A California Christmas: City Lights

— A slight variation on the usual Christmas storyline, this is a country girl and a city boy in love but needing to deal with different lifestyles and friends. As you might expect, love and Christmas win out. It's actually vaguely charming and evidently a good follow up to the first film. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 131 min. Directed by Shaun Paul Piccinino. Starring Lauren Swickard, Josh Swickard, Ali Afshar, and David Del Rio.]
https://decider.com/2021/12/16/a-california-christmas-city-lights-netflix-review/

Passing

— If there were awards for perfect and consistent style, this film would win, but it has a lot more than an ambience going for it. It's a look at racial identity in the 1920s, focusing on one woman who passes as white. Tension is everywhere and beneath every scene and every encounter is an air of racism. The uneasiness of bigotry is the norm. The film is extremelty well done and worth watching. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 98 min. Directed by Rebecca Hall. Starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, and Adre Holland.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/passing-movie-review-2021

The Unforgiveable

— Sandra Bullock still commands our attention, even in this film where she's dulled from years in prison and now dealing with an unsympathetic world, and sporting make-up designed to make her look as plain as possible. The story is sometimes unfocused and not as good as the cast, but I still watched from start to finish and considered it worth my while. I'm not sure Viola Davis would agree since her part doesn't seem in any way up to her acting abilities. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2010. 112 min. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt. Starring Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, and Vincent D’Onofrio.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-unforgivable-movie-review-2021

The Song of Lunch

— I think I'd like anything with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, and this is no exception. The story is a little sad and the self-loathing and drinking is difficult, but that's because the acting is so good and the story so familiar, if not in reality at least as a possiblity never played out. It's based on the narrative poem by Christopher Reid and well worth viewing. [Amazon Prime streaming.]

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[2010. 48 min. Directed by Niall MacCormick. Starring Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson.]
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/oct/08/the-song-of-lunch-review

A Boy Called Christmas

— I see a lot of Christmas films and this one is a cut above the pack. It's fresh, engaging, heart-warming, and worth seeing. [Disney+ streaming.]

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[2021. 106 min. Directed by Gil Kenan. Starring Maggie Smith, Isabella O’Sullivan, and Joel Fry.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-boy-called-christmas-movie-review-2021

Single All the Way

— This is "Netflix’s first gay holiday film." It doesn't venture far from the plot of many holiday rom-coms, just reworking a few characters so the primary relationship is gay instead of straight. Still, it's fun and, if you don't look too hard at how one person or another might be portrayed, better than no gay representation in such films. Netflix also deserves praise for casting three openly gay guys in the main roles. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 99 min. Directed by Michael Mayer. Starring Michael Uri, Philemon Chambers, and Luke Macfarlane.]
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/dec/02/single-all-the-way-review-netflix-first-gay-christmas-romcom

Jungle Cruise

— No surprises from this bit of escapism based on a Disney theme park ride! Emily Blunt may be under-utilized, but she does the role of a hard-headed British feminist/explorer justice and Dwayne Johnson is appropriately endearing as the captain of the boat making its way down the Amazon. Between the two of them, this thing works well enough so it’s fun to watch. [Disney+ streaming.]

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[2021. 127 min. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, and Jack Whitehall.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jungle-cruise-movie-review-2021

The Power of the Dog

— Jane Campion’s latest film is methodical, beautiful, smoldering, and unsettling. Benedict Cumberbatch, as an American cowboy, is at first a little too stereotypic until you realize the part he’s playing is someone whose facade is carefully maintained. Kirsten Dunst is perfect as the woman who marries a rancher and finds herself unable to adjust to ranch life and one omnipresent ranch man in particular. Throw in a bookish, gangly, somewhat effeminate son, and you end up with more stuff smoldering under the surface than anyone needs. It’s a struggle to be the alpha male, to come to terms with sexuality, to live with addiction, to overcome loneliness... It’s a wonderful film, but the kind of thing about as many people will dislike as like. I really liked it. Kudos to both Cumberbatch and Dunst and, of course, to Campion. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2021. 126 min. Directed by Jane Campion. Starring Benedit Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-power-of-the-dog-movie-review-2021