Ah, Christmas! It is my favorite time of year because the movie season is upon us. This week, I saw two very different but highly entertaining films. I promise not to give any spoilers, so read on to find out about these two cinematic endeavors.
American Hustle was just plain fun. You could tell that the director and the cast enjoyed making it and that they had a great time "doing" the 70's thing. Amy Adams showed the sides of her breasts and pretty much all of her chest (minus the nipples) in almost every outfit she wore. I suppose this is a case of "if you've got it, flaunt it" but she is pretty small. She never once fell out of those uber-revealing shirts, which I found to be quite surprising, given how very little fabric there was. Christian Bale's hairstyle was a work of make-up brilliance, and I fully believe the makeup artists should win a Oscar for that alone. The set designers had a great time as well, which made this film particularly enjoyable.
Bradley Cooper is working hard to be a serious actor. Those piercing blue eyes of his flash as he gets manic in his role. Unfortunately, Christian Bale didn't work as well for me. I felt like he was working, and I felt like I was watching the work rather than the art. Which, I felt, was too bad, since his character was so well created. Jennifer Lawrence, on the other hand, was absolutely effortless in her portrayal of the crazy wife. Seriously, that girl can act and make it look easy. I never think, "oh yeah, that Jennifer Lawrence is awesome" because I'm thinking about how bat shit crazy that person on the screen is. See what I mean? And Amy Adams, well, she was really great. My favorite scene with her was a domestic fight where her accent kept changing, proving that she was blurring the lines between the scam and reality. It was beautifully done.
My favorite scene was early in the movie when Amy and Christian first meet and he takes her to his dry cleaning business. The kiss was so romantic! Who knew that a dry cleaning business could be so beautiful and sexy. There are too many other terrific scenes to mention. I will simply say that I recommend this film and that adults will enjoy it.
The second film from this week was Saving Private Banks. No, that isn't right... Saving Mr. Ryan? No... Saving Mr. Banks. That's it! Sorry, Tom Hanks is in both films and I got confused. Actually, I tried to get Brian to ask for tickets to Saving Private Banks, but he wouldn't do it. Spoil sport! All joking aside, I thought this was one of the best Disney pictures I've seen in awhile. Yes, it was uber-smarmy in a few places, but the making of Mary Poppins is just really cool and interesting.
There were two story lines in this film: 1) the making of Mary Poppins the movie and 2) the back story on P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins. I'll start with the back story. Colin Farrell plays her father, who is a man with a severe drinking problem. He is not a bad man, in fact, he is a dreamer who works as a bank manager (you know, like Mr. Banks, the dad in Mary Poppins) and his favorite times are the make-believe play moments with his daughters. I loved him in this role. It was the gentlest portrayal of alcoholism I've ever seen in the movies, and you understand that it is clearly a debilitating illness. These scenes are some of the best of what Disney is really good at and I enjoyed them thoroughly.
The 'making of' scenes were just plain fun. I've been a huge fan of the Sherman brothers who brought us all of the music and lyrics from Mary Poppins and many other Disney greats. Jason Schwartzman played the piano playing brother with joy and energy and I LOVED watching him. The other brother was played by BJ Novak (I think he was on The Office?) and the chemistry between them was exceptional.
Emma Thompson was cringe inducing and almost laughable in her stiffness as the authoress. Her fights with Walt were legendary. I loved watching her and she really made the film. What a great actress! I thought Tom Hanks was good, but I had a similar problem with him as I did with Christian Bale. In this case, I don't think he was working too hard, in fact, his portrayal of Walt seemed almost effortless. It is just that I watched Walt introduce his show every Sunday night when I was a kid and damn it, that was TOM HANKS up there, NOT Walt Disney. Tantrum over. But it did bug me.
Just be forewarned, this is a Disney movie, so it has a sappy happy ending, which wrings THOUSANDS of tears from every eyeball. Even my eyes were wet, and I have an autoimmune disease that prevents me from making tears most of the time. So, in retrospect, that was a great thing for me. But my nose was running for the last third of the film and the rest of the day.
Bottom line, these two movies were both excellent. The second one is totally family friendly, unlike the first. But for sheer enjoyment, I give them both two thumbs up.
Be happy and healthy!
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