Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part nine: Movies 121-131

Pencilstorm contributor Rob Braithwaite is watching 366 movies this year, so you don't have to, here is part nine of his continuing 2016 rundown......

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

121
Dressed to Kill (1980) ★ ★ ★
stars: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen
writer/director: Brian De Palma

This is De Palma’s Psycho. Salacious and voyeuristic as De Palma can be, the silent flirtation and chase in the museum in expertly executed.

double feature pairing: The Voices

122
Big Eyes (2014) ★ ★
stars: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz
director: Tim Burton

Margaret Keane painted pictures of children with oversized eyes. The world loved them. Her husband took the credit.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you could say you’ve seen the movie. There’s not much of note between the cuts.

watch the trailer for Big Eyes instead

123
Triple 9 (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Anthony Mackie, Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor
director: John Hillcoat

This heist movie, packed to the gills with character actors, has some thrilling scenes but feels as if it was originally denser, like it was thirty minutes longer and the studio said to get it under two hours.

double feature pairing: The Bank Job

124
The Nice Guys (2016) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice
co-writer/director: Shane Black

A muscle for hire teams up with an opportunist private eye to solve a case.

Shane Black is an incredibly funny and subversive writer. Ryan Gosling is unexpectedly hilarious and make a great team with Russell Crowe.

double feature pairing: Airport ‘77

125
Criminal (2016) ★ ★ ★
stars: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot
director: Ariel Vromen

Green Lantern is killed before he can return to an asset he placed in hiding. To get that information, Jim Gordon transfers Green Lantern’s memories into Jonathan Kent, a death row inmate. Kent escapes as the foreign memories begin take hold and finds himself at Wonder Woman’s door. Will he find the asset before it’s too late?

A completely enjoyable and ridiculous movie. The cast certainly helps to elevate it.

double feature pairing: self/less

126
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Chloë Grace Moretz
director: Nicholas Stoller

A group of girls start their own sorority house when they learn that only fraternities are allowed to host parties.

The first one was funny. This one is funnier.

double feature pairing: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

127
Everest (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Emily Watson
director: Baltasar Kormákur

I wasn’t interested in this when it came to the theater, because it seemed to be leaning on the 3D/IMAX element to get butts in seats. I recently read Into Thin Air, a source for the movie, and decided to watch the movie.

Everest isn’t nearly as sensationalized as the trailer made me think. It’s a very straightforward telling of the disastrous climbing expedition in 1996. I’m not sure how well certain aspects were relayed in the movie. I think I understood more because of the book’s detail. Either way, it’s very good.

double feature pairing: 127 Hours

128
The Boy (2016) ★ ★
stars: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, a doll
director:  William Brent Bell

Greta is the new nanny for the Heelshire’s boy. Oh boy, it’s a doll.

Better than I thought it would be, it creates an eerie atmosphere without being too cheap with jump scares. Too bad it completely unravels for the finale, becoming the shit show I expected it to be in the first place.

Lauren Cohan deserves an award for Best Second Take.  

watch Magic instead

129
Dark Passage (1947) ★ ★
stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Agnes Moorehead
director: Delmer Daves

A man breaks out of prison to solve the murder he didn’t commit.

At least that’s what the synopsis says. Mostly it’s the guy wandering around, getting plastic surgery, recuperating then trying to get out of town. He eventually figures out who set him up, but he more or less stumbles into it.

Bogart’s face isn’t shown until an hour into the movie, when the surgical bandages are taken off. The first forty minutes is almost entirely shot in first person perspective, which bothered me a lot. It made me appreciate Seconds much more. In that movie, another actor played the part of pre-surgical Rock Hudson.

watch The Fugitive instead

130
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) ★ ★.5
stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Rose Byrne
director: Bryan Singer

A mutant, believed to be the first ever, awakens from hibernation to unleash a CGI cleansing of the world. Other mutants try to stop him while having the same conversations they’ve been having since the first X-Men movie.

There were some good moments, but it largely feels like rehashed mayhem and dialogue. Quicksilver was an unexpected joy in X-Men: Days of Future Past. He isn’t any more developed here, although he is allowed to stick around after his callback scene of doing funny things as he runs so fast time slows to a near stop. Xavier and Erik have a conversation that is a literal lift from another X-Men movie. The injection of new characters doesn’t help this spinning wheel.

watch X-Men: First Class instead

131
Dressed to Kill (1941) ★ ★
stars: Lloyd Nolan, Mary Beth Hughes, William Demarest
director: Eugene Forde

People were crazy about private investigator Michael Shayne. There were novels, radio plays, movies and a TV show.

In this outing, Shayne is about to be married when he come across a double murder. Wise cracks, hustling, sexism and racism ensue.

watch The Thin Man instead

Counters:
131/366 movies (21 movies off pace)
17/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

It's Memorial Day Weekend, Stop Staring at Screens and Ask Yourself, "What Would Mungo Jerry Do?" - by Colin G.

Ah yes, summer is here and the Memorial Day weekend weather is shaping up to be damn near perfect. Though we run a pretty tight ship here at Pencilstorm, let's face it, our hearts aren't really in it right now. We are all just sitting around the office staring out the windows counting the seconds until happy hour. So I'm making an executive decision, everybody can get out of here. Pencilstorm is closed this holiday weekend.  Go have some fun. Even you, Hassler. It's time to disconnect from the electronics and get serious about some old school Ch-Ch-Chillin'. Sure, I could sneak in a plug the new Watershed Kickstarter pre-order HERE, but I won't. 

So no updates at Pencilstorm this Holiday weekend. Turn off those computers & phones and get a little sunshine, why don't you? If you find yourself lost without your imaginary digital friends, remember WWMJD? Mungo Jerry rocked the summertime harder than anybody and he didn't even have a Myspace page. Be like Mungo. Thanks for checking out Pencilstorm and see all of you suckers next week. CG.............is...............................................................................................................................OUT!

(cue beercan cracking open)

I'm a Guest on "The Not So Late Show" with Johnny DiLoretto Thursday, May 26th at Shadowbox - Colin G.

Yours truly will be a guest on a taping of "The Not So Late Show" with Johnny DiLoretto, Thursday May 26th, 8 pm at the Shadowbox Backstage Bistro. Click here for tickets and more info.  Come early for drinks and dinner and enjoy the show. I have no idea what I am in store for but it's sure to be a blast. - Colin G.

Below is an interview we ran with Johnny before his debut show in March. The house was packed and the reviews were glowing. Check it out. 


-- So tell us a little about the show and what people should expect?

First and foremost, people should expect to be entertained and I promise a lot of entertainment for five bucks. But, honestly, what people should expect is classic talk show fun: live music, comedy, interviews with local celebrities and live performances from the city's deep pool of talent.

-- In practical terms, how similar is it to a proper talk show? Do you have writers ? Do you do a rehearsal before the actual show? Will a sidekick warm up the audience?

Very similar. The only difference is for right now the only way you can see this show is LIVE on stage at the Backstage Bistro. As we work out the kinks and polish the production, maybe someday it'll find a home online or on local television. But, I'm not interested in that right now. I just want to do a live show for a live audience. And I want to be able to drink... 

Uh, yes, I have writer. And that's not a typo. One writer -- local stand-up comic, Sommer Sterud. She's also the sidekick-slash-producer who will roam the audience and take questions from the crowd. So, that's another difference -- there aren't any rules. Somebody in the audience has a fun or tough question to ask a guest? They can have at it.  All bets are off.

-- Landing MoJo Flow as the house band is a big score. How did that come about?

MojoFlo and I have worked alongside of each other a few times over the years, notably at the past couple Highball Halloween events, and we have a great rapport. As you know, they are incredibly talented and just full of energy and life, so I'm honored they agreed to do this. Basically, when I brought it up to Amber and Walter, they were completely thrilled about the concept -- because they'd actually been thinking the same thing I was thinking: that the city needs its own talk show and they wanted to be the house band... It was perfect timing because I want to be the city's talk show host.  

-- Gary Shandling recently passed away and he was a man who not only hosted the real Tonight Show filling in for Johnny Carson, but created his own brilliant parody in Larry Sanders. I mean, come on, that's just crazy talent. Were you a fan of his work?

Absolutely. Garry Shandling was a genius. Of course, he had more than one writer... 

-- Who are other talk show hosts you look to for inspiration?

In my opinion the two best interviewers in the business are NPR's Terry Gross and, my own personal hero, Howard Stern. Expect a blend of those two styles... A high brow, low brow mash up.

-- What hosts and talk shows do you hope to avoid comparisons?

You know, I really haven't kept up with all the new talk shows. I've only seen bits and clips of Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert's shows. And, of course, those guys are giants. I don't expect to be able to compare to either of those extraordinary hosts and those productions. I just want to create a small, fun, live show that celebrates the people of Columbus. The only show I hope to avoid being compared to is the really awful one Chevy Chase hosted. 

-- Sounds like a blast. Where to get tickets again and should people show up early to get liquored up or is this a serious affair?

I hope it's a blast. The first show is tomorrow at 8 p.m. at the Backstage Bistro. Two more shows are planned for Thursday, April 28 and Thursday, May 26. And, conveniently, here's that link again: http://www.shadowboxlive.org/shows/the-not-so-late-show

Hopefully, we'll get a good running start at keeping this thing going. And, you know, what would be awesome? If you agreed to be a guest in May... You don't even have to perform. You can be like one of those legendary talk show guests who come on first and just get to take a seat...

--Thanks, I'd love to do it and I'll bring my guitar just in case.

Sing Street - by Ricki C.

Okay, I’m bringing this in at less than 300 words, so there’ll be none of my usual point-belaboring: Sing Street is the new movie by John Carney, who directed the pretty great Once in 2007, and the not-so-great Begin Again in 2013.  Once was great partially because of the filming-by-the-seat-of-my-pants/no-stars-musicians-pretending-to-be-actors/quasi-documentary feel of the movie.  Begin Again was a frothy, big-budget Hollywood mess of a movie starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo – both of whom I really like – but they just didn’t work in the music biz tale to be told.  Too much glitzy rom-com action, not enough heart.  (Plus the songs written for the movie sucked.) 

Sing Street returns Carney to his roots of shooting on the streets of Dublin, Ireland with a cast of unknown kids, and the result is maybe my second-favorite rock & roll movie – after Almost Famous – of all time.  (I realize that’s a Big Hype Statement that might backfire on me, but I’m gonna chance it.  I love this movie.)  (Previous contenders for second fave r&r movie: 1991's The Commitments and 1978's Cotton Candy.)  

The story couldn’t be simpler: a nerdy 15 year old singer/songwriter kid in a new, rough school develops a crush on a 16 year old neighborhood girl with modeling aspirations and asks if she’d like to be in a music video.  She says “Yes” and said kid has to write a song, form a band and shoot a video by that Saturday.  And then various other rock & roll-ness ensues.

Simple, priceless, beautiful, charming, heartfelt: go see it. – Ricki C. / May 13th, 2016


(ps. Keep in mind: the band that gets formed in Sing Street is Irish kids with guitars essentially playing English synth-pop, my third least favorite sub-genre of music after bluegrass and reggae, and I still love the movie.  Now THAT’S film-making.)

Sing Street is playing at AMC Easton Town Center 30, Lennox Town Center 24, Marcus Crosswoods Cinema and the Gateway Film Center just south of campus.

Buggy Eyes and a Big Butt, part eight: Movies 104-120

Pencilstorm contributor Rob Braithwaite is watching 366 movies this year, so you don't have to, here is part eight of his continuing 2016 rundown......

Q&A Intro, 1-17, 18-36, 37-51, 52-66, 67-74, 75-87, 88-103, 104-120, 121-131, 132-152, 153-173, 174-187, 188-221, 222-255, 256-287, 288-314, 315-341, 342-366, Index

Ratings key:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ = I can’t see giving anything that I’ve seen once five stars
★ ★ ★ ★ = get to the theater / move it up in your queue
★ ★ ★ = “three stars is a recommendation” - The Empire [magazine] Podcast
★ ★ = if the remote is too far away, you could do worse
★ = if the remote is too far away, get someone to move it closer then throw it at the TV

104
Gilda (1946) ★ ★
stars: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready
director: Charles Vidor

A crooked gambler, fresh off the boat to Argentina, goes to work for a casino owner who happens to marry his ex. That’s a big coincidence considering the exes weren’t from Argentina. There’s still a hateful passion between them. Sabotage, self and outward, run rampant. No one is likable. And there are two musical numbers.

Fresh off the Boat is a funny show.

watch The Shawshank Redemption instead

105
The Ascent (1977) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
director: Larisa Shepitko

Two Soviet partisans search for food in German-occupied Russia during World War Two. What begins as a mission for sustenance for their group becomes a exploration of what it means to survive in an occupied land. Leaning on the idea that righteousness is death and compromise fuels guilt, it’s a tough call.

double feature pairing: Red Dawn (1984)

106
Notorious (1946) ★ ★
stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
director: Alfred Hitchcock

The U.S. government whores out the daughter of a German spy to infiltrate a Nazi collective in Rio de Janeiro. She falls in love with her U.S. handler. He loves her. They would run away together if they would only tell each other how they feel. But they don’t, so she goes on with the mission and he acts like a hurt puppy because she’s “going all the way” (read: sex).

Jesus. This is a classic? I’ve always been too critical of Brian De Palma because of his sometimes on-the-nose camera work. I’m aware of his Hitchcock influence but thought he lead the audience much more. My apologies. Hitchcock is just as bad.

If you haven’t figured it out, THE POISON IS IN THE TEA!

If you haven’t figured it out, THE POISON IS IN THE TEA!

watch The Boys from Brazil instead

107
Breathless (1960) ★ ★ ★
stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg
director: Jean-Luc Godard

A man kills a policeman after stealing a car. Risking capture, he returns to a girl he’s infatuated with in hopes that she will run off with him despite not knowing each other that well.

I liked this much more thinking about it afterwards than when I was watching it. His checking the latest version of the newspaper for details of his crime was subtly tense. And the long bedroom scene is great in retrospect.

double feature pairing: Miami Blues

108
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray
director: Agnès Varda

Cleo is a singer with a few hits on the radio. Her pampered lifestyle is shaken during an afternoon as she awaits test results from her doctor. Her world and mindset free from a restrictive state as the afternoon rolls on. The set design and camera work in her apartment are brilliant.

double feature pairing: Nick of Time

109
The Browning Version (1951) ★ ★ ★
stars: Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Nigel Patrick
director: Anthony Asquith

A stick-in-the-mud Latin teacher of a prep school is leaving for health reasons. The kids are happy. His adulterous wife couldn't care less. He lives with regret of not being better or fully understood. The movie is fine. He makes some nice inroads with a student and his wife’s lover. There’s a reason Latin isn't taught in high school anymore: Bor-ring.

double feature pairing: Dead Poets Society

110
Captain America: Civil War (2016) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Sebastian Stan
directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Finally! Someone’s punching something! Whoa! That totally blew up! HAHAHA!!!

This is the best Marvel movie*. The action is great. It’s really funny. And there is emotional weight. I never would have guessed the best Marvel series would have been Captain America’s.

“That sounds great,” you say. “I’ve never seen a Marvel movie.”

Well, don’t start here. We’ve reached the point where you can’t jump in and still get the full impact. You’ll be able to follow it, sure — events and personal ties are referenced — but showing is always better than telling.

Don’t worry. You don’t have to watch the twelve others. Six will do…

triple double feature marathon (+1): Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron

*confirmation in 5-10 years.

111
Dealin’ with Idiots (2013) ★ ★
stars: Jeff Garlin, Bob Odenkirk. J.B. Smoove
co-writer/director: Jeff Garlin

What if the camera filming The Bad News Bears were pointed the other way, filming the parents? Then I’d say to turn the camera back around.

There are funny people saying funny things. If it was a straight forward presentation of the personalities of little league parents it might have been better. However, Garlin’s character tells the parents he wants to interview them for a movie he’s researching. This forces some of the interactions in an artificial way that makes the scene look just like that, a scene.

double feature pairing: The Sandlot

112
Remember (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Christopher Plumber, Martin Landau, Dean Norris
director: Atom Egoyan

An Auschwitz survivor with dementia goes on the hunt for the Nazi-in-hiding who killed his family.

Don’t watch the trailer. It gives too much away.

Don’t believe the poster being used for the video release. This isn’t a Taken movie.

Christopher Plumber is amazing. And there are turns I wasn’t expecting.

double feature pairing: Memento

113
The Family Fang (2015) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Nicole Kidman, Jason Bateman, Christopher Walken
director: Jason Bateman

The Parents Fang used The Siblings Fang as instruments in their real-world art projects. Now grown, the siblings are less-than-stable when their parents disappear. One suspects this is another art piece, while the other is prepared for the worst.

I hope Jason Bateman continues directing. Bad Words is good, and this showed some style. It was nice to see Nicole Kidman in something again. Christopher Walken wasn’t the caricature I’ve come to expect.

double feature pairing: The Royal Tenenbaums

114
The League of Gentlemen (1960) ★ ★ ★
stars: Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough
director: Basil Dearden

A retired military officer recruits fellow military men for a bank heist, the idea for which he got from the plot of a novel. No joke. These men, each their own brand of shady, robbed a bank like it happened in a book. Where was the Outraged Parents Society in 1960? Books are a path to criminal activity!

The movie is fine. Good bank robbing technique. What was the name of the book again?

double feature pairing: Heat

115
In a Lonely Place (1950) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy
director: Nicholas Ray

A screenwriter with a short fuse is accused of murder. He enters into a relationship with his new neighbor who provided his alibi. She begins to wonder if his jealousy, paranoia and fits of rage aren’t the makings of a murderer after all.

Based on one throw-away line and a 21st century eye, this has an undercurrent of a man suffering from PTSD. I don’t think that is intentional, but it certainly helps in finding some sympathy for an unlikable lead, expertly performed by Bogart.

Includes a descriptor that you don't hear much these days: he made all his money before the income tax.

double feature pairing: Seven Psychopaths

116
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) ★ ★
stars: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam
director: Sidney Lumet

Murder was the train that they gave me.

Maybe this movie wouldn’t have been such a grind if there weren’t as many characters. After an epilogue, we meet fifteen to sixteen people. There’s a murder. Then there are thirteen interviews. There’s a resolution. Then we watch eleven people individually toast two others. Guh, get on with it!

watch Clue instead

117
The Trust (2016) ★ ★ ★.5
stars: Nicolas Cage, Elijah Wood
directors: Alex Brewer, Benjamin Brewer

Two cops rob a mysterious vault.

Nicolas Cage has muddied his filmography a great deal, so saying this is his best movie in years isn’t saying much. But, it is his best movie since Joe and his best comedic and vibrant performance since Kick-Ass.

The motivation of Cage’s character is heavily inferred. The movie seems to rely on the viewer knowing this genre to pick up on certain things. It was off-putting at first but I think I liked it this way. As the story progresses, we learned who this person really is, just as his partner does.

If nothing else, this gave me one of my favorite montages.

double feature pairing: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

118
Hell in the Pacific (1968) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Lee Marvin, Toshirô Mifune
director: John Boorman

American Soldier washes up on an island shore that Japanese Soldier solely inhabits. How will they react to one another as World War Two rages on with out them?

The lack of subtitles allows us to share in the men’s frustration in dealing with each other. The cinematography and framing are artful. The performances are impressive. The ending is abrupt and, if IMDb is to believed, a complete fabrication of the studio without John Boorman’s approval. The director’s superior ending is on the DVD as an extra and is in keeping with the rest of the movie.

double feature pairing: Enemy Mine

119
Poltergeist (2015) ★
stars: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris
director: Gil Kenan

What was the point?

watch Poltergeist (1982) instead

120
Night and the City (1950) ★ ★ ★ ★
stars: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers
director: Jules Dassin

A hustler who's always on the lookout for the next big score finds himself in a position to become a successful wrestling promoter if he can orchestrate some powerful people the right way.

An impressive noir story that doesn’t involve a single gun. The way the plan falls apart is very unique.

Gene Tierney is second billed but has very little to do as the put-upon girlfriend/club singer. Her chummy neighbor is introduced for the sole purpose to make sure she has a man to pick her up at the end. A sign of the times, certainly genre. At least now, she would have… eh, maybe it wouldn’t be too different now. Someone of lower stature would have had that role instead.

double feature pairing: Barton Fink

Counters:
120/366 movies (16 movies off pace)
17/52 movies directed by women

THE TOP THREE

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