The End of the Tour

David Foster Wallace:

I just think that to look across the room and to automatically assume that somebody is less aware or that their interior life is somehow less rich and complicated and acutely perceived as mine, makes me not as good a writer.

David Lipsky:

Why?

David Foster Wallace:

Because it means I’m gonna be performing for some faceless audience instead of trying to have a conversation with a person.


Title: The End of the Tour
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Year: 2015
Director: James Ponsoldt, known for “The Spectacular Now”
Top Billed Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Segel
Brief Synopsis: A famous author, cloistered away teaching at a small college, is interviewed for Rolling Stone along a 7 day book tour.
My Word to the Wise: I loved this movie. It’s based on true events. David Lipsky, a reporter for Rolling Stone, seeks and is granted an interview with bestselling author David Foster Wallace. The 7 days are spent with Wallace doing his everyday routine and Lipsky staying as his guest, recording all he can about the popular enigmatic author. The movie showcases the words of Wallace, revealing their genius. I want to read everything he wrote after watching this. It moves at a slower pace than some bios or literary focus films, so some will be put off by that. But for those who can set aside the running time to take in this film, you will gain wisdom in life and especially in writing.

Wallace passed away in 2008 and Lipsky used his extensive tape recordings and notes to create this film in 2015. We are left with a golden piece of film as literature. We see not only the genius of Wallace but the large size of his heart that was largely hidden from public view. I highly recommend this film for the reasons I have stated. Because it may not appeal to all moviegoers due to it’s slow, almost documentary pace, it lost a star with me. Some of the quotes, like the ones in the excerpt t the top of this review, could have been accented better as well, possibly by a change of location. Most of this film takes place in cars and airplanes.

Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) – When enemies find sex appeal through hypnotism it’s quite funny

Woody Allen writes his scripts on an old fashioned typewriter. He thinks in analog patterns in linear ways we don’t choose to use these days. Maybe that’s why this film is so effectively funny to me, it’s a change of pace that works. His romantic tension with Helen Hunt is highly enjoyable and the plot he has written for this film keeps you guessing like the best Columbo mysteries.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

“An insurance investigator and an efficency expert who hate each other are both hypnotized by a crooked hypnotist with a jade scorpion into stealing jewels.” -IMDB

Cast

Greg Stebner Cop (uncredited)
Woody Allen CW Briggs
John Tormey Sam
John Schuck Mize

Directed by

Woody Allen

Written by

Woody Allen

Other Info

Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Romance
PG-13
Fri 24 Aug 2001 UTC
103min
IMDB Rating: 6.8

In this film, a gumshoe insurance inspector gets into a match of wits with femal who’s been hired to “clean things up.” The idea is that she wants Woody’s character out. Helen Hunt plays this role deftly and the only way it can work with their age difference is through hypnotism. No, I’m not exaggerating, this film has a crux of hypnotism that keeps the plot flowing.

A hypnotist convinces these arch enemies they love each other and it makes for some really great romantic comedy. Even if you don’t like Woody Allen, you’ll be busting up laughing at these hypnotized lovers. The gags in this film are very well executed.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve seen this period movie probably 10 times. It has the appeal of a noir detective movie but maintains that subdued humor of the director. For fans of Woody Allen as well as goofy, quirky romantic comedies, I highly recommend it.

Mudbound

We think about slavery as being the time when prejudice was at its worst, and then with the Civil War it ended. Often we forget it continued long after and if you want to be truthful, it still goes on today. I am so pleased to see so many films this year portraying a realistic image of prejudice and how much it is still dividing our country. “Mudbound,” that is incidentally up for Best Picture, is a historical piece that takes place after WWII. It stands as a graphic reminder of the prejudice that remained at that time.

Mudbound (2017)
R | 2h 14min | Drama | 17 November 2017 (USA)

Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
Director: Dee Rees
Writers: Virgil Williams (screenplay by), Dee Rees (screenplay by) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Garrett Hedlund, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke

In this film we have 2 stories running parallel. One is the story of a while serviceman flying bombers in Germany. The other is an African-American fighting for the USA as well. They come back home to the farms of their youths. The white has become a drunk and the black has encountered racism which surprises him since his return.

Old prejudices die hard, especially when the Klan is near. There are touching moments where the blacks start to trust whites and whites start to lift their prejudices. The issue of mixed race comes into it and forms a motive in the film. I don’t know how racists would view this film but to me it was utterly horrifying, as it always is when I see extreme racism on the screen. This one is not for kids. It is a good example of how horrible whites have treated blacks through history, even the ones who have returned from war. The struggle for true equality continues, lest we forget. I gave this film a 9/10.

Anthropoid (2016) 4/5 – Epic bio film about taking down Hitler’s third ranking officer

Biography films can be long and even boring sometimes. This is a break from that mold. We see the Czechs go after Hitler’s third man in charge. They call him the butcher. What seems an impossible task becomes a tenacious one and as Cillian Murphy’s character says “We are Czechs, we will never surrender!”

Anthropoid

“Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich’s third in command after Hitler and Himmler.” -IMDB

Cast

Jamie Dornan Jan Kubis
Cillian Murphy Josef Gabcík
Brian Caspe Antonín
Karel Hermánek Jr. Ignác

Directed by

Sean Ellis

Written by

Sean Ellis, Anthony Frewin

Other Info

Biography, History, Thriller, War
R
Fri 09 Sep 2016 UTC
120min
IMDB Rating: 7.2

Director Sean Ellis who gave us the funny and sexy Cashback., really made a sideline here for a gritty, violent biography. I don’t usually gravitate toward these films but I’m glad I did this time. A slow starter, this film does pick up with a passion and takes the audience along for a helluva ride.

Cillian Murphy plays the lead role. He’s an assassin from the resistance against Hitler. He sets out to kill Hitler’s third in command, after Himmler. Jamie Dornan also gives a powerful performance as the accomplice. Viewers may remember him from the not so stunning Fifty Shades of Grey.

The story is about a pair of Czechs whose country has been decimated by Hitler and his cronies. They set out to assassinate the third in command who has been put in charge of terrorizing and occupying Czechoslovakia . The hit many walls along their journey and the end is a scene of bittersweet historical fact.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I really liked this film in the way it presented the characters in a slow way but sped up during certain exciting scenes which kept my interest. It’s a must see for fans of World War Two films with an emphasis on the horrors of Hitler. I recommend it to historians and casual biography watchers alike. There are times it does go a little slow and I didn’t truly embrace the way the ending was presented even though I liked it very much.

4/5

Paddington 2

Here we have a character that is so cute, it really doesn’t matter if the story is good, you just want to see him talk and move. But the story here is awesome. We go on a lively and comical adventure with a bear named Paddington.

Paddington 2 (2017)
PG | 1h 44min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | 12 January 2018 (USA)

Paddington, now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.
Director: Paul King
Writers: Paul King, Simon Farnaby | 1 more credit »
Stars: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant, Hugh Bonneville

Here we have another writer and director that amazes. Paul King has a limited number of titles as a director but he really shines with Paddington 2.

We see a lot of the same cast as the first film. There is a slight twist in that Hugh Grant’s character is conniving, seeking to steal a sacred pop-up book. There are laughs in this there are also some truly sad spots. Paddington interprets these emotions well. I think this film brings his personality to life much more than the first film does, and I liked the first film! As a fun family film that certainly entertains, I give this film an 8/10

Phantom Thread

The presenting room is full of women in white nurse-like dresses holding pins and needles with measuring tape. Like in a hospital they are waiting fearfully for the designer to enter the room. That designer is Reynolds Woodcock, the year is 1950 in London. He is the surgeon, they only wait on him to perform their secondary duties. Though he is renowned, perhaps Mr. Woodcock is a bit too fastidious for this earth, for his own sanity.

Phantom Thread (2017)
R | 2h 10min | Drama, Romance | 19 January 2018 (USA)

Set in 1950’s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Stars: Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville

Paul Thomas Anderson showed us with “The Master” and “Inherent Vice” that he was a strident, intense filmmaker who has a vision for the story. “Phantom Thread” keeps with that showing us the mind of a celebrated dressmaker is is probably mildly mentally ill. We are shown right away he is not a sprightly aged man. We are shown soon after he must have thigs his way. One example is how he only likes asparagus prepared with oil, not butter.

The film is lovely yet dismal throughout, like a sweet and sour sucker. To be married to him you must be at his whim and understand his moods. It hardly seems worth it and yet his child-bride played by Vicky Krieps but she accepts the calling. The two have romantic and tense fighting times, sometimes with words, others in silence. Incidentally these times are the best for learning out who this couple is as individuals.

Ultimately, the music and gifted performances in this film are why it has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. It’s not a hip or “chic” topic and I feel many people will be turned off by the slow cadence of it all. It’s a film that draws you in though, gives you an experience and then lets you draw your own conclusions. It is elegant but some may find it doesn’t have enough of a point (no pun intended). I give this film an 8/10.