by Sam Juliano
Football fans were treated to a defensive match between the favored Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos, who triumphed in an error prone Super Bowl game that wasn’t always pretty to watch. Still for those of us who traveled to the homes of relatives, where betting pools were run, or stood home to watch the big contest, it offered up a measure of entertainment to close out the nearly six-month football season.
The DGA (Director’s Guild Association) award this past week was handed out for the second year in a row to Alejandro Innaritu, whose The Revenant must now be seen a strong candidate for the Best Picture Oscar, in what is apparently a close race with The Big Short (PGA) and Spotlight. (SAG). The Academy Awards as always are a shameless rat race with building insignificance, but it gives Lucille and I the opportunity to stage our annual awards bash, which this year like last will happen at Fairview’s Tiger Hose Firehouse, with catering again from Dante’s. The affair is an open house.
This past week we attended two movie theater presentations, one the new Coens’ brothers film HAIL CAESAR, and the other the encore HD broadcast of Giacomo Puccini’s TURANDOT, seen at a local multiplex. Lucille and I had seen TURANDOT live at the Met three times prior over the years during our season ticket days. Remarkably, this is the same lavish Franco Zeffirelli production that has been there for over 20 years.
Hail Caesar ** 1/2 (Friday) Secaucus multiplex
Turandot (opera) *****
HAIL CAESAR is the most significant misfire that the Coens have released in many a year. It is all over the map and is largely forgettable.
Because of the Super Bowl and a nagging lower back muscle sprain, I have been unable to update links, but hopefully will revise the old ones:
At Noirish John Grant has penned a superlative review of Julien Duvivier’s “La Chambre Ardente”: https://noirencyclopedia.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/chambre-ardente-la-1962/
John Greco has penned an excellent review on Samuel Fuller’s “Forty Guns” at Twenty-Four Frames: https://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/forty-guns-1957-sam-fuller/
Aaron West offers up his twenty-fifth podcast, on D.E. Pennebaker’s “Don’t Look Back”: http://criterionblues.com/2016/01/24/ccu25-dont-look-back-1967/
Laurie Buchanan’s lastest post at Tuesdays with Laurie is a splendid one titled “Bald is Beautiful”: http://tuesdayswithlaurie.com/2016/01/26/bald-is-beautiful/
At a newly-decked out “Patricia’s Wisdom” our erstwhile proprietor has written another lovely book review, this time on “How to Be Alive: A Guide to the Kind of Happiness that Helps the World”: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2016/01/how-to-be-alive-a-guide-to-the-kind-of-happiness-that-helps-the-world-colin-beavan-author-of-no-impact-man/
Pat Perry is back in the blogging business at Part Time Cinephile with a fabulous round-up of 2015 Films: http://parttimecinephile.blogspot.com/2016/01/at-last-these-are-not-20-best-movies-of.html
Filmmaker Jeffrey Goodman offers up his Top 12 films of 2015 in brilliantly written capsules at The Last Lullaby: http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/2015/12/my-top-twelve-films-of-2015.html
At FilmsNoir.net Tony d’Ambra leads with a fabulous post on Manhattan Transfer 1925: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/the-noir-city-manhattan-transfer-1925.html/
At the Creativepotager’s painting blog the incomparable Terrell Welch offers up a sublime work-in-progress post titled “Intention, Composition and Underpaiting are tools of the trade used by the artist”: http://creativepotager.com/2016/01/14/intention-composition-and-underpainting-are-tools-of-the-trade-used-by-the-artist/
At Ferdy on Films Marilyn Ferdinand has offered up a terrific essay on Larissa Shepitko’s “Wings”: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2016/wings-%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F-1966/27152/
David Schleicher has posted a terrific review of “The Revenant” at The Schleicher Spin: http://theschleicherspin.com/2016/01/11/reverence-for-the-revenant/
At Movie Classics Judy Geater has posted a fantastic review for the “Raoul Walsh and James Cagney’s 4 Films Together” blogathon: https://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/raoul-walsh-and-james-cagneys-4-films-together/
Joel Bocko has penned a terrific review of “Jaws” in his ‘favorite’ series at I Lost It at the Movies: http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-favorites-jaws-71.html
At Little Miss Litberry Charity has penned a fabulous review of the non-fiction work “Wonder Garden”: https://littlemisslitberry.wordpress.com/2016/01/20/wonder-garden-a-review/
At De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Lyn Miller-Lachman has written a fabulous review on Marguerita Engel’s award-winning memoir “Enchanted Air”: http://decoloresreviews.blogspot.com/2016/01/enchanted-air-two-cultures-two-wings.html
At Read It Real Good Alia Jones has penned a terrific review of Marilyn Nelson’s “My Seneca Village”: http://readitrealgood.com/2016/01/20/my-seneca-village/
At American Indians in Children’s Literature Debbie Reese has penned a fascinating feature titled “Where do you shelve Native American stories?” https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2016/01/where-do-you-shelve-native-american.html
Robert Tower has written a terrific review of “Edge of Tomorrow” at It Rains…..You Get Wet: http://le0pard13.com/2016/01/29/edge-of-tomorrow-film-review/
Weeping Sam waxes lyrical on Jacques Rivette’s passing at The Listening Ear: http://le0pard13.com/2016/01/29/edge-of-tomorrow-film-review/
Dean Treadway offers up a look at 1973 in his annual series at Filmacability: http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2016/01/1973-year-in-review.html
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Wonders in the Dark 
Definitely agree on the low quality of the Coen Brothers movie–it very well might be their least successful work (even THE LADYKILLERS had a couple of laughs in it). On the positive side, I liked a couple of scenes in CASAR–the Esther Williams-like number with Scarlett Johansson, the terrific dance sequence with Channing Tatum, and Frances McDormand’s chain-smoking film editor. I definitely drunk up the detailed art direction, costuming, and photography, all of which kept me interested in the film. And Alden Ehrenreich was superbly funny as the cowboy actor Hobie Doyle–his major scene with Ralph Fiennes was easily the movie’s highpoint (his character should have been the lead). But, instead, Josh Brolin’s doleful studio fixer was lost in a sea of nothingness; it was difficult to care anything about him because he was so drained of personality, perhaps purposefully. Same goes for George Clooney, who still made me laugh once (when his character, in a biblical film, first lays eyes on Jesus and can’t quite get it right). The major problem with the movie is that it feels like a first draft filmed as is; it just doesn’t hang together properly. As drab as a piece of milk-soaked bread, it feels like it has something to say about money and art and faith, but I just was so bored by it, I couldn’t care to piece it all together. Numerous tries for laughs fall flatter than flat (and the audience I was with–presumably filled with Coen Brothers fans–remained uncomfortably mute throughout). I did love the IDEA of the film–a caper in 1950s Hollywood? Hell, yeah! But the execution was surprisingly of a phoned-in quality. Go and see it–if you’re a Coen Brothers fan, you can’t miss it. But you will definitely feel a thud of disappointment when you realize, about 30 minutes into this mercifully short sketch, that you really haven’t laughed or marveled at it once.
Dean, I really do appreciate you going at length to frame why this film in the end comes off as unsatisfying. heck I could have used that sensational capsule in my lead in, stripped as I have been of time as of late. I too had no emotional connection to Clooney and some of the others, and also would say some sequences worked quite well. A February release date for a Coens film would seem to indicate some issues, but still the film most assuredly has its share of fans. Thanks again my fried!
Gee, Sam, your Oscar bash sounds like a hoot and a holler!
Brief impressions of the movies I’ve seen recently.
“Days of Wine and Red Noses” (1962) — Lee Remick begins as a teetotaller who quotes poetry by Robert Herrick and ends up a lush who can’t find her ass with both hands. I like Remick, but here her rapid descent into falling-down drunkenness isn’t one iota believable
“The Fortune Cookie” (1966) — A single gag – insurance fraud – protracted into a two-hour plus movie. The wildly uneven Wilder, whose films vacillate between the truly corrosive (“Double Indemnity;” “Ace in the Hole”) and high hilarity (“Some Like It Hot;” “One, Two, Three”) flops into tastelessness when he tries to combine the two (“The Apartment;” “Kiss Me, Stupid”). Way too long and the gag’s limited risibility doesn’t help, either. Lemmon, however, may be the best farceur in movie history.
“Boyhood” (2014) — Linklater’s lovely meditation on the evanescence of time. Unfairly denounced as a stunt by some of the same critics who gush over the 10-year reunions of aging Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in the “Before” trilogy.
“Jane Got a Gun” (2016) — Natalie Portman needs to fire her agent. Now.
“Leave Her to Heaven” (1945) — Try not to stare at gorgeous Gene Tierney. You can’t do it, it’s impossible. “Heaven’s” immaculate polish makes the Sirk oeuvre (a word I promised myself never to use again) look like gutter naturalism, but once the waxed wheels of this highly artificial melodrama start rolling, the viewer is held spellbound, mesmerized. Unlike others, I didn’t feel much sympathy for the Tierney character — after all, she’s a murderess.
“Hail, Caesar!” (2016) — The Coens revert back to their college sophomore, smart aleck japery (“Raising Arizona” and “The Hudsucker Proxy”) after significant work like “No Country for Old Men” and “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Excellent cast, but the film is NG.
Just finished Josh Karp’s compulsively readable “Orson Welles’s Last Movie. The Making of “The Other Side of the Wind.” Wow, I had no idea that Welles held Antonioni in such contempt, that “The Other Side of the Wind” is, among other things, meant as a mockery of the Italian master’s static style. Welles’s film was shot right around the corner from Rod Taylor’s desert home in “Zabriskie Point.”
Later, kids.
Mark, it has been a long running tradition, and a fun gathering between lifelong friends, at least a few of whom are busy during the year, or who live a distance away. For most of the attendees the actual awards are just conversation starters, which invariable lead to far more profound life stories. I think I will agree with you on what you have observed about Remick, though I remain a fan of the film. Yes Lemmon is indeed a major and super-effective negotiator of farce as we saw in SOME LIKE IT HOT. While THE FORTUNE COOKIE is admittedly overlong, my summary judgement of it is higher than your’s, though it no masterpiece remotely. Ha, I like what you say about Natalie Portman needing to fire her agent! Wow, that is some beautifully penned assessment of BOYHOOD, which I happen to agree with wholeheartedly. And like you I find the BEFORE films among the most overrated ever made! As you know I agree with you lock, stock and barrel on the new Coens film, but will see it again in view of the favorable responses from some of my very dear friends. Welles had many great directors in contempt. he was almost as difficult to please as Ingmar Bergman, who ironically derided Welles.
And yes, impossible to look at Tierney. LEAVE IT TO HEAVEN is a towering masterpiece, and I always resist any kind of artificial application as it has little bearing at its mastery. However I do have a very difficult time looking at that lake scene.
Thanks so very much my friend for this tremendous comment. You are always a terrific read. Have a great week. BTW did I hear you were taking charge of the Trump campaign in Ohio? 🙂
Sam, I can’t match Dean and Mark, but still wanted to check in today. Sounds like the Oscar people are all over the map, which makes the show anything but predictable. As you know -and as I have stated at this site- it is all so silly, though there was never any deception. The Oscars were created to boost the mainstream side of the industry, not to appease film fanatics who of course will take major issue with the comparatively pedestrian choices.
Your Wednesday night meeting with with Puccini’s Chinese princess must have been glorious as your pictures attest.
Frank, I must say you have assesses the Oscar goals quite well there. Serious movie goers could never connect with the compromised Oscar picks, and that is why most who value film as art have no use for them. I like competition, but far more in the realm of critics’ awards than this shameless rat race. Yet I still watch like most as a measured guilty pleasure. Yes my Wednesday night watching and listening to TURANDOT was divine as always. Thanks so much my friend.
Sam –
So sorry to hear about the back pain, hope you are feeling better soon. (As a sufferer of chronic back issues, I can completely empathize with your discomfort.)
Thank you for the link.
We are in serious disagreement over HAIL CAESAR which I also saw this weekend and quite loved. I found it deceptively frivolous with a rich thematic subtext beneath the merriment and delighted in the recreations of Esther Williams aquatic spectacles and the Gene Kelly-esqe dancing of Channing Tatum’s number.
I also watched THE BENEFACTOR, a would-be thriller with Richard Gere which sets up a vaguely creepy, slightly ridiculous premise, delivers hints of shocking revelations to come…. and then delivers almost nothing. A strange and unsatisfying film that wastes a good performance from Gere.
Pat—
I didn’t know you also had those back problems. Ugh. This seems to happen to me very few years and is seemingly caused by the position I sleep in or maybe when I overstretch. Normally it lasts about a week and then disappears. It is yet to be determined if this episode will be any different. Everyone always fears a slipped disc. Thanks for this fabulous defense of HAIL CAESAR. I do love the Coens and may like the film more on a second viewing. I certainly did go in thinking I would like it. I liked some segments including the Esther Williams inspired ones. I’ll remember what you say about THE BENEFACTOR. Too bad that Gere is wasted. Have a great week my friend. Many thanks as always!
I’m so sorry to hear about the sprained back, Sam. I hope it clears up Real Soon.
Many thanks for the shoutout!
We’ve watched a few movies this week, probably because I have an imminent book deadline and thus have entered the deer-in-headlights phase. I don’t usually do stars rather than brief notes but . . . deadline. Out of five:
A Most Wanted Man (2014) ****½
Bridge of Spies (2015) ****
Pawn Sacrifice (2015) ****
Tomorrowland (2015) ****
I.Q. (1994) ***
Guns and Lipstick (1995) ***½ (glorious garbage)
Thanks so much for the concern and the kind words John! Past experiences with this problem indicate it takes at least a week before complete recovery. I appreciate the capsule summary judgement actually. 🙂 Looks like you really liked A MOST WANTED MAN (I liked it well enough too) and were impressed with the very well-made BRIDGE OF SPIES, and also PAWN SACRIFICE. Haven’t see the bottom three yet, but will check out TOMORROW LAND. Nice week of film going there! 🙂
I enjoyed Hail Caesar very much, but it felt like a collection of sketches – the story holding it together was very thin. But there were so many bits in it that I wish could have gone on forever – Fiennes and Ehrenreich the best, but it’s true of most of the movie parodies and a lot of the backstage stuff – that I can’t quite write it off.
That’s an excellent way to frame it Stephen. It was vignettes for me as well, and didn’t appear to have much glue. You have corroborated what Dean said above about many unforgettable parts. Fair enough. Many have been smitten with it. Thanks so much my friend!
Sorry to hear that Hail Caesar is a disappointment Sam. I will give it a crack, keeping in mind what you said.
Let’s see what you think Ricky. Many thanks for stopping by.
Sam — I would love to be a fly on the wall at your annual awards bash. It sounds like a heckofa lot of FUN is enjoyed by all!
Having seen the movie trailer(s) for HAIL CEASAR, I’m not in the least surprised at your spot on summary: “The most significant misfire that the Coens have released in many a year. It is all over the map and is largely forgettable.”
I hope your back feels better SOON!
Laurie, it has definitely been a lot of fun hosting it for so many years, mainly because it serves as an annual get together of lifelong friends. The matter of the actual awards has long been relegated to a far lesser concern, for some of No concern. 🙂 Yes, I was disappointed with this particular Coens brothers film indeed. Thanks for the very kind words my friend!
Sam, Hope you’re feeling better soon. I have had back pain in the past and it’s not fun. Hail, Caesar (***) was disappointing yet as a lover of Old Hollywood films I found it rather charming in spot.I thought they caught the atmosphere of days gone by nicely. Not a film I would revisit.
Also watched the following…
Hearts and Minds (*****)
Desirable (**)
A Letter to Three Wives (****)
Feel better soon, my friend.
Thanks so much John, the pain fluctuates, but I will be seeing a chiropractor this coming week. I have other friends who have had similar issues. I also found HAIL CAESAR a disappointment, but since I am a longtime Coens admirer I will give this a second whirl as soon as I am able to, even if on a netflix rental. Obviously some other great friends on this thread are fans, with some sharing your own view. Hence the decision to let it go is understandable too. I adore A LETTER TO THREE WIVES and in large measure HEARTS AND MINDS. Again thank you my friend.
Hi Sam,
I am writing to you from Monterrey, Mexico as I am finishing up a quick trip down here. I watched the super bowl in spanish which was a bit different but no less enjoyable I suppose. It was an entertaining game from my standpoint. The kiddos have been busy with ballet and gymnastics and dreams of spring are on our minds as we are anticipating our first family trip to Florida for Spring Break. The girls have been asking for years it seems to go to Florida, so we are finally splurging on that front and flying to Fort Lauderdale in early April and I’m sure will have a blast. In the meantime, we continue to grind away.
On the film front:
The Revenant: 4 Stars (out of 4) – I’m going masterpiece on this one and I truly appreciated the integration into the environment and the experience. I’m not sure it has much going for it in the emotional depth category, but I was riveted nonetheless. DiCaprio was superb and was decidedly un-DiCaprio-like to my eyes. Many of his recent films have been rather brash and it was nice to see him in something rather humbling for his character. One of my favorites of 2015 in a year that is starting to seem better all the time.
Creed: 3 stars- Serviceable boxing movie that is rather nostalgic but well played and emotionally resonant. It’s a crowd pleaser.
Up next is Joy, and 45 Years. Hope you have a great rest of your week Sam!
Well Jon, if we consider the patterns of recent years Spring is always late blooming. March has been annexed by Father Winter, and April is a veritable tug of way. But we can always hope. Those Florida plans with the girls sound great for sure. Well, I understand you watched the Bowl in Spanish, but we didn’t need any commentary to see that mess of a contest. Still, the underdog won, and that’s always a treat in these kind of games. I am thrilled that you are finding some cinematic value in 2015 after a 2014 you were far less enamored of, and I do share your very high regard for THE REVENANT. I agree that CREED is less memorable, but still entertaining enough for what it is, and a sure crowd pleaser. I am looking forward to what you say about the mediocre JOY (perhaps even less than that) and the magnificent 45 YEARS. Have a great upcoming week my friend.
Not a movie this week on the schedule but next week National Geographic presentation at the Washington Center and cross country skiing. Our 1913 house sold and will close on the 19th. So we have been busy reviewing kitchen faucets, sinks, dishwashers, ovens, refrigerators and cabinets. Also talking with the glass guy about 7 new windows which are so cloudy one can not see through and we have a start date for the kitchen remodel April 4. Camping in the house no more. Too much rain to re-roof until June, but at least the interviews of the roofers are completed. Whew. My blog site is updating itself so i take no credit and IT Girl will be here for some blog work corrections next weekend ( and skiing) I am getting lots of nice words about the changes Word Press is rendering ????
So want to see Michael Moore’s newest film, but it is playing 60 miles away. Come on Film Society.
I hope your readers will come over and check out INTEGRITY by Anna Borgeryd on my site….I hope everyone I know will read this book. How those threads of love and understanding create the value we want and not the greed and 1% we have. Amazing storytelling.
I think we will skip Hail Caesar after your review. It is playing here. Working this week to take back our schools from ALEC ( not want 80% of the voters want) and I see Christie has privatized New Jersey’s water. Wonder how that will play out?
What not ” want” the voters…sorry
Patricia—
I will be sure to link INTEGRITY up on tomorrow’s Monday Morning Diary, and will be over to visit that post today. Sounds great! Nothing that our illustrious governor does surprises me. His days out of state are done after his failed White House bid. Well, I will give HAIL CAESAR another shot, but at this point I am not its biggest advocate. Lucille has picked the Michael Moore film for this evening as the second part of our Valentine’s Day evening, so I will have a report on the coming MMD. Happy to hear you have sorted out the upcoming move, and that the sale was successful. I know you have had a lot of rain. Your site looks fantastic! Have a wonderful upcoming week my friend!
Count me as one who truly enjoyed Hail Caesar. Although the first moments had me thinking, “Oh, it’s one of their ‘small’ movies, I soon found myself chuckling. The Coens, I believe revealed their cinematic mastery while simply having a good time — a feature-length throw-away line where they clearly don’t care what others think. Certainly there were a few scenes that had problems — and there were moments when I didn’t buy Brolin — I enjoyed Clooney, which I don’t often do, and the many humorous characterizations and cinematography. Not a masterpiece but good, respectable fun IMO.
Pierre—-this film has certainly divided the consensus as well as microscopically splitting this every thread. But I will definitely see this film a second time–I owe it not only to the Coens, whom I respect and greatly admire, but to your opinion, which I always value highly. I do completely understand what you say here about simply having fun, which may have escaped from some who are strongly applying a critical eye. Thanks so much my great friend!
Sam apologies for the longer absence than usual. Just been on the road far more than normal.
As a result, I haven’t gotten to see quite as much as I would have liked. But I did manage to see the series Making a Murderer. I can’t say it’s high art TV but it’s entertaining in much the same way as last year’s The Jinx. This one makes you really question the objectivity of the filmmakers but there is an abundance of rich footage that more than once had me asking, “how did they get their hands on that?”
Hope you’re having a great week!