Review: Mr. Turner

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner" is the filmmaker's second lush, visually gorgeous portrait of an artist - his first being 1999's Gilbert and Sullivan biopic "Topsy Turvy." And among the film's many treasures, it's interesting to line up the iconic painter J.M.W. Turner's work with Timothy Spall's portrayal of the man onscreen.

Similar to many other great artists, Turner is far from being without fault. He's a grump who often neglects his aging and sickly father William (Paul Jesson) and doesn't exactly treat the women in his life much better. He refuses to see his ex-wife and children, misses a daughter's funeral and has a brief sexual liaison with his maid (Dorothy Atkinson), leading the poor woman to believe for years that there is something more to their relationship.

Of course, Turner was - on the other hand - a great artist, often thought to be England's best. His sweeping panoramas, dramatic scenes of shipwrecks and storms at sea and, much later, work that took on an experimental nature are beauties to behold. There seems to be much going on in the "spirit," shall we say, of Turner, even if the way he interacts with others doesn't much show it.

It's appropriate that Leigh should tackle this material, considering that the filmmaker is often thought to be the U.K.'s best filmmaker. His remarkable body of work includes "Life is Sweet," "Naked," "Secrets and Lies," "Topsy Turvy," "Vera Drake," "Happy Go Lucky" and "Another Year." And Spall, who gives one of the year's finest performances, has long been one of Leigh's finest collaborators.

Much ado has been recently made of the critic in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" and that film was thought to have taken a rather harsh stance on criticism. "Mr. Turner" not only has little love for the critics who did not understand the artist's later work, but for the general public as a whole.

In one scene, Turner and some friends must listen to a young prig prattle on about art and you can tell that Turner can barely hold his tongue. During a later sequence, Turner attends a theater production that eventually ends up poking fun at his late, experimental work. He storms out, clearly unimpressed with the public's lack of intellectual rigor.

Towards its end, Leigh's film also tackles the question of art's longevity and there's a scene of great weight during which Turner, upon finding out that he is gravely ill, asks a doctor, "so I'm to become a nonentity?" Several scenes prior to that, Turner has turned down an offer for his entire collection in exchange for a large sum of money. He refuses on the grounds that he wants his work remembered and hung in a gallery for all of England to see. But that later scene obviously touches on the fact that once we're gone, we'll never know how or if we'll be remembered.

"Mr. Turner" is one of the year's best and it's likely the most visually beautiful film in Leigh's career. The acting is terrific across the board and despite the film being a bit austere, it's funny in the way that Leigh's pictures tend to often be - funny asides or quips make us laugh, but they also point to essential truths. Here is a movie about an artist that is itself a work of art.

Top Ten Album Archives

Image courtesy of The Clash.

Last month, I completed my Top Ten Film Archives, which included my favorite movies from each year, dating back to the dawn of the 20th century. Now, I'm putting up my list of greatest albums by year, which begins in 1959 and runs to the present.

Each year, I will update the list with a new top 10 (next year, I'll add 2015's list, for example). And I might occasionally rearrange the lists as I see fit over time.

And because some years are full of terrific albums, especially during the late 1960s through mid 1970s, I've included runners up.

Review: Top Five

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Chris Rock's "Top Five" is an example of art imitating life - at least, sort of - as the comedian and actor steps behind the camera for his third feature, which blends elements of Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" and Richard Linklater's "Before" films, but is - as Rock himself has called it - a rare film that explores black culture from a black point of view. And the film's lead character bares some similarity to its director and lead.

It's a good movie - often funny and occasionally on-point about topics ranging from politics and popular culture to racism in America and how whites perceive black culture. This should come as no surprise as Rock has always been not only a really funny guy, but a pretty astute judge of goings-on in these United States.

At the film's beginning, Rock's Andre Allen is a former comedian turned blockbuster star who is now acting in his first dramatic film in a bid to get people to take him seriously. Not exactly helping his cause is his entanglement in an upcoming wedding to a reality TV star (Gabrielle Union) that will be, of course, live on TV. Take note that Kanye West was one of the film's producers.

The film in which he stars is obviously doomed to fail. It's an historical drama in which Rock plays the leader of a slave rebellion in Haiti. It's likelihood to go unseen is not due to the fact that it's a bad movie - in fact, we only get minor glimpses of the film itself - but because people would rather pay to see junk than films that are About Something. Andre's previous successes were in a series of idiotic action movies in which he plays a gun-toting bear who happens to be a cop. Naturally, this is what his public wants.

"Top Five" takes place within a single day as Andre walks through the streets of New York City being interviewed by Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson), a New York Times reporter who is not afraid to ask the tough questions. And, naturally, since the film is a comedy - and, at times, a romantic one - those questions nag at Andre, making him question his life's choices. A former alcoholic, he tells Chelsea that he no longer does stand up comedy because he was only previously funny onstage due to his out-of-control drug and alcohol abuse.

The film offers a look at the life of a celebrity, but it's also clearly a personal one for Rock. And there are a number of moments in the film that feel extremely lived-in. He juxtaposes sequences of Andre shuttling back and forth to press junkets with a scene during which he drops in for a bit of real talk with his family in Brooklyn. Tracy Morgan and several other character actors play Andre's family and his scenes with them are not only among the funniest in the film, but they also provide some solid characterization for the film's lead.

A handful of critics have called "Top Five" one of the year's funniest movies. But while I liked the film, it's definitely more the type of comedy that makes you laugh because you recognize something human in its jokes. It's not exactly a gut-buster, although there are a few sequences that might have you rolling on the floor (I doubt there'll be a straight face in the audience when Andre finds himself sitting across from another celebrity during a brief stint in jail).

Rock has matured here as a director (although I admit to having found his "Head of State" to be pretty damn funny) and I'm anxious to see what he'll do next. Here, he gets to have his cake and eat it too. Andre clearly wants to be taken seriously for his art, but late in the film he also gets a reminder of what a joy it is to make others laugh. Most people would likely agree that Rock is very funny, but here he also makes a bid for being a serious filmmaker and provides a solid case for it.

Review: Exodus: Gods and Kings

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

So, here's the thing: Ridley Scott's massively expensive looking "Exodus: Gods and Kings" is not quite the catastrophe you might have heard it was. I'm not saying I'd wholeheartedly endorse - nor even necessarily recommend it, for that matter - but as far as biblical epics go, it has its moments.

Most of those moments tend to be CGI enhanced, which may not come as a surprise. Scott and company have taken great pains to bring to the screen all of the best remembered passages from the book of Exodus and Moses' story, although the 10 Commandments get a little shorted and I don't recall a plague of alligators.

Christian Bale gives a committed performance as Moses, an Egyptian prince turned leader of the Jews who brings the chosen people away from the clutches of Ramses (Joel Edgerton) and on to the promised land. The script portrays Moses in the manner you might expect of a hero in our age of conflicted male leads. In other words, it takes some convincing for him to feel the Jews' plight and God - who, in one of the filmmakers' stranger choices, is portrayed as a grumpy young boy who materializes near burning bushes and the like - believes that he marches to the beat of his own drum. In other words, he can be difficult.

The supporting cast - and it's a vast one - does what it can, but they are mostly there for the sake of star power, rather than fully developed characters. Other than Bale and Edgerton, we have John Turturro (yes, John Turturro!) as King Seti in what has to be the nuttiest biblical epic casting since Harvey Keitel played Judas. There's also Sigourney Weaver as the untrustworthy Tuya, Ben Kingsley as a Jewish leader, a blink-and-you-almost-miss-him Aaron Paul as a slave, Ben Mendelsohn as a sinister viceroy and Hiam Abbass as Bithia.

The sets are pretty elaborate and, as I'd mentioned, the special effects are impressive, especially Moses' parting of the Red Sea and some of the various plagues (despite that inclusion of alligators).

But what ultimately holds the film back a bit is the script. I'm sure there will be those who disagree with my assessment, arguing that the film follows the story of Moses pretty closely to the one in The Bible (ahem! alligators!), but to make a film successful, there's got to be something more than just precise interpretation. Had the film's characters been a little more developed, it would have made all the awe and sturm and drang onscreen more effective.

"Exodus" is not a bad film - it looks great even if it's dead seriousness could have use a little alleviation. At least, in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," we had Anne Baxter as Nefretiri, sounding as if she just stepped off a subway in the Bronx ("Hey Mo-ses!").

And the film pales in comparison to Darren Aronofsky's "Noah," released earlier this year, which is one of the most insane biblical epics ever made and, at times, an outright horror movie with the lead playing both hero and villain. "Exodus" could have used a little bit of that mad vision, but as a sweeping historical epic, it's amusing enough.

Review: Inherent Vice

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Hazier than an enormous cloud of pot smoke, Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice" is one of the year's funniest, most mysterious and flat-out unusual films. It just so happens to be great, which shouldn't surprise you, considering that the filmmaker - one of the very best of his generation - was previously responsible for "The Master," "There Will Be Blood," "Magnolia" and "Boogie Nights." However, "Vice" is also Anderson's least accessible film and what you get out of it will likely depend on what you're willing to put into it.

The picture is the first ever to be adapted from a Thomas Pynchon novel and those familiar with the enigmatic writer's works will likely know what to expect from this film. The ingredients for any Pynchon story typically include a healthy dose of paranoia, obscure pop cultural references, characters with outlandish names (for example, Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd and Petunia Leeway), labyrinthine plotting and offbeat humor relative to the time in which the story is set.

In this case, it's 1970 in a fictional Los Angeles corner known as Gordita Beach, where one Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is living in a pot-induced haze and facing the countercultural comedown in the wake of the Tate-Labianca murders (referenced twice here) and Altamont.

One day, a former hippie and ex flame named Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston, daughter of Sam, in a breakout role) shows up and asks for Doc's help. Shasta's in trouble and she spins a wild story about an eccentric millionaire (Eric Roberts) whose wife is attempting to have him placed in a mental institution in order to get at his money. Shasta, who has traded in her Country Joe and the Fish T-shirts for a more conservative getup, is the lover of the millionaire, who has made his money by displacing minority communities for real estate purposes. This, of course, recalls "Chinatown," another near unsolvable mystery involving L.A. land use.

But as Doc looks into the case, the mystery spirals out of control and my advice to those planning on seeing the film would be not to get hung up on figuring out the picture's plot, but rather letting the story and its peculiar vibe just wash over you.

Doc's investigating brings him into contact with a number of odd characters, including a Black Panther type played by Michael K. Williams (Omar from "The Wire"), a former heroin addict (Jena Malone), an assistant DA (Reese Witherspoon), a surf sax player turned informant for the right (Owen Wilson), a dangerous deal maker (Martin Donovan), a maritime lawyer (Benicio Del Toro), a drug addled dentist (Martin Short) and a tough guy cop named Bigfoot Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), who acts as Doc's foil, but also sort of his unofficial partner. Also, one of Doc's pals, Sortilege (Joanna Newsom), doubles as the film's narrator, giving voice to some of Doc's thoughts and guiding us through the purposely confusing story.

One of the film's more humorous - but also increasingly mysterious - threads is when Doc stumbles upon an entity known as The Golden Fang, which acts as a stand-in for all things dark and nefarious. At first, Doc is told that the Fang is a schooner, but later finds evidence that it's a heroin drug ring and, then later, a tax shelter for dentists. At one point, Phoenix sits in front of a dry erase board, attempting to link all the clues involving the various characters and how they might be involved with The Golden Fang, but don't expect to find any clarification.

One of the delights of "Inherent Vice" is to watch Anderson's filmmaking talents at work. As usual, he's picked fantastic music (Neil Young, Can, Minnie Riperton and others) to accompany his visuals and his camerawork is never anything less than inspired. But, this is also a film in which any given shot can include multiple ideas, meanings and storytelling devices.

For example, there's a lovely flashback in which Doc and Shasta run out into the rain to the tune of Young's "Journey Into the Past" to score some drugs, but end up spending the day getting soaked together. Later, a postcard from Shasta recalls that idyllic day, but also acts as a clue, of sorts. Then, when Doc shows up to the spot where he and Shasta spent much of that day, the structure that has since been erected there provides some thematic weight to the film's chronicling of the death of the counterculture.

Similarly, a final scene during which Doc and Bigfoot - a gruff, anti-hippie cop who believes drugs to be the root of all evil - attempt to reconcile their differences, at first, might just seem to be an exhibit of odd behavior. But think of how the scene plays to Doc's disillusionment with the way the wind is blowing and consider how Bigfoot himself might be downcast due to circumstances involving the LAPD and the sequence becomes rather poignant. This point in American history gives neither character much to celebrate, although they have yet to experience the national downfall of the Nixon years.

Anderson is typically terrific with actors and "Vice" is no exception. Phoenix plays Doc partly as Jeff Bridges' The Dude and somewhat similarly to Elliott Gould's Marlowe in Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" and it's an inspired performance. And Brolin is frequently hilarious as Bigfoot, exhibiting a comedic side previously unseen from the actor. All of the supporting players are equally good, although I'd like to single out Short's delirious scenes as the deranged dentist Blatnoyd, Waterston as the hippie femme fatale who really pulls out all the stops during a scene late in the film which she mostly performs nude and Wilson, who brings much pathos to his role as the sax player who has been forced into cooperating with the LAPD and a group known as Vigilant California.

For a comedy, "Inherent Vice" is very long (nearly two and a half hours) and features nearly as much dramatic material as it does hilarity. That being said, it is very funny and includes several sequences sure to provoke snorts and loud chuckles, including a heroin trade-off, Short's reaction to being pulled over by a cop and, my personal favorite, Brolin's eating a frozen banana as Phoenix looks on.

As I mentioned before, "Vice" is another great movie on Anderson's resume, but it's one that takes a little more work than is typically required by an audience. But those willing to give themselves over to its far-out story and conspiratorial vibe will be duly rewarded.

Review: Still Alice

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Growing up in the 1980s, I watched my grandmother suffer through Alzheimer's, a disease that causes those afflicted with it to lose their memory and, eventually to devolve into confusion and a difficulty with speaking. "Still Alice" follows the story of a woman (Julianne Moore) who is diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's and whose greatest struggle is losing the capacity to find the right words, considering that she had made her career as a linguist.

While "Still Alice" is a good film, Moore's performance is a great one and could finally be the role to land her the Oscar, which has evaded her all these years. Moore is, in my opinion, certainly among the best actors never to have won an Academy Award. And here, she takes on a very difficult role and nails it.

Alice's family - which consists of her professor husband John Howland (Alec Baldwin) and three kids (Kristen Stewart as her youngest daughter with a dream of making it as an actor, Kate Bosworth as the grouchy older sister and Hunter Parrish as the slightly underdeveloped brother) - finds it increasingly frustrating to cope with Alice's loss for words and eventual incapacity to even recognize them.

The film does a solid job of capturing the essence of the disease, unlike other past films that portrayed Alzheimer's victims as exhibiting strange behaviors while remaining lucid enough to blurt out melodramatic lines. Here, the deterioration of Moore's character begins subtly with her finding herself not being able to grasp a specific word or forgetting that she had already asked a question of a family member. And, in a final scene, the devastating long term effects of the disease are shown in a difficult to watch moment as Stewart's character discusses a play with her mother.

Outside of Moore's marvelous performance and the film's ability to capture the disease with a sense of accuracy, "Still Alice" is not about much more than what it purports to be about. I don't mean to say that the film doesn't work overall, but so much focus is spent on Moore's deterioration that other subplots tend to exist for the purpose of giving the film's other characters some personality.

Some pictures rise or fall on the talents of their star - and "Still Alice" is one of them. Moore's performance is so effective that we forgive some of the movie's weaker elements (for example, a subplot involving Baldwin's character being offered a job away from his family isn't developed very well). It's time she is given her due.

Review: Wild

Image courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Reese Witherspoon gives her best performance in years - perhaps the finest since her Oscar winning turn in "Walk the Line" - in Jean-Marc Vallee's "Wild," which is based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed. While on the surface, the film may give the appearance of being one of those tales of an individual attempting to survive while aiming to conquer unforgiving mother nature - such as "Into the Wild" or "127 Hours" - but it's also more than that.

In fact, "Wild," which tells its story via a fragmented narrative, is not only a strong character piece, but also an occasionally grueling tale of an addict seeking recovery and the story of a mother-daughter bond. And all of these elements are handled pretty well.

We are introduced to Strayed in the film's most visually harsh sequence as she removes a toenail that she has broken during her 1,000 mile trek across the lonely Pacific Crest Trail. She has undertaken this long walk as a method of rediscovering herself following her failed marriage, which broke up as a result of her reckless drug use and numerous affairs. Strayed is also attempting to move past the death of her beloved mother (Laura Dern, terrific in all the flashback sequences in which she appears), whose demise likely pushed Strayed into drugs and unhappiness.

Other minor characters in the film appear - including Gaby Hoffman in a slightly underdeveloped supporting role as Cheryl's pal Aimee and a handful of random characters Strayed meets during her hike, some of whom are helpful and a few of whom are menacing - but Witherspoon primarily carries the film on her shoulders. It's a very good performance.

While the picture is a little similar to films such as "Eat, Pray, Love" in that it follows a character who takes a journey to reconnect with herself, it's a little more complex. At times, the film is harrowing, especially during flashbacks to Strayed's drug abuse, but also during earlier scenes in which she and her mother struggle to flee from Cheryl's abusive father.

And while Cheryl's primary purpose in walking the trail is to "find herself" again, so to speak, she also learns to reconnect with others. There's a sequence during which she asks for help from a man whose outward appearance is a bit intimidating and, naturally, she is afraid of him at first. There's also a later scene during which she finds herself attracted to a man passing out tickets for a Grateful Dead tribute concert. Neither of these scenes play out exactly as the film sets you up to think they will.

In other words, some might consider taking a walk through nature to "find yourself" as a cliche, but the film does not treat it as such. "Wild" is the type of movie that sneaks up on you in surprising ways. Much like Vallee's previous film, "The Dallas Buyers Club," it follows a complicated individual with whom we might not always sympathize, but it never makes them anything less than compelling subject matter.