Tim's Vermeer

First Hit:  An amazing film about an intelligent quirky guy who has come up with a plausible story for the amazing light and detail in Vermeer’s paintings.

I left the theater wanting to paint the way Tim Jenison learned to paint. Tim is an inventor and has invented many things having to do with optics.

His inventions are used in television and films. He’s smart, focused, and extremely pragmatic. Tim was always fascinated by Vermeer paintings because they are so realistic and are almost camera like in quality. Their shadows, details, and proportions are all amazingly lifelike.

While researching this he reads a couple of books that suggest that Vermeer used some sort of technology to assist him in painting his artwork. Tim gets hooked on the idea of figuring this out and after he discovers the different use of a mirror, he amazingly paints a picture of his father with alarming accuracy and having never painted before in his life.

To attack painting a Vermeer he recreates Vermeer’s second floor room – the result of his experience after years of work was absolutely remarkable.

Tim Jenison was just so much fun to watch, especially how he dealt with this long, enduring, and rewarding task. Interviews with Penn Jillette, Martin Mull, David Hockney, Colin Blakemore were perfect. Teller directed this effort with deftness while combining humor, science, and shear focus.

Overall:  After seeing this film, I’m convinced that Vermeer used technology to assist him in his paintings but it also adds to his brilliance.

Robocop

First Hit:  A good remake – this had more humanness.

Remakes are generally not as good as the original(s). This remake is clearly better. Mostly the characters are more clearly defined, the acting is better and the production value is far better. But what they really did was the adding humanness to Robocop.

Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is hurt by a car bomb and there is little left of him. Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) owns a company that is pushing to make drones and robots the way crime is fought and dealt with in the US. Although these drones are used in the rest of the world, there is strong resistance in the US (Congress) to having drones manage our crime.

Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman) has an idea of combining a human (partial) and robotics to help make this transition. They choose Alex and using only his lungs, face, one arm, and brain, he builds robotics around him. Alex becomes a success after tinkering with his dopamine to make his more aggressive and less feeling oriented. His wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) and their son David (John Paul Ruttan) are distressed as they see their husband/father become less human and fight to see him.

Kinnaman was very good at being human, Robocop with some humanness, and Robocop with less humanness. Keaton was great to see again and as always he always seems to be on the edge of sanity – his mind is so quick. Oldman was very good as the doctor walking a fine line of integrity and doing things just for the money. Cornish was OK as the stressed wife who wanted her human, caring husband back. Joshua Zetumer and Edward Neumeier wrote a good script but it was the direction by Jose Padilha to use his actors to make this film work.

Overall: Someone finally got this film right – enjoyable.

Winter's Tale

First Hit:  A wonderful and heartwarming flight of fantasy film that may hold some truth.

This film moves between three periods of time, current time, the early 1900’s and the mid-late 1800’s.

Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) washed up ashore in New York because his newly deported parents wanted him to live in America. So while they were leaving on a boat back to their home country, they put their son into a model boat in New York harbor (the mid-late 1800’s).

Lake is partially brought up by Humpstone John (Graham Green) and then tutored in theft by Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) who is also an agent for the devil; in this case it’s The Judge (Will Smith). While in the midst of robbing a large home he runs into Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a sick with consumption woman who will be dying soon.

The chemistry between them in this first meeting is palpable and comes through the screen and into your lap. This love transforms him to want to stop being a thief and to open his heart to love for the first time. He thinks he’s there to save her from dying and makes a promise to her young sister Willa (Mckalya Twiggs) that he will kiss her sister and bring her back to life if she dies.

Because Lake was supposed to be the heir apparent to Pearly and Lake crosses him, Soames is out to kill Lake. Peter is fighting to keep himself safe and connected to Beverly and at one point meets her father Issac Penn (William Hurt) who accepts the thief Lake.

The film then moves to current time which has Lake not knowing who he is and trying to understand why he keeps drawing pictures of a girl with red hair on the sidewalk in Central Park. He keeps thinking that his existence is about Beverly, but soon learns that she got him to the current time and it is now about a young girl, Abby (Ripley Sobo), who is sick with cancer. Cutting across these time and generational divides with Lake is his beautiful angel white horse.

This film is about light, love and miracles.

Farrell is excellent. He does scruffy and heart-filled so very well. Findlay is very strong as the consumptive woman and love interest. Crowe is superb as the evil agent of the devil. Smith is an interesting choice as the Judge. Twiggs is sublime and incredibly endearing as the young sister. Hurt is great as the father of these two girls. Sobo is fantastic as the young girl in current time. I enjoyed seeing Green and appreciated his part. Jennifer Connelly as Abby's mother was perfect casting. Akiva Goldsman wrote a wonderful screenplay and knew what he wanted in directing this cast to tell this story.

Overall:  I thoroughly enjoyed watching this romantic film.

At Middleton

First Hit:  This was very enjoyable to watch the dance of this relationship develop.

The essence of this story is about two adults George Hartman (Andy Garcia) and Edith Martin (Vera Farmiga) bringing their two respective kids to a college in Middleton for a campus tour but find something greater.

Edith’s daughter Audrey (Taissa Farmiga) wants to come to Middleton because she wants to work with Professor Dr. Roland Emerson (Tom Skerritt) while George’s son Conrad (Spencer Lofranco) thinks this middle American country college is totally lame.

The film gives a view of their respective parental relationships by going from car to car as they drive to the college. The personality of each of the parents becomes solidified the moment these two cars park in the parking lot and there is a disagreement. There is a spark between these parents and it is visible.

As the film unfolds the kids have their experience of the college, each other and wondering about their parents, while the film focuses on the budding relationship of the parents. The sequence when they get roped into demonstrating a married couple in front of the drama class was very powerful. The twist about what their children choose is like icing on the cake.

Garcia was very good as the uptight cardio surgeon wanting his son to experience, possibly what he hasn’t. Vera Farmiga is strong as the sarcastic, vulnerable, and engaging woman who wants to have more in life. Her younger sister (by 21 years) Taissa was very engaging and screen stealing when she was on camera. Lofranco was OK as Garcia’s son, and his performance grew as the film moved along. Skerritt was really good in his short role as the admired professor. Glenn German and Adam Rodgers wrote a snappy (parking lot exchange) and heart-warming script. Rodgers directed the film with a caring touch by setting up some wonderful scenes, including the bike theft.

Overall:  This was a pleasure to watch – heartwarming.

Monuments Men

First Hit:  Disappointing execution of what was probably a marvelous story.

The cast was stellar. The story was probably interesting. However the result was a disjointed, lackluster, and mediocre film. When you have; George Clooney (as Frank Stokes), Matt Damon (as James Granger), Bill Murray (as Richard Campbell), Cate Blanchett (as Claire Simone), John Goodman (as Walter Garfield), Jean Dujardin (as Jean Claude Clermont), Hugh Bonneville (as Donald Jefferies), and Bob Balaban (as Preston Savitz) there is an anticipation, if not expectation, of seeing a great film and story.

What hurt this story was that it seemed like a bunch of vignettes strung together to meet the end result of the story. Some of these side stories had me scratching my head and wondering why they were there, one such side piece was the dental work piece featuring Murray and Balaban. Couldn’t understand why it was important to show this.

Then there were the cutaway scenes following Damon when he first came to France, while riding in a cart - what was the point of showing these without some conclusion or reasoning? These are just a couple of moments in this film that just seemed to be there for no real reason or point. There were also awkwardly shot moments, like when Bonneville makes an attempt to kill a German, the whole scene was poorly conceived and executed.

This scene seemed like an afterthought. However, there were also touching moments, like when Damon and Blanchett were having dinner, or when Bonneville gives his thanks for a chance to prove his worth after his alcoholic ways.

Clooney as an actor here was OK, but his direction and screenplay contributions seemed lightweight or maybe he didn’t take this seriously enough. Damon was good, as always, but there wasn’t enough meat in the part to have him give a great performance. Murray appeared to be trying to make something out of nothing and when the audience sees this – it is disappointing. Blanchett was one of the best in her role as a mistrusting woman who finally believes the motive of the US forces. Goodman was OK, nothing special. Dujardin was somewhat interesting as he brought some European flair to the film. Bonneville was nothing special in a minimal role. Balaban seemed to capture the screen when he was in a scene which says something about his strong skills. Clooney and Grant Heslov wrote this screenplay and it seems that they were unclear about direction as was Clooney as director.

Overall:  This film was better as an idea than its execution. I left the theater disappointed.