Since You Went Away

I think most of my regular readers know of my love for classic films, particularly those from the 40's and 50's.  Today I'd like to talk about a perhaps forgotten gem, "Since You Went Away".  This is one of those "Women's" pictures from the war years.  Part patriotic propaganda, part sentimental weepy.  It stars Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple as a wife and her two daughters trying to keep it all together on the homefront while their husband and father is off at war.  Sure it's melodramatic, but it's also heartfelt, and somewhat realistic nowadays while we're in another war-time situation.  And man, it gets me going.  There I was this morning, jogging on the trampoline, and balling my eyes out over Jennifer Jones and her fiance Robert Walker as they're parting for him to head overseas, and then later as she receives tragic news.  Yep, sobbing my eyes out is more like it. And then thrilling later on when Jennifer Jones and Claudette Colbert both tell off Agnes Moorehead for her lack of patriotism and sacrifice for the war effort. Fabulous. Four hankies out of four.

Country Not So Strong

Man, movie critics really do have it rough.  Sometimes coming up with something brilliant to say abut a movie you've just seen is mighty difficult.  Case in point for me is the new movie "Country Strong".  I've been trying for over a week now to come up with something profound.  I guess it's just one of those movies that leaves you feeling blah afterward, and really what can you say after that?  

What does it have going for it?  Not much really, other than a pretty decent performance from Gwyneth Paltrow as the country star fresh out of rehab, and a killer country soundtrack.  Other than that, there's not much to say. It seems that it's about selfish people doing selfish things and hurting each other along the way.  I think.  Because frankly the movie's as messy and convoluted as Paltrow's Kelly Canter.  Ho hum.

Yay and Nay

Today I'd like to introduce a new feature of the blog that I'll call "Yay and Nay".  In this feature, we'll discuss commonly associated pairs.  Today we'll start off with Matt Damon (Yay) and Ben Affleck (Nay), good friends who came into the business at roughly the same time, and share an Oscar together.

Yay for Matt Damon - I really like him as an actor.  He's always willing to do something different and interesting - whether it's putting on weight to play "The Informant", or wear a false nose in "Ocean's 13", go for sideburns and a lisp in "True Grit", or learn an assassin's tricks in the "Bourne" movies.  He doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, and really seems to become the characters that he plays.

On the other hand, there's Ben Affleck.  Whenever you see him, you can't get past him as a personality.  He's always Ben Affleck, and he's always acting, and worried about how he looks.  No false noses, no weight gain, nothing that really makes him let go and become a character.  Nay!

500 Days of Summer

Another movie from a couple of years ago, that I missed when it came out.  It originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.  Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zooey Deschanel, it's the story of a guy's relationship with a girl named Summer, over the course of 500 days.  To tell you much more would probably ruin it for you, so I'll stop there.  But needless to say, it's smart, funny, and charming, and I have to say realistic.  Highly recommended.

State of Play

If you're into government conspiracy thrillers, and really, who isn't, might I suggest "State of Play".  I missed it when it came out a couple of years ago, but thank goodness for Netflix.  Finally watched it this week, and really liked it.  It's got a terrific cast - Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck (ok, maybe not Ben), Helen Mirren, Robin Wright, and Jeff Daniels.  The basic plot outline involves two supposedly unrelated killings, one of which was the mistress of a well-known Congressman.  That sets the story in motion as a couple of Newspaper Reporters try to hunt down the details of the conspiracy.  It's fun, it's suspenseful, and you're never really sure who are the good guys and bad guys.  I totally recommend it.

Dean Spanley

Happened to catch a terrific movie the other day, that I'd apparently missed when it came out back in 2008.  It's called "Dean Spanley", and stars Sam Neill as a clergyman who is able to remember his past life as a dog.  Also in the cast are Jeremy Northam (and what true chick doesn't adore him), Peter O'Toole, and Bryan Brown.  I won't give too much of the plot away, but needless to say, it all comes full circle in the end.

It's a fabulous and warm-hearted movie (and is available on Netflix) and I highly recommend it.

 

Lowest Common Denominators

A new movie opened this weekend, starring Vince Vaughn.  I'm not planning to see it.  Early reviews say that it's nothing more than people have come to expect from him, which is your basic combination of raunchy, gross-out, unintelligent and unfunny.

This leads me to wonder what people see in him and in several of his current and former co-stars.  I know that the movie business is just that - a business.  And it seems that none of these movies really make money anymore, so I fail to see why studios are still willing to fund them.  It doesn't seem that they get the return on their investment.  Consider for instance the following actors - Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller.  All of them can at times be sweet and charming, and terrific actors.  Vince Vaughn in "A Cool, Dry Place", Own Wilson in "Marley and Me", Will Ferrell in "Stranger Than Fiction", Adam Sandler in "Spanglish", Ben Stiller in "Keeping the Faith".  All those movies are for the most part sweet and intelligent, and have a lot humor.  Reign these guys in, give them an actual intelligent script, and a good director, and you can get terrific performances out of them.  Leave them to their own devices, and you get nothing but the lowest common denominator.

For Classic Film Lovers

For those who are fans of classic film, there were two programs of note last night that were worth your time.  First, an interview on TCM with Luise Rainer, recognized as the oldest living Academy Award Winner.  The occasion for broadcasting this was her 101st birthday, which was yesterday.  She won back to back Oscars in 1936 and 1937, for "The Great Ziegfeld" and "The Good Earth", and to date, is the youngest person to win two Oscars.  Despite her age, she is still vibrant, feisty and theatrical.  Obviously she doesn't travel much anymore, so it was a rare and real treat to hear her memories of studio boss Louis B. Mayer and co-star Paul Muni.

Later, PBS broadcast an "American Masters" on Jeff Bridges.  He's starred in some of the biggest movies of the last 40 years, and so I consider him a film classic.  I've seen many of his movies over the years, the most recent being "True Grit", and it was fascinating to hear him talk about his working process, his many interests, and to hear reflections from his directors and co-stars.

Needless to say, it was a terrific evening.  On the one hand, it was a glimpse into Old Hollywood and the workings of the studio system.  On the other, it was a glimpse into the film business as it exists today.  Fascinating.