“It would be easier sometimes to change the past”
(from Jackson Browne’s "Fountain of Sorrow" [1974 Late for the Sky album], with resonances to both items reviewed here especially in lyrics like “You’ve known that hollow sound of your own steps in flight […] You could be laughing at me, you’ve got the right But you go on smiling so clear and so bright” [on TV at Eurovision, Fire Saga had an audience larger than the one in Browne's clip])
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.
The Truth (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2019) rated PG
“Executive Summary” (no spoilers): In looking over several streaming options (still no theaters open around here except a couple of distant drive-ins) the most impressive thing available (but not truly a film, at least according to the esteemed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; see an item in Other Cinema-Related Stuff much farther below for more details) is a carefully-constructed-video-record-of-a-live-performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s triumphant play (11 Tony Awards, 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Hamilton (available on Disney+, well worth the $6.99 for a month’s subscription to the service which you can easily cancel at any time), so I won’t be reviewing that (if Pat Craig were more available for blog contributions I’d get him to do so, though, given his previous work as a theatre critic and my desire to see him in print here; however, he’s now happily occupied with something in Lincoln, NE which I can’t say anything more about except I’m glad to see him energized again after his wife died some time ago). Instead, I’m quite pleased to refer you to a French film, The Truth, featuring 2 of the great Parisian actors, Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche (along with a supporting presence from Ethan Hawke, who also speaks a little French but all of them get translated for American boors like me who hasn’t yet gotten command of rudimentary Spanish even after living in Texas and California for 70 years [the other 2 were in NYC where all you had to do is talk loud, toss in some profanity, you’d get along just fine]). Deneuve plays a film star concerned she may be approaching the twilight of her career so she signs up for a sci-fi role she’s not all that interested in but will share the screen with a young up-and-comer, giving her appearance some useful cachet; however, she also has to contend with several people close to her, including her daughter (Binoche), not happy at all about how they’re portrayed or totally left out of her newly-released autobiography. In Short Takes I’ll briefly discuss Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, where Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams are an Icelandic singing duo desperate to win a massive, annual musical event (a real thing, but not held this year due to COVID-19); also in that section I’ll offer suggestions for some choices on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least to be done by this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh, tedious software!) along with a standard dose of some industry-related-trivia.
Here’s the trailer for The Truth:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some bucks. So, to help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
What Happens: Fabienne Dangeville (Catherine Deneuve) lives in a Paris suburb in a stately home, is celebrated as one of her country’s greatest actors (has won 2 César awards [equivalent to our Oscars; Deneuve’s actually won 2 of these, been nominated for many more]), has a firm sense of her value over most anyone else on the planet, but is concerned her career may be slipping away so she’s signed on for a science-fiction film she privately thinks is beneath her (it doesn’t have her required “poetry”) but wants to share the screen with rising star Manon Lenoir (Manon Clavel) for her own PR-enhancement (Manon’s been compared to another potential great from years ago, Sarah Mondovian [we never see her even in flashback, but her lingering-presence in the Dangeville family is a key plot point here], whom Fabienne kept from getting a career-defining role by sleeping with the director to claim it for herself—resulting in 1 of those Césars, leading Sarah to become despondent, drink too much and drown, whether accident or suicide still up for debate). However, Fabienne’s most-pressing-problem is the arrival of her daughter, Lumir (Juliette Binochet [also a César winner/multiple-nominee plus an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in The English Patient {Anthony Minghella, 1996}]), a screenwriter living in NYC, plus her husband, Hank (Ethan Hawke)—an actor with hopes for a career somewhat in the orbit of Fabienne’s but unlikely as he’s only made it to inconsequential TV roles so far—and their delightful little daughter, Charlotte (Clémentine Grenier), all come to Paris somewhat to see Mom/Grandma in her latest work but essentially because she’s written an autobiography (called The Truth) which Lumir hasn’t been able to get a copy of yet (Mom claims she sent one; if so, it didn’t arrive). Once Lumir has a chance to read it, though, she’s incensed at the dreamy way she’s portrayed, practically worshipping her mother when reality is they were quite estranged (Mom’s career came first) with Sarah becoming her unofficial guardian/confidant so Lumir’s never really forgiven Mom for Sarah’s death after her career was somewhat derailed by Fabienne; Lumir’s doubly-insulted Mom’s now in a new film with whom the press calls the “new Sarah Mondovian.” Luc Garbois (Alain Libolt), Fabienne’s long-time manager, is also steamed about the book because he’s not mentioned at all, as if her career solely resulted from her actions rather than all he did for her, with him leaving her in a huff. Later, we also meet her ex-husband, Pierre (Roger Van Hool), who’s claimed to be dead in the book. Her current husband, Jacques (Christian Crahay), apparently is spared her insults (not sure if he’s mentioned in the book, though), devoting most of what we see of him to demonstrating his useful-skills as a chef.
Another main character who’s not upset with Fabienne is her granddaughter; charmed Grandma thrills the girl by claiming to have magical powers so she can turn mean people into animals, supposedly like with the huge turtle in her garden (a lovely estate, but as Lumir sarcastically notes upon arrival, a large prison’s right behind the “castle”). Another main story stream is watching the sci-fi film, called Memories of My Mother, being shot in a nearby studio, with a strange plot where Manon plays an astronaut (as best I gathered) with only 2 years to live on Earth but can prolong her life by going into space for decades—briefly returning at times—who comes home to sometimes-tense-encounters with teenage daughter Amy (Mailys Dumon), but Amy keeps aging while Manon’s character doesn’t so Amy’ll also be played at 38 by Ludivine Sagnier, 73 by Deneuve (although in private remarks Fabienne makes it clear she knows better than anyone else there how the acting by these others should progress). Despite Lumir’s disgust with the book the publisher’s excited about it, printed 100,000 copies, even as Fabienne may have written it just to keep herself in the spotlight a bit longer because she’s getting scared she’s losing her acting ability; she also keeps prodding Hank to join her in sharing a few glasses of wine (he finally does), upsetting Lumir because he’s an alcoholic trying to be sober with a bad past of his own being in rehab when she needed him to help raise Charlotte. ⇒As all of these various tensions come to a head the Dangeville family goes to have dinner with Luc’s family as a way of Fabienne making amends (difficult for her to apologize yet it’s successful; he’s willing to work with her again); Fabienne’s pushed by Lumir to get over her fears culminating in a most-successful scene with Lumir (the younger woman thanks her profusely afterward) leading to mother and daughter giving Manon a dress that belonged to Sarah (fits her perfectly); Fabienne admits jealousy of Sarah, she and Lumir cry and connect, but it’s almost immediately undermined when Mom says she wants to reshoot that scene with Manon, this time bringing those emotions into it (Lumir looks a bit pissed at that) so she tells Luc to arrange it; then we wrap up with the adults in the family off to a press conference promoting the book, The Truth.⇐
So What? How you react to The Truth may depend on your fascination or tolerance with intra-familial-dramas which can get nasty and bitter at times without becoming violent, just personally-hurtful based on buildups of years of increasing-acts-of-conflict (of course, if you don’t care for this film maybe it just means that deep down inside "You can't handle the truth!"). Certainly many of the main members of this story have to face truths they either can’t handle or feel oppressed by: Fabienne’s so disdainful of certain aspects of her life (tension with her daughter, jealousy/career-fear regarding Sarah, importance [or lack thereof] regarding Luc and Pierre in their contributions to her success) she distorts facts in her memoir to the point of claiming her former-husband’s deceased (Back to Mr. Browne for some insights: “What I was seeing wasn’t what was happening at all”); Lumir carries constant anger toward her mother because of the truth of how she was neglected as a child in favor of Mom’s escalating career choices, she also blames Fabienne for Sarah’s death leaving an emptiness never to be filled even with her own struggling-for-stability-family (“There’s this loneliness springing up from your life Like a fountain from a pool"); Hank’s generally-willing to accept the truth he’ll never be anything but a second-rate-actor, aspiring for more but not likely to achieve it so shortcomings quietly eat at him making it all the more difficult to overcome alcoholism (“But that magic feeling never seems to last”); Luc’s ongoing-life with Fabienne, in truth, has been little more than compromises on his part (“Now the things that I remember seem so distant and so small”) to meet her constant demands to the point where he can’t handle how she’s eliminated him from her book completely (as with Sarah, Fabienne refuses to acknowledge personal shortcomings or give anyone else credit for her success, which she still sees as inherent in her personal constitution, implying a superiority to anyone around her whether any “truth” emerges there or not).
Even the middle-aged-Amy-actor’s struggling with the truth of her own career limitations which aren’t helped much by Fabrienne’s sleek sense of superiority in their off-camera-conversations. Certainly, the irony of an autobiography with this title (then giving that title to the film) is a key point here, as none of these truths are revealed for public knowledge, although the title of the film-within-a-film, Memories of My Mother, is clearly more what this narrative's about as it seems to be told from Lumir’s point of view, even if Fabienne in her constant presence and impact on the other characters can be seen as the story's central focus. But for me, the “truth” where this film’s concerned is how we’re treated to marvelous presentations by Deneuve and Binoche (underscoring again how Hollywood often misses out on substantial stories fabulously embodied with older female actors) so whether they’re on screen together or separately we’re constantly treated to penetrating presentations of the human condition—lives compromised, successes built on absences, women with much to grieve while still attempting to find reasons for heartfelt-connection.
Bottom Line Final Comments: Kore-eda’s been directing documentaries and fictional films in Japan since 1989; however, I’m not all that familiar with his work, having seen only Like Father, Like Son (2013; review in our February 20, 2014 posting) and Shoplifters (2018; review in our January 2, 2019 posting)—both about families, biological or otherwise-constructed, with secrets to be revealed so he’s staying in the same vein here of other films I know him from even though The Truth is his first attempt to shoot a story largely in French (yes, there’s that dreaded-subtitles-reality for those who don’t care to read dialogue, but about 1/3 of it’s in English if that helps) with a pair of lead females who could guide any director to success. I enjoyed this film tremendously, although I admit the premise of the sci-fi-story Fabienne’s in, with the context of the various Amys, can be initially-confusing. (Maybe me looking down, trying to take notes while those subtitles eluded me, along with French dialogue unknown to my monolingual-ears, is what’s responsible for me missing some essential items, but it was difficult to fully comprehend as I watched how several actors are increasingly-older-manifestations of Amy while her mother, Manon, never aged [even Einstein’s General Relativity Theory couldn’t help me here the way it did for the various aging-conundrums in Interstellar {Christopher Nolan, 2014; review in our November 13, 2014 posting; please forgive the atrocious layout but I hope the content might be useful}].), although in retrospect a Wikipedia summary helped me clarify all this. It’s a fascinating premise, though, one worth pondering a bit (even after The Truth is over), especially as a relief from the primary mother-daughter confrontations where years of suppressed hostility emerge (although not of the intensity of a similar situation in Ingmar Bergman’s 5 stars-worthy Autumn Sonata [1978] about 2 generations of pianists [played by Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann] where years of tensions finally come colliding together so masterfully).
The CCAL’s with me on The Truth, with the critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes giving it 88% positive reviews while the folks at Metacrtic was also supportive (by their standards) with a 74% average score (more details on the responses from both these review-accumulation-sites in the Related Links section much farther below [Eurovision … response details are there also]), with lots of praise for the lead females, acknowledgements how most of the other characters largely stay out of the way to let the presence of Deneuve and Binoche take precedence most of the time; I’d also add that while this is a dialogue-emphasis-film with lots of impactful-closeups to help focus on the deliveries of those poignant lines there are also some nice nature shots of the beauty of Fabrienne’s neighborhood at the beginning and end with one comic reveal of the reality that looming prison’s right behind her mansion’s acreage. (I lived with such an irony in my time in NYC [1972-‘73] with my spot in a huge garden-apartment-complex [all buildings only 2 stories!] having a constantly-sobering-view of a large cemetery [maybe the one where Vito Corleone’s buried] from my kitchen window.) So, see it, I say, but until you get a chance here’s something for you to listen to, my Musical Metaphor for The Truth, Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” (from his self-named 1972 album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_52QR3TptY where his lyrics resonate with this film’s main characters as well as the primary ones in Memories of My Mother: “I never been laid so low In such a mysterious way And the course of a lifetime runs Over and over again But I would not give you false hope On this strange and mournful day When the mother and child reunion is only a motion away.” For most of us The Truth is a streaming rental, $5.99 on Amazon Prime or a bit more on other sites; however, it also played in 10 U.S. theaters last week but took in a mere $2,200.
SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
(David Dobkin) rated PG-13
Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams star as an Icelandic musical duo, Fire Saga, with big dreams of winning the huge, annual, international Eurovision Song Contest (a real thing, except for this year because of COVID-19), although they keep progressing in this fierce competition more through circumstances than talent; a decent amount of laughs here, some nice tunes, just intentionally silly.
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading any further, I’ll ask you to refer to the plot spoilers warning far above.
If you’re familiar with the actual Eurovision Song Contest (held annually, 1956-2019; click this link’s Read More button for a vast trove of additional info) you know it’s a huge event 52 countries have participated in over the years (contestants chosen within their own nations, then compete in the home of the previous winner [Israel in 2019, where the winner was from Netherlands; any country can enter if it’s an active member of the European Broadcasting Union so performers have come from as far away as Australia, Azerbaijan, Morocco]) but had to be cancelled this year due to COVID-19 (the real thing’s set to resume in Rotterdam, 2021*). So, this silly movie ends up substituting for the event this year, which proved acceptable for some previous contestants (see the second item with Eurovision … in Related Links farther below; other previous contestants/winners made cameo appearances in the movie) but wasn’t fully embraced by this Icelandic woman (14:10 [interrupted by an ad at 4:50]) who’s watching it, reacting, finding funny aspects while brushing off frequent stereotypes. In brief, we learn Lars Erickssong (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Rachel McAdams) are a musical duo, Fire Saga, who’ve known each other since childhood (running joke: she may be his sister, given the randy actions of Lars' father, Erick [Pierce Brosnan]) performing in their small hometown; she’s secretly in love with him (even asks the elves to help her), but he’s too focused on their music (determined to win the Contest since boyhood) to notice even as their audiences don’t respond to anything new, always want to hear that upbeat tune, “Jaja Ding Dong.”
Through a series of odd circumstances (including an exploding boat, killing all other Icelandic hopefuls of representing the country at the Contest) Fire Saga goes on to the competition, joining 42 other nations, in Edinburgh, Scotland. There they meet Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens), a dynamic Russian, and Greek Mita Xenakis (Melissanthi Mahut), whom Sigrit and Lars respectively spend the night with, causing friction which they patch over until the semifinals when their number’s going well until a huge prop ruins their act, causing Lars to leave in despair, not realizing they somehow were voted into the finals. ⇒Back home Lars reconciles with Dad (who wanted his son to be a fisherman, not an entertainer), returns to Scotland (avoids a murder attempt by a civic leader determined to prevent Fire Saga’s triumph because Iceland can’t afford to host the contest next year as winners are required to do [elves, which Lars initially doesn’t believe in, seem responsible for protecting him]), manages to get on stage just as Sigrit’s started a solo performance but he shifts her instead to a lovely, dynamic song she wrote, “Húsavík,” about their hometown which wows the audience (Sigrit hits an astounding closing note) and the folks back in Iceland watching on TV, but they’re disqualified for changing songs during the tightly-controlled, tightly-scheduled event. Nevertheless, their mutual love’s now assured, a year later they’re back home married with a baby, singing in their regular pub again where the crowd still wants nothing but “Jaja Ding Dong.”⇐
*Here’s an analysis of winning strategies in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1975 for entrants.
Eurovision …’s a lot of fun to watch (if you’re not offended by the Icelandic stereotypes, which our analyst detailed but laughed off in the video noted above), is an unusual topic especially for a U.S. audience member like me who’s never heard of this huge musical event (despite ABBA winning in 1974 with "Waterloo", launching their international career [at the Contest’s 50th anniversary in 2005 it was chosen as the best song in Eurovision’s history]), contains a lot of very-listenable-tunes, including a contestants-medley of “Waterloo” and others*; however, you also can’t deny this latest Will Ferrell offering’s reminiscent of a lot of other Ferrell-goofy-but-ultimately-lovable-guys (except for a not-so-successful-attempt at drama in Downhill [Nat Faxon, Jim Rash; review in our February 19, 2020 posting]), especially as we saw in Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby (Adam McKay, 2006) where he has long-standing-winning-aspirations (as a racecar driver), personal and career crises, restores his faith in himself, finds a long-lost-connection with Dad, gets romance back in his life, vanquishes past demons ⇒even though he doesn’t win his crucial contest (disqualified for walking to the finish line after his car’s inoperable)⇐ so if you think you’ve seen this before you virtually have (although Ferrell’s been interested in the idea since 1999 when he learned of this Contest via Swedish wife Viveca Paulin; he even co-wrote the script [with Andrew Steele]); maybe that’s all it will take to escort you through another familiar-Farrell-performance, but for me the whole thing's like a cluster of scenes (some very funny) looking for a reason to link up for 2 hours. The OCCU concurs with RT yielding 63% positive reviews, MC with only a 50% average score; it’s free, however, if you’re a Netflix streaming subscriber or if you take advantage of their 30-day-trial-offer.
Given there’s already so much engaging music in Eurovision …, I’ll pour it on as well for my Musical Metaphor which has to be “Húsavík” (on the movie's soundtrack album) at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=qjuphuG3ndw (use the CC button on the YouTube screen to see lyrics spelled out as they switch from English to Icelandic [no translations, though]) as it brings together all notable aspects of the plot (somewhat sung by McAdams, mostly mixed-in-voice of Swedish pop-singer Molly Sandén who competed in the 2006 Eurovision junior version); I’ll also give you the infectious "Jaja Ding Dong" (soundtrack too, clip’s from movie’s finale [you can easily find other Eurovision … songs on YouTube]). Finally, I’ll toss in "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (from the 1968 The Beatles “White Album”), here from a 2010 London show featuring the song’s writer/champion Paul McCartney (supposedly John Lennon and George Harrison hated it, don’t know about Ringo) due to its upbeat celebration of a happy couple with kids and music, so “if you want some fun, sing ob-la-di, bla-da.”
*Lots of information about the music along with brief audio clips of the movie’s songs at this link.
Suggestions for TCM cablecasts
At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day free initial offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees. While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (given that I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week. All times are U.S. Eastern Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed. These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from on TCM; feel free to peruse their entire schedule here.
Thursday July 9, 2020
8:00 PM Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 1986) If you still watch his work, one of Allen’s best. He's ex-husband of Mia Farrow (ironic), her current spouse (Michael Caine) is in an affair with her sister (Barbara Hershey) who leaves her previous lover (Max Von Sydow); Allen eventually connects with another sister (Dianne Wiest)—Carrie Fisher, Maureen O’Sullivan are in there too. Oscars for Best Original Screenplay (Allen), Supporting Actor (Von Sydow), and Supporting Actress (Wiest).
10:00 PM The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) A Bergman masterpieces, allegory of a dour medieval knight (Max von Sydow) returned from the Crusades playing chess with Death to stave off the inevitable, searching for a hint of God, encountering others who travel with him toward home. (Check the TCM full schedule link just above for 2 other Bergman films early in the next morning.)
Saturday July 11, 2020
8:00 PM Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) Difficult to make a satire about nuclear annihilation but this one succeeds, an hilarious send-up of the Cold War U.S.-U.S.S.R. escalation (“Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!”) as a deranged general orders a hit on Russia which looks to succeed. Peter Sellers is in 3 roles, others include George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, James Earl Jones.
Sunday July 12, 2020
4:45 PM A Star Is Born (George Cukor, 1954) First musical version of this story (original drama in 1937, William A. Wellman); James Mason as movie star Norman Maine, Judy Garland as protégé Esther Blodgett (later Vicki Lester, later “Mrs. Norman Maine”), since retold twice as musicals with the basic plot of an up-and-comer taking the spotlight from an established-but-fading-performer. For me, the best of these 4 versions, especially Garland’s rendition of “The Man Who Got Away.”
Monday July 13, 2020
8:00 PM Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) Marvelous; big hit then now ranked as one of the best if not the actual top comedy of all time, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis disguised as women in a nightclub band in Florida trying to escape gangsters after they witness the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago; also stars Marilyn Monroe, George Raft, and Pat O’Brien (won an Oscar for Best B&W Costume Design). Joe E. Brown’s final line was terrific for its time, now it's immortal.
Tuesday July 14, 2020
8:45 AM The Wild One (Làszló Benedek) While not of the overall cinematic qualities of the other TCM recommendations I've chosen for you, this one’s notable for Marlon Brando’s iconic role as the leader of a motorcycle gang; in a town where the bikers have taken up temporary residence a woman asks him “What are you rebelling against, Johnny?” to which he replies “Whaddaya got?” Lee Marvin’s the rival gang leader who feuds with Brando, great to see them snarling in conflict.
11:30 PM Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939) #2 of my All-Time Top 10 (#1, Citizen Kane [Orson Welles, 1941]) by one of the great Realism directors (grand deep-focus cinematography; Renoir also plays Octave in the film) with a satire (plus dramatic aspects) of superficial values of the French aristocracy on the verge of WW II (banned in France even before Nazis marched in for “undesirable influence over the young”). Centers on the affairs of a Marquis, his wife, as well as her flirty maid.
Wednesday July 15, 2020
4:15 PM What’s Up Doc? (Peter Bogdanovich, 1972) Somewhat inspired by Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938) but this time with misidentified suitcases rather than leopards, where bumbling musicologist Howard Bannister (Ryan O’Neal) and his uptight fiancée Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn) become involved with wandering Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand), always in trouble but enamored with Howard. Constant complications ensue; it's hilarious throughout.
6:00 PM Marty (Delbert Mann, 1955) Middle-aged Bronx butcher Marty (Ernest Borgnine) lives with Mom, assumes eternal bachelorhood until he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), shares mutual attraction which is undermined by Mom and Marty’s single friends so he reconsiders, pulls away from a woman he truly likes. Won the Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Borgnine), and Adapted Screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky, from his 1953 TV drama); also won the top Palme d’Or at Cannes.
If you’d like your own PDF of ratings/summaries of this week's reviews, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.
Other Cinema-Related Stuff: Here are some other items you might be interested in: (1) The cost to studios (and theaters) as new releases are delayed (has a chart of scheduled releases); (2) An opinion on the 25 Best Movies of 2020 (so far); (3) Here’s another opinion on the 10 Best Movies of 2020 (so far); (4) Disney+ version of Hamilton can't compete for Oscars but could for Emmys; (5) Venice, Toronto, Telluride, New York film festivals will coordinate their efforts for 2020. As usual for now I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and a reminder you can search streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
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Here’s more information about The Truth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTKJNVKrvvo (23:55 interview with director
Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Here’s more information about Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NahlZBbt37w (12:56 former Eurovision contestants
react to the movie)
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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews—if that even seems possible—academic articles about various cinematic topics at my website,
https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)
If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20th century, not so much the contemporary world. I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.
By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile. Ken
P.S. Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker. But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"
—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.
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