“Don’t be pessimistic.  It’s not your style.” -Melvin Udall.

As Good As It Gets is an Oscar winning movie that is the next film in the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. It features another character whose life is all about social distancing.

Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) is a famous recluse author with obsessive compulsive disorder and plenty of bigoted tendencies.  When his gay neighbor Simon (Greg Kinnear) gets beaten up, Melvin had to dog sit and forms a connection with the dog.  Meanwhile, Melvin’s OCD insists that he is served breakfast by the same waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt) and when he son becomes sick, her absence drives Melvin to do some uncharacteristic things.

I really like this movie.  I find it really charming and it has a ton of heart.  Nicholson and Kinnear are amazing and their developing relationship is one of the film’s best parts.  The writing is extremely smart and witty.  There are a lot of great things in As Good As It Gets.

There is one problem with the movie is the relationship between Melvin and Carol.  In the end, they wind up together, but I just cannot see why she would agree to enter a relationship with him.  Yes, he helped her son, but that is not the basis for a long term relationship.  He is such a rotten person, and, yes, he has troubles, but I find it hard to accept that he would make as much of a change as the movie implies.   I also kept thinking about the age difference between these two. I think it was meant to be closer than what it actually was, but I could not get it out of my mind.

If you can get past that, there is a whole lot to love in this movie.

“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” -Norma Desmond.

One of the most iconic quotes in the history of movie making can be found in Billy Wilder’s all-time classic Sunset Boulevard, the next film on the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon.

This is another iconic movie that I had never seen before, but know a little about.  Obviously, I was aware, as any cinephile is, about the scene that ends the movie with aging actress Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) descending her staircase through a throng of people.  I had little to no context for the scene, I just knew it existed.

Sunset Boulevard tells the tragic story of struggling writer Joe Gillis (William Holden), who accidentally comes across Norma’s run-down mansion one day, starting up a relationship with the starlet as a companion.  Norma is desperate to make a return to the big screen and has Joe work on a script that she had written.

Norma’s mental status was questionable as she seemed delusional at times and had been shown as suicidal as well.  She was happy with the relationship with Joe and with the chance of her script being directed by Cecil B. DeMille, a director she had worked with in her heyday.

The movie was wonderful.  There was dark humor, depressing moods, and plenty of drama.  It was very similar to the noir films, as we hear Joe’s voice over as the movie progressed.   The film grabbed me immediately with a body floating in the pool, which I had not expected.  It then took a flashback to tell how the story had gotten to this point.  I was fully enthralled from the very beginning.

There were a bunch of cameos from famous people playing themselves, including Cecil B. DeMille, gossip columnist Hedda Hooper, actor Buster Keaton, Anna Q, and H.B. Warner.

Sunset Boulevard is one of the best films about Hollywood ever made and presents the negatives toward the lifestyle even more than the positives.  Norma Desmond was driven mad by her longing for the screen and her life was filled with excesses and money that simple could not fill the hole in her heart.  She desperately tried to hold on to love and the idolization that she had lost and brazenly ignored the realities facing her.

“No one leaves a star. That’s what makes one a star.” Norma Desmond, a character practicing social distancing for a whole different reason.

I have watched my second Alfred Hitchcock film of the day for the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon.  The latest film of Hitchcock that I watched was called Stage Fright.

Another great murder mystery from the Master of Suspense, and another movie that I had not seen before.

In Stage Fright, a struggling actress named Eve (Jane Wyman) tries to help Jonathan (Richard Todd), a friend who had been accused of murdering the husband of a famous actress named Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich).  Jonathan was on the run from the police and wound up getting assistance from Eve and her father (Alastair Sim).

Jonathan claimed that Charlotte had committed the crime and was framing him for the murder.  Eve agreed to help by investigating herself, but after meeting the detective in charge of the case, Inspector Wilford Smith (Michael Wilding), she fell in love for real.

There are several twists in the story as the film progressed.  Some of the story felt a tad implausible, but the acting was solid.  In particular, Marlene Dietrich was the top level diva/femme fatale in the movie.  There is an iciness about her that really makes you believe that she was a cold-blooded murderer.

Jane Wyman is wonderful as the in-over-her-head Eve.  She created a character that was easy to root for, appearing naive, yet strong enough to be believable.  And you feel for Inspector Smith as he is getting the wool pulled over his eyes, which should not happen to the led detective in a murder case.

Meanwhile, the bumbling of Alastair Sim, best known for his role as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, brings a dark humor to the situation.

The film looks fantastic, shot in black and white.  The imagery of the film creates the mood beautifully, helping to continue the feeling of dread that lingers with the audience.  It builds the suspense and the uncertainty of what is happening throughout the movie.

The ending was well done and helped punctuate a solid film.  This is another top notch Hitchcock movie.  Wyman and Dietrich the clear standouts in the well done thriller.

It is Sunday morning on Day Three of the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon (how long will it go???) and it is time for a little Alfred Hitchcock.

The Man Who Knew Too Much was a remake of a previous film by Alfred Hitchcock, a thriller involving an assassination attempt on a Prime Minister.

Dr, Benjamin McKenna (James Stewart), his wife Jo (Doris Day) and their son Hank (Christopher Olson) were on a trip through Europe and Africa, ending up in Marrakesh.  The couple accidentally wound up in the middle of an international assassination plot which led to their son being kidnapped to keep them quiet.

There were a lot of tense moments in the movie and James Stewart and Doris Day were fantastic.  I have not seen the original Hitchcock version from 1934, but this one is very strong.

I especially enjoyed the strength of Jo in the movie.  In a time when women were seen as secondary characters, Doris Day provided a strength to her that was uncommon.  Sure, she had some of the typical “female” tropes of the time, but she also was right in the middle of the plot, coming up with some vitally important information and was central in the storyline.

Plus, she could sing.  I had no idea that this is where the song “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” was from. It won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song.  Songs like that just seem to be forever songs and to see where it came from was amazing.

Hitchcock is the master of suspense and he pulls plenty of it in this film.  The villainous pair that kidnap Hank did a great job as the antagonists here.  Played by Bernard Miles and Brenda de Banzie, the Draytons were impressive as the villains.

The third act of the film was filled with tension and excitement.  It picked up the film that had started to slag a tad.  This is a longer version than the 1934 one and you can feel it.  The 1956 version could probably have trimmed 10-15 minutes off and it would have been more taut.

Still, this was another classic from Hitchcock.  I have been quite the fan of his work and the performances of Stewart and Day carry the film.

A Disney animated film became the next watch in the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon.  This was another film that I had not seen before, though I am aware of it.

The Sword in the Stone is the story of Arthur and his ascent to the throne of England as the one, true king.  In order to do so, young, scrawny Arthur had to pull the sword Excalibur from the stone, despite the fact that no one else could do it.

In this story, Merlin (Karl Swenson) is involved in training Arthur, also called Wart (Rickie Sorenson), and he does it by changing the boy into several different animal forms.  Then they go about their adventures getting in trouble.

This Disney film’s animation looked like it was from the 1960’s for sure.  It looked like any typical cartoon from the time.

The songs are, at best, okay and the film is pretty forgettable. I believe that there is a reason why this one was a Disney film that I had not seen before.

The Sword in the Stone had some moments, but it feels like one of the lower level Disney fares available on Disney +.

Honestly, the whole squirrel stuff was a tad disturbing….

I chose to continue the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon with a movie that I had not seen before.  It was a film that I know caused quite a bit of division among movie fans.  It was Speed Racer.  I heard many people state that they hated this movie and others who thought it was great.  The movie had 40% on Rotten Tomatoes for the critics and the audience score was 60%.  That tells me that everyone was split on this film.

I have to say that I fell on the positive side of the argument.  I was surprised at what I saw and I found myself entertained.

Was it the best movie I have ever seen?  Hardly.  But it was nowhere near as bad as I head heard either.

The early part of the movie had a ton of expedition because it was necessary to set up the world of racing that was on display here.  The story here was not the standout part of this movie.  The story itself was quite predictable.

What was standout in this film was the colorful visuals and storytelling tricks they used throughout the movie.  I am sure that this was what was the most divisible aspect of the film.  If you liked the colors and the candy-coated visuals, you probably wound up enjoying Speed Racer.  If it bothered you, you probably gave up on it pretty early.

I found it very intriguing and visually stimulating.  Now, there may have been too much of it, but that is the fact that this movie was too long.  Two hours and fifteen minutes was excessive in a movie that probably should have run no more than 100-110 minutes.  With so much on the assault for your senses, less of it would have improved it.

Another thing that pulled me out of the movie was not the fault of the movie.  It was the fact that Racer X was being played by Matthew Fox and he always makes me think of LOST and Jack Shephard.  There was a scene where the character Taejo Togokahn (played by an actor named Rain) said to Racer X, “Do not tell me what I can’t do” and all I could think of was…”I wonder if Matthew Fox was having John Locke flashbacks with that line of dialogue as I was?”  There was also Dogan from LOST, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, appearing in the film as Mr. Musha.  With all of these LOST tie-ins, I had a difficult time staying focused.  Again, that is my fault, not the film, but I’m just saying.

The film was distinctly Anime, with some imagery directly from the genre.  The colors and lines are taken straight from the style.  There was a ton of style involved in this movie.  Substance was sketchy at times.

Such as the villains.  None of the bad guys in this movie were more than your typical mustache twirlers.  I have not done a lot of reading of Anime and that might be a genre type, but they were pretty weak for this type of movie.

In the end, I thought this was going to be a movie that I hated, but it turned out to be an enjoyable time.  Too long? Yes.  Predictable?  Sure.  It had enough positives for my low expectations to be exceeded.

Next up on the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon today is a 1980’s classic from director John Hughes, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, starring Matthew Broderick.

This was a beloved movie for me when I first saw it, but I decided that I would look at it in a different way this time.  I have heard a theory that has been going around the internet that Ferris Bueller was, in actuality, not real, that he was imagined by his friend, Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck).

This is a fascinating theory for this movie and it, surprisingly, fits very well.  I should state that I do not believe that, when John Hughes was writing and creating Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he had this idea in his head.  However, it is one that really works well.

The idea that Cameron is the main protagonist of this movie and is the person who is always down on himself, lacking any warm or care from his parents, makes a lot of sense.  Cameron is the only character that goes through any significant growth during the film.  Ferris starts in one place and ends in that exact space, literally.  Usually there is conflict among the protagonist which leads to growth.  That only exists for Cameron.

Could Cameron be imagining this entire film as he lays in bed sick?  Could he be going through all the activities on his own after stealing his father’s car?

To Cameron, Ferris is the perfect person.  He is the person he wishes he could be.  Sloane (Mia Sara) could be the girl that he has always had a crush on.  Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), who goes to cartoonish lengths to try and catch Ferris, can represent the desire for Cameron to get caught.

It also explains the mystical power that Ferris Bueller seems to have.  Cameron even says in the film that “Ferris can do anything.”  Ferris can lip sync Beatles songs, talk his way in fancy Chicago restaurants and have the entire community rally to his side, attempting to “Save Ferris.”  Much of this movie feels like a dream and fits into the idea that Cameron is inventing this all in his mind.

Ferris’s way to break the fourth wall when talking to the camera can be taken as Cameron’s internal monologue talking to the audience.

This theory definitely allows you to view Ferris Bueller’s Day off in an alternate manner.  Even if you do not subscribe to this theory, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an ultimate classic that in undoubtedly entertaining and so much fun.

The first film on the Saturday Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon is a movie that I had not seen in quite awhile and one that I really liked.  Will it hold up?

Dustin Hoffman played an actor who dresses as a woman to join a soap opera in the classic film, Tootsie.

As a fan of soap operas through most of my life, Tootsie checked that box for me.  The performance of Dustin Hoffman is fantastic as he created a real and fascinating woman in Dorothy along with his male character Michael.

The story between Michael/Dorothy and Julie (Jessica Lange), the actress on the soap that Michael fell for, is one of the sweetest parts of the film.  Julie’s father (Charles Durning) adds a nice level of ironic comedy.  There are some great supporting performances from top notch actors including Bill Murray, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Geena Davis, George Gaynes and Lynn Thigpen.

I do think that the one spot of the movie that is lacking was how easily it seemed that Michael took up being a woman.  I would have liked to see some more problems with the transformation besides a rare stumble with his women’s shoes.

The rest of the film is just wonderful.  The way the film looks at the differences between men and women and how they are treated differently in the world of entertainment.

The message of female empowerment is every bit as relevant today as it ever was before.  Michael was not the best person and he learned how to be a better man by being a woman.

The second film of the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon and the final film this Friday night is A Hard Day’s Night, from the Beatles.

This is a simple story of the four lads from Liverpool and their attempt to survive two “normal” days as the Beatles, capping off with a live performance on TV.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr play cartoonish versions of themselves, chasing around a train, the city, chased by the police and in search of Paul’s mischievous granddad (Wilfrid Brambell).

The Beatles show off their remarkable charisma and humor in the movie, which, of course, comes alive when the Beatles’ music plays.

As a Beatles fan, this was a lot of fun.  It was lightweight as a movie, but the movie makes up for any problem with the script.  No one was coming in to this for an Oscar winner (though it was nominated).  It was a real look at Beatlemania and maybe even some of the stresses that would lead to the break up of the group six years later.

I have decided that this weekend is the perfect opportunity to have the first Social Distancing Binge-a-Thon starting this Friday with Super 8.

Writer/director J.J. Abrams teamed up with producer Steven Spielberg to create a film that was a love letter to movie making and some of the old movies that used to be made.

Super 8 has traits of many of Spielberg’s previous films, such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Goonies, and other 1980’s films and tries to build on that feeling of nostalgia for the movies of that time.  It mostly succeeds.

Super 8 follows a group of boys who are attempting to make a zombie movie.  Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), one of the boys who recently lost his mother and had an uneasy relationship with his father Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler), and his friends recruited Alice (Elle Fanning) to make the story of their movie better.

Late one night as they are filming a scene, the group witness an unexpected train derailment that turns out to be more than what it seems.

For most of the movie, this is a fun “kids are chased by monsters” movie with many of the normal scenes you would see in one.  The kids in the film are fantastic, especially Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning.  Special shout out to Ryan Lee, whose Cary was the standout oddball of the group with his explosives.

There was some good tension and drama as the government arrived on the scene to complicate matters all the more.

However, the third act really stretches credibility a bit and the very ending had way too much of an E.t. meets Close Encounters feel to it.  The ending really came out of nowhere and did not feel as if it was earned.  It was a real flip flop that made everything feel strange.

There is a definite charm to the movie, in particular with the cast, and the story is solid enough for what we get.  Although it feels like many of Spielberg’s early films, it will not be remembered with them.  Super 8 was fine.  That is about it.

“I’m not bad, I was just drawn that way” -Jessica Rabbit.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is arguably the best part-animation/part-live action movie of all time.  The combination of the animated characters and items with the living actors is done in a nearly perfect way.

Private Detective Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins), who has been drinking heavily since a mysterious toon killed his brother, gets involved in a strange case with the fate of Toon Town in its grasp.  The hectic toon Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer) is charged for murder and the rabbit teamed up with Valiant to try and solve the mystery.  Roger is chased by the ominous Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) and his pack of toon hyenas who are looking to dunk Roger into the Toon-killing Dip.

Told as a detective noir story, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a cool, clever story with an amazing pay off.  The character of Roger Rabbit is iconic and his wife, Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner), is an amazing combo of toon and the classic “dame” from the old time noir films.

Bob Haskins is brilliant in this movie.  His performance is utterly wonderful.  His character has a devastating story arc, from the alcoholic detective in grief over his brother’s murder to the detective who embraces his past to survive his future.  You feel for Haskins and understand why he is as gruff as he is.  He has great chemistry with Roger Rabbit and with his girlfriend Dolores (Joanna Cassidy).

In what you would think was a family movie, there are scenes in this movie that are simply frightening.  There is a scene early in the movie where Judge Doom “dips” a toon shoe that is absolutely tense and filled with terror.  Then, the third act of this movie is extremely dark and suspenseful.  The conclusion of this movie is one of the best third acts around as everything comes together in a blend of perfection.

There are amazing cameos from some of the greatest cartoon characters ever on screen, together for the only time.  We see Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny sharing a scene.  Betty Boop interacts with Eddie Valiant.  There is a piano battle between Donald Duck and Daffy Duck.  The combo of Disney animated characters and Warner Brothers animated characters is something you aren’t going to see anywhere else.

Robert Zemeckis directed this film and it is one of his best on his resume.  The film won four Academy Awards for the technical marvel of the ability to present animated characters as if they are 3D people.  It truly does hold up too, despite the fact that the technology has improved.  This is a technical wonder.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a masterpiece.

This was a break from the virus outbreak movies that I have been watching lately.  What better way to break from viral pandemics than with the Muppets?

The second big screen Muppet movie, The Great Muppet Caper brought the gang to England to solve a jewel theft.  Kermit, Fozzie (who were listed as identical twins for some reason) and Gonzo were investigative reporters and they were on the story of who stole the jewels of Lady Holiday (Dame Diana Rigg).  Along the way, Kermit meets Miss Piggy and they fall in love.  When the real thief, Lady Holiday’s brother Nicky (Charles Grodin), framed Piggy for the crime, the Muppets take off on a crazy adventure to save her.

Honestly, The Great Muppet Caper is not as great as some of the other Muppet movies.  It is quite a step down from The Muppet Movie, for sure.  Still, there is an air of silliness and charm that carries it through.  The funny jokes and the slapstick fit very well with the Muppets and their constant breaking of the 4th Wall always works.

The film works because of our connections with these characters.  We love Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and the gang and so we let them slide with some of the less than perfect bits.

As in all Muppet movies, there are a ton of awesome cameos from famous actors including John Cleese, Joan Sanderson, Jack Warden, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, Peter Falk and Jim Henson himself.

It is quite the weird sensation when watching the fantastic reboot of the franchise of the Planet of the Apes and you find yourself cheering for the apes against the humans.

It is the strangest feeling when you actually realize that these humans are the antagonists in this story and that the audience was rooting for the apes to crush these humans which would lead to, as we know, the eventual take over of the planet.

It is just a surreal film.

This thing had no chance of being any good.  And yet it was fantastic.  James Franco gave one of his very best performances (up there with Disaster Artist) helping to tell this story from the human side.  Andy Serkis started his work in this trilogy that should have earned him an Academy Award nomination.  His work as Caesar was simply astounding.   John Lithgow was great too as James Franco’s father who was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

I watched this as the ongoing virus outbreak film festival that I have been watching this week.  In this film, we see the beginning of the Simian flu that would wind up wiping out a chunk of the planet and helping lead toward the apes becoming the alpha race.  Yet, it was not the apes that led to the release of this virus, but the humans.  As always, these viral outbreaks can be traced back to human error or greed.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt, this film served as a reboot, even though we saw allusions to the Planet of the Apes movie from 1967.  Wyatt made this from the POV of Caesar and made him a central figure, which is amazing considering this character did not have a verbal component in most of this movie.

The CGI in the Rise of the Planet of the Apes is unbelievable.  Caesar is as realistic as he could possibly be.  The rest of the ape characters are masterful.

This kicked off a tremendous trilogy and I would go as far as to say that this is my favorite of the three films.

This one is much more frightening than Outbreak because Contagion feels much more possible, more realistic.

From the moment early in the film where Gwyneth Paltrow falls to the floor in a seizure, Contagion felt like a true world tale of a deadly virus spreading across the planet, truly showing how susceptible the human race could be to such an event.

This movie shows the insane reaction that people who are encased in fear can exhibit.  The images of people fighting over toilet paper in the aisles of grocery stores are burned into our collective minds and many find it unimaginable to react in such a barbaric way.  Still, fear causes such a potent and powerful reaction that some are blinded to anything but survival.

This movie also shows the lower forms of life than those just hoping to do what they can to survive another day.  The exploitation of the virus for monetary gains is a disgusting results yet these vultures seem to come out every time there is a problem in the world.  We see this on display in Contagion as well.

But there are positives here as well.  Stories of the heroes who sacrificed to attempt to save as many people as possible. Or the people who had to continue their lives after the horrendous loss involved.

Matt Damon’s character, Mitch Emhoff, showed the humanity of the situation as he struggled to get through after his wife (Paltrow) and son (Griffin Kane) became some of the first victims of the virus.  Mitch’s life became trying to save his remaining daughter (Anna Jacoby-Heron).

Laurence Fishburne led a remarkable cast of actors that were in search of the cure for this virus.  He had to suffer during the movie to be one of the people at the heart of the situation.  Jude Law, John Hawkes, Marian Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Elliot Gould, Bryan Cranston, Tien You Chui, and Enrico Colantoni are among the powerhouse cast on display here.

Honestly, I did see this film in the theater, but tonight, on my second watch, I do not remember much about it after the death of Paltrow in the opening ten minutes.  It can be disturbing and it can be unnerving, but it also has hope and it has a joy for life.

Of course, it ends with that final jab that tells you everything is not over… like any great horror movie.  Contagion is a well created movie with a message for us in the world today.  It always could be worse.

What better time to watch Outbreak than when the world is going crazy over the Coronavirus?

This Dustin Hoffman film is not as realistic as another film that I will be watching after this, but I have always enjoyed it nonetheless.

A deadly virus that occurred in Africa and a smuggled monkey host is brought to California, causing an outbreak in a small town called Cedar Creek.  As the CDC and the army tried to contain the virus, a certain part of the army looked to bury the news.

Dustin Hoffman played Colonel Sam Daniels, a rebellious military doctor, who is an expert in viral infections and contagious diseases, gets involved and leads the squad in the attempt to figure out what has happened.  His ex-wife, Rene Russo, is at the CDC and comes around to the outbreak too.

However, General McClintock (Donald Sutherland) is willing to do whatever he has to prevent the information on the virus to get out.  He orders General Billy Ford (Morgan Freeman), a friend to Sam, to keep him contained.

There is a lot of tension in this movie and it works fairly well.  Yes, there are a lot of contrivances and many of the things that happen are only because of coincidences and lucky breaks, Outbreak is a thrilling time.  Much of the movie requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief.  In fact, there may be too much suspension at several moments in the film.

Still, I enjoy Dustin Hoffman’s performance and the action, especially in the helicopters, is well done.  The movie does not believe that the outbreak in Cedar Creek is enough drama to carry this movie which is why they bring the more fanciful aspects into the film.

I remember liking this a lot the first time I saw it.  Subsequent viewings have been entertaining, but not quite to the level of that first time.