Locked Down

— Well, it could have been worse. My first reaction to “Locked Down” was that it could have been worse. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway do what they can for it, but it just feels too much like the final project completed by students enrolled in a filmmaking class at the local arts center. I can imagine the well-intentioned instructor asking students to divide into teams so each team can make a film about a couple who splits up just as their city is locked down for the pandemic, and they end up stuck in their apartment together for the next several months. The team whose film we’re watching added a thriller twist, writing in a heist subplot that takes off just as we’d all had enough of the two of them moping around in their apartment. The heist is interesting, and the actors give it their all, but as films go, this one isn't anything special. [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2021. 118 min. Directed by Doug Liman. Staring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/locked-down-movie-review-2021

Lupin

— If the first episode is any indication and you enjoy things like a story about a gentleman burglar avenging the death of his father, "Lupin" is probably worth your while. It’s elegant and stylish but, I suppose having Paris as a backdrop automatically gives it a bit of polish. Omar Sy, as the charismatic thief, exudes style as well. I confess I haven’t read Maurice Leblanc’s novels so I’m not really familiar with the source material, but I like the series and will look forward to more episodes. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. One Partial Season. Five episodes, 42-52 min./episode. Starring Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, and Clotilde Hesme.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/streaming/lupin-tv-review-2021-netflix

Pretend It’s a City

— If you haven’t fallen for “Pretend It’s a City” yet, go for it! It’s witty and clever and able to get chuckles and guffaws out of me in addition to nods of agreement. What’s vaguely a conversation between Martin Scorsese and Fran Lebowitz is the perfect antidote for melancholy. Her look at society through eyes that are just a month younger than mine, is fascinating, but it is the way she expresses herself and her command of the language that make her so enjoyable. It’s a wonderful look at Lebowitz and, while her stories are New York City focused, she laughs at herself and her city, and her observations ring true even in the heartland. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. One Season. Seven episodes, 26-31 min./episode. Featuring Fran Lebowitz and Martin Scorsese.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/pretend-its-a-city-movie-review-2021

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

— There’s a reason this display of girl power met with less enthusiasm than expected. The main character has lived in the shadow of a man for too long which, evidently, gives her a free pass to have hurt others without remorse, and sets her up as an archetypal antihero. She’s now rejected that past, but still embraces mayhem, violence, and drugs, as she searches for her own voice and a handful of powerful women with whom to stand, amplifying the popular “we are more powerful standing together than standing alone” adage. This basic thread unfolds with a colorful, gleeful, cartoonish cinematic brushstroke coupled with a soundtrack of perfectly chosen songs. Director Cathy Yan’s done a good job of embracing the free-for-all and making it a gaudy, maybe even mesmerizing, ride, and I do commend the film for standing on its own and not requiring much prior knowledge of the DC Universe, but, in the end, even a feminist flourish doesn’t elevate it to the upper tier of its genre. (Later renamed “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.”) [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2020. 109 min. Directed by Cathy Yan. Starring Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, and Ewan McGregor.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/birds-of-prey-and-the-fantabulous-emancipation-of-one-harley-quinn-movie-review-2020

The Forty-Year-Old Version

— Somehow I missed “The Forty-Year-Old Version” when it showed up a few months ago, but I’m glad I finally watched it. It’s a semi-autobiographical story about a black playwright in the midst of a dry spell and having some kind of middle age crisis, perhaps compounded by her mother’s death a year earlier. It’s hard enough to depict the complex nature of creative issues in a film but it looks easy in Radha Blanks' deft hands. It also manages to be flat out funny at times, with scenes that are nearly absurd but oh so believable, following the main character as she copes with a shifting pallet of cultural differences, gender identities, and age disparities. It raises the kinds of questions we all struggle with as we grow, change, get older, compromise, succeed, fail, and find our place. A Facebook friend of mine put this in her list of top films for 2020 and I can easily see why. I’m nearly certain it would make my list too. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 123 min. Written and directed by Radha Blank. Starring Radha Blank, Peter Kim, and Oswin Benjamin.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-forty-year-old-version-2020

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

— I grew up in the era of stories about unmarried women whose lives were forever ruined because of their sin, after which came a group of films about traumatized women and back alley abortions, followed by those dealing with the difficult but individual choice post-Roe v Wade. It’s hard not to view “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” against that backdrop, but it’s not exactly fair to call it an abortion tale either. Autumn is a 17-year-old living a pretty nondescript life. She works as a checker at a grocery store, is a singer of emotive, folksy songs, and has a kind mother, a brusque stepfather, and few close friends other than her cousin. She finds herself pregnant and at the mercy of Pennsylvania's parental consent law, so she and her cousin head to New York City by bus to have an abortion. It has the setup to fall into gloominess, and it does have an arthouse look and minimal dialog, sometimes feeling more like a documentary than a work of fiction as the story unfolds. It ends up being as a road trip film and a coming-of-age film—and a very good one. It seems appropriate given the political climate, coming at a time when the nation and the Supreme Court adopt a more conservative slant and the same story could be much different in the future. Just as important is the tone of male aggression and misogyny pervasive in nearly every encounter Autumn and her cousin have. I’m not one for in-your-face, vaguely militant, assertive, filmic rants and this is definitely not that kind of film. Instead, it’s an observational journey. It feels soft instead of screaming at you and it offers a perspective not all of us experience. It’s a profoundly good film. [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2020. 101 min. Written and directed by Eliza Hittman. Starring Sidney Flanigan, Talia Rhyder, and Théodore Pellerin.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/never-rarely-sometimes-always-2020

The Undoing

— What’s not to like if you’re a fan of this kind of thing. I tend to be a fan of David E. Kelley’s series and it’s hard to deny Nichole Kidman’s place in acting’s top tier. Put them together with some family drama, a murder and a court case, and I’m all in. It was a satisfying, bingeable experience! [HBO Max streaming.]

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[2020. One Season. Six episodes, 51-67 min./episode. Created by David E. Kelley. Starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Noah Jupe, Lily Rabe, and Donald Sutherland.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-undoing-2020

Soul

— Disney can sometimes weave their Pixar stories to focus on complicated emotions and issues in a complex story, with creative images and sounds, and more than a few tugs of the heartstrings, while managing to speak directly to both a young and an older audience. “Inside Out” is a good example of this art at its best and “Soul” had the same potential but didn’t quite reach it. It’s the story of a jazz musician who dies but doesn’t want to give up his life when he’s on the brink of success—an otherworldly tale of his soul headed toward the “Great Beyond,” in the “Great Before,” and dropping in and out of the physical world via some kind of portal. All this moving around the astral plane coincides with some “soul searching” and the realization that we evidently shouldn’t hold back but go with what we what we love and enjoy the life we have while taking in the beauty all around us. The music’s wonderful, is , and gorgeous to look at, and the message is worthwhile, but it’s a little jumbled and, ironically, didn’t manage to get into my soul. I was glad it was beautiful, but disappointed that it seemed to not achieve its potential. [Disney+ streaming.]

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[2020. 100 min. Directed by Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers. Featuring voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, and Graham Norton.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/soul-movie-review-2020