Oldies but goldies: Groundhog Day (1993)
Director: Harold Ramis, Main Cast: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott;
Phil Connors (Murray) is a weatherman at a local TV station and for the past few years he’s been tasked to cover the “groundhog day” in Punxsutawney, PA, where the local “celebrity”, Phil the groundhog, gives prediction about the winter. Phil (not the groundhog, who’s a cutie) is arrogant, obnoxious and very self-centered and he thinks the trip is a waste of his remarkable talent and he takes it out on people, in particular his cameraman Larry (Elliott) and, occasionally, even Rita, his cute and kind producer (MacDowell). Phil goes through the motions hoping to be out of Punxsutawney asap but a terrible blizzard prevent them to leave and Phil wakes up and… it’s groundhog day again! Well, I might say, it never gets old to see the evolution of Phil, doomed/cursed to relive over and over again the same day with the same people doing the same things. At the beginning he uses this time-loop to his advantage (or so he thinks), then he feels lost and hopeless and, finally, he takes it as an opportunity to improve himself and do things for others. Bill Murray is a joy to watch and the script is just great. Delightful —7/10
Filed under Oldies but goldies, Seen at home
Girls (season 1)
Main Cast: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet;
The stories of four girls in their early twenties living in New York City: Hanna and her roommate Marnie, Jenna and her cousin Shoshanna. We follow their everyday life and their struggles with work and relationships. Hanna (Dunham) is self-deprecating, aspiring writer but she has to face the dullness of regular job in order to pay her bills. She tries to live as much as possible in order to have lots of material for her stories but she ends up, more often than not, in weir/ridiculous situations that only increase her self-loathing. She also aspires to a nice boyfriend but she seems not to want to make an effort into building a proper relationship, she is “dating” Adam, a free spirit with a very unconventional uptake on life. Marnie (Williams) is quite the opposite of Hanna, she is an assistant in an art gallery, first rung on the ladder of her dream career, she has a long-term boyfriend Charlie and she has got her act together, or at least it looks like that at the beginning. Jenna (Kirke) is beautiful, charismatic with a bohemian life-style and a penchant for making the world revolve around her. Shoshanna (Mamet) is still in college and she seems conflicted between being a serious, responsible girl or being glamorous a la Sex and the City. Director/writer Lena Dunham has a knack for making messed-up, disagreeable characters rather likable, so much that following the (mis-)adventures of these girls is quite addictive, I’m curious to see what comes next. —6.5/10
Like Father Like Son
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda, Main Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Rirî Furankî
Family drama in modern Japan: Ryota and Midori, a well-to-do couple, discovers after six years that their son has been swapped at birth with someone else’s. We follow the slowly unfolding of events from the first meeting with the other couple, who owns a small hardware store, to spending time with the other child and getting to know him and his family. It is interesting to see the very different interaction of the fathers with their sons and between the families, the viewer can appreciate cultural nuances and rich subtext due to the dissimilar social background. The film focuses in particular on Ryota, who is rather distant and strict as a father, more worried about making his sweet, mellow son stronger and independent, to prepare him for the future, than to actually spend time with him. When he finds out that his child is not biologically related to him, he starts to question everything about his son and to yearn for one more like him. It is a journey of introspection for Ryota, he struggles with his own daddy issues and tries to decide what is the best way to resolve the situation. The good performances of all the cast and the sure hand at the helm make the film absorbing and touching. —8/10
Filed under Seen at the cinema
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Director: Mamoru Hosoda, Main Cast (voices): Emily Hirst, Andrew Francis, Alex Zahara
Makoto is a teenage girl going about her normal life: school, playing baseball with her best friends Chiaki and Kosuke, wondering about her future and dealing with minor set-backs. One day something weird happens to her (guess where… in the science lab… of course!) and Makoto discovers that she can leapt back in time and re-live events in a different way. She starts using her newfound powers for rather silly things: avoiding embarrassing conversations with Chiaki, acing a math test, fixing Kosuke up with a cute but shy girl and other mundane incidents. Makoto is pretty happy with herself until something terrible happens and she finds out more about the origin of her powers. It is a nice story with a good pace and with all-round characters. The animation is quite good although not perfect, some minor details of bodies and movements are just wrong. Anyway it is a very pleasant film and a good choice if you need some anime fix (and have already seen everything from Miyazaki and Kon). —7/10
Filed under Animation, Seen at home
House of Cards (season 1)
Main Cast: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Kristen Connolly, Sakina Jaffrey;
Kevin Spacey is Frank Underwood, devious and machiavellian Congressman of South Carolina and House Majority Whip for the Democrats. After being blind-sided by the newly elected president and denied the position of Secretary of State, he decides to seek revenge with the help and support of his equally cunning and ruthless wife Claire (Robin Wright), head of an environmental NGO. Frank is also aided in his enterprise by faithful right-hand/consiglieri Doug (Micheal Kelly) who is not afraid of doing the dirty work, and ambitious, “new-media” journalist Zoe (Kate Mara), with whom he strikes a quid-pro-quo deal. Peter Russo (Corey Stoll), the rookie Congressman from Pennsylvania, is volunteered to participate in Frank’s game, well… more a “he received an offer he couldn’t refuse” type of situation. We see the characters move in this world of political maneuvering, back-room bargains and shady compromises, quite stunning in its infinite shades of gray. I haven’t seen a show this impressive since The Wire (well… Boardwalk Empire comes very close). The acting is brilliant and Kevin Spacey reaches an incredible level of bravura, and I love his breaking-the-fourth-wall monologues! The cinematography and the directing is top-notch, I’ll just say that the first two episodes have David Fincher at the helm. Last but not least the writers, chief among them the creator of the series Beau Willimon (The Ides of March rings a bell?), don’t drop the ball for a moment and keep you wondering about Frank’s end game. So if you like political drama, gritty and dark with a healthy dose of cynicism, this is for you, if not… well, it’s your loss. —9/10
Filed under TV-shows
The Wolf of Wall Street
Director: Martin Scorsese, Main Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal
This new Scorsese-DiCaprio collaboration is about the financial scams in Wall Street in the late eighties-early nineties, a la Gordon Gekko so to speak. It is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort who started his career as stockbroker on the Black Monday in 1987 and then relentlessly pursued money and wealth until the FBI cornered him and left him no choice but to collaborate in order to avoid a very long permanence in jail. In perfect Scorsese style we are spared nothing of the way of life as obscenely rich brokers : wild parties, sex, booze and, most of all, drugs…of all kind. The film is three-hours-long but it barely registers, the script flows without an itch and keeps you interested and involved, all due to Terence Winter’s skills. There are some memorable, hilarious scenes and several moments will make you laugh out loud. Leonardo DiCaprio gives an impressive performance as Jordan Belfort and special kudos go to Jonah Hill and Jon Bernthal. Another notch on Scorsese’s belt, distinctive and intense. —9/10
Filed under Seen at the cinema
Mob City (TV mini-series)
Main Cast: Jon Bernthal, Milo Ventimiglia, Neal McDonough, Alexa Davalos, Robert Knepper, Edward Burns;
Frank Darabont tries his hand at TV again (after The Walking Dead). This time it is about gangsters and cops in L.A. in the late forties and, let me tell you, it is a cloyingly sweet love letter to the noir genre. You get all the cliches: the grey cop, the femme fatale, the righteous policeman, the fixer, the corrupt cops, the mob boss, the ruthless hitman, the shady bar, the glamorous nightclub, blackmailing, tons of night scenes and rain puddles (in L.A.? sure!). The attention to details into recreating the noir genre is borderline OCD but it is an empty exercise, the story is flat and rather boring. Notwithstanding the brave efforts of the actors and the lovely soundtrack the six episodes end up being uninteresting and predictable. Pity, it completely missed the mark. Watch L.A. Confidential to see how it’s done right. —5/10
Filed under TV-shows
The Way, Way Back
Directors: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Main Cast: Liam James, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney
14-year-old Duncan (James) goes on vacation with his mother Pam (Collette), her boyfriend Trent (Carell) and his daughter. They are staying in Trent’s summer house in a small town on the coast of New England, in a well-to-do neighbourhood. Duncan is rather introverted with low self-esteem and matters are made worse by Trent’s overbearing and unkind attitude. His mother is not particularly helpful, being submissive and too involved in a “spring break for adults” with Trent and his friends. Duncan finds some solace in his lonely bike rides, during which he meets and befriends Owen (Rockwell), the manager of the local water park, who is an easy-going guy with a great sense of humor and a kind streak. Owen gives Duncan a job at the park and helps him to come out of his shell and build his self-confidence. This film might seem a rather typical coming-of-age story but the balance between drama and humor is so well calibrated, the cast, starting with young James, is just brilliant that is much more than that. Faxon and Rash are great at both writing and directing, I’m curious to see what they will come up with next. A nice surprise and heartwarming treat. —8.5/10
Filed under Seen at home
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Director: Justin Chadwick; Main Cast: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Jamie Bartlett
Nelson Mandela’s story: from his early days as brilliant lawyer defending black people to joining the ACN and the non-violent protests against the apartheid. He then moves to more extreme forms of fight like bombing public facilities and he is arrested and convicted to a life sentence. We see Mandela and his fellow leaders of ACN growing old in prison while the unrest in the country turns into open revolt, mainly lead by his second wife Winnie. It is quite interesting seeing both his private and public life, how they intertwine and evolve, and his relationship with Winnie, in a manner, quite crucial for the end of the apartheid in South Africa as well. The film ends with SouthAfrica’s difficult transition to a proper democracy and the election of Mandela as president. Idris Elba does a wonderful job as Mandela, the right mix of charisma, energy and compassion, but not devoid of flaws, making him very human. Naomie Harris shows her acting chops and is quite convincing as Winnie Mandela. All in all it is not only interesting but also a compelling film. I particularly enjoyed the lighting and the colours of the photography, accurately depicting the different moments in history. Moving and uplifting. —8/10
Filed under Seen at the cinema
Four Rooms
Directors:Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino; Main Cast: Tim Roth, Jennifer Beals, Antonio Banderas, Quentin Tarantino
Four different episodes, four different directors, one hotel and one protagonist: Ted the bellboy (Roth). A mix of surrealism and general weirdness with a touch of Tarantino’s style. Ted, as the only staff member on duty on New Year’s Eve, has to tend to the needs of the hotel’s guests by himself, he ends up meeting really peculiar people and satisfying very strange requests. We will meet a covenant of witches, a rather kinky couple, unruly children and a movie star with his entourage. You might feel the diverse hands on the helm for each episode but there is no feeling of disconnection. Roth is brilliant and all the supporting cast is spot-on, special kudos to Tarantino and Banderas. Particular. —6.5/10
Filed under Seen at home
Death Comes To Pemberley (TV mini-series)
Main Cast: Matthew Rhys, Anna Maxwell Martin, Matthew Goode, Trevor Eve, Jenna Coleman, Tom Ward;
Have you ever wondered what happens to Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy after they get married? Well, this is the TV adaptation of P.D. James’ take on it. It is less about proper manners in polite society and witty exchanges and more about a murder mystery. Wickham is yet again up to no good and the shades of Pemberley are at risk to be thus polluted…Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship is put to the test but all will end well. There are few minor flaws: some anachronistic details and some dialogues that are a bit out of character; however the three episodes are quite enjoyable and entertaining. The cast is very good, bringing their own interpretation of the characters, costumes and settings are splendid, Pemberley in particular. If you love these kind of forays into “Austenland” I also suggest Lost in Austen. Charming —7.5/10
Filed under TV-shows
Emperor
Director: Peter Webber, Main Cast: Matthew Fox, Tommy Lee Jones
Historical film, or at least based on true events, about the American occupation of Japan right after the end of World War II and how they dealt with its emperor, Hirohito. General Fellers (Fox) is tasked by General MacArthur (Jones) to investigate and determine if Hirohito is a war criminal and should be executed as such. His job is facilitated by his knowledge of the Japanese culture, due to his love affair with Aya, a woman Fellers met in college and than stayed with in Japan before the war. However he seems more focused, at times, on his frantic search of Aya, hoping against hope she survived the destruction caused by the war. We get glimpses of political maneuvering on both American and Japanese side, which would have made a more intriguing plot if developed, but mostly we are drowned in the self-righteousness of the protagonist, which is uninteresting and stale. Fox does his best and he is a good fit for the character, Jones brings his usual energy to his performance but it is not enough to save the film. Insipid —5/10
Filed under Seen at home
2 Guns
Director: Baltasar Kormákur, Main Cast: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg
It begins like a regular story about crooks: two mid-level criminals pull a heist at a small bank, they are after the security boxes. However we find out that one is a DEA agent and the other works for the Navy’s intelligence…the plot already thickens but, apparently, it is not enough, the CIA is also involved doing the dirt with all the drug cartels in Mexico. Everything that could go wrong for our heros will and the proverbial shit hits the fan, unfortunately for the viewers nothing is really new and it is very boring. Both Washington and Wahlberg are doing bidimensional characters and they are not making any efforts. The support acting is so cliched that it seems a bunch of caricatures. Compared to this film Walker Texas Ranger is like a shakespearean play. Trite and dull. —2/10
Filed under Seen at home
Ramblings of a cinephile 