Paterson

First Hit:  A wonderful sweet story placed on a beautiful backdrop of poetry.

It’s wonderful when an introspective innocent story like this unfolds itself in such a sweet way. Paterson (Adam Driver) is a bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey. He’s married to Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) a sweet, slightly quirky woman who paints everything black and white. The film painstakingly follows a week in their life beginning with Paterson waking up, without an alarm, every day between 6:05 AM and 6:30 AM.

Each day he affectionately kisses his wife has breakfast, walks to work, sits in the seat of the bus he’s going to drive, and starts writing a few lines of poetry. Paterson is a poet at heart and this film is filled with his beautiful writings. As each of the seven days unfold, narration is used to share the poetic lines he’s writing. Additionally, from time to time, the audience gets treated to an almost complete poem.

Director Jim Jarmusch had a clear vision of sharing Paterson and Laura’s life together and their love for each other. Creatively, Jarmusch shows each day with slight differences. The views of Paterson’s walk to work, his bus routes, his walking of the dog are all slightly altered, subtly different and interestingly the same.

Laura is a dreamer and hopes to open a cupcake store, or does she want to be a famous country music singer. She is a free spirit and although Paterson may balk at some of her actions, like painting the curtains or serving a cheese and Brussel spout pie, he loves her more than anything and it is easy to see why.

The situations on the bus, at home, in the local bar where the purveyor Doc (Barry Shabaka Henley) serves him his one beer each night, walking the bulldog, interactions with his dispatcher, and the many other scenes are painstakingly subtle, effortless and filled with a lot of information. The interaction with the young girl who wrote poetry was divine but it was the ending that made it all work.

Driver was amazing as Paterson. His internalization of the events of his life and expression through poetry was perfectly executed. Farahani was amazing as Paterson’s free spirited wife. Her support of Paterson’s writing and her own kookiness was incredibly enjoyable to watch. Henley as the bar tender was wonderful. His fear of his wife and acceptance of his patrons was perfect. Jarmusch wrote an amazing screenplay, that used poetry, a small town proud of its past residents, and deep subtle characters to create a very well-crafted film.

Overall:  This movie was truly enjoyable to watch.

Films I Saw and Liked in 2016

These are some of the films I saw in 2016 that I liked and why. Eye In The Sky:  Gave a view of how war has changed through the use of drones and electronics. This was also Alan Rickman’s last film.

Where To Invade Next:  A Michael Moore Documentary about our inability to provide US Citizens with aspects of living we founded but never implemented.

Knight Of Cups:  This film is not everyone’s cup of tea but its esoteric nature touched me.

Hello, My Name Is Doris:  Sally Field was spectacular as a woman who tried to find love with a much younger man.

Deadpool:  Despite the thoughts of most other reviewers, I thought this was a very funny film.

Money Monster:  I like Clooney and the premise of this film about television stock pickers.

Golden Kingdom:  I loved the young monks and their clear devotion to their Buddhist practice.

Dark Horse:  Sweet film about a group of Welsh villiagers.

Nerve:  Although nothing great about this film, it was a blast to watch, which is enough sometimes.

Captain Fantastic:  I loved the premise and story of this film.

Southside With You:  I thoroughly enjoyed this version of Barack and Michelle’s first date.

Hell Or High Water:  Really evoked the old west with fine performances.

Lo And Behold, Reveries Of The Connected World:  Wonderful documentary about how we got the World Wide Web.

Samsara:  Powerful images showing the cycle of life.

Snowden:  I really liked how Oliver Stone told this sotry.

The Beatles:  Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years:  Outstanding documentary about The Beatles earliest years.

Sully:  Tom Hanks was great in telling this amazing true story.

Certain Women:  Very interesting study and story about these women's lives.

Nocturnal Animals:  I loved the acting in this film.

The Edge of Seventeen:  Wonderfully acted film about how hard it can be to be a 17-year old girl.

Loving:  Genuinely sweet film about how love can conquer – even the law of the land.

Moonlight:  Another film that opened the doors to a way of life that needs to be seen and accepted.

The Handmaiden:  Wonderfully filmed story about deception and love.

Arrival:  One of my most favorite films of the year as it shares the concept of non-linear time.

Hacksaw Ridge:  Well executed film about a conscientious objector and a very bloody battle.

Fences:  Although very “play like”, it is a wonderful study of a family.

La La Land:  A thoroughly wonderful engaging film about love.

Elle:  Powerfully acted film about the strength of a woman.

Manchester By The Sea:  The acting in this film is sublime.

When the Oscar Award listing comes out, I’ll share my opinions and best guesses.

Why Him?

First Hit:  A couple of out loud funny bits but in the end there is nothing there.

At best, this was a mediocre film. The concept of a wild youngish video game internet programmer making it big and falling in love with a young pretty smart Stanford girl from the Midwest is not too far fetched and could have been fun. The premise is that she wants her conservative family to meet him for the first time during the holidays and that this is where the fireworks and comedy are supposed to happen.

This premise had potential but where did it fail. For me, first and foremost was the poor writing. From the beginning Laird Mayhew’s (James Franco) character was poorly based and thoughtlessly conceived. Why make him hang around shirtless most of the time? What is the point of this? How many young game, internet developers and entrepreneurs do you hear about that hang out with only their loose pants on. Yes, they might wear hoodies and baggy clothing but shirtless is not the Silicon Valley style so this was missed completely. Second saying “fuck” 3 times in almost every sentence is not only off putting but unneeded to denote edginess. Lastly, the overdone staging and home filled with stupid art (some of it Franco’s own) including a preserved buffalo submerged in its own urine tries to make the case that young rich entrepreneurs have a interesting appreciation of art.

All this is the writers’ fault. The writers didn’t want to look for subtle or interesting ways to create comedic exchanges, everything here is overt, in your face and hammer like: Things like the art which was uninteresting. The overdone characters like Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key) who is Laird’s gentlemen’s gentlemen. The sets with programmers doing little in every room in the house. The helicopter landing in the middle of the street in front of Flemings’ home – just isn’t going to happen or be allowed. All of these things were overtly stupid just like Laird’s tattoo of the Fleming family on his back. All this and more made up the lack of thoughtful intelligent comedy.

Although the cast with Bryan Cranston (as Stephanie’s father Ned Fleming), Zoey Deutch (as Stephanie), Megan Mullally (as Stephanie’s mother Barb Fleming), Griffin Gluck (as Stephanie’s brother Scotty) and Franco was strong, every scene appeared to be approached like a tidal wave which was the real failing of this film.

Franco’s character was overdone and overbearing to make him at all believable. Cranston was as good as he could be with his given script. Deutch was solid enough but the script let her down. Muallally was OK and I will continue to repeat myself the script was her downfall. Gluck was OK as the son who wanted to come out of the shadows. Key was OK as the together person behind a unhinged Laird. Jonah Hill, John Hamburg, and Ian Helfer wrote this insipid mindless script. While Hamburg made the script worse with overdone scenes that were obvious and telegraphed.

Overall:  This film is a waste of money and time and will probably not be profitable.

La La Land

First Hit:  It will touch your heart with joy and sorrow because of its exquisite acting and beautiful stylistic presentation.

From the very beginning, the audience knows they are going for a ride. The partially obscured black and white “CinemaScope” logo morphing to a unobstructed full color logo gave only a hint of the amazing film to follow. The opening scene with the camera panning numerous cars and drivers stuck on a LA Freeway on ramp, with each driver listening to a different radio station, all of a sudden transforming to a big-time dance number with people using both the cars and lane dividers as props was genius and sets the tone that this film will be a musical and will be different in the ways it integrates the musical dance sequences with the acting.

We are then introduced to Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) through sequences of the work they do and the things they are interested in. She is an aspiring actress who supports herself as a barista in a coffee house located on the Warner Brothers movie lot. He’s a jazz pianist in small club, wishes to own his own jazz club playing traditional jazz improvisation.

They meet after he honks at her in the opening traffic jam, after she walks into the club he’s playing in (just after he gets fired), and again when he walks into her place of work. By the time they walk through the Warner Bros lot, the audience has a strong sense of their path and them as a couple you care about.

During the film, we are treated to a wonderful, hopeful story that segued into well-conceived dance, song, and piano scenes by Mia and Sebastian. There are two things that struck me about these scenes:  1) The dance sequences were shot full bodied and all-encompassing instead of a series of composed edits and cuts showing feet, facial expressions, and a whirl of colors and bodies. This is how musical dance sequences were shot early on by the very best (Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly) of this genre. And 2); They did their own work. They did their own singing, dancing, and for Gosling, piano playing. They were strong, real and imperfectly perfect, just like all of us.

In my book, this just why these talented two are top box office draws and are two of our best. However, a lot of the credit for this amazing film belongs to the clear direction and vision of director Damien Chazelle who showed us his abilities in “Whiplash”, another outstanding film. Lastly, I loved the old time ending by using "The End" at the close of the film, it perfectly bookended the opening,

Gosling is absolutely riveting and sublime. His extraordinary talent is so obvious in every scene he’s in. He is a excellent pianist, his suave smooth dance movements are a joy to watch and his acting is top notch. He may be nominated for an award for this turn. Stone is wonderful and clearly made for this part. Her hopeful joy, moments of moving sadness and the ability to move from a dramatic scene into a dance scene were exceptional. J. K. Simmons as Bill, in his very brief scenes, was very good. John Legend as Keith, a musical group leader, was strong and a joy to see. Chazelle wrote and directed this film. Because I was emotionally moved throughout the film, I can say he was very successful in delivering his vision. He and his film is worth an award nomination.

Overall:  Although I normally don’t like musicals, I laughed, cried and my heart was touched throughout this fantastic film.

Rules Don't Apply

First Hit:  I was left wanting because I wanted this film to be insightful about the secret world of Howard Hughes, a powerful, interesting, and enigmatic figure of my youth.

The name “Howard Hughes” billionaire, held its own fascination to me during the late 1950’s – 1960’s. In Southern California, where I grew up, the name Hughes Aircraft labeled a number of buildings in and around the Glendale and El Segundo areas. The Hughes Aircraft Company was a subsidiary of Hughes Tool Company, which his father started, was headquartered in Texas and because of his father’s early death, he inherited the business when he was just eighteen years old.

With drive and vision, this wealth allowed him to create the airline company TWA (Trans World Airlines) out of Transcontinental and Western Air. He also bought hotels in Las Vegas (The Sands, Castaways, Landmark, Frontier, Silver Slipper and Desert Inn). He also got involved in Media and specifically for this film RKO Pictures.

The film opens with Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick) and Nadine Henley (Candice Bergen) anxiously trying to get Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) to, via telephone, address a group of reporters. The reason is that in this public press conference, Hughes is expected to answer reporter’s questions to disprove and debunk a book stating that Hughes is now insane and needs to be institutionalized.

The movie rolls back in time 5 years and we meet Marla Mabry (Lily Collins) and her mother Lucy (Annette Bening) who are coming to LA from Virginia for Marla to meet Howard and have a screen test for a film Hughes was going to make with her as the star. They are met by Hughes’ driver Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) and there is an immediate spark between Marla and Frank. However, Frank is forbidden by Howard’s rules as explained to him feverishly by Levar, that he will be fired if he fraternizes, in any way, with any of Hughes actresses.

As the film makes its way to the press conference, we learn about Howard's quirks with people and things. He likes Banana Nut ice cream one moment, and Vanilla the next. We see bankers waiting for hours in a bungalow at the Beverly Hilton just to meet and see Howard before giving him $400+ million dollars. Hughes of course is in nearby bungalow but prefers to speak with them via phone.

We watch him and Frank gaze at the Spruce Goose which the Army commissioned to build but thinks it won’t fly. But Hughes flies the plane one time to prove its feasibility, then decommissions the plane. Watching a film of the flight, you hear Howard complain there was no close-up of him flying the plane.

He lives in the shadows of rooms and in the dark. He does most of his business by phone, meanwhile Marla and Frank both try to find personal one-on-one time with Howard so that she can pitch her talents and he can pitch his real estate deal. Along with way, they signal their mutual interest in each other.

I was fascinated with what Howard would say or come up with next. But what didn’t work for me was not getting more about the very odd story of Hughes. I thought the love story of Marla and Frank was rather tepid. However, the redemption of the latter arrives at the end of the film, but it wasn’t what I was interested in. I wanted more about Howard Hughes a childhood fascination of mine.

I did like the film’s time-period and the views of Hollywood, LA and Las Vegas were engagingly wonderful. The attention to details in the rooms and bungalows were great.

Beatty was oddly quirky and strong as a man on the edge of greatness and sanity. He was perfect for this role and did an excellent job of directing himself. Collins was very engaging and good as Maples. Her ability to be sober and drunk and keep the character congruent was virtuous and perfect. Bening, as Marla’s mother was wonderful. Her religious and personal beliefs were perfectly represented. Ehrenreich was wonderful. His intensity and respect for Hughes in their conversations was excellently presented. Martin Sheen as Hughes’ CEO was great. He expressed just the right amount of irritation at the bosses’ behavior and respect for Howard’s accomplishments. Broderick was fun as the sort of chief of staff role he had for Hughes. Bergen was fun and good as Hughes’ secretary and assistant. Beatty wrote a wonderful screenplay but as I said earlier I would have rather had more Hughes and less Maples and Frank, but that is just me. Hughes is what I was interested in. Beatty also did a good job of directing this bigger than life story.

Overall:  I wanted a bigger story about Hughes.