I notice that I have only posted three times since June, and two of them are movie reviews. This one is prompted by Michael Hiltzik's review of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in the Times. His review is under the headline: Admit it: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' stinks -- and here's why.
Here's
the irony. I was not a big fan of the original Star Wars, but at
least I did go see the second film. I have not seen any of the other
four sequel/prequels. Nevertheless, and knowing what I know of the
original, unoriginal Star Wars, and despite Hiltzik's cogent attack, I will still probably go see this one
in IMAX 3D because I like the format of the big screen, big sound,
and these days I watch most of the "gotta' drive backwards at
least once in the car chase" movies (in other words, nearly
every movie that makes it to the IMAX action/adventure screen) if
only for the nostalgic glimpse of Harrison Ford in the "Chewie,
we're home," scene that has already played 20,000 times in the
previews and ads over the last year.
In
2014, I saw 55 movies in the theater. This year, I saw only 40
although Star Wars will make it 41. I didn't venture out to any of
the "art house" movies this year. We didn't even see the
Woody Allen movie this year which we used to go to every time one
opened, but it didn't play close enough to home, and we were busy
enough that we didn't get out to see his latest.
I
give ratings to all the movies that I see at AMC (where I see 99% of
my movies), and these are the ones that got "5 stars" from
me this year (in the order in which I saw them): "Selma,"
"Birdman," "Spy," "Love and Mercy,"
"Mr. Holmes," "The Intern," and "The
Martian." I wanted to see "The Walk," but I was busy
those couple of weeks.
The
ones that I gave top marks to were simply because they were fully
satisfying films within their genres. The docudramas on a period in
the lives of Martin Luther King and Brian Wilson focused on
interesting and well-told aspects of those lives, though quite
different in presentation. Except for those two, I noticed that each
of the movies is in a different genre. "Birdman" is a
quirky flight of fantasy comedy and gritty realism intertwined. "Spy"
is a funny spoof of the genre, far more satisfying than "The
Kingsmen" or "The Man from Uncle" because of much
greater wit and humor, while balanced with a star turn for Melissa
McCarthy. This is the first time that I truly enjoyed her because
they allowed her to be other characters than the brash, crude,
slovenly, obnoxious character that has been her stock and trade.
"The
Intern" was a modest "non-rom com" casting DeNiro
against type, and exploring the vagaries of today's corporate world
against the questions of life and home (something that we are
exploring with a political vs. business twist as we are
binge-watching the Danish series "Borgen" with which we
were gifted as a Christmas present). Whereas "Borgen" is
gritty and dark, but enjoyable, "The Intern" was very
light, but very enjoyable. "The Martian" is the only big
"blockbuster" on the list, and despite being somewhat
predictable, it was carried off with the right amount of humor,
drama, action, and "McGyveresque" ingenuity to offer a
satisfying theater experience.
I
have saved "Mr. Holmes" for last because, for me, it was
the best. It was perhaps the gentlest of the seven films (and the
other 40 films that I saw), but it had fine character development, it
had marvelous performances from the three principal actors (the child
actor was terrific), and it was intriguing, powerful, and touching in
a very nice combination of those emotions. "Mission
Impossible-Rogue Nation" got a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes; "Inside
Out" got a 98%; whereas, "Mr. Holmes" only got an 87%
and only 75% of the audience liked it. Nevertheless, I rank it as my
most enjoyable movie of the year. By the way, I did see both of
those, and I gave them each 4 stars.
The
worst on my list from this year are the remarkably story-less,
character-less, "The Fantastic Four"; the mindless
regurgitation with an alarmingly uninteresting protagonist and plot
of "The Transporter" (the TV series is actually much more
amusing, compelling, and interesting than any of the franchise
movies); and my surprising number one entry for over two hours of
mindless tedium was "Mad Max" which I already panned in
great detail in earlier blog.
And
if you haven't seen it, I still recommend my last year's top
disagreement with the critics and the fans, "The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty," for it's marvelous blend of humor, character,
story, fantasy, and marvelous cinematography. I blogged about it last
year in my negative reviews of "American Hustle" and
"Inside Llewyn Davis."
Now,
I'm gearing up to go see "Star Wars 7: The Marketing," in a
couple of hours. May the farce be with me.
