ONLY THE BRAVE: Based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite group of firefighters who battled the Yarnhill Hill fire in Arizona in 2013, this film has a lot going for it. It is visually splendid but emotionally shattering as we examine true heroism...Josh Brolin and Miles Teller give the standout performance in this cast that also includes Jeff Bridges, Taylor Kitch, Jennifer Connelly and Andie MacDowell with an ensemble cast of actors worthy of a SAG award for Best Ensemble Acting. This is a beautifully made film told with matchless drama and also great humor about a group of men and their way of life that you will long remember. I can't say enough about how impressed I was. I only hope it finds a wide audience that it so deserves.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES: Using the historic 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs as a jumping off point, the film is more about King's journey in coming to terms with her sexuality. Played brilliantly by last years Oscar winner, Emma Stone, King's story is both tough and inspiring. Equally wonderful is Steve Carell as Riggs, with all his bravura and bombastic ego in tact. Others in the cast include Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman and Alan Cummings. I suppose that some will think the film is a little preachy about equal pay for women, LGBT rights and a myriad of issues, but it was a different time and it feels absolutely real. Well done, by one and all.
VICTORIA AND ABDUL: When Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal)s lowly clerk is sent from India to England to participate is Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, the two form an unlikely alliance that has the royal household in an uproar. Judy Dench gives another stellar performance as the Queen and although the movie is slow going at times, she continues to amaze with her thrilling talent. Eddie Izzard plays "Bertie" the heir apparent to the thrown who is determined to undermine the relationship. What starts out as a comedy, the film soon takes on darker tones. Billed as "based on true events....mostly" who knows how much is actually true. But no matter, it is a fascinating look as when England ruled under Victoria in her later years.
TULIP FEVER: Set in 17th century Amsterdam, an orphaned girl Sophia (Alicia Vikaner) is forced to marry a rich and powerful merchant Cornelis Sandvoort (ChristophWaltz). While the marriage saves her from poverty, it is a not the perfect arrangement. When her husband commissions a portrait, she begins an affair with the young painter Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan). Intrigue, mistaken identiy and the like follow. This film is very reminiscent of the wonderful movies from the Ivory/Merchant team of some years back. It is slow and methodical at times but sumptuous to look at and always intriguing . In the supporting cast we have the wonderful Judi Dench who seems to be everywhere right now ("Murder on the Orient Express" and "Victoria and Abdul" are on the horizon.) and the delightful Zach Galiflanakis, along with Matthew Morrison, Tom Hollander and Holliday Grainger. All in all, a stellar cast and a fascinating look at how the tulip industry first began with a brilliant script by Tom Stoppard.
WIND RIVER: Jeremy Renner plays Cory, a US Fish and Wildlife Service tracker whose job to dispatch the wolves and mountain lions that kill livestock on the Wind River Indian reservation in Wyoming. When he discovers the frozen body of a young Indian girl the FBI is called in. A rookie agent from Las Vegas named Jane (Elizabeth Olsen) soon discovers that she is out of her depth in this particular land where government is not a thing to be trusted. The talented Graham Greene gives a wonderful low-key depiction of the reservation police force head. Filmed beautifully in a bleak, snow-covered landscape, this land of snowmobiles is breathtaking at times, as is the performance by Mr. Renner (his best work to date). A bit slow, now and then, but ultimately very satisfying. A near perfect movie.
THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD: If you want action.... if you want comedy... this is the film for you. And while most of the action is what we've come to expect, the real fun is in the constant bickering between the two lead actors. Samuel L. Jackson is the hitman who must testify against a dictator (Gary Oldman) before the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Ryan Reynolds is the bodyguard assigned (coerced) to make sure he gets there. On opposing sides of the law previously (Jackson has tried to kill him on numerous occasions, they try to bury their differences and stay alive as the dictators thugs are in hot pursuit. Along the way, Salma Hayek gives a funny, trash talking performance as Jackson girlfriend and there is a wonderfully choreographed chase of two....particularly one involving cars, a speed boat, a motorcycle and a Netherlands canal....it took my breath away. (Spoiler alert....Best line in the film....Reynolds asks about Jackson and Hayek ....."How did you meet? Christian Mingle?") A funny, preposterous at times, throwback to those good guy/bad guy buddy movies we all loved. And still do, as it turns out.
THE GLASS CASTLE: Based on a memoir by Jeannette Walls, this film examines the coming-of-age of a young girl in a dysfunctional family. Brie Larson is the girl (as an adult) with Woody Harrelson as the alcoholic, dreamer father and Naomi Watts as the artistic mother. Slow moving, but always interesting, it still lacked some punch here and there. It felt as if the story was, indeed, a view of this family but tainted by the authors remembrances of how she thought it was (or should have been) In other words, it didn't ring true all of the time. Still, it has it's moments (and a wonderful performance by Ella Anderson as the younger Jeannette) This is the best Harrelson performance to date and he might get a nomination for the Oscar. So, although it was not my favorite film out there, it's worth a viewing.
