did a nice job using it as a starting point and then going in its own direction without adhering too strictly to Ludlum's story. This 1988 version is a lot more faithful to the Ludlum novel. If it lacks the great set pieces that are included in the Damon version, well, it compensates by having a more logical plot and a little more detailed character development.

The plot is compelling. An amnesiac (Chamberlain) awakens from being nursed back to health from a serious injury. He follows a few clues to his life and seems to have an identity named Jason Bourne. After he discovers that he has mercenary-type skills, Bourne comes to believe that he is a notorious European assassin. While he is trying to get away from people who seem to want him dead, he involves the beautiful Marie St. Jacques (Smith), an Canadian attending a convention in Europe. Romance ensues, and the story becomes very James Bond-like with exotic settings, close escapes, action sequences, and a lot of globe-hopping.

Chamberlain's performance as Bourne is a little uneven, though he undoubtedly fits the character of Bourne as written by Ludlum much better than Matt Damon would 15 years later. That's not to say that I don't prefer Damon in the role because I am a fan of the Bourne franchise. Smith really isn't a very good actress at all, but she certainly is pretty to look at. This 1988 version of the story also had the smarts to cast some acclaimed actors in key roles: Anthony Quayle, Donald Moffat, Denholm Elliott, Peter Vaughan, and Yorgis Voyagis among them.

This 1988 version of The Bourne Identity has the better script, but the 2002 remake is the better movie, making use of great special effects and utilizing good casting as well. As it is, the original is fine popcorn entertainment. If I had seen it in 1988, I might have been quite impressed. 25 years later it is a solid telefilm but the action sequences are dated. Grade: B.

I watched The Bourne Identity on DVD on February 15 & 16, 2013.

Side Effects (2013)

I hate to throw out the overused term "Hitchcockian" in describing a film. Far too often, the word is used for any run-of-the-mill thriller, even when there's virtually nothing in the movie that resembles
any film of Hitchcock's. The last films that I saw where the word "Hitchcockian" could reasonably be applied were directed by Brian De Palma in the 70s and 80s (and De Palma was trying to emulate Hitch). Then there was the fabulous Bound from the Wachowski siblings in 1996, which was Hitchcockian in the grandest sense. I would also argue that the Coen brothers' debut film Blood Simple was Hitchcockian. That's about it - but wouldn't you love to see Spielberg or Scorsese try their hand in a Hitchcock-like film?

Side Effects stars Jude Law in the Cary Grant role, Rooney Mara as the icy female protagonist, and, incredibly, Channing Tatum evoking strong memories of Janet Leigh in Psycho (or perhaps Angie Dickinson in Dressed to Kill). Law -- in his best performance in years -- plays a psychiatrist who prescribes a new drug for the depressed Mara. Tatum plays Mara's husband who has just been released from a stint in prison. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a colleague of Law's. To say anything more about the plot would be a crime.

The script by Scott Z. Burns is smart and tightly plotted. Director Steven Soderbergh, who professes to be retiring from directing movies, has delivered his most compelling film in awhile, and it is only 2013 release so far this year that has piqued my interest at all. Side Effects isn't perfect, by any means. Soderbergh insists on filming with a yellow filter which irritates me, though the effect here is much less disastrous than it was with the recent Magic Mike. The character of Law's wife -- ably played by Vinessa Shaw -- has a bizarre character reaction about three-quarters of the way through the film that seems to be there only to heighten the drama rather than being believable. And as good as the film is, it seems a bit too low-key to me, though I'm not sure what needs to be done to jazz it up a little. All of the performances are quite good, with Law being the standout. Mara shows that her performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo wasn't a fluke. Some of the supporting players include Polly Draper from TV's thirtysomething, and Mamie Gummer, who is Meryl Streep's lookalike daughter.

Soderbergh has a biopic about Liberace still to unveil on HBO this spring. He has delivered some compelling movies in his career like sex, lies, and videotape; Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Out of Sight, and Ocean's Eleven and its sequels. I really hope Soderbergh just needs a respite from directing and that his creative juices will start flowing again. Side Effects proves that there is still a lot of creativity still left in him, and I would hate for this film to be his theatrical swan song. Grade: B+.

I watched Side Effects at the Huntington Mall Cinemark Cinemas on February 15, 2013 with my cousin Zack.

Battle Cry (1955)

Battle Cry is one of those films that surprised me because it was better than I imagined. To begin with, I was under the impression that it was a black-and-white film (and that isn't a negative to me). It isn't -- it is a beautifully photographed color movie. I also thought this was a heavy duty war film, but 80 % of the movie involves down time during World War II. The movie also features a lot of female roles, which is unusual for most war films of the 1950s.

Battle Cry follows a group of men from basic training after the start of World War II until most of them return home in 1944. Van Heflin, one of the great character actors of the 40s and 50s, got top-billing even though his role is more supporting as this is definitely an ensemble cast. Heflin portrays a tough Marine colonel who trains his soldiers thoroughly and has them ready to be called to action at any time.  The recruits are an assorted lot and include Aldo Ray as a lumberjack from Wisconsin, Tab Hunter as a teenage boy-next-door with a girl at home, John Lupton as a studious volunteer, Fess Parker as a musically-inclined Texan, and L. Q. Jones as a southern country boy. James Whitmore is the sergeant who gets involved in the lives of the men under him. Heflin, Ray, and Whitmore deliver outstanding performances. Hunter is surprisingly good after a weak start.

The female cast members include Nancy Olson, Dorothy Malone, Allyn Ann McLerie, Anne Francis, and Mona Freeman. One of the film's shortcomings is that there isn't a lot of distinctive personalities between the women. Olson gives is the strongest performance of the bunch as the young widow who falls for Ray's brawny soldier. The movie also has a scene with Raymond Massey playing a general, and character actor Frank Ferguson appears as the irate father of Hunter's character's girlfriend.

Famed Hollywood director Raoul Walsh, who helmed many war movies in his career, does an excellent job with the sprawling cast and the layered interactions. Battle Cry is an adaptation of a novel by Leon Uris, and it is interesting enough that I wouldn't mind reading the novel someday. The cinematography is excellent, the script is sound, and the editing sharp. The soundtrack is exceptional; in fact, Max Steiner's score was Oscar-nominated.

There are multiple plot lines in the movie; some better-developed than others. The film is long but never boring. While it is certainly a Hollywood studio film complete with a heavy dose of patriotism, Battle Cry manages to present a wide array of details about Marine life. Maybe the film veers a little too close to soap opera, but it managed to keep me involved and its production values are top-notch. In fact, Battle Cry is one of the better war movies that I've seen that was made prior to 1960. It hits all the right notes. Grade: A-

I watched Battle Cry on DVD on March 6, 2013.

House of Cards (Season 1, 2013)

Netflix hit a home run with its innovative original series House of Cards. All 13 episodes of House of Cards were available for streaming on February 1, and what a joy it was to binge watch compelling television drama commercial-free.

Kevin Spacey plays Francis Underwood, a consummate politician who is serving as Majority Whip in the House of Representatives.  He is ambitious, but when he is passed over as Secretary of State nominee -- a position to which he had been promised -- by the new President, Underwood plots his revenge shrewdly, with both bold and subtle political maneuverings and forays into illegal activity.

As Underwood, Spacey gives a sublime performance. He's smarmy, calculating, testy, intelligent, and ruthless. He is aided by excellent scripts, fine direction, and an excellent cast.  House of Cards uses a cinematic technique device where Underwood talks directly to the audience on occasion. Somehow, this device works magnificently in the context of this show. A lot of credit has to be given to director David Fincher, who serves as one of the producers. Fincher directed the first two episodes which set the show's look and tone.

I expected Spacey to be excellent in his role, but I was unprepared for the truly superb work of Robin Wright as Underwood's equally ambitious wife Claire. While Claire shares Francis's lofty political ambitions, she also has a career running an international nonprofit organization. Wright captures every nuance of the character of Claire. I always knew Wright was a solid actress but I never knew she was this talented. She and Spacey shine as a team.

Joining the Emmy-worthy performances of Spacey and Wright is Corey Stoll in a supporting turn as Representative Peter Russo. Russo is a likable guy who happens to have a drug problem, and because of that, he unwillingly becomes Underwood's pawn. It's a vibrant, force-of-nature performance. Stoll first came to my attention by stealing his scenes as Ernest Hemingway in Woody Allen's film Midnight in Paris. After seeing him score so superbly in House of Cards, I can't wait to see where he will turn up next. It's been a long time since I've been this enthused about an actor arriving on the scene.

All of the other parts are well cast. Kate Mara plays a journalist who becomes an uncomfortable ally of Underwood. Gerald McRaney shows up as a billionaire friend of the President in the last couple of episodes. Michael Kelly does nice work as Underwood's right hand man Doug Stamper, an aide who knows most of Underwood's secrets. Sakina Jaffrey plays the President's Chief of Staff who proves to be a politician very nearly Underwood's equal. Michael Gill is very good as President Garrett Walker, a charismatic man who is not the sharpest politician in Washington.

On the insignificant negative side of things, the cinematography was quite dark throughout the series, particularly in the many night scenes. There was an episode in the middle of the series where Underwood received an award from his alma mater; that episode did not advance the story very much. All in all, House of Cards is an impressive achievement. The title of the show is a great one for this series as it always seems that the house of cards is beginning to fall. I am eager for Season 2. Grade: A

I watched House of Cards via Netflix Streaming between February 8 and 11th, 2013.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

In Silver Linings Playbook, Pat gets released from a stint in a mental hospital and goes to live with his parents Pat Sr. and Dolores. He has delusions of reuniting with his estranged wife who has a restraining order against him. He has trouble adjusting to his new lifestyle. Sparks fly when he meets Tiffany, the young widowed sister-in-law of Pat's best friend. Initially, Pat and Tiffany despise each other. Tiffany goads Pat into entering a dance contest with her, and along the way, Pat realizes that Tiffany has started to matter to him.

Director David O. Russell has fashioned a nice comedy-drama driven by character. As Pat, Bradley Cooper reveals depth and talent that I didn't realize that he had. Jennifer Lawrence, an actress of incredible range and beauty, is very winning as the young Tiffany and invests her with a complexity that is important to the chemistry between herself and Cooper. Robert De Niro plays Pat Sr., Pat's obsessive-compulsive father with gambling issues. He does a credible job in the role. Jacki Weaver is a quiet tower of strength as Pat's mother Dolores. I liked her performance a great deal. Cooper, Lawrence, De Niro, and Weaver were all Oscar-nominated for their work, and they are all excellent. However, Cooper is the only actor that I think was essential to the film. His performance is brilliant; the other roles could have easily been filled by other good actors.

The Oscar-nominated screenplay is very good, and Russell's handling of the material elevates it substantially. The last half hour of the film is as good as any rom-com that I've seen in years. I was really rooting for Pat and Tiffany to connect on both the dance floor and romantically. Russell seems to be a dream for actors. Three years ago, he directed Christian Bale and Melissa Leo to Supporting Oscar wins in The Fighter, plus Amy Adams scored a supporting actress nomination. This year, Lawrence and De Niro are favorites to win their Oscar categories. Russell himself was nominated for Best Director for The Fighter, and he was honored with a nomination this year for Silver Linings Playbook.

Silver Linings Playbook is really an unexpected gem. I wish more movies were this thoughtful, intelligent, and respectful of the audience. It makes storytelling look easy. It doesn't gloss over the mental issues that Pat, Tiffany, and Pat, Sr. face nor does it poke fun at those issues. It presents them matter-of-factly, and if humor can be derived from that, then so be it. I'm impressed. Grade: A

I watched Silver Linings Playbook on February 3, 2013 at Pullman Plaza Marquee Cinemas with my aunt.

Sports Night (Seasons 1 & 2, 1998-2000)

Sports Night was an exceptional workplace dramedy that originally ran on ABC. While it did last for two full seasons, it never gained much popularity despite an engaging cast, great writing by creator Aaron Sorkin, and a well-edited single-camera format. What a cast it was! Josh Charles played Dan Rydell and Peter Krause played Casey McCall. Dan and Casey were the desk anchors on a nightly sports show called "Sports Night". The show was produced by hyper-producer Dana Whittaker, played wittily by Felicity Huffman. The show's executive manager was Isaac Jaffe, acerbically played by TV veteran Robert Guillaume. Sabrina Lloyd played senior associate producer Natalie Hurley and Joshua Malina played the nerdy and big-hearted associate producer Jeremy Goodwin.

The ensemble cast was terrific. The rapport between Charles and Krause seemed like such a good, genuine friendship that when there were a couple of episodes late in Season 2 where Dan and Casey have a disagreement, I was left feeling sad and uncomfortable. Guillaume had a stroke in real-life during Season 1, and it was written into the show as Isaac's affliction as well. Isaac was the glue that held the show together. Malina played the brainy and slightly naive Jeremy with lots of heart. Huffman nailed the Type-A personality of Dana. If there was a weak link in the show, it was in the character of Natalie, who often got on my nerves. Natalie was an assertive and manipulative character who was basically good, but I often disliked her actions. Lloyd did well with the part, however

Perhaps the biggest asset of Sports Night was creator/writer Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin's scripts were excellent and his dialogue was smart with a rhythmic cadence to it. Sorkin stepped back from the show a little during Season 2, and personally I thought the quality slipped a little then, but Sports Night remained better than most shows even during that time.

Some of the ongoing storylines were particularly compelling. Casey and Dana had a long-simmering attraction to each other that they never acted upon. Dan was charmingly neurotic. There was a late night sports producer named Sally Sasser, played by Brenda Strong, who wanted Dana's job and made a few waves. In Season 2, William H. Macy -- Huffman's real life husband -- had a recurring role as an advisor who could grow ratings. The chemistry between him and Huffman was a delight. The one aspect that didn't work as well for me was the romantic relationship between Jeremy and Natalie.

Most of the cast had great success following the demise of Sports Night. Charles showed up in a number of roles before becoming an Emmy-nominated supporting player of The Good Wife. Krause had long rune on shows such as Six Feet Under and Parenthood. Huffman won an Emmy for her role in Desperate Housewives. Malina became an integral part of Sorkin's The West Wing. Guillaume seemed to cut back on his acting gigs.  I never saw anything else from Lloyd.

Sports Night started its run with a canned laugh track, which Sorkin successfully convinced the network to abandon. It hit a lot of character-driven comedic highs, but because it was character-driven, the dramatic moments were equally powerful. The life of Sports Night was all-too-brief, but for a couple of glorious years, it was one of the brightest gems of network television. It still holds up well, though frequent shots of the World Trade Center are now sad to see in its historical context. Grade: A.

I saw most -- if not all -- episodes of Sports Night during its original 1998-2000 run on ABC. I re-watched the series via Netflix Streaming during January and February 2013.

Fearless 2012 Oscar Hopes and Predictions

Well, the Really Big Show is Sunday night. I thought I'd weigh in a couple of days early since I'm having trouble sleeping  tonight and time will be at a premium from now until Oscar night.  Here are my predictions with a little random reasoning as well as what I hope to see crowned the winner in each category.

1. Best Picture
            Prediction: Argo. I held out for Lincoln up until a few days ago, but the drumbeat for Argo is just too loud.  I haven't seen Amour, but I think the nominated films for Best Picture are a classy lot.An Argo win is not undeserved, even if I did prefer two or three of the other nominees.

            Hope: Lincoln.  Smart and brilliant.

2. Best Director:
          Prediction: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln. Honestly, with Kathryn Bigelow, Ben Affleck, and Quentin Tarantino out of the running, the other nominees pale in comparison to Spielberg's work this year.

        Hope: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln. No other director has made more films that I truly love.  And he deserves his win here.

3. Best Actor:
        Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln. Day-Lewis will join that rarefied group of performers with three Oscars. And he will be the only one with three Best Actor statuettes.I thought Bradley Cooper's and Denzel Washington's nominations were richly deserved.  I haven't seen The Master yet.

       Hope: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln. He was exactly the Lincoln that I always envisioned.
 
4. Best Actress:
       Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook. She's quite good, but I'm not convinced that she was the only one who could play the role. I liked her chemistry with Bradley Cooper. A win by Emmanuelle Riva for Amour wouldn't surprise me as Lawrence should have many more nominations ahead of her. Haven't seen Amour or The Impossible.

      Hope: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty. Wow, she's good.

5. Best Supporting Actor:
      Prediction: Robert De Niro. Silver Linings Playbook. De Niro does a good job, but there's nothing special about the role or the performance. He campaigned hard, he's revered among actors, Harvey Weinstein has been whispering to the Academy on his behalf, and it has been 31 years since his last win. Look for him to also join the "3 Oscar" club of actors. He's unbeatable.   

      Hope: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln. He's a scene-stealing charmer. I also loved Christoph Waltz's performance in Django Unchained, but it is really a lead performance.

6. Best Supporting Actress:
        Prediction: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables.  Yes, she sings "I Dreamed a Dream" to perfection. But should an Oscar be awarded for simply nailing a song? I won't complain about her win though as I like her a great deal and she REALLY nailed that song.

      Hope: Sally Field, Lincoln. Here is a supporting performance with depth and complexity. But the Academy doesn't really, really like her  enough to give her a 3-peat. I haven't seen The Sessions.

7. Best Original Screenplay
        Prediction: Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty. Tarantino might squeak in with Django Unchained, even though it's not his best script.

        Hope: Zero Dark Thirty

8.  Adapted Screenplay.
       Prediction: Chris Terrio, Argo.  Terrio will be a beneficiary of the Argo Express.

       Hope: Tony Kushner, Lincoln. Kushner will be robbed.

9.  Best Animated Feature
       Prediction: Brave.  I haven't seen any of these, but I doubt the Academy will resist a plucky heroine.

       Hope: Frankenweenie looked like the one I would like best.

10. Best Foreign Film.
       Prediction: Amour. There is no real competition.

       Hope: Kon-Tiki is the one that I most want to see.

11.  Cinematography:
       Prediction: Life of Pi. Even if it is CGI.

       Hope: Skyfall.  Exquisite cinematography, but I don't see the Academy giving such a prestigious award to a Bond film -- no matter how deserving.

12.  Production Design
         Prediction: Life of Pi. Those supposedly in the know are selecting Anna Karenina here, but did enough of the Academy see that film?

        Hope: Lincoln. Yeah, I know. I have a theme going.

13.  Costumes
       Prediction: Les Miserables, even though Anna Karenina is getting a lot of talk here too.

       Hope: Of what I've seen, I thought the costuming in Lincoln was great.

14.  Makeup and Hairstyling
       Hope and prediction: Les Miserables.  I hope The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey doesn't win.

15.  Original score
        Prediction: Life of Pi seems to be the favorite -- though I can't remember the score.

        Hope: Skyfall did it for me.

16.  Best Song
       Hope and prediction: Skyfall will become the first Bond theme song to win an Oscar. There is no real competition.

17.  Editing
       Hope and prediction: Argo.  Here is where Argo is the unquestioned champ.

18. Sound mixing
      Hope and prediction: Les Miserables. The way the singing was filmed was incredible.

19. Sound editing
      Hope and prediction: Zero Dark Thirty is my choice, though any of the nominees except Argo are deserving

20. Visual effects
      Hope and prediction: Life of Pi. Is there any competition?

21.  Documentary feature
      Hope and prediction.  Searching for Sugar Man seems to be the audience favorite, though a win by The Gatekeepers wouldn't surprise me.

22. Documentary short subject
      Hope and prediction: I've heard good things about Inocente.

23. Animated short.
      Hope and prediction: For the first time ever, I've seen all 5 of these nominees before the Oscar telecast.  Paperman is the absolute best. I also enjoyed Adam and Dog.

24. Live action short
     Hope and prediction: Death of a Shadow has the best title.