If I Chose the Academy Award Winners and Nominees – 2015 edition

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a girl walks home alone at night, a most violent year, academy awards, ain't them bodies saints, Alejandro González Iñárritu, alex rennie, Alexander Dinelaris, all about eve, american sniper, amores perros, Ana Lily Amirpour, andrea suarez paz, antichrist, aoife kelleher, armando bo, ava duvernay, awful nice, birdman, boogie nights, boyhood, bradford young, brendan gleeson, calvary, charlotte gainsbourg, citizenfour, damien chazelle, david oyelowo, david schultz, disappearance of elanor rigby, doc sportello, donald rumsfeld, down by law, edward norton, edward snowden, eliza hittman, ellen degeneres, emma stone, errol morris, finding vivian maier, fog of war, foxcatcher, françois ozon, frank, gangster squad, george w. bush, ghost dog, gillian flynn, gillian robespierre, glasnevin cemetery, gone girl, grand budapest hotel, in the realms of the unreal, inherent vice, interrotron, interstellar, it felt like love, iu cinema, james cameron, jenny slate, jessica chastain, jessica yu, jk simmons, joaquin phoenix, john michael mcdonagh, jonathan glazer, josh brolin, judd apatow, julianne moore, lars von trier, laura poitras, life itself, locke, lyle vincent, maggie gyllenhaal, magnolia, maps to the stars, mark ruffalo, martin cahill, martin luther king jr, melancholia, michael keaton, miles teller, neal patrick harris, Nicolás Giacobone, nymphomaniac, obvious child, one million dubliners, only lovers left alive, Oscars, party down, patricia arquette, paul thomas anderson, richard linklater, robert elswit, robert mcnamara, roger ebert, rushmore, scarlett johnasson, sean porter, selma, shane carruth, shane mac thomáis, snowpiercer, stand clear of the closing doors, steve james, still alice, the general, the master, the salt of the earth, the unknown known, there will be blood, thomas pynchon, tilda swinton, titanic, todd sklar, tom hardy, tom hiddleston, twilight, under the skin, upstream color, walter campbell, we need to talk about kevin, wes anderson, whiplash, yorick le saux, zero theorem

I’ve now seen most of the films that had a release in 2014. This makes me more qualified to vote for the Oscars than 97.548% of the Academy’s membership. With the Oscar ceremony occurring tonight, I’ve picked, as I have the previous two years, who I think the nominees and winners should be in the bulk of the major categories. Once again, the foreign film category will be left off because I simply haven’t had access to enough foreign films to make a comment on them. Those that have made it to my neck of the woods, I will say, have been very good for the most part.

As I look back over my picks from last year, I’m not sure I would change any of them, which is surprising. Usually I have an epiphany about something I overlooked.

Let’s do this…

Best Picture

Boyhood
Calvary* (winner)
Gone Girl
Inherent Vice
It Felt Like Love
Obvious Child
Only Lovers Left Alive
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin
Whiplash

Whittling down the top ten (even though the Academy only inexplicably chose 8 films this year), was difficult. Leaving out films like Birdman, Nymphomaniac, The Zero Theorem and others was tough. But alas, I may look back and see the error of my ways when I do this again next year. No film made an impact on me more than John Michael McDonagh‘s Calvary. Brendan Gleeson gives the best performance (male) of the year as a priest who receives a phone call telling him that he will be murdered in one week as penance for the sins of all previous priests who were pedophiles even though he is not one. The ticking clock nature of the narrative brings real tension and suspense and watching Gleeson‘s Father James try to navigate the uncertainty he faces about whether the threat is real or not grabs you and doesn’t let go until well after the conclusion. It’s simply a stunning film. 2014 brought us really lush, interesting and original films and I think I honored that with my top ten. Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer‘s triumphant return to the cinema, was so visually stunning and featured a top flight performance from Scarlett Johansson as an alien trolling for men to use for nefarious purposes. Jim Jarmusch‘s Only Lovers Left Alive finally gives a meditative, minimalist vampire film that we can sink our teeth into. With incredible music and fantastic performances from Tilda Swinton (as always) and Tom Hiddleston, this is a film that should have been at the top of everyone’s list. Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Inherent Vice is top-form stuff from him as usual. The guy just makes great movies every time. Tackling a Thomas Pynchon novel for adaptation is not an easy task and Anderson made it look easy. Eliza Hittman‘s It Felt Like Love is a gritty look at a young girl coming of age in New York City. This is a film that isn’t afraid of scenarios that befall young women today and embraces them. This is a brave film and one worthy of watching. Gillian Robespierre‘s Obvious Child is another brave film that features the best female performance of the year from Jenny Slate who plays a comedian coming to terms with getting an abortion after a one-night stand. Outside of Calvary, Damien Chazelle‘s Whiplash stuck with me the most. J.K. Simmons’ likely Oscar-winning performance was picture perfect and Miles Teller‘s surprised me. I’m not much a jazz guy, but this story was really quite interesting.

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice* (winner)
Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin
Eliza Hittman – It Felt Like Love
Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
John Michael McDonagh – Calvary

This was an especially tough year to whittle down this pool. So many fantastic films out there as evidenced by my above list. So I had to cheat and add a sixth director to this group. That I had to leave Richard Linklater, Damien Chazelle, Gillian Robespierre, Ava Duvernay and David Fincher was really hard to do. But what’s done is done. Glazer just killed it with Under the Skin as he has with his other two films. Many people didn’t care for Birth, but I think it’s wonderful. The almost ten year wait for his big screen return was well worth it. Jarmusch is at his best since Ghost Dog with Only Lovers Left Alive and maybe his best since Down By Law. Every beat, every scene are calculated and meticulous. I fucking loved it. Eliza Hittman‘s gritty effort It Felt Like Love hit me like a ton of bricks, so elegant. Birdman is Iñárritu‘s best film since Amores Perros and may well be his masterpiece. The life he was able to coax out of this tale is insane. Such a breath of fresh air, really. McDonagh, like his brother, embody the age old notion that the Irish are superb storytellers. Calvary hits you on every level and does so unapologetically. It was hard to pass him over for my choice as best director, but as far as I’m concerned, as long as Paul Thomas Anderson is making movies and they are as good as Inherent Vice, The Master, There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, he will get my vote for best director. There is no single director working today that gets my blood pumping for one of their films. He’s that fucking amazing. I’m glad he sticks to material that he likes because his films don’t register on the radar of many filmgoers because they tackle material that asks more of the viewer than just their time. He makes you complicit in the actions of his films and to me that’s the experience I want from the medium.

Best Actress

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Nymphomaniac
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Scarlett Johansson – Under the Skin
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child (*winner)
Tllda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

For once, there was an abundance of really great roles for women this year. It’s a shame that the Academy didn’t delve a little deeper into films that were little off the beaten path, but I guess we’ve come to expect that. I will admit it’s hard to pass over Julianne Moore for this award especially since she has earned it 4 or 5 times by now. Jenny Slate just knocked it out of the park and it’s a shame that more comedic roles aren’t rewarded at the Oscars. Frankly, it think it’s a lot harder to be funny, but what do I know? Scarlett Johansson merits mention in this category for her performance in Under the Skin. Did we ever think that we would see her as an alien cruising for dudes? That all of scenes with her picking up guys were filmed in real time with the men not knowing that they were being filmed makes it all the more interesting. Charlotte Gainsbourg‘s performance in Nymphomaniac is among the most brave I’ve ever seen. There is plenty available to read about Lars Von Trier‘s approach to working with actors and let’s say it isn’t the most warm of environments. This story is tough and she dove right in. Loved it. Tilda Swinton brings it every time and to me, her performance in Only Lovers Left Alive is second only to her’s in We Need to Talk About Kevin. Great fucking stuff. Julianne Moore is spectacular as she always is. This, couple with her turn in Maps to the Stars, certainly merits many awards. I’m happy that she will win the Oscar finally.

Best Actor

Brendan Gleeson – Calvary (*winner)
Tom Hardy – Locke
Tom Hiddleston – Only Lovers Left Alive
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Joaquin Phoenix – Inherent Vice

Brendan Gleeson gave my favorite performance of the 90s as Martin Cahill in The General and has given so many great performances since then. And then he delivers another career defining performance as Father James in Calvary, which came as no shock to me. Largely ignored by awards talk, I couldn’t pass this one up. It is simply outstanding and indicative of Gleeson‘s efforts during his 30+ years acting. Tom Hardy is such a joy to watch. That he can take a role that is situated for 95% of the time in car talking on his cell phone and make something as special as he did is simply amazing. I can still hear him saying, “the traffic is fine…” Good shit. Hiddleston was off his ass, much like Tilda, in Only Lovers Left Alive. A musician vampire lamenting the decline of humankind’s ability to care for themselves…what more can you ask for? Michael Keaton‘s comeback film and performance are simply outstanding. It’s hard to look past him for this award as he was so incredibly good. Many people say that he is basically playing himself in this one and even if that is the case, which I don’t think he is, he’s crafted a wonderfully complex character. I think that in Doc Sportello we have found Joaquin Phoenix‘s finest performance. Stoner private detective mixed up in multi-layered hijinks is a perfect fit for him. To me, the Oscars always weight performances in biopics far too highly and this year’s crop 4 of the 5 nominations fit that bill. Boo to that. I will say this, David Oyelowo is as deserving as any of the men listed above. I thought he gave a terrifically powerful performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin  –  Inherent Vice
Edward Norton – Birdman
Alex Rennie – Awaful Nice
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
JK Simmons – Whiplash (*winner)

I hate it when I agree with the Academy as much as I did with this category, having three of the same nominees, but I can say that I enjoyed each of the three and agree with who we all know is going to win this award, JK Simmons for Whiplash. As Fletcher, the hardass music conductor/instructor and tormentor to Miles Teller, Simmons channels his character from Party Down and turns it up to 11. Painful to watch, it’s still hard to look away. Edward Norton is back much in the same way that Keaton rose like a phoenix in Birdman. When he’s on, he’s on and this is the best performance from him in quite some time sort of parodying his reputation as a tough-to-work-with actor. The dark horse in this group for me is Alex Rennie, who gave the funniest performance of the year to me in Todd Sklar‘s criminally underwatched Awful Nice. Rennie encapsulates the manchild better than anything that Judd Apatow has ever committed to celluloid. It’s truly a shame that more people haven’t seen this film. Ruffalo is a nice counterpoint to the other characters in Foxcatcher. As always, he really delves deep into David Schultz‘ tragic story. And lastly, Josh Brolin is fucking amazing in Inherent Vice as the meathead cop Bigfoot Bjornsen. How the Academy overlooked this one is beyond me…oh wait, it’s the Academy. The film didn’t earn $300 million at the box office. Sigh.

Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Frank
Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (*winner)
Emma Stone – Birdman
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

Here is another case where I and the Academy have differed greatly. It’s obvious that I have left out Patricia Arquette from Boyhood here. While I loved her performance, I think these above hit me on more of a gut level than hers. The standout performance here is Andrea Suarez Paz, the distraught mother of an autistic teenager who is lost in New York City. This was the most impactful performance of the year for me. It’s a shame that few people saw the film as it, too, is equally wonderful. I adored Maggie Gyllenhaal in Frank, so caustic yet protective. She made me laugh and cringe equally and I loved every minute of it. Jessica Chastain had another incredible year between Interstellar, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and her incredible turn in A Most Violent Year. She really can do it all. Get this woman an Oscar for the love of all that’s holy. Emma Stone is another gem in the cast of Birdman. She seems to make the most of the roles she is given (well, except for Gangster Squad, but then again, who did in that one?). And here we are again with Tilda for her role as Mason in Snowpiercer. Aside from JK Simmons’ character in Whiplash, she creates the most loathsome character of the year. To be able to do that requires talent, something that Ms. Swinton has in spades.

Best Documentary

Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier (*winner)
Life Itself
One Million Dubliners
The Unknown Known

I love documentaries and 2014 was exceptionally strong year in that category. It’s hard to disagree with the choices the Academy made for their nominees as the four that I’ve seen are quite exceptional (The Salt of the Earth is the only one I have yet to see), but my three replacements captured my interest and attention more. Citizenfour is one of the most intense films I’ve seen in some time and it will win the Oscar. It’s crazy to think that Edward Snowden had the wherewithal to contact director Laura Poitras to have her document everything that unfolded with his document and information leak. AMAZING. But, Finding Vivian Maier just edged it out in my opinion. An almost unbelievable story – a young man comes across a trove of old photographs and undeveloped film at an auction and unearths and undiscovered genius. That he is able to track down people who knew her and get a full backstory on her is just amazing. The film is very reminiscent of Jessica Yu‘s In the Realms of the Unreal which is incredible as well. That the Academy chose not to nominate Steve James‘ Life Itself about film critic extraordinaire Roger Ebert and his last days battling cancer was the most egregious error in this category. Life Itself is so touching and a really in depth look at Roger’s journey to becoming the most recognizable film critic of my generation. I had the pleasure of seeing the film with director Steve James in attendance at the IU Cinema this past fall and it was incredibly amazing. Shame on you, Academy. One Million Dubliners (see my full review of the film here) is a film that may not have made it across the pond in time for Oscar consideration, but I loved it. Ostensibly about Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin where nearly all of its famous political figures are buried, it also becomes a portrait of one of its tour guides, Shane Mac Thomáis. A truly moving film, this one left a mark. And lastly, Errol Morris‘ The Unknown Known is the last of the group. Done in similar fashion as his Oscar-winning doc The Fog of War with former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in front of the interrotron, The Unknown Known (read my full review here) queries controversial Secretary of Defense under George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld. Interesting to say the least, I really wish Morris would have pushed the envelope more with that bastard Rumsfeld. Despite this, the film was quite fascinating and certainly helped solidify my feelings that Rumsfeld is an unapologetic douchebag who truly deserves to be in prison.

Best Original Screenplay

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo – Birdman
Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
John Michael McDonagh – Calvary (*winner)
Lars Von Trier – Nymphomaniac

While it seems like so many of the films that landed in my top 25 or 20 this year were adapted from other source material, I think that the list above offers a really wide spectrum of terrifically interesting and wonderful films. Funny, serious and a mixture of both, all of these films blew me away with the quality of writing and their ability to transport me to Ireland, the mountains of Europe in the middle of last century, to Detroit and Tangiers of present day and to various decades of England. Wes Anderson does it again in his finest film since Rushmore. Chock full of familiar quirk, The Grand Budapest Hotel is typically funny and incredibly engaging and features an ensemble cast that most directors would kill to work with. As of now, Budapest‘s main competition for the Oscar is Birdman which has been flying quite high leading into today’s Oscars. A story perfectly suited for Michael Keaton‘s reemergence, Birdman mixes superhero lore, backstage theatrics a la All About Eve and magical realism to create one of the most interesting films of the year. The four writers credited on this film really knocked it out of the park. Don’t be too surprised if it takes home multiple awards including Best Picture. I can’t speak highly enough of Only Lovers Left Alive as you can tell from my asides in the above categories. Jarmusch brings his minimalistic writing (and directing) approach to the vampire genre and frankly shuts the door on it (Ana Lily Amirpour‘s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night that also came out in 2014 helped as well), effectively torching the damage done by the shitty Twilight franchise. The winner here, and it should be no surprise, is Calvary. A deeply moving film littered with black humor, I frankly don’t think the Best Picture can possibly win without having the best script. If it does, and I’m looking at you James Cameron and the incredibly awful Titanic, then the Academy voters should have to answer for it, because there’s no reason for that to happen. As the basic building block for the film, it has to be solid. Lars Von Trier has been on fire lately, despite the ridiculous shit he says at press conferences. I really loved Melancholia and Antichrist was a thinkpiece that really stretches the audience and both will leave you think well after they’ve ended. Nymphomaniac is cut from the same cloth. Brutal and honest, like the great bulk of Von Trier‘s films, Nymphomaniac is epic in scale and among the more provocative films you’ll see at this point.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Walter Campbell & Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin (*winner)
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Gillian Robespierre – Obvious Child

Rare is the year that I will pass up giving Paul Thomas Anderson the nod for best writing work. He’s been spot on with all of films before, but this is the year it happened. Inherent Vice is wonderful and he did as good of a job as one might be able to do in translating a Thomas Pynchon novel to the big screen. It’s fun and weird as shit and all I could hope for in a film. Whiplash, as noted above, is a film that has stuck with me far more than I expected. Damien Chazelle, the writer-director, made something far more tolerable for me than I ever thought possible…jazz. Well done, sir. Under the Skin is the hands down winner for me. I’d like this film to Shane Carruth‘s Upstream Color in tone, and that one blew me the fuck away. Jonathan Glazer got a bad rap for Birth, which I really loved. This film is like anything you will see this year and that’s what I look for in a script and film. Gone Girl is a movie I was surprised that I liked it all. David Fincher never fails me, so I should have known, but when a film is based on a novel as popular as Gone Girl, I had to be skeptical. I’ve not read the novel and I know there were some alterations to the narrative. Kudos to Flynn for this one. And lastly, Obvious Child rounds out the group. This script was built for Jenny Slate and the approach that Robespierre took towards the decision for the Donna Stern character to take regarding her abortion was fresh and insightful and I hope it made people think a little deeper about what it takes to make a decision like that. Filled with humor in a movie you don’t think could be, Obvious Child represents some of the best writing of the year without a doubt in my mind.

Cinematography

Robert Elswit – Inherent Vice
Yorick Le Saux – Only Lovers Left Alive
Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (*winner)
Bradford Young – Selma

I’m a sucker for black and white photography and this year Lyle Vincent‘s work in A Girl Walks Home Alone was flat out amazing. The photography should add another level to the film and that’s precisely what Vincent achieved with this one. An Iranian vampire movie shot in B&W…how does that not sound interesting to people? Elswit, already an Oscar-winner for his work in There Will Be Blood, proves that working with the same director over time pays off in Inherent Vice. The photography was lush and he did such a great job recreating the 70s look of the film. Really a true achievement. Le Saux, a frequent collaborator with François Ozon, did such a good job shooting in the darkness that the vampires in Only Lovers Left Alive inhabited. Films shot only at night are so difficult to light and Le Saux did an incredible job. Sean Porter‘s work in It Felt Like Love was quite inspiring. His photography really gave another level of grittiness to a film that already had an abundance of grit. It served the story well and that’s what you need in the photography of the film. And last, but certainly not least, Bradford Young‘s work in Selma was inspiring. The crane shot on the Pettus Bridge is award-worthy in and of itself. Two years in a row Mr. Young has given us work nothing short of amazing (last year’s was Ain’t Them Bodies Saints).

So there you have it. Once again, 2014 had a ton of great films to offer and it’s a shame that the Academy, in typical fashion, stuck to giving accolades to their big budget fare and ignoring the down and dirty films that really offer so much more. And I will say this – if American Sniper wins even one award tonight, it is one too many. That it received 6 nominations is an absolute tragedy.

Enjoy the show and hopefully Neal Patrick Harris will be mildly entertaining. Personally, I think they should have stuck with Ellen DeGeneres. But what do I know?

“It’s a lack of imagination” – Donald Rumsfeld goes before the Interrotron in Errol Morris’ The Unknown Known

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abu ghraib, Afghanistan, danny elfman, documentary, donald rumsfeld, errol morris, george w. bush, gerald ford, h.r. haldeman, interrotron, iraw, john f. kennedy, john kusiak, looney tunes, lyndon johnson, philip glass, richard nixon, robert mcnamara, roger ebert, saddam hussein, secretary of defense, snowflakes, standard operating procedure, the fog of war, unknown known

I will admit that when I read that Errol Morris was going to do a movie on former Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, I was perhaps more excited than usual. Morris had not only won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his interview of former John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara in The Fog of War, but he also tore into the Bush Administration and their handling of the Abu Ghraib scandal in his stunning documentary, Standard Operating Procedure. So here, I thought, would be his chance to really hammer Rumsfeld on what he covered in Standard Operating Procedure and take shots at the ill-conceived Iraq War that he presided over before being sacked in December 2006. And so we are presented with The Unknown Known, whose name was taken from an enigmatic statement Rumsfeld made at one of his many entertaining press conferences : “…because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things that we know that we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

Rumsfeld, the stoic.

To my surprise, Morris took a different approach. Morris (well, his voice) is far more present in this documentary than maybe any of his others. He walks Rumsfeld through his early days as a congressman and working in the Nixon and Ford administrations including even some unflattering audio recorded by Nixon and H.R. Haldeman about his ambitions and inability to be a team player. We even get Rumsfeld talking about his wife and the impact she has made on his life. Pretty flowery stuff, really and somewhat unexpected. As the narrative moves along and we get to the Iraq War and the justifications made for it when it was repeatedly shown that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks, we don’t see any of the contrition we saw from McNamara in The Fog of War, one of the key elements that film is so powerful. What we do get the same smarmy sheen complete with snarky grin that we have seen from Rumsfeld in prior years. Morris peppers him with questions and counters his answers with other facts or statements, but Rumsfeld always has a response, going so far as when challenging Morris on a question, that he literally and proudly chalks one up for himself.

Morris and his subject

While to me watching Rumsfeld is fairly difficult, he does make for a fascinating character to watch, even through his patented squint and his puckered face looking like those old Looney Tunes cartoons where the characters swallow a mouth full of alum powder. He sticks to his convictions, be they good or bad and is never rattled by Morris or his line of questions. While a great amount of the film is centered on the tens of thousands of memos he created and sent in his tenure as Secretary of Defense, many of which Rumsfeld reads aloud. Morris pounces on points from these from time to time and we see the few back-and-forths between the two occur within semantic arguments of what was and is and might be somewhere down the line. I can’t imagine that Rumsfeld was an easy nut to crack. After all, Morris had already done a whole movie questioning the key policies and strategies he was responsible for as Secretary of Defense. And at the very end of the film when Morris asks him, “Why are you doing this, why are you talking to me?” he responds nonchalantly, “I don’t know.”

I’m coming for you.

Believe me when I say this, I never in a million years thought that I would say that I am thankful that someone did a feature-length film starring Donald Rumsfeld. Errol Morris has the uncanny ability to take something that you think you would never see or would want to see and make it so fascinating that you not only watch it once, but you watch it multiple times, looking for nuances in questions and manipulations in his responses, besting his subjects or at least getting more out of them that even they might suspect that they are giving.

The Unknown Known is not Morris‘ strongest work, but when you put that in perspective alongside the rest of his ouevre, that is still speaking volumes about the quality of this film. Read: it’s still fucking amazing. Morris is the finest documentarian working in film in my opinion (and I’m not sure you would find many who would argue). His films are exceedingly compelling and his patented flourishes – using reenactments, the scores of Philip Glass, John Kusiak and Danny Elfman and his wonderful creation, the Interrotron – create some of the most unique film viewing experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. This film is no exception and is worthy of everyone’s attention. Watch two masters of their craft go head-to-head and see who comes out the victor.

Dedicated to the memory of Morris‘ good friend and revered film critic Roger Ebert, Morris created a film that Ebert likely would have heaped praise and many a thumbs-up for. This film is out now in stores on DVD and Blu-Ray. Don’t miss your chance to see something that is layered and thought-provoking. Far too few films are these days.

Here’s a clip of Errol Morris talking about Rumsfeld and the film:

Here’s the trailer:

Get a Mean On – The Awesomeness of Johnny Be Good

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Roger Ebert (may he rest in peace) said this about Johnny Be Good: ” ‘Johnny Be Good‘ is completely bereft of comic imagination” and “There is no possible motivation for [the final] scene, except for the obvious one – artistic bankruptcy” as well as “The screenplay for this movie bears every sign of being a first draft – a quick and dirty one. The movie doesn’t feel written, it feels dictated.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement, eh? It currently sits at 0% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. To put in perspective what that means, Gigli sits at 7% fresh. So this film is widely recognized as a shit sandwich by pretty much everyone. Well, except me, I guess. I’ll agree to disagree with Mr. Ebert on this one.

Johnny arrives at UCC (the flimsy stand-in for USC) to pomp and circumstance.

The premise of this film is pretty simple – Johnny Walker (Anthony Michael Hall) is the best high school quarterback in the country. Every school is licking their chops at his talent and wants him at their school and they will do anything to get him. Johnny is a kid who comes from a humble home. His father has passed away and he lives with his mother (Deborah May), his grandfather (George Hall) and his brother and sister. So when colleges are offering big money for him to attend, he is listening, much to the chagrin of the family and his beautiful girlfriend Georgia (Uma Thurman, smoking hot in her first film role). Johnny considers himself a package deal with his best friend Leo (Robert Downey, Jr.), so both are getting propositioned from all sides, including overtures made by their high school coach Wayne Hisler (Paul Gleason, also Mr. Vernon from The Breakfast Club). Johnny’s recruitment circus is being followed closely by an NCAA recruitment investigator (Robert Downey Sr.), and shit blows up like The Godfather as it’s clear that violations abound in certain schools’ pursuit of him.

Here are four reasons that this film is still worthy of a watch:

4) Paul Gleason as Coach Hisler and his clothes

It’s a bar shaped like a piano…with a piano!

Paul Gleason is amazing in this. Not only does he build off his asshole performances in Trading Places and The Breakfast Club, he brings some kitsch to this one. As the clueless head coach of Johnny’s team, Hisler is married to Connie, played by Jennifer Tilly, a woman who throws Tupperware parties. Still. I know this was made in 1988, but didn’t that shit go out of style in 1972? Clad in some of the sweetest gear this side of Paul Newman‘s wardrobe in Slap Shot, Hisler really spells C-L-A-S-S. The shirt pictured above is really the tip of the iceberg. Screenshots were pretty scarce, but you should watch this film alone to see his yellow suit. It is unreal.

For all of his attempts at being sneaky, Hisler really just comes off looking like a dumbass. But don’t let that fool you as he’s still one of the best characters in the film. His lack of social awareness (he drives a Pacer for God’s sake) is actually kind of endearing. Obviously he’s a better football coach than he is a schemer or being a social animal.

Here is the speech he gives just before the state championship football game:

3) Jim McMahon‘s cameo

If you lived in the 80s and you don’t know who Jim McMahon is you might have been living under a rock…or just aren’t a sports fan. “The Punky QB” played for probably the best pro football team ever assembled, the 1985 Chicago Bears. He was known for his outrageous behavior and for being trouble for then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Was he the best quarterback? No. But he had more personality than all of them. That he’s doing an Adidas commercial is comical because he was fined for wearing an Adidas headband which was against league rules.  Suck on that, Rozelle.

You can watch his cameo here.

2) Anthony Michael Hall is all growns up

From nerd to BMOC, a cycle complete.

From the time I saw him in Six Pack, shaking the dew off his lilly, to watching him in Johnny Be Good, Anthony Michael Hall completed a perfect transition from nerd extraordinaire or “King of the Dipshits” as his character Ted exclaims in Sixteen Candles, to the guys who dates the hottest girl in school and someone who everyone wants a piece of. His comedic timing evolved over the films he did with John Hughes (RIP) and works well in this film. Perhaps his stint on Saturday Night Live in 1985-1986 helped with this, although I recall those episodes to be below average. All the same, it’s nice to see AMH pick up where his character, Gary Wallace, left off in Weird Science. This was his last “big” leading role in film – he did play the villain in Tim Burton‘s Edward Scissorhands in 1990. A fitting way for a young talent to go out? I’d say no, but I think it provides ample humor despite the film’s serious shortcomings. I have always hoped he would have a big comeback. Perhaps Tarantino can write him into something. I mean, he helped out John Travolta‘s one-note ass. Why not AMH?

1) Robert Downey, Jr. is off his ass funny

What kind of boy do you think I am? I will hardly pop you without having met your father first. Get him on the horn.

As bad/good as this movie is, one thing is certain: Robert Downey Jr. had obvious talent. He steals the show as Leo Wiggins, Johnny’s best friend and back-up quarterback. His crazy monologues/diatribes are quite funny and his facial expressions are so expressive, it’s no wonder he was chosen to play Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin. It’s not strange that he appears in this film as he co-starred with AMH in Weird Science, Saturday Night Live and showed his own range between these two and Johnny Be Good when he appeared in Back to School (a character similar to Leo Wiggins), alongside fellow AMH–brat packer Molly Ringwald in the Hughes-ian The Pickup Artist and showed his more dramatic side in the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis‘ debut novel Less Than Zero.

The funniest part besides when RDJ tries to “smell it” at the beginning in Coach Hisler’s speech, is the stories he tells the girls they pick up at Murf’s Better Burger:

All in all the production of this film is pretty sorry. It may have the worst sound production of any film I’ve seen in some time. The amount of ADR (additional dialogue recording) is so obvious, it hurts. Seems like half of the dialogue was redubbed. One astonishing thing about this film is that Robert Yeoman, the director of photography for all of Wes Anderson‘s films, shot this film as well, much like two-time Oscar-winner Janusz Kaminski shot Vanilla Ice‘s Cool As Ice.

This, like many of the movies of the time, are time capsules of the period in which they were shot. Looking back, it’s probably best that some stay that way. The events that occur in this film are so over-the-top and unbelievable, it’s hard to argue where Roger Ebert was coming from.  Still, I find this film fun to watch and laugh at. One of the best parts about this film to me is that I saw this in theater with my grandma. The only other films I remember seeing with her in the theater: Disney’s Song of the South and Chariots of Fire. Quite an eclectic set of movies, no? A cultured woman, for sure.

Anyhither, give this one a spin if you want to see Anthony Michael Hall right before he fell into oblivion.

Here’s the trailer:

Here is the entire movie, should you feel frisky:

R.I.P. Roger Ebert 1942-2013

Tags

fellini, gene siskel, roger ebert

The last of the big gun movie critics left us today after his long battle with cancer. Roger Ebert is/was a titan in the film criticism business. His loss touches all of us who watch films as he has been the gold standard for so long. Everyone knows this and I doubt I can add much to what has been said since news broke earlier today that he had passed.

I do want to share my one brush with Ebert, though. I was living in Chicago (Evanston, actually) while my wife was getting her PhD. We were returning from a trip to Indiana and we were coming back on the Toll Road, that interminable stretch of constant construction that lies between Indiana and Illinois. As we are pulling up to one of the toll booths, I see a black Nissan Pathfinder ahead of us with the license plate that read: MOVIES and I saw the salt-colored hair of the man driving it. I immediately announced to my wife that it had to be Ebert. She of course told me I was crazy in only the way that she can with such charm that even I can’t get upset with her. Determined to prove her wrong, I tried maneuvering to get closer weaving as he did through the dense traffic as we got closer and closer to the booths. Through the honks and anger of the other drivers I was able to finally pull up next to the Pathfinder right as we reached the booths. Sure enough, I looked over and there he was, scraping for change to pay the 75 cent toll. When he finally looked over at the two of us, our necks craned, some dumbass smile pasted across my face, he graciously waved, deposited his coins in the hand of the tollbooth attendant and motored through the booth. Afterwards, I gave my wife the business about me being correct and she being wrong (not something that happens terribly often) and drove the rest of the way up the Dan Ryan and Lake Shore Dr./Sheridan Rd. to my condo with a smile on my face.

I don’t know that this encounter would have done much for most people, but that was the effect Mr. Ebert had on me. He and I love movies in the same way – we are willing to sit in darkness and watch countless stories unfold before our eyes and be transported to places unfathomable. His skill with words and love of cinema will be missed dearly.

Here is my favorite quote from Ebert and one I take to heart:

“There are no right answers. The questions are the point. They make you an active movie watcher, not a passive one. You should not be a witness at a movie, but a collaborator. Directors cannot make the film without you. Together, you can accomplish amazing things. The more you learn, the quicker you’ll know when the director is not doing his share of the job. That’s the whole key to being a great moviegoer. There’s nothing else to it.”

Rest in peace, fair sir. May you be somewhere now talking film with Fellini and arguing with Siskel.