Selma

My Best Picture marathon (see my reviews of The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, and Birdman) continued last night with a screening of Selma.  This movie is an incredibly powerful and moving account of the Civil Rights marches from Selma to the Alabama state capitol of Montgomery to protest against voter registration discrimination.  It is 1964 and Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) has just received the Nobel Peace Prize and LBJ (Tom Wilkinson) has just pushed the Civil Rights Act ending segregation through Congress.  MLK wants more because millions of African Americans are being prevented from voting in the South because of prohibitive poll taxes, unrealistic sponsorship requirements, and elaborate civics tests.  (The scene where Oprah Winfrey's character, Annie Mae Cooper, quietly tries to register to vote is one of the most poignant in the film).  LBJ feels that he has done enough for the time being and wants to push through his War on Poverty agenda but MLK can't wait (There is another great scene between the two leaders in the Oval Office).  The city of Selma is selected for the protest because its Sheriff, Jim Clark, is a bit of a hothead and his reaction to their peaceful protest will get the SCLC the national coverage it needs to convince LBJ.  After the violent confrontation between peaceful marchers and the police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge (Bloody Sunday), the epic march is allowed to proceed, culminating in an incredible speech on the Montgomery capitol steps (and, ultimately, the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965).  This is an emotionally charged film and I had tears in my eyes during the montage of actual footage from the march.  David Oyelowo gives an amazing, and humanizing, portrayal of MLK and the supporting cast is equally good.  Some notable stand-outs are Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King (the scene where Coretta confronts MLK about his infidelity gave me goosebumps), Giovanni Ribisi as Lee White (an adviser to LBJ), and Tim Roth as Governor George Wallace.   I loved the middle-of-the-action camera angles in the sequences on the bridge.  I felt like I was on the bridge with the marchers, breathing in the tear gas and feeling the sting of the whips and the blows from the clubs. It was highly effective.  You read accounts of these historical events in textbooks but seeing the images on the big screen makes the struggle so much more powerful and I felt so many things while watching.  The theme of this movie is particularly salient during these troubling times and I highly recommend it!

Birdman

Last night I continued my quest to see all of the Best Picture nominees (see my reviews of The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash) by going to Birdman. This movie pretty much blew me away and left me reeling long after I left the theater.  However, I still can't make up my mind about whether I liked it or not.  Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a Hollywood actor best known for playing the Birdman in a series of superhero movies several years ago, is attempting to revive his career by mounting an ambitious Broadway play.  The production is fraught with difficulties for Thomson including the last-minute addition of an attention stealing Method actor (Edward Norton), an insecure leading lady (Naomi Watts), a love interest (Andrea Riseborough) who may or may not be pregnant with his baby, a daughter (Emma Stone) who has just returned from rehab, the threat of a bad review from a jaded theater critic (Lindsay Duncan) who hates Hollywood actors, and the insistent voice of his alter-ego, the Birdman, criticizing and tormenting him throughout.  There are many themes explored in this movie (Broadway vs. Hollywood, talent vs. celebrity, creating art vs. critiquing it, etc.) but, ultimately, all of the characters are searching for acceptance and relevance.  Michael Keaton is absolutely brilliant in this art-imitating-life role of a lifetime (he may have thrown a wrench in my philosophical musings about the Best Actor category).  The same could be said of Edward Norton (nominated for Best Supporting Actor), who is notoriously difficult to work with, as the arrogant actor who feels more real on stage than he does inhabiting his own skin.  Emma Stone delivers a powerful speech about the fact that nobody is special (hence her nomination for Best Supporting Actress).  Really, every actor shines in this movie, including, rather surprisingly, Zach Galifianakis.  However, I feel like several characters became irrelevant as the movie progressed.  The action is depicted as one continuous take, which is brilliant in my opinion, and I especially loved all of the tracking shots as the actors walked the long corridors and tight staircases in the theater.  I found the constant staccato drumming in the background to be very jarring but I suppose it added to the overall effect of chaos.  Hmmm.  I still don't know how I feel about this movie, although it did prompt quite the discussion until the wee hours of the morning (in fact, everyone was talking about it in the theater lobby).  I suggest you see it and decide for yourself!

Whiplash

The Academy Award nominations for Best Picture were announced yesterday.  Since I usually try to see all  of the nominees (see my reviews for The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything), I went to Whiplash last night.  I knew that this film had generated a lot of buzz at the Sundance Film Festival last year but I didn't expect to love it as much as I did.  It is amazing!  J.K. Simmons gives a tour de force performance and he currently has my non-existent vote for Best Supporting Actor!  Andrew Neiman (the equally amazing Miles Teller) is a first year student at the Shaffer Conservatory, the best music school in the country, as a jazz drummer.  As he is practicing one night, Terrence Fletcher (Simmons), who conducts the most prestigious jazz group on campus, hears him and invites him to join the group as the alternate drummer.  Fletcher is unbelievably harsh and repeatedly berates him, throws things at him, slaps him, forces him to play for hours on end, and brings in a less talented drummer to replace him in an attempt to push him to be great.  When Fletcher pushes him too far, Neiman attacks him and is expelled from Shaffer.  Eventually, Neiman is asked by the parents of a former student of Fletcher's who committed suicide to formally complain about his treatment and Fletcher is fired.  Later, Neiman happens to see Fletcher playing in a jazz club and they have a conversation wherein Fletcher tries to justify his behavior.  He then asks Neiman to play the drums for a performance he is conducting at Carnegie Hall, telling him that the group will be playing the same songs he played at Shaffer.  However, in retribution for getting him fired, Fletcher has the group perform a song Neiman doesn't know which causes him to play poorly.  Humiliated, Neiman plays an epic drum solo which finally gains the approval of Fletcher (and the spontaneous applause of everyone watching the film).   This movie is intense and Simmons is truly monstrous as Fletcher, begging the question: at what cost is greatness achieved?  The music in this film is incredible and I loved all of the close shots of the various drums and cymbals on the drum kit.  It is a great movie and I recommend it.

Alabama Story at PTC

Last night I went to the world premiere of Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones at Pioneer Theatre.  The script was very thought-provoking and the production was exceptionally well done.  It is 1959 in Montgomery, Alabama when the State Librarian, Emily Wheelock Reed (Greta Lambert), comes under fire by Senator E. W. Higgins (William Parry) for the children's book The Rabbits' Wedding because a black and white rabbit get married.  Juxtaposed with this is the unexpected reunion between Lily Whitfield (Kate Middleton), the privileged daughter of a cotton plantation owner, and Joshua Moore (Samuel Ray Gates), the African American son of a former servant on the plantation turned civil rights worker.  Lily remembers a sweet childhood romance while Joshua remembers being beaten and driven off the property by Lily's father.  The two stories converge with very powerful discussions about censorship and segregation.  I particularly liked the message that having access to the ideas contained in books is the only way to change the world for the better.  The ensemble cast is excellent, including the aforementioned actors as well as Stephen D'Ambrose as Garth Williams, the author of The Rabbits' Wedding and stage manager for all of the action, and Seth Andrew Bridges as Thomas Franklin, Emily's assistant who has one of the most powerful speeches in the play.  The set design is very striking, almost like a children's pop-up book, and the costumes are fabulous, especially the southern belle dresses worn by Lily.  I think this play is extremely relevant in today's troubled times and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Alabama Story  runs until January 24 at PTC with evening performances and Saturday matinees.  Go here for more information and to purchase tickets.

The Theory of Everything

On Sunday night Eddie Redmayne won the Golden Globe for his performance in The Theory of Everything.  I absolutely had to see this movie because, while I actually really love Eddie Redmayne (I went to Les Miserables seven times in the theater just so I could see that tear fall down Redmayne's face as he sang "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables"), I did not believe it was possible for an actor to have a better performance than Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.  I saw The Theory of Everything last night and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful film.  It tells the true story of world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (Redmayne) and his relationship with his wife, Jane (Felicity Jones).  It begins when they are both Ph.D. candidates at Cambridge in 1963 and spans nearly 25 years from his diagnosis with a motor neuron disease to the publication of his book, A Brief History of Time.  The cinematography is absolutely luminous and the softly diffused light is used to great advantage against backdrops in and around St. John's College, Cambridge.  I particularly loved the lighting in the May Ball scenes, especially the spectacular fireworks.  Eddie Redmayne does give an amazing performance!  I was very impressed with his physicality in this role, especially when Hawking's muscles first begin to deteriorate.  The way he holds his head, writes on a chalkboard, and walks, almost pigeon-toed, are all incredibly effective at portraying his diminishing capacity.  My attention never wavered from him whenever he was on screen.  Felicity Jones also gives an incredible performance as do the other supporting actors.  I loved the movie and I would highly recommend it.  

Note:  Clearly the members of the Academy are not asking for my opinion about who should receive an Oscar, but if they did I would have to go with Benedict Cumberbatch.  Full marks to Redmayne for physically inhabiting Hawking but, in my opinion (and many will disagree), Cumberbatch gives a much more emotionally complex, almost visceral, portrayal of Turing.  His character is arrogant, antisocial, eccentric, and much less sympathetic than the endearing Hawking but Cumberbatch moved me to tears.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about The Imitation Game since I saw it.