Singin' in the Rain (1952)

I love musicals. Why? Because they're just so fun. And that's why I am so excitedly looking forward to Damien Chazelle's upcoming La La Land. To prepare, I watched Singin' in the Rain, the legendary movie musical. The music is iconic: Good Morning, Singin' in the Rain, Make Em Laugh.  And of course, Gene Kelly was a dancer. There is that gorgeous dance scene in the rain with the umbrella. Now that is iconic.

The plot is quite light. It is about the transition from silent movies to the talkies, a classic story that has been told many times since Singin' in the Rain, such as in Best Picture winner The Artist. I love the depiction of Old Hollywood.  It is really a magical period for a movie lover. But it's not about the plot. Good old song and dance are all you need. 

The Lobster (2015)

The Lobster is a super strange and awkward movie. It almost has a bit of a Wes Anderson feel to it. I love the premise. It is fresh and original. Colin Farrell moves into a hotel where singles have 45 days to find a partner lest they get turned into an animal. The first half of the film is highly enjoyable. It is a quiet kind of funny and you have no idea what is coming up next. The premise evolves and unravels and you're never sure what insane new rule the hotel came up with or what quirky guest is staying there. I won't reveal too much cause it's really insane. I do feel like the movie sort of falls apart in the second half. The hotel was so brilliant, that I was unsatisfied with the world created outside it where you have to learn a new set of rules.  I would've been happy if they had just fleshed out the story within the confines of the hotel. It's a shame because I really like Rachel Weisz, but the second half in which she appears was a little difficult for me to follow. 

All the Way (2016)

Bryan Cranston won a Tony Award for his portrayal of LBJ in All the Way. In the HBO adaptation, he transfers that performance to the screen. Cranston is perfect in everything. I love HBO's political dramas. And this is no exception. LBJ's presidency was very eventful: Civil Rights, Vietnam, Great Society. There is a lot to pack into a two hour movie. Perhaps the issues don't all get enough screen time, but as a survey of history from the perspective of the most powerful man in the world, it succeeds.

El Ciudadano Ilustre (The Distinguished Citizen) (2016)

This was my favorite film that I saw at the Venice Film Festival. It was also the last film, ending well after midnight. It is about a famous author, a Nobel laureate, who is invited to return to his small hometown (village) in rural Argentina. It is a forgotten town that he never returned to after leaving. But he gained fame off of writing about the people in the town in his novels. Now he returns to face them, though he didn't realize how hilariously problematic this would be. It is basically one of those situations where everything that can go wrong does. I laughed a lot during this movie. The audience maybe wasn't up for it at midnight, cause it got a rather tepid reception, but it was exactly the kind of movie I wanted at the end of a 4-movie day. Oscar Martinez gives a great performance as the superior being just sick and tired of everyone. The film looks hyper real. I'm not really sure why, but it's a little strange. Maybe it's the way it was shot. I don't really know, but I looked past it and just enjoyed the funny screenplay.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

I wouldn't really say I'm a fan of Mel Gibson and he hasn't really done anything particularly noteworthy in a while. I wasn't expecting much but this movie is his return to form. He went back to what he knows, war movies. The battle scene is very long and the violence is quite gratuitous but all in all the choreography is actually really well done. There is a constant intensity. Is it a little over the top? Sure. But war is over the top, isn't it? There were a couple of scenes that just didn't work. At one point, you see warships that bomb the ridge. And in this day and age, the warships should not have looked so fake. The CGI and special effects in that scene were not up to date. Secondly, the inevitable seppuku scene was unnecessary and in poor taste. We got the idea already, we didn't need to see it.

Andrew Garfield is quite good. His southern accent sounds a little off, but it is charming nonetheless. The first half of the movie perhaps bangs on the bible too much for my taste, but that is the whole point. Garfield plays a conscientious objector (for religious reasons) who volunteers for the army anyways. The film presents an ethical dilemma that is genuinely thought provoking. The movie is emotional in all the right places. The star of the movie, however, is Vince Vaughn. I think he is hilarious in everything he does, and a war movie is no exception. He is an interesting and brilliant (kind of provocative) choice to cast as the army sergeant, providing some comic relief to an otherwise unfunny situation. 

Il Piu Grande Sogno (I Was a Dreamer) (2016)

This film is based on true events, and the (non-professional) actors portray themselves, playing out their life story. It gives the film a raw quality. It is genuine and authentic, unflinching in its look at reality. Local government is not glamorous. It has its rewards, but certainly has its challenges. And the troubled Mirko tackles this challenge with bravery and pride. He just wants to do good in his community after a spin in jail, and he makes every effort as the newly elected president of the homeowners' committee and is constantly thwarted. Mirko, a tough Italian guy, shows vulnerability and emotion and depth beyond what you expect (the full beards are partly to blame for my judgment, but they all sport manly beards). It is inspiring because we know behind the dramatization, it actually happened. The cast was in attendance and they were all glammed up. The film is in Italian, and here and there I understood some bits, picked up some slang, but for the most part I had difficulty understanding the accents. I think it was kind of southern. In any case, it's not what I'm used to hearing. 

Spira Mirabilis (2016)

Spira Mirabilis is a documentary supposedly about immortality. Though you wouldn't necessarily know it from watching the movie. This is a very challenging film. It challenges you to stay awake through scenes of nothingness. There is very little dialogue, quite unusual for a documentary, a genre that relies on explaining things. You watch people do mundane tasks. Sometimes it's kind of mesmerizing--the petri dish underneath the microscope. Other times it isn't. For instance, we watched a caravan of vans drive through the desert for a solid minute. You watch a pair make something out of metal for the whole film, and its not till the end when you figure out what it is. It's a drum, by the way. Not a big spoiler, because it's not really clear what the drum has to do with anything. Essentially, there are these unconnected stories, very very loosely connected by a theme of immortality (VERY loose). I don't know how they came up with this film in the first place. I wonder if they found these separate projects and then said, "How can we put these unrelated things all in one movie?" Or did they first come up with the concept and then look for the projects to film? Either one would be astounding because honestly they are all so unrelated that it is unfathomable that anyone could piece them together.