Blu-ray thumbs

[Johann]

CONTACT (1997)




An interesting film that fictionalizes making first contact with alien intelligence.
Jodie Foster stars as Ellie, a gifted woman who monitors radio emissions in Puerto Rico.
Her small team makes first contact and records it, which has an embedded video clip of Adolph Hitler's speech at the 1936 Berlin Games.
Matthew McConaughey is the love interest, a "Man of the Cloth without the cloth", and he serves as the moral compass, because Ellie doesn't believe in God.
Long story short, she's selected to travel light years in a gimballed machine financed by the great John Hurt.
Thought-provoking movie based on Carl Sagan's book of the same name.

[Johann]

PHANTOM THREAD (2017)



Suave masterpiece from P.T. Anderson.
Daniel Day-Lewis plays Woodcock, a famous dress maker/designer in 1950's London.
He never married, and he meets his muse, Alma, who is working as a waitress.
He's got exacting standards and can be gruff and rude. He resists the love from Alma
And she ultimately poisons him. Twice.
Beautifully shot on film and impeccably acted, it proves Anderson can do anything.

[Johann]

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013)



The Coen bros. gave Oscar Isaac his big break.
This movie is great, but kinda bleak. It's one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, singer/songwriter in 1961.
All songs are performed live, and The Village in NYC is the place to be.
Llewyn has a record recorded, but it isn't selling. He's sleeping on friends' couches, aimlessly making his way.
The Coens admitted that the film has no plot, hence them adding scenes with the cat...
This won the Grand Prix at Cannes and I enjoyed the music.
Also starring Carey Mulligan, Adam Driver, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.

[Chris Knipp]

OSCAR ISAAC IN THE COEN BROTHERS' INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

This was featured at the 2013 NYFF, which I covered for Filmleaf. Find it HERE. The photo above and caption are from that coverage.
It certainly did put Oscar Isaac on the map (but who really knows him now?) and it was exciting to have the Coen bros. at the press screening. But it's their most blah movie, isn't it? Imagine it winning a big prize at Cannes! The French see something I don't see. I wrote then "beware -- it's a head-scratcher and a bit of a downer, despite its mild manner." Loosely based on Dave von Ronk. But this was when Bob Dylan was living on West Fourth Street in the Village, which I've just been reading about. I'd rather see something about him.

[Johann]

You were right. It is a downer. It was criticized for deadening the liveliness of the Village back then.
It was a much happier time and place.
I agree a movie about Dylan's time there would be better.
I'm not jazzed to see it again but it was worth a one-time watch.

[Johann]

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (2017)



Excellent film with wild twists and turns from Martin McDonough.
Frances McDormand stars as a grieving mother to a daughter who was raped and murdered.
She's frustrated with the police over the lack of an arrest, and she puts up incendiary ads on 3 dilapidated billboards to express her outrage.
The police chief is Woody Harrelson, and he says the billboards are unfair, that there's been no break in the case. The townsfolk seemingly side with the Chief, who also is dying of cancer.
In a wild twist, he commits suicide and leaves notes, saying he paid for the next month for the billboards to be up. There's another angle with a corrupt cop named Jason Dixon, who changes his ways after a series of unfortunate events.
Crazy movie with totally surprising plot twists- the ending is unexpected for sure.

[Chris Knipp]

Martin McDonagh made his name originally as a playwright and I'm not as convinced by his movies, also not a fan of Frances. I felt he was out of his element here doing a story set outside the UK.