A Labor Day Weekend Guide to Summer Movies

I decided that I would post my summer wrap-up before Labor Day, just in case any of my readers were wondering what they should check out at the multiplex during the last weekend of the season.  While it was quite a disappointing summer for box-office, with only really one straight up blockbuster phenomenon (Guardians of the Galaxy), it was actually a pretty great season for film quality.  There were a handful of terrifically entertaining popcorn movies, Indie movies that ran the gamut from provoking to warm and homey, and everything in between with plenty of options for all tastes.

Which is why it’s hard to figure out why so many movies under-performed.  It could be that with so many “must-see” movies coming earlier in the year (the continued reign of Frozen, The Lego Movie, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier) that people were just movied out.  It could have been that the general populace was more in the mood to play in the heat of the summer than wait it out in an air-conditioned theater.  However, whatever the reason, far fewer people went to the theaters this summer, so if you were among the millions that avoided your local multiplex, let me fill you in on what you missed and what you might want to seek out on this final weekend of the summer movie season.

Instead of giving you a “best of” list, I’m going to share wish you some groups of movies to consider as you decide whether to spend some of your Labor Day weekend in an air-conditioned theater.

First the must-see movies:  Guardians of the Galaxy (exciting, hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (in my opinion, the best animated film in four years), X-Men: Days of Future Past (if X-Men were the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this would be their Avengers), Edge of Tomorrow (one of Tom Cruise’s best movies and an excellent example of intelligent sci-fi), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (if it didn’t involve apes, this would be recognized as one of the great modern war films).

If you’ve seen these, move to the following:  Belle (currently on DVD, if Jane Austen were to write a civil rights story, it would look just like this.  Not wholly accurate historically, but a beautifully written and acted film), The Hundred-Foot Journey (light and charming entertainment for grown-ups), Get On Up (if you’re a fan of modern music biopics, this is an easy recommendation with another star making performance from 42’s Chadwick Boseman, this time as musical legend James Brown),  The Fault in Our Stars (a thoughtful story that gives teenagers credit for being able to care about more than sparkly vampires), Million Dollar Arm (a sports film that isn’t among the best, but still provides the high points you’d hope for), Maleficent (easily the best of the Disney revisionist fairy-tales, which isn’t saying much, but it has a stellar central performance from Angelina Jolie), Godzilla (It’s the best Godzilla movie, but it is still unquestionably a movie about a giant monster stepping on buildings).

There are movies that were positively reviewed that I didn’t see.  This list includes: Magic in the Moonlight, Neighbors, Chef,  22 Jump Street, and the universally acclaimed Boyhood.

So, for this weekend, my hard and fast recommendations are Guardians of the Galaxy and/or How to Train Your Dragon 2.  Both are thrilling, beautiful, funny, entertaining, and heartfelt movies.  In other words, they’re pretty much perfect summer films.

Movie Review: The Hundred-Foot Journey

The Hundred Foot-Journey/Rated PG/Dir. by Lasse Hallstrom/Touchstone Pictures/122 min.

Many people in the world of film criticism view few terms as vile, as reprehensible, or as distasteful as the term "feel-good" and I've never quite understood why.  A happy film that shows flawed people learning to do kind things can still be artful, thoughtful, interesting, and entertaining.  Just because a movie makes no bold political statements or doesn't show humanity at its worst doesn't mean that movie is unworthy.  If anything, I believe that happy films that are well made with strong and inspiring messages are necessary to balance out the nihilistic and pessimistic output that Hollywood labels as high drama or Oscar-bait.

If there was ever a film to wear the "feel-good" label with warmth, style, and class, that film is The Hundred-Foot Journey.  While the film certainly deals with serious issues, including death, racism and social elitism, it never loses sight of the main goal, which is to uplift, inspire, and make you smile for two hours straight.  Oh, and to make you hungry.  Really, really hungry.

The Hundred Foot-Journey tells the story of Hassan Kadan (Manish Dayal), a young man from Mumbai, India who was taught all of the subtlety and depth of Indian cooking from his mother in their family restaurant ever since he was a young boy.  Even neighborhood marketeers favor the boy because he innately understands the art of transforming foods.

An unfortunate family tragedy forces the Kadan family, headed by Papa (Indian film star Om Puri), to move to Europe to find a new place to showcase Hassan's exceptional cooking talents.  After a car accident leaves them stranded in a small French village, Papa sees an old restaurant for sale and is convinced that this village needs to experience the spice and the heat of Indian food.  Unfortunately, the restaurant is right across the street (one-hundred feet across to be precise) from a highly respected restaurant of fine, classical French cuisine owned by the stubborn and snobbish Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren) and a culture war is unleashed on the village.  However, Madame Mallory's prejudices begin to fade as she witnesses first hand the talent of the young master chef living in the Maison Mumbai.

Based on the best-selling book by Richard C. Morais and produced by not one, but two Hollywood titans (Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey), The Hundred-Foot Journey is precisely the type of brilliant counter-programming that the late summer needs and, in fact, thrives on.  Where years past have given us Julie and Julia and The Help, this year it's cuisine and learning to understand and appreciate different cultures that saves us from the unending explosions of summer movies.  It's certainly a film made for grown-ups, but one that is perfectly clean and family-viewing appropriate, which should play in its favor over the closing weeks of summer.

Few people can film food better than Lasse Hallstrom (the director that brought you the similarly themed Chocolat) and every stroll through the market, every careful preparation of ingredients, and every presentation of an impeccably mouth-watering meal is filmed with a lush grace.  This is certainly a film that you shouldn't view if you're hungry.  Unless, of course, you're going out to dinner afterwards.  Preferably for Indian or French food.

The acting in The Hundred-Foot Journey is uniformly excellent.  While the always superb Mirren is understandably the focal point of the advertising, this is Dayal's movie and he plays Hassan with a kind and natural warmth.  Thankfully, the film does not treat its characters as caricatures, a trap into which many American films dealing with Indian culture tend to fall.

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a movie more interested in winning hearts than awards and it's all the better for it.  The current mixed-reviews that this film is receiving is far more indicative of the cynicism prevalent in much of the film criticism community than it is of the quality of this purely delightful film.  I walked in the theater expecting an OK little movie and left with a wide grin and a full heart.  If you are tired of giant robots destroying cities and superheroes dealing with the existential crisis du jour, run to the theater and relish this delicious French pastry of a film.  It is a feel-good movie in all the best meanings of the phrase.

Grade: A