Category: Drama

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

I really enjoyed this movie which is based on true events during the Iranian hostage crisis during the late 1970s. I had totally forgotten that six Americans escaped and hid in the home of the Canadian ambassador. This is the story of the efforts by the CIA and the Canadians to sneak the six out of the country before they are discovered by the Iranians.

Ben Affleck stars and directs. He is turning into a good director; his previous film was the excellent The Town. He give a sold performance and also gets good performances from the always excellent John Goodman, Bryan Crasnton, Alan Arkin, and several supporting actors/actresses.

The film does a good job of recreating the embassy takeover and the environment in Iran at the time. It’s hard to believe that was over 30 years ago. The film also creates tension for an event where the outcome is known while throwing in some timely humor. The movie takes some poetic license to increase the tension but that is OK. Argo is definitely worth seeing.

Bill I’s Review – 4 out of 5

Echoing Bill’s review above, it’s a terrific, suspenseful, fast moving film, that surprised me given the fact that the ending is known to all of us in advance. Some random thoughts: 1) If you were one of these embassy workers hiding out in Tehran in the middle of the unpredictable hostage crisis, your life depending upon remaining un-recognized, especially when you are trying to escape via the major airport, wouldn’t you shave your mustache, or dye your hair, or get a new hairdo? 2) If you were the “Exfil” (not sure what that stands for) expert from the CIA (Ben Affleck’s character) and posing as 1 of a 6 person film crew, prepared to be questioned by the Revolutionary Guard about everything from who’s financing the film, to what is the plot, and what is the back story for each of the crew,  would you keep your crew housed in the Canadian ambassador’s house while you stayed in the nice high rise hotel? 3) If you were the CIA honcho leading the operation from HQ (an excellent Bryan Cranston), and you needed a phone manned from the film company in case an Iranian Revolutionary Guard decided to test Affleck’s “proof” that it’s a legitimate film, wouldn’t you staff a local LA based CIA agent at the phone 24×7 in case they called? In fact in 1979 wasn’t it technically possible to route an LA phone number directly to CIA HQ? 4) Finally, given the time difference (10 or 11 hours ahead of LA in Tehran), how likely is it that when they try to board the flight from Tehran (it’s light out, so it’s probably before 7 pm in Tehran) that the film company is working and manning its phones when you call to check? (6 pm in Tehran would be 7:30 am in LA). All quibbles I know, and since it’s a real story, there must be legitimate answers.

It is fascinating at the end, so be sure to sit through the beginning of the credits, to see how closely certain scenes matched the real scenes as documented from the 1979 events. And the actual people are shown, who are stunningly close to lookalikes to the actors. All except for our man, Ben, who in no way resembles the real (hispanic) Tony Mendez. I guess Benecio Del Toro, Javier Bardem and Ricky Martin (ha) were busy when they cast this film. What’s next for Ben, playing the lead in a remake of Malcolm X?

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Bill I’s Review – 4 out of 5

This film is about the relationship between a skeletal 12-year-old, Simon (Kacey Mottet Klein, in a great, charismatic yet naturalistic performance), a theif/hustler amid the rich in a French ski resort and his beautiful, sad, older sister, Louise (Léa Seydoux, in an equally compelling performance) who can’t hold a job any longer than she can hold a man or whatever money that falls in her hands (often from young Simon).  A secret is uncovered to the audience abruptly and is stunning when you think about it, making their story even more touching. There’s some funny scenes, some mostly off-screen violence, and lots of empathetic juxtaposition between two people struggling to get food to eat every day while surrounded by the well-to-do who don’t even notice them. The political aspects are powerful yet subtle, and this is not a movie that today’s teenagers will flock to, but I am confident that the readers of Billandbillmovies will appreciate this artful film.

Bill I’s Review – 2 out of 5

Do the Right Thing is an iconic movie to me, and Spike Lee has made several other excellent films such as Malcolm X, 25th Hour, Clockers and Inside Man. Red Hook Summer is like going back in time to when he was a beginner. She’s Gotta Have It was a fun, in your face piece of film making and in several ways Red Hook Summer reminds me of this, but with less fun and much less fresh, but mostly with the amatuerish aspects. For example, having characters making speeches, either to each other or to themselves/God/the camera. Red Hood Summer has two “actors” playing 12-13 year-old’s, a boy and a girl, bonding during a hot summer in Brooklyn, and they don’t act as much as shout their lines, probably right after memorizing them. Neither was believable to me as a young teenager in their situations. Speaking of which, why would a normal, seemingly well off young mother send her only son from their comfortable middle class neighborhood up to live with her estranged father living in the projects, with all the violence and drug dealing that comes with that? It doesn’t make any sense, and no reason is given, especially when the kid pleas with his mom to come home. The father is the main reason I enjoyed watching this film, and is portrayed by Clarke Peters (also excellent in HBO’s Treme) in an extraordinary performance. The Red Hook mileu is the other interesting character, but the plot is boring until it’s not, at which point its cringe-worthy manipulation ticked me off. Spike plays your emotions to the max, instead of organically letting the plot evolve. I couldn’t wait for this movie to end, and when it did I looked around to commiserate with my fellow film goers, except the other two people in the theatre had already left. I suggest you skip this film unless you are a Spike Lee afficianado, and don’t mind sitting through a mediocre movie. Hey, Woody Allen fans do that all the time.

Bill I’s Review – 4 out of 5

This ain’t no Boogie Nights! Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote and directed The Master, is one of the most innovative, thought provoking film makers, but he also can make your skin creep, your mind wonder, and your head to scratch (?), but he won’t make you yawn. I don’t normally do this, but this quote from Leonard Maltin’s review says it better than I can: “The Master provides a challenging, alternately rewarding and frustrating experience unlike any other I’ve encountered this year. I’m sorry I couldn’t fully embrace it, but in the long run I’d rather watch Paul Thomas Anderson aim for the fences and miss than slog through sheer mediocrity.”

Start with the story: it’s not Scientology but you can imagine it certainly may have been inspired by Scientology, focusing on a compelling, charismatic author (Philip Seymour Hofman, whom I would go see if all he did was eat breakfast), self-styled scientist, who creates a movement (here called “The Cause”) which attracts followers through some supposed fact-based beliefs about time travel, past lives, attaining the perfection that once was our nature, all gained through “processing”, which is a combination Freudian confrontational therapy combined with almost hypnosis, to first remember, then re-imagine past events that must be confronted (sample question during this processing: “Did you ever sleep with anyone in your family”…asked 5 times in a row to see if the answer changes). The plot beyond this is centered around a drifter/loser/oversexed weirdo played by Jauquin Phoenix (who will rival Hofman for an Acadamy Award here, just a unique, unforgetable character he’s created), and his relationship as an acolyte/enforcer/son with The Master (Hofman). There are sexual undercurrents between them, although Hofman is clearly closely monitored by his powerful wife (Amy Adams, who’s perfect).

The visuals are incredible, as I expect in a PT Anderson film, but the music was too creepy for me, although I guess it accomplished its objective to set the mood in many scenes. Overall, while I was transfixed by the characters, the acting, the events, and visuals, I wasn’t emotionally involved, it’s not tremendous fun to watch and there was no real build up to any sort of climax. So it’s not a “great” movie, but certainly a great piece of film making that deserves to be seen.

Bill C’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

I saw The Master at the Alamo Drafthouse early this afternoon and they lost my food order. It finally came with 20 minutes left in the movie at which point I said I didn’t want it any longer. If this had been a lesser movie, I would have been totally ticked off but this movie was so engrossing I just shrugged it off and had a big dinner.

Bill’s review does a good job of summarizing what’s going on in the movie but what made this movie so mesmerizing were the performances by Hoffman and Phoenix. Just the stuff Phoenix did with his body and facial expressions was amazing. Hoffman was equally great…he can even sing!

IMDB

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Bill C’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

What kind of movie is this?  It’s a comedy, a drama, some sci fi and a buddy movie (between Frank Langella and his robot) all rolled into one.  Frank Langella gives a very good performance as an aging jewel thief with health/cognitive issues (the robot also gives a good performance!).  His kids don’t have enough time to give him the care he needs so his son gives him a robot that is programmed to take care of him and maximize his health.

Frank and the robot bond and if the best way to keep Frank and his mind engaged is for the robot to help him with a couple of robberies as long as it fits in with the prime  directive so be it.  The movie is quirky, entertaining, funny and in the end quite touching..

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes