Fury. Well. It’s a good war film, ranking up there with Saving Private Ryan. It’s a brutal film, with graphic violence, so much so that it’s almost an antiwar movie. Brad Pitt plays the commander of a Sherman Tank, named Fury, in the last days of World War II in Germany. The movie starts with the crew needing a replacement co-driver, played by Logan Lerman. He was a clerk, and is confronted with what war does to men (hint: it ain’t pretty). Somehow, Brad Pitt and his tank crew have survived since Africa, and are determined to see it through. Shia LeBeouf, Michael Peña, and Jon Bernthal round out the tank crew.
Fury is uncompromising, and appears to match accounts I’ve read of U.S. tankers, whose life expectancy is very short. We the audience experience that, close up. The story itself is a good one, and while there’s one scene that goes awry, everything else in the film makes sense for the story. The fight scenes are gripping. I do recommend it, for those that can stomach it.
Saw Skeleton Twins last night. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play siblings who reunite after 10 years apart, after the brother attempts suicide. The sister’s life is pretty awful, too. Wiig and Hader have great chemistry on screen. You really get a sense of the anguish both of them are feeling. Ty Burrell, Luke Wilson, and Joanna Gleason round out the cast. There’s a lot of snarkiness in this movie, but there’s also really meaningful drama. Great Indy movie.
Saw This is Where I Leave You today. Meh. A father’s last request is to have his wife and four children (and their families) sit shiva upon his death. A stellar cast, that includes Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Jason Bateman, and others, cannot overcome the script. Everyone has a story, everyone has an agenda, and there’s just too much to cover in the time allotted. Maybe, with an additional 45 minutes, they might’ve been able to let it play out better, but they didn’t. Most everyone makes “progress” and nothing is resolved, but the implication is that things are improving. I can only imagine it would have been a lot better in the hands of someone like Robert Altman. There are some good moments in the movie, but if you really want to see it, wait for cable, NetFlix, etc.
Just came back from seeing The Hundred Foot Journey, a film exec produced by Spielberg and Oprah. An Indian family leaves Mumbai, and winds up in a village in France, where they open an Indian restaurant right across the road from a highbrow French restaurant, run by a forceful woman, played by Helen Mirren. The patriarch of the family is played by Om Puri, who is one of those actors you know you’ve seen before, somewhere.
This is a romantic film, with a leaning towards comedy, but the main star of the film is the food. This movie is the latest one to tackle the subject of food porn, in terms of preparation, presentation and consumption. Film critics see parallels to other such movies, but I’m willing to overlook that. It’s well written, and passionate in its own way. I recommend it.
Today, went to see Life, Itself, which is a documentary that covers the book of the same name, written by Roger Ebert. The movie tells his life story, starting with his past, how he came to be, and so on. The documentarian shot this film during the last year of Roger’s life, and many of the questions are asked and answered from several hospital beds. It’s heartbreaking a few times, but Roger wanted it that way, so there are a couple of uncomfortable moments. However, true fans of Ebert will enjoy this film.
