I'd like to spank the Academy

Posts tagged ‘Families’

Juno (2007)

JunoDirected by Jason Reitman

When people rave about a quirky independent comedy, I always worry a little. Is the movie really that good, or are people afraid to say they don’t like it for fear of being seen as uncool or unsophisticated? Because let’s face it, not every independent movie is good. Some are downright boring. But because they aren’t made by the established Hollywood studios, independent movies are seen by a certain set of people as being automatically amazing. Then more and more people jump on the bandwagon and suddenly this independent movie is the best movie ever made, according to popular opinion. And then I watch it and I have no clue what everyone sees in it. (Sorry for the tirade. I just hate pretentious people.) Anyway, that wasn’t the case with Juno. It’s a fun, funny, enjoyable movie–and I’m not just saying that to please the hipsters.

So what’s the story? Sixteen-year-old Juno has sex for the first time with her best friend/unacknowledged crush Paulie Bleekman and ends up pregnant. She goes to get an abortion, but just can’t do it. She decides to put the baby up for adoption. She looks for potential adoptive parents in the Penny Saver ads and finds Vanessa and Mark, a seemingly perfect couple. Juno hits it off with Mark right away, but has a harder time connecting to the worried, perfectionist Vanessa. But there are many surprises in store for everyone during Juno’s pregnancy.

The Good: I like the cast. Ellen Page makes a very believable sixteen-year-old who’s trying to figure out life. Michael Cera is at his awkward best as Paulie Bleekman. Jennifer Garner is delightful as uptight Vanessa. Jason Bateman captures just the right attitude as Mark, the man who’s not ready to grow up. Allison Janney is Bren, Juno’s dog-obsessed stepmom who is still unsure of her relationship with Juno, but is willing to support her to the end. I decided I wanted to be friends with J.K. Simmons when he wore a fedora to the Oscars this year; Juno makes me want to be his friend even more. As Juno’s dad, he’s a little rough around the edges, but he loves his daughter and will do anything for her. So yeah. The cast was awesome.

I liked the music, too. I like happy acoustic guitar music. Does that make me a hipster? Ugh! I am having so many mixed feelings about liking anything about this movie.

The screenplay was excellent. Diablo Cody managed to make the viewer like Mark and hate Vanessa at first and then slowly reverse position. That was very clever. There were a lot of good, funny lines, too. Very well done all around.

The Bad: Leah didn’t fit in the movie. She was funny, and the actress was good, but the friendship didn’t feel real. In my experience, cheerleaders aren’t BFFs with quirky, semi-loner musicians.

The Ugly: I didn’t find any in Juno. There were some awkward moments, but awkwardness is a part of adolescence. Juno herself was a little more clever and self-confident than most high school juniors I’ve met, but it’s a movie.

Oscar Won: Best writing, original screenplay.

Other Oscar Nominations: Best motion picture of the year; best performance by an actress in a leading role (Ellen Page); best achievement in directing.

Category:

Comedy

Tagged with:

Giant (1956)

giantDirected by George Stevens

I had seen Giant before I watched it for my blog, but only once. I was probably seventeen, and while I was seriously underwhemed with the way the stars were aged, I liked the movie overall. But now that I’m older and more analytical (and possibly more cynical), I’m not as impressed with it as I once was.

So what’s the story? Texas rancher Jordan “Bick” Benedict, Jr. has come to Maryland to buy a stallion to improve his breeding stock. There he meets Leslie, a lovely and spirited society girl. After talking to each other for less than ten minutes, they are deeply in love. They marry and go back to Reata, Jordan’s ranch in dry, dusty Texas. They spend the next 25 years adjusting not only to each other, but to the changing world around them.

The Good: Perhaps because of his early death, James Dean still haunts pop culture. Before I actually saw him in anything, I thought people were overreacting a bit when they talked about how a great young actor was lost. But he really was that good. He brings a pathos to Jett Rink, a low-class ranch hand who strikes oil. Without James Dean, Jett would have been a slightly ridiculous character, but James Dean allows us to see his motivations, his dreams and desires. He makes him human. James Dean died before the filming of Giant was completed, but he left his mark on the film and on film history.

Three supporting actors really stood out. Mercedes McCambridge is Luz Benedict, Jordan’s crusty older sister. She loves Reata more than anything and can do anything a man can do on the ranch. (SPOILER ALERT)Her death, which happens so conveniently soon after Leslie comes to Texas, is really quite touching. Chill Wills plays Uncle Bawley, a kindly older gentleman who helps Leslie understand Texas and the Benedict children understand life. Jordan Benedict III is played by Dennis Hopper in what must have been one of his first big movie roles. Jordy is a rather quiet young man, but he is deeply passionate below the surface. It’s a very fine performance.

The Bad: I really enjoyed the first half of Giant. Up until the point where Jett finds his oil, it’s tight and focused. After that, it feels looser and more meandering. It doesn’t feel like it has a central focus. Jordan and Leslie and their relationship aren’t as important as they were, but nothing steps up to fill that vacuum. I don’t know if that’s how it is in the novel that Giant is based on, but it made the second half feel less meaningful and somewhat disconnected from the first half.

Giant must begin sometime in the 1920s since the movie spans 25 or 30 years, but you can’t really tell from the costume design. Elizabeth Taylor’s clothes are waaaay too 1950s-fashionable for the 1920s. The other costumes are not as bad. I guess it was decided that it wouldn’t do to have Elizabeth Taylor wearing thirty-year-old fashions. But I want Luz II’s white formal. It’s gorgeous.

The Ugly: The makeup in this movie is so bad that I have been using it as my standard of bad makeup for fifteen years. Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean are “aged” thirty years by wearing grey wigs. That’s about it. That makes it hard to believe that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson are parents with grown children, let alone grandparents. It’s a little bit silly.

The thing I hated most about this movie is Leslie. She doesn’t grow or change at all in the course of the movie, even though she’s supposed to be about eighteen when she marries Jordan. She swoops in from Maryland and teaches all the ignorant, backward Texans what is acceptable in life. Yes, the Texans do have some deplorable attitudes, but the fact that Leslie is the only enlightened one is very grating. How exactly did a rich doctor’s daughter have so much life experience at eighteen that she has so much wisdom? It’s hard to watch a three-hour movie with a paragon as the main character. It makes it hard to suspend your disbelief.

Oscars Won: Best director.

Other Oscar Nominations: Best picture; best actor in a leading role (James Dean); best actor in a leading role (Rock Hudson); best actress in a supporting role (Mercedes McCambridge); best writing, best screenplay – adapted; best art direction-set direction, color; best costume design, color; best film editing; best music, scoring of a dramatic or comedy picture.

Category:

Drama, Epic

Tagged with:

Friendly Persuasion (1956)

friendly-persuasion-movie-poster-1956-1020505962Directed by William Wyler

I had a bad day the day I watched this movie. I hadn’t felt well all day at work, but I didn’t feel bad enough to take time off. About five minutes after I got home from work, I was violently ill. It lasted about half an hour. I was feeling sick and weak when I put Friendly Persuasion in the DVD player.  But the moment the opening notes of the theme song started, I felt much better. Watching this movie is like being wrapped in a giant puffy quilt or getting a hug from someone you love. That may be because I was raised on this movie, but I like to think that the sweetness of this movie could make anyone’s day better.

So what’s the story? Jess and Eliza Birdwell are Quakers living in southern Indiana during the Civil War. Their older son, Joshua, is old enough to fight in the war, but the family’s pacifist beliefs keep him from joining up. Their daughter, Martha, is in love with their Methodist neighbor, who is a soldier. And their younger son, Little Jess, is in constant battle with Samantha the Goose. The family tries to simply go about their lives, but the war is about to come to them, forcing them all to make decisions of faith and love and conscience.

The Good: The cast is perfect. Jess is played by Gary Cooper, who makes Jess a slightly mischievous man who believes in his religion, but sometimes struggles to live up to the standards it sets for him. Dorothy McGuire plays Eliza, the Quaker minister who sometimes has to fight to keep her family on the straight and narrow. Anthony Perkins (yes, the same Anthony Perkins who is in Psycho) plays Josh, whose conscience tells him that fighting is a sin, but that his family is worth fighting for. Phyllis Love plays the lovesick Mattie almost uncomfortably perfectly. Robert Middleton plays family friend Sam Jordan with humor and love. Everyone is just good.

Okay, this is a weird thing, but I was struck as I watched  Friendly Persuasion this time by the goose. Or possibly geese? I’m not sure how one goes about training a goose. I can’t imagine that it’s easy. But that goose does all sorts of things. Even if it’s many geese all doing one trick, it would have taken lots of work. So hats off to the animal trainers for this movie!

I love the music for this movie. Pat Boone sings the theme song, and it’s beautiful. It reflects the mood of the movie: slow, yet loving. Dimitri Tiomkin’s score is also good, reinforcing the love and joy found in the Birdwells’ home life.

And speaking of the home life, I love that this family is a family. The children sometimes tease each other. They sometimes fight. The father defers to his wife, but he sometimes teases her and sometimes gangs up with his kids to get her to relax. The writers made the characters real people with faults and virtues. I love that.

The Bad: The plot isn’t perfectly linear. It meanders a bit. There are some scenes that add to the characterization of the people, but don’t necessarily add to the overarching Civil War plot. I’m okay with this in this movie because all these scenes are so delightful, but that also might be because I’ve loved Friendly Persuasion for a long time. Other people might not be so forgiving.

As Quakers, the Birdwells use speech that is a little bit different. They use “thee” and “thy” instead of “you” and “yours”. But to my German-speaking ear, they don’t use them quite correctly. This is apparently accurate for the Quakers, but it bothered me a little bit. It took me about a quarter of the movie to be okay with it.

The Ugly: I don’t think there is anything ugly about Friendly Persuasion, unless you object to a feel-good movie about a family trying to live according to their consciences.

Oscars Won: None

Oscar Nominations: Best picture; best actor in a supporting role (Anthony Perkins); best director; best writing, best screenplay – adapted; best sound, recording; best music, original song (“Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)”).

Category:

Drama, Historical, War

Tagged with:

On Golden Pond (1981)

On_golden_pondDirected by Mark Rydell

I’ve always liked the image evoked by the title of this movie. Golden Pond always sounded like such a lovely and peaceful place. But although I love Katharine Hepburn, I had never seen this movie. It was one of those that I always vaguely felt in the back of my mind that I should watch, but I had never made the effort. It turns out that it was a little bit hard to watch. My father is aging faster than I would like, and although I’ve always had a good relationship with him, this movie poked a sad spot in my heart. If actors like Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda can get old, what’s to stop the rest of humanity? It’s not comfortable to be confronted with mortality.

So what’s the story? Norman and Ethel are opening their summer house on the lake when they get a letter from their semi-estranged daughter, Chelsea. She wants to come for Norman’s 80th birthday and bring her boyfriend Bill to meet them. With Bill and Chelsea comes Billy, Bill’s thirteen-year-old son. Chelsea asks if they can leave Billy with Norman and Ethel while Chelsea and Bill go to Europe for a month. Norman, Ethel and Billy learn lessons about growing up and growing old during their summer together on Golden Pond.

The Good: Katharine Hepburn is good as always, although it is a little strange to see the normally elegant Hepburn flipping someone off and calling Henry Fonda “Old Poop.” But she sparkles with happiness at being in her beloved place and just generally glows. Henry Fonda also does a fine job as Norman, who is getting old and unsteady and losing his memory a bit. But it’s Doug McKeon as Billy who was the real surprise. He manages to hold his own while playing opposite two screen legends. He puts on a show of bravado, but underneath he’s a kid who is feeling abandoned and unwanted. His friendship with the irascible Norman is a lovely thing to see.

The filming location is lovely. I’m not sure where it was filmed, but the natural beauty of the land led to some nice cinematography.

The Bad: While I’m pretty sure the point of this movie was the reconciliation between Chelsea and Norman, I didn’t much care for the parts with Jane Fonda at all. She made Chelsea come off as a spoiled brat, even though Chelsea is a grown woman. The reasons for Chelsea’s problems with Norman were never made very clear, either. Yes, he’s a grumpy person and tends to snipe at people, but he does that to everyone. If the estrangement was about something other than that, it’s never said. That isn’t Jane Fonda’s fault; that’s just slightly sloppy storytelling. But it made Chelsea look oversensitive and whiny.

The movie is a bit over-scored for my taste. The music is good music, but there’s just too much of it for such a quiet movie. And during the scene in Purgatory Cove, the music sounded downright jaunty, even though the scene was not. It didn’t work for me.

The Ugly: I always hate admitting this because it makes me feel whiny and immature, but I got bored. There were scenes that I loved, but some parts just dragged on. I liked it a lot better once Chelsea and Bill left and it was just Ethel, Norman, and Billy. I could have watched more of that odd fellowship. Why did Chelsea have to be in it and ruin it with her whining? (And yes, I realize that I’m whining about whining.)

Oscars Won: Best actor in a leading role (Henry Fonda); best actress in a leading role (Katharine Hepburn); best writing, screenplay based on material from another medium.

Other Oscar Nominations: Best picture; best actress in a supporting role (Jane Fonda); best director; best cinematography; best sound; best film editing; best music, original score.

Category:

Comedy, Drama

Tagged with: