A Serious Man

First Hit: Well filmed, mildly amusing and probably more amusing if one is Jewish.

The points of this film are; some people are cursed, the curse can last generations, Rabbis don’t listen very well and they tell non-helpful stories.

Yes, I laughed at some of the situational and/or circumstantial comedic real life situations experienced by Larry Gopnik (played by Michael Stuhlbarg), but I also felt like I was missing the deeper meaning of the joke.

There were a couple people in the audience that were totally lock in on the humor and they laughed loudly and often to the situational scenes and dialog. I did enjoy the late 1960s look and feel of the film and thought it was accurately reflected.

The story is about Larry and how things keep coming down on him like a tsunami. First we see him at the doctor getting tests (later we have the hint of bad news), his wife Judith (played by Sari Lennick) tells him she wants a divorce and she's seeing someone else, his son is a pothead and complains about the TV antenna not being aimed right, and a Korean student is bribing him for a passing grade.

His brother Arthur (played by Richard Kind) is living with him, is jobless, and has a machine which attaches to his neck and drains some unknown infection. Larry also gets in an automobile accident, he's threatened by his neighbor who's encroaching on his property line, and he has no one to confide in. When he visits the Rabbis he is told stories that have nothing to do with his current problem.

Stuhlbarg and Kind were good in their characters as were most of the cast, but the Coen brothers appear to have made this film with a smaller audience in mind. For me the best part of the film was the outstanding musical choices. Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix along with other classical rock and finer classical pieces enhanced the overall feel of the film.

Overall: For me, the brothers created a very self indulgent piece work and although it is well made its appeal is limited.

Whip It

First Hit: This was very entertaining and brought back fond roller derby memories.

I use to like watching roller derby on television. There were teams called the Bay Bombers from San Francisco and from LA there were the T-Birds. And then there was the voice of roller derby in Southern California. His name was Dick Lane (voice of the LA T-Birds) and he would yell out with a particular inflection “Whoa, Nellie” when a skater would do something wild or get whipped out from the pack.

Ellen Page plays Bliss Cavendar a lost young girl who is forced into beauty pageants by her once beauty pageant maven mother (Marcia Gay Harden).

Bliss works at a local diner, wears combat boots on her own time, and with her best friend Pash, they keep looking for ways to leave their small hometown outside of Austin Texas. Seeing a flyer to a roller derby contest in Austin, Bliss and Pash drive over and watch the contest.

Bliss falls in love with the idea of roller derby and with a singer in a band who happens to be watching the same contest. Bliss goes home and decides to drag out her old Barbie skates and, with practice, ends up making the Hurl Scouts, a team that always loses.

There she meets Smashley Simpson (played by Drew Barrymore), Rosa Sparks (played by Eve), and Maggie Mayhem (played by Kristen Wiig). All the teams play in the same building every Friday night and the Hurl Scouts are absolutely the worst and they are proud of it.

However with Bliss’s speed, by listening to their coach, and executing his plays for the first time they start winning games. They actually win enough to challenge the perennial champions headed by Iron Maven (played by Juliette Lewis) in the playoff match which is on the same night as the biggest beauty contest in Bliss’s home town.

Faced with a major decision, a missing boyfriend, and an alienated family life, Bliss must make some hard choices.

Ellen Page is believable, strong and wonderful to watch as Bliss (AKA Baby Ruthless). Drew Barrymore as Smashley Simpson was good but better was her direction of this film as she got the feel and touch just about perfect. There was the sporting aspect and kept it fun as well. The updating of roller derby as it might be today was probably as good as one could get. I was overjoyed to see Juliette Lewis back on the screen. She’s been mostly involved in her band but it is always great to remember she has acting chops. Jimmy Fallon is the voice of the roller derby as "Hot Tub" Johnny Rocket and although he wasn't Dick Lane, he brought an effective style to the genre.

Overall: This was a very enjoyable film and had the grit of a sports film and the touching sense of a coming of age film.

A Woman In Berlin (Anonyma - Eine Frau In Berlin)

First Hit:  A very powerful film which digs deep into human behavior during war.

What made this WWII film different from many other WWII films was that it was looked at what it was like for Germans, specifically German women in Berlin, during the final months of Nazi Germany.

As the film begins, the German army is retreating quickly and they are being replaced by the Russian Army. As the Russians edge closer to Berlin, the war is all but lost and the Germans who are now being occupied see the writing on the wall.

How the conquerors act as they take over the towns and cities is the story told by Anonyma who is a journalist and photographer.

This film’s story is based on her diary of those months just before Germany finally surrendered. It is a horrific story because the Russian men, who had no quarrel with Germany before the war, found their country being taken over by German soldiers who burned their towns to the ground, raped their women, and left a path of arrogant destruction killing anyone in sight.

Through Russian pride and ugly brute force, they fought back and with each won battle, they took the spoils they thought belonged to them. The spoils included raping German women of which Anonyma was one.

With her ability to speak Russian and a desperate drive to keep some dignity, she decides to change the situation any way she can. In a poignant scene she confronts a Major in front of his other officers and implores him to control his men. He laughs at her but this only creates more resolve.

At one point shortly after she is raped again, she decides that maybe she can have a choice about who violates her body. Major Andreij Rybkin, who was impressed with her in their first meeting, becomes interested and starts to visit her regularly in the flat she shares with lots of other women and older men. On his visits, he brings food, wine and a level of protection to everyone who is living in the building.

Although she is still married to a German soldier who is missing, she begins to feel compassion and passion for the Major as their visits are filled with song, dance, stories and closeness. When the war ends, things must change, her husband returns and after reading her diary, rejects her for what has transpired.

The Major is reprimanded for protecting German people gets reassigned to Siberia.

Nina Hoss plays Anonyma and is extraordinary emoting the pain and strength of being a strong willed woman. Yevgeni Sidikhin was powerful in his portrayal of someone who is filled with compassion, but having to no place to share it when he is in front of his men. Only when he is with the enemy does it come out. Very well directed by Max Farberbock because this was a hard story to tell and by not over emphasizing or hiding anything we get a dose of the truth.

Overall: A very strong film, beautifully shot in black and white and well paced throughout.

My One and Only

First Hit: This is a pleasantly nice film with a relatively interesting story about someone who is relatively well known but that most people know little about; George Hamilton.

Logan Lerman plays a young George Hamilton in his high school years recalling an important time when his mother Anne Deveraux (played by Renee Zellweger) decided to leave his philandering father Dan Deveraux (played by Kevin Bacon) an orchestra leader of the 40’s and 50’s.

The film begins when Anne returns from a brief trip to find Dan having another affair. She has had it, gathers the boys, buys a Cadillac Eldorado and heads to Boston looking for another husband to pay her way and give her the life she is looking for.

Anne is quite charming and has a way with her charm but her quest connects her with men who are not quite up to snuff. Her oldest son Robbie (played by Mark Rendall), who is gay, and George follow along with their mom hoping she finds what she is looking for and they finally get a home. With each failed attempt at meeting a new “step dad” they become poorer and their circumstances more desperate.

Out of money and hope, they land at her sister’s house where there is no love lost but there is stability for the boys. A couple of miss adventures and they end up with enough money to head to California, where both George and Robbie find their calling.

Zellweger is outstanding as a confused, headstrong, loving mother who does her best to do what is right. Her charm in this film is her perky and optimistic outlook regardless of the pickle they find themselves in ('never look in the rear view mirror, that’s what's behind us, always look forward and into the future'). Lerman is strong in his role as a very young man thrust into the role of head of household and responsible enough to drive (although not legally old enough) the three of them to each new city and adventure. Bacon’s plays a minor but significant character and is a driving force in the film. He is good in this role and plays the philandering father as; this is what band leaders do sort of way. Bacon’s voice is quick witted, gravely and husky and it worked. Richard Loncraine directed this film in a way that let the characters play out who they were and created something that was fun, interesting and well acted.

Overall: This isn’t one of the best films of the year, but there is some outstanding acting which made this film well worth watching.

Taking Woodstock

First Hit: It was an enjoyable and at times interesting, story but it left me wanting to go see the film Woodstock for the 4th time.

Based on a true story; Demetri Martin plays Elliot Tiber who, as the story would have it, saved the Woodstock Concert.

The film is about what happened to Elliot, his mother and father Sonia and Jake Teichberg (played by Imelda Staunton and Henry Goldman respectively) who were running a rundown resort in upper New York which was going into bank default when Elliot comes up with an idea to save the motel and the Woodstock festival. He had read that the concert was kicked out of one venue and was searching for a new one to hold its arts and music festival.

When Michael Lang (played by Jonathan Groff) flies to the motel in a helicopter while the other Woodstock Ventures personnel arrive in limos the cash begins to flow. Initially, the Woodstock Ventures group said Elliot’s open field land was unserviceable, however when Elliot introduces them to Max Yaugar (played by Eugene Levy) and they see his land, a deal is made.

The town’s people resent Max’s deal and Elliot for using the permit to let hundreds of thousands of hippies invade their town for the concert so they ostracize and picket them. However, they also take advantage of the invasion of young people and make money from the concert as well. As the concert date gets closer the activity around Elliot’s family motel increases which include his parents getting high on hash brownies, the hiring of an ex-Marine drag queen named Vilma (played by Liev Schreiber) for security, and Elliot’s coming out as a gay man.

None of the music of Woodstock is heard, and that does take away from the film as does a senseless and poorly acted Vietnam Veteran role played by Emile Hirsch.

Although I would have liked to have heard some of the music and seen some of the Woodstock acts, having a little insight to this critical background story was enjoyable and, at times, well acted.

Martin, is very good as Elliot. Goldman was effective as his quiet and resigned father. Staunton was outstanding as his scared, shrewd mother. Kudo’s to Schreiber as Vilma as he was clearly outstanding in the role as a drag queen and former Marine. As mentioned Hirsch was unbelievable as a Vietnam Vet (being one myself), and Levy was great as Yaugar. Ang Lee caught the flavor of Woodstock and some of the people who came to enjoy the music. Occasional scenes showing original news footage was effective and I loved seeing the VW vans, cars, and the carefree feeling of that period effectively represented.

Overall: It was a good film and I was a bit let down by the lack of the original Woodstock music, I found myself waiting to hear it.