kinolieber Reviews

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (2023)

Appallingly insensitive conclusion of first episode

[6/10 · 18 March 2024]

Great history of the first years of his and Garfunkel's lives and careers. Those albums and performances are in the pantheon of 60's musical creations. Way too much footage, though, of him noodling his new album. And isn't the guitar lick he channeled in a dream the same one from Anji 60 years ago?

But the episode ends with a completely unnecessary and cruel remark about his ex partner: After saying his five year friendship with him was his first great friendship with someone who got him, he then says Garfunkel is now someone he never wants to see again. At this point in their lives, was it really necessary to make such a cruel public rejection? I'm sure he had the clout to remove that even if it wasn't his choice to include it.

Repeat Performance (1947)

Fun glossy noir with a George Antheil score

[8/10 · 12 December 2023]

In fact, it's really only noir-ish since most of the story concerns a troubled marriage in the world of A-list New York theater people. So yes, a bit of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, a dash of TWILIGHT ZONE, but also a soupcon of ALL ABOUT EVE.

But to me, what makes the film unmissable is the score by George Antheil, bad boy of early 20th Century modern classical music. When's the last time if ever you heard the kind of propulsive dissonance in the three minute segment that wraps up the denouement? Combined with brilliant editing, this sequence creates a suspense and thrill not really present in the screenplay. It's a musical and visual tour de force that ranks up there with Herrmann's creations for Hitchcock.

Bones and All (2022)

I stopped watching after the gay sex/murder scene

[1/10 · 22 July 2023]

How could Timmy and Luca include that scene? What a horrible thing to put on screen. Was Timmy trying to affirm his heterosexual bona fides by murdering a man who comes on to him?

The movie itself up til that point was somewhat engaging albeit occasionally disgusting. The acting, cinematography and music were all first rate. Fun to see each of the talented actors in their cameos. If you're into creepy gross-out horror, it's probably worth seeing except for that seduction/murder scene. I have liked Guadagnino's previous films but don't get the appeal of this material.

But really disappointed by the inclusion of material that once again portrays homosexual desire as a deadly risk.

Lured (1947)

Early Sirk noir with comic touches stars Lucy

[9/10 · 18 July 2023]

Just before she moved on to radio and then TV, Lucille Ball starred in this terrific remake of a French 'policier'. Her unaffected charm as a feisty American girl is even more captivating given the contrasting English milieu. And as a former fashion model herself, Lucy dazzles in her stunning outfits and gowns. The cast is top notch and the comic bits keep the plot's tension from getting too dark. William Daniels' cinematography gives the film a lux, noirish gloss. Check out one of the last shots in the film with Sanders sitting at a bar as Ball is seen in a mirror entering the club. Fantastic. For Sirk completists, this is a must-see.

The Outrage (1964)

"Senora, you cook up the pot of tamales. I just peeck up the lid!"

[3/10 · 11 August 2022]

Who knew this was a comedy? After about an hour slogging through this travesty, it suddenly turns into a flat out farce! You have to hand it to Newman, at least, for giving this role a shot, but 60 years later, it's a total embarrassment. Props, though, to James Wong Howe's black and white cinematography.

Night Song (1947)

Hollywood romance and glamour of the highest order

[8/10 · 6 August 2022]

Merle Oberon is stunning and gorgeously outfitted in dozens of Orry-Kelly outfits and gowns and gives an unaffected contemporary performance unusual for her. Dana Andrews is believably blind and bitter and makes a nice transition to being sighted and happy. Hoagy Carmichael is his usual lovable sidekick self. The plot is ridiculous and romantically plausible at the same time if you are up for the rewards of suspension of disbelief. The music is the thing here, from Carmichael's novelty song, to some lovely jazz dance arrangements, to a piano concerto that makes no concessions to a popular audience's popular tastes. My guess is most moviegoers in 1947 didn't actually enjoy the concerto played by Arthur Rubinstein at the movie's conclusion, its chromaticism and melodic complexity being beyond most musical tastes. But it surely added another level to the high gloss glamour of the stars and their emotional and musical connection. All participants in this enterprise seem to have brought their best talents to make this a classic Hollywood romance with just the right amounts of melodrama, plot contrivances and humor.

The Bear (2022– )

I'm sure there is a great show here

[5/10 · 3 August 2022]

IF you can stand the dysfunction, the yelling, the horrible cousin, and the way some of the people in the restaurant treat each other. I stayed until the beginning of episode 4, but when yet another insane shouting match broke out with the uncle I had to admit (as if I were in Al Anon) that I had to get these people out of my life! I wish them all a good recovery.

The Music Lovers (1971)

Not as inaccurate as many here repeatedly say

[9/10 · 24 September 2021]

OK, yes, the film is often over-the-top in its telling of Tchaikovsky's story, with highly dramatic/excessive scenes that are unashamedly fictionalized. The hysterical tone of the film nevertheless is in sync with Tchaikovsky's overwrought personality. The basic outlines of his career and his marriage as portrayed in the film are not invented.

I just finished reading Alexander Poznansky's detailed, well-documented biography of Tchaikovsky and the fact is, this film quite accurate in its telling of Tchaikovsky's often tortured relationship with Antonina Milukova. She was highly unstable and essentially blackmailed him for most of his life, refusing to divorce him, and he sometimes left Russia or stayed in Europe to get away from her. Homosexuality was known about and tolerated among the upper classes in Russia at that time as long as it remained hidden and out of the public eye. Public exposure by his wife as grounds for divorcing him would have ruined him.

The greatest inaccuracy in the film, and what the film leaves out is his very active, uninhibited sex life with anonymous encounters throughout his life in nearly every major city of Europe and Russia and his many romantic attachments with various young men.

As for his death, it is true that, in spite of there being an epidemic of cholera in St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky was careless about drinking unboiled water and had done so in restaurants in the days before he became ill. Whether he drank it in order to commit suicide, no one can say, As for the hot water bath, this was a common treatment for cholera, though not the use of what looks like boiling water in the film. Tchaikovsky had a superstition about the treatment because his mother had indeed died of cholera in spite of the treatment. For this reason, the treatment was delayed until it was too late to save him, if indeed it would have saved him at any time. Modern methods of rehydration were unavailable at that time.

As for Milukova's fate, she did in fact spend the last 20 years of her life in an insane asylum.

Gunda (2020)

pretentious art house nature doc

[20 September 2020]

Done far better by any of the many nature series one can see on cable. Slooooow static real time photography in black and white does nothing to enhance the visuals or storytelling, what little there is of it. All leading to sentimental payoff that could have been reached in a half hour. Typical example of NYFF inert anti cinema.

The Hours (2002)

Great movie. Fix the nose

[9/10 · 22 December 2019]

This is a fantastic film with great performances, great writing, amazing music. But whoever created Kidman's nose did a horrendously bad job. I can't understand how they could have looked at dailies and let things stand. From scene to scene it appears a different color, sometimes even a different shape. More than once it doesn't match the color of her facial skin tone.

Maybe someday, with the technology available today, they could digitally fix this visual gaffe which is so distracting.

The movie is one of the greats. I hope someday they repair this unfortunate flaw.

The Aftermath (2019)

Better than Kent's previous film Testament Of Youth

[6/10 · 23 March 2019]

While the director has strong kitsch tendencies he manages to include some genuine feeling and drama in The Aftermath. The plot is set in Hamburg after WWII and as an historical record recreates some interesting social dynamics: the wealthy elite Germans who lived in luxury throughout the war; the starving survivors of the war and firebombing of their city; the resentful loyal Nazis still bent on sabotaging the British occupiers; and the British military themselves, some unmercifully brutal to the Germans, while others try to find some understanding and feel some empathy for the defeated populace. The central characters are all dealing with their war losses and personal crises stemming from them. Nevertheless, the director insists on bathing everything in picturesque glamor, repeatedly undermining the film's serious themes. One wonders how Keira Knightly's character managed to fit her dozens of stylish outfits and formal gowns in that little suitcase!

Silence (I) (2016)

Unapologetic story of faith, conversion and martyrdom

[5/10 · 2 February 2017]

SILENCE is beautifully filmed and strangely involving for such a grim and slow-moving tale. For a 2 hr 40 min movie, I never felt bored or felt that the story was unnecessarily stretched out. As an ex Catholic who, as a child, was intrigued by the idea of martyrdom and by tales of the saints who were killed because they refused to renounce their faith (and so, got an express ticket to heaven - a very attractive end result for one who feared hell as much as I did), I could identify in a more distanced way with the protagonists and their Catholic followers in Japan.

I expected that in telling a story set 400 years ago, Scorsese would provide some kind of modern day insight (psychological, political,sexual) to the true events depicted in his narrative. Instead, all I could glean was that this was a film by a devout Catholic, about devout Catholics. Who would have thought Scorsese was possessed by such primal and dogmatic religious feelings?

Shockingly, the Japanese culture is referred to more than once as a 'swamp' where nothing truly spiritual, much less Catholic, can grow. The inquisitor who persecutes the Catholics is portrayed by a lizardy actor with a high pitched voice, doing what I guess is the Japanese equivalent of a moustache-twirling villain. Cruelty, execution and torture take up a large part of the picture, and while accurate I suppose, is probably no worse that what was done by the Catholic inquisition in Europe.

I was hoping for some kind of statement about religious fanaticism, and at one point, when a Buddhist is trying to reason with the priest, asking why it isn't better to focus on the common elements of the world's different religions, I thought the film was going in that direction. But it ends on an 'upbeat' religious note, when it is revealed that the priest held onto his faith in the Catholic god right up to the end. The film was premiered at The Vatican which says a lot about where it's coming from. There is a dedication to the priests and converts in Japan.

I wasn't impressed by Andrew Garfield in the central role. I felt like he was miscast, so it's mostly not his fault - too young and modern (and who kept his hair so coiffed in the first half of the movie?). Adam Driver was excellent as always, but not sure why he felt he needed to lose all that weight for the role, he was really skinny and sunken-eyed. Liam Neeson, also miscast with his very tall stature and hard-to- disguise Irishness was good in a thankless role. The Japanese actors (except for the inquisitor) were fine, but most of their characters were never really developed into anything more than simple-minded worshippers or cruel torturers.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

A really excellent and unusual film - what one would expect from Ang Lee.

[9/10 · 27 November 2016]

A really excellent and unusual film - what one would expect from Ang Lee. Saw it at AMC Lincoln Square in NYC - the high frame rate 3D was pretty great. I hope to see more films produced in this process. It's not showing this way anywhere else except L.A. but the film should be just as powerful in regular 3D or just flat. Be warned though, it's a bit of a bummer, and the war scenes are truly harrowing, possibly because of the super real 3D, and definitely because of the context within which they are set. The film hit me particularly hard because of recent Thanksgiving encounters with family war vets and sports fanatics. The film is brutally honest and pulls no punches - in the end that is the best way to honor the real soldiers portrayed in the movie.

Arrival (II) (2016)

Powerfully emotional

[10/10 · 11 November 2016]

This is an intelligent, entertaining and powerfully emotional movie about an international close encounter of the third kind. The film's catharsis released a flood of emotion in me - it's that good. Definitely worth seeing. The Canadian director straddles the art-film and commercial film worlds. As a commercial enterprise, the film is unusual in that it is devoid of guns, explosions, chases, fistfights and the other tropes of alien visitation movies, that it has a female protagonist, and that gives precedence to feelings of love and loss over those of terror and aggression. Can't say enough about Amy Adams' performance. The score by Johann Johannsson adds immeasurably to the film's effectiveness.

Moonlight (I) (2016)

MOONLIGHT at the NYFF **spoilers**

[6/10 · 3 October 2016]

Three-act movie tells the story of a young gay boy/teen/man. First two acts are gritty realistic depictions of sexual confusion, abuse, bullying and homophobic violence with surprising comfort and refuge coming from unlikely characters. Third act shifts into some kind of 'Now Voyager' gear with the main character's transformation into a super hot drug kingpin with a gay heart of gold. I admit I'm no expert on the lives of down low African American thugs, but the idea that this smokin hot brother spent ten years denying himself sex with men (in the 21st century!) until his true love came back into his life was a bit much. At least the unlikely cowboy lovers in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN actually had a months-long sexual relationship. This guy waits ten years for the guy he masturbated with once on a beach. The whole thing ends up more like a romance novel (without a kiss or a final sex scene) than one would expect from the excellent realistic first two acts.

The BFG (2016)

So good I immediately went to see it again

[10/10 · 4 July 2016]

This film is so rich in every department: visually, musically, in its excellent, charming, witty script, and the casting of actors who bring their best to the screen in their roles. For once a children's tale without the tiresome clichés that currently dominate kids' movies; a sometimes quiet and intimate film with sensitive, feeling characters who talk to each other in longish dialog scenes. This is a fable in an old fashioned mode, and yet is made from pure 21st century movie magic. As great as Mark Rylance is, and he is amazing, Penelope Wilton is unbelievably funny as a combination uptight, take charge and yet completely empathetic Queen. The whole breakfast scene, in fact the entire Royal Palace section, is one of the funniest things I've seen in ages. The film is doing poorly at the box office so catch it on the big screen before it's gone - it's absolutely gorgeous. And speaking of gorgeous, John Williams, collaborating with the some of the world's greatest musicians including Heather Clark on flute, has written a symphonic work that underscores just about every minute of the film. It's a masterpiece that ranks with the very best of what he has written for film in his long career.

The Revenant (I) (2015)

Bummer. Pointless but pretty.

[5/10 · 15 January 2016]

Beautiful in a self-conscious way, but often tedious. Aside from occasional moments of elevated humanity, it's mostly an overlong, gruesome spectacle of cruelty, pain and anguish, which after a while becomes almost comic in the unrelenting and extreme nature of the main character's ordeals (and the implausibility of him surviving them). Aside from a moment when DiCaprio's character gains insight into the pointlessness of his behavior, this is an unexceptional survival and revenge story gussied up by how-did-they-do-that? cinematography, portentous music, and a performance that screams "Look what I went through to get my Oscar!" I didn't believe any of it for a minute.

The Danish Girl (2015)

The film equivalent of a coffee table book about Lili Elbe

[3/10 · 16 September 2015]

First the good: Alicia Vikander gives an excellent performance in a poorly written role. The music, when it's not loudly substituting for a decent script, is often lovely. And the historical context is illuminating, especially the very real danger of institutionalization. Other than that, what a mass of prestige picture clichés, laughably symmetrical camera set-ups and gorgeous landscape cinematography. And poor Eddie Redmayne. Completely out of his depth in the central role. Obviously, no one knows how well Lili Elbe passed for a woman, but no one, and I mean absolutely no one, would mistake Redmayne's Lili for anything else but an awkward, clumsy male in a bad wig. Granted, that would make an interesting take on this story: someone who believes they look like a woman but who doesn't. But that's not what this film proposes. Quite the opposite, which is why the audience consistently laughed every time the film suggested that Elbe herself, or other characters believed in the success of the transformation. The script is so cliché ridden and repetitious that even an actor as fine as Matthias Schoenaerts can't liven it up. And for some reason he is made up to look like a sweaty cadaver. And again,I felt bad for Mr. Redmayne, that he didn't get the directorial help he needed in the role and a better script that left him more to say than the trite and predictable lines in this one.

Ginger & Rosa (2012)

Best film so far at the New York Film Festival

[10/10 · 8 October 2012]

At the time of writing this review, Ginger and Rosa has a 4.8 rating!! I don't know who these voters are, but this is a very fine film: insightful, funny, and wise. The acting is across the board phenomenal. Cast spoke of long rehearsal period during Q&A and it shows. Every shot captures real life in all its expressive complexity. Elle Fanning, 13 playing 16, gives one of the greatest child performances I have ever seen - truly astonishing as well as touching, funny/sad, and beautiful. Great script, gorgeous cinematography and design, perfectly chosen period music. This is a must-see, and sure to be a break-out role for Fanning.

The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011)

Great Film needs new English title!

[10/10 · 11 March 2012]

This marvelous film is based on a Pagnol novel which I had never heard of. Maybe it's well-known in France and so the title is familiar to audiences there. But in the US "The Well Digger's Daughter" should keep people away from this film in droves. In fact, the film is an old fashioned fable set in the French countryside during the period of World War I. Even though the plot turns are seen coming a mile away, the film has such charm and simple feeling and wisdom, that there is enormous pleasure in watching the story unfold. Auteuil is perfect as the father, as is every other actor, especially Astrid Bergès-Frisbey as the daughter of the title and Nicolas Duvauchelle as her 'prince'. And the music by Andre Desplat is one of his best scores. The setting and the lives of the characters are so beautifully depicted, there is so much pleasure to be had in entering their world for two hours, that it seems a shame that American audiences will have to overcome their disinclination to see a movie about a well-digger and his daughter when there is this rich and deeply emotional story waiting for them in the cinema.

This Side of Resurrection (2011)

I left after a half hour as well

[2/10 · 22 September 2011]

Agree with previous reviewer that this film was a poor choice for TIFF where usually the quality of the films is quite high. The absurdity of the set up was laughable: gorgeous surfer boy leaves monastery and returns to his favorite beach to ride the waves and commune to God. I wanted to ask: who maintained his highlights at the monastery? Apparently the cinematographer was unable to get many decent shots of him surfing, so we are left watching endless underwater shots of nothing, accompanied by the sound of gurgling water. The actors all looked like they were in a soap opera, with the usual anxious staring instead of dialog.

The Tempest (I) (2010)

Lovely to look at

[5/10 · 2 October 2010]

but impossible to understand. Saw this at the New York Film Festival tonight and must assume that the soundtrack was unfinished because I was able to understand about half of the dialog. It sounded like a mono mix, so maybe it was a temporary soundtrack or was projected incorrectly. The opening scene: completely unintelligible. Nearly every word spoken by Djimon Hisou: completely unintelligible. Hope they fix this because there is much to admire in the film: Helen Mirren's marvelous performance (most clearly spoken and reproduced), the great Ben Wishaw as Ariel, the beautiful music, magical settings, visual effects and the beautiful costumes.

The Wrestler (2008)

It's not called "The Wrestler" for nothing

[5/10 · 25 December 2008]

something that should have been obvious to me before going in. But the art-house cred that the film has gotten, the film festival screenings, the huzzahs from the critics, and Aronofsky's previous films made me think this would be much more than what it is: a fairly conventional, low-budget retooling of the same material that made "Requium For A Heavyweight" such a sensation in the 50's. Set in the world of professional wrestling, it hypes that 'sport' while at the same time bemoaning Rourke's character's fate, a typical commercial ploy these days in movies: condemning and exploiting at the same time, e.g., the poor, sad, lonely character played by Marissa Tomei, forced to do all that dirty dancing. Don't get me wrong: it's not a bad film, of its kind. And it could just as easily be sold as something for WWF fans. In fact it probably will be. But if it were, I certainly would have no interest in seeing it. So be warned: there's an awful lot of 'professional wrestling' in "The Wrestler". And what remains, minus the nudity and grisly violence, could have just as easily been a network television movie.

Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Sweet, sad little tale undermined by unimaginative film-making

[5/10 · 29 September 2008]

The only reason this film holds any interest at all is because of Michelle Williams' excellent performance. But as a character study, a road movie, a girl-and-her-dog story, or a polemic about the unfairness of capitalism towards its underclass, it fails to create anything more than a very slight impression. The reason, IMO, is the utterly talentless film-making, particularly the amateurish and boring cinematography and editing. The script is little more than a series of sad encounters, and one couldn't expect much more from a story about a woman so emotionally shut down, but what one could expect was some kind of visual poetry.

La Vie En Rose (2007)

Where are the subtitles to the song lyrics?

[8/10 · 4 July 2008]

Just watched the DVD of this amazingly powerful film, very much in the style of classic Hollywood biopics. But am still scratching my head over the bizarre decision to skip the subtitling of the songs! I could see if her choice of songs, and the songs that composers chose to write for her, weren't so incredibly personal. But they are, and were included and placed in the film precisely because of the way they comment on her life. Leaving non-french-speaking viewers in the dark is a crime. As if the lyrics to her songs didn't matter. Even when the composer comes in at the end and plays her the song that convinces her to appear one last time and she cries out "That's my life!" we are left wishing we knew what she was talking about!