Summer movies

There are some movies, it's fair to say, that Todaysfrase would never see if they weren't playing in Montauk's movie theater (for enough weeks that they gradually become more and more enticing). "Tropic Thunder" falls into this category.  I thought that it would be incredibly stupid.  So it wasn't hard to resist during the first week of its run.  But eventually, sometime during the second week, I succumbed and, TF-ers, I am happy to report that it's remarkably funny.  I urge you to see it.  Like "Iron Man," it is a very fun if brainless summer flick.

One of the best parts of "Tropic Thunder" is a hilarious performance by Tom Cruise -- who I didn't even recognize until I was practically hit over the head  by my movie companions.  (Yes, I was not as with-it as I might have been.  To be perfectly honest, I completely failed to appreciate that the spoofy beginning of this movie was indeed the beginning of the movie and not just another couple of awful previews.  That was a nice touch.)

Since this reminds me of just how good Cruise can be when he's not talking about you-know-what or acting in duds like "Lions for Lambs,"  I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend another film,  "Magnolia."  One of my alltime favorites, it has many great things going for it, most especially a terrific soundtrack by Aimee Mann and a superb, over-the-top performance by Cruise as a woman-hating self-help guru.   Add it to your Netflix list if you haven't yet seen it.

Cable down, car fixed and other (minor) catastrophes

TF-ers, I must apologize.  Although I had many plans for a long and involved post about all kinds of important occurrences, this one will be short and sweet.  I was delayed, today, by the complete and utter breakdown of my cable-based phone and internet service.  It lasted all day and I have yet to figure out how to communicate with you via text messaging or my blackberry.  I will tackle that lesson, one of these days.

Here's a short and sweet plug for Woody Allen's new movie, which is pretty funny (not Annie Hall or Bananas, but still fun).  I learned to love Penelope Cruz when she appeared in Volver and she, again, outdoes herself.  I wouldn't see this ahead of Don't Tell Anyone, but if you've already followed up on that suggestion (or if it's not showing anywhere near where you live) then I would see this.

And, as for the car, I've been meaning to mention this as the latest (and most devastating) derailing of my summer of fiscal austerity.  Something to do with oxygenation broke down.  $1300 for the part to be ordered and replaced.  That doesn't seem fair.  But it's in keeping with a summer in which the chimney cap rotted away, the dryer collapsed, and the water heater fizzled itself into a total breakdown.  What's the point of a budget anyway?

Moir Noir

Yes, I'm crazy about film noir, even in English.  On the assumption that you might just be too, here's a really good movie that I saw last night (I'm not quite sure how I came up with it, and I don't even know who any of the actors are, but it had a really fascinating set of plot twists).  It kind of reminded me, in a small way, of "The Usual Suspects" (which was another great noirish suspense film that you should add to your Netflix list, if you haven't seen it already).

Sorry.  Enough of a build-up.  "Kansas City Confidential".  One of those perfect-heist movies, in which the heist goes wrong, except it doesn't really go wrong, but then again, maybe it does.  Very hard to predict where the movie is going.  And, although some of the acting is over-the-top, it all feels just right.  

Apocalyptic diversions

I've just started reading The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, and I can see from the first 30 pages that it is going to be very special.  The vision of the father and son, walking along a road to nowhere in a post-Apocalyptic environment is bleak, but irresistible.  I like the structure and style (very short scenes, sometimes just a paragraph or two).  Frightening, right from the beginning.  I can't stop thinking of the description of their joy over finding a can of coca cola (at first, just the father's joy over being able to give his son some type of pleasure).  Or, the father's feeling that dreams of the past are a seduction that he needs to wake up from fast.

 

While it's too soon to say more than this, the book reminds me of three movies I've been meaning to recommend to TF-ers:  Apocalypse Now (I know you've probably seen it, but if you haven't, do so very soon); Children of Men (I was really rooting for that to win the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year); and 12 Monkeys (great, great, great -- proof of what Bruce Willis is capable of doing, completely fascinating in terms of its plot twists, and about as bleak as it gets -- you won't forget the underground scenes).   

By the way:   Children of Men, the book (by P.D. James) is pretty good too, fairly different from the movie but a good read all the same.  That said, I'd choose the movie over the book for any number of reasons, including Clive Owen's great acting job.

Sunday in Hurleyville

Yes, Dear Readers, TodaysFrase has a family.   And that family has reunions, as all families should.  As a result, I spent a perfect Sunday in Hurleyville, N.Y.  (By the way, "Kitchen Challenged," thanks to your email about farro, I decided to bring along a cold farro salad.  Farro, chick peas, red onion, radishes, yellow pepper, dried cherries and toasted pecan, dressed with olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper.  The response was very good.)   

I am a little pooped right now, though, so I will leave you with three quick thoughts.  First, don't miss your own family reunion, if you're lucky enough to have one anytime soon.  Second, to all those TF-ers who just happen to have been at my family reunion, thanks for a great time -- I wish we were all still together.  

Third (this is so that even the most self-absorbed and apparently irrelevant of my blogs can deliver value to all visitors, blood relatives or not), I'd like to recommend an offbeat but very funny movie that was easy to overlook last summer.  It just happens to have a family reunion as one of its elements:  Death at a Funeral.  It's fluffy, but enjoyable, and is definitely worth adding to your Netflix list if and when you feel the need to move away from French film noir.

Tell Everyone

Sorry, I couldn't resist.  "Tell No One," the French movie that I saw last night after getting the water heater repaired and paying much too much for a tank of gas, was the cinematic high point of my summer (my regrets to Batman, Iron Man, and Genghis Khan).  This movie is so good it's hard to believe -- high suspense with an amazingly intricate plot that somehow managed to make sense by the end, although only at the end.   

It's based on a novel by Harlan Coban, whose novels I have never read (TF-ers, am I missing something here?).  Yet the characters and story line feel just right being French (the only thing in English is a wonderful soundtrack).  

The NYT's reviewer said that the movie is even better the second time around.  I'm really tempted.  That said, I'm wondering what the rest of you would choose as your favorite film of the summer.

Down, down, down (my mood, that is)

Todaysfrase has been on an austerity budget since the true extent of the U.S. economic collapse began to reveal itself.  But for me -- as for many of you, I suspect -- sticking to this austerity budget has proven to be more difficult than I could have imagined.

No, I'm not alluding to all those fun things that I'd love to be spending money on this summer. Just breakdowns, and plenty of them.  Of all bizarre events, the chimney cap blew off the roof about six weeks ago (naturally, it turns out that, for reasons I can't quite understand, this was a custom chimney cap, meaning it cost twice as much and took about 4 weeks to order).  Then the hot water heater started malfunctioning, first by producing incredibly scalding water, then - once that process had managed to burn out various heating elements -- no hot water at all.  Those two repairs alone cost about $500.  

The hot water heater was enough to put me in a really pissy mood today.  But then I went to get gas at the only affordable place within about 45 minutes of Montauk (the Getty station, just west of East Hampton).  Not surprisingly, it's now so well know that this is the only affordable place to buy gas on the entire East End of Long Island that it's pretty much impossible to actually buy gas there.  I gave up on a line that was so long that it practically reduced me to tears and drove back to Montauk, where I paid $4.79.9 a gallon, about 35 cents more a gallon than I would have paid if I'd only had the stamina to stick to the line.

Is there any point to having an austerity budget if life will keep conspiring to defeat it?  On that note, Todaysfrase is heading for the movies this evening to see a French film that sounds great:  Tell No One (rotten tomatoes rating:  92%).  I'll let you know if it manages to save the day.

Two for Netflix

If you like old movies, don't miss these:

Baby Face (Barbara Stanwyck's first major role - sleeping her way to a Park Avenue apartment, mink coat, butler, and the most awful set of outfits you could ever imagine)

Killer's Kiss (Stanley Kubrick's first movie - great film noir, wonderful chase scene on the rooftops of a string of NYC apartment buildings).

Proof, yet again, that true genius reveals itself early and unmistakably.  (Should that be inspiring or demoralizing for the rest of us?)

I've always loved Daniel Auteuil

Since this is a new blog, it seems important to make the point quickly:  I'm not all about cans of tuna fish.  So I'd like to mention my Daniel Auteuil obsession.  Aside from Jeff Bridges, he may be my favorite actor.  He's got incredible range and I've never seen a movie with him in it that was anything less than great.

Last night, I watched Un Coeur en Hiver, which I couldn't recommend more strongly.  It's a very moving story of the relationship between a kind of genius violin-maker (actually, a violin repair-person, but I don't think the distinction is worth dwelling on here), his business partner, and a beautiful violinist, who's the smoldering type.  Autueil is his usual brilliant, complex self.   Just watching what he does with his eyes is worth an hour and 41 minutes.  (If you like classical music, that's an added plus.)  I'd put this at the top of your netflix list.

Two other great, very different Auteuil movies that I recommend:  Apres Vous (very funny) and Cache (especially good if you like mysteries, which I really do -- a theme that I plan to return to with great regularity).   Actually, I might put Cache at the top of netflix, with Un Coeur in the number two spot.  By the time you see both of them, you'll be obsessed too. 

Anyone else have an Autueil movie to recommend?  Or another French actor/actress that you're really crazy about?