Three Beautiful Things 03/02/16: *Spotlight*, More of Tom Ripley, *Rocky* Retrospective

1.  If I were in show business, if I were a member of the Academy, I'd be unable to cast an Oscar vote. Each year, as the Oscars are awarded, I'm amazed by how much confidence others have as they argue for what movies and what performances should be given awards.  I suppose, for me, it really comes down to the fact that I don't have an awards or a ranking mentality. If you and I talked about movies thirty years ago, then, yes, I always had a top ten movie list in mind and could rattle it off instantly. That has changed. Now, I just love seeing movies. I don't rank them.  I don't think about awards.

So, today, when I went to the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring (one of my favorite places anywhere) to see Spotlight, I went to see a movie I've wanted to see since it was released.  Mainly, I wanted to see another Tom McCarthy movie.  The Station Agent and The Visitor both moved me with their deep investigation of loneliness and friendship and I enjoyed the range of emotional work McCarthy inspired in Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Richard Jenkins, and Hiam Abbass.

Tom McCarthy's work moved me again. The fierce and collective commitment of the Boston Globe's Spotlight team brought me to tears several times and the work of Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, and Brian d'Arcy James to make this fierceness vibrate throughout the story thrilled me.

2. I went to Silver Spring an hour or so before the 11:20 screening and enjoyed a cup of coffee and a pecan braid at Panera and continued to marvel at what a wretchedly amoral character Tom Ripley is as I read further into The Talented Mr. Ripley. I'm intrigued to find out how this story turns out, but it's not enjoyable spending time with this despicable guy.

3. I relaxed this evening with an hour long promotional film that I watched through Amazon Prime that had been put out in advance of the movie, Creed. The film looked back at the six Rocky movies and the circumstances that led to the making of Creed.  It's called From Rocky to Creed: The Legacy Continues.  I especially enjoyed listening to Sylvester Stallone and finding out how he and Ryan Coogler decided to go ahead and make the movie Creed.