The Artist

It's 1927 and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is the most famous silent film star of the era.  After a preview of his latest movie, he literally bumps into Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a young ingenue eager to get into the business.   In 1929 movie mogul Al Zimmer (John Goodman) declares that "talkies" are the future and Valentin's career is over.  With the stock market crash occuring, Valentin sees his career spiral into oblivion while Peppy becomes the new toast of Hollywood.

Who would have thought that in 2011 one of the best pictures of the year would not only be black and white, but silent!  Writer/Director Michel Hazanavicius has created a bonbon of a Valentine to the silent era of film and also created one of the best pictures of the year.  The casting is impeccable- Dujardin is a classic Douglas Fairbanks type, and Bejo is charming as the ingenue.  John Goodman is at his bombastic best as the movie mogul, and James Cromwell is perfect as Valentin's chauffer/valet.  And wait until you see the scenes with Uggs, the dog.  The detail that went into the film to recreate the verisimilitude of silent era Hollywood is amazing: the set design, the costumes, the lighting, and the score (although the film does copy the love theme from "Vertigo" for an emotional moment of the picture.)

2011 will be known as the year we saw two great homages to the silent era: "Hugo" and "The Artist."  And if you don't think people will sit through a black and white silent film, think again.  We saw it at the Midtown Cinema in Harrisburg, and the audience applauded at the end of the film.

Nominated for Best Actor, Supporting Actress, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Score, Original Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture.

CinaJims review:  Run right out to see this!  It will leave you tapping your toes and grinning from ear to ear!

Coming attraction:  A CinaJim pic- The Fall

The Descendants

  Wealthy Hawaiian lawyer Matt King (George Clooney) is dealing with the tragic events of a boating accident that left his wife in a coma.  Having to deal with his two daughters, spunky 10 year old Scotty (Amara Miller) and foul-mouthed, rebellious 17 year old Alex (Shailene Woodley,) is just the start of his issues.  He is also the legal trustee of thousands of acres of land inherited by his family and must face the fact that his relatives want to sell the land to a resort developer thereby making the family very wealthy, much to the dismay of the townspeople.  As if that were not enough, he also finds out that his wife was cheating on him with the local Real Estate agent (Matthew Lillard.)  He decides to take the family from Oahu to Kauai to confront the adulterer.

Do not let the trailer fool you.  This is not a laugh out loud comedy.  Yes there are several comedic moments, especially concerning Alex's seemingly dim-witted friend Sid (Nick Krause) who tags along with the family.  This is a movie dealing with loss, love, and family ties.

At first glance, this is a loving postcard of Hawaii.  The film has many lush shots of the islands, and the score is punctuated with several folk songs of the area.  Also, it is another well-written adaptation by Alexander Payne, the creative genius behind "Election," "Sideways," and "About Schmidt."

Foremost it is a showcase for some wonderful performances.  George Clooney is deservedly nominated for best actor, and it is one of his best performances.  His character runs the gamut of emotions, from rage to confusion to acceptance, and he has several scenes where he does not speak, but you can see all the emotions course through his haggard appearance.  Shailene Woddley was egregiously left out of the best supporting actress race.  She delivers the break-out performance of the film.  Also in smaller roles are Robert Forster as the stern (and mean-spirited) father-in-law who idolizes his hospitalized daughter, and Matthew Lillard in a compete change of pace performance from the guy mostly known as Shaggy from the Scooby-Do movies.

The only fault I had with the movie was a slight lull in the action regarding confronting the Real Estate agent.  It becomes not a matter of IF King will confront the adulterer, but WHEN.

Nominated for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture.

CinaJim's review: Highly Recommended!

Our next featured attraction: The Artist

My first blog

Welcome to my first blog!

I have been a movie geek for as long as I can remember.

I grew up in the 60's in Lebanon, PA, where my ancestors laid roots in 1742.  I grew up prior to the age of Malls and Cinema Multiplexes.  The main street in Lebanon is Cumberland Street.  In the 60's we had three theaters (or commonly known as movie houses.)  The first was the State.  It had a ticket booth outside near the sidewalk.  Once you bought your ticket, you had to pass walls of lobby cards and posters (for such movies as "Deranged" and "Squirm") before you opened the doors to the theater.  A few blocks away was the Academy Theater, where we would line up for three blocks to see "Jaws" or "The Exorcist."  Farther down, near the end of the city was the Colonial..a grand old theater with a balcony, two special booths by the screen, and a big curtain that would be opened at the start of the feature presentation.  This is where I first saw "The Poseidon Adventure," "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," "Murder on the Orient Express,"  "With Six You Get Eggroll," and "The Sting."

We also had the Key Drive-In, which was about a mile from our house.  Mom and Dad would put the four of us in our pajamas, pack up snacks, and head to the drive-in in our station wagon to see the latest Disney movie.  And I'm talking about the originals...."Mary Poppins," "Blackbeard's Ghost,"  "The Ugly Dachshund," "That Darn Cat," and "The Love Bug."  Once I hit adolescence and had a drivers license, I spent many weekends at the Dawn to Dusk show, watching movies like "Death Race 2000" and "Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell."  Sadly, the Key Drive-In is now a Super Walmart, and the three theaters downtown are gone.  (The State and the Academy were converted into other things, and the glorius Colonial burnt to the ground.)

And there was the fortune of having a cousin who was the first to not only have color tv, but also cable tv.  We begged Mom and Dad to go to Aunt Mav and Uncle Sam on a Saturday so we could watch "Chiller Theater" with Dr. Shock on WPHL channel 17 out of Philadelphia.  A movie horror nerd was born!

I have always been an Oscar Maniac.  I have friends calling me to answer movie questions; I can't wait for Jeopardy to have an "Oscar" category, and my boss knows that when I ask for a day off the last Monday in February, it's my SuperBowl.

So, after that long-winded introduction, why am I doing this? For starters, I am proud that I have an English degree from Bloomsburg State College (well, now BSU), but haven't really applied it until now.  I was Executive Editor for "The CampusVoice" from 1979-80 but have not written anything since that time.  Yet, I can go on for hours discussing movies.  Now thanks to the internet, I can get this out of my system, and maybe somebody will be interested.  I've tried to attempt this before, but gave up because it is a daunting task.  Besides, everybody and his mother has a movie post somewhere out there (which should have won the Oscar for best song from "An American Tail."  Sorry, can't help myself!) 

What finally helped were two things.... The musical "Sunday in the Park With George."  George is a struggling artist who is frustrated that it's all been done before, but the ghost of his grandfather's girlfriend sings "Let it come from you, then it will be new...give us more to see..."

And also a shout-out to my friend J.W. Ocker, who has this amazing blog I found several years ago (O.T.I.S. odd things I've seen) and turned it into a book, "The New England Grimpendium."  And he has a new book on the way!  He gave me the inspiration to finally sit down and do it.

This will, obviously, be a work in progress.  I am not the most tech proficient, so it may take me awhile to figure out how to post pictures and stuff.  Heck, I don't even know if this will post!  Hopefully, this will be the start of something.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you can join me on my reel adventures!

Our next featured presentation:  CinaJim's review of "The Descendants."

Coming attractions:  (besides movie reviews)
*CinaJims pics.....where I discusss my favorite movies
*Italian splatter and Giallo films from the '80s (and why I love them)
*Why the score matters
*That's two hours of my life I'll never get back
*Oscar results (and Oscar "No they didn't!)