By Robin E. Simmons
Were your favorite movies Oscar© winners this year? Did you lose money betting on what you thought was a sure thing? Were you shocked at the choices of the Motion Picture Academy members? I was hoping BOYHOOD would win Best Picture, but glad that BIRDMAN won. It’s a great film that has universal appeal because it’s about ambition, identity, performance and madness.
No matter how stupid or inept the Academy Awards© broadcast sometimes gets, and I thought Sunday’s show was a low point, the fact remains that movies matter and the entire world is watching American movies. Movies are our collective experience. They divert, warn and define us. They reveal our hopes, fears and possibilities. Movies are who we are. We go to movies because we crave stories that help us shape a collective narrative. Movies about real people and big issues were again acknowledged. We, the audience, seek ways to understand our common humanity. Movies do that. And the best movies, those timeless ones, recognize the great need for compassion toward the misunderstood and marginalized among us.
That‘s what movies do best. No other art form comes close.
With today’s cutting edge technology, anything that can be pictured or imagined, anything at all, can now be put on the big screen and pass for reality. On the other extreme, basic digital filmmaking tools are so readily available and cost effective, there’s no longer any excuse for anyone with a movie dream to not make a nice looking film at minimal cost.
The age of extraordinary story telling is upon us and there’s never been anything like it in the history of the world.
NEW FOR THE HOME THEATER:
Check out these mainstream and worthy but, obscure titles. They all have something to recommend them.
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2
Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudekis are back as our favorite working stiffs Nick, Dale and Kurt. Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx reprise their roles from the prequel while Chris Pine and Christophe Waltz star as new adversaries between our guys and their dreams of success.
Fed up with answering to higher ups, Nick, Dale and Kurt decide to become their own bosses by launching their own business. But a slick investor soon pulls the rug out from under them. Outplayed and desperate, and with no legal recourse, the three wanna-be entrepreneurs hatch a misguided plan to kidnap the investor’s adult son and ransom him to regain control of their company. But thankfully, their half-baked plans go awry. If you laughed out loud at the first iteration of this rude, slapstick farce – as I did – you will laugh again. Sean Anders directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with John Morris. Extras include an Extended Cut and six amusing featurettes. Blu-ray. Warner bros.
ST. VINCENT
This highly praised and popular comedy drama has garnered numerous awards and accolades. Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) is a single mother who has just moved into a new home in Brooklyn with her 12 year-old kid Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). Forced to work long hours, she has no choice but to leave Oliver with their new neighbor, Vincent (Murray), a retired curmudgeon with a desire for alcohol and gambling. An odd friendship soon blossoms between the improbable and unlikely pair. Together with a pregnant Russian stripper Daka (Naomi Watts), Vincent brings Oliver along on his daily stops – the racetrack, a strip club and the local dive bar. Vincent helps Oliver grow into a man, while Oliver begins to see in Vincent something that no one else is able to: a misunderstood but good man with a noble heart. Blu-ray. Anchor Bay.
VANDAL
I was transfixed by Héliere Cisterne’s terrific coming-of-age film that follows Chérif, a troubled young man, as he negotiates a nocturnal world of forbidden art. Like the stolen car he drives in circles, Chérif’s life is going nowhere fast. When he is arrested for the umpteenth time, his frustrated mom strikes a last chance deal with a judge to send Chérif to live quietly with his aunt and uncle while attending a vocational school. Chérif’s sincere attempt to go straight is sending him directly into a state of stagnation and gloom. That is, until he discovers that his seemingly straight-laced cousin Thomas is actually part of a local gang of taggers, who roam the night bombing walls and overpasses in the shadow of a mysterious tagger whose death-defying works have made him a legend. Ulysse Klotz’s score is fantastic and sublime. DVD. First Run Features.
CAPTIVE
French star Isabelle Huppert brings passion and courage to her portrayal of a hostage caught in what seems to be a totally hopeless situation in this relentless thriller. At a beach resort in the Philippines, an Islamic separatist group fighting for their independence kidnaps 20 guests. Social worker Therese Bourgoine (Huppert) is among those taken to a jungle island, with the Filipino army in pursuit. As the captors and their hostages hack their way through the thick, oppressive jungle terrain, trying to avoid the bullets and artillery salvos fired indiscriminately at them, an unexpected bond grows between the kidnappers and the captives.
ALGORITHMS
In India, a group of boys dream of becoming chess grandmasters. But these are no ordinary players: they are all blind! This powerful and compelling documentary tells a story as intense and focused as its subjects. It’s been said the game of chess originated in India. Filmed over three years, the movie follows three boys and their mentor, an adult champion who not only aspires to bring world-wide recognition to India’s incredible blind chess players – but also to encourage all blind children to play chess. The filmmakers travel with the players to competitive tournaments, including the World Junior Blind Chess Championships. They also film these mental athletes in their home environment where the kids reveal their fears, ambitions and struggles. Moving through the algorithms of the blind chess world, the film is a tactile and mindful journey that challenges the very notion of what it means to “see.” Beautiful cinematography enhances an extraordinary experience. DVD. First Run Features.
See you at the movies. robinesimmons@aol.com
