"Birdman" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Birdman" as well as the DVDs "Some Girl(s)," "Land Ho" and "The One I Love," as well as the book "The Phantom of Fifth Avenue." I will also keep you informed on my progress with my "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" and share my "A-HA Moment of the Week"]




Birdman, (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

 

 

An aging movie action superhero tries to reinvent himself in a Broadway play. 

 

Riggen Thomson (Michael Keaton) is producing, directing and starring in a Broadway show from a Raymond Carver short story ("What We Talk About When We Talk About Love") he has adapted.  In his younger days, he made his mark in the movies as "Birdman," but balked at a third sequel.  Now he is older, his hair is thinning, his physique is not what it once was, so he hopes to revive his career with a hit Broadway show. 

However, he is haunted by his alter ego, Birdman, who harangues him about what a failure he is.  When one of the actors in his play is hit on the head by a light, Riggen hires Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) to join the other cast members Lesley and Laura, played by Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough respectively. (Riseborough came to our attention playing Wallace Simpson in "W.E." ). Mike is an over the top method actor; Lesley is involved with Mike and Laura is involved with Riggen and thinks she is pregnant. Add to that Riggen's daughter, Sam (Emma Stone), who is just out of rehab and seems to hate him, so perhaps the rigors of a Broadway show are just too much for this aging Birdman.

Edward Norton has made a name for himself playing strange characters and his character here is no exception. He has been known to be an intense actor himself. Is he playing a parody of himself?

 

Zach Galafinakos, playing against type as Riggen's serious friend and attorney, Amy Ryan as Riggen's ex-wife and Lindsay Duncan ("Last Passenger," which I reviewed last week) as a vicious theatre critic round out the excellent cast.

 

When this film was first released, there was a great deal of buzz around it.  It was polarizing.  You would love it or hate it. 
 

Well, I am in the "loved it" camp. 
 

It's an inside look at the world of theatre while at the same time making a statement about its pretentiousness, how self-absorbed actors can be and the lack of tolerance for movies by "theatre people."  It asks what is the nature of celebrity?  Who gets to be a critic? What role does social media play in what we think?

Sounds deep?  It is, but it's also a comedy, though a dark one.

 

This is the latest film from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the same man who brought us "Amores Perros," "21 Grams," "Babel," and "Biutiful," all very serious films, but he flexes his comedy, though dark comedy, muscles with this one.

 

Emmanuel Lubezki (the same guy at the camera helm in "Gravity" and for which he won an Oscar) is the cinematographer and his expertise almost turns the camera into another character, as it leans into conversations and private moments, bringing us right into the action flowing in front and behind the characters in almost one fluid take. The colors and clarity are gorgeous and capture the excitement of New York City. The soundtrack, with original score by Antonio Sanchez, also plays a starring role.  Most often it is just percussion, heightening the tension, but then a lovely recognizable classical piece comes along to give the viewer a breather. 

 

Michael Keaton is brilliant in his first starring role in six years, and it's not lost on the viewer that he himself played an action superhero, Batman - a Batman some feel was the best incarnation.  He captures the angst of a man in midlife crisis, even possibly insanity, in a top notch performance that will no doubt earn him an Oscar nomination.  He is not afraid to let us see his receding hairline and wrinkles. Norton as well puts in another stellar performance and should get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  I also wouldn't be surprised if director, cinematographer and score are also given nods.

This is a thinking person's film.  You might have to see it more than once to get all of the nuances.

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...One of the best of the year!

 

 

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

 

Some Girl(s) (2013)

Before getting married, a young writer travels back to meet up with old girlfriends.

A thirty-something professor and writer (Adam Brody) known simply as "Man," meets with five ex-girlfriends to find out what they think of him now and to justify his past behavior.

He travels to his hometown of Seattle to meet with Sam (Jennifer Morrison), who was his high school sweetheart and who is still angry that he didn't take her to prom.  Then he's off to Chicago to see Tyler (Mia Maestro), a wild child whose expectations of him were small.  Then he's on to Boston to see Lindsay (Emily Watson), an older married woman who was one of his college colleagues.  Back in Seattle once again, he meets with Reggie (Zoe Kazan, granddaughter of legendary director Elia Kazan) who was the younger, much younger, sister of one of his friends (and there are unsettling hints at what went on between them when she was just 11), and finally Bobbi (Kristen Bell) who appears to be the one who got away and who Man still loves.

All of his meetings with the women take place in upscale hotel rooms creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.

Though he seeks redemption, how each woman remembers the relationship is wildly different from how he remembers it and as time goes by, what starts as him seeking forgiveness ends up showing how narcissistic he really is.

Based on a play by Neil LaBute, who captures the male sensibility so well and who also wrote "In The Company of Men," each encounter is a little dramatic, and sometimes comic, scene of its own and the cast delivers wonderful performances.  However, the dialogue and two-handers smack of watching a play rather than creating a satisfying cinematic experience.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Very talky and Man is such an idiotic cad, it's annoying and detracts from the excellent acting.  You decide.

 


Land Ho! (2014)

Two former brothers-in-law of a certain age take a road trip around Iceland.

Mitch (Earl Lynn Nelson) and Colin (Paul Eenhoorn) were brothers-in-law (their wives were sisters). They had lost touch but Mitch's wife has just died and Colin is divorced, so Mitch proposes this trip as a way for the two of them to get "their groove back" and get over their troubles:  Mitch's "grief" over his wife's death and Colin's grief over his alimony payments.

It's a buddy film with a twist.  These buddies are in their seventies.

Mitch is a gregarious, know-it-all, dirty old man type who makes raunchy inappropriate comments.  Colin is quieter and more thoughtful and therein lies the humor and the pathos that we are witness to as these men in the Golden Years of their lives decide to continue to live life to the fullest.

Nothing much happens as the two retirees traverse Iceland in a Hummer, but the scenery is breathtaking and the conversation between the two men is bawdy and entertaining. 

I was most interested in this, film because I have been  to Iceland and not many movies are set there.  It's always fun to watch a movie in a locale you are familiar with so you can say, "Oh, look, they are in the Blue Lagoon," or, "Hey, isn't that the restaurant we ate at?"

But this film is not about the destination.  It's a road trip movie about the journey and these two guys are each charming in their own way - Colin hitting on the young backpackers they hook up with (one is Mitch's younger second cousin); A tender moment between Mitch and a Canadian traveler they meet.  But mostly Mitch and Colin go to art galleries, smoke pot, get lost in the dark, and dance on the beach.

This indie film written and directed by Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens, seems improvised which gives it an almost documentary feel and the characters are slowly revealed through their conversations. Nelson is fairly new to the acting game, but he pulls out all of the stops here, and Eenhoorn is a veteran actor whose subtle responses to Nelson give just the right counterpoint. We get a glimpse of what it's like to be in your seventies and facing what's next, but only a glimpse.  There is not a lot of depth here.  But that's OK. It's a character driven piece and we are along for the ride.

Rosy the Reviewer says...This is a geriatric road trip that is fun for Colin and Mitch and for us as well.

The One I Love (2014)

A married couple seeking counseling are sent to a retreat where they literally meet their better selves.

 

Elizabeth Moss and Mark Duplass star as Sophie and Ethan, a couple who are trying to get their marriage back on track.  They go to a therapist (a very creepy Ted Danson), and he sends them to a beautiful retreat with a lovely main house and guesthouse to "reset."  However, they discover that when they go in the guesthouse, they are not alone.  They are met by dopplegangers of themselves, their better selves.  When each of them enters the guesthouse, each has an experience of how they wish the other would be. However, Sophie is drawn to the "new" Ethan and doesn't want to leave.

 

There are many unanswered questions such as what forces are at work here, but it doesn't really matter because this is a fun, engrossing two-hander with Moss and Duplass playing both versions of Ethan and Sophie.

 

I can't tell you how many DVDs I have watched and reviewed in the last year about doppelgangers.  Well, actually I can.  This is the fourth one.  We had "The Double," "Enemy," "Face of Love," and now this.  It's an interesting device but at this point, it's getting a bit old.

 

But Elizabeth Moss is wonderful here . She made her mark in "Madmen," but I have loved her ever since seeing her in "Top of the Lake" for which she won an Emmy  (and if you haven't seen it, do).

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...it's "Couples Therapy" meets "Twilight Zone."  If that sounds like fun to you, you will like this film.  It does to me and I loved this film.

 

 

 

 

***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***

 

 

 300 to go!

 

Viy (1967)

 

A young priest in 19th century Russia must spend three nights alone in a church praying for a young woman who he believes is a witch in this story by Nikolai Gogol.

 

This Russian adaptation of the Gogol short story stood as the only Russian "horror film" for many years.



Why It's a Must See:  "...Viy is a colorful, entertaining and genuinely frightening film of demons and witchcraft that boasts some remarkable special effects...the film truly amazes, as nightmarish creatures from beyond begin a parade across the screen.  They culminate with the appearance of the demon Viy, ,who, in the words of one reviewer, 'makes his entrance against a backdrop of one of the finest collections of ghoullies, ghosties, and long-leggity beasties' ever to appear in the movies."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die."

Sorry, even by 1967 standards, this was not at all "genuinely frightening," nor were the special effects "remarkable" nor did the film truly amaze.  In fact, the special effects looked like they could be from a movie filmed in the 1920's.  And Viy looked more like Jaba the Hut than anything scary and all of those ghoullies, ghosties and long-leggity beasties forming the finest collection?  It was done better in "Freaks" in 1932.  I found it all quite laughable and wasn't sure whether I was watching a comedy or not.  I don't think it was supposed to be a comedy.

Rosy the Reviewer says...I could die without seeing this one.  Oh, wait, I already saw it.  Oh, well. (subtitles)





Mother India (1957)

This three-hour epic tells the story of Radha, a woman who must overcome poverty and many obstacles to raise her sons.

 

Radha, played by Nargis, a beautiful Indian superstar, loses her husband and her land and must make a life for herself and her sons.  Despite many trials and tribulations, she never lets down her moral code, even when it comes to one of her sons.  The film follows Radha from her marriage into old age.

 

This film predates what we think of as Bollywood movies these days. I love Bollywood films.  It doesn't include the Bollywood dancing we have come to expect, but it has many songs scaled to Western tastes.  Despite some very overdramatic bug-eyed acting at times, this film is mesmerizing and Nargis is a gorgeous and sensitive actress.

 

Why it's a Must See: "...one of the few Indian films ever nominated for an Oscar...India's Gone With the Wind...one of the few films that can still draw audiences to theaters whenever it is screened.  It is the first Indian movie to which anyone with an interest in world cinema should turn."

---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die." 

Rosy the Reviewer says...I loved "Gone with the Wind" and I loved this.

(subtitles)

***Book of the Week***

 

The Phantom of Fifth Avenue:
The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark by Meryl Gordon (2014)

Huguette Clark was one of the richest women in the United States and lived to be over 100, yet she lived as a recluse for much of her life and in a hospital room for the last 10 - and she wasn't sick. 

Huguette's father was William Andrews Clark, a copper mine magnate, the second richest man in America in the early 20th century.  Clark was not a very nice man and bribed his way into the Senate.  Huguette was worth over $50 million in her early 20's.  She married once to a Princeton man and that marriage lasted only two years.  A couple of failed romances followed and Huguette started to withdraw.  She collected dolls and relied upon just a few hangers on until she withdrew completely into a hospital room.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you enjoy books about the very rich, you might enjoy this, but don't expect the riddle of why Huguette ended up as she did to be solved.  This book doesn't do it. 

***My A-HA Moment of the Week***

I don't like walking dogs.  I am a terrible dog owner (more at the end of the month when I realize once again, I will never change).

Thanks for Reading!

 

That's it for this week.

 

See you Tuesday

"My Menopause"

(What?  If I can talk about my colonoscopy, I can talk about menopause, right?)

 

 

 

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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

 

Note:  Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). 

 

 

Here is a quick link to get to all of them.  Choose the film you are interested in and then scroll down the list of reviewers to find "Rosy the Reviewer."
 

Or you can go directly to IMDB.  

 

Find the page for the movie, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews."  Look for "Rosy the Reviewer" on the list. Or if you are using a mobile device, look for "Critics Reviews." Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under "Rosy the Reviewer."

 

Letting Myself Go: Questionable Fashion Choices for a Woman of a Certain Age and Size

OK I know what you are thinking, but it looked really cute in "Elle Magazine." 

What I didn't realize at the time was that it was probably on a 7 foot model who weighed about 120 pounds and was probably air brushed to boot.  However, when I see something in a magazine or catalog, I tend to think that's what it will look like on me. It's a weakness I have.

So I bought that coat and wore it on a recent trip to California.  At the place where we park our car at the airport, the attendant said to me, "That's some coat."

Now, let me say that whenever someone starts a comment about you with "That's some...," that is NOT a compliment.  "I like your coat" is a compliment.  "You look nice" is a compliment.  "That's some coat" is not a compliment.

So I should have been ready when we were going through security and the TSA person said to me, "Is that your dog?" 

"What?!" I replied.

She immediately realized she had mistaken the fur on the bottom of my coat for a dog.  We both had a laugh (I was crying inside).

I should have asked her if my "dog" made my butt look fat.

So that little incident made me think about my current fashion choices.

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me or who reads this blog that I consider myself a bit of a fashionista.  OK, basically I am a clothes horse, a hoarder, a shopaholic, whatever you want to call me.  It's been like that practically all of my life, probably since my Dad told me he thought it was perfectly reasonable for me to have a different outfit for every day of the week. That said, it wasn't difficult for me to make the stretch to have enough outfits that I would never need to wear the same thing ever again.

And I have never been afraid to embrace the latest styles, colors and fads.

At 13, I wore this cape to a football game.

I wasn't afraid to sport green shoes (they had pink trim to match the ensemble)

Big earrings were always my thing.

I embraced the famous "Sassoon" haircut when it was first popular.

I even went shorter when I was feeling "punk" and wanted to channel Annie Lennox (Hey, it was the 80's!)

I experimented with vintage dresses, armbands and headbands

Bell bottoms

 

And hats.

When you are young and slim, you can get away with a lot in fashion.

When you are a woman of a certain age and let's say, no longer thin, not so much.

For example, these shoes are hard to explain.

When you have to suck it in this much, probably not a good fit.

And when someone asks you if you are trying out for a part in "Wicked," probably not a good fashion choice.

And here I look like I am about to break into a song from "Snow White."

Does this hat make my head look fat?

 

And please, Lord, tell me I was wearing this to a costume party or a rodeo.

 

(I wasn't).

 

 

So you can see I have been dragged into old age kicking and screaming.  Some habits die hard.

 

One thing many of us women worry about as we age is "letting ourselves go." (You men should worry about it, too, but that's a whole different blog post.)

 

That usually means getting fat, lazy, not wearing make-up, going gray...I think it's even worse for the Baby Boom Generation because we didn't think we would ever get old.  They should have called us "The Peter Pan Generation."

 

But that's not a bad thing.  We may be in our 50's and 60's, but we aren't doing "old age" like our parents.  We may be retired, but our retirement is not our parents' retirement.

 

Ellen Goodman, in her last column upon her retirement after 46 years of writing, wrote about "Letting ourselves go," but she was not talking about getting old and fat.  She wanted to "reclaim" the phrase to mean something quite different.

 

She said, "Now, we find ourselves on the cutting edge of another huge social change. This time, it's the longevity revolution. Ours is the first generation to collectively cross the demarcation line of senior citizenship with actuarial tables on our side...We don't have a label yet to describe the early, active aging. But many of us are pausing to recalculate the purpose of a longer life. We are reinventing ourselves and society's expectations, just as we have throughout our lives."

 

So "letting ourselves go" can be a good thing because we are letting ourselves GO FOR IT.  Just as in our youth we were the generation of great social change, so will we be as we age.

 

I have enjoyed experimenting with fashion all of my life, and I am not stopping now.  Yes, I could lose a few pounds, yes, I will probably make more fashion mistakes, but I don't care. 

 

Because, whether it's fashion or life choices, I am going to continue to let myself go for it. 

 

 

 

Too much?

 

 

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Friday

 

for my review of the new movie

 

"Birdman"

 

My Week in Reviews

 

and an update 

on my

 "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project."

 

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer

 

 

 

"Nightcrawler" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Nightcrawler," DVDs "Last Passenger," and "Fort Bliss," the book "Kitchn" and the new Seattle restaurant Trove.  I also bring you up to speed on my "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" and share my "A-Ha Moment of the Week"]

"Night Crawler" is Creepy Crawly

 

 

Lou Bloom is looking for a career and decides to become a "nightcrawler," an independent crime videographer, one of those guys who listen to police scanners and troll for blood and gore.  The only problem is, Lou is a sociopath and is not above creating his own stories.

 

Jake Gyllenhaal puts in a bravura performance as Lou, who starts out as a petty thief, who is not above a little violence if it will get him what he wants.  He is also a loner, probably a sociopath, but at the very least nutty as hell.  He is self taught via the computer and spouts all kinds of pop psychology, business jargon and platitudes that he has learned there. He has developed an obsequious demeanor that belies the sociopath within. Think a cross between Gary Busey (after his brain injury) and Mr. Ripley.

 

Lou needs a job and when he comes upon an accident and watches the crime stringers videotaping the scene and finds out how much they make for their videos, he decides that's the career path he wants to take.  He gets a police scanner and a video camera and drives his beaten up Ford Fiesta to the scenes of accidents, fires and crimes.  At one scene, he gets right in the face of a bleeding, dying man and takes his footage to a news station where he meets Nina Romina (Renee Russo), the hard-boiled head of the news department, and she buys his footage, thus unknowingly entering into a deal with the devil.  Soon Lou is driving a new Mustang and has hired a homeless guy, Rick (Riz Ahmed) to be his navigator. It becomes apparent that Lou will do anything to get his footage, including violence and murder.  He has found his calling.

This is a jaundiced view of TV news reporting with everyone fighting for the most graphic shots.  When Lou first encounters Nina to pick her brain about what kinds of footage they are looking for, she says, "A woman running down the street screaming with her throat cut."  You get the idea. This is "Network" on steroids. And it's a testament to those of us out there in TV land who require more and more violent images to get us to watch the news. 

 

Jake has perfected the "strange guy" role - all  the way back to "Donnie Darko" through "Enemy" and this role is no different.  He is shivery creepy and soulless - a fantastic performance.  I also don't remember his eyes being so buggy.  Not sure if they were enhanced or if that's called "acting."

 

It's good to see Renee Russo again.  This is only her 4th film since 2005, thus showing how difficult it is for a woman her age in Hollywood to get film roles.  She is really good here as the news director who is a woman of a certain age, who needs to keep up with the competition and begins to think her career hinges on Lou's pictures.  She is willing to do anything to get them, including a reluctant relationship with Lou.

But Riz Ahmed is the breakout and a gem in this film.  His twitchy, sweaty Rick is vulnerable and sensitive as he gets caught up in this nightmare that is Lou's world.

Despite a hole in the script that bothered me, first time director, Dan Gilroy (he also wrote the script), gets it all right as he takes us into Lou's amoral, dark world and the cinematography and score underline it all beautifully.

  

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like dark, original and thrilling, you will love this film. Gyllenhaal puts in an Oscar worthy performance, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ahmed and Russo get nods for Best Supporting Actor.

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

 

Last Passenger (2013)

 

Six passengers on a London commuter train find themselves hijacked by an unseen driver with an evil plan.

Dr. Lewis Shaler (Dougray Scott) and his son, Max, are headed home from London late at night.  Dr. Shaler falls asleep and when he awakes, he sees a man crawling across the tracks.  He tries to alert the conductor and when he gets no response, it becomes apparent that the train has been hijacked by a driver with ill-intent.  The train is passing all of the stops and speeding toward crashing at the end of the line.  Shaler alerts his fellow passengers - now just four others - and where earlier they had been devisive, now they must work together to save themselves.

It's a well worn cinematic device.  We've seen it before with "Speed," "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" and "Runaway Train."  A disparate group of people are caught up in a disaster situation and must band together to save themselves.  And in so doing, their true life stories are revealed.

Here we have the doctor who is needed in the emergency room traveling with his young (and obnoxious son), the beautiful party girl (Kara Tointon), the officious, uptight businessman (David Schofield), the Polish thug (Iddo Goldberg) and the older woman with a heart condition (Lindsay Duncan). All seems fine at the outset, except for some ominous music and suddenly the train is racing through stops with no warning to oncoming traffic.  The train has become a death missile.  We know trouble is brewing.  I am always amazed in these life and death situations, that people have time to spill their life stories and even have sex.  But, hey, I've never been on a death train before, so what do I know?

It's the directorial debut for Omid Nooshin and he has done a great job creating a single claustrophobic setting.  Dougray Scott makes a handsome yet sensitive action hero and I wonder why we don't see him star in more films, and Kara Tointon (who "Eastenders" fans will recognize) is a gorgeous actress who deserves more roles. 

There is taut suspense as the passengers are killed off one by one a la Agatha Christie, and we wonder who is driving the train and why.  Not much is revealed about the driver or his motives but it's not necessary to enjoy this ride.
 

Rosy the Reviewer says...If you like Hitchcock and Agatha Christie, you will enjoy this.

 

Fort Bliss (2014)

 

A decorated military medic and single mother returns home from Afghanistan to realize that she must repair her relationship with her young son.

Michelle Monaghan plays Maggie Swan, a single mother returning home after 15 months in Afghanistan to her ex-husband (Ron Livingston) and his soon-to-be new wife who have been caring for her son, only to discover that her young son barely remembers her and in fact has bonded with his stepmother. Likewise, she is experiencing the discrimination and sexual harassment that many women face in the military.  She finds it difficult to bridge the gap between being a hard ass sargeant and a tender mother and lover.

The film begins with Maggie in Afghanistan saving another soldier's life.  She is courageous and heroic.  She understands how things work in the military. She can't show weakness or vulnerability.  But when she returns home, things are complicated and she finds it difficult to build a new life for herself and her son and shed that hard ass role. 

This is Monaghan's film as she moves between her military responsibilities as an officer and her responsibility as a mother, trying to balance those two worlds. She is not perfect and she knows it.  She yells at her son (calls him "a little shit") and doesn't cope well with his sleepwalking and rejection of her.

Director and writer Claudia Myers is respectful of military personnel who must straddle these two worlds:  work and family, but she pulls no punches. This is no Lifetime Movie. I expected a potboiler, but it turned out to be an unflinching look at the difficult choices our military personnel have to make when they serve, especially women.  If you are a woman and you care about your career, whether it's in the military or not, the choices are hard.  It's sad that a mother has to give up her career to feel that she is a good mother. 

Swan also faces prejudice from the men who don't respect women officers.  Think a female version of "An Officer and a Gentleman."
 

Rosy the Reviewer says...an unsentimental film about the difficult choices our military personnel must make to serve that deserves to be seen.

 

***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***

 

 

302 to go!

 

 

The Killer (Die Xue Shuang Xiong) (1989)

 

 

A weary assassin who accidentally blinds a beautiful singer during a killing, takes one last hit to raise the money to pay to restore her sight.

 

John Woo ("Mission Impossible: II") directs and Chow Yun Fat ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") stars in this strange buddy movie where the hit man and the cop give each other grudging respect and band together to get the really bad guys. 

 

Ah Jong (Chow Yun Fat) is a cold-blooded killer for hire but even cold-blooded killers get tired of killing.  During one hit, he accidently blinds a beautiful singer.  He feels remorse and seeks her out. They fall in love with her not knowing he is the one who blinded her.  He decides on one last hit to raise the money he needs to get her an operation to save her sight.  In the meantime, Inspector Li Ying (Danny Lee) is hot on his trail.

 

Why it's a Must See: [This film] established Hong Kong action cinema as a distinct brand.  ...filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino began lifting elements of their distinctive style --the popular flat-on-his-back, gun-in-each-hand slide is a favorite Chow Yun-Fat move...-to enliven their own action pictures."
--"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die."

The influence on Tarantino is evident, because there is plenty of blood and gore but in a cartoonish way.  However, in spite of its standing as the best example of a Hong Kong action film, I found it cheesy and melodramatic.  But, hey, I like cheese and I like melodrama.  It's beautifully photographed in a bloody sort of way.

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...The contract killer with a heart of gold.  It's soap opera with lots of blood and gore, but it's high opera and I can't get over Chow Yun Fat's baby face. (subtitles)

 

 

Halloween (1978)

 

Little Michael Myers kills his sister when he is six.  Fifteen years later he escapes from the mental hospital and goes on a killing spree.

Dr. Sam Loomis is on his way to the mental hospital where Michael Myers has been incarcerated since killing his sister.  He is determined that Michael Myers should not be let out.  Unfortunately, just as he arrives, Myers escapes and heads back to his home town. Dr. Loomis is in hot pursuit.  Jamie Lee Curtis stars as Laurie, a bookish goody goody who is babysitting on Halloween night, unaware there is a psychotic killer on the loose.

John Carpenter wrote and directed this very much "B" picture, probably unaware that it would turn into such a cult classic. It's a very low budget film that Carpenter probably didn't expect to have the impact it had, but Carpenter was expert at using the camera to show people creeping up on each other and creating a creepy atmosphere in general. He also takes advantage of the contrast between small Midwestern towns and the evil lurking underneath, much as Hitchcock did in "Shadow of a Doubt," which I reviewed last week. 

Speaking of Hitchcock, Carpenter is full of Hitchcock homages (see "Why It's a Must See" below). This film was also the beginning of the teen slasher films and I can't believe I hadn't seen it.  I was always afraid to, but seeing it now, it is very tame by current horror film standards.  It also seems to be the beginning of product placement, too.  Jolly Time Popcorn, Tide and Quaker Oats had prominent roles.  Probably had to do that for the budget because, as I said, this film screams of low budget, pardon the pun.

There are some blatant "huh?" moments such as Myers driving around the car he stole from the doctor emblazoned with the mental hospital logo.  Why don't the cops just pick him up?  There are continuity issues, too, as when Laurie walks home the streets and sidewalks are dry.  As she reaches home, it looks like it just rained.  Likewise, when Laurie and her friend are driving to their babysitting jobs, it's light and then, next frame, suddenly it's dark.  And this is supposed to be in Illinois,  but I don't remember seeing mountains in the distance growing up in the Midwest.  It's so clearly California.  Pasadena, to be exact.

I think Carpenter stole the ringing of the phone, a horror film staple now, from Hitchcock, too.  "Housewives" fans will recognize Kyle Richards name in the credits (she plays the little girl).

Why it's a Must See: "No director since Alfred Hitchcock has captured the delicious voyeurism of horror as well as John Carpenter in Halloween, a film so entrenched with our primordial anxieties that it continues to define the genre several decades later...the comparison between Hitchcock and Carpenter is no stretch; Halloween is saturated with Carpenter's tribute to Hitchcock, from character names --Sam Loomis and Tom Doyle, from Psycho (1950) and Rear Window (1954), respectively -- to the casting of Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Janet Leigh, the ill-fated shower victim in Psycho."

--"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die."

To enjoy the older films, we need to look past things like mom jeans and bell bottoms and other anachronisms to appreciate the film in the context of the times. You must ask yourself, has this been done before? Was it new then? Is it experimental and avante garde for its time?

And for it's time, this was the scariest.

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...Even if you don't like horror films, if you consider yourself a movie lover, you have to be able to say you've seen it.

 

 

 

 

***Book of the Week***

 

The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens and Tips to Inspire Your Cooking by Sara Kate Gillingham and Kate Durand (2014)

 

 

From the blog Kitchn which began in 2005 comes this wonderful kitchen resource that foodies and novices alike will enjoy.

Food writers Sara Kate Gillingham and Faith Durand share their expertise about cooking with advice on setting up the kitchen, tools to have on hand, stocking the pantry, planning meals, cooking technique and recipes.  My favorite, though, believe it or not, is the section on "Caring for Your Kitchen."  In addition to recipes for making homemade cleaning products, there is a handy 30-day calendar for maintaining a "constantly clean kitchen."  They list one duty per day.  We can manage that, right?

The "Cooking School" includes 50 essential techniques from how to read a recipe to measuring dry ingredients vs. liquids to deglazing sauces to roasting vegetables.

The book concludes with some yummy recipes with this introduction:  "With thousands of recipes in our archive, we decided to give you some perennial favorites of our readers...If you've never cooked before, here are more than 100 recipes that you can follow step-by-step and find success."

But seasoned cooks will also find much to learn here.

"The Perfect Kale Chip," "Roasted Chicken Thighs and Squash over Polenta" and "Vietnamese Beef Pho" are some examples.

Rosy the Reviewer says...A beautiful cooking resource book that you will want to have on hand.

 

 

 

***Seattle Restaurant of the Week***

 

 

 

From the folks who brought us Joule and Revel (Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi), some personal favorites of mine, I might add, we now have Trove, their new four-plex, featuring noodles, Korean BBQ and parfaits.  As you enter the space at 500 E. Pike, you see a food truck as part of the entrance that sells frozen custard parfaits with a variety of toppings.  The first space you enter inside is the noodle bar, where a few different delicious noodle combinations are available along with a few drinks. This is the casual first space.  Next is the Trove Bar, where many more beers and other drinks are available along with those noodles. The fourth and last space is the fine dining element where you can grill your own BBQ at your table and enjoy a fine wine list.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if Korean-inspired street food is your thing, this is for you.  Try the wide rice noodles with beef ragout.  Yum.  Next time, I am going to hit the food truck and order the Old School Banana Split parfait featuring caramelized pineapple and cherry whipped cream and sit on the curb, street food style (if it's not raining).

***My A-HA Moment of the Week***

 

When you watch TV during the day, the advertisers assume you are either old, retired and in poor health (so they hawk all sorts of pharmaceuticals) or that you are unemployed and a criminal, hence the adverts for jobs you can do at home, Phoenix University and bail bonds. 

 

Here's the A-Ha Moment: I shouldn't be watching TV during the day.

Thanks for Reading!

 

That's it for this week.

 

See you Tuesday for

 

"Letting Myself Go:
Questionable Fashion Choices for a Woman of a Certain Age and Size"

 

 

 

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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

 

Note:  Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). 

 

Here is a quick link to get to all of them.  Choose the film you are interested in and then scroll down the list of reviewers to find "Rosy the Reviewer."
 

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Find the page for the movie, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews."  Look for "Rosy the Reviewer" on the list. Or if you are using a mobile device, look for "Critics Reviews." Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under "Rosy the Reviewer."