Reflection on Mad Max: Fury Road

 A NEW ACTION HERO

    An action movie up for Best Picture this year? Are they serious? Many people thought other, more “worthy” films should have been nominate instead of this film … maybe Straight Outta Compton? Or Carol? Or Sicario? Or even Star Wars?? But no – Mad Max: Fury Road gets a nod for Best Picture, as well as 9 other nods, all in the production and directing areas. And after seeing it on the big screen, I agree … this movie is a force to be reckoned with in many ways.

     First, let me say, I have not seen any of the former Mad Max movies. I knew about them, but never saw one, so in a lot of ways, I came to this movie with nothing to live up to. Neither can I give testament to how this movie links with the ones before it. At the age of 71, George Miller is the writer / producer / director of the all the Mad Max films and is again the passion behind this one. He even got his wife, with no previous editing experience, to edit this film, and what she helped create is something rarely, if ever, seen in an action genre film, especially one of this magnitude. 

     On the surface, this R-rated movie is one big chase full of fireballs and flying bodies … at first, running away from the bad guys and then returning to where they started. Most people will get swept away with the crazy vehicles, the explosions, the energy of the chase, as the film explodes with apocalyptic anarchy – a journey of fire and blood (of which little is seen) through which the action genre is razed to the ground and reborn. It is this, and below the surface, a story that is perhaps one of the most surprisingly empowering stories for women of all the films up for Best Picture this year and Miller tells it with a searing eye, shining light on details that both energize us and push us into new places for this genre: the sweeping vistas with the vehicles like bugs racing across the unending desert to a close-up of an unborn child still in his mother. The movie says it is about redemption, but I believe it is also about rebirth. 

    

     The movie is rated R for the explosive violence, but there is surprisingly little gore, swearing, and no gratuitous sex or violence. In fact, what is there, found in the characters of Mad Max (played by Tom Hardy) and Imperator Furiosa (Charlise Theron) are worthy of discussion long after the film ends, especially with younger viewers. This is one of the few R-rated movies I will ever condone for teenagers and even older mature pre-teen viewers, provided discussion comes with it. There are many that disliked this film, for whatever reason, but I am not one of them.

     In borrowing from online comments as well as my own observations, consider the following before dismissing this as another mind-numbing action movie with no purpose:

•      The women in this film are like few others I have ever seen in a movie of this genre; they are women, they are powerful, and they are not sexualized. The sex-slaves, when first kidnapped, might appear more frail, but by the end of the film, you cannot use that descriptor for them any more. 
•       Furiosa is more the main character, I think, than Mad Max, and she is a wonderful role model for young women today. She risks her life for what is right, she is smart and strong and fights for justice, for those who need defending, for other women. She is determined to rescue them and free them from slavery.
•       Older women are shown as strong, action characters – a “grandmother” is riding a motorcycle, others of many ages are fighting for freedom, knowing how to rebirth their world. As mentioned before, the viewer knows women are being used for sexual purposes, but it is never shown to the viewer. Instead, what we do see are words of rebellion: “We are not things!” In addition, a great part of the action is real, not CGI or special effects.
•       The protagonist male characters (Mad Max and Nux) are not the rescuers; they do not swoop in and save the damsels in distress, nor does Max become Furiosa’s love interest. Instead, he becomes her ally, their help; he does not take over and even defers to Furiosa when it is best. Both Max and Nux start the movie in opposition to the rescue, but become allies as the film progresses and each participate in and sacrifice for the freedom of the women, each in his own way.
•       There are strong themes of sacrifice for freedom, redemption for those who need it and signs of rebirth at the end of the film: unlimited water, equality among people, a baby unborn, freedom for the people, seeds not yet planted. The viewer can feel that the age of tyranny that starts the film is over and the hope of humanity and restoration of order is soon to return.

      Dare I say it? Wouldn’t it be interesting if Miller took home Best Director for this film? I am sure it will get a few Golden Statues for technical / production achievements but a statue for Miller would be nice. And, I will add my vote for a spin-off movie about Furiosa, with Theron in the role! In a lot of ways, it really was more her story than Max’s, and I would love to see a movie where she does legitimately take center stage for herself. Now, there would be an Action Hero for a new generation!

NOMINATE FOR:

• Best Motion Picture of the Year
• Best Achievement in Directing: George Miller
• Best Achievement in Cinematography
• Best Achievement in Film Editing: Margaret Sixel (Miller’s wife)
• Best Achievement in Costume and Design
• Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
• Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
• Best Achievement in Sound Editing
• Best Achievement in Visual Effects
• Best Achievement in Production Design

Reflection on The Big Short

ECONOMIC JENGA 

What if you had the opportunity to make your most incredible dream come true, to actually achieve the success you have always dreamed of for yourself? … But it comes from great for many others? Or at the collapse of an institution our reality is built on? It’s coming anyway, would you still take the opportunity and benefit if you cannot stop it from happening? 

     That’s the basic premise of the movie The Big Short, up for 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor. This movie is an incredible combination of basic lessons in finance and banking, quirky and odd characters that are comical and occasionally ‘break the fourth wall’ as they speak directly to you, and sickening, gut-wrenching realization of the tip of the ice burg that led to the housing and global financial crash of 2008. How the director managed all this in two hours is impressive! 

The narrative, based on the novel by Michael Lewis, follows 3 real-life small groups of people, generally unconnected, that clue into the impending global financial/economic collapse of 2008 and how they go about benefiting from the ignorance of the entire system by shorting the housing mortgages (simply explained). For the viewers in banking and finance, the fuller explanations scattered throughout are not necessary, but for the rest of us, they are required; even if not completely understood, you get enough to wrap your brain around the general gist of the information to understand the real-life story behind the film. My one caution: if you have sensitive ears, this script is blue with f-bombs and those with delicate hearing need to ignore it for the worth and value of the film.

     The three groups of people are all quirky, odd-balls in their own ways (you might not even recognize a few top-billed actors!). Glamourous Hollywood actors playing and becoming characters so far from ‘glamour’ that those people we see in the film that are polished and have all the allure of opulent beauty are the ones that are distasteful and gaudy and misplaced. Perhaps it is possible to find a new respect for Hollywood in this film.

     Christian Bale’s portrayal of Dr. Michael Burry, a hedge fund manager (with a background in medicine and likely suffering from Asperger syndrome) is exceptional. You really sense the indescribable genius, the uncanny “how did he see that?” of the real Dr. Burry who was the first to read the signs of the impending catastrophe, to put everything on the line with his convictions, while at the same time, your heart aches with empathizing with the internal struggle he goes through as he doesn’t fit in, as people don’t understand him and dismiss him because he’s so odd. Kudos to Bale for bringing Burry to life for us!

     The movie is a comedy … but unlike most comedies presented to us. It’s not a physical or dark comedy, like we are used to, but the “humour” comes from the unbelievable ignorance of an enormous system that is so caught up in their greed as they play the masses who blindly follow them like lemmings over the edge to unbelievable destruction. Perhaps this film plays more a parable, a true-life parable, for I can guarantee you, for all the chuckles you will have, by the end of the film, you will not be laughing. A friend compared it to being hit by a Mack truck … that you sensed was coming, but completely blindsided you in your ignorance with its power and sickening realization as it sinks into you with all the kick-in-the-gut reality it has to give.

As full of comedic moments at is film is, the movie delivers is one of possibly the most power and eye-opening as money-hungry-Hollywood has ever delivered. It reaches the point where one more laugh will make you sick, and the director plays this delicate line with finesse and point. By the end of the film, you knew you laughed, but now you might have tears in your eyes, and you also might have that sick feeling that we are on the edge of another catastrophe, same? different? The similarity in signs is frightening.

     My thought as I left the theatre – Humour can play a powerful purpose: a very difficult film, seductively wrapped in frothy paper of comedy that we need to see and use to open our eyes to each our situation. so we don’t get blindsided in our own worlds. Yes, this movie made me distrust the banking and financial system … but more so, it made me sceptical of other controlling groups in our world today. We don’t have the banking system that the United States has, but we have other systems that control us and our future just as much if not more. “For every 1% rise in unemployment, it results in 4000 deaths,” a character quotes in the film; fully true or only in part, the fallout is staggering and signs are there for us to see. Oh, that every one of our government officials, municipal, provincial and federal, would see this movie and use what they know to change the path we, the people and society depending on them, seem to be on!

     So, would you? Succeed, regardless the cost? A difficult answer … society teaches us to say ‘yes’, this movie reflects that answer, especially when you can’t change the outcome anyway. Your answer is for you alone. Regardless, keep your eyes open; who knows what is around the corner. 

NOMINATED FOR

• Best Motion Picture of the Year
• Best Achievement in Directing: Adam McKay
• Best Performance by a Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
• Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, based on Previously Published Material
• Best Achievement in Film Editing

Reflection on Bridge of Spies

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

When I saw the trailer for Bridge of Spies (named for the bridge in Germany that was used to exchange hostage spies of one country with hostage spies of another) in the fall of 2015, I’ll admit it didn’t capture my interest. I knew it had something to do with the Cold War (which means Russia was somehow involved), I knew that it was based on a true story (so many movies seem to be these days), knew that the great Tom Hanks was in it and that he did something “lawyerly” (the trailer mentioned he was a insurance lawyer), that there was something about spies (the title gave that away) and that it was set in the 1950s. Doesn’t sound like a movie I’d get excited about, but. I could never have been more wrong.
            The movie is currently playing in Canyon Meadows Cinemas in Calgary, and I decided to check it out this last week. In this endeavour to see as many movies up for Academy Awards as possible before the February 28^th, I knew this was one I should see, even if it didn’t appeal to me.

           First, let it be said the viewer doesn’t need to be an expert on the Cold War to follow this film; Stephen Spielberg (yes, he is the director) does a great job of assuming his viewer doesn’t know much about the Cold War and easily fills in the gaps with what you need to know, for as much as this movie is about the Cold War, it isn’t about the Cold War. And it’s not a Rah-Rah-America movie either, though it makes sense to expect that, too. This is not another war movie with Tom Hanks playing another Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan, though people are saved. And, it kept me intrigued until the end credits.

From the beginning where the viewer can’t help but generate a plethora of questions with the 27 minute non-dialogue/non-score start to the film, an elderly man painting a self-portrait from a mirrored reflection, to the end and the final pieces of information on where the four main characters went and what they did after the time the movie covers. If anything, a comparison to Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird can be made, for, like that classic, this is about standing for what you believe to be right, for treating everyone with equality … ``Standing Man” in the story. Someone who is not remarkable, but makes a difference in many lives because he stands for what he believes is right. There is a court-room scene, very similar to To Kill A Mockingbird where each lawyer makes a heartfelt plea for his client, prodding the consciousness of the judge, court, and viewer, on what is most important at a moment like this. Apparently, the words in the film are the same words the actual lawyer used that day.

Without giving details of the movie away, Spielberg weaves a story set beautifully and with an authentic feel in the 1950s but is relevant as much to today as to then, when we also are fearful of people we don’t know and how we are to treat these people that scare us. Set in a time when fear ruled people like you and me, the viewer is drawn into a real story about real people who took a risk for what they believed to be right. Bridge of Spies is up for best picture, for screen play by the Cohn brothers (there are genuine comic moments that will bring a smile or chuckle), and for Best Supporting Actor for the little man who plays the Russian Spy. Not all of “us” are the heros, not all of “them” are evil, barriers are built for reasons we think are for protection. What we see might not always be as it seems. I read someone thought that the movie went too long, but if it had stopped where this person thought it should, an incredible scene of taking the “same elements” from throughout the film and playing them against each other to bring out two very powerful messages would not be there.

It is not an action-packed movie, but it is one that holds the viewer’s interest. You might learn a bit about that time in history, but you learn more about the character of man, of what we do when we are put to the test. Some use their power, some propagate fear, some run, some save their own hide, and some … some stand firm in the face of rejection, of violence, with integrity and strength. 

I left the movie reflecting on my behavior in the face of fear, when I’m scared for future consequences, how do I respond to them? (“Aren’t you scared?” Jim asks his client. “Would it help?” the little man responds.) What do I think in my heart? It is as much what you say to others as what you say to yourself, for it is these words that you speak to your heart are the ones that really speak to true character. And you will know whether you are a ‘standing man’ or not. I may have walked into the film with not much enthusiasm, but I walked out, profoundly affected. I don’t know if this movie will win any awards, but it is certainly worthy of them.

NOMINATED FOR:

• Best Motion Picture of the Year
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Mark Rylance
• Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen – Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
• Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score – Thomas Newman
• Best Achievement in Production Design
• Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Reflection on Brooklyn

WHERE IS HOME?

On the outside, Brooklyn seems like a simple love story – a young Irish girl immigrates to America in the 1950s, falls in love and needs to choose between her home in Ireland or her home in America. Or so the trailers lead us to believe.  And it is about this, but there’s more to it.

This film gets the reader to reflect on ‘home’ – what makes one place home over another?  Is it your bed that you lie in, reflecting on life? Is it the kitchen table where you gather with family and friends and share a meal? Is it where you feel you ‘fit in’? Is it being with people you love and who love you in return? The director looks at all of these, from different angles, and his answer includes an answer to these questions, and more. 

Saoirse Ronan, who plays Eilis Lacey, is wonderful in the role. It was easy to get drawn into her innocence, her fears and uncertainties, while at the same time, as innocent as she was, she was also very forthright and straightforward in her perception of the world around her. The expression in her eyes made it easy to guess what she was thinking, what she was feeling.  When her eyes welled up with tears, from somewhere came the catch in the viewer’s throat, as it was impossible not to empathize with her. In this empathy with the main character, the story took on a rich tapestry of something real.  We might not have immigrated from one country to America, but we have all taken that step into the unknown and wondered if we were doing the right thing. And growing up in our childhood home, sentimental to our childhood and young adult years, there comes a time for us to grow up, to leave the nest, to find another home. And, in this, we are like Eilis.

Brooklyn has a simple air, like we imagine the 1950s. New York was full of ethnic communities – Irish and Italian among many others. There are movies about the gangs at this time, but this movie is not one of them. The director shared the story in three acts: watch the colours he uses. From a rich green (home, Ireland), to gradual changes and splashes of colour, to an explosion of bright, lively hues by the end – yellow, flowers, life. Add similar scenes in different places, and I found myself remembering similar moments in my life, comparing the examples on the screen with the ones I remembered from my life.

I overheard someone say that the characters were flat, and perhaps in a way, all the other characters were. There was little in the way of character arcs, and what there was illuminated small steps, similar to life. This was not their story, but Eilis’s, and with her there was much to struggle through and grow from. There was a sense of stereotypical portrayal of the characters around her (Italians and their love for baseball and emphasizing what they say with their hands, the Irish love for their home folksongs) and with this, with one character with such depth while the others are as we expect them in some way, it was easy to be swept into her story, fall in love with her and her delightful accent and want her to ‘win’ in the end. 

It is obvious that I enjoyed the movie, to enter into another’s story – simple by a lot of accounts yet the motifs and cinematography enfolds the viewer’s heart still affects the heart. “This movie is about the search for home and a sense of a place to belong, the weirdness of being caught between the old and the new, the excitement, bittersweet and occasionally an awful feeling in your stomach when you step out in a new direction, mixed with the feelings of what we leave behind, especially when some of what we’re leaving behind was good, but no longer for us anymore,” a friend said after viewing it with me. We’ve gotten to the point where we expect more and more action, and this movie touches the viewer’s heart in a simple, yet profound and powerful way. In the end, in the words of Tony, “Home is home.”

Where is your home? And what makes it ‘home’ for you?

NOMINATED FOR:

• Best Motion Picture
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Saoirse Ronan
• Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay based on Previously Published Material - Nick Hornby

Academy Awards 2016 Announcement

I love movies.

There is very little that I like better than settling down to watch a film.  And unlike a lot of people, I don't watch to criticize and see how much fault, how many plot holes, how much ridiculousness I can identify. That drives me nuts.

Movies are an art, and the director has a lot on his or her plate to bring their vision to the screen for us to share. I prefer to first, honour their efforts. There are very few films I have seen where I will walk away with great frustration over how sloppily the director treated his/her art.

I watch movies to be entertained, but more I watch them to be privy to a story, to learn something, to identify with a character and have his/her story of discovery shared with me, resonate in me so that I become better, too, in some way. Not too much to ask for, is it? Good movies, like good art, I believe, will resonate with truth.

Maybe, I look more for the good in films rather than the bad.

The nominees for the 2016 Academy Awards were announced today. What is important about that is that I have a tradition.  Maybe more than traditions at any other time of the year. I wait until the Academy announces their picks and then I embark to see as many of them as I can between the announcement day and the day of the awards.

I start with the nominees for Best Picture. I will try to see them all and then, if time permits, move on to other nominees. The challenge this year, added to the list below, is that I am unemployed.  This is turning into a difficult "season" for me, so I am very glad to have something positive to reflect on. Now, add to the challenge, how do I see the movies with as little money as possible?  One movie at a time!

So, here I post the challenge .... let's see how the next month or so goes!

NOMINEES FOR BEST PICTURE

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

NOMINEES FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro Inarritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Lenny Abrahamson, Road 

NOMINEES FOR BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Matt Damon, The Martian

NOMINEES FOR BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Brie Larson, Room

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

NOMINEES FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Big Short

Tom Hardy, The Revenant

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight

NOMINEES FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Rooney Mara, Carol

Rachel McAdams, Spotlight

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight

Let's start there and see where this goes this year!!