Toni Erdmann

— If only “Toni Erdmann” had clocked in at two hours instead of closer to three! It took a long time to get going with enough steam that I could tolerate Winfried or his alter-ego Toni. It's hard to imagine how anyone as success-driven as Ines could look good, but she did in my eyes for a while, when compared to her father. Eventually I warmed up to the “a little absurdity and laughter makes life better” patter along with the routine skewering of ambition. As it moved into its last 90 minutes, I’d warmed up to the characters and the pace, oddly taken by one uncomfortable situation after another. It’s an interesting look at social and workplace situations, to say nothing of the father/daughter relationship. By the time it was over, I’d have to say I thought it was pretty good. [DVD]

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[2016. 202min. Written and directed by Maren Ade. Starring Sandra Huller, Peter Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn, and Thomas Loibl.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/toni-erdmann-2016

The Lovers

— It’s great to see Debra Winger again—she’s wonderful in “The Lovers,” as is Tracy Letts who plays her husband (he wrote “August: Osage County”)—in this brutal comedy/drama about a couple having problems a little past mid-life and mid-marriage. Sometimes it’s an amazingly slow moving film with a pace befitting its austere feel, but Winger and Letts are fascinating throughout and their quiet, desperate relationship provides a worrisome glimpse into the complex emotions of human heart. About two thirds of the way into the film, their exasperating son and his girlfriend come to visit, and their visit coincides with and creates a shift in story. I liked the film a lot…except for its titles. Why can’t lower-budget films at least spend a few bucks for someone to design decent titles instead of slapping white block letters on the screen reminiscent of French new-wave films, to remind us we’re in an indie film theater?

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[2017. 94 min. Written and directed by Azazel Jacobs. Starring Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Tyler Ross, and Jessica Sula.]
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/22/the-lovers-review-debra-winger-tracy-letts

Bridget Jones’s Baby

— Just goes to show you what a cast of talented actors can do. Renee Zellweger’s Bridget is still captivating in the third film of the franchise. Add in everyone else and you can’t help but smile and enjoy it, even if that’s all it is. [DVD]

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[2017. 118 min. Directed by Sharon Maguire. Starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Gemma Jones, Emma Thompson, and Jim Broadbent.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bridget-jones-baby-2016

20th Century Woman

— If you missed this film [DVD] in theaters, see it another way. Annette Bening is absolutely wonderful as Dorothea, a chain-smoking, mid-fifties mother in late ‘70’s California with a teen-aged son, a strong will, a quick mind, and a life buffeted by social and personal changes all around her. She has a large old house where scaffolding is always in use and a few renters spice things up. Worried about her son she asks two women to help him, not sexually, but to develop into a decent man. She’s the 20th century woman, a combination of fear and desire, wanting to experience more, but raised with mid-century values. In fact, everyone seems to be unable to fully embrace past, present, or future. Throughout it all, a narrator reminds us that we’re watching something now past, and all the characters have moved on or died; The things they worried about are no longer so worrisome, but maybe the country and the culture 40 years or 100 years later worries about things just as important…or no more important. It’s kind of like looking at your home on Google Earth and then pulling out in space to see it from a distance. I think the tug and pull is felt by every generation, freeing the film from appealing only to seniors.

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[2016, 119 min. Written and Directed by Mike Mills. Starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and Lucas Jade Zumann.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/20th-century-women-2016

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

— Guy Ritchie’s films have a distinct attitude and “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” showcases it. Make no mistake, the plot is a little complicated and it takes a bit to settle in to the pace of this prequel to Camelot. Jude Law makes a very nasty Vortigern and Charlie Hunnam is fine as the reluctant Arthur, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that a little too much money was spent trying to compete with Marvel’s cinematic stranglehold and this is just a set-up for a multi-film franchise outside the Marvel universe. Whatever it is, it’s fairly dark and rambling but with great editing, interesting music associations, epic scope, and plenty of slow-mo and fast motion violence. It feels like a film that was made with care and with a big budget, and I was interested throughout and appreciated the effort more than the end product.

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[2017. 126 min. Directed by Guy Ritchie. Starring Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, and Eric Bana.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/king-arthur-legend-of-the-sword-2017

Their Finest

— Movies about making movies are usually either wonderful or terrible. "Their Finest" is one of the wonderful ones. The story hinges on a group of Brits making a propaganda film to raise morale during World War II. A smart script and a good menagerie of characters, along with some British humor and technical competence make it pleasant enough. It also manages to have a few love stories in the mix as well and to consider the difference between fact and truth while keeping the dramatic changes occurring in women’s roles front and center. I enjoyed the film a lot and, like the film they were trying to make, I left feeling happier than when I entered.

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[2016. 117 min. Directed by Lone Scherfig. Starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, and Bill Nighy.]
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/20/their-finest-review-bill-nighy-gemma-arterton-lone-scherfig

A Stray

— This is one of the “little” films that makes some impact. It’s about a refugee in Minneapolis’ Somali community who ends up with a dog in his life adding another challenge as he deals with religious and practical considerations of being a refugee. The dog becomes something of an albatross, making him feel the sting of rejection even more as he wanders around town trying to reject the dog. The film feels like a documentary even though it’s fiction, probably because the filmmaker’s careful not to make the dog too cute or the refugee too likable. Instead it feels like a glimpse into a life in a refugee community that we just don’t see or think about very often.

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[2016. 82 min. Written and directed by Musa Syeed. Starring Barkhad Abdirahman, Bathia Absie, and Faysal Ahmed.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-stray-2016

Risk

— Laura Poitras knows how to weave interviews and news reports into a gripping story. Her documentary look at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could easily have been another pro-transparency piece and I was expecting things to land with Assange as the righteous defender of truth. Somewhere along the way, under the scrutiny of the lens, he started looking a little less benevolent and egalitarian. For me it makes Poitras’ portrait more believable and maybe more frightening in knowing the power people like Assange, Jacob Appelbaum, and Edward Snowden have and the ease with which such power can be abused.

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[2016. 922 min. Directed by Laura Poitras. Featuring Julian Assange, Sara Harrison and Jacob Appelbaum.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/movies/risk-review-julian-assange-laura-poitras.html

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

— We all knew it would be tough to compete with the original “Guardians” and it’s surprising, bickering, funny, vaguely inept group of misfits who end up saving the universe with a perfect mix of oldies playing in the background. Many of the same guardians are back in “Vol. 2” and they’re still bickering, sometimes funny, and seemingly in over their heads. This one has a few more sensitive moments—maybe people didn’t catch on that they’re a “family” who loves each other and Marvel had to drive the point home in Vol. 2—and that helped keep it focused on the characters instead of falling into the sequel trap of being so full of itself it felt like the screen was going to explode in one final special effect! The good news is that the soundtrack is still one of the stars, there are enough 1960’s cultural references to make me wonder what younger audiences think of them, and there’s enough action to make it an action film. I liked it and thought it was great fun, but it would have seemed even better if I hadn’t had the original against which to compare. (And now I have a new group of tunes from my youth banging around in my head and making me smile.)

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[2017. 16 min. Directed by James Abnett. Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), and Bradley Cooper (voice).]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-2017

The Man Who Knew Infinity

— A well done and an interesting look at science, education, culture, and religion, thanks to the story of an unschooled Indian mathematical genius who is invited to Cambridge to work with a noted professor. With World War II as a backdrop, he’s forced to deal with a multitude of cultural issues, as well as with leaving his mother and wife behind in India. Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons are both engaging but, although we get a sense that Srinivasa Ramanujan really made some significant contribution to the field of mathematics, we never have much of an idea what kind of difference he made. This is more about collaboration than the product and that’s interesting enough in Patel and Irons’ hands. [DVD]

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[2015. 108 min. Directed by Matt Brown. Starring Dev Patel, Jeremy Irons, and Malcolm Sinclair.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/movies/applying-a-different-calculus-for-a-biopic-about-math.html