Melvin and Howard (1980)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Melvin and Howard (1980) – J. Demme

American films from the 1970’s have a different feel, although I suppose I’m thinking pretty specifically about films by Bob Rafelson or Bob Altman.  But there are probably countless other examples of these kinds of character-driven (not formulaic) films that are funky and good-looking but not overly stylized with great soundtracks.  Maybe we should throw Scorsese in here or F. F. Coppola and that might make sense since Jonathan Demme, like these two, began with exploitation films.  Sure, Melvin and Howard is a 1980 film but it clocks in just under the wire before the blockbuster really changed things for the worse and marketing took over art in Hollywood.  But I digress.  Melvin and Howard is an easy going tale based on the real story of a blue collar man who picks up Howard Hughes one night in his pick-up truck and ends up being mentioned in Hughes’ will (to the tune of 156 million).  The movie actually focuses on Melvin Dummar (Paul Le Mat) and his life, with all of its ups and downs, marriages and divorces to wacky Mary Steenburgen (a stripper/dancer), and move up to Utah from Vegas.  Demme films it all on location and it feels real and very 1970s America when people coped as best they could and often gave it their all.

   

Providence (1977)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Providence (1977) – A. Resnais

Another of Resnais’s peculiar experiments in narrative form, teasing us to separate John Gielgud’s creative will (he is a novelist) from his reality.  You see, everything that crosses Gielgud’s mind, as he comically and profanely suffers terrible gastric problems, appears on screen. These thoughts, enacted by Dirk Bogarde, Ellen Burstyn, David Warner, and Elaine Stritch, involve his closest family members cold-heartedly inflicting terrible lacerations on each other…and on Gielgud himself (to which he often protests -- his mind must be wandering). As in other Resnais films, the viewer must continually struggle to make sense of the proceedings – and I can’t quite guarantee that my interpretation is the correct one.  To wit:  the final act of the film is suddenly an idyll, with all the characters sitting down to a wonderful country luncheon for Gielgud’s 78^th with friendly frolicking dogs and a glamourous 360 degree camera move to boot.  Miklos Rozsa’s score here evokes romantic films of years gone by, whereas earlier in the film’s first half it was reminiscent of his noir years; in either case, the score is cranked and intrusive, surely another of Resnais’s conscious efforts to remind viewers that all is fiction.  In the end, you can’t quite be sure which half of this story is reality and which is Gielgud’s new novel, which is fantasy and which is anxiety fuelled conjuring. Of course, neither may be the truth because the added twist is that Resnais wants us to know that the real “fiction” he is focused upon is our memories of our own lives, even as we submit unto death.

  

Whiplash (2014)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Whiplash (2014) – D. Chazelle

I can’t decide which way to start this review:  “Intensity thy name is Whiplash” or “I only thought of Fame once or twice.”  But seriously, this story of a first year jazz drumming student coping with a teacher who evokes the drill sergeant from Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket never lets up.  For anyone who ever had the motivation to achieve something and who felt the pressure to live up to expectations so impossibly high (and therefore probably impossibly stupid), this film’s for you.  J. K. Simmons is smooth, dedicated, and downright nefarious as the teacher and Miles Teller holds his own (and really holds the sticks) as the student.  However, it’s the pacing of the film and the eclectic cutting that really scores – sure there are a lot of drum solos but they are pretty mesmerizing – and then there’s that sucker punch.  Nothing too deep here, unless you want to ponder about whether motivation is made stronger by obstacles or simply wiped out (could go either way, I think).  In any event, this is one film that you shouldn’t miss.

Boyhood (2014)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Boyhood (2014) – R. Linklater

As a piece of high concept art, Richard Linklater’s film is endlessly fascinating:  filmed over 12 years with actors who (by necessity) age across the length of the film.  This provides a definite counterpoint to the usual technique of using different actors to play the same character at different ages – which was never ever believable.  Here, central character Mason (Jr.) ages from 7 to 19, as does actor Ellar Coltrane (who turns out to be pretty solid all the way through, getting more to do as he gets older).  Rather than use this set-up to make something experimental or post-modern, Linklater takes a more or less traditional approach to narrative, following Mason and his family (mother Patricia Arquette, father Ethan Hawke, and sister Lorelei Linklater, the director’s daughter), as they age across 12 years (the film’s working title). As I’m the father of two boys myself, the early focus on parenting resonated with me (although Arquette’s role as a single mom is impossibly harder) and as the kids aged, I felt a distinct sense of anxiety whenever threats were near.  I’ll look forward to this in real life.  The film is sometimes advertised as a nostalgic look at the recent past, featuring music and cultural reference points from 2002 to 2013, but for me it was the common (possibly American) experiences of childhood that were the highlights.  These kids go through some tough times but end up OK. In fact, Mason Jr. ends up pretty cool (influenced by his probably too cool to be true parents).  The script, written by Linklater, tries hard but offers some clunky moments or lines.  As with the Before Sunrise trilogy, you’ve got to suspend your disbelief sometimes to accept that anyone would ever say some of these things – but the feelings behind these lines often still ring true.  A really neat accomplishment.

      

Easy Living (1937)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Easy Living (1937) – M. Leisen

Effortless screwball comedy scripted by Preston Sturges and directed by Mitchell Leisen that dashes madly from start (when rich banker Edward Arnold drops a fur coat off the balcony and it lands on poor Jean Arthur’s head) to finish (when, you know, steel is up again, Arthur has fallen for Ray Milland, everyone finally knows what’s what and another fur coat falls on another head).  In other words, this is ridiculousness laced with slapstick and the sublime, studded with oddball character actors from the ‘30s.  Arnold is at his gruff, confused but lovable best and Arthur is the original well-meaning airhead (Milland is impossibly young here).  You can see why Sturges soon got his own directing gigs since his script is perfect but Leisen probably made it all more lavish.  Pure escapism (although you might end up thinking about the 1% and then this Cinderella story might turn a bit sour, so don’t).