"Anomalisa" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Anomalisa" and DVDs "Blind" and "The New Girlfriend." The Book of the Week is "The Wild Truth," by the sister of Chris McCandless, who was the subject of the book and movie "Into the Wild."  I also bring you up to date on my "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with "The Draughtsman's Contract."]





Anomalisa

Michael Stone is a specialist in customer service and is in Cincinnati to give a speech.  While there, he meets Lisa, who seems to be a wonderful anomaly in what is his boring, unsatisfied and mid-life crisis life.
 
As Henry David Thoreau said in "Walden," "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" and that seems to be the case for Michael Stone.  It's an irony that he is in Cincinnati to give a speech about good customer service, because Michael does not seem to connect with other human beings and is not a happy man. 

In his hotel room alone, he calls his wife and talks to his son and it's clear that none of these people are particularly happy.  Later he calls an old girlfriend and meets up with her but that doesn't go well either.  Then he meets two women, Emily and Lisa, who are customer service reps in Cincinnati to hear his speech.  They are both in awe of Michael and when he invites them downstairs for a drink, they get a bit drunk and Lisa ends up in Michael's room where they have sex. 

Up until he meets Lisa, everyone sounds the same to Michael, literally (all of the voices are provided by one actor - Tom Noonan).  When Michael hears Lisa's voice he is lifted out of his funk, because Lisa's voice is different.  That's because it's Jennifer Jason Leigh's voice.  Michael sees Lisa as an anomaly in a dreary life and dubs her "Anomalisa."  He thinks she can save him.  But we all know how that kind of thing goes, right?

The characters are animated puppets and nothing was done to hide the puppet-like structure of the faces which all looked like the same mask.  And with one person's voice used for all of the characters, except Michael and Lisa, we are thrust into Michael's life where he makes no connections, where everyone looks and sounds the same, living life like a puppet.

There is an irony in Michael's specialty - customer service - where he exhorts people to treat everyone as individuals, to smile and to realize everyone needs love.  He should have added, "even though inside we don't really feel that way."  So much for customer service.

This is a three-hander with David Thewlis providing the voice of Michael, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lisa and Tom Noonan as everyone else, male, female, young and old.  It's a very effective, though initially startling, effect that illustrates how swept up into the faceless crowd our lives can get.

We are also reminded that animation can do things live actors sometimes can't, though these days almost anything goes in the movies.  But animated characters in full-frontal nudity, indulging in oral sex and doing the deed right in front of us can be unsettling, so don't mistake this for a cartoon and take the kids.

I have always been a big fan of Thewlis, whose quirky looks have starred in many films from "Naked" to "The Big Lebowski" to the "Harry Potter" films.  His lovely English accent provides a nice counterpoint to Noonan's rather monotonous and actually ominous voice playing all of the other characters.  Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose movie career was soaring in the mid-90's and then seemed to sputter out to smaller roles and television, has had a bit of a rebirth in recent years with her Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for "The Hateful Eight" and now a starring role in this, even if it is only her voice.

Written by Charlie Kaufman who also gave us "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" among others (he also co-directed with Duke Johnson), this is decidedly an adult animated feature film with adult themes.  It's the first R-rated animated film to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Animated Feature category.

Rosy the Reviewer says...with its effective stop-motion animation and existential message, this unusual film is worthy of its Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Feature category.

 

***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!

Now Out on DVD

The New Girlfriend (2014)

Claire and Laura have been best friends since childhood.  But when Laura dies, Claire discovers her secret.

Claire (Anais Demoustier) and Laura (Isild Le Besco) swore BFF-dom at an early age, even sealing the deal in blood.  They grew up together, got married together, Laura to David (Roman Duris) and Claire to Gilles (a very handsome Raphael Personnaz) and Laura had a little girl, Lucie.  But then Laura dies, leaving David alone to care for the baby and Claire, bereft at losing her best friend and confidante.

Claire, as Lucie's godmother, vows to help David raise Lucie.  One day when she arrives at David's house to help with the baby, she finds David rocking her... dressed in a wig and one of Laura's dresses.

Thus the secret at the heart of this movie is revealed -  that Laura's husband has the desire to dress as a woman.  At first Claire is shocked, but as David explains, it is not a sexual thing and he is not gay.  When he was married to Laura he was able to suppress the urge, but since her death it had come back. He also tells Claire that he believes Lucie needs the comfort of a feminine presence.

David confides in Claire that when he dressed Laura in her wedding dress for her funeral, his true feelings of wanting to live as a woman came out and that he liked to dress as a woman.  After her initial shock, Claire is at first curious about David and helps David transform into "Virginia," and "she" becomes Claire's new best girlfriend, which reminded me of Gerda, Einar's wife in "The Danish Girl," who instigated her husband to dress as a woman until she realized he wanted to live as a woman.

The two go off on a weekend together and David is dressed as Virginia, his alter ego, and he revels in his new role.  But it becomes clear that Claire has some feelings she did not expect, feelings that she may have harbored for Laura all along.  Likewise, it seems that David wants to become Laura. As David/Virginia becomes more feminine, Claire, who is usually more shy and reticent, dresses and acts in a more masculine manner.

Claire has conflicted feelings about David and pulls away, telling David he is sick and breaks her ties with him.  But she eventually tells David she misses Virginia and they embark on an affair, but you know something has to happen.  A near tragedy intervenes.

Though similar in theme to "The Danish Girl," this film takes on the subject matter with more humor and lightness.  There is a funny scene where Claire waxes David/Virginia and also David's attempts to "hide" Virginia.  A guest unexpectedly arrives when David is Virginia and he quickly removes his make-up, forgetting his lipstick.

The couples live in gorgeous upper-middle class neighborhoods, which curiously, don't look the least bit French, but rather like American suburbs suggesting this certainly is not something that would just happen in France. The film is beautifully photographed by cinematographer Pascal Marti and has the look and feel of a Todd Haynes film where the beautiful images belie the secrets that lie behind their middle class facades.  There is an operatic score throughout that foreshadows the climactic events to come. 

Duris is a fixture in French films.  He has one of those faces that is unforgettable.  He is totally believable here.  Demoustier channels a young Meryl Streep and has a luminous quality that is utterly charming, though her character is maddening..

This is a timely film in light of Caitlyn Jenner, "The Danish Girl" and Todd Haynes' latest film "Carol," the many discussions around transgender issues and sexual identity. It's interesting that when Claire tells her husband about David, she can't bring herself to tell him that he cross-dresses.  She tells him he is homosexual as if it is more shocking to tell her husband that David wants to dress as a woman than that he was homosexual. However, David is not homosexual.  He loves women and so, apparently, does Claire.

Directed by Francois Ozon (who also adapted the screenplay from a Ruth Rendell story) this is a study in the complex issues surrounding sexual identity and avoids the usual stereotypes.  It's never clear whether or not David equates wearing women's clothes as a sexual thing or that he is actually transgender. Likewise, where Claire is sexually remains ambiguous, which makes the film all the more intriguing and real.

Rosy the Reviewer says...I really liked this film and if you liked "The Danish Girl" or you are a fan of Todd Haynes' films, you will too.
(In French with English subtitles)







Blind (2014)

Ingrid (Ellen Dorrit Petersen), a young Norwegian woman in her thirties, is newly blind and confined to her apartment where she has an active imagination - or is it her imagination?

Ingrid's husband, Morten (Henrik Raphaelsen), goes to work and she is alone in their apartment, afraid to leave.  What must that be like to have the whole day ahead all alone and to be blind?  The slow pace of the film reflects that.  Sounds are magnified, doors shutting, muffled voices from outside but the film also reflects the fear one might experience being alone and blind. You might imagine all kinds of thing such as your husband not really being at work but being in the apartment watching you.

Ingrid's voiceover tells us that she has not always been blind but that it is becoming harder and harder for her to remember what things looked like when she could see. Though she is alone during the day, she goes about her day, making coffee and cleaning up.  But she is also writing a book.

The camera uses close-ups on everything: hair, hands, eyes, all in a cruel irony underlining the fact that Ingrid is blind and not only can no longer see details but sees nothing.  The film is beautiful to look at, again an irony in a film about blindness.

Then in counterpoint to Ingrid, Einar (Marius Kolbenstvetd) appears.  Einar is a perv. He is addicted to Internet porn and peeping on the woman whose apartment window is across from his. There is a bit of "Rear Window" here.  We realize that he is watching Elin (Vera Vitali), a divorced woman from Sweden who is alone on the weekends when her son is with his Dad.

Einar starts stalking Elin.  Einer also runs into Ingrid's husband.  They are old school mates but it becomes clear that Einar was not popular but the two reconnect over movies. And then to add to the complications, Ingrid's husband, Morten, uses the computer to chat with women and one of those women is Elin.

Einar is watching Elin who is talking to Morten who is married to Ingrid.

Then Elin goes spontaneously blind...and you say, WHAAAT??

This is one of those films with seemingly unrelated characters whose lives collide but then you wonder -- hey, what's going on here? Is all of this in Ingrid's imagination?  Is this the book she is writing?

Eventually we realize that Ingrid is writing a novel and not everything we see is to be believed. Elin and Einar are figments of Ingrid's imagination (which is what happens when you are left alone for long periods of time).  Not sure about Ingrid's husband, but I think she was also making stuff about him too. What I thought at first were continuity issues were part of the story as backdrops to the action shift unexpectedly.  These characters, whether real or only in Ingrid's mind, are all at the mercy of her imagination and so are we.

Petersen is a lovely but cold presence, as pale and cool as a Norwegian winter, and her colors when she is on screen are all white and gray.

This is the film debut of director Eskil Vogt, who heretofore has been a screenwriter for Joachim Trier's films. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...a strange but compelling study of loneliness and isolation.
(In Norwegian with English subtitles)

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

 

262 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?





The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

Mr. Neville, a philandering 17th century artist, is hired by Mrs. Herbert to make a series of 12 drawings of her husband's estate, but the contract also includes sexual favors.

Neville (Anthony Higgins) is a draughtsman, but he is also a womanizer.  Mrs. Herbert (Janet Suzman) wants Neville to do the drawings of the estate for her husband in order to save her marriage.  She offers eight pounds per drawing and room and board, but Neville also requires that she comply with his request for certain "pleasures."

The film soon becomes a murder mystery as Mr. Herbert's body is discovered on the estate and Mr. Neville is accused.  It all goes downhill from there.

This followed Janet Suzman's triumph in "Nicholas and Alexandria" by 10 years. And its cheeky style seems to have inspired "Amadeus," which followed two years later.  "Amadeus" had the same cynical satiric feel as this one.  It's a satire on the wigs, the clothes, the fops, the silliness of the 17th century wealthy class.

Why it's a Must See: "...the narrative confounds rather than clarifies.  But there is a sparkling wit and pleasing theatrical playfulness to the film, which made it an unexpected British hit. The grand country estate is exquisitely captured by Curtis Clark's cinematography, while Michael Nyman's music, which uses motifs from Purcell, is a joy.  One of the most striking directorial debuts of recent British cinema, [this film] remains Greenaway's most accessible film."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

Written and directed by Peter Greenaway, if you saw his "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover," you know you are going to see something that pushes the envelope, and yes, this film might be more accessible than that one or some of his others.  But even "1001 Movies..." says it "confounds."  And it does.  So I didn't get this comedy's inclusion in the "1001 Movies" I must see before I die, when other comedies, such as early Peter Seller's films like "I Love You Alice B. Toklas" and The Pink Panther films, are not.  I don't get it.

Rosy the Reviewer says...I will be brief.  I didn't like it.

***Book of the Week***

The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless (2015)

Chris McCandliss and his death alone in the wilderness of Alaska was made famous in Jon Krakauer's book "Into the Wild."  Here Chris's sister shares her story and what she believes happened to Chris.

Krakauer interviewed Carine when he was writing "Into the Wild."  She showed him some letters Chris had written to her and shared stories about her family but asked Krakauer not to use the information in his book.  But now Carine wants the truth to be told and to shed light on why Chris went into the Alaskan wilderness.

This book is mostly Carine's memoir about growing up with Chris in an abusive, drunken and dysfunctional family and how that ultimately affected her and her relationships.  She shares many stories of their parents' outrageous behavior and her father's "other family," much of what was glossed over in Krakauer's book.  Carine believes that the abuse and lack of connection to his parents were the reasons Chris went into the wilderness.

"I believe Chris went into the wilderness in search of what was lacking in his childhood: peace, purity, honesty.  And he understood there was nowhere better for him to find that than in nature."

My main criticism here is what I have felt reading some books about excessive child abuse and really, really dysfunctional families. The more I get hit over the head with incident after incident, the more it feels unreal.  Of course, that's just my feeling and probably has more to do with the writing style here than the veracity of the information.

All in all, though, this book doesn't really answer the question of why Chris went into the Alaskan wilderness and starved to death.  We will never know. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...This could be a good accompaniment to "Into the Wild," but does not in any way replace that remarkable book.

 

 

That's it for this week!

 

Thanks for Reading!

 

 

See you Tuesday for

 

"Interview with a Librarian"

 

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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

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

Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Once there, click on the link that says "Explore More" on the right side of the screen.  Scroll down to External Reviews and when you get to that page, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.

NOTE:  On some entries, this has changed.  If you don't see "Explore More" on the right side of the screen, scroll down just below the description of the film in the middle of the page.  Find where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics." 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."

 



 

 

 



Some Thoughts on Thoughtfulness (Rosy the Reviewer's "Happiness Trilogy, #2")

If I had to describe my Dad in one word, it would be "thoughtful."

Yes, he thought big thoughts, but that's not what I am really talking about here. 

What I am really talking about here is his thoughtfulness that made others happy.

Speaking of big thoughts, though, you can tell I am on a bit of a "big thoughts" bent with my "How Self Aware Are You...Really?" post of a couple of weeks ago and now this one.  I think I will do one on "Mindfulness" next to make a sort of "Happiness Trilogy," because, in my opinion, those three concepts - Self-Awareness, Thoughtfulness and Mindfulness - make up the three most important traits to lead to personal happiness and the happiness of those around you.

But anyway, back to my Dad.

 

(That's my nephew photo bombing my Dad's picture before anyone knew what photo bombing was!)

He was a deep thinker and endlessly curious. I would come staggering home at 2am after a night of doing stuff I wasn't supposed to, and my Dad would be up.  My mother tried to impose a curfew on me, but based on how disrespectful my older brother was to her, I, too, pushed the limits of her patience.  Unfortunately, my Dad and Mom did not present a united front so when she and I got into a fight about when I was supposed to be home, she left it to my Dad who eventually said to me, "Can you be home by 2am?"  I thought for a minute (not really.  I didn't think at all). I immediately said, "Sure, I can do that."

So back to my story. 

I would come teetering in at 2am and there my Dad would be working on his lesson.  He was a Christian Scientist and they have readings, also known as "lessons," that they are supposed to do every day. He was up late doing that, because my Dad was also a guy who always had several jobs.  There was his regular job, the one where he gave his paycheck to my Mom to run the household, and then there were his other part-time jobs where the money he earned from those was his to spend on his gun collection, cars, trumpets, whatever he was into at the time.

My Dad was also a night owl, so he would come home from his part-time extra job, probably have a snack (he used to love Ritz crackers and cheese and to amuse me he would line them up on the edge of the kitchen counter and then flick them one by one off the counter and into his mouth and then laugh), watch a little TV and then do his lesson.  So it was not unusual for him to be up at 2am, even though he had to be at his regular job by 8am the next morning, and in summer, when school was out, it was not unusual for me to come home that late.  Hey, I was a kid with a kid's agenda!

When I would arrive home smelling of smoke ("Oh, no, I don't smoke but some of my friends do.  Must have gotten on my clothes from them!"), and god knows what else, my Dad and I would invariably get into a discussion about religion or something I was interested in at the moment.  Though he had strong opinions about things, he was also very curious about what other people thought.

But anyway, long story short, that's not the kind of thoughtfulness I am talking about here.  I am talking about those little things we do that show we care about other people's feelings and that we are thinking of them.

My Dad was the most thoughtful person I have ever met, and I like to think that I am also a thoughtful person.  If so, I learned from the Master.

For example, if I gave my Dad a present, such as a shirt or a tie, he would be sure to wear it the next day to show me that he liked it.  Weeks or months later, he would remind me of how much he liked that shirt or tie by saying so or sending me a picture of him wearing it.

(Here he is showing off the BBQ apron sent to him by his granddaughter.  He always wanted to be a cowboy.  Don't you love the oven mitt?  It's a gun!)

He also would remember what I liked. 

If we were "window-shopping," a favorite past-time for middle-class families in the 50's and 60's when we actually had department stores downtown in our smaller towns, and I pointed out something l really liked, it would show up later as a birthday present or special surprise.

(He bought me that coat, hat and muff back in 1968 before we were enlightened about fur - I think he bought me that pink princess phone too!).

One time when my parents went on their usual Sunday drive, and I was old enough to be left home alone (because I HATED those Sunday drives), I decided to make them a special surprise dinner to have ready for them when they got home. I was probably eleven or twelve. I went through my mother's cookbooks and found some recipes that looked like I could manage them and made a three course meal complete with fancy silverware and cloth napkins.  I think I made something like baked eggs with spam as a starter, fish sticks for the main course and Jello for dessert.  Whatever, it wasn't very good, but my parents were surprised and ate it with relish (or pretended to).  Later, I found a $5.00 "tip" under my Dad's napkin.

When I was sick, he would come home from work, sit on the edge of my bed and ask me what I needed.  In a sad little squeaky voice, as pitiful as I could manage, I would say, "A milkshake" and he would either make me one or go down to Miller's Ice Cream and get me one.

I would also get these late night yearnings for a snack when my Dad and I were watching TV together, "but I didn't know what I wanted."  My Dad would quiz me and I would say, "No, not that.  No, not that," so then he would whip up something that he would make up and it would be just right, not so much because that was just the thing I wanted but because even as a young girl, I knew he was taking the time and trouble to make me happy.

That, to me, is what thoughtfulness really is. 

It's taking the time and trouble to do something nice for someone else, and it's also acknowledging, after the fact, when someone does something nice for you. 

How often do we go out of our way for others?  How often do we break a sweat and mess up our schedules to help someone or just to do something to make them happy?  And how often do we acknowledge it when someone does that for us?

Now I know you could make a case that I was one spoiled little girl, and in some ways, I guess I was.  But my Dad enjoyed making people happy, and I got that.  I grew up to be a person who wanted to emulate that thoughtfulness.  I never took any of it for granted.  I wanted to be like him.

You can imagine my shock, though, when I left home and discovered that not everyone was as thoughtful as my Dad! 


So as I ponder this whole issue of thoughtfulness, I have come up with some ways to be thoughtful (feel free to add your own):

• After a party or dinner at a friends house, it's thoughtful to call, email (or heaven forbid) write a thank-you note to thank your host for a lovely time.

• If you stay at a friend's house, it's thoughtful to come bearing gifts or splurge on a nice meal (or both) and write a heart-felt email or (there it is again) thank-you note when you get home.

• Likewise, if friends stay with you, hopefully you have a room they can stay in. It's thoughtful to have the same amenities in the room that they might find in a hotel (without the room charge, of course!) - along with the clean linens and towels, bottled water, some snacks, robes, a place to hang their clothes, scented candle, anything you think would make them feel at home.

• Remembering someone's birthday is a given, but birthday and Valentine's cards are almost a thing of the past as are Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other holiday where once sending a greeting card was common.  I know many of us castigate the greeting card world for its commerciality, but I know I love receiving cards from friends and loved ones reminding me they are out there and thinking of me. 

• And it is especially thoughtful to write something heartfelt and personal on the card.  When I send out Christmas cards, I eschew the practice of bringing everyone up-to-date on the accomplishments of my family, but rather, I remind that person of a happy time we have had together or what that person has meant to me.  Likewise with birthday cards.

• The same goes for presents. It's easy for us to get our presents from Amazon and that's fine.  But it's also a bit impersonal.  It's not like the old days when we went downtown and shopped for just the right thing.  Now we can choose something online and with one-click it's on it's way.  We're done. But adding a personal note takes away the impersonal aspect and reminds our friends and loved ones that we are thinking of them in a very personal way.

• And when you receive a present, it's thoughtful to not only thank the sender right after you receive the gift, but it makes the person feel really good when you thank him or her later.  "You know, I really love that sweater you gave me for my birthday last year.  I wear it all of the time."

But thoughtfulness doesn't just pertain to gifts and cards.

It's keeping up with the details of the lives of your friends and family and following up:  "How did that test go?" - "How is your mother doing?" - "Did you really kill your boss?"

When you know someone is having a hard time, it's human nature to not know what to do and to not talk about it.  However, we all want to be acknowledged and even saying something comforting can be thoughtful.  If you can do more, then do more.  Reaching out is probably the most thoughtful thing we can do...and sometimes the hardest.

My Dad used to say that you show love when you do something you don't really want to do, but you do it anyway and expect nothing in return.

 

 

I think that also falls into the thoughtfulness category.

Being thoughtful is something the animals can't do.  It's a human thing.  We are all capable of it.  But we often don't do it because our lives are hectic, and let's face it, being thoughtful takes time and effort.  It takes work!

But what we maybe don't realize is that it doesn't take much to show thoughtfulness and that little thing might just be the little thing that someone needs to make his or her day:  getting an unexpected thank you note, getting an unexpected phone call or email that says "I was just thinking about you" or sending someone a little gift "just because."  Those things make people happy and when people are happy it's a better world out there. (I recently received a hand-written thank you note for a small spontaneous gift I had given a friend.  It made my day).

We have the opportunity for little acts of thoughtfulness every day. 
 
Holding the door open at the mall for a woman with a stroller; helping someone with their bags at the supermarket; babysitting so our friend or loved one can have a break; taking someone to the airport; picking up the check at lunch; emptying the dishwasher without being asked, so your wife doesn't have to (thanks, Hubby); not giving the finger to someone who cuts us off in traffic. 

It's all about being aware of what's going on around us and seeing the opportunity to do something thoughtful.

Years ago, when I was all alone at Victoria Station on my first trip to London hauling a couple of huge suitcases down some stairs to catch a train (this was before I got the message about traveling with huge suitcases), a young woman saw that I was struggling and anxious and grabbed one of my suitcases and helped me onto the train.  She didn't make a big deal out of it.  She helped me and then took her seat. But I have never forgotten her.

Another time when my marriage was falling apart and I was at the airport traveling back to my parents' house with my barely two-year-old son, it was obvious I was having a hard time managing him and my bags and a woman carried my bag and accompanied me to my gate.  And on the plane my son's seat was my lap. The passengers around us could tell I was in bad shape and played endless games of "high fiving" with my son as he ran up and down the aisle. I know, I was one of those passengers with a kid which goes to show, you never know what hell someone might be going through. I have never forgotten those people and those acts of kindness.

One last thing and, hang on, it's a bit of a rant.  Hey, it's Tuesday.  That's what I do.

Being thoughtful also means being thoughtful before we tear into someone. 

I know we all observe things and have stuff happen to us that makes us want to vent and to tell people off, but when we do that, how is that really helping anything?  It might make us feel better for the moment, but in the end, is it making the world a better place? If it is done constructively, yes, we have the power to change things, but sadly, most of us don't think of constructive criticism when we are angry.  Things can escalate quickly into a sad drama.

And when we feel the need to correct our friends and loved ones by venting, we run the risk of losing those relationships.  Is it really worth it to make our points?

I know we live hectic, crazy lives, but being thoughtful of others speaks to our highest selves.  If we lose that, we lose the best part of what makes us human.

If you need an incentive, think of this:  What a wonderful world it would be if everyone was looking for opportunities to be thoughtful.

And that's the reason I wrote this blog post.

That's the kind of world I want to live in and the world I want my grandchildren to grow up in. 

I thank my Dad for his example.

As part of my effort to practice self-awareness and my planned "Happiness Trilogy," (stay tuned for the "Mindfulness" segment - I know you can't wait), I plan to look for ways to be thoughtful every day.  It has to start somewhere.

Won't you join me?

What thoughtful gestures do you appreciate or remember?

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Friday

 

 

for my review of the new movie

"Anomalisa"

and 

The Week in Reviews

 (What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

  

 and the latest on
  

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before

 I Die Project."

 

 

 

 

 

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"The Big Short" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "The Big Short" as well as DVDs "Diary of a Teenage Girl" and "John Denver: Country Boy."  The Book of the Week is Ruth Reichl's "My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life."  I also bring you up-to-date on "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" and review my latest dining experience at Ethan Stowell's little Seattle restaurant Mkt.]





The Big Short

This film exposes the dark underbelly of the financial world that led to the collapse of the credit and mortgage industry in 2008.

Back in the 1970's, a guy named Lew Ranieri got this brilliant idea - mortgage backed securities, selling bonds that were also bundled with mortgages - and the financial world was never the same again. 

At first, it was considered a secure investment, because who doesn't pay their mortgage, right? That was a boon to the banking industry because they were always looking for a way to make more money. And all went well for awhile until the investment world realized that there were only so many "good" Triple A-rated (secure) mortgages they could bundle. 

So along came another bright - and "criminal" - idea. 

Let's start adding to that bundle mortgages with adjustable loans that are not rated as highly as those Triple A's, and let's sell those adjustable loans to people who really, really want homes but who we know really, really can't afford them (subprime).  Of course, we won't tell them that.  And hey, if one guy wants to use his dog's name to buy a house, who cares?  We aren't going to check his credit or his ID.  We just want to sell these loans so we can sell them to other people and make lots of money. 

And then let's put those bad loans in with the good loans and everything in between and create a new form of mortgage-backed securities (CDOs), a sort of Ponzi scheme with a series of "tranches," where the promise to pay investors is based on who has the best loans.  If any loans default, the investors with the safest loans get paid first and usually, those with the lower "tranches," are out of luck.

And let's get Standard & Poor's and Moody's, those guys who rate our bonds and loans, in on it too, so no one will know about those really bad loans. And to really make it interesting, let's let investors and traders place wagers on how well the bonds will do ("Synthetic CDOs").  And let's not care how damaging this might be to the country or the world.  Let's just get as rich as we can.

Anyway, I think that's right, but it doesn't matter if you or I understand all of the in's and out's of the financial world. 

All you really need to know is that it was sleaze and greed that ruled the banking world, and then, when the financial collapse finally happened, it was blamed on poor people making bad decisions to buy houses they couldn't afford, instead of the greedy bankers, investors and real estate brokers who lured people with the American dream of owning a home into a web of financial corruption where no one cared if they could afford the homes or not.

But, before the collapse, while the banking world was creating all of these unsupportable financial instruments, a small group of investors saw the impending real estate bubble and what was going to happen and decided to bet against the housing market, something unheard of.  And that was "the big short."

That's the basis of this dark comedy and what really happened when the mortgage industry collapsed and put the world on the brink of financial ruin. 

The investors that got wind of what was going on were, first, Michael Burry (Christian Bale), an eccentric hedge fund manager who realized how unstable the housing market really was and decided to create a credit default swap market to bet against the banks - hence "the big short."

Next, slightly sleazy trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) heard what Burry was doing and wanted to get in on the action; then Mark Baum (Steve Carell), a hedge fund manager with anger issues, got wind of this and joined Vennett; and finally a couple of young investors, Jamie Shipley (Finn Witrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro), who were running an investment firm out of their garage, found out what was going on and got retired investment banker Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) to help them sit at "the big boys' table." 

They all profited financially for predicting the collapse and betting against the mortgage market, but they all paid the price of knowing just how broken the financial world really was, and sadly, in many ways, still is.  And this is not a spoiler because we all know about the housing market collapse and we all know there is always someone profiting, no matter what happens. There are no good guys in this.

All of this may sound very somber and hard to understand.

It might have been without skillful director Adam McKay at the helm and the darkly humorous script he brought to life from Michael Lewis' 2010 book (Lewis also wrote "Moneyball," and this film has a "Moneyball" feel).  Though we know the story, the fun is watching it all play out in this brilliant film.

Original cinematic devices abound as well as a clever use of breaking through the fourth wall (at times the actors talk directly into the camera to the audience) to give the film humor and freshness and a fun way to explain some of the financial jargon used in the film.

For example, the beautiful Margot Robbie plays herself and explains how the mortgage backed securities failed when they were packaged with risky subprime mortgages. She does this while sitting in a bubble bath sipping champagne.  Talking directly to the camera she breaks it down in easy to understand (and sexy) language. After she finished, my husband leaned over and whispered, "I liked that." I replied, "Duh...I think that was the point." He didn't fall asleep after that.

This device is used throughout the film to comic effect, with Tony Bourdain explaining CDOs ("collateralized debt obligations"), comparing them to using three-day old fish to make fish stew.  When you use old fish to make fish stew, now it's no longer three-day old fish.  It's something new - it's fish stew!  No one will know it stinks! 

And Selena Gomez and economist, Richard Thaler, explain Synthetic CDOs while playing blackjack in Las Vegas.  I first saw this use of calling upon celebrities to help explain the action in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall," when Woody called upon Marshall ("The medium is the message") McLuhan to put down a pedantic film professor while waiting in line for a movie.

This all works really well in the film, because one of the weapons that the banking and securities industries used to their advantage was the fact that laypeople didn't know what the hell they were talking about, giving them a fog bank of jargon to hide behind while they did their evil deeds creating financial instruments that were doomed to fail, an irony since they tried to blame poor people and irresponsible borrowers for the financial collapse when in fact they were selling them loans that they couldn't pay back.

Those subprime loans might not have been Triple A, but I rate the ensemble cast as Triple A.  Christian Bale is right up there with Tom Hardy and Eddie Redmayne, in my estimation, as our best actors, a trifecta of actors who inhabit their roles. Bale creates a character that is mesmerizing. But Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling and the other actors also stand out.

Adam McKay's direction is worthy of his Best Director Oscar nod as is the screenwriting nomination for him and his co-writer Charles Randolph.  But who knew?  McKay is not known for sophisticated comedy/dramas in the David O. Russell vein (the energy, odd characters and look of this film reminded me of "American Hustle," which coincidentally also starred Bale), as heretofore he has directed Will Ferrell movies ("Anchorman," "Talladega Nights").  But he showed his directing and screenwriting chops with this one.

Brad Pitt, one of the producers, should also be congratulated for getting this important film made.

I am starting to get these visceral reactions to really good films.  My eyes tear up at the end.  And I am not talking about when there is a sad ending.  That happened to me at the end of "Spotlight" and it happened again here.  I attribute it to my love of film, an emotional response to one that is wonderful. It's like shouting "Bravo" after a wonderful operatic aria or paying homage to a rock god by waving a lighter around at a rock concert.  Both "Spotlight" and this film are really, really good films in every way and do what really, really good films are supposed to do.  They make you feel something.  This one should make you feel angry.

Bravo!  And if I had a lighter, I would wave it around!

Rosy the Reviewer says...an important film that should be required viewing for all Americans.

 

 

 

 

***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

Now Out on DVD

Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

A teenager in 1970's San Francisco has an affair with her mother's boyfriend.

Minnie Getz (Bel Powley) lives with her mother, Charlotte (Kristen Wiig, who continues to show her acting versatility) and her mother's boyfriend, Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard). She has just had her first sexual encounter, is enjoying the hell out of this revelation and is now obsessed with sex. She has a crush on Monroe and basically seduces him, though he should know better than to mess around with a 15-year-old girl. 

Minnie is an artist and draws cartoons very much like those Zap Comix some of us remember from the 70's.  The cartoons come to life to demonstrate her angst and obsession with sex.  She also records her diary on tapes and when her mother discovers the tapes and her affair with Monroe, all hell breaks loose.

The film directed by Marielle Heller (she also adapted the screenplay from the graphic novel by Phoebe Gloeckner) is the juxtoposition between a young girl's fantasies and the reality of sex and adult misbehavior.  It's also a reminder that there were not a lot of boundaries in the 70's. But it's also refreshing to see a film where the female takes control of her own sexuality, even if that female is only 15.  It's also refreshing that the film doesn't really judge Minnie, or anyone else, really.  It's just life.

It's a reminder that when you are 15, you feel like you are the center of the universe.  You wallow in your teenage angst and hopeless relationships...and yes, sex.  Though the film does not make a point to judge, if this film is a barometer of what men are really like, then men are basically pervs.  C'mon, a three-way with Minnie and one of her girlfriends?  Geez, Monroe.  And I can attest that Minnie's Mom with her drinking, smoking and drug use is not a typical librarian, though some of us librarians were pretty wild in the 70's.

The story is quirky and engaging, but this film is all about Powley, a British actress, whose long hair, big eyes and Bettie Page bangs compel you to watch her every move and root for her. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...see it for a wonderful performance by Powley and as a reminder of what teenage girls get up to!





John Denver: Country Boy (2013)

A documentary about the life and career of singer John Denver.

Denver grew up a military "brat" in Roswell, New Mexico as Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.  Because his father was a bomber pilot in the military his family moved around a lot and John's guitar was his entre to making friends.

At a young age, he knew he wanted to be a singer so he moved to L.A. and was hired to be a part of the New Christy Minstrels.  Because Henry John Deutschendorf didn't fit on the posters, he was named John Denver, "Denver" being one of the songs they sang. He later became part of the Chad Mitchell Trio.

One Christmas he decided to record his own album as a Christmas gift for his friends.  On that self-published album was a song he had written called "Baby, I hate to go," which came to the attention of Peter, Paul and Mary.  The song was later changed to "Leaving on a Jet Plane," and became a huge hit for them.  However, John was still toiling in the Chad Mitchell Trio, but when they broke up, he struggled to get a solo career going.  But when legendary talent agent Jerry Weintraub took a liking to him, he recorded "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and the rest is history.   Denver became a star.

Denver moved to Aspen before it became the playground of the rich and famous and started many of his activist work centered around nature and environmentalism.  "Rocky Mountain High" was inspired by his life there.

Denver's personality served him well as he was deemed a natural for a TV variety show and his singing career thrived, though he was not a good fit for the rock and roll 70's.  He was ridiculed by the rock press and Rolling Stone Magazine castigated him, calling him the "Mickey Mouse of Rock." His fans loved him but he failed to move the critics.

Annie Denver, John's ex-wife and muse for "Annie's Song" is interviewed along with others.

Little known facts from the film:  He had an African-American son, was a proponent of EST and despite his "gee, golly, far out" persona, he was actually a quiet, introspective guy. He was also an early environmental activist and under the Carter Administration worked to stamp out hunger.  He also was scheduled to go up in the Challenger Space Shuttle but Christa McAuliffe trumped him for that honor and we all know how that ended.

But then Denver's star faded.  He wasn't even asked to be a part of "We Are The World," despite his charitable work with hunger relief.  His marriage to Annie had ended after 15 year and his second marriage after only four.  That was followed by some DUI's, but despite all of that, he could still enthrall an audience.  He was working on his career when he died on October 12, 1997 flying an experimental plane over Monterey Bay.

When Denver died in the 90's, he was no longer the huge star he had once been.  But when he was big, he was as big as Elvis.  However, his exuberant personality ("Far Out!") and pleasant tunes and vocals were dismissed by the music critics who called him "The Ronald Reagan of Pop." And this hurt him.

I feel a personal connection to John Denver.  First, he was introduced to me by a friend from long ago when I was going through some things and, second, Denver's plane went down in Monterey Bay, right off the beach of the town of Pacific Grove, the town I was living in at the time and had been for almost 30 years. Denver was only 53 when he died.

This is an affectionate portrait which first played on BBC and later on PBS (it's available to stream on Netflix).

Rosy the Reviewer says...a happy and sad film experience that honors Denver's legacy.

 

 

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

263 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?


Ace in the Hole (1951)

A big-city news man finds himself toiling in a dead-end job at a small Albuquerque newspaper until the story of a lifetime falls into his lap.

Out-of-work newspaper reporter (he has been fired from his big city jobs), Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) talks his way into a job at the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin but after a year of covering fairs and small-time events, he is restless and spends his time taunting his office colleagues. 

While on his way to cover a rattlesnake hunt, he stops at a gas station/diner in the shadow of some Native American cliff dwellings and discovers that a man is trapped in one of the caves. Sensing a story, Chuck goes into the cave and finds Leo (Richard Benedict) pinned under some fallen debris.  He befriends Leo and engineers the rescue effort, but instead of making sure Leo is rescued the fastest way, Chuck manipulates the situation to play it out as long as possible so he can milk the story creating a media circus and getting him his old New York City job back.  The longer Leo stays down there the better it is or everyone.

As the days go by, more and more people arrive to watch the rescue efforts.  It's a literal circus with tents, rides, souvenirs and people camping out.  Leo's wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling, who came to typify the tough talking gun moll), is making a lot of money in the diner as more and more people arrive to watch the rescue efforts.  She also comes on to Chuck, who has now become a media sensation himself as he goes into the cave everyday to see Leo. 

And Leo lies in the cave as the media circus plays out and things go horribly wrong. The film has a dark twist ending I never saw coming. 

This film was prescient in its depiction of the sensationalism that would overtake the media in years to come with so-called "human interest stories," that profit on the misfortune of others.  The story is reminiscent of Baby Jessica McClure who was stuck in a well. Remember that one? The media loves stories that they can milk as long as possible, thus creating an audience that keeps coming back for more.

When we think of the movies from the 40's and 50's, we tend to think of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald musicals or screwball comedies.  We forget that long before "Spotlight" or "The Big Short," some of our greatest message films came out that era and this is one of them.

Directed and written by acclaimed director, Billy Wilder, this is classic film noir with Wilder's trademark snappy dialogue:

"I met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my life, but you...you are 20 minutes" or "I don't go to church.  Kneeling bags my nylons."

Why it's a Must See: "[This film] is noted for two things: It's the only collaboration between Kirk Douglas and Billy Wilder, and it's one of the angriest and most bitter films ever to come out of the Hollywood studio system...The anger lingers far beyond the story's end, and Wilder's trademark verbal zingers barely sugarcoat the story's bitter core, which indicts us all.  Poignant and thoughtful."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

Director Billy Wilder is probably best known for the film "Some Like it Hot," and Kirk Douglas is probably best known by the younger generation as Michael Douglas' father.  But in the Golden Age of Hollywood, well before movies like "Spotlight" and "The Big Short," Wilder was directing some of our best and most thought-provoking films ("Sunset Blvd," "The Lost Weekend," "The Apartment") and Douglas was as hot an actor as Brad Pitt is today.  And here he is at the top of his acting game as a man doomed by his own arrogance and cynicism.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a riveting indictment of American culture and our insatiable desire for sensation by one of our greatest film directors. (b & w)

***Book of the Week***

My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl (2015)

Editor-in-Chief of the much-loved and now defunct Gourmet Magazine, Ruth Reichl, shares her sadness and dismay when the magazine folded and how getting back into the kitchen helped cure her blues.

When Reichl first heard that the magazine was folding after 69 years, she was stunned.  She herself was 61 and wondering what she was going to do for the rest of her life or if anyone would hire her.  She retreated to her kitchen for comfort.

I tend to do the same thing.  When I am at loose ends, I like to cook.  I wrote my version in a blog post called "Cooking in an Empty Nest."

Foodies may know Reichl from her food critic years or her current tenure as a judge on "Top Chef," but if you want more information about her or are unfamiliar with her, I recommend starting with her wonderful autobiographies "Garlic and Saphires: The Secret Life of a Critic at Large (2006), "Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table (2009)" and "Comfort Me With Apples: More Tales Growing up at the Table (2010)."

In this book, she takes us through the seasons, starting in the fall, when she was first informed of the magazine's demise, and cooks the food that coincides with the seasons and comforts us when we are snowed in, noticing the first buds of spring or sweating from the summer heat.

Who could resist recipes with names like "The Cake That Cures Everything"  or "Hot Fudge to Soothe Your Soul?"  My particular favorites are the "Longchamps Rice Pudding with Raisins" and her "No Knead Bread."  But you might enjoy the "Thai Noodles," her takes on spaghetti carbonara and the grilled cheese sandwich or weigh in on whether her "Real Fried Chicken" and "High-Heat Turkey" are the best.

However, despite the delicious recipes, this is not just a cookbook. It's also a memoir written in Reichl's inimitable and intimate style about a difficult time in her life and how returning to her kitchen where she could enjoy the long, slow ritual of making chicken stock or the bright green color of parsley as she ran it under the faucet as a meditation that helped her figure out where to go next.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a soothing reminder of the healing power of cooking really good food.

***Restaurant of the Week***

 

 

Mkt: a tiny little gem tucked away in Tangletown.

There are only 28 seats in this Ethan Stowell restaurant (which joins his other 11 Seattle restaurants, giving restaurateur Tom Douglas's 13 and counting a run for his money), but there also aren't any bad seats.  Those that allow you to watch the kitchen in action are the best, especially when the chef reaches over and hands you a lovely amuse bouche of stuffed endive while you are waiting for your entre.

With a lovely seasonal menu of plates meant to be shared, it reminded me of Stowell's "How To Cook a Wolf" restaurant up on Queen Anne, but here you can watch your own food being prepared in the open kitchen.  There's no Gordon Ramsay histrionics amongst the staff as they efficiently go about preparing the whole trout or the seared scallops.  From the charred brussels sprouts with black umami sauce to the grilled fingerling potatoes with gremolata to the baby lettuce salad with soft cooked egg, everything was prepared and sauced to perfection.   

Rosy the Reviewer says...be sure to make a reservation or you will miss out on a divine meal.

 

That's it for this week!

Thanks for reading!

 

See you Tuesday

for

"Some Thoughts on Thoughtfulness"

 

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