Liza with a L for loving her true story

 

 Happy 79th Birthday today, Liza Minnelli!

After the audience had seen his new film, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, writer and director Bruce David Klein addressed an appreciative crowd at Cinema Arts in Fairfax, Virginia Saturday afternoon to talk about it, a must-see movie for any Liza fan.

Klein used the word "explosive" often in his telling to describe Liza. Answering a question in the Q and A session, he said Liza saw the film after it was finished and “loved it;" she had no control on the script or anything about it.

Making the film was like "sculpting," Klein said, crafted from thousands of hours of film, carving it into the final piece presented on screen.

Liza's illustrious mother, Judy Garland (1922-1969) made the film more difficult since her ghost could have dominated the production but Klein instead focused on Liza's "mentors" like Kay Thompson who took Liza under her wing after her mother's death. 

That the film focused on her mentors and not her Oscar, her Tonys, Emmy, Grammy and other awards made Liza very happy, Klein said.

Liza's father, Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986), stage and film director, was equally as notable as her mother and more influential on Liza than her mother, Klein believes.

When Liza was 5 or 6, her father had dresses made for her in her size from the costume designs in the films he was working on which would have been Father of the Bride (1950), An American in Paris (1951), and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).

Liza touches on all four of her marriages, three miscarriages and relationships with so many men, it left me spinning and breathless (envious) trying to keep up. 

Her fragility on screen is supported by her persona in several interviews, all accompanied by a piano which just happened to roll into every room of interviews "in case Liza wanted to sing," an understatement Klein said because Liza loves and wanted to sing. 

And sing she does! (All while maintaining her heavy      cigarette habit!) 

Mia Farrow is interviewed at length, and, in separate sessions, Joel Grey (now almost 93!), George Hamilton (85), and Michael Feinstein (usually on piano) are among others who deliver glowing spiels about Liza.

The only parts of the film I thought were too lengthy were the visuals of "chapters" in Liza's life ("Don't hang around with people you don't like").

Clips from her films are included, of course, making me wish, Mr. Cinema Arts Owner, for a Liza Minnelli film weekend.

patricialesli@gmail.com 

 

The maestro would not approve: 'My Name is Alfred Hitchcock'

Cohen Media Group's film, My Name is Alfred Hitchcock is for Hitchcock (1899-1980) connoisseurs only. Unless moviegoers like looking at the maestro’s face in the same photograph repeatedly which consumes about a third of the film. 

It's as if writer/producer Mark Cousins couldn't think of anything or anybody else to fill the space.

Alistair McGowan does an excellent job mimicking Hitchcock's voice. Film credits let viewers know the monologue is not Hitchcock speaking although you'd swear the voice was Hitch's.

 

The film is too long and could be shortened probably by a third (eliminating his face), however it lacks adequate biographical information about Hitch and his wife, Alma (1899-1982) with whom he appeared to have a  close relationship. 

Reading Hitch's bio on Wikipedia, it seems I Am Alfred Hitchcock did not give Alma enough credit for contributions to her husband's success.  (Calling Zelda Fitzgerald!) 

What happened to their daughter, Patricia (1928-2021)?

Notwithstanding (!), there are few movies like this which make me want to “take action” and see every film the subject ever made, many which are clipped here and screened for only a few seconds, to whet my appetite.  It reminds me of holding a piece of steak in front of a German Shepherd and not letting him or her eat. 

All the big stars are here:  Paul Newman, Janet Leigh, Cary Grant, James Mason, Peter Lorre, Albert Einstein (!), and many more.

Half of the movie titles were new ones for me. Please, take me to the Hitchcock Festival.  I wouldn't be surprised to find a cruise for Hitchcock lovers.  Please, take me to it.

Reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes gave I Am a 93% but since there were fewer than 50 reviews submitted by members of the audience, the "people's rating" (the one that is more important) is absent.  The few reviews by "the people" may be explained by its British origination, however, it was released in 2022 but only released in the U.S. in October. 

The music by Donna McKevitt far exceeds the quality of the film.

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

'She Said' is for hardcore only

Zoe Kazan, left, is Jodi Kantor, and Carey Mulligan is Megan Twohey in She Said

The film She Said is for journalists and those interested in the development of the #MeToo movement.

Do we need to be reminded?

The film is a docudrama, well presented with good acting, enlightening, but not entertaining and, frankly, depressing. A little too dry, monochromatic. 

The American Film Institute calls it one of 2022's "best films," but it's not on my list, few films I saw anyway.

Although it's only the back of a Harvey Weinstein, it's revolting enough to recall what he did. The film outlines his unraveling. Hang him high.

New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor wrote the book (published in 2019) of the same title and are portrayed in the film by Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan. 

Let's hope Megan Twohey's daughter does not grow up repeating her mother's vile language.

patricialesli@gmail.com

'Belfast' is an arty film

 

That Belfast been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in Drama demonstrates the lack of competitive film choices available now.  (The other titles are relatively unknowns because that's what's on the screens now:  unknowns. Some of the actors and the director Kenneth Branagh have been nominated, too, to make Belfast the recipient of the most Golden Globe nominations [7].)

Throughout the movie, viewers agonize, wondering, hoping none of the stars of the show will be killed or injured in Northern Ireland in its turmoil of the 1960s amidst the time of "Troubles." That's when and where Mr. Branagh was growing up, and compelled, at last by covid to do something, he has made an autobiographical film of the conflict and its social and domestic effects.

Belfast is told from the perspective of a lad (Jude Hill; nominated) who delivers a remarkable performance in the story where the continuing violent conflict plays a secondary, backdrop role to the reality of family circumstances and change.  

Should the family go or stay?

Belfast has long pauses and great music (by Van Morrison), but an action film, it is not. Those who are Spiderman or James Bond fans will not cotton well to this.  

The inclusion of Dame Judith Dench as the almost unrecognizable grandma (who was not nominated) is a redeeming social plus. But, the housewife's role (played by Caitríona Balfe; nominated for supporting role) in her June Cleaver dress and personality is off by ten years and undermines a mother's and wife's importance.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Film review: National Geographic's 'Rescue,' highly recommended.

You know the ending, but do you know how they got there?

It's a chilling and scary story, told in an excellent National Geographic documentary, The Rescue, about the 2018 saga of 12 boys and their assistant soccer coach who scurried inside a Northern Thailand cave which flooded, trapping them for more than two weeks.

Cave divers from around the world joined members of the Royal Thai Navy Seals and the U.S. Air Force Special Tactics in attempts to save the team.

Manmade forces juggled with Mother Nature and certain forecast monsoon rains in the breathtaking rescue race.

Experts on the ground doubted the know-how of two "old men" in flip flops and shorts, skilled underwater astronauts, who began to doubt their own abilities to rescue the team.

Forced by persistence and beliefs of the Thai people who believed the boys could be saved, 10,000 persons ultimately aided in the recovery efforts. 

The rescuers contacted a doctor friend in Australia to request that he consider administering sedatives to the boys to get them out, but the doctor resisted. He couldn't do it; the possibility was crazy.

But like the Thai people who would not give up believing in miracles, the cave divers would not give up asking the doctor until he agreed and journeyed to Thailand.

Cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen from The Rescue/National Geographic

Splices of tape show the 24/7 actions underwater which become a horror show, ultimately ending in death.

Each of the star rescuers is interviewed at length; they describe their backgrounds growing up, when some were bullied, and many were loners, like the nerds at my high school who became the biggest achievers.

What is missing in this tale is why and how the boys went into the cave, why they went so far and why their coach led them.

Since Netflix retained rights to the boys' stories, no first-person accounts by any of them are included in the National Geographic film, an unnoticed absence, save the reasons for their entering the cave in the first place.

That the boys and their coach survived underground for up to 17 days is astonishing and shows what can happen if you "believe" and do not give up.

The film fulfills National Geographic's goals: To "support a diverse, international community of changemakers ...who use the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world."

Take a hanky (or more than one). I figured I'd cry in the show. I did.

Husband and wife team, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, directed and produced the film with producers John Battsek, PJ van Sandwijk, Bob Eisenhardt (also, editor).

Daniel Pemberton's music is out of this world.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Film review: 'Las Siameses,' one of the year's best

At the movie's end, the man behind me said, "I feel like I've been to the dentist and had all my teeth pulled."

I felt like I had seen a masterpiece.

I nominate Las Siamesas for "Best International Feature Film" and Rita Cortese for "Best Performance by an Actress in an International Feature Film." She plays the mother, and Valeria Lois is the daughter who does a pretty good job herself in the movie about a mother/daughter relationship.

The Siamese Bond made its DC debut last weekend at Gala Hispanic Theatre where the Gala Film Fest presented six movies by female filmmakers in this "Latin American Innovation."

Las Siamesas is a black comedy which produces audience guffaws with hard-hitting lines the mom and daughter exchange while on a bus trip to the shore to see apartments which the daughter has inherited from her father.

The bus ride takes a back seat to the relationship, but its momentum heightens expectations.

Daylight gradually wanes, travelers disembark from the bus, and all that remains are the two women, two drivers and the audience, a voyeuristic passenger on an existential journey leading (surprise!) to a breakdown.

The ride darkens.

And where there is darkness, loneliness, and consenting adults, there is fire.

The sex scene is the best I can recall, one directed from a woman's perspective without male directors' obligatory exposed breasts. Thank you, Director Paula Hernandez.

The first kiss, the hidden skin, shadows, movements, the passion. Leaving much to the imagination which is as it should be and makes for a better experience.

Listen to the hum of the bus and the magnificent score. That cello! To perfectly match the mood and emphasize the turmoils the daughter and the mother endure.

What appears to be a simple set intensifies the script.

It's bleak, it's funny, it's sad, and arouses emotions, all the moving parts necessary for a successful film. Okay, so maybe the pauses could have been shortened, but otherwise, what to improve?

Las Siamesas has been nominated for several international awards with a victory claimed by Director Hernandez who wrote the script with Leonel D'Agostino.

On another night at the Festival, I saw Ya Me Voy (I'm Leaving Now) by Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda filmed over two years in Brooklyn, about an undocumented immigrant who wrestles with going home or staying in New York where he can continue his relationships and his collections. It's highly recommended, too, but it was Las Siamesas which drove my fingers to the keyboard.

All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. Carlos Gutierrez curated.

patricialesli@gmail.com

No box office success for 'Nomadland'

Frances McDormand and David Strathairn in one of the livelier scenes from Nomadland/Searchlight Pictures

(This is not to knock the people who live and enjoy this lifestyle. This is about the movie.)

To each her own. 

Whatever floats your boat.

Fans your van.

Pandemic or no pandemic, the movie house hosted all of three people on a Saturday night, and there's a reason for that!

Carla, preserve your marriage with Thor and don't dare drag him to see this.

Why pay to sleep when you can do that at home?

This is another one of those flicks made for the critics, much like that awful cat movie by the Coen Brothers, one of whom happens to be married to Frances McDormand, the star and Nomadland co-producer. (I can just see the family sitting around a home bonfire and discussing how they will make their next joyless movie, like Woody Allen's which continue to bomb.)

Talk about a downer. This has got it all. The only thing missing was an attack or some other act of violence coming in the middle of the night which would have pumped up the adrenalin, at least a little.

In-between walks in the desert to contemplate dust, "Fern" urinates, she defecates (and where shall we put it?  There's actually a discussion of this!), and swims naked.  Naturally!  Where would a good art film be without the de rigueur full-frontal female nude?  Where's the male nude?

It would have been difficult to make Ms. McDormand look much worse than she does here, but I'll bet the makeup artist for Nomadland had nomakeland to apply, if one were even one hired for the show. Why bother?

Nomadland  has a few redeeming qualities like the music (by Ludovico Einaudi), the harsh and dry Western scenery (to match the dormant life of the protagonist), and the looks of David Strathairn, the faux S.O., a fantasy who is too nice, too perfect, too considerate to be real. (I mean, come on writers: Show a little life!)

Towards the end when "Fern" walks along a big, rocky coast with leaping, crashing waves jumping up to grab her, all I could wish was that she would just go ahead and jump in so we could escape early.

Like last year wasn't bad enough! Let's pay to see more!

Patricialesli@gmail.com

Best Picture! 'Parasite' and more for 'Ford v. Ferrari'

Oh my gaaawwwwdddddddd....

Not that I've seen them all, but this is without question, "the best" this year.

It's not for the squeamish or those who want an easy flowing plot.  

It's for lovers of The Shape of Water. 

At the beginning, it's like a nicely winding stream, meandering along its path when yikers! Danger knocks and like a mammoth rock which separates the water in two, a geyser erupts and venom spews. 

Don't open the door!  (But, what's a movie without fear and trembling? And opportunity knocks, does it not?)

I must open the door! Which door?

Parasite is a screaming roller coaster ride which climbs and zooms 'til you reach zowee clouds and then you hurtle down the curves, rushing, rushing to the next scene. lurching, twisting and covering your eyes, afraid to look and ….oh, my   g o o d n e s s....

Hang on! You may need blinders.  Just ask Christine. She used her hands.

It's got a bit of humor, too: "Do I have to do the Miranda thing again?"

Outstanding music (by Jaeil Jung), acting, cinematography, and plot make Parasite the "best." 


Congratulations to writer/director Bong Joon-ho for bringing this to the U.S.

Parasite has been nominated for six Academy Awards, the first time a Korean film has been nominated for any Oscar.  The actors deserved nomination, too, but were overlooked by the Academy for, according to modern talk, racist reasons.

It's in Korean with English sub-titles and, to make a comparison, makes Knives Out (I know; not nominated) look like plastic forks. 
  
Others I wish had won nominations and Oscars are Christian Bale for Best Actor and Tracy Letts, Best Supporting Actor in Ford v. Ferrari, a winner for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Casting. No doubts!
 
patricialesli@gmail.com

Movie review: Knives in for 'Knives Out'

 The cast of Rian Johnson's Knives Out. Who dunnit?

I thought it would make this year's Ten Best Oscar list since it seems like voters usually stretch that a bit to come up with "Ten Best" movies, but it didn't make.  In more ways than one.

It's a lot like the game Clue which, in many respects, is more entertaining. 

One of the worst things about Knives Out is the silly, affected, fake Southern accent put on by Daniel Craig, a Brit, who stars as the chief detective.  How boring, darling. I suppose casting director Mary Vernieu has that anti-Southern attitude and could not venture South and find a real Southern accent.

The show is billed as a comedy/crime/drama, but the funny parts are mostly missing.

The story line is pretty good, and director/writer Rian Johnson was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. 

About mid-way through, though, when I began thinking the movie was nothing special, it veered off the beaten track and better action finally got going. Up until then, effective flashbacks carried us to the scene of the crime, most of it committed in an old mansion. (If you can figure it out, I hope you, too, are writing screenplays.)

Overall acting is pretty atrocious.  All of them (save Chris Evans, who's one of the victim's sons, and K Callan, who plays the mother of the 90-something victim; yeah, right) are stilted and artificial, like what you might see on stage when the actors are tired and need a break, like more rehearsals.  

Including, yes, the performance by Jamie Lee Curtis, whose spouse (the dull Don Johnson) goes a'wandering which is no wonder faced with the same boring clothes she wears day in and day out (costumer Jenny Eagan didn't do the show any favors), quite the great-grandmother with that weed hanging out of her mouth to add to her allure.  

Was that baseball star heartthrob Jayson Werth up on the screen or Michael Shannon? (Compare and see what you think.)

It's amazing but Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music) is still alive and well after all these years, now aged 156 or so (just kidding, Mr. Plummer!) based on the number of movies he's been in. (I tried counting them all up but the Wikipedia pages ran too long.)

While it's true that he was supine most of the time on a sofa, and almost unreal and preserved like a mummy or dummy (and those were the alive parts), ain't it grand that a nonagenarian is still in demand? 

Well, honey, Ms. Callan's performance (did she say anything?) stands out, and she's no spring chick (84 last week).  Ain't it great that an octogenarian (and a female at that) is still in demand?  Rock on!

Speaking of, the overall show did not match the excellent score by native-born Washingtonian Nathan Johnson whose cello and extreme range heightened the experience.

Knives has little visual sex, but bad words, yes, of course. Rather de rigueur, aren't they?

patricialesli@gmail.com


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Movie review: 'Jojo Rabbit' is a sleeper hit!

It's one of the Year's Top 10!
 
The audience rates Jojo Rabbit at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and the critics, 79% (ho hum), so you know it's got to be good since the audience is always right.

"Adolph" (Taika Waititi, the director) is the imaginary friend of "Jojo" (Roman Griffith Davis) in Jojo Rabbit

Easy prediction:  Jojo will make the Top 10 Oscar "Best Movies" list of 2019, practically assured by its inclusion in the Golden Globe nominations.

But Best Actor for a 12-year-old (Roman Griffith Davis)? Naaawwww....just call me ageist. 

What's required for admittance to Jojo is an open mind and tolerance since this is billed as a "black comedy," and that it is, folks. (Parent's warning: It's okay for mature tweens, but the story will be hard to follow for younger children.)

My Jewish friends may find the World War II Nazi Germany setting intolerable, but the negativity gradually collapses to opposition in Jojo, with its underlying theme which strengthens as the show progresses without becoming overbearing.
 
Jojo Rabbit has a horrid rabbit exchange, but this is a satire, and I know PETA would not let anything happen to a silly rabbit.  

Writer, director, "Polynesian Jew" Taika Waititi (who based Jojo on a story by Christine Leunens) has placed himself in a major role (an imaginary Adolph Hitler) who befriends "Jojo" (Master Davis), a member of Hitler's Youth Army. The lad is a bit uncertain what it all means, but there's a surprise in his attic which grows on him and becomes a life lesson.

In this blend of light sci-fi with a fabulous score (by Michael Giacchino), I can assure you no one will be bored.

Jojo has a ton of great actors but none better than Stephen Merchant as the despised straight-up German officer who, I hope, earns a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Just one look and a few wordless seconds with this awful person are all that are necessary for his persona as Mr. Evil to emerge.

A Best Supporting Actress nod will likely go to Tomasin McKenzie (who's only 19 years old herself, but never mind). The casting crew deserves a nomination for choosing the other knockouts who include Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, Sam Rockwell, and Archie Yates (a darling boy), among many.

With hate crimes on the rise, exacerbated by world leaders' ignorance, narcissism, self-righteousness, and ethnocentrism, the movie's message subtly undergirds the content which I hope leaves viewers with heightened sensitivities to better acceptance of those who may be different from you and from me. 

patricialesli@gmail.com

Bravo! 'Pavarotti'!

It's one of the finest documentaries I've seen.

Pavarotti delivers his life from beginning to end with stills, videos, clips, and interviews with his ex-wife, his wife, his protege, his daughters, partners, critics, agents, other singers, lovers, and, of course, the star.

Many performances and the change in his focus from opera to rock star to charities (especially after his friendship with Princess Di develops) are included.

The editors leave in enough of his songs to avoid audience frustration when they are cut too short. 

Playing an important role in the film is a long interview (shown in segments) with Placido Domingo, 78, in the news this month charged with harassment by nine females. Domingo's planned performances in San Francisco and Philadelphia have been canceled, and investigations are underway in New York, where he's set to sing next month, and Los Angeles, where he serves as the opera's general director, but "no cancellations in Europe" say the headlines.

Had the charges surfaced earlier, I wondered if the producers would have left him in. Domingo's contributions are significant to the movie's success, adding depth and perspective, and, despite his supposed assaults, I am glad he's there. 

Bono is also interviewed extensively, especially about the humorous blossoming of his relationship with Pavarotti which led to Pavarotti's rock star concert appearances, stirring criticism from opera buffs.
 

Pavarotti was all glee and smiles, at least, that was his public persona. He was nervous before each performance and always thought he had room to improve.

Watching the film I sadly waited for the advent of the younger, lovely woman to displace Wife #1, Adua Veroni (married 39 years) which inevitably happens. More than once. 

As famous, wealthy men are wont to say and do as they leave their spouses and children: "Who cares?  It's all about me and my happiness." 

Pavarotti died in 2007 at age 71 of pancreatic cancer but given his weight and the burden his heart carried, he lived a long life and still brings us joy. At the end of the film I was glad to have Three Tenors on my shelf at home.

One minor film flaw I found was the repeated (though infrequent) omission of the names of the interviewees to refresh them for viewers like me who asked myself: "Is she the oldest daughter?" and "Which soprano is she?" 

Except for the first two rows in the theater where I went, every seat in the screening was taken.

A great, great doc!  Enjoy!

Ron Howard directs.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Highly recommended, 'Mike Wallace' and 'Maiden' documentaries

 

 Mike Wallace is Here, a film by Avi Belkin/Photo by Magnolia Pictures

I don't know why I enjoy documentaries so much, but Mike Wallace is Here, Maiden, and Echo in the Canyon are the last three movies I've seen, and I've loved them all.

Mike Wallace is Here is the story of his news life beginning with acne (?) and his attempts to cover it up with radio broadcasting. From radio and advertising, his career soars, told in clips and interviews and separated by too many lines of color and flashbacks which are confusing at times.

I cannot imagine this film appealing to anyone under age 45 ("Who's Mike Wallace?") and certainly not to anyone who is not a news junkie since it's "hardcore," a glorification of his news life.  Omitted are his harassment of females at CBS and Mr. Wallace's racist remarks, but the content of the last half of the 20th century is valuable for American modern history and journalism classes.

It would have been better with subtitles of the names of all those he interviewed and the years of the interviews.  Most members of the audience likely can identify all, but in some cases, immediate identification would have helped and saved brain time. (Stick around at the end for the credits and IDs.)

Who knew Putin speaks English? Some of the other celebrities included in the film are Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Johnny Carson, John Ehrlichman, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis (looking wonderful), Arthur Miller, Frank Lloyd Wright, Donald Trump, Ayatollah Khomeini (whose interview may have led to the assassination of Anwar Sadat), Salvador Dali (!), Larry King, and Oriana Fallaci (who's she?). His son, Chris Wallace of Fox fame, occupies just a snippet in the film, and none of Mike Wallace's four wives are screened.  Two are briefly mentioned. Also welcome would have been a note about Mike Wallace's death, when, where, and why. (He died in 2012 of natural causes.) When his son, Peter, was 19 and missing in Greece, Mike Wallace took off and found Peter's body below a steep cliff, lying on rocks in the water. His death was always intolerable pain for Mr. Wallace as it is for any parent experiencing this tragedy. I found myself wishing, wishing, wishing to see the entirety of most of the interviews (where can I go to find them?) since they were far too short, most, lasting just a few seconds.

Maiden, a Sony Pictures Classics release

On a more positive note is Maiden, about the woman, Tracy Edwards, who skippered the ship and a crew of women in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race (now called the Ocean Race). Clips and chronology of her story to obtain a boat and secure financing (from King Hussein of Jordan, no less, thanks to a chance encounter) make this an invigorating true-sail (could not resist). (Attention: Never turn down an opportunity to meet the great and not-so-great. Who knows where it will lead?)

Current interviews with the sailors and flashbacks to their 1989 roles make this a strong show and impetus for girls (and women) everywhere!  A must for feminist history classes.  Ms. Edwards and her crew became the first all-female staff to finish the race, winning several legs of the 33,000 mile journey which takes nine months to sail around the world.   Depression suffered by Ms. Edwards and Mr. Wallace receives considerable attention in both films.   Maiden's story is much easier to follow than the Mike Wallace film since Maiden's early clips are presented mostly in chronological order, while in Wallace, we go back and forth from here to then and back again and then up and down. (His hairstyle, color, and thickness help to keep viewers afloat.) Original music by John Piscitello (Mike Wallace) and Rob Manning and Samuel Sim (Maiden) is electrifying, capturing the moods and tensions of both films. Take a happy hanky to Maiden for its enthusiastic ending with audience applause. patricialesli@gmail.com