Best Movies You Never Saw

12/12/2023

CHRISTMAS BOOK SIGNING at Otto's this Saturday from 1-4. Six titles on sale! Great Xmas gifts!!

07/10/2020

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D527TZV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Best Movies You Never Saw: 300 Under-the-Radar Films That Were Overlooked, Unjustly Trashed—or Just Plain Terrific

07/10/2020

09/09/2020

Streaming sleeper from 2019-20, with what may be Crystal's best performance.
STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN (2019)
Standing Up, Falling Down features what may be Billy Crystal’s finest performance; but he is not the lead.
That would be Parks and Rec’s Ben Schwartz, playing a failed stand-up comic who has to move back in with his parents—at the age of 34.
When Scott strikes up an inadvertent friendship with his aging dermatologist (Crystal), this initially seems to be exactly what the young man does NOT need. The eccentric doctor is a bit of slacker, a hard drinker and an occasional stoner … with a lot of baggage: he’s lost two wives; his estranged son refuses to talk to him; and he spends his spare time in the local saloon—or at home watching reruns of ancient Met games.
But for all his downbeat exterior, Marty has learned a lot from his broken life; refusing to be crushed by suffering and defeat, he’s something of a cheerleader for Scott, whose own family is not too supportive.
More important, since Scott seems to be about the age of Marty’s absent son, this friendship could actually prove healing for both damaged men.
Marty can be rude, outspoken and sarcastic—so Crystal gets to do all that funny stuff he’s so good at; but the film also capitalizes on the melancholy undercurrent that runs through much of the comic’s best work (i.e., When Harry Met Sally).
Schwartz makes Scott very empathetic despite his hapless lifestyle. His insulting sister is nicely played by Grace Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter), with fine additional work from Eloise Mumford as Scott’s former flame; Caitlin McGee as a late-appearing bolt of cinematic lightning; and Nate Corddry (Rob’s bro) as Marty’s adamantine son.
The script by Peter Hoare—who appears briefly, in photos, as the subject of an early funeral—is peppered with sharp, funny, realistic dialog; it also proffers enormous closure at the end—all the more surprising in view of some late-film developments that feel downright disastrous.
Perhaps most memorable is Marty’s repeated assertion that “regret is real,” one of the few true constants in life—a philosophical nugget that convincingly urges us to both seize the day and accept our many failures.
With an experienced elder imparting such wisdom to his younger counterpart, Standing Up reminded me a bit of Tuesdays with Morrie.
Except with more pot and F-bombs.
91 min. Not yet rated; strong language and some s*xuality

02/09/2020

from THE BEST MOVIES YOU NEVER SAW, now available at Amazon (just type in BEST MOVIES SMITH III)
MAN HUNT (1941)
Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male is one of those literary treasures that’s both famous and unknown. This crackerjack adventure involves a skilled huntsman who, just before World War II, challenges himself to get close enough to Hi**er for an assassination; but he doesn’t carry it out. Caught, tortured and left for dead, he nonetheless survives and escapes, relentlessly pursued by N***s—all the way back to England and finally out into the wilds of Dorset.
Smart, tense and well written, Household’s cult-fave novel gets first-class treatment in this adaptation from director Fritz Lang—who had himself fled Germany for fear of the Reich.
As Wikipedia observes, Man Hunt is the first of four anti-N**i films Lang made; it was followed by MINISTRY OF FEAR, Hangmen Also Die! and Cloak and Dagger. With this one, Lang and co. received considerable pushback from the Production Code office, which oversaw and often censored Hollywood content; they felt the film portrayed the N***s unfairly—“as brutal and inhuman,” if you can imagine that. Of course, this was before America had entered the war, and Lang eventually capitulated by removing scenes of the hunter being tortured (his suffering is implied, rather than shown).
So yeah … I guess you could call Man Hunt ahead of its time. This is perhaps even more apparent in the finale: a nerve-rattling standoff with one surprisingly downbeat revelation—followed by a very open-ended coda. (The latter points prophetically but gently to Household’s terrific sequel, Rogue Justice—which wasn’t to be penned till almost 50 years later!).
But the film’s triumph is its addition of a love-interest, which in the book is long since over and done. Too often, this sort of tweak can ruin a picture, but here it is handled with tremendous pathos, some humor and a fantastic performance from Joan Bennett. The star studied at great length to learn a Cockney accent for Jerry, a pr******te who helps the hunted man. (Incidentally, he is unnamed in the book—as is Hi**er; on film, it’s the suave and courageous Capt. Thorndyke, beautifully played by Walter Pidgeon.)
Bennett’s character suffers some condescension from Thorndyke—but she ultimately proves stubborn, independent and resourceful; the story benefits enormously from her powerful presence. (TCM’s fine essay on the film explains the subtle hints that indicate Jerry’s profession—though again, the code office tried to clamp down on this.)
Watch also for a very young Roddy McDowall—and an impressive George Sanders as the chief villain. Unlike many WWII movies, where N***s merely speak English with a heavy accent, here they actually converse in German—and that includes the quintessentially British Sanders, so well known for his distinguished English voice!
Man Hunt is also characterized by Lang’s distinct use of symbols, particularly the arrow-pin Thorndyke gives to Jerry. This somehow becomes a marker for hate as well as love—each articulated so clearly in this thoughtful, gripping thriller.
102 min. Not rated.

26/08/2020

GREAT NEWS; this 80s cult-fave Western about real-life train-robber Bill Miner IS FINALLY GETTING A DVD RELEASE -- in fully restored version with director's commentary. Due 9/8, already in my cart. Below blurb is from my new book BEST MOVIES YOU NEVER SAW, available at Amazon. (Just type in BEST MOVIES SMITH III or visit my website, www.josephwsmithiii).

THE GREY FOX (1983)
This virtually perfect Canadian chestnut brings together two fascinating figures: Bill Miner and Richard Farnsworth.
Miner, nicknamed “The Gentleman Bandit,” was an American stagecoach-robber in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; he spent several stints in prison and once narrowly avoided being lynched. After a long stretch in San Quentin, Miner moved to Canada and began robbing trains instead. He is credited with originating the phrase “Hands up!”
Farnsworth, by contrast, was for years a Hollywood stunt man, mostly riding horses in Westerns. His stunt résumé includes Gone with the Wind, The Grapes of Wrath, Gunga Din, Mighty Joe Young, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Blazing Saddles, Papillon and Red River—in which he doubled Montgomery Clift. And then in the 1970s and 80s, when he was getting on in years, Farnsworth began assuming larger and larger acting roles, achieving many awards and nominations for such films as Comes a Horseman, Misery, The Natural and David Lynch’s Straight Story—in which he had the lead.
In The Grey Fox, Farnsworth is letter perfect as the aging bandit who is fresh out of prison but finds that he just cannot work for other people. Having pulled off one daring but deadly train heist, Miner flees to British Columbia and does it again, then lies low in the frontier town of Kamloops, where the law closes in even as he falls for a feisty female photographer (Jackie Burroughs).
(This latter character, incidentally, was invented for the film, as was the final European part of Miner’s life described at the end—though he did in fact escape from a Canadian prison.)
Farnsworth imparts a calm and urbane dignity to Miner, whom we like and root for despite his illegal exploits. Fortunately, while we understand why the man does this, Fox never glorifies his career; we see some sad fallout from the crimes, especially during one beautifully filmed sequence involving rustled horses and a Canadian Pacific steam train. The scene of Miner’s capture—recounted here pretty much exactly as it happened—is a masterpiece of understated realism; it contrasts nicely with grainy black-and-white footage of shootouts from 1903’s “Great Train Robbery,” shown twice during the movie.
Speaking of the horse scene: Grey Fox’s stunning cinematography was overseen by the lesser-known Frank Tidy (see THE DUELLISTS); its train scenes are especially impressive. The movie also has a counterintuitive but perfectly fitting Celtic score by the famed Irish band the Chieftains.
For years, this film was virtually impossible to see; I finally bought an ancient VHS to re-screen it for this book—which did no justice to its gorgeous visuals. Happily, The Grey Fox has recently undergone a full restoration and is slated for a brand-new DVD release in the fall of 2020.
92 min. Rated PG.

15/08/2020

Now that my book is out, I'm reviving the semi-weekly UTR movie picks here with this amazing recent indie
THE RIDER (2017)
Rodeo-rider Brady Jandreau plays rodeo-rider Brady Blackburn, while Jandreau’s real-life father and autistic sister play Brady’s dad and comically opinionated autistic sib. (In contrast to the film, however, Jandreau’s mother is still alive.)
What’s more, The Rider recounts a devastating injury that Jandreau actually suffered—one in which a horse-kick to the head pretty much ended his bronco-busting career.
So The Rider is a film about living with brokenness; and for all the anguish, it’s a tale of hope and perseverance. Beautifully photographed, the movie makes marvelous use of symbols for Brady’s injury—a car with no engine; a badly wounded horse; his autistic sister, Lilly; his permanently disabled pal Lane; and in particular, the way Brady’s seizing hand literally cannot let go.
This story, incidentally, takes place on a Native American reservation—and Jandreau himself is fully Lakota Sioux. Which makes him both a cowboy and an Indian.
Whoa.

28/05/2020

Today's under-the-radar pick is a recent winner about middle-school. It does have some crude s*x-talk -- thus the R rating; but on the whole, an alarming and heart-warming (also pretty funny) look at the rigors of contemporary adolescence, esp. for girls in the social-media age.
EIGHTH GRADE (2018)
Remember all the wonderful fun you had in middle school -- the sense of connection and the ease with which you sailed through every social situation?
No?
Yeah, nobody else remembers that either. In fact, most of us have labored to forget those years. But if Boomers and other adults ever wonder whether early adolescence is still so rough nowadays, Eighth Grade has news for you:
It’s worse.
In this critically acclaimed indie written and directed by stand-up comedian Bo Burnham, young Elsie Fisher plays Kayla Day, an eighth-grader in her last week of middle school. Uncomfortable with her reputation as “quiet” -- and very much wanting some reliable friends -- Elsie records advice-vlogs about all the things she dreams of: self-confidence, being who you are, putting yourself out there.
In reality, her life is kind of a train wreck. No one watches her YouTube channel; all the school’s “it” girls are superficial, self-centered shrews; her father loves her but is basically clueless; and she finds that the only way to relate to most guys (including the scumbag she’s inexplicably crushing on) is through s*x or s*xting -- which she isn’t ready for.
For Fisher’s performance I simply can’t find the words. You will seriously love her from the very first scene, and because of this, much of her odyssey toward stable selfhood feels like a rollercoaster ride with no restraining bar.
But the best thing about Burnham’s film is where it winds up -- not exactly solving Kayla’s woes, but certainly providing direction and hope.
The current pervasiveness of social media and our casual attitude toward s*x have made Kayla’s adolescence much more explosive than that of earlier generations. You won’t relish watching an R-rated film starring 13-year-olds -- but this is the world we live in. (In fact, the R rating is entirely for language and s*x-talk -- and, according to Wikipedia, in response to alarm that the film’s rating would bar the very viewers who need its message, distributors arranged free unrated screenings around the country.)
Burnham, who made the film partly out of his own ongoing battles with anxiety, is on record as saying, “I think the country and the culture is going through an eighth-grade moment right now.”
God help us all.
95 min. Rated R.

19/05/2020

Today's movie recomm. is this incredible political drama, with a stellar cast & script by Gore Vidal. Now available in its entirety on YouTube.
THE BEST MAN (1964)
“There are no ends, Joe -- only means. What really matters is how you do things, and how you treat people. Not some ideal goal for society.”
Thus says one retired president to a front-running candidate in 1964’s gripping political drama The Best Man, brilliantly scripted by novelist Gore Vidal. Indeed, the writing and dialog are so sharp throughout, I’m having trouble picking out the best sample lines:
“Power is not a toy that we give good children; it’s a weapon -- and the strong man takes it and uses it.”
“He has all the characteristics of a dog -- except loyalty.”
“And so one by one, these compromises, these small corruptions, destroy character.”
“No man with that awful wife and those ugly kids could be anything but normal.”
“You have no sense of responsibility toward anybody or anything. And that is a tragedy in a man. And it is a disaster in a president.”
Most of these are spoken by Henry Fonda’s Bill Russell, a former secretary of state who is fighting to win the presidential nomination. Russell’s main opponent is Joe Cantwell -- played by a dashing young Cliff Robertson. In this film that was released during the contentious 1964 campaign, the two duke it out at their party’s convention -- though the film refuses to identify which party is involved, or which candidates may have inspired its main characters.
Russell is a man of conscience, an intellectual along the lines of Adlai Stevenson -- though part of the man’s present political plight is that his wife wants to leave him in view of his frequent infidelity. Cantwell bills himself as a rags-to-riches common man, though in reality he is as ruthless as a machine gun. Because of this, Russell will repeatedly face the dilemma that embattles so many other politicians: How unscrupulous can you be in order to defeat an unscrupulous man?
Vidal’s answer may surprise you -- but in any case, I can’t think of another film that faces this issue with such clarity and moral force.
In addition to its startling ethics, The Best Man -- which takes its title from the saying about who should win -- also features fantastic acting in many smaller roles: Ann Sothern as an infuriating shrew who thinks she represents all women; Margaret Leighton as Russell’s wife; comic Shelley Berman in a brief but unforgettable appearance as one of Cantwell’s old Army pals; and Lee Tracy, Oscar-nominated for a role that was his last in a long, impressive Hollywood career.
Another Oscar nod should have gone to Vidal, whose trenchant script has really stood the test of time. Take this line, for instance, which Tracy’s ex-prexy says to Russell: “Those rumors about you and your lady friends -- they won’t do you any harm.”
I guess things haven’t changed very much.
103 min. Not rated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq3mRW4xAIo

This is one of the best political movies and is not outdated. This cast makes it very believable. This could have been made this year. It is a must see. Wayn...

16/05/2020

Today's under-the-radar pick will make a great Saturday night movie. Besides Hanks & Gleason: Sela Ward, Eva Marie Saint, Hector Elizonda. Dir. Garry Marshall.
NOTHING IN COMMON (1986)
Director Garry Marshall created a lot of top-tier TV (Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy); yet only a few of his films flirted with greatness. For me, the popular Pretty Woman is just trash in an attractive package; but I do like Flamingo Kid, Runaway Bride and Valentine’s Day.
Nothing in Common, an early Tom Hanks vehicle that also happens to star Jackie Gleason, is by far my favorite Marshall.
As Roger Ebert pointed out, it’s slightly schizophrenic, with the first half an overcharged eighties comedy about an unabashedly confident advertising writer named David Basner. This early part of the film sometimes pushes too hard; but it is funny, and Hanks, as usual, proves impossible to dislike, even though the hotshot Basner really isn’t a great person.
And then, through the sudden collapse of his parents’ marriage and his father’s health, Basner is forced to face his dysfunctional upbringing; at the same time, he comes to see that in spite of past trauma, he’s still the only one who can help Mom and Dad -- and this must take priority over his surging career.
Gleason, in his final film role, is simply marvelous as the grouchy, cigar-chomping father; there’s no question why his wife left him -- yet the veteran consistently imparts a melancholy, sometimes fearful undertone to his many compelling scenes. How he failed to score an Oscar nom is beyond me.
Bess Armstrong is likewise sensational playing Basner’s former crush, who now serves as his “emotional pit-stop.” Supporting cast also includes Sela Ward in her first major role, plus an excellent Barry Corbin, Hector Elizondo and Eva Marie Saint (as Mom). As for Hanks, who by that point had done mostly goofball comedies, this is a promising peek at the stronger stuff that lay ahead.
Despite its sometimes superficial approach, Nothing in Common is consistently absorbing, and many scenes boast a maturity and nuance not often found in Marshall’s work.
I sure do love Elizondo’s line about the perfect son.
118 min. Rated PG -- would be PG-13 today (language, s*xuality).

14/05/2020

Today, recommending the latest Liam Neeson film, which is a success for him but a triumph for his co-star, Lesley Manville. ORDINARY LOVE is now streaming online.
https://www.sungazette.com/life/showcase/2020/05/ordinary-love-an-honest-and-compassionate-film/

11/05/2020

Switching over to 2-3x per week on my under-the-radar movie recomms. Today's is an old fave for the whole family, currently available free on YouTube!
THE POINT (1971)
At a 1967 press conference, the Beatles were asked to name some American music they liked. Both Lennon and McCartney tapped singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, best known for a string of hits including “Me and My Arrow,” “Without You,” “Everybody’s Talkin’” and “Coconut” (yes, that “Coconut” -- the one in which you put the lime, etc.).
The popular “Arrow” is from Nilsson’s 1970 album The Point!, a mix of song and narration recounting a fanciful fable about a boy named Oblio -- the only person with a smooth head in a land where everyone and everything else has a point.
Thanks to a rabid personal campaign by Nilsson, the album was eventually turned into a feature-length film that appeared on the 90-minute Tuesday night TV night venue, ABC Movie of the Week. The first telecast was narrated by Dustin Hoffman; but his contract called for only a single airing -- so the eventual VHS and DVD releases featured Nilsson’s friend Ringo Starr instead. Both Starr’s enchanting narration and Nilsson’s wonderful compositions have helped this lovely cartoon stand the test of time over many decades.
Well, that and Fred Wolf’s animation.
Director Wolf did all the artwork himself, producing 28,000 line drawings over a period of 34 weeks; these were then tinted by several other artists, often using something one rarely sees in animated movies: watercolors! The guileless simplicity of the movie’s visuals greatly aids its poignant moral about ostracism and conformity.
In this delightful movie, young Oblio is born with a round head and eventually thrown out of the kingdom, where the law stipulates that everything must have a point -- and the visual scheme confirms this: even the dogs, doors and domiciles are pointy!
So Oblio and his angular blue canine, Arrow, are banished to the pointless forest, where they find that everything there seems to have a point as well -- and of course, we will finally see that Oblio has one too.
In addition to story, Starr and song, the film is buoyed terrific voice work form the inimitable Paul Frees in several roles; his Leaf Man is simply hilarious. Ditto William E. Martin as a giant pile of talking rocks, whose laid-back seventies jive still sounds quintessentially hip: “Being a rock is a very heavy life. We rock folk are impervious to heat; we stay cool.”
And then there’s the three-headed man, who warns Oblio, “If a person does enough thinking, a certain amount of knowledge is sure to follow. The result could be a life of misery.”
Needless to say, that is not the outcome of the clever and tasty little classic.
74 min. Not rated; very family friendly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1SARG4wC_8&t=646s

The Point, an animated adaptation of the story, first aired February 2, 1971, and was the first animated special ever to air in prime time on US television; ...

05/05/2020

Still culling from last week's SUN-GAZETTE list of movies now available free on YouTube.
MONSIEUR HULOT’S HOLIDAY (1953)
If I had to pick only three movies I could watch for the rest of my life, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday would be one of them.
But it’s not for everybody, that’s for sure.
Written, directed by and starring the revered French comedian Jacques Tati, it’s the quiet, quirky, largely dialog-less tale of a kindly bumbler and his hapless vacation at the beach -- where despite the best of intentions, he just keeps doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Tati is a master of sight-gags -- the kind that need no words and would work in any language; so you have to keep your eyes peeled. The business with the flat tire at the funeral is priceless -- as are the poor man’s many attempts to fix his wobbly, disintegrating car, which has about as much structural integrity as a wet cereal box. And at the climax, Tati gives us the ultimate accidental-fireworks sequence -- like something out of Bugs Bunny, but with real people!
Yet even this comical scene has, like virtually all of the film, a wistful note -- a sense that Hulot remains a loner who has never really managed to connect with any of his oddball fellow-vacationers. But … he’s had a grand time! And he hopes to come back again next year!
As the final frame freezes, there’s that note of sadness that creeps in at the close of all holidays, good or bad … together with a desire to do it all again.
I guess that’s one reason I have watched this charming little masterpiece so many times. Try it once, and see what you think.
83 min. Not rated.

27/04/2020

Today's under-the-radar pick is one of the best films ever made about music; what else would you expect from John Carney (ONCE, SING STREET)?
BEGIN AGAIN (2013)
John Carney’s Once (2007) is widely known and loved, having snagged an Oscar and two Grammys, even as its catchy original soundtrack sold millions.
But I like Carney’s other two movies better: the irresistible Irish boy-band tale SING STREET (2016) -- and this one, the story of a struggling record exec (Mark Ruffalo) who crafts a best-selling album with a fiercely independent singer-songwriter (Keira Knightley). One of the many hooks here is that, because they’re broke and can’t afford a studio, they record all the tunes amid ambient sound in various Manhattan locales: back alleys, rooftops, sidewalks, subways -- even on the lake in Central Park.
Once was a low-key film in which nothing seemed to work out except the music and the no-frills friendship; fans seeking that sort of thing here with be disappointed -- because, ironically, this is a film without disappointment.
As Ruffalo reconnects with his estranged daughter (Hailee Steinfeld); as Knightley blossoms without her shallow beau; as Steinfeld proves she too can jam; as a ragtag bunch in awkward settings rips out one gorgeous tune after another … Begin Again just keeps soaring higher and higher.
The film is not perfect, as it has logistical flaws and too many unnecessary F-bombs. But the tunes are richer, fuller, more upbeat than those in Once. And it has a sensational cast: In addition to Ruffalo, Knightley and Steinfeld (so great in True Grit and EDGE OF SEVENTEEN), Begin also features the ever-reliable Catherine Keener as Ruffalo’s ex; Adam Levine (of pop-music’s Maroon 5); and James Corden -- along with rappers Mos Def and CeeLo Green.
Carney clearly has a knack for films about the power of music; Sing Street and Begin Again may well be the two finest movies ever made on that subject.
104 min. Rated R for language.

25/04/2020

In lieu of my daily under-the-radar movie pick, here is yesterday's Sun-Gazette article on "10 UTR films now streaming on Netflix."
https://www.sungazette.com/life/showcase/2020/04/10-under-the-radar-films-on-netflix/

21/04/2020

Lesser-known pick for 4/21 is a first for this page: official war movie!
THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN (1969)
The 1960s saw some pretty famous World War II movies.
Popular hits like The Longest Day, The Dirty Dozen, The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and The Great Escape tend to overshadow this exciting and well-acted true story of Allied attempts to capture the titular span over the Rhine before the Reich could blow it up.
Directed by John Guillermin -- who also did The Towering Inferno, The Blue Max and 1976’s King Kong -- this impressive undertaking, which alternates between U.S. and German points of view, required no less than three editors. It has a pulse-pounding military score by Elmer Bernstein, top-notch cinematography by Stanley Cortez (NIGHT OF THE HUNTER) and a fine cast including Ben Gazzara, Bradford Dillman and E. G. Marshall. There’s particularly strong work from Robert Vaughn as a N**i commander and, in the lead role of a cynical American lieutenant, George Segal -- whom I don’t usually think of as the hardened tough guy he plays here.
But what’s most impressive in Remagen are the special effects -- or rather, the lack thereof. Everything is frightening real -- the vehicles and tanks, the planes, the bridges, the trains, the explosions, the stunt work and virtually all the sets. Shooting in Czechoslovakia, filmmakers borrowed genuine World War II equipment from Austria -- which had inherited it from the United States -- and also blew up huge chunks of an actual town the government was about to raze. In some of these scenes, you have to wonder how they pulled it off without killing any extras -- especially the brief shot of three men and a horse being blown off the bridge and dropping 30 feet into a river. Stunts were overseen by Hal Needham, who went on to direct the crash-heavy Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run and Stroker Ace.
Remagen isn’t perfect: One of the day-for-night scenes is far too bright; Vaughn’s accent is spotty; and the brief episode with the French lass is unhelpful -- obviously included merely to proffer a tease of s*x and nudity.
Nonetheless, this fine film is a must for World War II afficionados.
115 min. Rated R for violence and very brief nudity; really should be PG-13.

18/04/2020

Currently streaming on Netflix and, as one reviewer says on the DVD cover, "nothing short of a miracle." 66 minutes of undiluted love and beauty.
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI (2016)
Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature, My Life as a Zucchini is 66 minutes of pure, undiluted delight.
Laced with luscious and inventive stop-motion, it’s the story of a nine-year-old nicknamed “Courgette” -- a type of zucchini. He’s a blue-haired, carrot-nosed, red-eared, long-limbed lad who lives with his grouchy, alcoholic mother. Thanks to an accident I won’t describe, Courgette loses Mom and winds up at a small orphanage with five or six other misfits -- including an apparent bully named Simon, who isn’t nearly as mean as he seems. Often visited by the kindly policeman who placed him there, Courgette gradually finds his niche in this offbeat, caring community -- especially after he falls for the newest arrival, a troubled, slightly older girl named Camille.
I loved everything about this film: the quirky visuals, so painstakingly perfect that, according to IMDb, it took two years to finish this very brief feature; the kids’ confident but comical confusion about s*x (which earned the film an unusual PG-13 rating); and especially its tender kindness toward almost every character. It takes such a light and loving touch that one scarcely notices the seriousness, the depth and gravity of the issues it develops. My Life as a Zucchini is a film suffused with love, both in the way it looks and the way it feels.
Originally French, it has been dubbed into English with a new voice cast including Will Forte, Ellen Page, Nick Offerman and Amy Sedaris. This works -- but I sure wish they had also translated the tantalizing post-credit scene!
Nonetheless, film is so thoroughly miraculous, you can’t understand how it failed to score the Oscar -- except that it was up against Moana, Kubo and the Two Strings and The Red Turtle.
And the Oscar went to … Zootopia.
I guess that’s why I wrote this book.
66 min. Rated PG-13 for mild s*x talk.

17/04/2020

Your Friday under-the-radar movie suggestion (from my forthcoming, almost-done book):
THE FINEST HOURS (2016)
In February 1952, the 10,000-ton tanker-ship SS Pendleton split in half during a gale off Cape Cod.
Coast Guard coxswain Bernard Webber took a 36-foot boat into the storm and somehow, miraculously, located the stricken vessel -- without a radio or compass. He and his tiny crew then managed to transfer 33 survivors off the massive wreck -- onto a boat designed for no more than 12. And he got them home safely.
It’s the kind of tale you could scarcely believe if you didn’t know it was true, and The Finest Hours, based on Michael Tougias and Casey Sherman’s carefully researched book, recounts the adventure with gripping authenticity.
The film succeeds partly because of its first-rate production values, with a muted palette of rusty brown, cloudy white and iron gray; and the digital imagery is so seamlessly real that we’re never distracted by cheesy graphics -- especially when Webber and crew “cross the bar” in towering waves that drive them alternately into the air and completely underwater.
Despite these dramatics, the film maintains a quiet, low-key approach that greatly aids believability.
Chris Pine plays Webber as a sailor not especially confident -- and sometimes overshadowed by his onshore gal (Holliday Grainger); his commanding heroism emerges only gradually, in the face of growing danger and diminishing odds. Ben Foster also is excellent as one of Webber’s loyal crewmen.
But the movie’s strongest work comes from Casey Affleck, playing an engineer who took charge aboard the wrecked tanker and saved many lives. He too is a reluctant hero, yet one who’s determined, selfless and -- like the rest of this terrific movie -- utterly believable.
117 min. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of peril.