Among all of the films I watched, there were quite a few that made a major impact on me. I will likely revisit these movies again at some point. There were some bombs, but I will not list those.
Below, in the order that I discovered them, were the best of the best films I watched in 2022. I highly recommend each and every one. If you are looking for a movie recommendation for 2023, you cannot go wrong with any of these.
Due to the number of movies, I can not provide a detailed explanation of why I loved each one. However, to provide some additional insight, I have listed the year of release, the director, my take on the genre, and my IMDb rating.
I hope to do in-depth reviews on a few of these next year. In the meantime, if you have questions about specific movies and why I selected them, please comment below.
I will say that Ozu and Kurasawa became two of my all-time favorite directors this year. I also delved into to the directorial works of Ida Lupino. She was a film noir stars of the 1940s, but in the early 1950s, she moved into directing. She got her start when she filled in as director on a movie she was starring in when the director got ill and couldn’t finish the movie. She then formed a production company with her husband and made a number of social commentary films at a time when both female directors and social commentary films were rare. Only one of her films made the list, but she has others that are good too. They are almost all available on Youtube.
“Ikiru” has become my pick for “Greatest Movie of All Time”. Roger Ebert lists it as his #2 behind “Casablanca“. I think everyone should watch it at least once in their life.
While only “Red” from the Three Colors Trilogy made the list, all three were good movies. I would recommend watching all three.
I heard there is a sequel in the works for #26 expected to come out in 2024.
Elizabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas, The Karate Kid)
Lisa Banes (Gone Girl, A Cure for Wellness)
Gina Gershon (Bound, Showgirls)
Kelly Lynch (Drugstore Cowboy, Charlie’s Angels)
Laurence Luckinbill (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
Synopsis
Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) takes a job as a bartender while he attends business school and dreams of striking it rich. His fellow bartender Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown) teaches him the tricks of the trade and the two open up their own nightclub. One evening they meet a wealthy socialite named Coral (Gina Gershon) whom Brian begins dating. Doug bets him it won’t last and to ensure he wins, convinces Coral to sleep with him. When Coral breaks it off with Brian, he leaves and takes a job at a bar in Jamaica in hopes of saving enough to open his own bar.
It is there he meets Jordan Mooney (Elizabeth Shue) and begins seeing her. Fortuitously, Doug reenters his life, now married to a younger, wealthy woman named Kerry (Kelly Lynch) and makes Brian another bet; this time that he can’t seduce a wealthy older woman named Bonnie (Lisa Banes). Against his better judgement, Brian takes the bet and manages to win. However, not before Jordan sees him with Bonnie. The next day, Brian tries to make amends with Jordan only to learn she has returned home to New York. Not sure what to do next, he returns to home to New York with Bonnie hoping she can help advance his business career. He soon learns that will not be the case and he breaks it off with her.
He tracks down Jordan and discovers she is pregnant with his child, but she does not want him in her life. He then tracks down Doug to check in on his life to find that he is living on a yacht with Kerry. Brian soon learns Doug’s life is a mess when Kerry tries to seduce him because she is bored with Doug. After he turns her down, Brian learns Doug killed himself because he had lost all of Kerry’s money in bad investments.
Deeply affected, Brian goes back to Jordan and tries to reenter her life. She still says “no” and her dad (Laurence Luckinbill), who does not like Brian, tries to forcibly remove him from their penthouse. Brian declares his love for Jordan and tells her how he plans to use an investment from his uncle to open his own bar and he is confident in his success. Reluctantly, Jordan agrees to go with him even after her dad disowns her for it. Brian manages to open his bar and they live happily ever after.
Analysis
I found this movie at times slow and other times predictable. On the surface, it sounds like a pretty thin plot. I will admit it was fun watching a character hold a job that is not typically featured prominently in major motion pictures. Outside of that, I did not particularly enjoy this movie. I am not a Tom Cruise fan, but I was curious to see what this movie was like.
Elizabeth Shue’s performance was one of the few highlights of this movie. She was very convincing in her emotions toward Brian Flanagan, especially when he tried to put on the hard sell. At the time this movie came out, perhaps her biggest role had been in the first installment in The Karate Kid franchise just four years before this one. Just after this, she would go on to appear in Back to the Future Parts 2 and 3. This film was seven years prior to her tour-de-force in Leaving Las Vegas.
Tom Cruise was, again, not Brian Flanagan the bartender, but Tom Cruise the bartender. His performance was flat and uninspiring.
This was my first-time seeing Bryan Brown in a movie. I think he did well considering the material he had to work with. Some viewers might remember him from the tv mini-series of The Thorn Birds and ATown Like Alice, both of which came out shortly before this movie.
I found the plot device of bets between Brian and Doug to be weak. I thought it was clever as I had not seen too much of that in other movies. However, considering the far-reaching implications of the results of the bets, it seems pretty flimsy to have the entire storyline rest on a few lost bets.
I also thought the plot device of Jordan being pregnant after just being with Brian such a short time to be too predictable and trite.
Perhaps I missed something when I was watching it, but the motivation for Brian to move to Jamaica after he leaves the bar with Doug seems a bit random. Could he not go to another bar in New York or another American city? I like that we got to see the exotic location, but there did not appear to be a clear reason for Brian to go there of all places.
Overall, I found this film entertaining, but dry at times (no pun intended). I would not recommend this film unless you are a Tom Cruise fan. If you are just curious about bar life in the 80s like I was, save yourself the nearly two hours and just watch reruns of Cheers.
Notes
The style of bartending Brian and Doug perform is called “flair bartending”.
The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Heywood Gould. The story is based on his own experiences as a bartender in the 70s and early 80s.
The ingredients in Doug’s “Red Eye” cocktail are 1 oz. vodka, 6 oz. tomato juice, top off with beer, and crack an egg over top.
On the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, there is a real multi-story bar named “Cocktails and Dreams” after the bar from the movie.
This movie won the Razzie for both “Worst Picture” and “Worst Screenplay”.
This film is famous for its inclusion of the Beach Boys’ hit “Kokomo”.
Trailer
NOTE: My research and notes come from IMDb and Wikipedia
Computer programmer Angela Bennet (Sandra Bullock) works remotely as a systems analyst for a software company. One day, a friend she only knows from the internet sends her a program to debug. She discovers information on the disk she was not meant to see. Afterwards, her world turns upside down as her life is torn apart and her friends are attacked or killed. She is forced to go on the run to try and figure out what is going on before her pursuers put an end to her. In this fast-paced game of cat and mouse, who will win?
Analysis
My biggest issue with this film is one that it has no ability to correct. That, of course, is the antiquity of the technology displayed in the movie. Since this is from the mid-90s, dial-up internet and modems were still in regular usage. Since we are so used to high-speed internet and smart phones now, it is sort of hard to watch a film where the audience has to be convinced that their primitive tech is actually cutting edge and hip. I understand that when this film was made, the computers used were top of the line. However, there is probably more computing power in your smart phone than in Angela’s set up. If you can look past that, then this is a highly entertaining techno-thriller.
The cinematography was great and it gave a really nice “West-Coast vibe”. When combined with the effective use of lighting, the film had a really pleasant, edgy mood to it.
I did find the plot a little confusing at times and some of the plot devices seemed a little implausible (particularly when she is with Jack Devlin (Jeremy Northam) in Mexico and when her friend Dr. Alan Champion (Dennis Miller) is killed. Despite that, I did still enjoy this film. I liked the pacing and I especially loved that it traveled from Southern California to Mexico to San Francisco. This movie made good use of the locations.
I enjoyed watching the use of Instant Messenger in this film. I had long forgotten about that communication tool and it was nice to reminisce. I was surprised to discover Angela use tech shorthand such as “IRL” in the instant messages. I did not think those came about until the mid-2000s. However, Angela and the man she is messaging are both techies, so it would be plausible they would be at the forefront of the latest developments in tech at the time and perhaps those terms did exist at that time but only in the tech space.
While it is just a small plot device for the movie, I do enjoy the fact that Angela is a remote worker. In the mid-90s, that feels pretty modern for its time. Writing this review in 2022 when remote work is a hot topic among companies, it is neat to see this represented so long ago. Although it is not entirely without precedent. I once read an article that said IBM had been employing remote workers since the early 1980s, so by the mid-90s that would have been entirely doable. On a related note, there was another technothriller involving a remote worker that came out in 2021 called Kimi. I have seen that film and found it very entertaining. I would recommend that if you like this movie.
I am a fan of techno-thrillers or really any film or tv show involving computer tech from the 80s and 90s. If you are too, I highly recommend the tv show Halt and Catch Fire. It is a drama centered around tech workers from the early 80s to the mid-90s and features an in-depth look at the tech scene and the early internet during that time.
Notes
The writers of this film also wrote the thriller The Game starring Michael Douglas. I have seen that film and it is extremely exciting. Directed by David Fincher, it will have audiences guessing until the last second. I would recommend that film.
Angela’s main computer in this film is a PowerMac 8100/80 running MacOS 7. While primitive by today’s standards, it was cutting edge for its day.
The computer convention scenes were filmed at the 1994 MacWorld Expo.
Trailer
NOTE: My research and notes come from IMDb and Wikipedia
James Caan (The Godfather The Godfather pt. 2, Elf)
Jim Belushi (Red Heat, Saturday Night Live)
Willie Nelson
Tuesday Weld (Once Upon a Time in America, Falling Down)
Robert Prosky (Broadcast News, The Natural)
John Santucci
Dennis Farina (Get Shorty,Manhunter)
Synopsis
Frank (James Caan) is a professional safecracker with a specialty for high-profile jobs. His dream is to break out of the criminal life and go straight, including owning a home, getting married, and raising a family. While he makes good money at his job, he wants out as soon as possible. To help with this, he agrees to take on a large heist for a notorious gangster (Robert Prosky). He decides it will be his last job before he gets out. However, the gangster has other plans. He is impressed with Frank’s skills and desires to use Frank for a string of high-profile jobs. Who will win?
Analysis
I found this film to be a gripping thriller that never slowed down. From the opening scene straight through to the end, the film never lost its momentum. The acting was excellent, the cinematography was superb and the soundtrack was spot on. I have never been disappointed by a Michael Mann production and this is no exception. It would only be a few years later that Mann would go on to work on Miami Vice. This film, to me, felt sort of like a trial run of that production. Fans of thrillers, action films, crime films, or Michael Mann will thoroughly enjoy this film.
James Caan, best known for his roles in The Godfather and Misery, does not disappoint. From the opening scene, Caan brings a steely confidence of a man who knows he’s in total control. Even as things change and the control over his life is threatened, he remains sure of himself. One of the reasons this movie is so suspenseful is that is deals with the clash between two alpha males; Caan and Prosky. Each is in control of their own domain, but once Prosky tries to challenge Caan’s sense of security, they are at each other’s throats through the rest of the movie.
Willie Nelson’s role in this film is small, but important to the plot. By 1981, he had only acted in two movies (The Electric Horseman (1979) Honeysuckle Rose (1980)) and an episode of The Rockford Files (1974-1980). Nelson would work with Mann again in an episode of Miami Vice.
I am not usually a Jim Belushi fan, but I did like him in this role. This is very early in his career.
The soundtrack, which helps take this movie from an average thriller to a gripping thrill ride, is provided by electronic artist Tangerine Dream. At this time, electronic music was still relatively new. The music really boosts the film’s atmosphere similar to Miami Vice. Considering this movie was made in 1981, it served as a great preview of what was to come later in the decade of the 80s. You can listen to the soundtrack here.
The cinematography is reminiscent of film noir. A lot of scenes take place at night and the use of shadows and artificial lights really sets the mood and adds to the intensity. A climactic scene at Frank’s car lot is especially powerful for its use of lighting.
Notes
Mann would later go on to executive produce Miami Vice (1984-1990) and direct Manhunter (1986) and Heat (1995) among many other works.
This film is based on the novel “The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar” (1975) by Frank Hohimer.
The was the film debut of Robert Prosky, Jim Belushi, Dennis Farina, and William Petersen (Manhunter, To Live and Die in LA, CSI).
While producing this movie, Mann relied on an array of real-life police officers and criminals to serve as technical advisors. Notably, Dennis Farina and Nick Nickeas, former Chicago police officers, played criminal henchmen, while John Santucci, a recently paroled jewel thief, played a corrupt police officer. Farina and Santucci would later go on to star in episodes of Miami Vice.
Trailer
NOTE: My research and notes come from IMDb and Wikipedia
Daniel Dae Kim (The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Lost)
Shamier Anderson (Race, Invasion)
Synopsis
Three astronauts (Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette, and Daniel Dae Kim) are in orbit, on their way to a two-year mission to Mars. However, shortly after take-off, they discover a stowaway (Shamier Anderson) aboard their ship. Their supplies and life-support system was only designed for three people. Someone will not be able to complete the mission. But who? How will they decide?
Analysis
Technically this movie is very simple. With a small cast and a largely static set, the film allows viewers to dive into the interpersonal interactions between the astronauts and the stowaway. It is an interesting examination of the human condition forcing people to grapple with the most basic questions about who they really are and what they really believe. This film demands the viewer ask themselves “what would I do if I was in this situation?”
The cinematography and editing are particularly good as the viewer feels like they are actually on the spaceship. The visual effects are also high quality. There are several scenes when the astronauts have to engage in a spacewalk and the exterior of the ship and the space around them appear lifelike. Music is largely non-existent, lending a darker and more realistic feel to the film.
To those who look at this and think “Anna Kendrick in space? Seriously?” Give it a chance. It works. While she is largely known for lighter, more comedic roles, she demonstrates she has what it takes to be a more serious actor. This was also evident in her films A Simple Favor, Up in the Air, and The Accountant.
All the actors deliver solid performances, but Collette in particular shines as the commander of the space mission. She is the one faced with balancing the demands of mission control with the concerns of her crew, the appeals of the stowaway and the scientific facts of their situation. In the end, she is the one who has to make the tough call.
Anderson, who plays the Stowaway, is equally good. His reasoning for stowing away feels genuine and the audience can sympathize with him. It is easy to feel anger toward the interloper as the audience has already invested in the three astronauts and now here comes someone to put them all in jeopardy. However, throughout the film, you’ll find your sympathies shifting.
Kim’s performance as the ship’s biologist is moving. As a scientist who greatly values human life, he is deeply conflicted by the situation. While he would like for everyone to survive, he understands a sacrifice has to be made for the greater good. However, as the events on board drag on and start to impact his research, he begins to have a change of heart and his relationships with his crewmembers become strained. Kim does a great job showing both sides of his character.
There are times when the film seems to drag on. At 116 minutes long, I felt it could have been closer to 90 and still held up. The ending does make the wait worthwhile. If you find the film dragging and consider turning it off, I recommend powering through it to see the ending.
Notes
For those who want to actually experience what it was like to be on this spaceship, the Bavaria Filmstadt tour in Munich, Germany has the set available as part of its tour.
Below are my highest rated movies and tv shows that I watched in 2021. Note that these are all *new to me* so many of them did not come out in 2020 or 2021.
This list is based on my IMDB ratings. I recommend each one for viewing. My ratings were based on overall satisfaction with the movie, writing, directing, cinematography, pacing, continuity, soundtrack, and casting.
“The Founder” is the story of how McDonalds, the iconic fast food chain, came in to being. It’s the story of how Ray Kroc build an empire from humble beginnings. More importantly though, it is the story of two brothers, The McDonald brothers, who opened a restaurant called McDonalds in California and how Kroc took advantage of them and built his fast food empire on their backs.
When one thinks about the founding of McDonalds, usually, one name comes to mind: Ray Kroc. It seems to have become common knowledge that he founded McDonalds. However, that statement is not entirely accurate. The McDonald brothers are the true founders of McDonalds.
The film starts out showing Kroc (Michael Keaton) as a struggling milkshake mixer salesman. It is implied he has run the gamut of the sales world, selling a variety of products over the years. One day, he gets a message that a restaurant in California wants to buy six mixers. He thinks it is a mistake, so he contacts the restaurant only to find out they actual want eight mixers instead of six. Perplexed by how one restaurant would need so many mixers, he takes a trip out to California to see the restaurant for himself. It turns out the restaurant is McDonalds, a small burger stand started by brothers Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick (Nick Offerman) McDonald. Kroc eats at the restaurant and later takes a tour of the operation. He is so impressed he takes the brothers out to dinner where he asks to hear their story. He learns they had moved west to pursue a career in Hollywood, but, hit by the Great Depression, opened a hot dog stand. From there, they gradually expanded until they had changed the traditional car park diner model into their current model, one without car hops, where people had to get out of their car to place their order and get the food. The interior of the restaurant was specially designed to eliminate wasted energy to enable the restaurant to produce and deliver the food in 30 seconds or less. The model proved to be successful and the small operation was making money hand over fist.
Kroc decides his best chance to get away from his struggling sales career is to get in on this operation. After sleeping on it, he decides the brothers should franchise. He meets with them the next day, but finds out they have already tried that unsuccessfully. Lack of quality control led the franchises to differ too much from the original restaurant. Kroc says he can do better. The brothers turn him down, and Kroc returns to his traveling salesman gig. Before he leaves, he sees an artists rendering of a restaurant with golden arches on the wall of the the brother’s office. He learns Dick McDonald had come up with the concept to make the restaurant stand out. Only one restaurant currently used the design. Kroc files that away in his mind before returning to work. While on the road, he notices each town he travels to has a church with a cross and a courthouse with an American flag, symbols representing ideals that are important to society. He decides the golden arches should join the cross and flag as a symbol for family. He returns to California to pitch the brothers of his new revelation. After a long talk, they reluctantly agree to bring him on. They draw up a contract and Kroc is on his way. Kroc returns to his home in the Midwest and immediately gets to work.
Once Ray secures a bank loan by mortgaging his house, he opens a restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. Using that as a model, he pitches the idea of franchising to his wealthy friends at the country club he belongs to. Once his wealthy friends show a lack of interest in maintaining McDonald’s standards however, he abandons them and decides to turn his attention on middle class families. As he continues to rapidly expand the restaurant, the brothers become ever more dismayed. They never set out to make huge profits or a nationally known brand. They just want to run their business and live a comfortable life.
Kroc becomes irritated with always having to going through the McDonald brothers to make decisions. He feels they are holding him back. As he continues his conquest to expand the brand, he eventually meets Harry Sonneborn (B.J. Novak), a financial consultant who points out that Kroc doesn’t need to listen to the brothers anymore. He says if Kroc buys the land on which the restaurants sit, he can call the shots because the brothers control what goes on inside the restaurant, but outside, it can be up to Kroc. This enables him to expand even faster. He also meets Joan Smith (Linda Cardellini), the wife of a franchisee. She gives him the cost-cutting idea of using instant milkshake powder to make milkshakes instead of using real ice-cream. When the brothers learn of this idea, they are outraged. It goes against their high quality standards, but Kroc doesn’t care. He shoves his newly found freedom in their faces, by calling the Des Plaines restaurant “McDonalds #1” and he lists himself as “founder” on the business card he creates to advertise his newly created “McDonalds Corporation”. His blatant breach of contract combined with their list of other concerns, causes their tensions with Kroc to hit a boiling point.
The original McDonalds stand in California.
The brothers McDonald (L: As depicted in the movie R: In real life)
The real Ray Kroc
The viewer quickly finds out how ruthless and cut-through Ray Kroc is. He is willing to throw the McDonalds brothers under the bus so he can effectively steal their company and use it to build an empire. At the end of the day, sadly, he is successful in that the brothers are forgotten while Kroc and his empire are known all over the globe. What is really despicable, at one point, Ray opens a McDonalds directly across the street from the McDonald brother’s restaurant, now called “The Big M” since they lost the rights to “McDonalds” after Kroc buys their brand from them, and puts them out of business. The brothers lost all their hard work to one man’s greed. Love him or hate him, Kroc fulfilled his goal of making millions, but at what cost? At the very least, this film will give you a new appreciation for McDonalds.
Towards the end of the movie, Dick McDonald asks Kroc why he didn’t just use their business model to open his own restaurant. Kroc explains all he was really after was the name “McDonalds” because it has a catchy ring to it that “Kroc” doesn’t.
The film is directed by John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks, The Blind Side). It is well acted; Keaton does a great job of bringing Kroc to life. The film keeps an even pace, it doesn’t get hung up anywhere. Overall, set designs are good, the McDonalds restaurants depicted in the movie look very real and believable.
It may not be the greatest movie ever made, but it covers an important topic. Everyone who has eaten at a McDonalds, which is probably just about everyone, should see this movie as a subtle way to acknowledge the McDonalds brothers and give them their well deserved due.
Local connection: During the movie, the Dayton, Ohio location is shown (not the real one, but a set built for the movie of a restaurant with the overlay of “Dayton, OH”. Also, during one scene where Kroc is pitching the restaurant to potential franchisees, Dayton is specifically mentioned by Kroc as one of the locations he has a restaurant.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, two of Hollywood’s hottest stars at the moment, star in an innocent movie following the lives of jazz pianist Sebastian (Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Stone). Early in the film, they cross paths, but it is not until later, when Mia, down on her luck and feeling sorry for herself, happens upon Sebastian at a low point in his career. She takes an interest in him and when she runs in to him at a party a few months later, she makes a move to get to know him. They hit it off and after the party, on their way back to their cars, they engage in the dancing sequence that is one of the highlights of the film. As their lives continue to intersect, they decide to run with it and strike up a friendship.
Mia as it turns out is not a fan of jazz music, referencing artists like Kenny G as her reason. Sebastian points out there is much more to jazz than Kenny G, such as Charlie Parker and other masters of classic West Coast Jazz. To illustrate his point, he takes her to a jazz club where a band plays more traditional jazz. After that, their friendship progresses into a dating relationship after Mia abandons her current boyfriend on a date so that she can attend a showing of “Rebel Without a Cause” with Sebastian. From there, they move in together and Sebastian continues to pursue his dream of opening his own jazz club, which he plans to name “Chicken on a Stick” after Charlie Parker. Mia meanwhile continues to work at a coffee shop and audition for any part she can find.
To fund his dream, Sebastian joins his friend Keith’s (John Legend) jazz band. They cut an album and begin a big, nation-wide tour. This creates tension between Mia and Sebastian as Mia questions his motives for joining the band. Blind to his intentions to use the money from the band for his jazz club, she points out that the style of jazz Keith’s band plays, which is modern and progressive, goes against the traditionalist style Sebastian prefers. Unsatisfied with Sebastian’s explanations and displeased by his long absences from her life, she grows frustrated and a rift is created between them. This at the same time as Mia decides the only way she is going to get a starring role is to write her own stage play. After lots of hard work, her “one woman play” is green lit for a one-night-only performance. Thanks to a mandatory photo shoot with Keith’s band, Sebastian misses her show, furthering the rift in their relationship.
Following her poorly attended show, Mia decides she can’t take it anymore. Her dream of being a big Hollywood movie star has completely blown up in her face. Leaving Sebastian behind, she retreats to the safety of her parent’s home in Nevada to figure out the next chapter in her life. However, Sebastian, who has worked so hard and swallowed his pride on numerous occasions to pursue his dream, won’t allow Mia to let pride get in the way and give up that easily.
Be aware, the ending packs a powerful punch.
This film is more song than dance, but it is still a worthwhile musical. While there is not as much dancing as the trailer would lead one to believe, it is still a nice change of pace from other contemporary movies. This may be as close as we will get to a classic Gene Kelly musical.
Damien Chazelle, who wrote and directed “Whiplash“, another great film for jazz fans (it was nominated for Best Picture in 2014), also directed this film . The soundtrack for La La Land, another highlight of the film, is very jazzy, with Sebastian’s song “City of Stars” standing out as a hit.
It’s rare, but refreshing, to hear the names Chick Webb, Count Basie, and Charlie Parker in modern media. As a fan of classic cinema, especially “Rebel Without a Cause” and West Coast Jazz, particularly Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Hank Mobley, and Dave Brubeck, this author could relate to Sebastian. I found it exhilarating to see a character in a contemporary movie appreciate the classics. I am hopeful that this will lead to more movies referencing older media and giving it new life so that a newer audience can come to discover and appreciate the old masters.
Further Reading
If you have seen La La Land and are looking for other jazz-related movies, this author recommends “Young Man with a Horn“, a hit from 1950 starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, and famed jazz pianist Hoagy Carmichael. While that film doesn’t feature any dancing, it does follow the life of a jazz musician who closely resembles Bix Beiderbecke who, like Sebastian, has his shares of ups and downs while pursuing his dream. Harry James is also featured via his trumpet, which is used to overlay that of main character Rick Martin (Douglas).
A highly unusual program gives senior citizen Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) the opportunity to work as an intern in a chic, modern NYC startup. The office is filled with 20-somethings, putting Ben completely out of place.
Throughout his time with the company, Ben takes his age and life experience, which would be a disadvantage in a fast-paced, digital environment and uses it to help the struggling 20-somethings with life problems. Among other things, he teaches them the importance of calling someone instead of just emailing or texting them, why you should always carry a handkerchief in your pocket, and why there is value in dressing nice even if the dress code says you don’t have to.
Ben is assigned to be a personal intern to the founder and CEO of the startup, Jules Ostin (Anne Hathway). At first, she is indifferent toward Ben. She feels she doesn’t need an intern, let alone an old man, getting in her way. However, when she is faced with the possibility of being ousted as CEO due to her lack of experience, she sees an opportunity. She begins to keep Ben around and include him in her business and picks up advice from his 40 years of business experience. Over time, she finds Ben’s grandfatherly influence helping her the way it helped her employees. She gradually becomes friends with him and decides to keep him around not just because she feels she can benefit from his experience, but because she enjoys his company. When she burns the midnight oil, as she often does, she discovers it is nice to have someone else around to talk to. Even with all his experience, Ben also learns a thing or two from Jules and the other employees about the digital life. At one point, Jules helps him set up his own Facebook page.
This is a nice, feel good movie, which will keep audiences engaged from start to finish. It is not a predictable cookie-cutter movie. There are twists and turns and surprises along the way to keep things fresh. The character development is well done, the relationships between the characters feel natural and believable. At the beginning of the movie, Jules comes across as a stereotypical, too-busy-to-care millennial, but by the end, she has substance and does in fact care about the people around her.
While this is drastically different from his roles in The Deer Hunter, Once Upon a Time in America, and Raging Bull, fans of Robert De Niro will enjoy this film. De Niro is one of those actors who ages well and adapts to whatever role he is given. As usual, Anne Hathaway is delightful and shows just how talented she is. Zack Pearlman provides comic relief as a clueless intern who learns a lot about adult life from De Niro’s Whittaker. Anyone with experience working as an intern will certainly find this movie relatable.
The take away lesson is that no matter how old and experienced you are or how important your job title is, there is still much to learn about life. We are all still learning and figuring things out. Nobody has it entirely figured out.
Today I bring you a special edition of Reeling Reviews. I recently finished watching all of the movies which have ever won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A friend recommended I rank them and share those rankings on here, so without further ado, here are my rankings of the Best Pictures. NOTE: I will continue to update this list each time a new Best Picture is announced, so bookmark this page and check back each year to see how I ranked the latest film.
Criteria: I took several things in to account when ranking the films. 1. How much did I enjoy the movie? 2. How likely am I to rewatch it? 3. Was there anything (quotes, scenes, soundtrack, etc.) that stood out and left an impression with me? 4. Acting, cinematography, directing, etc.
Gladiator (2000)
Rocky (1976)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Unforgiven (1992)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
The Godfather (1972)
Forrest Gump (1994)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Casablanca (1942)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Annie Hall (1977)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Amadeus (1984)
Ordinary People (1980)
The Artist (2011)
Argo (2012)
American Beauty (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Patton (1970)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
You Can’t Take it With You (1938)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Rebecca (1940)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Hamlet (1948)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Platoon (1986)
The Sting (1973)
The French Connection (1971)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Out of Africa (1985)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Departed (2006)
The King’s Speech (2010)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Gigi (1958)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Apartment (1960)
Cimarron (1931)
Grand Hotel (1932)
All the King’s Men (1949)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Going My Way (1944)
All About Eve (1950)
An American in Paris (1951)
Chicago (2003)
Marty (1955)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
West Side Story (1961)
Wings (1927)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Gandhi (1982)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Spotlight (2015)
Rain Man (1988)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Cavalcade (1933)
Braveheart (1995)
The English Patient (1996)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Crash (2004)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Reeling Reviews 