A la Mala [2015]

MPAA (PG-13)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  CinePremiere.mx (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmAffinity.com/es listing*

ChicagoTribune (R. Moore) review
CinePremiere (M. Salinas) review*
Excelsior.com.mx (A. Ruiz Villanueva) review*
Noticine.com (G. Espinosa Gaubeca) review*

LaOpinion.com coverage* 
Telemundo coverage*
Univision coverage*
Vivelohoy.com coverage*


A la Mala [2015] [IMDb] [FAes]*(directed by Pedro Pablo Ibarra [IMDb] [FAes]* screenplay by Issa López [IMDb] [FAes]* and Ari Rosen [IMDb] [FAes]*) is a fun Spanish language (English subtitled) Mexican romantic comedy of a "kinder gentler" / "more family friendly" Pretty Woman [1990] vein.  (The language, if one knows Spanish, is significantly cruder than the English subtitles would indicate. However, the central protagonist Maria Laura, "Mala" for short (played magnificently by Aislinn Derbez [IMDb] [FAes]*), was _not_  a "hooker" (though at various times in the film, she'd come pretty darn close), while let's face it, that's exactly what Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman [1990] began that story as).

So what then was "Mala" (and yes, part of the humor in the film was that "Mala" in Spanish means "The Evil One")?    Well she was a struggling actress too smart, too talented and too honest for her own good.  Forced to audition for various commercial spots, this eminently "Method trained" SERIOUS actress would REPEATEDLY ARGUE (just as Dustin Hoffman's famously "impossible" character in Tootsie [1982]) with the directors/producers and clients of said commercials, telling them that they were asking her to do things that were ridiculous or simply impossible:

"How can I seriously be 'bouncy, happy and free' selling A TAMPON PRODUCT.  I'M A WOMAN.  I KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS, NO ONE IS EVER 'bouncy, happy and free' while MENSTRUATING" ;-).

In another commercial, for a Tequila company, she's asked to ... in a short, short black dress, sit on the lap of a certainly 'guapo' guy, smiling, with one arm around him pouring said tequila into a glass held in her other hand while looking simultaneously seductively at him AND AT THE CAMERA while he has his hand on her knee/thigh. Practically falling down from this absurd position, she finally slams down the glass/tequila saying: "YOU NEED A GYMNAST FOR THIS PART, NOT AN ACTRESS."  To which the casting agent replies: "And that's why we're looking for a professional."  WHICH, OF COURSE, ONLY GETS HER GOING: "Professional, eh?  WE'LL I SPENT FOUR YEARS IN THE CONSERVATORY, THREE SUMMER WORKSHOPS ON "THE METHOD,"  TWO SEMESTERS OF TEXT ANALYSIS ALONE (!!)" ... "But you misunderstand, we're NOT looking for Meryl Streep, we're looking for someone with curves and a smile who can take direction..."

"ARGH!!", she storms out.  And seeing the Tequila company president's car in the reserved parking space in the lot, she pulls out a large stick pin from her purse, PUNCTURES all four of his tires and writes with lipstick on his windshield "A gift from Meryl ..."

When Tequila company prez, Santiago (played by Mauricio Ochmann [IMDb] [FAes]*) and his (quite gay, but above all, just concerned for his welfare) aide Álvaro (played by Juan Diego Covarrubias [IMDb] [FAes]*) come to the car, shaking-his-head, Álvaro asks Santiago, "What is it that you do to all these women, that they respond to you in this way?"

But returning to our intrepid if exasperated protagonist Maria Laura... when rent comes due and she has no means to pay it, her American expat room-mate Kika (played by Papile Aurora [IMDb] [FAes]*) who's become increasingly convinced (actually by Maria Laura as well as their mutual (and also actor) friend Pablo (played by Luis Arietta [IMDb] [FAes]*)) that her heart-throb Mexican boyfriend was almost certainly cheating on her, tells MaLa: "Listen, I'll cover the rent for you this month if you do this for me: Sometime, when I'm out of the picture, hit-on my boyfriend... yes, you're good looking, hit-on my boyfriend ... and then tell me if he hits-on you back.  That way I'll finally know that he's capable of cheating on me." "You want ME to hit-on YOUR BOYFRIEND?"  "Yes, for your portion of this month's rent."

With no other option, MaLa takes her up on the job.  Since this was her roommate's boyfriend, so she kinda knew where he hung out.  And so one day, soon, she just happened to "run into him" in a Mexico City equivalent of a Starbucks where he'd go, and ... after spilling some coffee, having something in her eye, and some brooding "pleace help me" talk about how "LONELY it is to be in such a BIG, BIG city so, so faaaarrr from home ..." well Kika's boyfriend "makes his move," slipping closer to her, putting his arm around her  ... AND ...   BUSTED!   That's all Maria Laura needed. She quickly drew away. "Oh, MaLa you misunderstand me... I didn't mean anything by it," he tries to defend himself.  "Yeah, right."   Job done for put-upon, lied-to roommate.

Maria Laura reports her findings to Kika, and Kika dumps her scoundrel (in Spanish cabr...) of a boyfriend, pays MaLa's rent AND KIKA GOES ON TO RECOMMEND MALA's "SERVICES" TO OTHER FRIENDS.  Soon MaLa's "fame" makes it to Facebook and Twitter.  And she has a job ... NOT necessarily one that she wanted, but it literally "paid the rent."

But MaLa, a _professional actress_ after all took even _this job_ seriously.  She knew she couldn't just walk around looking the same as she trapped one boyfriend, fiance, husband, or otherwise "novio" after another of her clients.  Her picture / face would certainly soon make the rounds on Twitter, Instagram, etc.  So she had to make herself up, put on a different wig, different hairstyle, etc each time.  She also had to STUDY HER "TARGETS."  So that SERIOUS "Method Acting" background proved quite useful to her ;-)

But she also STILL WANTED to get A "REAL" ACTING JOB ... And she finally scores one, as a central protagonist "who comes down with cancer" on an upcoming telenovella ... (Interestingly, the average length of a telenovella is about 6-18 months, so that time could actually cover quite well the arc of someone's cancer treatments ... in whatever direction the producers wished to take the story).

HOWEVER, MaLa's soon-to-be producer, Patricia (played by Daniela Schmidt [IMDb] [FAes]*), tells her that in order to get the job, she'll have to do "one last job of her old kind" for her.  That is, Patricia tells MaLa that she (Patricia) wanted her (MaLa) to get her (Patricia's) ex-boyfriend to fall in love with her (MaLa) and then for MaLa to dump him.  "But this is much more than I've ever been asked to do.  My customers have simply asked me to check if their boyfriends or husbands would hit on me.  You're asking me to do far more than that ..."  "You're an actress, a very talented actress, you can do this ... and if you can't ... you won't get the job here."

So, reluctantly ..., MaLa takes on the job.  Guess who Patricia's ex was? ;-) ... the rest of the movie follows ;-)

This is one very, very fun / funny rom-com ;-)


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (2 1/2 Stars)  RE.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B-)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015] (directed by John Madden screenplay by Ol Parker) is, like most sequels, perhaps "not as good" as the first film [2011] and the CNS/USCCB reviewer John Mulderig is right that there are some morally troubling aspects to the film -- the Seniors portrayed in this film are a randy bunch, a fair number of the characters seemingly spending most of their "golden years" "hopping from bed to bed."  I know that, as in the case of most romcoms, there's a Beach Boys' "Wouldn't it be nice?" quality to this.   However, it does get kinda silly and the PG rating for the film should be at minimum PG-13.

That said, those readers who enjoyed the first film [2011] will probably enjoy this one as the entire cast of the first film minus Tom Wilkinson (whose character died at the end of the first film) are back plus with the addition of a new character played by Richard Gere.

The film begins with ever wide-eyed, ever enthusiastic Best Exotic Marigold Hotel entrepreneur / proprietor Sonny Kapuur (played by Dev Patel) and one of his original tenants, the once (and if one's honest about it, still) quite dour Muriel Donnelly (played magnificently by Maggie Smith), who despite her initial fears and even racism came to (finally) blossom out there in India (after 40 years of working as a domestic servant back in England), and who Sonny _came to hire_ as his assistant manager of the hotel, meeting with a couple of potential American investors in hopes that they would finance an expansion to the said "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

The meeting, in San Diego (giving the characters, one young, wide-eyed energetic/sincere Indian the other "old-school" English, a chance to be shown as quite different "fish," but still "out of water")  goes well but there will still be "a need to inspect operations at the existing hotel."

That then sets up the rest of the story.  When silver haired American Guy Chambers (played by Richard Gere) shows up at the door of the (original) hotel, well Sonny IMMEDIATELY ASSUMES that this is "the secret inspector" he was expecting and we, the viewers, are left, of course, cringing for him because it's SO OBVIOUS that he could be wrong.

In the meantime, one almost needs "a score card" to keep track of who's got a crush on whom, who's going out with whom and who's sleeping with whom.  But I suppose, if one takes this in the above mentioned "day-dreamy", "wouldn't it be nice?" sort of a way, it is kinda fun to watch.

Western viewers are also treated to a lovely Indian or at least Bollywood wedding between Sonny and his fiancee Suianna (played by Tina Desai) and it is IMHO truly a LOVELY AND HAPPY SIGHT TO BEHOLD.  Honestly, any Westerner bringing home an Indian fiance/e could honestly refer his/her older relatives to this movie, and I'm positive it would melt them.

In that regard -- of promoting a "better understanding between peoples" -- it's hard to imagine (at least on the Western side) a better film than this.

Good job!


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What we do in the Shadows [2014]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  ChicagoTribune (3 1/2 Stars)  RE.com (3 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Abrams) review
AVClub (M. D'Angelo) review


What we do in the Shadows [2014] (cowritten and codirected by Jamaine Clement and Taika Waititi) is a rare, impeccably timed, dead-pan "Reality Show"-styled comedy about ... a house of Vampires ;-).

It may scare some domestic readers that the film comes from "all the way" from New Zealand,  and yes, perhaps "one has to be young, or at least young at heart" to like this movie, but IMHO it tells one funny story ;-).

The film's about four "confirmed bachelor" vampires of ages ranging from about 150 to 8000 (!) ;-) living in (what Americans would call) a late 19th century Victorian house in contemporary Wellington, New Zealand.

There's Vladislav (played by Jemaine Clement), the most responsible, tidy, community oriented of the vampires.  He "lays down newspaper" before bites his victims in the neck ;-).

There's Deacon (played by Jonathan Brugh) the "youngest" and perhaps the most "immature" of the four vampires, a mere 150 or so years old, who, in contrast, "hasn't been pulling his weight" in the house.  He's let the blood-soaked dishes stack-up in the sink FOR FIVE YEARS ;-) even though he's been repeatedly reminded (passive-aggressively ... by notes ... ;-) to do them because, after all, that's supposed to be his household job ;-).  Instead, he just prefers to go out "partying" at night and still hasn't been particularly "discrete" about him being a vampire and all (causing "some concern" for the rest of the community who'd prefer to lead a "no unnecessary troubles" sort of existence).

Then there's Viago (played by Taika Wiatiti) probably the most sophisticated, "realized" vampire of the bunch, perhaps because he's been living as a vampire since the Middle Ages ;-).  He's something of a playboy, but one gets the sense after a time that he's just kinda bitter about something, some great romance that went awry sometime during the High Renaissance ;-).

Finally, there's Petyr (played by Ben Fransham) , the 8,000 year old vampire, who lives in a GIANT stone sarcophagus in the basement of the house.  He doesn't talk much, yes "he does look his age" ;-), and yet he's someone that the young(er vampires) look up to.  He's the one who converted Deacon into a vampire 150 years ago, and during the course of this film, he converts another young man, Nick (played by Cori Gonzalez-Macuer) who the other three (vampires) just wanted feast on (suck the blood out of), presumably because he, Petyr, "saw potential" in Nick as vampire (or perhaps Petyr was just "a dirty old man" / perv... ;-).  But his was a "validation" that Nick, of course, was "ETERNALLY grateful" for :-) ... After all look at the alternative ... the other three (vampires) just saw him as a meal ;-).

Anyway, having presented the story's primary characters here, let's just say that much (quite Seinfeld / "Reality Show"-like) "ordinary" (in the life of a household of Vampires...) ensues ... ;-)

Honestly, if you have the right sense of humor, it's hilarious ;-).

Great job folks!  Great job!


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The Lazarus Effect [2015]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (2.5 Stars)  RE.com (1 Stars)  AVClub (C-)  Fr. Dennis (1/2 Star)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jensen) review
ChicagoTribune (R. Moore) review
RogerEbert.com (P. Sobczynski) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review

Viewed through the prism of Lent, the films released by Hollywood this time of year offer some fairly interesting choices.  In recent years, there have been some religiously uplifting films released at this time when much of the Christian world is commemorating the season of Lent in preparation for Easter.  And then there have been more morally problematic films like the two major releases this weekend: Focus [2015] (already reviewed here), and the current film The Lazarus Effect [2015] (directed by David Gelb, screenplay by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater).

Already uncomfortable with the film's problematic title (some would honestly call it quasi-blasphemous) invoking memory of Jesus' last miracle (the raising of Lazarus from the dead [John 11:1ff) before Jesus was condemned to death for arguably doing good things, and turning again a good deed (one would think that Lazarus and his family / friend would have certainly been quite grateful for Jesus having raised him ... ) into the inspiration for a Frankenstonian horror movie, I honestly toyed with _forgoing_ seeing this film.

But alas, I decided that since the film did more or less obvious allude to religion, I'd go (this time) to see it.  (IMHO, I do believe, however, that we _all_ have the right to NOT GO TO A FILM that we'd expect NOT TO LIKE or even be offended by ... even if it is nominally "religiously themed").

So then the film ... Two medical researchers, Jake (played by Mark Duplass) and Zoe (played by Olivia Wilde) along with two grad students Clay (played by Evan Peters) and Niko (played by Donald Glover) in their charge, decide to "extend" their research into a serum that could reactivate (increase) brain activity in coma patients into seeing if they could use the same serum to reactivate brain activity in completely brain dead animals.  They would inject the serum into the comatose (or even brain dead) animals' cerebral cortexes and then send a fairly strong charge of electricity into the brains to see if they could "jump start" brain activity again.  (The experimental "serum" makes the project seem at least somewhat more sophisticated than what good ole Dr. Frankenstein was doing in Mary Shelley's famous novel).

Well, after a few tries, they do actually revive a previously dead (and cryogenically frozen) dog, all videotaped by an aspiring journalism student Eva (played by Sarah Bolger) from the same university.

The experiment's success causes some inevitable soul searching among at least some of the research team, notably Zoe, who we're informed was at least nominally raised Catholic.  Jake, who's also her fiance' jokes: "Two glasses of wine and the Catholic school girl comes out..."  Still, at least nominally, Zoe's not entirely comfortable with the implications of this work.

Neither is the University, it turns out.  Whether it's Eva's tape or just simply video surveillance cams throughout the laboratory that pick-up on the researchers' "off the reservation" work, the University drops the hammer on their project.  And interestingly enough, the pharmaceutical company that's been paying for their work on the serum to revive brain activity in comatose patients comes to confiscate ALL THE RESEARCHERS' DATA now that the researchers have apparently made the same serum revive even entirely dead animals.  Hmm, they apparently saw a gold mine here...

Not wanting to lose years of work, Jake, Zoe and the team sneak back into the lab to do the experiment "one more time" so that they could publish something themselves.  During the course of the experiment (to revive another brain-dead/cryogenically frozen dog), Zoe accidentally electrocutes herself.   And so ... Jake decides to try to reanimate her himself (she _was_ his fiancee' after all... ;-). And the rest of the movie follows ...

What follows, however, becomes IMHO rather appalling after a while...

It turns out that Zoe's been pulled back from (something of spoiler alert, but the rest of the movie's premise wouldn't make sense otherwise) Hell.

Now why would she find herself "in Hell"?  Well, SHE tells Jake "I did ONE THING WRONG AS A CHILD ... AND ..."

Now, while it turns out actually that "one thing" was actually quite a big thing ... (no need to explain here... go see the movie), however THE CATHOLIC PRIEST IN ME could not help but laugh:  "Honey, YOU'VE BEEN LIVING WITH A GUY FOR THREE YEARS without any movement toward marriage (even though she apparently had wanted to, it's just that Jake was too busy working on this project...) AND YOU DON'T FIND _ANYTHING_ AT ALL (EVEN PARTIALLY) WRONG WITH THAT???"

Welcome to Hollywood revisionist "morality" at it's most appalling ;-)

I'd doubt I'd want to throw her into Hell for that sin (or even the one for which she was apparently thrown into Hell for) but this is classic American Secular Morality of this day:

(1) There is no Sin, but (2) there is NO FORGIVENESS either.

Whereas the Catholic Church has always taught that THERE IS SIN (just look around), and YET THERE IS ALSO FORGIVENESS.

So she did a terrible thing as an eight year old ... and (by the film) THAT'S IT / DONE / FINISHED / HELL.  But she could COMPLETELY IGNORE TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN MORALITY and that's COMPLETELY FINE WITH NO MORAL CONSEQUENCE WHATSOEVER.

LOL ... this was a script written by a moral teenager ;-)


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Focus [2015]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (L)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  RE.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (2 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review

Focus [2015] (cowritten and codirected by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa) which plays like a glossier, au courant (and R-rated) version of the The Sting [1973] is, one hopes ;-), intended to be a diversion and NOT a "how to" manual for life.

There's a scene still fairly early in the film in which Nicky (played by Will Smith) an expert/hardened, third generation conman and his partner Farhad (played by Adrian Martinez) organize "a crew" of about dozen pickpockets in New Orleans in the days before a (Super?) Bowl Game.  Among them was then a 20-something year-old "apprentice" named Jess (played by Margot Robbie) who as a small-time grifter ran into Nicky before and now wanted "to learn from the best."  These pickpockets then walk then the length of Bourbon Street as if they were a phalanx and fleece the revelers as if they were harvesting corn.  One bumped a tourist on the left, another took his wallet from his right.  And before he even realized that the wallet was gone, he's bumped again and as he swings his arm to regain his balance, someone unburdens him of his watch.  In this _spectacularly choreographed_ "ballet of thieves," the crew passed methodically through the crowd, harvesting their valuables as if they were a combine passing through a field ;-).

Improbable, yes, but AMAZING to watch ;-) ... But ALSO PLEASE DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY and IN ANY CASE, stealing is one of the sins _specifically listed_ in the Ten Commandments:  Thou Shalt Not Steal (Ex 20:15).

But presented on screen, here, does it look SOOO, SOOOO... COOL ;-) ... Even if, again, we Catholics are asked in the renewal of our Baptismal promises: "Do you reject the glamour of Evil and refuse to be mastered by Sin?"

So this is a problematic movie ... even if I do believe that most people will take it as a "wouldn't it be nice..." _day-dream_ and little more.

But we are dealing with Evil here.  So part of the film's sound-track is The Rolling Stones' über (and ever intentionally so...) glamorous / slick song, Sympathy for the Devil.  And Nick and Jess, both portrayed as über attractive / slick people, are shown repeatedly hopping into bed with each other throughout the course of the film (though always in various stylized ways that does leave most to the imagination) as they go through one "con" after another.   Why?  Why would they hop into bed with each other after each ever better-executed "con"?  Well, I suppose because they were BOTH BECOMING SO _DAMN_ AWESOME that there was no other way release all that (let's be honest, demonic) "awesomeness".

All this is to say that this is one very well-made and often "hot" film.  I just hope that NO ONE really follows their example.  And my sense is that most who would be stupid enough to do so, will end up (quite quickly) in jail ...


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Song of the Sea [2014]

MPAA (PG)  ChiTribune/LA Times (4 Stars)  RE.com (2 1/2 Stars)  Slant.com (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB () review
ChicagoTribune/LA Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Abrams) review
Slant (C. Lund) review

Screen Comment (P-C. Ho) review

Entertainment.ie coverage
Movies.ie coverage
RTI.ie coverage

Song of the Sea [2014] (directed and cowritten by Tomm Moore [en.wikip] [IMDb] along with Will Collins) is a lovely if often somber Irish animated feature that first caught many people's attention when it edged out The Lego Movie [2014] for a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars this year.  Why?  Well, stylistically IT DESERVED IT ! ;-).


The story which leans heavily on Irish Celtic mythology is beautifully portrayed with hand-drawn water-colors that often _melt_ from scene to scene.  There is thus a gentleness to the imagery that computer generated animated films presently generally don't achieve.  Indeed, the film appears (quite successfully) to adapt the animation style of Japan's famed Studio Ghibli to Irish themes.  

Yet aside from being both beautiful and "different" from standard Hollywood fare, the choice of using water color drawings as the means to tell the story is also quite fitting as it is set in "quite rainy Ireland" (interestingly, it rains quite a bit in Japan as well...) and then "by the Sea."  Further, the story is largely about a selkie a Norse/Celtic mythological creature which on land can take the form of a human but in the sea becomes a seal (One could perhaps think of a selkie as a kind of Norse/Celtic mermaid).

One could think of the film as a kind of Irish Spirited Away (orig. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) [2001] (if one knows of / likes Studio Ghibli's films).

The current story concerns Ben (voiced by David Rawle), a little boy growing-up with his parents (voiced by Brendan Gleeson and Lisa Hannigan) in a remote part of Ireland by edge of the sea.  Indeed, his father is a lighthouse operator, and there, in the lighthouse, is where they live.  At the beginning of the story, Ben's mother "is expecting" another child.   Going into labor as she finishes telling a then 3-4-5 yr old Ben a bed-time story and sensing that this child was going to be different than Ben, she apologizes and somewhat inexplicably runs off toward the sea.

Needless to say Ben didn't understand nor did his father.  Ben's father, his name is Conor, runs after his wife, and then swims after her as she enters the ocean.  But in the end, all that he recovers is a new baby, a girl, who he names Saoirse (voiced later by Lucy O'Connell).

What the heck happened?  Well Ben and his father don't understand either and it appears to both that Ben's mother / Conor's wife had at minimum died during childbirth and _perhaps_ had even tried to kill herself.

This, of course, has "some lasting effects."  So five years later, Conor's mother, Ben and Saoirse's grandmother (voiced by Fionnula Flanagan) comes visiting to the their lighthouse, and she's had enough.  Conor's still not over his wife's death, little Saoirse is still not talking and 8-10 year-old Ben appears quite distraught and confused as well.   He's lost his mother, his dad is _still_ "out of it" and he's an 8-10 year-old "older brother" trying to fulfill his mother's wishes to "take care of his sister." But HE'S ONLY 8-10 YEARS OLD!  So Granny decides she's going to take her grandchildren "back to the city" where "they could have a decent life."

But when she does that ... besides (or as a result of) the trauma of taking them away from their dad (and they've already lost their mom), Saoirse starts to fall ill.  Why?  Well that's the rest of the story ;-)

It all makes for a rather "sad Irish tale" but it is beautifully drawn and can perhaps help kids who've experienced some tragedy in their lives to not feel "alone" or otherwise "different" as a result.

It's a sad but gentle story, with a pacing that again more resembles Japan's Studio Ghibli than Warner Bros. "Bugs Bunny" / "Looney Tunes" but IMHO it's CERTAINLY worth the view ;-)


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87th Academy Awards [2015] - Diversity in the Air (after all)?

IMDb listing
Previous/Other years


From the moment that the Nominations for the 87th Academy Awards [2015] were an-nounced, they were immediately de-nounced for a lack of diversity.

Personally, I found the accusation NOT entirely unfounded.  There were a good number of quite excellent African American oriented movies released this year BESIDES the Martin Luther King, Jr inspired Selma [2014].  One thinks of Belle [2014], Beyond the Lights [2014] and my personal favorite Repentance [2014].  And yet the only Selma [2014] received any recognition at all by the Academy with nominations for Best Picture itself (but NOT for best actor, best screenplay or best director) and then for ... Best Original Song (a good song -- indeed IT turned out to win _that_ Oscar ..., BUT ...).

On the other hand, I DIDN'T find the accusation entirely fair either: 

First, by her own words, director Ava DuVernay did approach the subject matter of Selma [2014] in a deliberately (more) provocative rather than "mainstream" sort of a way ... and that decision did prove to have consequences.  Honestly, "that's art."   Art that provokes will also (almost inevitably) put-off (some).  

Second, while I agree this is a lousy "the Academy's hands were tied" sort of an excuse, but ... while David Oyelowo could feel somewhat legitimately robbed for not having received an Oscar Nomination for his playing MLK in Selma, on the flip side of question, I do think that EVERYONE of the FIVE nominees in the Best Actor category legitimately deserved his nomination.  In fact, as I noted in My 2015 Oscar Picks article THIS WAS AN EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD YEAR when it came to quality American / English Language cinema.  A LOT OF THE AWARDS CATEGORIES had 3-4-even-all-5 legitimately WIN DESERVING Nominees.

In fact, IMHO the weakest of the 5 nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role was Eddie Redmayne who ended up WINNING the Oscar for his performance as Steven Hawking in The Theory of Everything [2104] (and yet, I don't want to begrudge either his nomination or even his win.  I wrote in My 2015 Oscar Picks article that _every single one_ of the five nominees in this category deserved their nomination, and that _every single one of them_ would have "earned the win" had they won.  Yet, I ALSO wrote that I do believe that there were several actors who legitimately deserved to be nominated as well and weren't.  (That's HOW GOOD THE CROP WAS _THIS YEAR_).

So a kind note to the Academy: Consider doing with ALL the major categories what the Academy already does with the Best Picture category - allow more than 5, perhaps "up to 8," or "up to 10" Nominees in "banner years" so that all those deserving a Nomination get one.  This way David Oyelowo would have certainly gotten a Nomination for his Lead Performance as MLK in Selma [2014], as would have Jake Gyllenhaal for his Lead Role Nightcrawler [2014].  Gugu Mbatha-Raw would have would have a Nomination for her Lead Roles in either Belle [2014] or Beyond the Lights [2014], Clint Eastwood (!) would have certainly gotten a Best Director's nomination for his masterful work with American Sniper [2014] and Gillian Flynn [IMDb] would have gotten a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay (!) for Gone Girl [2014].

Finally IMHO the loud and early complaint about Diversity did have an (again IMHO) fascinatingly positive effect on BOTH how the subsequent voting and then the actual Awards Ceremony played out:

The first words of the program's Host, Neil Patrick Harris, acknowledged the controversy: "Today we honor the best and whitest ... er brightest ... in Hollywood" ;-).

Then the acceptance speeches of pretty much all of the winners of the major categories were about as "activist" as I can remember: Patricia Arquette winning best the Supporting Actress prize for her role in Boyhood [2014] tee-ed up and flatly demanded Equal Pay for Equal Work for women (Good for you!  And to ANYONE who's ever had a mother, sister, wife, daughter or niece, that is EVERYBODY, this would seem self-evident, NOW).  Graham Moore, who got the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game [2014], made a plea on behalf of all those who "consider themselves weird" (those who are Gay but also NOT JUST Gay) noting that as a teenager HE NEARLY KILLED HIMSELF (Wow!  Honestly WHAT A TRAGEDY THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN!!  Look at what he's achieved in his life now and WHAT HE'S OFFERED TO OTHERS!).  Eddie Redmayne, made an appeal on behalf of all those who suffer from ALS; Julianne Moore who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Still Alice [2014] made an appeal on behalf of those who suffer from Alzheimer's.  FINALLY, Alejandro González Iñárritu whose film Birdman [2014] won FOUR major Oscars - Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director -- the last two going directly to him, noted amusingly: "HEY, I'M MEXICAN" ;-).  This may not have been a great year for African American actors and directors, but clearly it was a remarkable one for that HISPANIC director.  (And HE then proceeded to make an appeal for better appreciation of the gifts that Hispanic immigrants like him give to the United States, a nation that's always been "of immigrants.")  And even the Oscar for Best Animated Feature went to Disney's Big Hero 6 [2014] which sought to blend "the best of" Pixar, Marvel Comics and even Japan's Studio Ghibli.  So there was actually a surprising amount of diversity in the awards and even passion / activism in number of the acceptance speeches.

Again, if the flagship African American film this year, Selma [2014], hadn't been (perhaps) needlessly provocative when it came to then U.S. President Johnson (his role could have been simply downplayed rather than made arguably into an enemy of the Civil Rights movement...) perhaps the nominations could have come out differently.  But Hollywood / the Academy could ALSO have considered OTHER excellent WORTHY-OF-CONSIDERATION African American oriented films like Repentance [2014], Belle [2014] and Beyond the Lights [2014] rather than SIMPLY focus on the "Civil Rights Icon" film Selma [2014] (and then blame the director when they didn't like her take / message).  Perhaps next year will be better... we can only hope ;-).


What then of the Oscar ceremony itself?  Well, IMHO Neil Patrick Harris, this year's host, did a decent enough job. (Of the five Oscar Ceremonies [2011-2015] that I've reviewed since starting my blog, my favorite host Seth McFarlane who hosted the 2013 Program).  In the current program, Harris was quite good.  Except for his "Oscar Predictions" bit to which he came back OVER-AND-OVER-AGAIN throughout the program (and proved in the end to be a "dud"), he kept the show moving.  Again, I do believe that HE BEGAN THE SHOW PERFECTLY by immediately confronting the diversity question IN THE OPENING LINE OF HIS INITIAL WELCOME / MONOLOGUE.  And then some of the gags, like walking out on stage at one point in just his underwear (as Michael Keaton's character found himself having to do in Bird Man), were quite funny.

Among the acts, Lady Gaga [IMDb] proved (again) that she is legitimately a world class singing talent by singing and _nailing_ a medley homage to Sound of Music [1965] (the fiftieth anniversary of its release is this year).   On one hand, these are "songs that everybody knows."  On the other hand, THAT WAS EXACTLY THE POINT / RISK HERE -- JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY WATCHING THE SHOW KNEW THESE SONGS and if she "played with them" inappropriately or otherwise MESSED-UP that would be _all_ that we'd be talking about now.  Instead, she NAILED them and made it quite easy then for Julie Andrews to come-out on stage to take her bow, to salute her (Lady Gaga), and then present the Award for Best Original Song.

So over all, I do think that this was a decent enough Academy Awards season / presentation.  I do hope that in coming years, the Academy (1) becomes more flexible in the number of final nominees it
considered for the major categories (as it already does for Best Picture), and (2) it "dig a little deeper" when considering films from a number of our nation's subcultures.  Again, Selma [2014] wasn't _the only_ "worthy of consideration" African American oriented film made this year.

But let me end by underlining the positive this year:  IMHO there really were an exceptionally high number of "Oscar Worthy" films and performances this year.  And that is something for Hollywood to be proud of.


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