Drama
Toast
TOAST Nigel Slater the food writer is a big thing in Britain. He is “a most highly regarded and best loved food writer and television personality.” He’s a nobody in the US. Most movies are only 90 minutes, so while the wife was out shopping for Thanksgiving (I offered to go) I watched this random…
Puzzle
PUZZLE “Transformative is such a funny word. Trans… form… a… tive” says Agnes while reviewing her son’s college essay question, you guessed it, Puzzle is about a transformation. In this Indie drama Agnes (Kelly McDonald, Trainspotting), the meek, shy, and the lowest of confidence wife and mother, does just that, she goes through her own…
- 2018
- Drama
Hearts Beat Loud
HEARTS BEAT LOUD Hearts Beat Loud is a wonderful, heartwarming movie that quickly soared to the top of my favorite heartwarming Indie movie list. Frank – good name – (Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreations, The Little Hours) and his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons, Transparent, Dope), during the last summer before Sam leaves home to attend…
A Star is Born
A STAR IS BORN The fourth remake of A Star is Born starts out with a bang. The introduction of Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) at one of his live concerts, shot with handheld cameras, is excellent. The photo below is during the filming at a concert in England. Bradley Cooper plays the guitar during the…
Eye of the Needle
EYE OF THE NEEDLE After a Whidbey Island, Washington State beach fire on a cold, clear November day, the Eye of the Needle was intriguing enough WWII movie that only one of the six people watching fell asleep. Had to rewatch it the next day when there was no laughing, talking or spouting sarcasm to…
gifted
GIFTED The brother Frank (Chris Evans, Captain America) gets legal custody of his sister’s 1-year old daughter Mary (McKenna Grace) after the sister dies by suicide. All is good for Frank & Mary in Florida until the first grade teacher Bonnie (Jenny Slate) realizes Mary is gifted. The gift of math runs in the family…
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) Written and directed by Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha) who, in this case, writes the type of movie I call, “A couple of days in the life of….” In this case, the three children of Harold Meyerowitz (Dustin Hoffman) – a retire Bard College art professor, who is always bitter…
Disobedience
DISOBEDIENCE In Disobedience, it takes a while to understand the real problem plaguing this “once we were best friends” trio, but when you get there, the movie beautifully and heartbreakingly intertwines faith in God (“Word Hashem [God] is my life”), freedom, and choice. Rachel Weisz (The Lobster) as Ronit, estranged from her Rabbi father’s Othodox…
Frances Ha
FRANCES HA Frances Ha shows the beginnings of Greta Gerwig, future writer and Director of the Oscar-nominated 2017 Lady Bird. This is the second movie she co-wrote with Director – and partner beginning in 2011 – Noah Baumbach. For this movie they wrote “mumblecore,” usually low-budget independent films characterized by naturalistic acting and dialogue and…
About Time
ABOUT TIME About Time is about time travel, where the men in this English family can go backward in their own timeline, even better than Google Maps. Used at first to “get the girl” (you know, relive the moment and not say all those stupid things to the girl you just met) but then continues…
- 2013
- Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction
Leave No Trace
LEAVE NO TRACE A perfect Father, Will (Ben Foster, Hell or High Water, Hostiles), suffering from PTSD, supplies everything necessary for his daughter, Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKensie), except a home. They live happily homeless in a Portland, Oregon park (Eagle Fern Park) until raided. Daughter and Father are “captured” by Social Workers and are generously…
- 2018
- Drama
The Lovely Bones
THE LOVELY BONES The Lovely Bones, a supernatural thriller drama, is an early film, but not the earliest film, for Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird, Mary Queen of Scots). This is a two’fer sad special – two movies in one – with a little Shakespearian comedic relief courtesy of Susan Sarandon via an early Othello reference…
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH You need to view Hedwig and the Angry Inch with and open mind. View this movie when you want to get your transgender punk rock self on. If you accept it – it is a good movie. This 2001 American musical film with a little comedy and a lot of…
Sleepless in Seattle
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE Rewatched Sleepless in Seattle on the 25th anniversary since its release in June 1993. True, it is a romantic comedy, a very good one – and everyone knows what happened so forget the summary. But, Sleepless In Seatle contains many scenes, quotes, and a soundtrack that makes “Sleepless in Seattle” a timeless…
Hostiles
HOSTILES Hostiles is a dramatic and sometimes violent road trip movie set in the American West in 1892 when a dying Cheyenne War Chief and his family are released from prison and sent home to their tribal lands. U.S. Cavalry Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), who has spent the last part of his career ridding…
Even the Rain
EVEN THE RAIN On Columbus Day 2017, scratch that, on Indigenous People’s Day, I watched the news as Native Americans were getting arrested for a pipeline/sacred grave protest, 28 arrested. In their honor, I watched Even The Rain, a Spanish protest film about the realization of past and current atrocities. This fictional film is about…
Dhanak
DHANAK (transl. RAINBOW) Dhanak is the most original road trip movie I’ve ever seen, if you don’t mind watching endearing 8 & 10-year old kids. Older sister Pari (Hetal Gada) trying to find sight for her 8-year old brother Chotu (Krrish Chhabria) by the time he is nine. No earbuds in India so on their…
The 100 Year-Old Man
THE 100 YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED At the time of its release in 2013, The 100 Year-Old Man who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared was the highest grossing Swedish film. Now this Swedish film is the third highest grossing Swedish film, only The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and…
A Thousand Times Good Night
A THOUSAND TIMES GOOD NIGHT “Was the picture worth it?” asks the daughter Steph (Lauryn Canny) to her war zone/conflict photographer mother Rebecca (Juliette Binoche). A Thousand Times Good Night’s opening scene is an intense war scene with no dialogue for almost 15-minutes. The middle of the movie is about her family life with kids…
- 2013
- Drama
Sing Street
SING STREET Sing Street is a well done Irish movie set in Dublin in the 1980’s. This film is part drama, part musical, but mostly a good movie. Poor troubled family takes the middle kid Connor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) out of private school and sends him to a free school run by bully Jesuit Brothers and…