Category: Movies

Barney’s Version (short review)

There are movies like this week’s Oscar front-runner The King’s Speech (2010), where very early into the film, you know what it is and where it is going and you enjoy it from the first minutes. Then there are movies like Barney’s Version (2010), which slowly suck you into the story and then takes you in unexpected directions.

Barney's Version PosterFrom the reviews and previews, I knew going in that the movie starred Paul Giamatti as the Barney in the title and had something to do with following his life through three marriages. IMDb describes the movie as a “picaresque and touching story” about “Barney Panofsky, a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking, foulmouthed 65-year old hockey fanatic and television producer, as he reflects on his life’s successes and (numerous) gaffes and failures.” And the movie starts off that way and I went along, because I always enjoy Giamatti. There were little surprises in the movie, some of which you discover early on, such as a police officer who thinks Giamatti committed a murder. But the real turning point in Barney’s Version, which is based on a novel by Mordecai Richler, comes nearer the end when the movie heads in a different direction in a way that happens in real life.

Like co-star Dustin Hoffman, Giamatti is always an interesting actor to watch. There are moments in many of his movies where I am blown away by his fine acting, such as in an ordinary scene in American Splendor where he is talking to one of the movie’s oddball characters in a car. Nothing special happens in the scene, but Giamatti is so comfortable in the character it blurs the line between acting and real life. Similarly, there is an emotional scene in Barney’s Version between Giamatti and Rosamund Pike, playing his third wife, that that is understated and cuts to the bone of reality. Although Giamatti was not nominated for an Oscar, he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy for this performance.

I am not going to ruin the movie for you by saying anything more, and you should not expect a big twist ending, as the surprises are small scale. But if you are looking for a good smaller movie that is a character study after you have seen the big studio Oscar contenders, check out Barney’s Version, which is in theaters now.

What did you think of Barney’s Version? Leave a comment.

  • Dustin Hoffman’s Connection to McCartney’s “Picasso’s Last Words”
  • Brian Wilson’s Life in “Love & Mercy” (Short Review)
  • “Little Prince” Trailer (in English)
  • Little Big Horn and “Little Big Man”
  • 12 Years a Slave (Short Review)
  • “Gravity” Is Such a Lonely Word (Short Review)

    • Computer Wins Jeopardy: Are We Entering Westworld?

    Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt.1Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt.1 (press play button)

    WestworldLast night, the special Jeopardy human-versus-machine match ended with Watson the computer defeating the Jeopardy human champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. In the two-game match, the winner was determined by who (or what) had the most money at the end. Watson easily won the first game and then won a closer second game to become champion. All of Watson’s money and 50% of the human competitors’ money went to charities.

    Watson went on several runs where it looked invincible, but at other times it made mistakes. Certain types of questions that required a different type of thinking caused problems for Watson. For Final Jeopardy of the first game, the question asked for a U.S. city that has an airport named after a WWII hero and an airport named after a WWII battle. Watson said the U.S. city was Toronto, which is news to people in Canada.

    Watson’s big advantage seemed to be its response time. Watson received the clues electronically through a different process than the humans. And it was able to time its responses perfectly so its buzzing was not too early, where it would be blocked, but still fast enough to beat the humans. Contestant Ken Jennings has noted this “big advantage” in Watson’s response time, but he was generous in concluding, “I wouldn’t call this unfair. . . precise timing just happens to be one thing computers are better at than we humans.” I still think the humans should challenge the fairness of the way the machine was able to get the questions and respond. Still, it was quite impressive how Watson could process the language and respond in the form of a question.

    The previous Chimesfreedom posts on Jeopardy and Watson have featured the folk song “John Henry,” so the song of the day today is “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” by The Flaming Lips off the excellent album of the same name, and we are going to discuss the movie Westworld (1973). So press the play button at the top of this post and read on.

    Westworld is about an adult amusement park where androids are supposed to help human beings fulfill their dreams and fantasies. Of course, as we all know, anything involving robots is bound to go wrong. And soon, the androids, including one that looks a lot like the King of Siam from the King and I, start really killing people.

    In addition to Yul Brynner, Westworld featured James Brolin. To you kids, he’s the guy who is now married to Barbara Streisand and who is the father of Josh Brolin, who was in the True Grit remake and No Country for Old Men. Westworld was written and directed by Michael Crichton, and the 1973 movie was the first one to use digital technology. Crichton would go on to write a similarly amusement-park-out-of-control themed Jurassic Park.

    According to IMDb, there is a remake of Westworld in the works with the release scheduled for next year. It appears they are still looking for a director and cast, but Russell Crowe is rumored to be in it. I’m guessing he would play the Yul Brynner tough-android part.

    But with Watson showing what computers can do, maybe by the time the new Westworld is made, a real android will be able to play the Yul Brynner role. I suppose the use of Watson Junior in the movie will put Russell Crowe out of work. But it is not a bad thing that computers take our jobs. We will need the time off from work to eat our vitamins and discipline our bodies for the big dooms-day battle against the machines. Save us Yoshimi, “it’d be tragic/ if those evil robots win.”

    Bonus Answers to Questions: Contestant Ken Jennings answered several questions from viewers online in an interesting and funny exchange on the Washington Post website. Check it out.

  • Fred Armisen Takes Over The Flaming Lips
  • Jeopardy: Humans vs. Machine Continues
  • I’ll Die With a Buzzer in My Hand!
  • What Song Did Paul Newman Sing in “Cool Hand Luke”?
  • “Westworld” is Coming to HBO
  • What Quiz Show Recently Devoted an Entire Category to Bruce Springsteen?

    • (Related Posts)

    Is Shane a Romantic Movie?

    Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur in Shane Many years ago, a newspaper published a list of the top romantic movies for Valentine’s Day, and the writer included Shane (1953) on the list.  At first, the choice surprised me.

    I had always thought of the movie as a great action Western.  But after reading the article, I focused more on the relationship between Shane, played by Alan Ladd, and Marian Starrett, played by Jean Arthur.  And I came to see that the author of the list was right.

    The Unusual Love Story in “Shane”

    The unrequited love between Shane and Marian is something we do not see in modern movies. The relationship is subtle, buried in hidden looks and unspoken feelings. They both are torn, as Marian still loves her husband Joe and Shane is Joe’s friend.

    There are many things to love about the film Shane. It has great scenery, Jack Palance as a villain, the gunfights, and the decent man trying to change his life. But the Shane-Mariann relationship makes the movie more complex than your usual action yarn.

    The Shane-Mariann relationship is so subtle that descriptions of the movie rarely mention it. I suspect that a modern movie version might feature a scene of the two having sex to make the same point made in Shane with a few words and glances.

    When Clint Eastwood made Pale Rider (1985), largely based on Shane, he avoided a similar relationship in his story altogether.  Instead he went for religious overtones, which was probably easier to do.

    Shane’s Ending

    {Spoiler ahead} The final scene of the movie is a classic scene in American film. Shane explains to Mariann’s son Joey: “There’s no living with a killing. There’s no goin’ back from one. Right or wrong, it’s a brand… a brand sticks. There’s no goin’ back. Now you run on home to your mother and tell her… tell her everything’s alright. And there aren’t any more guns in the valley.”

    The wounded Shane rides off into the sunset. And Joey yells after him, pleading for him to return.

    Interpreting the scene with our modern vocabulary, Joey yells the funniest line in the movie for those have picked up on the Shane-Mariann relationship: “Mother wants you. I know she does!” Although the child doe not know exactly what is going on, he has sensed some love.

    Below is the trailer for Shane, although I do not understand why the trailer maker used the final scene of the movie in the trailer.

    Jean Arthur & Alan Ladd

    Another unusual aspect of the movie compared to modern movies is that the female lead, Jean Arthur, was more than a decade older than the male lead. Nowadays, too often producers choose older men to be romantic leads with very young women. But at the time Shane was released, Alan Ladd was 40 and Jean Arthur was 53.

    Arthur had appeared in several great classic movies, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, but she was reclusive and did not like the limelight. She had retired prior to the making of Shane, and she made an exception to return to make Shane, which was her final film and the only one where she appeared in color.

    When You Say Nothing at All

    If Chimesfreedom were in charge of music for Shane, we would add “When You Say Nothing at All” to the final credits. The words capture the unspoken relationship between Shane and Mariann.

    The smile on your face lets me know that you need me,
    There’s a truth in your eyes sayin’ you’ll never leave me,
    The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me if ever I fall;
    You say it best when you say nothing at all.

    The version above by Alison Krauss and Union Station appeared on Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album (1994) and on Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection (1995). A live version appeared on Alison Krauss & Union Station – Live.

    “When You Say Nothing at All” was written by Keith Whitley, a singer-songwriter who died at the young age of 34 from alcohol poisoning. Although Whitley only released four albums during his career, he influenced future generations of singer-songwriters.  He wrote some beautiful songs like “When You Say Nothing at All.”

    And yes, contrary to the song, Shane did leave her.

     

    What other movies feature subtle romantic relationships? What about Casablanca? Leave a comment.

  • Valentine’s Day and Two Love Lessons
  • 8 Reasons to Watch the Sterling Haden Western”Terror in a Texas Town”
  • Marty Brown’s AGT Las Vegas Performance of “When You Say Nothing At All”
  • Marty Brown Advances to Radio City Music Hall on AGT!
  • Some Live Sturgill Simpson Bluegrass for Charity
  • Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson Put Johnny Cash’s Poetry to Music

    • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)

    Buy from Amazon

    The Tillman Story (Mad Movies)

    The Tillman Story, Pat Tillman

    The Tillman Story (2010) is one of those movies that reveals information about a story you thought you already knew. As you probably recall from extensive media coverage, Pat Tillman was an Arizona Cardinal football player who enlisted in the U.S. Army after the 9/11 events in June 2002. Director Amir Bar-Levi’s movie delves into the story behind Tillman’s life and his death in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004.

    At the time of his enlistment and after his death, Tillman was portrayed by the government and the media as an American hero who gave up a lucrative NFL contract out of patriotism and then died as a hero saving the lives of other American soldiers. The truth, however, was something more complex.

    Much of the movie focuses on the struggle by the Tillman family to discover the truth about Pat Tillman’s death. Tillman was a hero, but he did not see himself as anything special and he did not want his life or death used for propaganda purposes. Similarly, his family is interesting, colorful, intelligent, and sympathetic in their attempts to cut though all of the government deceit.

    The movie is both heartbreaking and uplifting. You can see the pain in the faces of the Tillman family members when several government officials appear before Congress to lie about the cover-up regarding Tillman’s death. It is frightening to see people with power who are incompetent, dishonest, or both. But you also admire the determination and love of the family to seek the truth, no matter what the costs.

    The family worked hard to honor Pat Tillman as a real person, not as a cartoon character created to serve the government’s purpose. Among their efforts, there is the Pat Tillman Foundation, developed to assist veterans through education and community.

    I have intentionally avoided revealing too much about the movie, because you should see it for yourself and find your own outrage.

    The Tillman Story, which many people missed when it played in theaters, is narrated by actor Josh Brolin and was recently released on DVD and Blu Ray.

    Missed Movies is our series on very good movies that many people did not see when first released.

  • Missed Movies: Project Nim (short review)
  • Dear Zachary (Missed Movies)
  • An Industry Attempts to Prevent Gasland from Winning an Oscar (Mad Movies)
  • 3 Movies That Make Us Mad
  • Stephen King’s “The Life of Chuck”: A Few Thoughts for Those Who Haven’t Seen the Film . . . and a Few for Those Who Have
  • Although the Oscars Passed Over “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” You Shouldn’t

    • (Related Posts)

    Happy Groundhog Day!

    Groundhog Day goes back to the 1800s, but with less history of acrimony than the making of the wonderful 1993 Bill Murray movie named after the holiday.

    Happy Groundhog Day. As always, Punxsutawney Phil has again prognosticated if we will have an early spring. If he sees his shadow, we get six more weeks of winter.

    Even though the official website claims Phil has been the same groundhog all those years, I am not sure I believe them. According to historical markers around Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, German immigrants began observing the day as early as 1886. The tradition arose out of a European custom to predict winter’s length by the weather on the ancient Christian holiday of Candlemas.

    The Movie

    Groundhog Day MovieI cannot think of Groundhog Day without thinking of the wonderful movie with the same name. One of the most surprising discoveries about Groundhog Day (1993) the movie, courtesy the DVD commentary, is that Bill Murray and Director-Actor Harold Ramis had a big falling out during the movie.

    During the making of the film, Murray wanted to make a more serious movie while Ramis wanted the movie to be more of a comedy. That disagreement provided a lot of growing tension during the filming of the movie.

    After the movie was released, Murray and Ramis continued not speaking to each other for a long time.  The two men eventually met again and worked to heal the old wounds when Ramis was dying from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis.  The director died in 2014.

    The separation was sad,  not only because the two men created great work in this movie, Stripes and Ghostbusters.  The division is so contrary to the theme of the excellent Groundhog Day.

    One of the lessons of the movie is that the best cure for the existential crises and the miseries in your own life is to forget yourself and concentrate on doing good for others. Yet, in creating a wonderful movie with such a beautiful theme, the two strong creative forces involved in the movie lost their friendship.

    Maybe it was because of that sharp creative tension that they were able to make such a perfect movie. The film walks an exact line, never straying too far either way toward light-hearted comedy or seriousness.

    One of the funniest scenes in the film features Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned Ryerson. Ryerson has discussed how mad Bill Murray was during the scenes where he had to repeatedly step in the deep puddle of water in the cold weather. Here is another interview with Tobolowsky about the movie and the famous scene. It’s a doozy. Bing!

    As Groundhog Day nears its conclusion, you understand what Phil Connors meant when he explained in Groundhog Day:

    “When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn’t imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.”

    May the rest of your winter be without animosity and be full of warm hearths and hearts.

  • Visiting the Locations for “Groundhog Day”
  • Groundhog Day (and Ghostbusters?) 2012
  • Harold Ramis: The SCTV Years
  • Cinderella story, Outta nowhere: Caddyshack Anniversary
  • Picture Show Online Tribute to John Prine
  • “The Grey” Is Not the Movie You Thought It Was (Missed Movies)

    • (Related Posts)