On this week’s episode of 3rd and Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guest is Billy Ray who most-recently wrote and directed the two-part Showtime movie, The Comey Rule.  Among his many credits, he also wrote and directed Breach and Shattered Glass, and wrote Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games State of Play, Hart’s War, Volcano and Richard Jewell, among many others.
 
I actually have a funny story about one of his films, the wonderful, though little-known Shattered Glass (based on the true story of journalist Stephen Glass who wrote a wide range of admired articles for The New Republic magazine – only to have it turn out that most were fictitious).  During the Writers Guild strike a few years ago, I arrived for my assigned time and went to sign in.  As I was eating a bagel, I overheard a few people talking about actor Peter Sarsgaard.  Because he’d been Shattered Glass – as the editor, who begins to suspect his reporter – and I loved the film so much, I decided to intrude myself into their conversation.  “Excuse me,” I said, “but I heard you talking about Peter Sarsgaard.  Have you seen the movie Shattered Glass that he’s in?  He’s so good in it, and the movie is really great.”  One of the group turned to me and said, “I wrote and directed that.”  It was, yes, Billy Ray!  I can assure you, as a screenwriter, that is about the best praise a writer can get.  And as you might imagine, he was very pleased…
 

Back around 1997, two small independent British movies were released with somewhat similar there -- a quiet English town hit with major economic troubles and layoffs, and the efforts a group takes to address those challenges.  One was a huge worldwide hit, even becoming a Broadway musical, and other did well in the U.K., but disappeared everywhere else and most people probably haven't even heard of.  I enjoyed both, though wasn't bowled over by the one that so many flocked to, but I loved the other that is unknown here.

The big hit was The Full Monty.  The other was Brassed Off.  Forget seeing it, if you even know of it, raise your hand,  Anyone??  The film had a wonderful cast, starring Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald and Pete Postlethwaite, so it's not like it didn't have actors who Americans wouldn't know of (though this was near the beginning of McGregor's career.)  It was written and directed by Mark Herman, who also wrote and directed the equally wonderful Little Voice.  (Definitely recommended with Michael Caine, Brenda Blethyn and a tour-de-force performance by Jane Horrocks, who played the ditzy 'Bubble' on Absolutely Fabulous.)  And also the farce, Blame It On the Bellboy.

As I said, the story of Brassed Off is not totally dissimilar to The Full Monty.  It's about the likely closure of the town's coal mine, which is their main sustenance.  In the center of this is the town's pride, its colliery band, which has been around for 100 years  And if the mine gets shut down, so will the band.  Its leader (played by Postlethwaite) desperately wants to keep the musicians together, at the very least to have a chance to win one final national contest.  And amid all this, Tara Fitzerald returns to town, and crosses paths with McGregor her old flame.

[UPDATE: What I meant to include, but forgot and left out mentioning is that I almost never buy movie soundtracks, maybe I've bought two or maybe three over the past 30-40 years -- and one of those is the wonderful soundtrack for "Brassed Off."]

I mention all this because I just came across my favorite scene in the film.  Oddly, it has very little to do with the plot, and is really just music.  But it's just a glorious music scene and so unexpected on several levels -- close to being a four-minute scene of just a band playing music. But what also stands out is that it's a famous guitar piece, "Concierto d'Aranjuez" by Rodrigo, arranged for, of all thngs, brass band.  And when I saw it in a theater, not only did the audience sit mesmerized, but when the scene ended, it's so beautifully played that the audience...watching a movie...burst into applause.  

The set-up is that the colliery band is and has been for 100 years all men.  And they're on the verge of breaking about.  When into their midst Tara Fitzgerald walks into the room.

It's wonderful here.  In the context of the movie, when this scene suddenly occurs -- it's rivetingly glorious.

I was going to leave it at that, but then I figured, what the heck, toss in a bonus.  So, for anyone now who might be interested in seeing the movie -- it's available on Netflix as a DVD though not for streaming -- here's the trailer.

Unfortunately, this Media Alert is only for readers here in Los Angeles, but anyone can follow-up on their own by getting the movie on Netflix or Amazon Prime.  But this is even easier for those in L.A.

Set the DVR tonight to record Fly Away Home on KCET (channel 6) at 10 PM.  And being public television, there will be no commercial interruptions.
 
It’s a loosely based on a true story about a 14-year-old girl who raises a flock of baby geese from when they hatched, and they imprint her as their mother.  When the flock is at risk of being destroyed, her dad builds a motorized glider, and she flies the geese 1,500 miles to a sanctuary with them following her.
 
It’s wonderful.  The 1996 film stars Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin, and is directed by Carroll Ballard who made The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolf.  So, you know.  In addition to being a lovely movie, it's gorgeous.
 
Record it.  You can always delete it later if you decide not to watch.  But watch it.  It’s really good.  
 

A couple years ago, in writing about Louis Armstrong and the song Hello, Dolly!" I noted how unfortunate it was that there was no video online of his great cameo appearance in the movie version of the musical.  At one point there had been, but it was taken down.  A shame, because it's one of the great surprise cameos in film.

But we now have it.  (Basically.)  O huzzah!

The "basically" is because it's not the full scene, but just his appearance only, starting a couple of seconds before before he turns around on camera.  That's okay, it's moment that counts, but seeing the complete scene leading up to makes that moment more dramatic and special, putting it in context. 

But we'll take what we get.  Because it's so wonderful and such a great treat.

(They do, however, continue the number afterwards, to bring the song to its conclusion.  So, you at least get a sense of the full production.  And one more brief look at Satchmo "conducting" from the back.)

The brief background is that Louis Armstrong's recording of Jerry Herman's song was one of the biggest singles in music history at the time.  (I believe it was the #3 top-selling single ever, when it got released in 1964.)  His Hello, Dolly! album knocked The Beatles off #1 on the Billboard charts after 14-weeks there.  When I saw him that summer at the Ravinia Music Festival, the audience reaction was so huge that he sang the song six times -- the first time through and four encores.  (Not all the way through each time, just a short encore version.)

So, it was an endearing and wonderful secret that the filmmakers had the good sense to put him in the movie, keep it a secret, and all the better found a way to make it fit naturally in the scene.  And when the reveal comes, it's just pure joy on screen and in the audience.

The set-up is that Dolly Levi (played by Barbra Streisand) is returning to the Harmonia Gardens restaurant for the first time in years.  There's a dance contest going on, as well, which she's help get two of the characters entered in, as a sub-plot point.  And when word comes that Dolly has arrived, the musical build-up ratchets to a fever pitch until she finally appears at the top of the stairs.  And then slowly walks down to the famous vamping music, and the song at last begins.  It's all very theatrical, dramatic and great fun.  And it's also near-impossible -- especially at that time -- not to think of Louis Armstrong's version of the song, despite Carol Channing originating it on Broadway, and despite Barbra Streisand singing it in the film.  The number goes on, its filmed lushly and extremely well, hitting all the high points -- directed by Gene Kelly, by the way, and choreographed by Michael Kidd.

And as the number builds, Dolly moves through the dance floor with the restaurant's band in the background (there's a dance competition there, remember...) and if you look closely you can see the bandleader from the back, leading them.  And as Dolly crosses over, he sees her, turns around and...it's Louis freaking Armstrong!  And even more naturally, the first words out of his mouth fit perfectly -- "Well, hello, Dolly!"  And all the words that follow fit perfectly, as well, to the moment.  

And his performance is exuberant.  It is just a great film moment.  For the surprise, for the build-up, for the reveal, for the performance, for the history.

Barbra Streisand is interesting in the scene.  On the one hand, she clearly is trying to compete with him on screen (and I believe channeling a bit Pearl Bailey's take on the song), and not only do you not compete with Louis Armstrong with "Hello, Dolly!", this is his moment, and his moment only.  On the other hand, she also has the good sense to let him shine and have his moment.  So, it's a fascinating contrast of competing with him and complementing him.  Overall -- it doesn't matter, it's such a great moment.  It works, joyously.

​And his wave at the end just gets me every time.  Pure happiness.

By the way, what's fun here, too, is that his line, "This is Louis, Dolly" -- that wasn't put in for the movie.  That's how it sang the song in his original recording!  It just happened to fit perfectly in the movie, as he reintroduces himself to someone who hasn't seen him in many years..

And we have a bonus.  This is Louis Armstrong and his band performing "Hello, Dolly!" live at the height of its popularity, in 1965 in Berlin.  And there's a reason I chose this version.  It's because I saw the video was listed as running 6:05, and I knew the song isn't half that long.  And indeed my guess was right --

I've had some friends skeptical over the years that Louis Armstrong actually sang the song six times back then at the Ravinia Festival, wondering if my memory over time was a little off.  But in this video, he sings the song four times -- the original and three partial encores.  So, my "six" is clearly in the same ballpark, and I stand by the figure.

What also stands out here is that it's obvious they're planning to do the encores, and hardly wait for the applause to build.  My sense is that because this is 1965, they've been performing the song for a year, and by this point they absolutely know what the audience reaction is to this beloved mega-hit.  So, rather than milk the applause and wait and wait and...they just basically cut to the chase and dive right in when they hear the big applause each time.
​

​OK, yes, it's just an ad.  But still... I mean, the wonderful Rick Moranis has been in self-imposed semi-retirement and off the big screen for 24 years!  That's 24 years.  He made the Ghostbuster films, all the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movies, Parenthood, Spaceballs, The Flintstones movies, the Little Shop of Horrors musical, SCTV and more, But he chose to raise his family, and it just went on from there.  He's done a bit of voiceover work during that period on TV and for games, though that's pretty much it.  He also reported to be finally making a movie with Josh Gad that brings back the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise, but the pandemic has put that on hold.  He's basically been off the big screen for a quarter of a century just because he chose to.  And no, this is not the big screen.  And yes, it's just an ad.  But...but still...

I guess it helps when a fellow-Canadian is a big star and a really huge fan.  And owns the company.

Plus it's charming and funny.  They did it right.

​Here's the latest movie marquee from the Laemmle Royal Fine Arts house a few blocks from me.  They change it every week with a new, sardonic movie title "Now Playing" and the next "Coming Soon."  This week's is a bit bleaker than most.

Sorry that I can't seem to get them in sharp focus as I crop the images and work with the resolution.  If you can't read this clearly (since there's also a shadow), I'll note it below.

For those this is too blurred for, it reads --

Now Playing
This is the End

Coming Soon
Good Night, and Good Luck

The other day, I recommended a movie for a friend of mine to watch with his daughter, a great HBO film called Temple Grandin,"based on a true story, which not only won seven Emmy Awards including Best Movie, but also Best Actress for Clare Danes. However, when I went to find the article I'd written here about the film so that I could send him the link, I found that I'd never written one and had only included it in a long piece back in 2015 about movie recommendations for people to catch up on.

What occurred to me, though, is that as appropriate as the article was five years ago, it's far more so today with entertainment options outside the house so limited (to next to nothing) and people looking for movies, for anything to watch.  So, I'm revisiting that article and posting it here once again.

December 30, 2015

​A friend was coming to Chicago to visit her two sisters, and asked if I had any movie rental recommendations.  That was quite a wide assignment, I said, given that I have no idea what kind of movie she liked – let alone that the three sisters together liked.  Comedy, adventure, thriller, foreign, romance, sci-fi…

I did my best putting together a list, knowing what little I did of the three, all accomplished professionals.  I figured that since the list is done, I might as well post it here.  Keep in mind that this is not even remotely a definitive Moves To See list.  It's focused on these three sisters.  Without knowing their specific tastes.  And I chose to come up with lesser-known films that they were less-likely to have seen.  And I didn't want to take too much time researching and thinking about this, so it was done pretty quickly, in about a half-hour.  I have no doubt that if I took more time and had different criteria, the list would be significantly different.  And there were others I even thought of including, but decided there was a limit, and stopped since I didn't want to inundate her with an interminable list.

So, again, this is not a definitive list in any way, shape or form.  Just something I dashed off given the limited criteria I mentioned above.  And which I thought would be fun to post here, to help end out the year, perhaps even if you're looking for something to rent on New Year's Eve.

So, here then are some random thoughts.
 

A few movies I loved that few people have seen, let alone even know about –
 
“The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.”  Julianne Moore should have won the Oscar for this, but almost no one saw the movie, and she wasn’t even nominated.  It's a brilliant performance.  Based on a memoir about the author’s indomitable mother who, in the 1950s, helped raise her large family (whenever her well-meaning, but irresponsible, often-drunk husband, played by Woody Harrelson, screwed up their lives) by regularly entering product write-in contest in the newspaper and winning so much of the time.  The full title of the book it's based on is "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio -- or How My Mother Raised 10 Kinds on 25 Words or Less."  The movie also has the single greatest ending to a true-story film I've ever seen.
 
“Proof”, based on the Tony-winning play, about a young woman determined to prove her brilliant father isn’t going crazy by trying to prove the theorem he’s spent a lifetime working on.  With Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins, co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and directed by John Madden, who directed "Shakespeare in Love" and "Mrs. Brown."
 
“Rosewater” is the movie that Jon Stewart took time off from “The Daily Show” to write and direct.  It got a tiny release, almost insignificant, but it’s really quite good.  A true story about a journalist in Iran who is arrested for supposedly dealing with an American spy, who actually was just “correspondent” from “The Daily Show.”
 
“Kon-Tiki”, a very good recent retelling of the famous documentary (and book) about an effort to prove how civilization migrating from Asia, as a group of men build a raft and attempt to sail across the Pacific Ocean.
 
Slightly Better-known Movies, but Still Under the Wire –
 
“Temple Grandin” – an HBO movie that won the Emmy for Outstanding Made-for-TV film.  Really wonderful.  A true story about a young woman with autism who confronts it head-on and ends up breaking through major stigmatisms and becomes a famous animal behaviorist. It was nominated for 15 Emmys, and won seven, including Best TV Movie, Best Actress and Best Director.  And not only did Clare Danes win Best Actress, but she beat Judi Dench and Maggie Smith!  And also Joan Allen.  Yes, she’s that good in it.
 
“Ball of Fire,” a classic screwball comedy from the ‘40s, where a gangster’s girlfriend has to hide out among a household of adorable, brilliant and totally innocent academics who spends all their time indoors researching and writing an encyclopedia.  Loosely based on “Snow White and the 7 Dwarves,” with Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper (as one of the academics).
 
Several Brilliant Foreign-language Films –
 
“Character” (or “Karakter”) – one of my favorite films of the last 25 years.  This 1997 Dutch movie was the Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Film, and it’s like a long-lost Dickens novel -- as well as a long-lost film directed by David Lean (“Dr. Zhivago,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Great Expectations, “Oliver Twist.”)  The story has the sensibility particular of "Nicholas Nickleby," telling of a young man from a poor background, trying to make his way in the business world, whose every move seems blocked by the omnipresent town elder, but who has a friendly benefactor guiding him.  A love story, too, as he also tries to discover the story of his past.
 
“La Vie en Rose” – Marion Coitillard became only the third foreign-language actress to win the Oscar as Best Actress, in the life story of singer Edith Piaf.  And though I suspect more people saw this than would have otherwise because of the award, my guess is it still hasn't been seen by many.  It's a tour-de-force performance, but a very well-done movie beside that.
 
“No Man’s Land” – Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Film, beating the hugely popular “Amelie.”  It starts out as a war movie about the Serbo-Croatian War, and then suddenly takes a huge turn with one of the great twists I’ve seen in the movies.  (So great that I’ve never told anyone the plot, not wanting to give it away.)  It’s largely a personal drama over a specific dilemma that is utterly gripping.  Since the U.N. plays a major role, probably 25% of the film is in English, making it more accessible than most foreign-language films.  I saw this at an "awards screening," and the response in the room was so visceral that when people asked me my "Oscar predictions," they were stunned that I said this (which they hadn't heard of) rather than "Amelie," which they'd seen and loved.  But I was right.  It won.
 
“Joyeux Noel,” – Oscar-nominated Best Foreign Language Film (that should have won), based on a true story in World War I, when several armies were facing each other in trenches on Christmas Eve, and they get the idea to call a one-night truce.  It’s absolutely wonderful – taught, but endearing and beautifully made.  It lost the Oscar to a South African film, "Totsi," which was good and had a Very Good Message -- but (and I know this is all personal taste) "Joyeux Noel" was just an exquisite film and a total joy..
 
“Hero” – probably the most gorgeously-photographed movie I’ve ever seen.  In fact, I was so taken with it that I wrote an article about the film (here).  It was made by famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, an artist of impressive craftsmanship, who best known to American audiences for directing the otherworldly spectacular opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.  The story is good, and interesting, albeit a bit thin, an adventure about a swordsman’s journey for retribution against a warrior, but the movie is so amazing beautiful to watch that it sucks you in with every frame..
 
“Lagaan” – another Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Film from India.  It’s VERY long (about 3-1/2 hours), and has traditional India goofiness, like big musical numbers that break out for no reason, but an extremely accessible, fun story – basically “Rocky” meets “Romeo and Juliet.”  The word “lagaan” means tax.  The film takes place when the British still ruled India, and the local tax is raised on a poor village, which they can’t pay.  But they make a bet with the British governors – if they can beat the British at cricket, there will be no tax.  If they lose, though, the tax will be tripled.  There's one slight problem – the villagers don’t know how to play cricket.  A British girl is in love with a young man from the village, so every day she sneaks over to teach them how to play.
 
And okay, that’s enough.  Other lists may vary...including my own.  But that's a quick start.
 
But here's the opening 10 minutes of "Character," co-adapted from a novel and directed by Mike van Diem.

A slight digression.  After posting the article in 2015, I got a user comment from my pal Nell Minow, who not only is a world expert on corporate governance, having even testified before Congress, but she's a movie critic with her Movie Mom website, numerous books and writing for RogerEbert.com, as well.  And she wrote -- "Great list! I'm so glad you recommended 'Ball of Fire,' in my opinion one of the wittiest films ever made, with just about every great character actor of the 40's and a swooningly romantic marriage proposal with a quote from Shakespeare."

And with that, here then is that first 10 minutes of "Character."  Followed by a bonus.

As a bonus, since it's the whole reason that started me realizing I should return to this article, here in addition is the trailer for Temple Grandin.  It's wonderful.  But then, the whole list is awfully good, too.  But then I'm biased.

​Here is the latest marquee at the Laemmle Royal art house movie theater near me.  On my morning walk the other day, this is the sign that they change every Thursday.