Long Strange Trip

It was the Fall of 2013 and I had just moved to San Francisco. Ambitious as I was to bask in the culture of the city that I read about since my teenage years, I inaugurated the start of my stay in the Bay Area by going to a Dead show. Granted, I'm not a total Deadhead, yet I'll always have a smile on my face whenever a track from American Beauty pops up on my iPhone. Apart from a few beers, I wasn't as "turned on" as the people that filled the UC Berkeley Greek Theater that September evening who were either smoking one-hitters or microdotting miniature-sized squares of LSD before the surviving members of the Grateful Dead took to the stage. As I sat on the BART (Bay Area Rail Transit) train three hours later, I started asking myself: "What is it about the Grateful Dead that has led to such a devoted fanbase for over 50 years?"

The answer to that question lies in Amir Bar-Lev''s four hour documentary, Long Strange Trip. A devoted Deadhead, Bar-Lev spent 14 years trying to film a comprehensive and authorized look at the Bay Area band that has since become synonymous to the American Counterculture. From clips of Ken Kesey's infamous Acid Tests to stoned-out film crews peaking on spiked coffee attempting to film the band at their creative peak, no stone (or stoned rambling) is left unturned in this massive archival documentary. The film begins and ends with clips of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Jerry Garcia's favorite movie) symbolizing the rise of the band and it's monster-like evolution with a sense of humor and irony similar to how Jim Jarmusch used clips of The Three Stooges to tell the story of Iggy Pop and the Stooges in his documentary, Gimme Danger. Like a Grateful Dead show, the film goes into anecdotes and music familiar to Dead novices-like Hugh Hefner being spiked with acid by the band during a filming of "Playboy After Dark" as "Truckin'" plays in the background-to surreal sounds and images of the band and fans during their marathon tours that led to both nirvana and bedlam, such as when violence became the norm at shows in the 1980s. 

Beyond the smoke, spinners and drawn out solos is a bittersweet look at the band's 30 year career ending with the tragic demise of Jerry Garcia in 1995 told by the surviving members of the band, their road crew, and Deadheads who evolved into members of the Establishment, (i.e. Sen. Al Franken), an anomaly if there ever was one. After sitting through Long Strange Trip, I found myself drawn to listen again to "Morning Dew" and "Brokedown Palace" with a new set of ears and appreciation to a band that many people of my generation have dismissed as "jam-band hippie music." Long Strange Trip won't make you a converted Deadhead overnight, yet it will leave a few heads nodding and fingers tapping over a band that has made a cultural impact for half a century.                

Boycotting the Oscars

It's been a while since I've posted anything as it's been a hectic year for me (graduate school, etc.), and it's around this time that I pick my choices for who's going to win big at this year's Academy Awards. But this year, I'm not going to pick or choose the winners as I will not be watching the Oscars on Feb. 26th.

The reason for this is due to the devastating news I've been reading in the last few days as the new president-elect (whose name I dare not write) signed an executive order of banning Muslims from entering the United States. Not only does this ban affect the entry of refugees from war-torn Syria, but it also affects the Oscar-nominated artists like the filmmakers for the Short-subject documentary, White Helmets, and Asghar Farhad who was nominated this year in the Best Foreign Language Film category for The Salesman.

One of the reasons I enjoy watching the Oscars every year is to celebrate film as it is an international art form and seeing countries from around the globe be acknowledged for breathing new life into the film world. As I write this post, I can't help but remember the story of Billy Wilder receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1987 Academy Awards. He spent the majority of his speech thanking the Immigration officer who stamped his passport and gave Wilder the chance to flee his home country of Germany after the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. Had Wilder not have the chance to live in America, he would not have made the canon of films that have since been recognized as the greatest American films of all time (Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, etc.).

Not only did Wilder find solace and promise as a filmmaker in America, but so have the other immigrants who came to this country like Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Nichols, and the countless other directors, actors and writers who fled to America, a country that has been called "The land of opportunity." Try imagining films like The Graduate, Psycho, and Scarlet Street not being made if there was a ban on European filmmakers from entering the United States. Consider what Easy Rider and McCabe and Mrs. Miller would have looked like had cinematographers Lazlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zigmond been denied access to the United States and forced to live in fear in the wake of the 1968 riots in Czechoslovakia; would those films have ever been made? Imagine living in a country where Milos Forman didn't direct One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Amadeus, two films that the Academy honored as Best Picture Winners. Imagine if John Cassavetes was denied from leaving his native country of Greece, who would have created American Independent Cinema?

It is understandable that we do live in a world of fear due to acts of terrorism, but excluding a group of people from entering the United States based on their religion and their background is not American, it is tyranny. The sad fact that certain artists cannot enter the country and be applauded for their Oscar-nominated work is tragic, which is the reason I won't be watching the Oscars this year. Instead, I'll be watching the films made by proud immigrants and refugees.      

2016 Oscars: Picks, Pisses and Moans

Post-Pick Rant:

Once again, the award season is in high gear and controversy looms over the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Hashtags have been flying around the internet over the Oscars honoring only white people and laments are being addressed by everyone from Spike Lee to George Clooney. One comment that had me giggle was from Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune when he commented on the Best Picture nominees and said that the awards had "more white people than at a Donald Trump rally." Unfortunately, that is what are society has gotten itself into.

Gore Vidal once wrote that, "Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn." That quote ran through my head when Ice Cube was asked by Trevor Noah on The Daily Show about his feelings over his film, Straight Outta Compton, was shut out of the Best Picture category. Ice Cube responded saying that the film was not for awards recognition, but for the people. Despite the rave reviews and recognition the film received, it only got only one nomination for best screenplay, which was co-written by white writers.

Having said that, I do not think that the Oscars are racist, just schizophrenic. Last year, I mentioned the films that dealt with race which earned both nominations and Best Picture Awards from the Academy (In the Heat of the Night, 12 Years A Slave), yet Straight Outta Compton didn't get major award recognition nor did Stanley Nelson Jr.'s documentary, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.

Not only was race an issue, but gender as well with the Oscar committee. This past year was a definitive year for actresses, yet female directors were nowhere to be seen in the nominations list. Marielle Heller, who directed her debut film and one of my favorites of last year, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, was nowhere to be seen despite the recognition she received from both the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. Either the Academy has not been active in seeing all these great films or they have ears of tin and are not recognizing the gold that is out there.      

Picks:

Okay, so now that I got that out of my system, here's the list of the big six nominees and my choice over who will win, who should win, and who got royally screwed.

Best Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Jason Leigh- The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara- Carol
Rachel McAdams- Spotlight
Alicia Vikander- The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet- Steve Jobs

Who Will Win: So far, Kate Winslet is on her way to earning her second Oscar for her performance as Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs, which will probably be the only win the film will get since the Academy (as crazy as they are) didn't nominate Aaron Sorkin for his sharp-tongued screenplay.

Who Should Win: In my view, I think both Rooney Mara and Rachel McAdams gave great performances out of the other nominees. Mara gave a great performance as a young photographer trying to find meaning in her life amidst her sexually conflicting circumstances in Carol. McAdams was brilliant as the sympathetic ear to the sexually abused who came forward to indite Cardinal Law in Spotlight. Personally, I would be happy if both actresses won.

Who's Missing: I was surprised by not seeing Kristen Wiig on the list for her performance as a wild-partying mother in The Diary of a Teenage Girl. She manages to bring a stirring mix of comedy and tenderness when talking to her teenage daughter about her budding sexuality, yet the Academy did not see that as Oscar material.

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale- The Big Short
Tom Hardy- The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo- Spotlight
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone - Creed

Who Will Win: This year might be when Sylvester Stallone gets the Oscar for the character he created that defined his forty year career in film, Rocky Balboa. The Oscars are notorious for nominating actors who have never gotten the gold and giving them the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, and Stallone's nomination is nothing different.

Who Should Win: I thought Mark Ruffalo gave a gripping and emotional performance as Mike Rezendes, the Boston Globe reporter and lapsed Catholic who wants to expose the hypocrisies of the Catholic Church in Spotlight. If Stallone weren't nominated, I would've placed all my chips on Ruffalo for giving another stunning performance that sadly might get overlooked by the Academy once again.

Who's Missing: Shocked would be a light adjective to describe my feelings for Jacob Tremblay being shunned from the Best Supporting Actor category. The nine-year old Canadian gave an astonishing performance as Jack in Room, a performance that was both physically and emotionally demanding almost as much as DiCaprio's performance in The Revenant. The Academy had no problem giving preteens the Oscar in the past (Tatum O'Neal and Anna Paquin), yet managed to overlook Tremblay. Also, Binicio del Toro was shut out for his intense performance as a vengeance-filled DEA agent in Sicario. Once again, the Oscars are schizo!

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett- Carol
Brie Larson- Room
Jennifer Lawrence- Joy
Charlotte Rampling- 45 Years
Saorise Ronan- Brooklyn

Who Will Win: Out of all the great performances given in a year that was defined by great actresses, Brie Larson's performance as a young mother and victim of sexual abuse in Room is the one that stands out as the best.

Who Should Win: Brie Larson. No doubt about it.

Who's Missing: In a category made up of mostly Millennial actresses, I was scratching my head wondering why Bel Powley was not nominated for her risky and riveting performance in The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Powley's role as a 15 year old having a sordid affair with her mother's boyfriend is astonishing as it gives a glimpse into the life of a teenage girl entering womanhood, which is a breath of relief from the constant films about horny young men copulating with pastries or trying to get laid before graduation.

Best Actor:
Bryan Cranston- Trumbo
Matt Damon- The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Who Will Win: After being nominated five previous times, Leonardo DiCaprio is due to get an Oscar as High Glass in The Revenant. The Academy loves to see actors physically and mentally struggle on screen and being mauled by a bear and climbing into a horse carcass for warmth is going to get Leo an Oscar.

Who Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio. Like Brie Larson in Room, DiCaprio is deadlocked into winning an Oscar.

Who's Missing: Paul Dano, who gave such a beautifully nuanced performance as the young Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy, was sadly overlooked. Dano successfully captured the passion and energy Wilson had while recording Pet Sounds, as well as his drug-induced meltdown. For a voting committee that loves to see suffering on screen, you think that the Academy would've given Dano a nod for playing a tortured genius. Wrong!  

Best Director:
Adam McKay- The Big Short
George Miller- Max Max: Fury Road
Alejandro G. Inarritu - The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson- Room
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

Who Will Win: Inarritu's gripping and sprawling Western, The Revenant, is certainly the front-runner for the Best Director Oscar, which would make him the first director, as well as first Mexican filmmaker, to win the award two consecutive times. The Academy, still on the ropes over the Oscars being non-diverse, will probably award Inarritu justifying that they are diverse.

Who Should Win: Although Inarritu's vision of the American frontier was astonishing, I would love to see Tom McCarthy to win for Spotlight. Just the fact that he did not rely on special effects and rekindled the simplistic filmmaking of 1970s investigative journalism films (All The President's Men) with an incredible script and terrific cast that he co-wrote was enough for me to claim it as the best film of 2015.

Who's Missing: Carol, a visual ode to 1950s New York and Sirkian melodramas, would have been nothing without Todd Haynes, who was surprisingly shut out of the list. Also, Marielle Heller being cast aside from the male-dominated list proves the Academy is finicky over awarding female directors, with the only exception being Kathryn Bigelow.

Best Picture
The Big Short
Brooklyn
Bridge of Spies
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Who Will Win: It's a tight race between Spotlight and The Revenant as they both received accolades at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, but I am hoping that Spotlight wins.

Who Should Win: Spotlight

Who's Missing: Love and Mercy, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Sicario.

Check out the winners on February 28th while I do my traditional commenting of the ceremony on Facebook. Also, feel free to post your choices for the big six categories or whether or not you want to weigh in on the diversity issue of the Academy Awards.  

Carol

3 1/2 out of 4 Stars

                        Carol is a stunning and deeply moving work of art by the modern maestro of the melodrama, Todd Haynes. Set in early-1950s New York, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) is an aspiring photographer/department store clerk who has a chance meeting with Carol Aird, a wealthy housewife in the middle of a divorce, leading to a suspenseful and sincere relationship. While Carol is alone during Christmas, she invites Therese into her home and dysfunctional life as Carol's embittered drunk of a husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler), threatens to claim sole custody their daughter. The story leads into a tender and visually evocative homage to the melodramas of Douglas Sirk, a territory not unfamiliar to Haynes    ( i.e. Far From Heaven).

Cate Blanchett gives a passionate and stunning performance as Carol Aird; she captures the melodramatic pathos of Jane Wyman's Cary Scott in All That Heaven Allows with such radiance. Rooney Mara is incredible as Therese as she juggles the conflicting nature of accepting her sexuality while trying to find a steady relationship with her boyfriend (Jake Lacey). Sarah Paulson is brilliant as Carol's former lover as she tries to stand up for her friend and not succumb to the pressures by Harge.

Todd Haynes succeeds in delivering a tender and poignant look at lesbianism in the early stages of Cold War America. Like his previous work in films like Safe and Velvet Goldmine, Haynes provides a provocative and stylistic look at sexual politics without being overtly salacious. Haynes' vision is simpatico with Phyllis Nagy, who wrote the screenplay over ten years ago despite several turnarounds, by adapting Patricia Highsmith's semi-autobiographical novel. Carol is at its heart a lovely ode to melodramatic cinema with a story that is as significant today as it was published over sixty years ago.    

The Revenant

Four out of Four Stars



A sprawling and jarring two and a half hours, The Revenant is a no holds barred look at survival of the fittest. Think Jeremiah Johnson on peyote. Set in the Midwestern wilderness in 1820, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his son (Forrest Goodluck) lead a group of soldiers through Indian territories shedding sweat and blood for pelts. During the expedition, Glass is mauled by a grizzly bear and tries to cling on to life much to the dismay of John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), a ruthless fur trader who kills Glass' son and leaves Glass for dead. Filled with a thirst for revenge, Glass weathers the harsh elements of nature in order to claim something wealthier than gold, retribution.

 Leonardo DiCaprio gives a stellar and ambitious performance as Hugh Glass with such physical and dramatic demand. Raw, angry, and evocative, DiCaprio gives a performance worth it's weight in gold as he goes to great lengths to track down his son's assailant such as burning scars on his neck to stop the flow of blood, enduring a shootout with French traders, or climbing into a dead horse for warmth. 

Tom Hardy is no stranger to playing villains, such as his work on The Dark Knight Rises or Legend, but his performance as Fitzgerald is as villainous and violent as any other sociopath he has played. Domnihall Gleeson gives a solid supporting performance as Captain Henry, who relies on Glass' tracking expertise through the wilderness. Will Poulter, known for his performance in Son of Rambow, is brilliant as Bridger, a morally conflicted soldier who doubts the actions taken by Fitzgerald. 

A year after Birdman, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu delivers another stunning and visceral work of art. Collaborating with cinematographer extraordinaire Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki, Inarritu crafts a film as visually stunning as David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia with the supernatural quality that mirrors Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line and The New World.

Forrest Goodluck and Duane Howard also give exemplary performances. Unlike the previous string of westerns this past year (Slow West, The Hateful Eight), The Revenant shows a beautiful and harrowing perspective from the Native Americans as they are also trying to find their form of vengeance. It's not as schmaltzy as Dances With Wolves as it has the same grit and existentialism as Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man.

In short, The Revenant is a harrowing film that is as expansive and wild as the wilderness depicted in Michael Punke's novel.

Janis: Little Girl Blue

Janis: Little Girl Blue is a poignant look at the life and career of one the great female icons in rock and roll, Janis Joplin. Directed by Amy Berg, the documentary focuses on a series of letters written by Joplin to her mother (narrated by Cat Power) throughout her meteoric rise to the top between 1966 to 1970. The film also telling interviews by those that loved her spirit, like Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, along with those that knew her behind the bombastic energy she delivered on stage. Watch Dick Cavett's tongue and cheek anecdotes about Janis when she wasn't on his television show or D.A. Pennebaker give a play-by-play behind her performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. 

The film, unlike Howard Alk's 1970 documentary, succeeds not only with Joplin's letters being the narrative thread throughout the film, but the use of rare footage by D.A. Pennebaker shows a different side to the Queen of Psychedelic Soul. During the Cheap Thrills recording sessions in 1967, Pennebaker filmed Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company molding their version of the Gershwin brothers' "Summertime" into a jarringly sweet hybrid of soul and acid rock. The footage showed Joplin not as a boozy, drug-addled diva but as someone musically intelligent and tenacious in getting the right note and the best take on a song.

In addition to Pennebaker's raw footage, film of Joplin's last days adds an emotional weight, such as when she's feeling uncomfortable in front of the press during her return to her hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, the town she fled from after her difficult childhood. Janis: Little Girl Blue does succeed in giving another perspective to Janis Joplin that shies away from the mythical ethos she gained after her death by managing to have her voice and her letters float above the speculative nature surrounding her short-lived life.       

Spotlight

Four out of Four Stars

Riveting, didactic, and unforgettable are some of the words to describe the new film, Spotlight. Between 2001 and 2002, The Boston Globe investigated an ongoing sex scandal in the Catholic Church in which 87 priests in the Boston area molested children and walked away without being arrested or exiled from the church. The Pulitzer-Prize winning exposé was reported by the Globe's Spotlight investigation team as they knocked on doors, chased down elusive and scathing documents and got unfiltered testimonies by victims. Directed by Tom McCarthy, and led by a stellar cast giving nothing short of incredible performances, Spotlight is one of the highlights of the year.

At the forefront of this amazing film is an incredible cast working off one another like a jazz ensemble. Michael Keaton, who plays Spotlight editor Walter "Robby" Robinson, gives a sharp performance as he tries to see through the corruption and BS around his city despite conflicting ethics and compromising results. Mark Ruffalo, an actor who hasn't made a false move even if he tried, gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Mike Rezendes, the religiously conflicted and tenacious reporter who wants to expose the case as much as his colleagues. Rachel McAdams gives a brilliant performance as Sacha Pfeiffer, the reporter who consoles and listens to the victims of sexual abuse. Stanley Tucci is entertaining as the snarky defense lawyer for sexually abused who confides in Rezendes over the conspiratorial nature of the church. Liev Schreiber and John Slatterly, who play editors Marty Baron and Ben Bradlee Jr. give solid and stoic performances reminiscent of Jason Robards and Jack Warden's performances in All The President's Men.

Drawing from the well of classic investigative journalism films like All the President's Men and The Insider, McCarthy and Josh Singer's sharp and stinging screenplay doesn't miss a beat or falls into a pile of cliches due to the timelessness of the story and its significance in today's world fueled by sex scandals and rape allegations. Masanobu Takayanagi's cinematography captures the tightrope of subtlety and suspense the film walks upon through reverse pull shots and tracking shots reminiscent of the cinematography of Harris Savides' work on Zodiac. Tom McArdie's editing is sharp and precise during the ongoing conversations between the reporters in and out of the newsroom. Howard Shore's ominous, piano-filled score projects the cathartic nature of the victims describing their traumatic experiences with their priests with the right amount of subtlety rather than going into melodramatic territory.

In a year that has not really been strong in terms of film quality as opposed to quantity, Spotlight is a breath of fresh air by going back to the basics of classic filmmaking by relying on solid acting ensembles, subtle cinematography, and strong storytelling.