March 2, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Oscars Pool Cheat Sheet 2014

Need help filling out your Oscars pool ballot? Tuesday Night Movies has you covered!

Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years a Slave pulls a win over Jennifer Lawrence.

Supporting Actor: I feel like Jared Leto has a lock on this one.

Actor: See what I wrote about Leto for Supporting Actor, but replace his name with Matthew McConoughey.

Actress: Oscars 101: Never bet against Meryl Streep. Except this year. Bet against Meryl Streep. August: Osage County has been panned, and everyone seems to adore Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. Cate Blanchett with the win as the David to Streep’s Goliath.

Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years A Slave, though I’d personally like to see Philomena take it.

Original Screenplay: Her. This seems to be as much a lock as the male acting categories.

Director: Cross out all choices except for Cuaron and McQueen. Now flip a coin. Or go with Cuaron. I’m going with Cuaron.

Best Picture: Again, I think it’s Gravity vs 12 Years a Slave. While I think Cuaron will beat out McQueen in the directing category, I think 12 Years a Slave will take home Best Picture. As long as American Hustle doesn’t win, I’m happy.

Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezski – Gravity

Editing: This is another one that I think will come down to either 12 Years a Slave or Gravity. Like Director, I think this one will fall to Gravity’s side.

Score: Gravity

Song: I LOVE Pharrell’s Happy, but Let it Go from Frozen is a juggernaught that can’t be stopped. Let it Go – Frozen.

Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty – Italy.

Documentary Feature: 20 Feet from Stardom

Animated Feature: Frozen with a lock.

Documentary Short: The Lady in Number 6

Live Action Short: Just Before Losing Everything

Animated Short: Get a Horse! – More like get a broom; Disney sweeps animation this year.

Make-Up: Dallas Buyer’s Club, though I would love for Bad Grandpa to be able to call itself “Oscar Award Winning Movie Bad Grandpa!”

Costume Design: The Great Gatsby

Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Sound Mixing: Gravity

Sound Editing: Gravity

Visual Effects: Gravity

February 26, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Philomena – Review

Out of all the movies nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, Philomena may be the most charming. At first look, you might not expect that. Philomena is the real life story of an Irish woman forced by nuns to give up her infant son to adoption, and her quest 50 years later to find him. It’s a story full of heartbreak, but screenwriters Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope encase that story in a screenplay full of wit and wry humor. The seriousness of the subject matter is never in doubt, but Pope and Coogan’s humor provides a much needed pressure valve on a heart-wrenching story that could sink into despair in the hands of less capable writers. Philomena is my pick for Best Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards.

Philomena travelling through the airport in style with “Martin Sixsmith – News at 10.”

Coogan also stars in the movie as Martin Sixsmith, the real life BBC journalist who reported the story that this movie is base on, “The Lost Child on Philomena Lee”. Sixsmith is flawed, but he’s driven. And when it comes time for a reconciliation between the protagonists and the church, it’s Sixsmith that boils over with the outrage felt by probably everyone in the audience over Philomena’s plight. Hint: Forcibly taking her baby and putting him up for adoption is just the first in a list of trespasses by the church against Philomena.

The real-life and the on-screen Martin Sixsmith.

Dame Judi Dench plays Philomena with a subtle grace. Philomena comes across the way your grandmother probably would if they made a movie about her. As Sixsmith describes her in one scene, she’s like a walking issue of Reader’s Digest. She comes across both intentionally and unintentionally funny, and I can’t decide which scenes I like better. But it’s Philomena’s grace that really comes through when it’s time for a confrontation with the church. The woman has all the reason in the world to be justified in wrath, but instead meets them with compassion.

The real-life Philomena Lee and Philomena screenwriter/star Steve Coogan.

When I walked into the theater, I was afraid I was walking into a Hotel Rwanda-like assault on my emotions. While parts of Philomena were definitely trying on my emotions, I left the theater with a smile, and the thought that EVERYONE should see this movie. Philomena shines, and is definitely one of the best movies in this year’s class of Oscar nominees.

February 25, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Captain Phillips – Review

Out of all the movies nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, Captain Phillips was the one that I had the least interest in seeing, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. It’s not because it’s based on a true story, or that I knew that Richard Phillips survives the movie. That doesn’t need a spoiler alert, right? The man’s walking around living his life. But I digress…plenty of the other Best Picture nominees are based on true stories, and I made a priority of seeing all of them.

The Captains Phillips

I think it’s Tom Hanks. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tom Hanks and think he’s easily one of the best actors of his generation. But something, and I’m not sure what to call it, kept me from needing to see this movie. The best I can call it is Tom Hanks fatigue. A Tom Hanks movie is one of the closest things we have to a blue-chip stock in film. I’m confident it’s going to be good. But I think I’m burned out on Tom Hanks war movies. And this is close enough to a war movie to let that burn out take over. All that said, having now seen Captain Phillips, I can definitely say that if you’re feeling any kine of Tom Hanks fatigue, get over it and go watch Captain Phillips. It’s awesome.

Captain Phillips surprised me in the same way that Gravity surprised me. I had no idea how thrilling each of these movies would be. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if you want to watch a thriller, you’d be better off renting Captain Phillips than heading to the theater to see Liam Neeson in Taken on a Plane (Note: I haven’t actually seen ~~Taken on a Plane~~ Non-Stop, but come on, Liam Neeson has certain skills blah blah blah). From the moment the Somali pirates first attempt to hijack Captain Phillips’s ship to the climax at the end of the movie, Captain Phillips thrills.

One thing that Captain Phillips does so well is show us the pirates’ point of view. These aren’t just video game villains. They’re given as much, if not more back story than Captain Phillips and his crew are. You see their living conditions. You see their daily struggle to survive. In this way, Captain Phillips reminded of The Wire, in that we’re seeing things from both points of view, not just the hero’s, but the villain’s as well. It makes for a stronger viewing experience.

Captain Phillips is nominated for 6 Oscars in this weekend’s Academy Awards. I definitely recommend watching it before the Oscars broadcast, especially if you want to see a movie that will both engage you and keep you on the edge of your seat.

February 7, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Dallas Buyers Club – Review

Like almost every other Best Picture nominee this year, Dallas Buyers club is a very dark movie. Also like many of the other of this year’s Best Picture nominees, this movie is based on true events.

Dallas Buyers Club tells the story of Ron Woodroof, a good ole boy from Texas. Ron is one hard partying homophobe. When he’s not hustling at the rodeo, he’s busy having sex, drinking and doing drugs. Unfortunately, his party boy lifestyle lands him with HIV.

Ron contracted HIV at a time when it was still widely misunderstood to be a disease that only infected homosexuals. Ron even flies off on his doctor, taking his HIV diagnosis as an affront to his manhood, which Ron really ties with his heterosexuality.

Given a 30 day death prediction from his doctor, Ron’s hustler instinct takes over, as he bribes his way into stolen AZT, a then experimental drug. When his AZT supply dries up, Ron makes a trip to Mexico that alters his life and sets him on a new direction of supplying medication to HIV patients (for a tidy profit, of course).

It’s amazing how much weight Matthew McConoughey lost to play Ron Woodruff. The man is gaunt! It’s jarring to see McConoughey this skinny. McConoughey really disappears into the role of Woodruff. McConoughey was fantastic in The Wolf of Wall Street, but that was McConoughey being McConoughey being someone else. But here, he seems like a completely different person. I know McConoughey seems to be the favorite for Best Actor heading into the Oscars, but after watching Dallas Buyers Club, I’d give the award to Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave. That”s not a knock against McConoughey at all. I just liked Ejiofor so much in 12 Years a Slave.

Likewise, while Jared Leto is amazing as Rayon, but I’d give the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave.

My favorite scene in Dallas Buyers Club is when Ron, while shopping with Rayon, runs into Tucker, his former best friend, in the supermarket. Tucker pretty much abandoned Ron when Ron was diagnosed, and is shocked to see Ron still alive. Tucker’s nice enough here to Ron, but then makes a disparaging homophobic comment about Rayon that sets Ron off. Ron grapples Tucker and forces him to apologize to Rayon. This scene was great because who doesn’t like to see a bigot gets his comeuppance, and also it showed Ron’s growth. The Ron a the beginning of the movie would have been making the same homophobic digs at Rayon that Tucker did. But Ron’s grown. Rayon’s not just his business partner. Rayon’s his friend, which is awesome when you think about who Ron was at the start of the film.

Overall, Dallas Buyers Club is a very good movie, but for me, Mud remains the 2013 Matthew McConoughey movie to watch.

February 6, 2014 by Billy Henehan

The Wolf of Wall Street – Review

In my review for American Hustle, I said that it seemed like David O. Russell was attempting to do his best Martin Scorsese. The Wolf of Wall Street almost feels like this is Martin Scorsese’s answer back. “No, this is how you do Martin Scorsese.” Mr. Scorsese does Martin Scorsese to 11 with The Wolf of Wall Street. This movie is the most over the top project directed by Mr. Scorsese since the video for Michael Jackson’s Bad.

It’s The Wolf of Wall Street’s over the top tone that keeps it so entertaining for it’s exactly three hour running time. Yes, that’s right, 180 minutes. The Wolf of Wall Street is two minutes longer than the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Thankfully, Terrence Winter’s screenplay combined with Scorsese’s directing made for a much faster moving movie than it’s three hour run time would suggest. At no point was I looking at my watch, wondering how much more we had to go.

This is NOT the size soda you want to order for a 3 hour movie.

Following what I would call the classic Martin Scorsese story arc, Jordan Belfort gets really good at doing something bad, is handsomely rewarded for it and then comes crashing down to earth in the end. It’s almost like Goodfellas on steroids. The money that Jordan Belfort makes in The Wolf of Wall Street puts Henry Hill’s biggest heist to shame. Though when the rug gets pulled out from under him, Jordan has a much easier fall than Henry did. They both lose the lives they had, but Jordan’s bounce into his new life seems to have bounced a lot higher than Hill’s, at least in the way that the ending of The Wolf of Wall Street depicts it.

The acting in The Wolf of Wall Street is top notch. Leonardo DiCaprio shows again why he is this author’s favorite actor of his generation. Best Leading Actor Oscar worthy? Not this year, when your competition is Matthew McConoughey in Dallas Buyers Club and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. That said, this continues the streak of Leonardo DiCaprio films being films you should see.

Jonah Hill is great as Belfort’s right hand man, Donnie Azoff. Hill has the most entertaining line in the whole movie when he lets out, “I want…to smoke crack…with youuu!” shortly after meeting Belfort. This will be the line I quote most from the movie.

According to IMDB, Matthew McConoughey’s chest thumping at lunch was McConoughey’s idea, and not something that happened that lunch in real life. This makes sense, as that scene is pure McConoughey. That chest thumping is a warming ritual McConoughey does before acting.

We caught The Wolf of Wall Street at the excellent 84th and Broadway AMC. Dear New York City, why would you go to any other movie theater? This one rocks. Barcaloungers, reserved seats, a well stocked snack bar, what more could I want? If a movie I want to see is playing in this theater, I want to see it in this theater.

This size popcorn is 100% the right size popcorn for a 3 hour movie.

Yes, The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours long. Yes, the f-bomb is dropped over 500 times in the movie. Yes, there’s a lot of drug use, nudity and unsavory characters. And also…yes, you should definitely see it.

January 31, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Her – Review

Her is one of those movies that I don’t know if I would have went to go see if it weren’t up for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. When someone described it to me as “Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with Siri,” I think my reaction was “Ohhhhhhkaaaaaayyyy…” Was this going to be another strange Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary like I’m Still Here?

Part of me wanted this to be real.

After seeing Her, I don’t think it will take home Best Picture, but I’m glad it was nominated, because it is an excellent movie. It might be the most original romantic comedy I’ve seen since High Fidelity (though I’m not sure how original that was since it based on Nick Hornby’s book of the same name). I can completely see Her winning Best Original Screenplay. Spike Jonze’s script is excellent. He takes a high concept idea, “Man falls in love with iPhone,” and crafts poetry out of it. He pulls off the magic of making this relationship eventually feel both normal and believable. In someone else’s hands, I feel like Her would have had the same tone as an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

My only quibble with Her is I wish Spike Jonze went with an unknown actress for the voice of Samantha. I thought Scarlett Johannson did an excellent job in the role, but I couldn’t help but picture Scarlett Johannson throughout the entire movie. Her voice is just too distinctive.

I was a little scared as I left theater after watching Her. Because it suddenly hit me. This movie is the prequel to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Uh-oh.

The Her poster Skynet doesn’t want you to see.

January 24, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Nebraska – Review

Like two of Alexander Payne’s previous films, Sideways and The Descendants, Nebraska involves a journey of self discovery through travel. It’s more like Sideways than The Descendants, in that like Sideways, Nebraska centers around two men taking the most American of journeys, a long car drive.

In Nebraska, a son drives his father from Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska so that the father can collect on lottery winnings. It’s set up early on that the son, David, does not think the father actually won anything. But David uses the excuse of taking this trip with his dad Woody to have a father-son bonding experience that never happened in their relationship previously.

I feel like Nebraska has one of, if not the most honest looks at alcoholism out of any movie I’ve seen in recent years. Bruce Dern’s character, Woody Grant, is almost like a Ghost of Christmas Future for younger people with drinking problems. Woody is a letdown as a husband and father. Decades of drinking have taken a toll on his personal relationships, his body and his mind.

Will Forte plays David very well. It’s cool to see Forte, who I love as a comedic actor (MacGruber!), take on a serious role. If David has inherited anything from his father, it’s his alcoholism. Unlike his father though, David has put drinking behind him before the start of the movie.

Nebraska is a bleak movie, as bleak as the black and white dusty landscape that encompasses most of the movie. Old age isn’t shown as a desirable goal in this movie. With the exception of Peg at the town paper and the nice elderly couple that the funniest scene in the movie centers around (and that I won’t spoil here), the old folks in Nebraska are living very dull, often sad lives. The scene of everyone sitting around the TV, not looking at each other, even when talking to each other, reminded me a little too much about some older family visits I’ve had. I’m sure you’ve had them too.

A large section of the movie takes place in Woody’s childhood hometown, a tiny town where everyone knows everyone’s business. It’s almost like a kind of purgatory that Woody has to endure in order to make it his promised land of Lincoln, Nebraska. Stacey Keach is excellent as the town’s heavy. I really like Stacey Keach. The man plays both good guys and bad guys effortlessly. When he plays a bad guy, as he does here, it’s always with a mix of charm and venom. I feel like Keach is a very underrated actor. His character in Nebraska, Ed Pegram, is like the town’s Satan. He’s the friendly face using you to his own ends. Wait, does Satan hang out in purgatory? I’m mixing my biblical comparisons.

If you have a mother like David’s, I do not envy you. Any time Kate (June Squibb) voiced her disdain for something, which seems to be every time she opened her mouth, I almost excused Woody’s constant drinking. Her nagging and his drinking are a like a chicken and the egg problem. I don’t know which came first, but they definitely perpetuate each other. Kate definitely cares for her family; she jut has the worst ability at showing it.

If you go to the movies for escapism, Nebraska might not be the movie for you. Then again, Payne does mix in humor with the seriousness. David and his brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk) attempt a payback mission for their father that goes hilariously wrong and might be my favorite scene out of any movie I’ve seen in the past 12 months. And the bleakness of the movie is matched by an ending that will make you leave the theater smiling.

I’m glad Nebraska was nominated for an Oscar. I think its nomination is helping put people in the seats, which is a good thing, as this is very good movie. However, I’d probably watch Payne’s Sideways again before I watched Nebraska a second time.

January 22, 2014 by Billy Henehan

12 Years A Slave – Review

Before I saw 12 Years a Slave, I did not know that it was based on a true story, and I’m suspecting I’m not alone. Because of this, this movie is doing the American public a service, bringing to light once more a terrible story that needs to be told.

Chietwel Ejiofor is simply amazing in 12 Years a Slave. He brings gravitas to every scene. His vocal inflection in every line of dialog carries so much meaning. He is my pick for the Best Actor Oscar.

12 Years a Slave is a great movie, though it can be very hard to watch at points. I physically winced during Eliza’s whipping. At the same time, it was such a great scene. Epps can’t bring himself to whip Eliza, so he forces Solomon to do it. It turns Epps into a weakling and a monster all in the same scene. Michael Fassbender should win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar on the strength of this scene alone.

My favorite scene in the entire movie is when Solomon has to talk his way out of being killed by Epps in the middle of the night. Solomon is ratted out on a plan to escape to freedom, but instead of fighting or fleeing, he uses his wits to stay alive. He even turns the table on his accuser, causing Epps to mistrust that man. Part of the strength of the scene came from the proximity of the actors. Fassbender literally has his arm around Ejiofor for the length of the scene. Solomon is a turn of the knife away from being in the grave the entire time he’s pleading his case.

I think part of what makes 12 Years a Slave works so well is that it humanizes even the vilest of villains. By humanize, I don’t mean it excuses their behavior. But the movie does an excellent job of showing the origins of their motivation. Paul Dano’s Tibeats is an out and out racist, there’s no denying that, but the movie shows him also operating out of jealously. When he turns his malicious attention to Solomon, it’s because Solomon managed to impress Tibeats’s boss more than Tibeats could.

Between the one-two punch of There Will Be Blood and 12 Years a Slave, Paul Dano might be the most effective movie villain out there. I’m fairly certain that going forward, my skin will crawl the minute he appears on screen. It’s weird that he played such a quiet character in Little Miss Sunshine, because when I think of him, all I can picture is him howling in There Will be Blood or 12 Years a Slave.

With the exception of Brad Pitt’s character and the doctor that comes to rescue Solomon, every white person in this movie is an asshole. Some are better than others, but the best of them, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Ford, while easily the most genial slave owner in the movie, turns out to be a coward, and let’s not forget, still a slave owner.

When I walked into 12 Years A Slave, I worried that the movie would be another Hotel Rwanda, a great movie but one I’d never want to watch again. However, after watching 12 Years A Slave, I’d gladly watch it again, because it is a masterpiece. I keep going back and forth on which I think should win the Oscar, 12 Years A Slave or Gravity. Today it’s 12 Years a Slave.

January 14, 2014 by Billy Henehan

American Hustle – Review

How do you look at American Hustle? Is it Mystique, Hawkeye, Batman and Lois Lane teaming up? The cast of The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook getting together for the movie equivalent of a super group ala The Travelling Wilburies? Watching American Hustle, I couldn’t help but wonder if David O. Russell asked himself if he could do a Martin Scorsese movie, specifically Goodfellas.

American Hustle opens with Irving (Christian Bale) and Sydney (Amy Adams) talking in voiceover about how they met. Their speeches had definite shades of Goodfellas’ opening line, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

The characters costumes seemed right out of Goodfellas as well. During American Hustle, I couldn’t help but think that toupee wearing dry-cleaner turned con man Irving’s story was actually what was going on with Morrie in Goodfellas when he wasn’t being choked by Jimmy Conway.

Then Robert De Niro showed up and I had no idea if I was watching Goodfellas or American Hustle. My confusion mounted when they cut to a flashback scene of Robert De Niro’s character as a young mobster that I think might have been a deleted scene from Goodfellas. American Hustle’s title should have been Goodfellas 2: Camden Nights.

I enjoyed the twist at the end of American Hustle. It was very Ocean’s 11-esque. However, the 20 minutes before the twist seemed to slog. I felt myself fidgeting in my seat, wondering where this movie was going.

Should you see American Hustle? Take this quiz to find out.

1. Are you a fan of Amy Adams side boob?

2. Same question, but this time Jennifer Lawrence.

3. Are you a dude who curls your own hair?

4. Is Fat Batman you thing?

5. Do you want to see Jimmy Conway in action one more time?

If you answered Yes to any of these, you should see American Hustle! If you answered No to all of these, I recommend watching The Fighter again instead.

November 19, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Gravity – Review

When I first saw the trailer for Gravity, I thought it looked stunning. At the same time, I also thought it looked like it might be incredibly boring. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney stranded in space? With no aliens or laser guns? I had the feeling this would be the outer space version of Open Water*.

*Note: I have never seen Open Water, but I have always pictured it as the ocean version of what I thought Gravity would be.

I wanted Gravity to be a suspenseful thriller. Luckily, if it turned out to be boring, I was in the right theater. I caught Gravity at my new favorite movie theater, the AMC on Broadway and 84th. If the movie was a snoozer, at least I’d be snoozing in an oh comfy recliner for the next two hours. Win-win!

SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

Unfortunately for nap time, Gravity is a really good thriller. It’s a classic man-versus-nature story, even though most of the dangers from nature are man made. The premise for Gravity is very simple: an accident causes a chain reaction of satellites to explode, sending deadly shrapnel at 50,000 mph at our stranded astronauts . They need to get to the International Space Station for a ride home before being eviscerated by said shrapnel or running out of air. I wasn’t sure how the story was going to sustain itself for the length of the movie, but it did. I was on the edge of my seat, which is quite an accomplishment for a movie when the viewer is in a recliner.

Besides being a great thriller, Gravity is visually stunning. I wanted to see Gravity on the IMAX in 3D, but waited too long. It’s been booted off every IMAX in the New York City area thanks to Ender’s Game and Thor: The Dark World. Still, Gravity looks great in 3D. I highly recommend seeing it in 3D and seeing it on the big screen. I think you’ll be missing out on something if you just wait to catch it on DVD.

When Gravity comes out on DVD, I will definitely be buying it, mainly that for the first time in a long time, I really want to watch the making-of special features. The making-of specials are usually boring back-slapping on the part of the producers, cast and crew, but I am utterly fascinated to see how this movie was made. I could easily spend an hour listening to director Alfonso Cuarón talk about how he chose his shots.

If you haven’t seen Gravity yet, go see it! And see it in 3D! You won’t regret it!

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