Trouble with the Curve

Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood in “Trouble with the Curve.”

“Trouble with the Curve” is a nice little movie. It is a baseball movie to be enjoyed by baseball fans and non-fans (like me) alike. The best way to describe “Trouble with the Curve,” without giving away too much, is that has a good story populated with top notch actors playing real people.   The story and direction are simple and direct.

“The Good the Bad and the Ugly” returns to Film Forum, August 29 – September 4

Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966)

Back by popular demand, following sold out screenings at its recent “Spaghetti Westerns” series, Film Forum presents director Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western masterpiece “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966) in a restored DCP (Digital Cinema Package) version.   TGTBTU will run from August 29 – September 4.

If you have not seen TGTBTU on the big screen all I can say is “go.”  It is tremendous fun and one of my favorite movies.  Plus, Film Forum’s screening is a rare opportunity to experience it under ideal circumstances.  DCP means is that TGTBTU will be screened in high definition video, projected from a hard drive, as opposed to a traditional 35mm film print.

New to DVD – “Tower Heist,” “J. Edgar,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene”

Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller in "Tower Heist"

Tower Heist

The real disappointment in “Tower Heist” is that this movie has sold out its audience.  Those who do not know better will think they are seeing a good heist film.  For the cost of some zinging dialogue and a CGI (computer graphics imaging) created set piece, director Brett Ratner (the “Rush Hour” movies) and his team of no less than five writers, have bought their audience cheap.  No less at fault is the cast, which includes Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda and Matthew Broderick.

To begin with “Tower Heist” has next to no suspense.  The premise is that a group of former, and some current, employees of an exclusive high-rise security tower decide to burgle one of the building’s apartments.  What follows is a “paint by numbers,” shamelessly contrived, logic defying heist, which goes according to the story’s most extreme convenience.

Eddie Murphy, plays, well, Eddie Murphy in the form of a character named Slide.  Slide is the cool, loud, street smart, trash talking, experienced African American criminal who teaches the, largely white, “nebbishy” gang of would be criminals how to be crooks.  While Murphy is certainly perfect for the role, he does not break new ground.  Considering how infrequently this talented actor and comedian appears in films, it is a missed opportunity.

My advice.  Your “Tower Heist” transportation and ticket money will be better spent going to your Netflix account, or library, to see the following well done, heist movies:  “The Anderson Tapes” (1971), “The Taking of Pelham 123” (1974), “The Killing” (1956), and “Who’s Minding the Mint” (1967), for starters.

J. Edgar

Director Clint Eastwood’s “bio-pic” of famed FBI director J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, uses the past to comment on the present while presenting an interesting issue of truth in media.   In Hoover’s day, as now, terrorism was a concern.  While there was no 9/11, there were Bolshevik revolutionaries setting off bombs in America. The film depicts Hoover as an uptight, “spit and polish” martinet who pioneered criminal science at a time when it was not taken seriously.  Hoover felt that the average American feared for his safety and, according to this telling, went too far, trampling on civil liberties in the process. The issue is raised about due process of law verses neutralizing a threat to our country.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.

DiCaprio is quite good, playing Hoover as a young man, and also, under tons of make up, as an older man.  The film cuts back and forth between past and present. Granted the make up, at points, strains credibility, but I am hard pressed to think of a film where the age make up is completely successful.

“J. Edgar” depicts Hoover as a complex individual, who, while committed to doing good, fell victim to the old adage, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Martha Marcy May Marlene

The new movie “Martha Marcy May Marlene” desperately wants indie street cred.  Everything, from its nearly impossible to remember title, to its rural settings and interminable long takes, makes the film play like a spoof of an independent film.  If only it was.

Martha, the titular character, has escaped from a cult in upstate New York.  Think Manson Family light, led by standard issue tall, skinny leader complete with tiny, devilish beard and bad skin.  Martha moves in with her, well off, sympathetic sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and unsympathetic brother-in-law Ted (Hugh Dancy) at their summer home on a lake in Connecticut. Not the greatest house guest, Martha proves herself to be alternately unbalanced and unsympathetic.

“M4” is slowly paced and features unlikable characters, about whom it is difficult to care.  Many of the film’s scenes play out in endless, single shots.  I had the impression that not enough coverage (alternate angles, close-ups, etc.) was shot for many of the scenes. Why else are so many of them long and lifeless?  My guess is that there was nothing else to cut to, to speed up the proceedings.  I can think of no greater proof than the fact that an audience member, at the showing I attended, fell asleep twice and began to snore each time.  The incident elicited knowing laughs from fellow audience members, clearly sympathetic to the man’s plight.

J. Edgar

Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar"

I am currently teaching a college class called “Mass Media and Popular Culture.”  An issue with which my students and I wrestle has to do with the many ways in which the media can frame a narrative.  Which version of events are we to believe?  A case in point is director Clint Eastwood’s intriguing new period piece “J. Edgar,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  The story concerns legendary FBI Head, J. Edgar Hoover.  As in any “bio-pic” the basic question is, how true is the story being told?  Another media related issue that came up for me as I watched “J.Edgar,” has to do with whether or not Eastwood is using the past to comment on the present.

The Complete Clint Eastwood

From July 9 – 27 The Film Society of Lincoln Center will present “The Complete Clint Eastwood,” a comprehensive retrospective of all films directed by triple threat actor, director, producer, Clint Eastwood. The series will also showcase signature Eastwood performances in films directed by Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. On July 10 Eastwood himself will make a live appearance, via Skype, for a Q&A session following a screening of “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964). On July 9 critic, author and director Richard Schickel will present his documentary “The Eastwood Factor.” After the screening Schickel will sign copies of his book “Clint: A Retrospective.”