Schindler's List

Schindler's List (1993)

***viewed in theaters for 25th anniversary release***

Starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, and Embeth Davidtz

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Steven Zaillian

Summary (in 500 words or less): Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) attempts to save hundreds of Jews in danger of being sent to Auschwitz by hiring them to work at his factory during WWII.

 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

The Post

The Post (2017)

Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, and Bruce Greenwood

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer

Summary (in 500 words or less): Washington Post owner Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) -- the first female owner of a major newspaper -- and editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) are struggling to keep their paper afloat in the early 1970s.  The New York Times -- one of their major competitors -- breaks a huge story about multiple presidential administrations hiding information about the Vietnam War from the American public.  This classified info was admittedly stolen from the US government and the Nixon administration sues them to stop the release of any more info. Fortunately for the Washington Post, a secret informant drops that same information off to them and Graham and Bradlee are faced with the challenge of whether to publish the information or not.

• A true story, Spielberg's The Post feels a bit languid, slow, and plodding.  
• A good performance from Meryl Streep -- seriously, I keep wanting to not like her in things, but I can't -- balances out a less successful turn from Tom Hanks who, despite having some backstory given to his character, never really connected with me.
• Much like Hanks not connecting with me, the film itself didn't either.  Spielberg's direction felt a bit stiff and stolid, and while I liked the way the film looked and some camera angles here and there, it's just bland and unexciting.
• The script by Liz Hannah and John Singer thinks it cleverly is inserting subtle jabs at the current administration and praise of the #MeToo movement, but they're so blatantly displayed by Spielberg that it often proves to be laughable.  Particularly towards the end, the feminism angle is ridiculously displayed -- Streep's Graham leaves a Supreme Court hearing to find herself surrounded by cheering throngs of women as the music swells around her.  Ridiculous.  The film didn't need that -- we already saw what a strong and committed woman Graham was...we didn't need the silly visual.
• This may be a film that generationally simply doesn't work.  Perhaps the older crowd -- re: those around in the Vietnam War era -- may feel more connection and excitement with the unfolding story.  To me, however, I was left disappointed.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Schiff, Arliss Howard, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, and Richard Attenborough

Directed by Steven Spielberg

How can the same director and half of the screenwriting team of one of the best "popcorn" blockbuster movies of all time fail so miserably the second go-around as we venture back to the islands off the coast of Costa Rica again in The Lost World: Jurassic Park?  Quite frankly, there's hardly anything to recommend in this second segment of the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy.  Instead we get rehashed scenes, duplicated themes, and special effects that can't hold a candle to its predecessor. I didn't remember The Lost World being as bad as this when I watched it decades ago...but this is really awful stuff.

Since I created a list in my Jurassic Park review, let's continue that trend here as we discuss the many detriments of The Lost World:

• Let's just begin with the obvious "gymnastics" foreshadowing at the beginning of the film that then wreaks havoc during a pivotal scene in the movie's climax.  Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), the only returning character to hold a pivotal role in this sequel, has a daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester) whom we discover at the beginning has been let go of her gymnastics team for not being good enough apparently.  When she stows away and arrives on the island with her father, we're well aware that her "lack" of gymnastics skills is going to come into play at some point.  For the whole film, Kelly is a character that is given next to nothing to do, hardly ever being put in peril.  However, at an integral point in the film's climax, Kelly, her father, and fellow scientist and current love interest of Ian, Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), are trapped in some type of facility with a bunch of beams and high walkways.  Of course, Kelly's gymnastics will come into play here as she jumps around the facility like some acrobatic mini Flying Wallenda brother.  Utterly preposterous and painful to watch.
• Similar to the first film, our main characters are placed into peril while in a vehicle, but this time, it's just ludicrous.  As Ian, Sarah, and videographer Nick (Vince Vaughn) fall over the edge of a cliff in a trailer, scenes of shattering glass and falling debris aren't perilous, but rather ridiculous.  This purportedly tense moment wreaks of unbelievability and the resolution to this scene is nonsensically laughable.
• What the heck is up with the subplot of what are essentially poachers (played by Pete Postlethwaite and Arliss Howard amongst other) coming to the island?  All these characters are is quite literally dead weight as we await for a T-Rex to chomp them to bits.  They play no part other than Stereotypical "Bad Guy" which the first film didn't need at all in order to succeed.
• The special effects here look so much worse than the original.  How they downgraded to dinosaurs that look less realistic than the original is unfathomable to me.  The use of less puppetry and more computer-driven graphics doesn't do the film any favors and the overall result is a huge letdown from the original's stellar effects.

It certainly doesn't help matters that the finale with a T-Rex wreaking havoc on San Francisco is so excessively irrational that The Lost World ends on a horrible note, but that would've really made no difference anyway.  Obviously, my affinity for Jurassic Park taints my opinion of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but it's not even that the sequel is inferior, it's just that it attempts to carbon copy the original at every turn and fails miserably.  

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Join in tomorrow as we explore more of the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy:

Tomorrow: Jurassic Park III

Saturday:  Jurassic World

Previously:  Jurassic Park

The Personal Canon - Jurassic Park

The Personal Canon is a recurring column discussing my favorite movies of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Join in over the next four days for a look at the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy:
Today:  Jurassic Park
Thursday:  The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Friday:  Jurassic Park III
Saturday:  Jurassic World

This is how you make a movie that is innately special effects-driven work.  More than twenty years later, Jurassic Park still works its magic and I was quite happy to be able to see it once again on the big screen (even if the 3D, though admirably done, wasn't really necessary).  Editor's Note:  I watched Jurassic Park in its theatrical re-release two years ago, but for some reason failed to complete this review.  With the impending Jurassic World release, I decided to revisit the film (and its sequels) on dvd again.  This review is mix of the theatrical release draft I created and new work.

Everyone knows the plot -- billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites a trio of scientists (Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum) and his grandchildren (Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards) to a remote Central American island off the coast of Costa Rica where his researchers have created a slew of dinosaurs that Hammond plans to show off in a theme park-like setting.  Michael Crichton has taken a seemingly ridiculous plot and created something (along with co-screenwriter David Koepp) that comes off as totally believable and fathomable.  Rather than have the science come off as silly, it seems legitimate and this intelligent base for a big-budget blockbuster action flick can't help but resonate.  

The early 90s were a pivotal time in my movie-going life with Beauty and the Beast coming onto the scene in 1991 and then the influential year of 1993 which featured both Jurassic Park and The Fugitive -- two movies that absolutely enthralled me as an eager film-loving thirteen year-old.  (And that's not even including Schindler's List, Philadelphia, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Sleepless in Seattle [another Personal Canon film])  Admittedly, Jurassic Park was probably the film that put Steven Spielberg on the film map for me.  Here, the director takes just the right amount of time to set up the story before turning everything upside down.  Surprisingly, both aspects of the plot -- the exposition and the payoff -- work incredibly well with neither feeling like they wear out their welcome or are cut short by the other.

There are so many really great moments here --

• The first moment the scientists see the giant dinos and that iconic John Williams music just swells.  This is also the first moment that we see the dinos as well and considering this film was made more than two decades ago, the special effects look absolutely fantastic.  There are moments in this movie that I feel like the effects look better than most of what is out there today.
• The entire sequence of the T-Rex wreaking havoc on the two tour vehicles.  From the moment when that cup of water starts to shake to the giant reptile eating the guy on the toilet (Spielberg also has a eye for uncomfortable comedy) to the two kids being panicked in the car -- it's all great stuff.
• Although I dislike the very end of the showdown with the velociraptors, the kitchen scene with the two grandkids is stellar stuff.
• Even the scientific set-up with the animated DNA strand is amusingly done.  This should be boring expository stuff and it still is amazingly interesting.  

Jurassic Park really is a fantastic flick and one that truly stands the test of time.  It's an incredibly fun roller coaster ride that Steven Spielberg crafted here and it's one of the best "popcorn" movies of all time.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Movie Review - Lincoln

Lincoln (2012)

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Gloria Rueben, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Bruce McGill, Tim Blake Nelson, Lee Pace, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Gulliver McGrath

Directed by Steven Spielberg

I was not expecting to like Lincoln in the slightest.  First, it's a biopic -- that alone is enough of a reason to make me run.  Second, Mr. Spielberg's last three films ranged from lukewarm mediocrity (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Adventures of Tintin) to mushy sentimental disappointment (War Horse) which didn't exactly inspire confidence in the director.  Third, I was not looking forward to spending 155 minutes with an historical period piece.  Obviously, this opening paragraph has been a set-up simply to state that Lincoln exceeded all my expectations thanks to a fantastic performance in the title role by Daniel Day-Lewis, a script by Tony Kushner which deals with only a distinct period of time in the sixteenth president's life, and direction by Spielberg that feels like he's gotten his groove back behind the camera.

Set only within the months leading up to the ratification of the thirteenth amendment to abolish slavery, Lincoln details the troubles that the title character faced as a president, a party leader, and a man in attempting to create such a drastic change in our country's public policies.  Through the eyes of Lincoln, we see the struggle he faces -- with the Confederacy ready to surrender, does he accept their terms and undoubtedly diminish the "need" for the amendment and his Republican party's willingness to agree with ratifying it, or does he keep the Confederate's waving of a white flag a secret from everyone.  The difficulties didn't just affect Lincoln either, causing societal conundrums for others as well including Senator Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), a Republican proponent of full equal rights for blacks.  Stevens obviously strongly supports Lincoln's amendment, but Lincoln asks that the senator soften his enthusiasm towards full equality as Lincoln fears that would be too radical a step and cause even his fellow Republicans to be turned off.

Lincoln as a film might have been a boring historical piece had we not been given an insight in the man's home life as well.  The biggest struggle facing the Lincoln family is that son Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wants to join the Army and do his part to help his country and its revolution.  Like many parents, I imagine, the Lincolns don't want to possibly lose their son in war, especially after having just recently lost son Willie likely to typhoid fever.  Mary Lincoln (Sally Field) takes a very strong stance, angry at the notion that her husband would even consider allowing Robert to pick up a gun and head off to the battlefield.  This tension amongst the family adds another layer to the portrayal of Abraham Lincoln showing him not just as a politician, but as a husband and father and the conflicts that come with those familial roles.

Much praise has been heaped upon Daniel Day-Lewis already for this role and more is certainly headed his way.  It's all deserved.  As much as I hate the fact that yet another historical "impersonation" is going to win an Oscar, there's something transcendent about his portrayal here.  There was never a single moment in the movie where I felt like I was watching an actor.  I was able to completely lose myself in his role thanks to the strongly resolute, yet quirky down-home quality he brings to the character.  As Spielberg rather brilliantly has the camera stay stationary during many of Lincoln's lengthy anecdotal speeches, Day-Lewis is allowed several long takes to completely lose himself in the character.  These longer takes also allow us in the audience to feel as if we are one of the cabinet members, as an example, listening in.  Just like Lincoln's contemporaries onscreen, we find ourselves quieting down and honing in on his every word.  Together the director and actor have created something special.

They are of course aided by a wonderful script by Tony Kushner that settles on a few short months in Lincoln's life.  Kushner injects quite a bit of both humor and pathos in both the political and personal landscapes. While Day Lewis's Lincoln certainly provides a surprising amount of laughter and dramatic moments in both landscapes, Tommy Lee Jones's Senator Stevens is more than willing throw political jabs at his fellow Democratic opponents especially Senator Fernando Wood (Lee Pace) who is helping lead the charge on the Senate floor against the amendment.  Jones also gets some nice moments of quiet that showcase the actor's strengths.  On the familial front, Sally Field is given two absolutely fantastic scenes -- one in which she "talks smack" to her husband's political friends and another in which she beaks down at the prospect of her son Robert heading into the Army.  Field is fantastic here and in just a few moments she's able to create a well-rounded character with whom we in the audience immediately connect.

The film falters a bit at the end with a rather disappointing final coda tacked on, jumping ahead a few months to the President's final moments including a "gotcha" scene that was actually probably the worst moment I've seen in a good movie this year.  [Knowing what I know about Lincoln's final moments, the "gotcha" moment didn't even work for me which made things even worse.]  There would have been a brilliant place to conclude the film just after Lincoln received word of the amendment's passing as he walks down a set of stairs with lovely light shining into the White House's windows.  Instead, Kushner and Spielberg take it one step too far.  Still, Lincoln is a fantastic look at this important time in our country's history and kudos need to be given to the director, screenwriter, and the entire cast for creating something that even this biopic hater found fascinating.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - War Horse

War Horse (2011)

Starring Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Thewlis, and Niels Arestrup

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is a guy who always tries to tug the emotional heartstrings.  There's nothing wrong with that and its an overarching characteristic of nearly all his movies.  In War Horse, though, this heartstring tugging is more like manipulative puppeteering, forcing the audience to feel a certain way even if the story doesn't naturally lead its audience down that road.  I found War Horse lovely to look at, but absolutely stilted in terms of storytelling and repetitive when in comes to telling the tale of the "miracle" titular horse known as Joey.

From the very outset, I totally understood the vibe that Spielberg was trying to invoke here.  There's a 1930's Rin Tin Tin childlike innocence on display in both visuals and story.  The opening act in which teen Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) gets a ragged looking horse from his father (Peter Mullan) and must train it to pull a giant trough through England's stony landscape felt like I was watching a old-time children's movie.  Not that there's a problem with Spielberg replicating his innocence of E.T. -- War Horse is, in fact, based on a children's book -- but after the opening act ends with Albert's father selling off Joey to save the family farm much to Albert and his mother's (Emily Watson) chagrin, the film falls into depressing episodic melodrama.  We watch as Joey exchanges hands multiple times throughout the battles of World War I causing surprising amounts of bad luck and harm to those who come in contact with him.  It all just becomes laughable rather than emotional.

I understand the old film vibe Spielberg is trying to achieve, but War Horse just feels awfully hollow and uncertain for whom the flick is made. We get these grand war scenes (which lack the violent brutality of Saving Private Ryan), but then they're interspersed with the silliness of moments like Joey literally "volunteering" himself to save his fellow horse from a deathly job on the battlefield or a young French girl -- one of Joey's "owners" -- hiding the horse in her room when the Germans invade the family farm.  There's a severe lack of balance and Spielberg is never able to figure out what type of movie he wants to display.

The film looks fine, but even on that front, there isn't anything overly special about the visuals.  Spielberg certainly culls lighting and lensing from the olden golden age of cinema, but it once again feels like a rehash of things we've seen before.  Granted, one could certainly say (and I did say in my review of it) that The Artist is a rehash of films that came before it, but it at least knew who its audience was which is the huge overarching problem of War Horse.  It's too simplistic for adults and too violent for kids and therefore finds itself wallowing in the middle of mediocrity.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg

Directed by Steven Spielberg

I really wanted to like Steven Spielberg's animated The Adventures of Tintin, but despite what is certainly the best motion-capture technique I've ever seen, the action adventure flick (which reminded me of a kiddie version of the Indiana Jones flicks) lacks a story that ever captured my imagination.  While I'm completely unfamiliar with the apparently very popular European comic book series upon which the film is based, I can certainly see the promise that lies within the story -- a young reporter embarks on a variety of adventures with his trusty four-legged canine friend Snowy -- but must unfortunately state that it simply wasn't executed well in this cinematic incarnation.

In this first film of what is likely to be a series (the movie is doing exceptionally well overseas despite poor box office results in the US), Tintin stumbles upon the mystery of the sailing ship known as the Unicorn.  While wandering in an outdoor market one day, Tintin (voiced and "acted" by Jamie Bell) buys a small replica of the ship, but soon discovers that the model contains a secret message of sorts that is desperately wanted by the sinister Ivan Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig).  Sakharine goes so far as to kidnap Tintin and keep him hostage on a boat sailing to the Middle East.  Tintin soon discovers with the help of the captain of the ship Haddock (Andy Serkis) that Sakharine is in possession of two Unicorn ship replicas and their secret coded messages and is now in search of the final model to decipher the code and discover the location of a huge amount of buried treasure.

In and of itself, the plot is serviceable, but I couldn't help but be rather bored by the whole affair.  Subplots are thrown in involving Haddock's alcoholism, two bumbling Scotland Yard twin detectives (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) in search of a serial pickpocket, and the pirate-inspired ancestral pasts of both Haddock and Sakharine.  None of these garnered any interest from me in the slightest and they take up large parts of the film.

Spielberg certainly utilizes the ability to move his camera wherever he likes rather brilliantly thanks to the wonders of animation including a stellar "one-shot" chase sequence through the small, cluttered streets of the Arab city of Bagghar.  I also found most of the action sequences to be well executed and I very much liked many of Spielberg's rather ingenious ways of changing scenes (for example, the wide expansive ocean turns into a puddle on the streets of London in a seamless fashion).

Still, even with some nice work from Jamie Bell and the ever-reliable mo-cap actor Andy Serkis (who actually is given the opportunity to be quite funny here to great effect), I found the whole thing a bit boring.  Visually, The Adventures of Tintin is stunning from the very opening scenes (including a lovely "true" animated opening credits sequence accompanied by a charmingly light and airy John Williams score), and the film continues to show the improvements in motion capture technology, but the whole movie just felt like a series of set pieces without any real connection.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

The Personal Canon - Saving Private Ryan

The Personal Canon is a recurring column highlighting my favorite films of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Starring Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, and Matt Damon

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Damn you, Saving Private Ryan.  When the single tear rolled down my cheek after watching you on my freshly received Blu-Ray, I was cursing your name.  I remember back on your opening day on July 24, 1998, as a somewhat fresh high school graduate, I sat in a theater full of mostly senior citizens (of which I assumed some were veterans) for your opening show.  Even twelve years ago, I remember welling up as the credits began to roll.  And I was not alone in the watery eye department.  You worked your emotions on nearly everyone in the theater.  I'm more than happy to report that you still stand the test of time, providing an eye-popping, gut-wrenching, and awe-inspiring glimpse into the trials our soldiers tackled head-on in World War II.

No discussion of director Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan can be had without discussing the epic Omaha Beach D-Day battle sequence that opens the film.  A directing tour de force of the highest degree, Spielberg places us squarely in the action, not giving us a moment to breath for over twenty minutes.  In front of our very eyes, limbs are lost, explosions tear bodies apart -- loss of life everywhere.  The scene is relentless, unceasing, and as a viewer there is no greater desire for this assault (both physically and visually) to end. Emotionally, it's painful to watch.  Cinematically, it's brilliant.  Immediately, Spielberg has made us a soldier, shakily moving the camera as if we were standing on the beach witnessing the horrific chaos.  

By placing us in a soldier's shoes from the outset, we become one of the small battalion of men who go on a mission to search for Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) whose three brothers have been killed in various battles during the war.  Ordered from his superiors to find Ryan, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and a group of eight other soldiers trek across France looking for, as Capt. Miller perfectly describes it, "a needle in a stack of needles."  Along the way, smaller battles will be fought, soldiers will be lost, and the fear, pain, joy, and camaraderie are palpably felt by the viewer.

Even though the film is bookended by two intense, lengthy battle sequences, a huge chunk of the emotional impact the film garners is derived from the quiet moments.  Towards the beginning, there's a gut check moment in which Ryan's mother is given the news that her sons have died.  There is not a word spoken in the scene by anyone, but the emotional impact of John William's melancholic score and Janusz Kaminski's breathtaking Academy Award-winning cinematography (coupled, of course, with Spielberg's deft direction and stellar acting even from secondary actors) make this moment instantly memorable.  Another particular "calm before the storm" moment occurs prior to the film's final battle where the surviving soldiers sit around thinking about life at home.  As they boast about sexual encounters or discuss simply missing their wife's rose garden, these quiet, understated moments in Robert Rodat's script allow us to get to know our fellow soldiers, all the while amplifying the anticipatory tension of the inevitable impact of the forthcoming battles.

Of course, the emotional resonance wouldn't make much of a difference if the actors in the film didn't shape characters to care about, but that's not a problem in the slightest.  Some may think Tom Hanks is rather subdued as Captain Miller and while they wouldn't be wrong per se, the dedication of Miller to both his military career and his fellow soldiers is the greatest quality Hanks brings to the character.  While Edward Burns brings a sarcastic roughness to his Private Reiben, Jeremy Davies' Corporal Upham is just the opposite -- scared and meek as he faces his first combat experience (mirroring, perhaps, how we may feel were we in his shoes).  Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, and Tom Sizemore each craft distinct characters which, to me anyway, is not an easy thing to do in war movies in which many of the physical characteristics of people are so similar.

Unlike some future films that will be a part of my Personal Canon, Saving Private Ryan was honored by many of the year-end awards bodies.  For what it's worth, it walked away with Golden Globes for Best Picture Drama and Best Director.  At the Oscars, the film was nominated for eleven awards, walking away with five for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Film Editing.  It did, however, lose the big Best Picture award in a memorable upset to Shakespeare in Love, a film I have grown to really enjoy in recent years (and, who knows...it may end up in the canon in time, I enjoy it that much).  But for it to beat Saving Private Ryan?  That's just crazy.  Granted, if Ryan has a fault it's that it runs on a tad too long, but it never feels like the nearly three hour film that it is.  Maybe folks in the Academy couldn't get past the intense opening reel (or maybe those infamous Weinstein brothers -- the producers of Shakespeare -- paid off a bunch of voters). 

I'm not afraid or ashamed to admit that Saving Private Ryan hits me in the gut and genuinely makes me well up.  I wiped away a single tear as the film concluded.  Yes, I knew how it ended, but this film fires on all emotional cylinders, rousing up pride for our country and our soldiers who helped shape this country into what it is today.  You ladies can cry over something like The Notebook, but give me a movie that, while perhaps sad, is about the joys of the brotherhood of man.  That's what gets to me and Saving Private Ryan fits the bill perfectly.

The RyMickey Rating:  A