This Week In Tickets: 25 January 2016 - 31 January 2016

This week, right here? This is the last time I was caught up last year, and I don't see how I avoid the same sort of falling behind like crazy in 2016.

That's because it's the last week before a festival, and I hit those hard. This week was almost calm in comparison, although seeing all six movies at different venues was a neat trick.

First up was the Somerville Theatre for The Revenant, a case where hearing too much about it beforehand may have skewed my reaction a little more toward the negative than the film deserved, but that happens sometimes. Impressive as heck in some ways, though.

A couple days off, then to the Bright Screening Room in the Paramount Theater for The Final Girls, which zipped through theaters and VOD so fast that it barely had any chance for me to be aware of what turns out to be a fun little movie before the Emerson alum who directed it came back to his alma mater for a screening. Compared to that quick entry and exit, Mojave, in its own way a sort of genre movie about movies, had a long, luxurious four-day stay at the Bratte.

Saturday was spent trying to get caught up on other things, and I almost didn't make it to Appropriate Behavior at Uforge in Jamaica Plain. That was a Chlotrudis screening to showcase a Buried Treasure nominee, although it fit pretty well into the "shouldn't be buried, not quite a treasure" category.

Then, on Sunday, I planned on a pretty quick double feature, which would have worked if I'd just stayed in one place, but I misread times and thought I could leave the Boston Common screening of Jane Got a Gun and use my Christmas gift card for Kung Fu Panda 3 at Fenway, but they didn't line up and I wound up going home and back again for the latter. Didn't mind - it was enjoyable - but I've got to plan that sort of thing better.

The lesson I learn looking at this page? Always get two programs when you go to an unticketed film series, one to keep and one to cut up. Doesn't The Final Girls look cooler than Appropriate Behavior?

The Revenant

* * ¾ (out of four)
Seen 25 January 2016 in Somerville Theatre #5 (first-run, DCP)

It can be surprisingly easy to hear too much about a movie, absorb that, and basically have the actual experience of watching it be confirmation bias. I heard a lot about how The Revenant was a lot of beautiful but empty tragedy, to the point where that's what I was looking for and inevitably found. I think I would have found it to be such anyway, especially at this length.

Don't misunderstand; there's a lot that is just stunning about this movie; the opening attack sequence, with so much happening while the camera moves about, is one of the most amazing things of its sort that you'll ever see. It also helps that is at the beginning, so that when director Alejandro González Iñárritu does that one more thing a few times within it, the bit of suffering or mutilation that goes beyond what's necessary to communicate the level of danger and violence always present on the frontier, it's still shocking, where later on Iñárritu has repeated the technique so much that is hard to see it as anything other than a blunt instrument on his part.

He uses a lot of blunt instruments, making Leonardo DiCaprio's Hugh Glad very verbal for much of the movie and having Tom Hardy grunt for less obvious reasons (I wonder if Hardy is drawn to thick-accented, nearly-inarticulate characters, or if that's just how the industry has seen him since Bronson). The film is filed with beautiful but stark landscapes, and it sometimes seems like the only character who is more than a wind-up toy walking in a straight line is Will Poulter's Bridger, a young trapper who winds up attached to Hardy's John Fitzgerald and seems to struggle with his basic decency because he knows that he will likely die if left behind, and thus must be somewhat willfully ignorant of the ruthless measures Fitzgerald is taking.

One other thing that seems a bit off is how Native Americans are used in the film, particularly the one character who is there just to help the white guy and then get killed one he's no longer useful. Taken in aggregate, it's better than most movies do, but these guys especially seem to be fairly extreme stereotypes as individuals. In another movie, it might not be so frustrating, but Iñárritu is so obvious in his simple focus on noble suffering that nothing and nobody gets a chance to become more than a means toward that, even if the cast and crew is doing great work to support it.

This Week In Tickets: 18 January 2016 - 24 January 2016

So, let's start off with some unfinished business:

By that, I obviously mean Arabian Nights: Volume 3, the Enchanted One, where I was thinking I might wind up by myself before a small handful of other people arrived. I'm kind of curious as to whether folks went with more compact scheduling or just bailed midway through that series. It was interesting, but this last one was a bit of a test.

Work and such (along with a DVR that was practically busting at the seams even before Tuesday's bounty got added) kept me busy for a couple days after that, and then I opted to do the Thursday-night early screening of Ip Man 3 rather than try my luck on the weekend, which would have snow, Red Line diversions, and the drawing power of recent Chinese movies interacting in unpredictable ways. It was a good but not packed crowd on Thursday, and we got to see a pretty entertaining movies which got better with a little reflection.

Friday night, I hit the Brattle for their too-attached-to-the-family-home double feature of 99 Homes & Crimson Peak. I was only going to do the first, but "gorgeous Guillermo del Toro movie on the big screen" is a pretty decent reason to stick around, even if it's not one I love.

The snow wasn't as big a deal as the initial forecasts, but the Longfellow bridge was (mostly) closed anyway, and from the shuttle bus it looks like they're replacing the tracks wholesale. Got me there in time to see Monster Hunt, the week's other Chinese movie. Very small audience, although I've got no idea whether it's the six-month delay or the expensive 3D tickets or the snow that kept it that way. After that, I figured I'd watch The 5th Wave, but decided to head up the Green Line to see it at Fenway rather than just hang around the Common while the snow fell; it would let me take a different route home that avoided construction, too.

Not sure what I think of the upgraded rooms at Fenway; so far they haven't hiked the prices to compensate for the decreased capacity, but they've got recliners and desks, kind of like the LuxLite seats in the SuperLux. Seating's reserved, and they won't let you leave a seat. You don't actually need to, although it's not obvious when you're looking at the seating chart for the first time, which is kind of an issue the first time around with reserved seating. Nice enough.

Then, on Sunday, a bunch of writing and then heading to the Harvard Film Archive for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, because that was pretty much the most anti-NFL thing going that afternoon. Considered sticking around for Roman Holiday, but opted not to (plus the HFA only takes cash and by the time I got to an ATM and back it would have started).

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

* * * ¾ (out of four)
Seen 24 January 2016 at the Harvard Film Archive (Innocence Abroad, 35mm)

On the one hand, it's hard for those of us who didn't live through the period to take references to the straight-laced, conservative 1950s seriously when it was the decade that gave us Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and delightful sex comedies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; on the other, one does wonder if these movies would be nearly as much fun if the implication wasn't that these characters indulging themselves was a bit defiant. If the second case were entirely the reality, this movie would likely feel more quaint than it does; instead, it holds up for being sweet and funny more than just kind of cute.

Monroe and Russell play a pair of nightclub entertainers, Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw, who are not exactly inhibited on or off the stage. Lorelei, by far the more mercenary of the pair, has all but landed herself a rich husband in Augustus Esmond Jr. (Tommy Noonan), although his father's daily phone calls have thus far kept him from actually proposing. The solution is a trip to Paris where they can get engaged and married without interruption, though they don't go together - Lorelei is traveling by ship and Gus will follow by air. Dorothy comes with Lorelei as a chaperone, which seems like a sweet gig - the Olympic team is on the same boat, and there's no rule saying the chaperone can't have fun! The athletes' coach has them turning in early, leaving Dorothy spending a lot of time with Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid), a sweet guy except for how he's a private eye hired to spy on Lorelei. Not that she'd dream of cheating on Gus, even if another passenger (Charles Coburn) does have his own diamond mine.

As plots go, it's as wispy as cotton candy, kind of stumbling toward the end because it requires characters to act more nakedly selfish and unreasonable than they do before or after; whether that's the case in the original play or not, screenwriter Charles Lederer and director Howard Hawks are kind of gambling that they've built up enough goodwill to get away with it. The Good news is that it's also as sticky as cotton candy, creating plenty of room for Dorothy and Lorelei to have misadventures, musical numbers, and other entertaining moments without feeling like they're missing out on anything important. A sea voyage is often about filing time anyway, and the filmmakers use the farcical bits to keep things moving, if not forward, than side-to-side rather than backward.

The two lead roles are so perfectly cast that is a surprise that the studio never actually managed to pair Russell and Monroe again. That they share the same hourglass figure puts them on equal footing for the folks who bought a ticket to spend an hour and a half looking at pretty girls, but they play off each other well: Russell wisecracks with the best of them but doesn't make Dorothy cynical in doing so; she knows what she wants but isn't mean or petty about it. Monroe's Lorelei is about the same in terms of knowing what she wants, but if she's calculating, we're taking about pretty simple math, and there's never even a hidden harshness under her breathy come-on of a voice. She also hits a very specific dumb blonde target perfectly, sounding sweet and innocent in her man-focused way, trying to imply that she'd fit in with high society with her "thanks everso" and failing, but not so badly that she looks pathetic. They play off each other well, and the moments when they play against expectations are even better. While the guys they captivate don't have quite the same charisma, Charles Coburn and Tommy Noonan are amusingly besotted while Elliott Reid stakes out a good place where he can be smooth or genuine as the need arises.

To a certain extent, sex comedies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes avoid becoming anachronisms by not being ashamed or too clever about how open-minded they are; Dorothy and Lorelei being able to pursue their own pleasure without much complaint beyond worries that Lorelei is a gold-digger keeps the movie from being strident or open to snickers. Dorothy being Lorelei's chaperone is so obviously an anachronism exploited to bring her friend along that Malone is necessary to the plot. And, heck, you could argue that the most overly sexual number has Dorothy wearing pants amid dozens of male athletes dressed only in flesh-colored shorts, while the dialogue calls out the hypocrisy in how society views men and women coating partners for shallow reasons.

Or, at least that's what we tell ourselves to not feel guilty for ogling the girls. Not that they're the only pleasures the movie offers; aside from the fun screenplay, the songs are catchy whether just being bouncy or moving the story along. The best is obviously "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", and is even better in the movie than on its own, a tart response to the situation Lorelei and Dorothy find themselves in but covered with enough sexy sugar to not ruin the mood by making the pair feel like victims. It's also a great-looking film, with bright colors all over, fun costumes, and direction by Howard Hawks that preserves the fun of a door-slamming farce without feeling particularly stage-bound.

It's hard to become a classic comedy; what was once considered innocent fun can seem less so or become the target of a viewer's laughter rather than the source as standards change (generally for the better). Gentlemen Prefer Blondes isn't immune, but it's still winning enough for plenty of honest laughter and other good feelings sixty years later.

(Previously at EFC)

This Week In Tickets: 11 January 2016 - 17 January 2016

Spent the early part of last week on a business trip, and, man, it was like the only part of Texas that doesn't have an Alamo Drafthouse.

Then again, there's a whole lot of nothing in at least the part of Frisco, Texas where I was staying and meeting. I mean, big empty space across the highway from the hotel, nothing but parking lots, malls, and office parks all around, the only sign of any local color an oversized training facility for the Cowboys.

Then again, it was in the mid-50s there. That was nice for the few minutes I was outside of the office.

Got back on the horse Thursday night, though, catching the first third of the Arabian Nights Trilogy, which I wound up doing on an every-other-night schedule, seeing part two on Saturday and the conclusion on Monday. I liked the middle portion most, and the finale is kind of weird, but that's not technically part of this week, is it?

Friday night, I was trying for a double feature, but cut things a bit too tight. Still, the intended first half, Band of Robbers, is a lot of fun, a modern-day riff on Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn that is both more clever and more willing to do its own thing to be entertaining than expected.

Saturday morning was given to the Chlotrudis nomination meeting, which went fairly quick although I did get frustrated at the points when people seemed to be trying to force the sort of results they want rather than letting them happen, and I'll never really get the part at the end where you can nominate things you haven't seen for the signature "Buried Treasure" award.

It meant seeing two movies I wanted instead of three on Saturday, limiting them to the ones which were time-sensitive, starting off with a 35mm print of Mad Max: Fury Road, because when Fury Road is playing on the big screen, you go. Then, a little later, you catch the second part of Arabian Nights.

It would have been easier if I could just hang out in Harvard Square all day, but I had some babysitting of a SQL query to do for work, which kept me fairly tied to the apartment all day, although it was finished in time to get to Boston Common for Detective Chinatown, the latest Chinese import, which proved surprisingly entertaining, although that was partially because the trailer was kind of incomprehensible if you don't speak Mandarin.

Next week: Looks like more Arabian Nights and plenty more Chinese film.

Mad Max: Fury Road

* * * * (out of four)
Seen 16 January 2016 in the Brattle Theatre (Some of the Best of 2015, 35mm)

This movie was not shot on film, but let's face it, film always looks better, even in such a case, and even when the print is kind of beat up, likely from being one of just a few struck for the theatrical release that's been used quite a bit, and thus has more than a few scratches on it.

It's still a pretty fantastic movie, although not necessarily one that acquires more depth upon multiple viewings, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The feminist themes are pretty obvious from the first viewing, and Miller doesn't bury what he's doing there. Fortunately, the action holds up, which is no minor thing; you see something multiple times, you're not discovering something new, so it's got to be damn good to continue to impress.

And it does. There's not a moment of action that doesn't still impress, it's so perfectly designed, and the pacing and build-up is just right. Perhaps the best sign of its greatness is the giddy feeling I get when the war rig barrels past Immortan Joe and his party on the way back, because that's' the moment when, even the first time through, it's clear that all the chasing that has been going on thus far is just the lead-up to this one, which is going to continue right up until the end, and it's going to be even more fantastic than what we've already seen, and the film doesn't disappoint.

I wouldn't mind at all if this became another movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark, where I obviously have a copy but where it plays often enough on the big screen that I seldom if ever need to use it.

What I thought back in October.

This Week In Tickets: 3 January 2016 - 10 January 2016

Slow start to the year, for reasons good and indifferent. Mostly good, though.

On the one hand, I actually got a fair amount of unpacking done in the apartment after only climbing over stuff.for five or six months (depending on how you want to count time in Montreal). It kind of left me in the mood to see something but not with stuff I wanted to see but naff not yet lined up, so it was a choice between second viewings of Star Wars and The Hateful Eight. The Force Awakens won out, and continued to please me.

Work kept me later than I'd have liked the next couple of days (and Carol was what got pre-empted by the local theater showing Sherlock: The Abominable Bride), but I was able to get to the Brattle for one of their modern noir double features, Against All Odds and D.O.A. '88, which wound up being a really fun night, even if it did make me decide that I will have to catch the Super Mario Brothers movie at some point.

The next night I went downtown for The Himalayas, a not-bad-but-not great Korean import making it to American screens just a few weeks after opening back in its native land. Not quite as packed as Chinese films have been by a long shot, but it wasn't too long ago when they were the things getting rate and erratic releases and correspondingly tiny audiences.

Then on Saturday, I headed up to Make to help surprise my brother for his 40th birthday, which was a lot of fun - his longtime friends got their old band (mostly) back together, there was bowling with both out-of-shape adults and adorable little children, and I got to see folks I don't see often enough (hi, Justin & Jerry!). I was back in Boston Sunday afternoon, but it was raining hard enough for me not to venture back out, especially with the Red Line replaced by shuttles between Kendall and Park.

I did work my way all the way through my True Detective season 2 Blu-rays over the course of the week, though. I can see why a lot of folks were disappointed compared to the first season - that one caught lightning in a bottle with perfect casting, genuine creepiness, and a strong single directorial hand to go along with the writer, while season 2 was just a pretty good crime story. That's not nothing, though, and I think it's a shame that Vince Vaughn giving his best performance in years is likely to get overlooked. I think it veered off course a bit in the end with what felt like an almost obligatory pairing of the lead actor and actress, and the squandering of some fairly interesting supporting characters. Still, good crime series that can't measure up to something fairly impossible to repeat.

Next up: Relatively little, since I'm on a business trip to Texas and there is nothing within walking distance to my hotel.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

* * * ½ (out of four)
Seen 3 January 2016 in AMC Boston Common #2 (first-run, 3D Imax)

I probably could have guessed my reaction to seeing The Force Awakens a second time in theaters in relatively short order without difficulty: Still darn entertaining, but not eliciting tingles the way it did the first time around. I wonder whether it will be similar next year, when we get a new Star Wars movie without much wait between it and the previous one. I'm not sure how taking Star Wars for granted sits with me.

Fortunately, it's not a movie that crumbles upon a second viewing. Indeed, it's kind of fun to watch Harrison Ford as he starts to hear Rey's life story; I don't particularly want to be one of the fans that boosts a work by replying on a highly interpolated filing-in of the blanks, but I do think that a lot of the gripes about how certain characters act fall away if you read Han as recognizing Rey's tale as the flip side of something he knows but wanting to make sure before getting her hopes up - it explains an abrupt cut after he is asked who she is, Leia seeming so close at first sight, and a number of other things. It still means J.J. Abrams hid certain scenes for no better reason than to preserve a mystery for later, which is a legitimate knock on the film itself, but it becomes a needless omission rather than characters being portrayed improperly.

But, as I said, I don't want to cling too hard to this idea and potentially wind up disappointed if Rian Johnson goes a different way. That'd be stupid.

Beyond that, though - still a lot of fun. I love the new characters, the action is a lot of fun, and it's still some of the best 3D work I've seen. I may catch this another time or two whole it's on the big screen, and I almost never do that sort of first-run repeat viewing.

Full review (from two weeks ago) on EFC.