***

Paul Williams Still Alive- sp Filmmaker Stephen Kessler grew up and came of age in the 1970s and 80s and was a big fan of the music and of the personality of Paul Williams. He had thought that Williams had faded from the scene. Therefore he was quite surprised when a few years ago he found out that his music hero was alive and well.  He read that Williams was still writing and performing music. He tracked down 65-year-old Williams at a concert in Winnipeg, Canada where he was playing to an enthusiastic but older crowd. Kessler proposed that he would make a documentary film about the career of Williams. His proposal was politely turned down but Kessler persisted and ultimately made the film with William’s agreement. In an unorthodox documentary style, the film chronicles how Kessler gradually won over Williams to allow him to make this loving tribute. He used flashbacks, mainly in the form of film clips and videotapes of Williams and many others performing his songs. Early music such as the Carpenters singing We have Just Begun and Rainy Days and Mondays as well as many others such as Cried Like a Baby and Talk It Over In the Morning. He co wrote many songs including the music sung by Jim Hensen as Kermet the Frog. He wrote for TV shows such as Happy Days and wrote and sang the music for the TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble that starred John Travolta. Williams was nominated for multiple Academy Awards for writing the best music in a motion picture and won the Oscar for Evergreen in the movie A Star is Born which was co-written and performed by Barbra Streisand. Williams’ status as a pop icon was confirmed by the fact that he was a guest 50 times on the Johnny Carson show. Although 5’2” he was giant in the music industry. Williams himself admits that his fame went to his head and he seemed embarrassed when Kessler showed him some of his old tapes. He came across in them as a self-centered person who was caught up with his own fame and success. Drugs and alcohol became a mainstay of his life. He subsequently had treatment and now has been sober for over 20 years. His wife Marianna is frequently shown at his side in the movie and it is obvious that she and his two children are very meaningful to him. He has evolved to where he clearly cares about people and is deeply passionate about music, not only his own but the music of other composers. He is now President of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, which is a very powerful organization fighting for the rights of all songwriters. Paul Williams has come a long way and as the title states is “still alive” in every sense of the word.(2012)

****

The Last Ride –sp   If this were just a great buddy movie about two unlikely guys driving together throughout the south, this film would be worth seeing. But it is much more. It is the story of how country music was the fabric of the people and the land where it originated. In 1952 when this movie was set, the personality who embodied that music and the stories that it told was Hank Williams. This is a movie about Hank Williams and yet we never see him sing one note. Director and a co-producer of this movie Harry Thomason is a well known television/movie director/producer as well as a friend of President and Mrs. Bill Clinton. He is also a native of Little Rock Arkansas where he once was a teacher and high school football coach and therefore was able to find authentic settings for all the scenes, which included gas stations, roadside stops, and many local roads.  The storyline shows an 18 year old bumbling but conscientious car mechanic Silas (Jesse James) who   is offered an opportunity to earn some good money by driving a well dressed man with a cowboy hat, unknown to him to be Hank Williams (Henry Thomas) in a lovely blue Cadillac to a destination several hundred miles away. Williams is an alcoholic with a back condition named spinal bifida and a persistent cough, which heralds bad things to come. During the long car ride they get to know each other as they encounter bad weather, a pretty gas station attendant (Kaley Cuoco) who becomes the first date and first kiss for Silas, local musicians gathered around a stovepipe furnace to play true blue country music, a local policeman who pulls them into the local court, a barroom fight and a failed desperate biplane air flight. There is a wonderful soundtrack of country music, which envelops the audience throughout the movie, which complements the warm feelings that we feel for the characters as we get to know them. In The year when Williams took this fateful car ride across country in a powder blue Cadillac, he had a number one hit titled “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive”  This song  was more prophetic than anyone would have dreamed as at the end of this buddy trip  twenty nine year old Hank Williams never made it out of his blue Cadillac His persona and his music has lived on as will this film. (2012)

****

The Grand Canyon nf– After recently seeing Director/Writer Larry Kasden’s latest film Darling Companion and liking it very much we decided to view this 1991 film also directed by Kasden and co- written with his wife Meg Kasden. This film was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay. It is set and made in Los Angeles about one year before the LA Riots. It is about people from different parts of town whose lives intersect due to some random circumstances. Kevin Kline plays Mac, a successful attorney who goes off the beaten path in more than one way but finds himself seemingly rescued by Simon (Danny Glover), a tow truck driver. Their lives and their life styles reflect their different social, racial and economic settings. The important people in each of their lives are struggling with their own identities and life crisis. Mack’s wife Claire (Mary McDonnell) questions her marriage and tries to deal with her feelings as she is watching her teenage son grow up and have his first romance. She has to decide how to fulfill her own life as well as that of a newborn abandoned child who she discovers while out jogging. Simon’s sister (Afre Woodard), on the other side of town is trying to figure out how to raise her teenage son who can’t see any other choices than being a gang member. Everyone’s lives are intersecting. Not only does the film contrast different life styles in Los Angeles that are only a few minutes car ride away from each other but also puts a mirror to the personal decisions that each person has to make. Kasden uses an ensemble cast of excellent actors and it seems that he has chosen Steve Martin to play the character closest to himself. In a non-comedic role Martin is Davis, a movie producer who wants to make honest films that show the human condition even if they contain realistic violent action that he does best. We come away from this movie reflecting that we are each a tiny spec in this universe that we can’t control but we still have decisions to make that can make a difference. (1991)

***

Where Do We Go Now? sp—It could have been New York City and the gang war between the Jets and the Sharks as seen in Westside Story. Or perhaps it could be the Bloods and the Crypts  who in reality  have an uneasy truce in Los Angeles which usually prevents them from killing each other. However this movie takes us to small village in Lebanon (although the name of the country is never mentioned to suggest a certain universality to the theme). In this case there are two factions Muslims and Christians with their respective houses of worship being literally facing each other. They live side by side in this small village but all too often friction occurs and the men are at each other and young men die. It is not this way with the women of this village who are friends and share their mourning and grief as they periodically bury their men. Second time Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki who wrote, directed and starred in this movie was inspired to create this movie shortly after she had her first child and was in anguish over a political rift in her country during which men were fighting in the street. She was moved to consider how horrible it must be to raise your son in this environment. She wrote a screenplay of what might happen if the women of this village were to get together and conspire to stop this senseless killing of the boys and men. The result is a poignant and comedic fable, which reminds us what women can do when they work together to try to protect their families. Ms. Labaki is not only inspired but is very talented. She created this movie using mostly non-actors, who often worked from the concept of a scene rather than following a tight script. Nevertheless there were some particularly authentic dramatic moments, which were done quite well. It did take a little while for us to get completely oriented to the storyline and the 100 minutes running time could have been edited more tightly. The theme partially echoes an  Albanian film The Forgiveness of Blood where ancient traditions of mediation are used to try to prevent the feuds but in the current film Ms Labaki‘s  instincts clearly focuses on the power of women. (2012)  

***

Last Call at the Oasis- sp  – People kill for it and we all are dependent on it. This  documentary is all about it and it is  “water”. It may not be a total surprise to you but the global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century. This film puts a human face on the struggle around the impact of global warming in areas such as the Central Valley in California which is drying up. You can look into the eyes of people from various communities in Texas, the Midwest and elsewhere. You can see how industrial chemicals are doing their damage to people through our water supply. You see an illustration in one locality where you could actually get a flash flame by putting a match to water coming from the faucet. You meet the real Erin Brockovitch (made famous by her film portrayal by Julia Roberts) who is still fighting for people suffering the effects of contaminated water. You also meet an everyday Midwestern housewife who achieved well deserved recognition when she went on a campaign to measure and demonstrate the impurity of the water in her community. The film doesn’t offer simple solutions. It makes the case for conservation of water and the urgent need to rethink agricultural techniques and urban water use. One of the many things that can be done is the recycling of our waste water which technology allows us to do but too many people are reluctant to consider. The film is directed and produced by Jessica Yu with major support from Participation Media which has supported many social action films such as Waiting for Superman, Inconvenient Truth, Darfur Now, The Help and many others. You will come away from this movie much better informed and most likely inspired to do something about one of the major global problems areas of your lifetime. However, you may, in fact feel frustrated and overwhelmed. At the conclusion of the film in very small print for a brief moment there are some  websites which are listed which should have been  shown in bold type across the entire screen. One of these sites is Takepart.com/lastcall. On it you will learn 10 easy ways you can conserve water as well as interesting facts such as that in poor parts of the world people live on 2.5 gallons of water /day, a 60 watt light bulb requires 5 gallons of water for every hour it is left on, toilets can use as much as 7 gallons/flush, the average household uses 350 gallons of water/day. There is also a story of one accident which  spilled  3 million gallons of manure into the Black River in NY causing an unimaginable amount of water pollution. You can all learn how to sign the Water Bill of Rights or get the National Geographic water calculator to test your true water footprint. This is the potential of this film to inform you and move you to action.

****

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen- rm   Simon Beaufoy, who won an Academy Award for best adapted screen play for Slumdog Millionaire, this time adapts a screen play of a fanciful novel by Paul Torday. Director Lass Hallstrom crafts this almost fairy tale story with many levels and it comes across with an authentic ring. Of course it doesn’t hurt that you have some outstanding actors who do a great job. Dr. Albert Jones (Ewan McGregor) is a British government fishing expert who is approached by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt), a financial consultant who is acting on behalf of Sheikh Muhammad (Amr Waked, an excellent Egyptian actor) who is willing to spend at least 50 million dollars to redo the desert country of Yemen to introduce his favorite sport  salmon fishing there. It is suggested at one point that the fishing expert might have “a touch Asbergers” since he can’t seem to help but tell the truth and he has little sense of humor. He is very likeable and there is chemistry between him and Harriet who is initially all business but vulnerable when the short term love of her life seems out of the picture. The British government officials who spur on this outlandish project, add humor to the story but everything always seems possible. We cared about all the characters and somehow never believed that the Shiekh was just a self-indulgent playboy. In the end we are reminded of what it means to have vision, to believe in your ideas as well as the joy in discovering romance in a special relationship. That makes this movie, in our opinion, a successful romantic comedy. (2012)

****

Mamitas- sp  This is a coming of age movie that takes place in East Los Angeles. Jordin Juarez (EJ Bonilla) is a bright defiant high school student living with his dad and brother and close to granddad (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.). His mother died at his birth and this “know it all guy” on the outside, with a lot of baggage on the inside, wasn’t sure where he was going but it wasn’t going to be college. The tagline of the movie is “You never know who will change your life forever and in this case it is Felipa (Veronica Diaz), visiting cousin of one of the local high school “chics.”  Felipa , big glasses and hidden good looks is hoping for a college scholarship but she too has her family secret. There is an interesting storyline but it isn’t as important as appreciating the slowly developing chemistry between these characters as well as the authentic East LA Latino setting. The movie was written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Nicholas Ozchki who met one of producers while they were both students at Chapman Film School. They subsequently have formed Right Brain Films, a group we are going to hear more about in the future.  EJ Bonilla first came to our attention in another recent film where he magnificently played a completely different character, which was, that of a young man who danced with his girl friend who was in a wheel chair in Musical Chairs. His mannerisms, charm and angst in the current role in Mamitas is also a tour de force as is the entire movie. (2012)

***

50/50- nf  A 27 year old single guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)  gets a diagnosis of cancer with a 50/50 chance of survival. His girl friend (Bryce Dallas Howard) gets him a boney dog but can’t handle the situation and they break up. His mother (Angelica Huston) as usual tries to smother him. His best buddy (Seth Rogen) sticks by him and decides that this will be a great pick up line to get girls. Rogen’s comedic style carries the movie and allows a painful subject to be appreciated in a more palatable manner. Admittedly as a psychiatrist and a social worker who have trained medical students and physicians how to talk to patients, it was disappointing to see the cancer specialist as being quite insensitive. It also was a little disheartening to see the student therapist (Anna Kendrick) who was supposed to help him deal with the situation, act out a romantic crush that she developed for him. But it was done in good taste and, after all, it is only a movie. On the other hand the back-story for the film is quite authentic. As shown in the bonus feature of the DVD, the script writer (Will Reiser) actually lived this story and his best friend who stood by him through this ordeal was Seth Rogen. (2011)

****

Darling Companion- sp  This is a wonderful “ feel good “ movie that everyone can enjoy. It will be especially meaningful to anyone who has been part of a family when the last child is married off and the parents deal with their  adult relationship  with each other and other members of their families. It was directed  and produced by Lawrence Kasden (Big Chill, Grand Canyon and many more big time hits) who also wrote the script along with his wife Meg Kasden . They  put together an honest story that showed love, romance and  every day comedy in a way that most people should be able to relate to and immensely enjoy. They assembled a cast of actors who were able to embody the characters they created in a skillful and very authentic manner. Beth (Diane Keaton) and Joseph (Kevin Kline) are the newly “empty nested” parents  as their daughter Grace (Kate Moss of “Mad Men” fame) ,the youngest of their children, finally finds Mr. Right and gets married. Joseph  is a spine surgeon whom Beth acknowledges may have always been a little full of himself but is shown to ultimately be a good guy. Penny is Joseph’s divorced  sister (Diane Wiest) who has found her new love Russell  (Richard Jenkins) who is a bumbling guy who wants to marry Penny and open an English pub in Iowa. Bryan (Mark Duplass) is Penny’s son who is also a spine doctor and  has a touching flirtation with a gypsy like housekeeper (Ayelet Zurer) of the family’s vacation house in the beautiful Colorado mountains (which was filmed in the beautiful Utah mountains) . Sam Sheppard is Sheriff Morris who adds further warmth to the already tender story. What we haven’t told you yet is that the story is tied together by a loveable  dog – that almost magically appears and then disappears ! The movie is the story about the search for the dog which occurs while the characters are finding themselves and their own bearings. The story is just right at 103 minutes . The acting is perfect-Diane Keaton is at her mature best, the country type music hits the spot and the film features a a dog! How can it go wrong? (2012)

***

The Deep Blue Sea- rm-  This movie is set in about the 1950s in post World War II London. It focuses on the troubled personality of Hester Collyer   (magnificently nuanced performance by Rachel Weisz) who is unhappily married to a much older but caring British judge, Sir William Collyer (Simon Russel). After a chance meeting with Freddie Page, dashing former RAF pilot, (Tom Hiddleston) Hester moves out of her passionless, childless marriage to live with this new lover. She soon realizes that between his drinking and his self-centeredness, he has very little to offer her. On the other hand it becomes clear that she is obsessed with her neediness and passion for him. She is caught between a marriage that doesn’t work for her and an attraction and dependency that is equally doomed. This would seem to leave her with tremendous emptiness and a tumble towards a suicidal despair, which is emotionally enhanced by Barbe’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op 14.  The story is based on a play by Terrence Rattigan and is written and directed by Terrence Davies who uses various flashbacks to try to fill in the back-story. Any student of a psychological drama such as this one yearns to know the determinants of this troubled character. We are only told that her father was a Church Vicar who was quite demanding of her. We are also shown that she was a young woman of wartime London and all the insecurities that must have brought to her.  One poignant scene in the subway during a bombing attack during the war and another of children playing in the rubble give us hints of what may have added up to her tremendous neediness and the fleeting attraction to this war hero. Even if all our intellectual understanding of this character were not fully satisfied, Rachel Weisz conveyed the emotional substance with which we could identify and by which we could be moved. (2012)