Friday, March 1, 2019

"Cold War" and The Week in Reviews

[I review one of the Oscar nominated Best Foreign Films "Cold War" as well as DVDs "The Front Runner" and "Mid90s."  The Book of the Week is "Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive."  I also bring you up-to-date with "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with Wayne Wang's "Smoke."]




Cold War


In Poland during the Cold War, a man and a woman fight a romantic cold war of their own.

Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) and Irena (Agata Kulesza) are traveling the Polish countryside in 1949 seeking talent for talent a musical company to preserve Polish folk music.

Enter Zula. We learn early that Zula (Joanna Kulig) is a bit of a con.  She worms her way into an audition for the company where she catches the eye of Wiktor, the musical director.  She makes it into the company, quickly becomes a star, and despite the fact that Zula and Wiktor are clearly mismatched, they become lovers and a star-crossed love affair ensues.  

As Wiktor becomes increasingly unhappy with his lot in Communist Poland and with the company that has become a propaganda machine for Stalin, when the company arrives in pre-wall East Berlin, Wiktor asks Zula to escape with him to Paris. She agrees,  but when the agreed upon times arrives and she doesn't show, Wiktor makes his escape by himself.

Years pass, and when the company tours Paris, Zula and Wiktor are reunited.  Wiktor has been playing piano in a jazz club and lives a rather bohemian life in a Parisian garret. The two find each other again and as time progresses there is a push-pull in the relationship.  Their love affair is fraught and ultimately self-destructive.

This is an epic love story that never really sizzles.  Neither Wiktor or Zulu is a particularly likable character, Zula particularly, who seems more self-serving than self-sacrificing when it comes to love especially as the life of an expat.  

Music plays a big role so if you like Polish folk music you will be in heaven.  But even if that is not your thing, as time passes (the film goes from 1949 to 1964), the music changes with the times and includes jazz, pop tunes and rock.

This is a classic wartime romance that, with its small screen ratio, harks back to the black and white films of the 40's and 50's.  It was one of this year's nominees for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and, despite being a great film, could not hold off the juggernaut that was "Roma."  The two were both in black and white and in the race for the Oscar, the critics called them "The War of the Black and Whites," but as we know "Roma" took home that prize.

Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski and co-written with Janusz Glowacki and Piotr Borkowski, the film is loosely based on Pawlikowski's parents, which if you see the film you will find very interesting.  More than I would ever want to know about my parents.

Rosy the Reviewer says...though this is a classic wartime love story, the film ironically lacks passion.  This couple's relationship is as cold as the Cold War itself.

(b & w, in Polish with English subtitltes)



***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***
(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!


On DVD




The Front Runner (2018)


Does anyone remember Gary Hart?  Does anyone care?

Well, there are some parallels to be drawn from this story to where we are now.  For example, front runner in the 1988 election Gary Hart was brought down by one sexual indiscretion.  Let's see, sexual indiscretions.  Who in politics currently comes to mind?

Gary Hart (played by Hugh Jackman) was only 46 when he decided to run for President.  He was full of progressive ideas: he believed we needed to ward off climate change, take care of the underprivileged, military reform and "enlightened" foreign policy.  He was a popular candidate and could very well have won the Presidency, but shortly before the election there were rumors of a sex scandal.  It didn't help that Hart and his wife, Lee (Vera Farmiga), had already separated once. The media got wind of the rumors, and shortly before the election, Hart was out due to the media attention even though the rumors were never proven.

This film is not so much the story of Gary Hart's life or even his life at that time.  It's more the story of how the tabloids started to zero in on the private lives of politicians and the implied aftermath since...as in where we are now.

It is my belief that most people who, whatever their agendas, run for office because they want to be of service to their country (except maybe one person who shall remain nameless). But this is a sad reminder that if they do, there had better not be any skeletons in their closets.  Since most of us have some, sad to think of all of the great people who decide NOT to run because they smoked marijuana once (and inhaled!) or did something that would come back and bite them.  The press protected Kennedy and his womanizing.  Was Hart the turning point, when the press decided that political shenanigans were as fascinating as those of celebrities?  Is this when politicos became fair game for the paparazzi?      

"In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve (Joseph de Maistre - often mis-attributed to Abraham Lincoln)."

Mmmm.  Well, the point here, I think, was that Hart had one indiscretion and no one could tolerate the thought of their Presidential candidate having extra-marital dalliances.  Within weeks of its disclosure, a sex scandal erupted and Hart was gone, despite the fact he tried to spin it.  

Now let's fast forward 30 years to the 2016 election.  Why did we care back then and we don't seem to care now?

How is it possible that this one unproven story about Hart lost him his Presidential bid and yet we now have an elected President who not only had many, many complaints and rumors of that nature swirling around him during the election - many of them proven - but who not only won the election but still governs amid controversy and allegations of sexual misconduct and racism?

And had Hart run and won, would there have been no George W. Bush and everything else that followed?  We will never know.

Jackman does a creditable job as Hart.  I mean, is there anything Hugh Jackman can't do?  He can sing, he can dance, he can wear long fingernails and be a superhero, he can do drama, comedy and now we know he can play an arrogant politician and wear a very bad wig (Hart was known for his nice head of hair but I think they could have done better with that 1980's wig).  Though his Aussie accent could be heard at times, Jackman gives it his all.  Farmiga is also always good, though she doesn't have much to do here, and J.K. Simmons also shows up, a perennial favorite whenever a movie needs a no-nonsense hard ass.

Directed by Jason Reitman with a screenplay by Reitman, Matt Bai (based on his book) and Jay Carson, sadly, this film is very one note.  Hart's story isn't really enough to carry a 113 minute film and, in fac,t we didn't really learn that much about Hart, the man.  Nothing much happened in the first 30 minutes (Hubby fell asleep), and when things did start falling apart for Hart, there wasn't much intensity or emotion. Though a similar story of political scandal, "Chappaquidick" was also a one note story, but it had intensity and emotion.  This one didn't.

Rosy the Reviewer says...despite some relevancy to today, the film is as dry and lacking of emotion as Hart himself seemed to be.  I just wished the film had had more heart.  Sorry.  Couldn't resist.




Mid90s (2018)


A troubled 13-year-old in 1990's LA finds his niche with some kids at a skate shop.

Millennials can relive the years when mix tapes and beepers abounded and most kids knew who the Wu-Tang Clan was.  So what's a woman of a certain age doing watching this film?

Stevie (Sunny Sulijic) is a sweet middle-schooler who has an abusive older brother, Ian (Lucas Hedges), and I mean abusive, as in he beats the crap out of him regularly (a strange role for Hedges. We are not used to him playing unsympathetic characters).  And Stevie's single mother is useless.  She is needy as hell and distracted.  So when Stevie meets some skaters at a skate shop, he feels he has found his family.  He practices his skateboarding skills and basically gets adopted by the foul-mouthed skater kids, all with nicknames, some unprintable, and we see first hand how good kids go wrong.  Stevie starts stealing from Mom, starts smoking pot, drinking and also self harms himself.  The film explains much of why kids end up in gangs. Stevie and his friends get up to all kinds of things parents would not approve of and we wonder, will Stevie remain the sweet kid we first got to know or will he go off the rails?

Written and directed by Jonah Hill, one can't help but wonder if this was the story of his childhood. The film feels very improvisational and almost a documentary as in the 1984 documentary "Streetwise," about street kids growing up on the streets of Portland.

Parents probably shouldn't see movies like this.  I don't think we really want to know what our kids get up to when we are not around. But when kids don't feel a part of a family and there is abuse and neglect they find a sense of family elsewhere...and for good or ill, grow up.  

Rosy the Reviewer says...millenials will be able to relate and if you like good films, you will too (and that's what this woman of a certain age was doing watching this film)!






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


105 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?




Smoke (1995)


A Brooklyn smoke shop in the 1990's is the backdrop for several vignettes about the store's owner and habitues.

This is the story of Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel), the owner of a Brooklyn cigar shop and the various lives of those who come together there. Auggie loves people, so locals come in to hang out and talk.  And boy, do these people talk!

There's Paul Benjamin (William Hurt), a writer with writer's block; Rashid (Harold Perrineau), a damaged kid who ends up saving Paul's life but is also running for his own life; and Ruby (Stockard Channing), Auggie's ex, who turns up to tell him they have a daughter together and the daughter is now drug-addicted and she needs his help.  All of these stories play out and intertwine in and out of the smoke shop.

Auggie owns the local smoke shop in Brooklyn, and added to that is his "life's work," which is standing across the street and taking photos of his corner - 3rd Street and 8th Avenue -  every day at 8 a.m. 

"A record of my little spot." 

He has 4000 photos of that same corner at that same time. When Auggie shows his photo album to Paul, Paul doesn't understand because all of the photos are the same.  Auggie replies that they are all the same, but also different at which point Paul spots his wife in one of the photos, his pregnant wife who had been shot and killed outside the store.  Now Paul understands the differences in the photos. It's all about details. The big and small details in people's lives, may of which have played out in front of Auggie's store.

Paul, a widower, was a best-selling writer but, now, after the death of his wife, is now struggling to write.  He absent-mindedly almost walks into an oncoming bus but is saved by Rashid, a teenager who doesn't seem to have any place to live so Paul invites him to stay with him if he needs to.  Rashid takes him up on his offer, but after a few days Paul kicks him out.  When Rashid's aunt comes looking for him (not sure how she found Paul), we learn that Rashid is not his real name (it's Thomas), nor that much else he has told Paul is true.  He is basically an orphan.  His mother died and his father left.  Later we learn that Rashid witnessed a robbery and found the bag of money the bad guys dropped during their getaway so now they are after him.  So Rashid hits the road to find his Dad (Forest Whitaker), which he does, though when he does, he doesn't let on who he is...at first.

Meanwhile, Ruby, Auggie's ex, shows up wanting him to help their "daughter," though Auggie doesn't really believe Ruby and he had ever had a daughter together, but the two go see Felicity (Ashley Judd in one of her early performances, though not much more than a cameo) who seems beyond help.

Directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster and written by Auster, the film has an improvisational feel but also the stiffness of a stage play because the dialogue seems very stilted at times. Probably because Auster was a novelist before becoming a film director.

Most of these actors were staples in films of the 90's. 

Hurt was a big thing in the 80's but when he made this film he was no longer the new big thing, though he has maintained his cred as a good actor.  Keitel is an actor who usually plays edgy and unsympathetic characters (if you don't believe me, see "Bad Lieutenant"), so it's refreshing to see him play a sympathetic, kind character, though there is always that edge in evidence. Stockard Channing is her usual twitchy self; Ashley Judd is there for about a minute; and this is an early feature film role for Whitaker.  Perrineau was a newcomer, though really strange that he was 32 when he played the 17 year old Rashid.  But put all of these actors together, and you have a stellar ensemble and a story full of serendipity with characters trying to connect and eventually intersecting.

Why it's a Must See: "...while the fabric of society may for better or worse be in constant flux or full of gaps, Wang and Auster optimistically imply that it's the inherent goodness of man which keeps it all from unraveling."
---"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

If you watch the film, don't miss the credits where Auggie's "Christmas Story" is played out, a story that Auster wrote for the New York Times and what drew Wang to this collaboration.

Rosy the Reviewer says...though the film has a great cast with early film roles for several of them and some good things going for it, I just don't see this as one of the greatest films that I must see before I die.




***The Book of the Week***



Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land (2019)


A young woman alone with her baby finds it difficult to survive.

Stephanie Land, growing up in the Pacific Northwest, planned to go to college and become a writer.  All of that changed when a summer fling led to her becoming pregnant. When her boyfriend learned of her pregnancy, he became hostile and wanted nothing to do with her, leaving her to fend for herself.  She took whatever jobs she could to survive, mostly housekeeping jobs, cleaning up other peoples' messes.  But she took online classes and began to write, telling the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans who were forced to accept food stamps and help from the government to survive. 

This book documents her struggle as well as the struggles of so many other poor Americans and the stigma attached to being poor. Land talks about her humiliation when the store clerk makes it clear to everyone in line that Land is using food stamps and often people in line have no compunction making her feel like a leach on society.  The book also explores what it's like to work as a maid for rich people who treated her like "a nameless ghost," not being able to tell her from any other cleaner.

But she gets them back by exposing how sad so many of their lives are.  We may not "see" those who clean up after us, but they see plenty about us.  And I mean plenty.  Don't think your maids and cleaners don't think things when they see what you thrown away or leave around.  They do...and they judge you.

"I became a witness. Even odder was my invisibility and anonymity, though I spent several hours a month in their homes.  My job was to wipe away dust and dirt and make lines in carpets to remain invisible.  I almost felt like I had the opportunity to get to know my clients better than any of their relatives did.  I'd learn what they are for breakfast, what shows they watched, if they'd been sick and for how long.  I'd see them, even if they weren't home, by the imprints left in their beds and tissues on their nightstand.  I'd know them in a way few people did or maybe ever would."

But this is also a book about hope and the power of the human spirit because Land overcame her circumstance and become a journalist and published this book.

I have a bit of a personal connection to this story (don't I always)?

Though I never struggled like Land or had to work menial jobs to survive, I did work as a maid one summer.  My mother wasn't having a daughter home from college partying every night and sleeping until noon everyday so she got me a job as a maid at the local Holiday Inn so even though I only did that for a couple of months,  I have some insight into what it's like to clean up other people's crap and to be treated as a faceless person. 


When I worked at the Holiday Inn, I was welcomed into the world of the other maids, or so I thought.  I believed them when they told me I had to give them any tips I received because they belonged to the person I was filling in for, something I know now was not true.  I was 19, a college student, only there for the summer, and very naive and they worked me.  They also liked to shock my little middle class ass. For example, at one break, they pulled some sex toys out of a bag they had found in one of the rooms.  I had no idea what those things were and raucous laughter followed my reaction.  But at the time, I also didn't realize this was these women's lives, maybe forever.  I got to go back to college and the privileged life I led.

And there's more, of the personal connection thing.  Land's story all played out not too far from where I had been living for the last 14 years so I could relate to her locations and stories.  She even talked about The Barefoot Bandit and his shenanigans, which was big news when I lived there.  Geez, I hope she wasn't one of the cleaners who cleaned my house!


Though I know I have never really lived on the edge like Land, I too, have had hard times, and I sometimes have trouble with memoirs where things go from bad to worse to worse and there is little relief - endless stories of disappointment and hardship. But then, like I said, I have never really been there and this is a good reminder to us all that there are hard-working people out there who barely make enough money to survive and who deserve some help.

Rosy the Reviewer says...you will never look at your house cleaner(s) the same again (Now I'm going to go tidy up and empty my own waste baskets before the cleaners get here)!





Thanks for reading!




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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.  Scroll down below the synopsis and the listings for the director, writer and main stars to where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics" - If I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.


Friday, February 22, 2019

"Isn't It Romantic" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the rom-com "Isn't it Romantic" as well as DVDs "The Guilty" and "Dog Days."  The Book of the Week is another cookbook: Jamie Oliver's "5 Ingredients: Quick and Easy Food."  I also bring you up-to-date with "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project" with "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters."]




Isn't It Romantic


Yet another movie where someone gets bonked on the head and wakes up to a different life and learns she had the power all along. 

Sheesh.  Two "Bonk-on-the-Head" movies in one week (see last week's review of "What Men Want").  What's going on here?  Can't screenwriters come up with some other romantic comedy trope to get women to love themselves?  I mean, do women have to literally be bonked on the head to figure that out?


Natalie (Rebel Wilson) learns early on from her disenchanted mother that girls like them will never have lives as depicted in romantic comedies so when she grows up, she is not only cynical about romance but undervalues herself and lets herself get pushed around.  She hates romantic comedies so much that she spends all day ranting to her assistant, Whitney (Betty Gilpin) about everything that is wrong with romantic comedies. 


So of course when she bangs her head and wakes up in the hospital, her life has become a romantic comedy!


Her doctor is hunky, her room looks like it was designed by Williams and Sonoma and her clothes have suddenly been transformed into couture.  When she gets home, her New York City street is filled with flowers, smells wonderful and her apartment is gorgeous, full of designer clothes and shoes.  Her drug-dealing next-door neighbor is now the stereotypical requisite (in rom-coms anyway) very gay best friend; and where once she was overlooked and taken for granted at her architectural firm, she is now the star of the company. Of course there is also a hunky love interest (Liam Hemsworth) who instantly falls in love with her as soon as he sees her and Josh (Adam Devine), a guy at work who is obviously in love with her but who Natalie has put firmly in the friend zone.  And what makes it worse - it's PG-13 - which means no swearing and no sex!  I'm not exactly sure why we needed Priyanka Chopra in this as a love interest for Josh but then we wouldn't have a wedding for Natalie to stop, which is de rigeur to romantic comedies.


Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson with a screenplay by Erin Cardillo, Katie Silberman and Dana Fox, this is a romantic comedy within a romantic comedy, so brush up on your rom-coms and all of those tropes that make romantic comedies romantic comedies.  It's a test of your skills to pick out which movies are paid homage to - can you spot Julia Roberts' dress from "Pretty Woman? Do you see shades of "When Harry Met Sally" and "My Best Friend's Wedding" in this? 


But the real test is whether or not Rebel Wilson can carry a movie on her own.  So far we have come to know her playing raunchy fat girls.  She was the raunchy fat girl in the "Pitch Perfect" films (of which I am NOT a fan, by the way) and the raunchy fat girl in "How To Be Single."  Can she shoulder a film on her own?  The answer is yes. But not as a raunchy fat girl.  Here Wilson eschews that character and lets her sweetness shine through which makes her believable as a young woman who has given up on romance but eventually realizes love was right next to her all of the time. 


I am a bit on the fence about this one.


This is yet another female empowerment film (see "What Women Want," "Second Act," "Miss Bala,"  and most female-oriented films these days), but that's OK.  We need those films.  My question is the one joke premise - woman waking up from a bump on the head and her life is a romantic comedy.  Can that one joke sustain an 88 minute film?


And then there is the most important question for a romantic comedy, comedy being the operative word.  Is it funny? Romantic comedies are my jam.  When I have choice, I usually opt for the romantic comedy but so many times I am disappointed. 


But my answer to my questions is - mostly, yes.


I have come to the conclusion that I am fast moving toward female curmudgeon-hood. I don't find many comedies funny.  I didn't laugh much but since the audience members around me were laughing, I am starting to think it must be me, so perhaps you should take some of my reviews of comedies with a grain of salt.  Likewise, I did enjoy trying to figure out which movies were being spoofed so I guess the premise engaged me.  Certainly, there are worse movies out there.  See?  There I go again.  Being curmudgeonly.


Rosy the Reviewer says...I am going to stay a bit on the fence with this one but encourage you to go see for yourself and report back.  Is it me?






***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***
(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!

On DVD



The Guilty (2018)


A police officer assigned to dispatch duty is on a race against time to save a kidnapped woman, but learns that nothing is as it seems.

Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren), who has been relieved of his beat duty, is given a desk job as an emergency dispatcher. Asger is not happy working dispatch and he is crabby about it.  When he gets a caller who says he is OD'ing, Holm tells him it's his own fault and hangs up. Likewise with a caller who has been mugged by a prostitute.  I would call him a very judgmental emergency operator and would not want to get him if I called 911, not that I would be calling 911 about taking drugs or being mugged by a prostitute. 


However, when Holm gets a panicked call from, Iben, a young mother who has supposedly been kidnapped by her husband, everything changes and we, along with Holm, are immediately embroiled in a minute-by-minute white knuckle movie as Holm tries to save her.  And then there is a huge twist, and we see that Holm's quick assumptions about other people have led him down a very dark path.


The movie is mostly Cedergren as Holm and his interaction with Iben and others on the phone in real time. All we see is Holm and his reactions to the minute-by-minute phone exchanges and our imaginations take hold, sometimes imagining a worse scenario than if we were seeing it lived out on screen.  The photography is wonderfully close-up and claustrophobic which adds to the tension as Holm gets involved in this domestic drama and he realizes just how important his job is.  We also learn why Holm was reassigned to a desk job and the drama in his own life.  Just who is "The Guilty?"


Directed by Gustav Moller with a screenplay by Moller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen, this film very much reminded me of another film, "Locke," that, like this one, was mostly just a talking head.  You might think that would be boring, but it's riveting as the story unfolds about the young mother and about Holm himself and the assumptions he makes.  The film left me wondering how often we, too, make assumptions about others when we aren't privy to all of the facts.  You know what they say about the word "ASSUME!"


This is a Danish film so that means subtitles and we Americans aren't really very tolerant about reading subtitles.  I guess that's why so many wonderful "foreign" films get remade here in America, often to the film's detriment.  But if you don't watch foreign films, you are missing out on some really amazing film experiences.  And I am not alone - this film has had 33 award nominations, winning 27.


Rosy the Reviewer says...this film is not to be missed.




Dog Days (2018)


People are brought together by their dogs!

"What is it about dogs that brings us so much joy?...Whatever it is, dogs mean the world to us..."


So begins this film that shows we need dogs to find romance, friendship, love and a bunch of other stuff.  


The film is a series of vignettes about a group of dog lovers and their stories.


Tara (Vanessa Hudgens) is a barista in L.A. who discovers a little chihuahua by a dumpster.  She is hot for a cute doctor, not realizing that the nerdy guy (Jon Bass) who comes into the coffee shop all of the time is the guy for her. Then there's the couple (Eva Longoria and Rob Corddry), who have adopted a little girl and they can't figure out how to make her happy, and lonely Walter (Ron Cephas Jones), whose wife has died.  He has a rather contentious relationship with a young pizza delivery guy but when he has a heart attack and his dog, Mabel, runs away the kid helps him. And wouldn't you know, Mabel finds her way to the couple and their adopted daughter.  Then there is Dax (Adam Pally), a kind of loser musician whose sister makes him take care of her dog, Charlie, when she goes into labor even though he isn't allowed to have pets in his apartment. And, finally, Elizabeth (Nina Dobrev), a talk show host whose dog, Sammy, is depressed. She takes him to a dog therapist (Tig Notaro), but ends up pouring her heart out to the therapist about her breakup and her own depression. Later, Elizabeth interviews a football player (Tone Bell) and they get into a disagreement about whether being on a drill team qualifies as a sport and then, wouldn't you know, that football player is hired as her co-host.  But for all the dysfunction in these peoples' lives, dogs make it all better.


W.C. Fields was right when he said:  "Never work with children or animals!" Unfortunately, despite good performances by the actors, the cute dogs upstage the humans every time.  I mean, c'mon, who can resist a little chihuahua in a pink helmet.


Written by Elissa Matsueda and Erica Oyama and directed by Ken Marino, this is one of those films with separate stories that will all intertwine at the end. Everyone is connected. Remember those Garry Marshall movies "Mother's Day" and "New Year's Eve." Like that. Except with dogs.  And not only do all of the people get together, but the dogs are brought together too!  


I have to confess that I am a dog lover, a sucker for all things dog.  I think they are adorb, funny, sweet, and innocent so a movie like this is a gimme for me.  But don't get me wrong.  It's also a romantic comedy, so add romance and that gimmick where everything wraps up in a tidy way and you have a heart-warming story that won't tax your mind too much.   


And in case you doubt my love of dogs, if you will indulge me, I would like to share with you something I wrote about the dogs who have been important in my life and the importance of having a dog in your life.


"To All the Dogs I've Loved Before"


"Why Have a Dog?"


Gertrude Stein, in her inimitable way said, "I am I because my little dog knows me."


Rosy the Reviewer says...Stein was right and who can resist movies about dogs?  I can't.  And there is an inspirational message: sacrificing time and convenience to help others.  That's the way I was brought up...and my little dog too.



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


106 to go!

Have YOU seen this classic film?






Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)



A biopic about the life and death of writer Yukio Mishima (Ken Ogata).

Yukio Mishima was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, film director and nationalist.  He founded the Tatenokai or Shield Society which was a private militia dedicated to traditional Japanese values and support of the Emperor.  He wrote 35 novels, 25 plays, 200 short stories and eight volumes of essays and was considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century.  He was also a narcissist.


In 1970 with four of his militia members he took the general of the garrison hostage and gave a speech to the soldiers to try to persuade them to support the emperor and overturn the Constitution.  When this was unsuccessful, he committed suicide by seppuku, which seems to me is a rather unpleasant way to die.


This film has some amazing film credentials.


Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas produced with Paul Schrader directing and a musical score by Phillip Glass.  That tells it all.  Whether you like the film or not, it is certainly a class act.  But I have to say that Paul Schrader is a dark guy.  And he and I have a bit of a connection.  We are both from Michigan and grew up just a few miles apart.  Not sure if those Michigan winters led to his writing "Taxi Driver" and writing and directing other very dark films like "Hardcore" and "First Reformed."  More likely his strict Calvinist upbringing.  I guess this film fits right into that oeuvre with a gruesome ending, though we were spared the gory details.


Using black and white flashbacks, the film traces Mishima's life as it led up to his suicide. His grandmother took him from his mother at an early age because she thought he would die in his mother's care.  She kept him isolated and protected.  "You're just a fragile plant."  He returned to his mother at the age of 12 when his grandmother died and that is when he discovered the power of words.  As the left started staging political protests in the 60's, Mishima formed a "spiritual army" in support of the Emperor, which was more support of traditional Japanese values and trying to recreate the way of the Samurai, than support of the current Emperor.


In addition to Mashima's life story, the film also intercuts the story with scenes from his plays, "Temple of the Golden Pavilion," "Kyoko's House," and "Runaway Horses," which sadly, for me, bogged down the film.


Why it's a Must See: "Mishima is a film as illuminating and coherent as it is intricate and involved, boasting breathtaking production design by Eiko Ishioka, gleaming cinematography by John Bailey and a powerful, pulsing score by Philip Glass."

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

Rosy the Reviewer says...beautiful to look at and listen to, but for me, ultimately, unsatisfying.








***The Book of the Week***




5 Ingredients: Quick and Easy Food by Jamie Oliver (2019)


Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver shares easy recipes that only have five ingredients!

What everyday cook wouldn't relish a cookbook with dishes that only need five ingredients and that you can get on the table in 30 minutes or less?  I'm in!


Oliver is on a mission.  He wants us to cook!


"I want everyone to enjoy cooking from scratch and, armed with this book, there are no excuses."


Also 70% of the recipes are healthy and he covers all of the bases: meat, salads, vegetarian options, pasta and more. He also gives advice on how to stock your pantry. 



  • "Scrambled Egg Omelet"
  • "Lemony Zucchini Linquine"
  • "Chicken Noodle Stir-Fry"
  • "Peachy Pork Chops"
  • "Orange Polenta Cake"


All with only five ingredients and ready in less than 30 minutes!


This is Oliver's 20th cookbook so he certainly knows how to get the job done. One caution though. His recipes are quite British oriented, ones that perhaps are not familiar to American tastes such as fish pie and Banoffee Cheesecake.  I also ran into some recipes with unfamiliar ingredients, such as kicap manis and chili jam.  He likes that chili jam because it shows up frequently in his recipes. Those are probably common ingredients to the British cook, not so much here.  BTW, kicap manis is a sweet soy sauce and chili jam is an actual thing available on Amazon.


Also if you have ever seen Oliver on the telly (he's a Brit so I am doing Brit-speak), you know he is an outgoing guy who is enthusiastic about cooking.  I just wish the tone of the book was a little less enthusiastic about himself.  He throws around phrases like "brilliant combinations," "genius combinations," "fabulous ways with proteins" and "brilliant ways of cooking...that will blow your mind," all about him! It kind of got on my nerves after a bit but speaking of getting my mind blown. What really blew my mind was his kids' names! - Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice and River Rocket Blue Dallas.  Now those are some monikers to carry around for life!


Here is a taste (pardon the pun) of the recipes in the book:


"Speedy Spiced Shrimp Soup"



  • 8 oz. small frozen cooked peeled shrimp
  • 2/3 c. white basmati rice
  • 8 scallions
  • 2 heaping T. korma curry paste
  • 1 x 14-oz can of light coconut milk


Place the shrimp in a bowl of cold water so they can start to defrost.  Meanwhile, dry fry and toast the rice for 3 minutes in a large shallow casserole pan on a high heat, stirring regularly, while you trim and finely slice the scallions.  Add one tablespoon of olive oil, the scallions, and korma paste to the pan.  Stir for 2 minutes, then pour in the coconut milk and 2 and a half cans' worth of water.  Boil for 12 minutes, stirring everything occasionally.  With 6 minutes to go, drain the shrimp, finely chop, and stir into the soup.  When the rice is cooked through and the soup is your desired consistency, taste, season to utter perfection (see what I mean?) with sea salt and black pepper, and dish up.


Rosy the Reviewer says...if you can get over the self-congratulatory tone, this is a good cookbook with easy, tasty recipes perfect for the busy person who wants to cook from scratch.




Thanks for reading!


See you next Friday

for 


"Cold War"

and

The Week in Reviews


(What To See and What To Avoid)

as well as

the latest on


"My 1001 Movies I Must See

Before I Die Project" 






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Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll down below the synopsis and the listings for the director, writer and main stars to where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics" - If I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.