Midnight Special

— This film is right up my alley—a rural Texas, sci-fi, chase film “where a father named Roy and his young son Alton find themselves on the run, first from religious extremists and then, once an Amber Alert is issued, from local authorities." It’s directed by the same guy who directed “Mud”, an incredible coming of age film. “Midnight Special” has a good feeling about it with its rural settings and expanse of flat Texas roads, and it’s nicely restrained but perhaps too much so. I appreciated the unquestioning conviction of the characters and I liked the way incidents eventually came together and formed the crux of the story, but I wanted much more of the backstory. Lucky for everyone Kirsten Dunst and Michael Shannon were able to add a much appreciated parental intensity to the film. Critics seem to like this film more than I did—maybe they're more forgiving of skimpy plot lines than I am.

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[2016, 112 min., Written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, and Adam Driver.]
http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/midnight-special-film-review-1201703551/

The Jungle Book

— I wasn’t sure why “The Jungle Book” was being remade until I saw it. I’ve never seen the 1994 version where none of the animals speak so my only point of reference is the original musical version. The current version is nothing like it. Instead of being transported to a jungle of animated, giddy, singing and dancing critters, we’re in a much more threatening environment among believable computer-devised wolves, cats, monkeys, and other creatures of the wild. A few of the songs are still there but this isn’t a musical by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, it’s a well-done, tight, clear tale raising all the right questions about family, environment, loyalty, the animal world, and the nature of man. It’s the kind of film Disney does well, holding our attention while tugging at our heartstrings. All the star power behind the animals’ voices pays off and Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, and Christopher Walken are particularly noteworthy. This really was fun, even if I was teary-eyed in the end.

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[2016. 105 min. Directed by Jon Favreau. Starring Neel Sethi. Featuring the voices of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, and Garry Shandling.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-jungle-book-2016

Chi-Raq

— I tried, really I did, and the darn Netflix disc sat on my counter day after day taunting me, questioning why I was avoiding life in a gang-ravaged Chicago with a Lysistrata plot. Well, I just didn’t want to go there and I ended up sending the disc back unwatched. Maybe I’ll be overcome with guilt and have it sent back to me a year or two from now but, in the meantime, I’m breathing a sigh of relief to have it out of my house.

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[2015. 127 min. Directed by Spike Lee. Starring Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack, and Jennifer Hudson.]
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/25/chi-raq-review-spike-lees-urgent-angry-and-very-sexy-midlife-masterpiece/

Hello, My Name Is Doris

— The somewhat thin plot is more than enough for an actress like Sally Field who can do comedy with flawless timing and keep things believable enough to tug at our hearts too. In the hands of a less talented actress, this could have been the creepy story of a lonely woman who lives with a cat and stalks an unsuspecting young man instead of the tender story of an older woman besotted with a much younger co-worker and taking love advice from her best friend’s teenage granddaughter. I laughed more than I expected to, even as I worried about where Doris’ life was headed. Field’s quirky character manages to get us thinking about aging, loneliness, love, and moving on. Tyne Daly, as Doris’ best friend, also helps make this more than it could have been. I had fun watching it.

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[2016. 95 min. Directed by Michael Showalter. Starring Sally Field, Max Greenfield, and Tyne Daly.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/hello-my-name-is-doris-20160311

Marguerite

— A fascinating film inspired by the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, a wealthy American opera singer who sang for private audiences for three decades before giving a public concert at Carnegie Hall and receiving blistering reviews. (She died not long afterwards and Meryl Streep is playing her in a soon-to-be-released biopic directed by Stephen Frears.) In “Marguerite”, Catherine Frot perfectly plays Marguerite Dumont, a tone deaf French baroness with too much money who fancies herself to be an opera singer. She hosts invitation-only concerts at her estate and her guests all rave about her talent even though her screeching is obvious. Her husband and butler “protect” her from the truth while the servants put cotton balls in their ears whenever she's singing. It sounds like a set-up for a farce and, although there is some comedy in it, Frot’s Marguerite is so fragile and tender that you feel concern, not humor in the situation. Instead of being vaudevillian, the film considers when politeness becomes patronization, when encouragement become manipulation, whether art is in the eyes of the artist or the audience, in the power of music and of love, in the need for dreams and the effect of dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered. It’s also a gorgeous film, but perhaps in need of a bit more editing and it should have stopped about fifteen minutes earlier. That aside, Catherine Frot is incredible in the title role.

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[2015. 129 min. Written and directed by Xavier Giannoli. Starring Catherine Frot, Denis Mpunga, Andre Marcon, and Michael Fau.]
http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/marguerite-venice-telluride-film-review-1201581323/

Mississippi Grind

— Who would have thought we needed another gambler flick, but this easy moving road trip and buddy film (DVD) is worthwhile thanks to Ben Mendelsohn’s still hopeful but slightly desperate appeal and Ryan Reynolds’ rakish charm. It moves along at a leisurely pace from the Midwest to the delta as the divorced and debt-ridden addict and his new, younger, and seemingly carefree friend form a bond and work on their own issues. While there’s something very appealing about the film, it’s not quite on a par with “The Hustler”, “California Split”, “The Cooler”, “Casino”, “Rounders”, and “The Sting”.

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[2015, 118 min., Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Starring Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds, and Yvonne Landry.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/05/magazine/the-perfect-predictability-of-gambling-movies.html

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

— Ben Affleck’s not a bad Batman but who wouldn’t look good next to Henry Cavill’s two-dimensional Superman? These two, with their anxiety and mother issues, need to be in counseling, not onscreen for 150 minutes killing and maiming for some greater good. Zack Snyder seems to enjoy poking around in the dark recesses of both heroes minds but this is just tiresome and no amount of action or angst or CGI can lift it up. Other than Cavil and an irritating Eisenberg, there’s a competent cast who could have made it entertaining if they’d only had more to do than worry about power and corruption, and the differences between gods and men. Gone is the sharp repartee that makes many of Marvel’s features so much fun. Mostly missing is any tender interaction—Cavill doesn’t have the acting chops to pull off much emotion and Affleck’s Batman is a bully through most of the film. Even the music is wearisome. No one has any fun at any time in this film, including the audience. Go see “Deadpool” instead or rent "Guardians of the Galaxy".

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[2016. 151 min., Directed Zack Snyder. Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavil, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Iron, Holly Hunter, and Gal Gadot.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/movies/review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-when-super-friends-fight.html

Mustang

— A troubling tale of empowerment about five spirited sisters that opens at the end of the Turkish school term with the girls horsing around with some of their male classmates by the beach. The world seems light and fun until their innocent games are reported to their uncle as sexually charged and shaming the family. They’re sent to a doctor to make sure they’re still virginal, then locked in their house without access to phones or computers or other “instruments of corruption”. As they try to marry off one of the girls, she balks and manages to marry a boy she loves and with who she’s been having a clandestine relationship, but the other sisters won’t have a choice. They are given lessons to make them good wives, preparing them to be married off. Suitors arrive, not for the girls to consider, but for their uncle to select. The younger sisters have no desire to suffer their fate, but they are virtual prisoners in their barred home and their male-dominated, religious heritage. There’s a calm touch to the direction that almost makes what’s happening more disturbing since it’s entirely told from the girls’ point of view. In the end, only the youngest daughter is able to escape, leaving viewers to see a long road ahead before the situation will change for other women.

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[2015. 97 min. Directed by Deniz Gamze Erguven. Starring Gunes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, and Tugba Sunguroglu.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/movies/review-in-mustang-turkish-sisters-and-traditions-clash.html