Get Out

— All the buzz around “Get Out” got me in a theater as soon as the opening weekend was over. I’d seen the trailer and I knew it was a horror/thriller/mystery/comedy (honest, I'm not making that up) that was rocking most people’s worlds. Well, it’s a good horror/thriller with smart nods to past horror films. In fact, it’s really well done, building the suspense well, helping us believe the plot is possible, and sprinkling in a little comic relief so the suspense can build again. I can see the case for it offering an incisive look at current racial dynamics but I’m not sure the look it provided was all that special, even if it may be accurate. I suspect recent events and politics have sharpened our vision more than the film would have on its own, but it does a good job of reminding us that the more hidden or unsuspected prejudice deeper in “liberals” may be more of a problem than outspoken prejudice. Whatever the case, it’s a good film and you can think about its subtext if you want.

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[2017. 1033 min. Written and directed by Jordan Peele. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, and Bradley Whitford.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/movies/get-out-review-jordan-peele.html

Dina

— “Dina” has the feeling of eavesdropping thanks to its verite style so we see some of the sensitive side of its main character, along with her quirky, domineering, and complicated sides. Dina, at 48, is working on a new relationship. Her first husband died of a cancer and sometime after that a “psycho” boyfriend stabbed her several times, but she’s picking herself up and moving forward. She has what used to be called “Aspergers Syndrome”. When she meets Scott, who is also autistic, they seem like a good match. We see their relationship unfold with Dina, having lived with a husband and then alone for years, coming into the relationship with more experience and with strong views about almost everything, including sex. Scott’s always lived with his parents and isn’t very comfortable with any form of affection. His timidity and her forwardness result in some awkward and heartbreaking discussions. Some of the scenes seem to run on too long, and some of them make me wonder how much this is really “direct cinema” and how much is prompted. Either way, it’s good to get a better glimpse of these two and their evolving love story as they inch toward becoming more intimate. It’s understandable that it won this year’s “U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary” at Sundance. (Shown at True/False Film Fest 2017.)

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[2017. 101 min. Directed by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles. With Dina Buno and Scott Levin.]
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/01/dina-review-autism-documentary-sundance-2017-1201771071/

Oscar Shorts 2017: Live Action

— This year’s Oscar nominees for Live Action Short Film are a good group. “Ennemis Intérieurs” (Sélim Azzazi’s interview that is more like an interrogation, of a French-born Algerian who is seeking naturalization by a French police officer of Algerian descent) is probably the best framed and edited of the group, but it lacks some of the heart a few of the others have. By contrast, “Sing” (Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy’s tale of a new girl who joins her new school’s award-winning choir, only to discover the truth about their fame) is almost too heartfelt for my tastes. I really liked “La Femme et le TGV” (Timo von Gunten’s touching story about a lonely woman and TGV train driver) and “Timecode" (Juanjo Giménez’s light look the relationship between two parking garage security guards, one working the day shift and the other the night shift). My favorite, partly because it's the most complex and touches on issues from different perspectives, but mostly because it's one I've remembered most of the group, is “Silent Night” (Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson’s tale of a Danish woman who meets and undocumented immigrant from Ghana while volunteering at a homeless shelter, falls in love and begins to build a life with him until a secret from his past alters their course). All of the nominees are good and worth seeing.

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http://www.indiewire.com/2016/11/live-action-short-2016-academy-awards-bon-voyage-graffiti-1201749648/

Jackie

— I’m catching up on movies I missed and “Jackie” is one of them. I’m glad I managed to see it in a theater because the images are really important. There’s a need to see the clarity, the color, and the beauty that are on the surface of things. Natalie Portman is building a strange oeuvre but, when you see her in things like “Jackie” (or “Black Swan”) it’s clear she’s one very talented actor. I like this film a lot and recommend it, although it’s sure to churn up feelings associated with the JFK assassination from long ago. I wonder what all those people who weren’t alive in 1963 think of the film since, for those of us who were alive, our feelings from the time and the images we remember augment the film, which transports us into the fictionalized mind of Jackie Kennedy during the days immediately after her husband’s assassination as she tried to deal with grief, anger, protocol, faith, family, and ensuring her husband’s legacy (and her own). The film fits well into a niche I’m seeing more of lately, all touching on how historical “truth” is made—things like the question of who tells your story in “Hamilton”, or what story is omitted as in “Hidden Figures”. And, of course, there’s the reverse to wonder about, when a film’s artistic license stretches the truth and the viewer’s perception of an event edges farther from fact as a result.

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[2016. 100 min. Directed by Pablo Larrain. Starring Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Greta Gerwig.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jackie-2016

Captain Fantastic

— Viggo Mortensen does a great job, but I’m not sure I liked where the film (DVD) took me. Believe me, it has all the right variables--a bevy of precocious and cute kids, a recently widowed father who loves them dearly, and a universe off the grid in which they excel. Their home schooling has paid off—the oldest was easily accepted at all the Ivy League schools to which he applied—and they’re healthy as triathletes thanks to a daily routine reminiscent of military basic training. But for all that, they know nothing of surviving among other people, and they accept their father’s political and ethical convictions without question. Of course, there’s a wealthy grandfather (Frank Langella), eager to give them a more conventional upbringing, forcing kids and parent alike to choose. In the end, it appears there have been steps toward bringing the family back to civilization but by then, I had trouble liking Viggo Mortensen’s “Power to the people, stick it to the man” beliefs even though it was obvious I was supposed to. Instead, Frank Langella as “the man” seemed like a welcome voice of reason. The film is just too close to glorifying withdrawal and making placing blame acceptable, which it may be as an individual choice, but I’m not sure it is when you take six children with you.

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[2016, 118 min. Written and directed by Matt Ross. Starring Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, and Frank Langella.]
https://filmandnuance.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/captain-fantastic-power-to-the-peoplestick-it-to-the-man/