The Hunt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_(2012_film)

“The Hunt” is a movie from Denmark getting a lot of attention in the Foreign film category for 2013. It stars Mads Mikkelsen who (whom?) you might recognize from the summer NBC TV series “Hannibal,” or from the James Bond movie “Casino Royal” where he plays the villain.

Melanie and I watched “The Hunt” earlier this week via a Netflix rental, and we both loved it. It’s blisteringly effective (affective?) and makes you uncomfortable because you can believe this happening in real life. The story is of a kindergarten school teacher who gets accused of molesting his students. 

One thing I love about this is how Mads Mikkelsen plays a likable guy. He has an angular face which gives him a harsh look, that’s why he plays a lot of villains, but here he’s allowed to stretch and show what he can do as a good actor. But because he has that slightly sinister appearance, you understand why people could suspect him of horrible behavior.  I’ve only seen Mikkelsen in one other sympathetic or heroic role before, last year’s “A Royal Affair,” and he’s equally great in both movies.

The film has a final scene which I think is a little too obvious, a bit too preachy. I could understand how the director might have argued he made the movie to shoot that scene, but I think it’s a little out of place. See the movie and let me know if you agree.

This is such a good flick. It’s Kafka-esque in it’s horrifying absurdity, but you know life sometimes goes this way. It unfolds naturally with a strong sense of a real community. It’s about communities and what happens when suspicion is thrown on one of their own, and it’s horrifyingly relevant. See it, it’s a good one.

A Hijacking

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_hijacking/

Melanie and I watched "A Hijacking" tonight courtesy of a Netflix Blu-ray rental.  Three of the movie award committees I track gave it a Foreign Film nomination - no wins though - so we checked it out.

I haven't seen "Captain Phillips" with Tom Hanks yet, but I think the story lines are similar.  This movie is about a Norwegian ship being hijacked by Somali pirates.

It's well done, but it's surprisingly flat for a movie that should have a lot of suspense. I don't know why it's flat, all the necessary elements are there, but for me (and for Melanie) the movie never really takes off. I like it, but despite the recognition this movie is getting, I'd be surprised if it gets a Foreign Film nomination from the Academy.

Bruce Dern in "Nebraska"

I was invited to a SAG screening of the movie "Nebraska" last night held at the Director's Guild of America theater on 57th & 6th (thanks Todd). After the movie, Bruce Dern took the stage to be interviewed by a Time Out New York magazine reporter, followed by questions from the audience.

First, what a great movie, charming and gorgeous in black and white with an original and engaging screenplay and possibly the best performance of Dern's career. The film is filled with fantastic mid-western characters and faces which could have been lifted from an Anne Tyler novel, and brilliantly shows how mundane so much of life is, but also how funny and warm it can be. The film is intelligent and laugh-out-loud funny. It's quirky but never distancing or off-putting. Conversations are unforced and convincing. There's a great use of subtly and silence and the natural pauses that happen in real exchanges. It's a warm movie and unpredictable in the best way. It's a relationship movie, a character movie, which is sometimes code for a film lacking structure or a story, but this one has a satisfying plot. I won't give anything away by saying at the center of the story there's a guy who thinks he's won a million dollars. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't; it's worth seeing the movie to find out. 

Like many great movies, it's about so much more than the story. Melanie and I had been planning to see it this week, but when I got the screening invite, she insisted I go. Now that I've seen it, I know she's going to love it, and I'd enjoy seeing it again with her.

Bruce Dern spoke for about an hour after the screening, and man can the man speak. Talk about loquacious. A lot of actors are awkward in front of an audience without lines to repeat. Not Dern. He was interviewed by someone from Time Out New York magazine and each question was met with an answer that ran for ten minutes or more. Dern praised the producer, writer and director of "Nebraska" and talked about the excitement he had going to work each day. He described the crew as a family but it wasn't just lip-service (or it seemed that way to me). Roughly half the crew has been with the same producer on every movie he's made, so this is a closely-knit group of people. Dern also talked a lot about the courage an actor needs (being a SAG screening, there were a lot of actors in the audience), the courage to experiment, the courage to get yourself noticed and be seen, to leave an impression, and the courage to bare your soul and always strive to do something real. Very encouraging. If he was at all self-conscious, it didn't show, the man talked to the crowd like he was talking to you across the dinner table. Great night, and what a wonderful movie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_(film)

"American Hustle" and "12 Years A Slave"

Melanie and I saw two great ones yesterday, "American Hustle" and "12 Years A Slave" in that order.  I noticed there were fewer theaters playing "12 Years A Slave" than a week or two ago so I figured I'd better see it before they pulled it.  "American Hustle" I think just opened fairly recently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Hustle_(2013_film)

"American Hustle" is a LOT of fun.  It's directed by David O. Russell who also directed "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Fighter," and I think some of the "Argo" people might have be involved in this one.  It's got a similar vibe to "Argo," but that might just be because both films are set in the 70s.  It also has a bit of a "Goodfellas" feel.  Robert De Niro even has a small but effective cameo in the flick.  Christian Bale is a real standout.  I don't know if he put on weight for the role but it sure looks like it, and he has a comb over which is a marvel of engineering, spirit gum, and hair spray.  He seems to be having a blast, sinking his teeth into a non-leading-man-ish character, con artist Irving Rosenfeld who is brilliantly skeevy and schlubby though surprisingly likeable.  Jennifer Lawrence does a great job in a role she's probably too young for, but man does she sell it.  Amy Adams is amazing in a slinky, sexy role, Bradley Cooper plays a character with a surprise ending, and it even has Jeremy Renner playing the mayor of NJ.  (I've been a fan of Renner's ever since he was on a reality Bravo show called "The It Factor" around 2000 or 2001.)  The movie even has Louis C.K., what more do you want?  This is the kind of movie only Hollywood can make but so seldom does, a huge production with great cinematography, costumes, sets, lighting, and a huge budget, with (in this case) a script that doesn't talk down to the audience.  See this one, one of the best of the year.  As soon as it was over, Melanie said, “I want to see it again.”

Oh she will.  I’m buying it when the Blu-ray comes out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Years_a_Slave_(film)

"12 Years A Slave" is a completely different movie, but the equal to "American Hustle' and, depending on what you respond to, possibly the "better" film.  They're so different though, it's like picking the best fruit between an orange and an apple; they’re both perfect at what they are. 

Maybe three weeks ago a friend of mine said he saw “12 Years A Slave” and said it was great and he was glad he saw it, but he never wants to see it again.  It's a very heavy movie.  Oddly enough, Melanie and I both thought it was tamer than we'd expected, but we'd heard so much about it, I think nothing short of torture-porn would have delivered what we feared we'd see.  But don't misunderstand, this is a hard-hitting look at an ugly period in American history. 

Without giving anything away, we see early in the film the kind of life Solomon Northup (played by the soulful Chiwetel Ejiofor) leads.  He's a successful resident of Saratoga in 1841, well-dressed with a nice house, beautiful wife, and two (or three?) children.  Walking through the park, two white men ask to chat with him and address him as "Mr. Northup."  This is all to let us see how successful and accepted Northup is as a free black man, but I wondered how much of this was accurate and how much of it was there to better contrast with his eventual kidnapping and selling into slavery to an unnamed southern state.  There was no slavery in 1841 Saratoga, true, but were race relations really as cordial as they are here?  Maybe, but I was skeptical it might be an exaggerated movie device instead of an honest depiction of Northup’s life (the film is based on a true story).

There are amazing performances in this movie.  Michael Fassbender is getting a lot of attention and he deserves it.  You've never seen him like this, and he's utterly convincing playing an unlikable character.  Lupita Nyong'o is unforgettable as Patsey, and it’s her debut!  What an achingly perfect performance. Benedict Cumberbatch is in it (the BBC's new Sherlock Holmes) playing a kinder slave-owner, but as one of the slaves points out, a slave-owner nonetheless. 

Ejiofor is as magnetic as always showing more emotion than I've seen him play before, but possibly in the way of many leading man roles, it's oddly a less dynamic role than some of the others; the curse of the hero? 

But this film, like "American Hustle," is also an ensemble piece, and what an amazing ensemble.  The screenplay too is fantastic and gripping, and it gets strong reactions from you.  I agree it's sometimes a hard movie to watch, but that's one indication of its achievement, that it can get those reactions from you.  After all, we know a movie is artificial, it isn’t “real” life passing before you, but the best ones make us feel and respond as this one does.  “12 Years A Slave” is powerful and fantastic, and it has a real shot at winning the Best Picture Oscar this year.