Joy (2015)

Amy, Jack, and I liked this story of a woman believing in herself despite crazy relatives and a society that kept women down. Loosely based on the life of inventor Joy Mangano, who came to prominence in 1990, its script veered so far away from Mangano's experience that director/writer David O. Russell (last blogged for American Hustle, as was star Jennifer Lawrence) said he didn't want to meet Mangano until he was finished. Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper, who worked with Russell and Lawrence on The Silver Linings Playbook and were most recently in these pages for The Family and Burnt, respectively, join the cast as Joy's father and a businessman--one angry and the other ebullient. On the distaff side, Diane Ladd (she was Oscar-nominated for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990), and Rambling Rose (1991); she was good in, among others, the TV series Alice 1980-81, Black Widow (1987), Primary Colors (1998), 28 Days (2000), and all 18 episodes of Enlightened (2011-13) playing her real-life daughter Laura Dern's mother, as she did in Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose) narrates the movie as Joy's loving grandmother, and hottie Virginia Madsen (sister of Michael, she was Oscar-nominated for Sideways (2004) and I liked her in Slam Dance (1987), The Hot Spot (1990), and The Rainmaker (1997), to name a few) is nearly unrecognizable in oversize glasses and neuroses as Joy's mother.

It was unclear to me where it was supposed to take place. Joy Mangano was from Smithtown on the north shore of Long Island, and shooting locations were in Boston and environs.

Credited composers are David Campbell (father of Beck, whose real name is Bek David Campbell) and West Dylan Thordson. Here's a link with four songs of original music and a cover of Something Stupid, made famous by Nancy and Frank Sinatra (here's the earlier version). But what you will come away with are the songs, listed here, especially I Feel Free, from the 1967 debut album of "super group" Cream. For the drive home, we found that video on the phone and streamed it via the car's bluetooth speakers. I love technology.

Before we saw the movie on Christmas day, Amy and her friends, all the same age as Lawrence, commented that it would be weird to see her playing a 35-year-old, and that did make me notice her flawless, dewy skin, even in the later scenes. And there are a few unnecessary moments. But 57 and 58% from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes is too harsh.

The Danish Girl (2015)

We loved this fictionalized story of an actual transgender woman in 1920s Copenhagen. Transcendent (sorry!) performances and stunning pictures all contribute to a glorious two hours. Fresh off winning the Oscar for another transformation (they just keep coming) in The Theory of Everything, Eddie Redmayne completely inhabits his character of Einar/Lili and Alicia Vikander (last blogged in Burnt) portrays his/her wife Gerda Gottlieb Wegener with fortitude belying her age (26 during filming, now 27). Strong supporting actors include Amber Heard (after writing about her in The Rum Diary, I saw her in Magic Mike XXL) as a lovely dancer, Ben Whishaw (most recently in Skyfall) as a gay suitor, and Matthias Schoenaerts (last in Far from the Madding Crowd) as a childhood friend, all remarkably tolerant of gender fluidity considering the movie is set 90 years ago.

Director Tom Hooper (most recently in these pages for Les Misérables) brings back some key visual crew in cinematographer Danny Cohen (after I wrote about him in The King's Speech, he shot Les Misérables and Room) for the dazzling photography, costume designer Paco Delgado (not yet blogged, but Oscar-nominated for Les Misérables, also did wardrobe for Bad Education (2004), Biutiful, and The Skin I Live In) for the magnificent silks, and production designer Eve Stewart (Oscar-nominated for Topsy Turvy (1999), The King's Speech, (profiled in that post), and Les Misérables) for the wonderful rooms.  I'll be very interested to see if any score nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers, Costume Designers Guild, and the Art Directors Guild in a couple of weeks. Lucinda Coxon writes her third adaptation (the first I've seen), this time from the 2000 novel by David Ebershoff, fictionalized, as I said above.

The real Gerda was actually bisexual, a working woman in a time when that wasn't all so common, and famous for her lesbian erotic paintings. Stewart and Hooper worked with a British artist to adapt Gerda's portraits to fit the movie. Here's a little more detail.

In one of my favorite radio podcasts, The Dinner Party Download (I listen to it on bluetooth while driving around town), the interviewer says the movie's press kit included a glossary with the term cisgender, meaning one who is comfortable with one's biological gender, and Vikander tells us she attended an event called Champions of Change at the White House about three weeks ago, which inspired and touched her, not only because our current president is the first ever to utter the word "transgender" in public in office.

Seeing this today was timely for Jack and me, because we sat with Amy during her visit while she binge-watched the first season and half of the second of the marvelous Amazon series Transparent, which we had already seen but was even better the second time.

Once again Alexandre Desplat (last blogged for Suffragette) gives us lovely music to match the images and you can stream the whole soundtrack and more from this link, pausing occasionally to skip an ad.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging only 71 and 74%. They were not paying attention. See this on your local big screen, away from the philistines' (start the video clip at 1:08) lit phone screens.

Sisters (2015)

Amy's, Jack's, and my high expectations were met in this farce about 40-something sisters reliving their youth in a last party before their parents sell their childhood home. Tina Fey's and Amy Poehler's parts were written just for them by veteran Saturday Night Live writer Paula Pell (Fey and Poehler were last blogged for Monkey Kingdom and Inside Out, respectively). Over 100 actors are listed on imdb and I don't feel like going through them all, but have three comments. 1. It seems like an SNL reunion (many others have said that). 2. Dianne Wiest (most recently in Darling Companion) and James Brolin (among his many credits I remember liking him in Marcus Welby M.D. (1969-76) (though I didn't see all 170 episodes); Gas, Food Lodging (1992); Traffic (2000), Catch Me If You Can (2002); and Last Chance Harvey) play the parents in both this and the new TV series Life in Pieces. 3. I saw Brian D'Arcy James (Spotlight) in the party scene. But did he have any lines? I don't remember them.

This is director Jason Moore's second feature after Pitch Perfect and we thought he did just fine with Pell's sixteen years of SNL writing experience backing him up.

A few days before seeing this last week, Jack and I watched an episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers where Fey, Poehler, and Pell were joined by cast members Ike Barinholtz (has been in a lot of things I haven't seen), Rachel Dratch (137 episodes of SNL, 16 of 30 Rock, and three of Inside Amy Schumer, among her many credits), and Maya Rudolph (last blogged for Inherent Vice). Pell read some excerpts from her own teenage diary, some of which are quoted verbatim in the movie. Watch the clip here.

You probably won't notice too much the background music by Christophe Beck (last blogged for Ant-Man) because of the kick-ass list of songs spanning the decades of the sisters' lives.

Critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes aren't as enthusiastic as we are, averaging 60 and 63%. The DVD release is estimated for March 2016. Do not bring the children to the theatre or into the room. This is full of nasty words, dirty jokes, and people behaving badly. We had a great time.

Heart of a Dog (2015)

This non-linear piece directed and written by performance artist/musician Laurie Anderson is a dreamy homage to her beloved canine. As my friend Sally might say, I could listen to her (Anderson) read the phone book. The movie was shot on Anderson's iPhone and "other small digital devices."

From this amazon link you can stream samples of the 27 tracks on the album, which may be the only release, i.e. no DVD planned, from the movie. Then you can see if you agree with me about her voice. She appeared at our university last year with the Kronos Quartet and I was lucky enough to meet her afterwards. Here's a biography.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' rhapsodic 98% is part of what drove me to choose this one two weeks ago, their 67% from audiences notwithstanding. Maybe one day you can stream it if you're not lucky enough to find it at one of these places.

Black or White (2014)

Definitely not high art, this story of a suddenly widowed white man being sued by a black woman for custody of their mutual granddaughter, raised by him and his wife, is entertaining enough, with star Kevin Costner and director/writer Mike Binder having done much better work in The Upside of Anger (2005) (Binder also did good work starring in the TV series he created, The Mind of the Married Man). In fact, Costner (last blogged in McFarland USA) personally financed this one because he believed so much in the previous one. Octavia Spencer (most recently in Get On Up) does a great job, as usual, rolling those big eyes as grandma Wee-Wee (short for Rowena). Supporting cast includes André Holland (last in Selma as Andrew Young) as the crackhead deadbeat dad, Anthony Mackie (most recently in Our Brand Is Crisis) as Wee-Wee's lawyer, and young Jillian Estell (her second feature) as Eloise.

Shot almost entirely in New Orleans, this has a soundtrack by Terence Blanchard, about whom I just wrote in Chi-Raq. I streamed this one two weeks ago because I saw it on Blanchard's resumé and thought I had seen it but forgotten to write it up. Jack and I must have seen the trailer a dozen times but never followed up. Jack's favorite lines from the trailer are as follows. Mackie: Do you hate black people? Costner: Not all of 'em.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics didn't like it one bit, averaging 40% to audiences' 66. Die-hard Costner fans have already seen it. The rest of you can pass.

Chi-Raq (2015)

Jack and I thoroughly enjoyed Spike Lee's modern retelling of Aristophanes' 2400+ year-old comedy Lysistrata, in which women of Chicago's south side go on a sex strike to end gang violence. Told in verse, both rhymed and free, it boasts lots of humor, a high body count, colorful wardrobe, creative choreography, and the inimitable Samuel L. Jackson (last blogged in Kingsman: The Secret Service) as a one man Greek chorus/narrator named Dolmedes, whose performance alone is worth the price of admission. The luscious leader of the women, Lysistrata herself, is played to perfection by Teyonah Parris (first covered in these pages for Dear White People), driving mad her partner named Chi-Raq (a mash-up of Chicago and Iraq, because of violence and warfare) who is leader of the purple-wearing Spartans and played by Nick Cannon (his work includes Drumline (2002), Shall We Dance (2004), Bobby (2006), and six episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and here he's a believable rapper). The rival orange gang is, you guessed it, the Trojans, led by Cyclops, played by a simpering Wesley Snipes (I didn't see the Blade series, but I did like Mo' Better Blues (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991) (both Spike Lee joints), White Men Can't Jump (1992), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), One Night Stand (1997), and Down in the Delta (1998)) in an eye patch.

Even before the feminists start chanting "No peace, no pussy!" (on the poster it says NO PEACE NO PIECE) some characters are also trying to stop the violence, including Angela Bassett (Oscar-nominated for playing Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), I also loved Malcolm X (1992), Strange Days (1995), Waiting to Exhale (1995), Contact (1997), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Music of the Heart (1999), Sunshine State (2002), Akeelah and the Bee (2006), and Notorious), Jennifer Hudson (won an Oscar and more for Dreamgirls (2007) and shone in The Secret Life of Bees), and John Cusack (last blogged for Love & Mercy), all with American names. Dave Chappelle also joins the cast after a thirteen year break from acting.

Director/co-writer Spike Lee (profiled in Miracle at St. Anna) calls all his movies "Spike Lee Joints," and I've seen and liked most of them. He wrote this time with Kevin Willmott, who is new to me. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique (most recently shot Cowboys & Aliens) and costume designer Ruth E. Carter (Oscar-nominated for Malcolm X (1992) and Amistad (1997), also did a bunch of other Lee joints and Selma) contribute mightily to the look of the picture.

When Lee began his feature career with She's Gotta Have It (1986), his father Bill Lee composed his jazz soundtracks. Bill handed over the baton to Terence Blanchard for Jungle Fever (1991), who has been providing new jazz tracks for Spike's joints ever since. Some of Blanchard's notable and recognized work from that oeuvre not mentioned above includes 25th Hour (2002), She Hate Me (2004), and Inside Man (2006). You're more likely, however, to remember from this movie the rap and pop singles in the soundtrack, available to stream on Amazon Prime from this link, including a single by Hudson, who doesn't sing on camera.

Our local paper ran two-week-old article from the Washington Post a few days ago, naming this movie as one of the ten best of the year. Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 81% but its audiences only 61. I guess joints aren't for everyone.

Room (2015)

Jack and I really liked this story of a five-year-old boy, also named Jack, born in captivity to the man who abducted and raped his mother and have kept them locked in a shed ever since (I take issue with "the boy's father"). Young Jacob Tremblay is tremendous as Jack. He's now nine and no newcomer to cameras, though new to me, and Brie Larson (last blogged in Trainwreck) is magnificent as his "Ma."

Screenwriter Emma Donoghue, an Irishwoman living in Canada, adapted her own 2010 best-selling novel of the same name in her feature debut for the project directed by fellow Irishman Lenny Abrahamson. Donoghue was inspired to write the book by the 2008 case of Elisabeth Fritzl, who was held captive and raped by her own father in Austria.

It's no spoiler to say that they get out and that it's all pretty harrowing to watch. In the second act, outside the Room, we have Joan Allen (some of my favorites of her work are Nixon (1995) where she played Pat, The Ice Storm (1997), Pleasantville (1998), The Contender (2000), Off the Map (2003), and The Upside of Anger (2005)--she was Oscar-nominated for Nixon, The Crucible (1996), and The Contender) and William H. Macy (most recently in The Wind Rises) as Ma's parents.

The soundtrack by Stephen Rennicks is lovely and some of it can be previewed here. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are agreeing with us this time, averaging 97% and 95, respectively.

The movie is racking up awards and nominations. See my running list for this year.

Brooklyn (2015)

Jack, Sally, Mike, and I loved this story of a girl who leaves 1950s Ireland to start a new life in New York, boasting fine acting, beautiful images, wonderful period details, great art direction and costumes, and lovely music. The porcelain skinned Saoirse (pronounced SEER-sha) Ronan (last blogged in The Grand Budapest Hotel) stars as Eilis (pronounced AY-lish) and she's quite the talent, using her native Irish accent for the first time in 21 roles in 21 years of life. A day or two ago she won the New York Film Critics Best Actress award for this one. The reliable Jim Broadbent (most recently in Le Week-End) and Julie Walters (two Oscar nominations--Best Actress for Educating Rita (1983) and Supporting for Billy Elliot (2000)--also wonderful in Calendar Girls (2003), Wah-Wah (2005), Driving Lessons (2006), voice of the witch in Brave, and Cynthia the hotel owner in Masterpiece Theatre/Indian Summers, among others; she also played Molly Weasley in a bunch of Harry Potters) are soothing as adults who help Eilis adjust to her new life. I did not recognize Emory Cohen, who is sweet as the Italian boy who's sweet on Eilis, but I've seen him in Afterschool, The Place Beyond the Pines, and he played Leo, the sullen son of Debra Messing in 15 episodes of Smash. Back home in Ireland, two notable cast members are Fiona Glascott (I know her for her work with Walters, playing the frustrated wife of a preacher, in Indian Summers and as Matt LeBlanc's ex-wife in Episodes) as Eilis' sister Rose and Domhnall (pronounced DOE-nal--he says "the M is just there to confuse Americans") Gleeson (last in Ex Machina) as an Irish suitor.

Director John Crowley (I've seen two of his four previous works, Intermission (2003) and Is Anybody There? and liked them both) does a nice job from a script by Nick Hornby (most recently adapted the memoir for Wild), who adapted the novel Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (pronounced column toe-BEEN) (my Irish cousins would laugh at my pronunciation obsession--a few years ago I google-chatted with Dara and he said their dog is named Siomha. I had to ask how to say it. Shee-va. Go figure--another M, and more, just to confuse Americans). Anyway, the aforementioned beautiful images, many on location in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland as well as Montreal, are courtesy of cinematographer Yves Bélanger, who shot Wild. Want to know? It's Eve bay-law-zhay, but say the "law" with an N sound stuck in your nose.

Michael Brook's (scored The Perks of Being a Wallflower) pretty tracks can be previewed here and are supplemented by plenty of songs but no published list is readily available.

We're on the same page with Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences, averaging 98% and 93% respectively. See it now.

Dough (2015)

Another packed room roared with laughter at this story of an elderly Jewish baker in London who takes on a young Muslim apprentice whose help, both intentional and not, causes the struggling business to boom. The closing feature at our local Jewish Film Festival, it has a twist that surprised me, even though it's on the poster and every synopsis I've read of the movie. I'll leave it out, because that's how I roll.

It stars Jonathan Pryce (profiled in Hysteria) as the baker, Jerome Holder (new to me) as the apprentice, and Ian Hart (some of the movies he's been in that I loved were Backbeat (1994) in which he played John Lennon, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995), Michael Collins (1996), The Butcher Boy (1997), Monument Ave. (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), The End of the Affair (1999), Liam (2000), Finding Neverland (2004), twenty episodes of Dirt, and four of Boardwalk Empire--he was also in one Harry Potter movie as Quirinus Quirrel) as a bad guy), and Pauline Collins (last blogged in Quartet) as a saucy widow.

Directed by John Goldschmidt (new to me but no novice) from a script by Jonathan Benson (yes, a novice--it's his first) and Jez Freedman (his first feature after one short), the movie has music that I liked but cannot find online, composed by Lorne Balfe. On his website, however, you can find many other tracks he has written,

We had such a good time that I wrote to distributor Menemsha Films to ask how my friends and readers could see it. I was told "the film will begin its theatrical release this spring, starting in Florida and then going wide in April!" So, I hope, there is a DVD in its future.

I hit a milestone on Sunday, having seen 800 movies since the first one in the blog on September 3, 2008 (Brideshead Revisited). And now that I'm all caught up on the writing, I can put that number on the index, with the other number, 821, of movies summarized in these pages.

UPDATE: Yes, it's true. Dough's release date is April 29, 2016 probably on the coasts, and will reach the rest of the country soon.

Look At Us Now, Mother! (2015)

Ann and I, along with a packed house, thoroughly enjoyed this documentary of a grown woman making peace with her vain mom through humor and honesty. One of the features of the local Jewish Film Festival, it was followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum, 61, whose mother is still alive and living in Boca (Raton, Florida).

Kirschenbaum's first doc was A Dog's Life: A Dogumentary (2004) and then she made a documentary short called My Nose (2007), which she fleshed out (ha!) into this feature length doc. She made My Nose because her mother had been hounding her for decades to get a nose job, and Gayle finally agreed to seek medical advice only if her mother would permit her to film it. She's an attractive woman and still has her original schnozz. We also learned at the Q&A that she had to edit the film herself to lessen the abuse and keep it light.

According to the filmmaker's website, you can now pre-order the DVD. I highly recommend it. And on DVD you won't suffer from motion-picture-motion-sickness (MPMS--see my running list here) as I did in the theatre.

Rule #19 for movies and television

In a movie about newspapers, there will be at least one shot of huge sheets of paper rolling off the giant printing presses. Jack and I love these soon-to-be nostalgic sequences.

Here's the complete list.

Trumbo (2015)

This fabulous true story of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is timely in today's climate of wiretaps and profiling. I'm so glad it was shot in color because it's stunning, with spectacular period details, cars, and the opulence of 1950s Hollywood.

Bryan Cranston (last blogged in Argo) brings the necessary frenetic energy to the title character and Diane Lane (profiled in Inside Out) is a lovely calm counterpoint as his wife Cleo. You can't go wrong with Louis C.K. and Michael Stuhlbarg (both most recently in these pages for Blue Jasmine) and they don't disappoint playing fellow screenwriter Arlen Hird and actor Edward G. Robinson, both blacklisted as well. Helen Mirren (last in Woman in Gold), besides having some strong scenes as actress-turned-gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper, gets to wear fantastic hats and dresses. Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi deserves props for the headgear, the neckwear, all of it. And we have Jay Denault (shot, among other things, Boys Don't Cry (1999), Real Women Have Curves (2002), Dinner for Schmucks, and Clear History) to thank for the luscious cinematography.

This is the first drama directed by Jay Roach (most recently helmed Little Fockers) and he did a great job, working from the debut feature script by John McNamara (who has written three TV movies, and dozens of TV episodes), based on Bruce Cook's 1977 biography Dalton Trumbo.

You can look up facts about Trumbo ahead of time, but we enjoyed learning on screen which movies he wrote. Oh, and be sure not to race out of the theatre as the credits begin, as you'll be treated to still photos and some film clips of the real people.

As I write I'm listening to this playlist of the Theodore Shapiro (last scored Infinitely Polar Bear) soundtrack. Cool jazz, fast action.

Speaking of cool, there's no accounting for the 71% critics' average on Rotten Tomatoes, though its audiences are a bit warmer at 81. Jack, Ann, and I thought it was terrific.

Spotlight (2015)

This lives up to the good things we heard about the true tale of the Boston Globe's 2001 team finding proof of the Archdiocese's cover-up of child molestation. Tautly told and urgently performed, it has already won this year's Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award, which is given to a movie with a great ensemble cast.

The spotlight team at the Globe is portrayed by Mark Ruffalo (last blogged for Infinitely Polar Bear), Michael Keaton (won the Oscar last year for Birdman), Rachel McAdams (most recently in A Most Wanted Man), and Brian d'Arcy James (18 episodes of Smash (2012-13) and plenty of other work on stage and screens). Some of the other players are Liev Schreiber (last in Fading Gigolo), John Slattery (best known as Roger Sterling on 89 episodes of Mad Men (2007-15), as well as good work in The Station Agent (2003), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Reservation Road (2007), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), The Adjustment Bureau, and cameos in Iron Man 2 and Ant-Man as Tony Stark's dad Howard), Jamey Sheridan (I had a crush on him in Shannon's Deal (1990-91), and he did good work in Chicago Hope (1995-96), The Ice Storm (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999), Life as a House (2001), Syriana (2005), twelve episodes of Homeland (2011-12), and five of Smash), and Stanley Tucci (most recently in these pages for voicing Leonardo da Vinci in Mr. Peabody & Sherman). I racked my brain to guess who did the telephone voice of Dr. Sipe, not listed in the credits nor on imdb, to no avail. In this article, however, I found out it was Richard Jenkins (last in The Company You Keep).

Tom McCarthy last directed and wrote Win Win, and is joined by co-writer Josh Singer (his second co-written screenplay and a number of teleplays), and the story trots along briskly, even at two hours and seven minutes.

The pleasant music by Howard Shore (last composed Rosewater) can be streamed from this link. There were a lot of songs listed in the end credits, but only three are listed on imdb.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences alike are rhapsodic, averaging 97 and 96. See it now locally. And you won't miss Rule #19.

With the recent announcement of nominations for the Gotham and Independent Spirit Awards, I have resurrected my yearly alphabetical list of nominees and winners. I hope I can keep it up as award season picks up speed. I've posted a bunch so far.

Rock the Kasbah (2015)

We didn't hate (though the critics did) this Bill Murray comedy directed by Barry Levinson about a musicians' agent trying to keep his career afloat with a gig in Afghanistan, also featuring Kate Hudson, Bruce Willis, and Zooey Deschanel, among others. The actors were last blogged in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Clear History, Red 2, and Our Idiot Brother, respectively, and I profiled Levinson in What Just Happened. Screenwriter Mitch Glazer co-wrote Scrooged (1988) and The Recruit (2003), and adapted Great Expectations (1998) by himself. This one is very, very loosely based on a 2009 documentary, Afghan Star.

There are plenty of songs including a funny cover by Deschanel. This link also has some original middle Eastern music by composer Marcelo Zarvos (most recently blogged for Enough Said).

This may be the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rated movie we've ever seen. It has remained solidly in one digit and as of today the critics' average is 8% with audiences coming in at 39. When we saw it a month ago Jack said it deserved at least 40 and I say 65.

This just in--the movie has the dubious distinction of being on a list of the biggest flops of the year.

The DVD's estimated release is February 2016, though with ratings that low, it's anyone's guess if it'll happen. If it does, and it doesn't cost you much, you could watch for a while and see if you want to continue. We laughed.

Freeheld (2015)

Based on a true story about a NJ police detective fighting to get her pension assigned to her female domestic partner before her 2006 death, this scripted drama is very good, with Julianne Moore and Ellen Page as the lovers and Michael Shannon and Steve Carell as some of their strongest supporters (last blogged in Still Alice, To Rome with Love, Mud, and Foxcatcher, respectively).

The 2007 documentary of the same name won the Oscar for Best Documentary short.

Peter Sollett (most recently in these pages for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) directs from a script by Ron Nyswaner (Oscar nominated for writing Philadelphia (1993), Independent Spirit nominated for writing The Painted Veil (2007), Mrs. Soffel (1984), and more).

It's been five weeks since we saw this, but I think I also liked the soundtrack by the great Hans Zimmer (last scored The Woman in Gold) with the collaboration of Johnny Marr. Several links to the entire soundtrack have been removed from youtube, but this track remains.

The movie earns a producers plethora tag with 24 listed on imdb, but The Butler remains the undefeated champion with 39.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics felt differently, averaging 47% to its audiences' 64%. After the DVD release in February, check it out and tell me what you think.

Spectre (2015)

The latest Bond picture is enjoyable enough with plenty of action, classic elements of the last 22 chapters, and the usual gorgeous locations, sets, cars, and gadgets, but is way too talky. Though the definition of chick flick is "too much talking and not enough hitting," this two and a half hour extravaganza could use a trim of at least 20 minutes of each.

The opening sequence doesn't disappoint, taking place this time during a Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City. In the music mix are kettle drummers, reminding me of the ones I loved in Mad Max: Fury Road, who can be heard offscreen later. In the action mix are some impressive stunts/computer generated effects with a wildly swinging helicopter. Other fabulous locations include Rome, Tangier, a snow-filled rural Austria, and, of course, London.

Daniel Craig returns, still pouting, for the fourth time under the directing hand of Sam Mendes for his second (both were last blogged in Skyfall). Much has been made of Monica Bellucci's (among her many credits I liked Malèna (2000), She Hate Me (2004), The Passion of the Christ (2004), and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee; I omitted the Matrix movies because I didn't particularly enjoy them but she was in them all) being the oldest Bond girl--she is now 51--but she's not in the movie very long. Léa Seydoux (most recently in Blue Is the Warmest Color) has lots more screen time, but what did you expect? She's thirty! Christoph Waltz (last in Big Eyes) also has abbreviated scenes as a villain.

Composer Thomas Newman (most recently in these pages for scoring Bridge of Spies) naturally uses the "James Bond theme," with royalties going to Monty Norman, and pays homage to John Barry and other past Bond composers. You can stream the whole soundtrack, half as long as the movie, from this link.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging only 64/66 for this installment. You fans know who you are, and have probably already seen it on the big screen.

Suffragette (2015)

It's hard to say we "enjoyed" this wrenching story of 1912 English women fighting for the right to vote, but it's powerful, beautifully shot, and we highly recommend it. Carey Mulligan (last blogged in Far from the Madding Crowd) continues to impress us with her talent as our main heroine Maud Watts, accidentally politicized. Her main adversary is Brendan Gleeson (most recently in Calvary) as the scary Inspector condoning beating and jailing of the protestors (yes, there is violence). Supporting the cause are, among others, Anne-Marie Duff (last in Before I Go to Sleep), Helena Bonham Carter (fairy godmother in Cinderella), the lovely Romola Garai (I watched her in the mini-series The Hour), and, for five minutes, Meryl Streep (most recently in Ricki and the Flash). Streep's character, Emmeline Pankhurst, however, was a real feminist icon who was the leader of British women's suffrage.

This is director Sarah Gavron's second feature, but screenwriter Abi Morgan (last in these pages for The Invisible Woman) is making quite a name for herself. The lovely photography (some bleak, and, oh, that magnificent park!) is courtesy of Eduard Grau, who shot A Single Man, though I didn't say so (I should have, as I went into some detail about the exquisite look of that picture).

Warning for those who are prone to Motion Picture Motion Sickness (MPMS), as I am: there are some sequences that will make us queasy, especially toward the end. Jack and I happened to choose to sit in the last row, but I still had to look away from time to time. This is going on the alphabetical list.  We sufferers need to know what to expect.

The prolific Alexandre Desplat (Oscar-nominated for The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel last year and won for the latter) brings another great soundtrack to the screen. It can be streamed from this link (with a few fits and starts tonight at least).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 72 and audiences at 76  are wrong. See this. And stay until the end for a short history lesson.

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Two months ago Jack, Jodi, and I enjoyed this story of the groundbreaking 1980s hip-hop/rap group N.W.A.--Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and MC Ren--and their lives until the early 90s. O'Shea Jackson Jr. (in his screen debut) plays his father Ice Cube and the kid is good, not to mention his dad's spitting image. Jason Mitchell and Corey Hawkins (new to me and their first major roles) and the more experienced (but still new to me) Neil Brown Jr. and Aldis Hodge play E, Dre, Yella, and Ren, respectively, and they bring a lot of passion to the project. Paul Giamatti's Jerry Heller (the manager) has some similarities to his character in Love & Mercy. And there are about a hundred other players in the 147 minutes run time.

This is director F. Gary Gray's eighth feature (plus a bunch of videos) but the only one I've seen is the excellent The Italian Job (2003). The script is credited to Jonathan Herman (his first) and Andrea Berloff (her second) and story by S. Leigh Savidge (one documentary), Alan Wenkus (one other story credit), and Berloff.

You don't have to love hip-hop or rap to like this, although if you hate the genre, you should probably skip it. We like it well enough, and thought the movie was very good. Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 89% and audiences at 94 agree with us this time. I see it's at one second-run theatre in these parts. Or you can wait until January 19 to get it on DVD.

Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)

We knew we'd like this story of a political consultant emerging from retirement to help a Bolivian candidate and possibly win against her nemesis. Sandra Bullock's (last blogged for Gravity) performance as the heroine suggests manic depression, with the emphasis on the latter, and we thought she was great. Billy Bob Thornton (profiled in Entourage) is suitably oily as the nemesis, and Anthony Mackie (most recently Captain America: The Winter Soldier) is but one of the supportive supporting cast.

There was a 2005 documentary of the same name about James Carville's firm working the 2002 Bolivian election, and Peter Straughan (covered in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) adapted that into this script for director David Gordon Green (profiled in Prince Avalanche). Together they gave us plenty of laughs and harmed no llamas (it's Jack's favorite part of the trailer). George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov (last blogged for producing The Monuments Men) are behind this project and it's their kind of humor. The movie was shot in La Paz, other parts of Bolivia, Puerto Rico, and Tulane University in New Orleans, among other locations.

David Wingo's (scored Prince Avalanche) music is good but not at all available online. I can't be sure if the movie's averaging 32% critics and 45% audiences on Rotten Tomatoes has anything to do with that unavailability. It's still running on big screens locally, but if you want to wait until the DVD release, it's scheduled for February 2016, as are several of my last movies.

Steve Jobs (2015)

Jack and I think this is good, despite it not being true to its subject--they get the prickly part, but leave out the ex-hippie/charismatic guy who helped change our world. Michael Fassbender (last blogged in X-Men: Days of Future Past) is very good as the total jerk title character denying paternity of his daughter and bullying everyone in his path, Kate Winslet (most recently in Labor Day) wonderful as his long-suffering "work wife" Joanna Hoffman, and Seth Rogen (last in This Is the End) terrific as beleaguered Steve Wozniak. There's a short piece in The New Yorker (it has a few mild spoilers of good lines) about Rogen meeting Wozniak which I found interesting. And a longer one in the L.A. Times, with fewer spoilers, about how they got it wrong.

Also featured are Jeff Daniels (most recently in The Martian) as John Sculley and Katherine Waterston (first blogged in Inherent Vice) as Jobs' baby mama.

Full disclosure--when we saw it two weeks ago we were late, which we seldom are, by two minutes or ten, and the number 1984 was superimposed on the screen when we walked in. But we didn't feel lost. What I learned tonight is that the first act, 1984, was shot in 16mm film, the second, 1988, in 35mm, and the last, 1988, in digital, to reflect changing technology.

Danny Boyle (last blogged for Trance) directs from a typically wordy script by Aaron Sorkin (most recently in these pages for Moneyball).

I loved the score by Daniel Pemberton (plenty of movie and TV credits but new to me), which can be streamed from this link.

Rotten Tomatoes' folks (85% critics/78% audiences) agree with us that it's entertaining, which is way better than they liked the Ashton Kutcher-starring 2013 movie Jobs. This one is still playing locally, and the DVD release is estimated for February 2016.

Rule #18 for movies and television

Someone says a name and the other person immediately knows how to spell it. Today in the movie the other person wrote down "Conn," when to my ear it could just as easily have been Kahan, Kahn, Khan, Cahn, etc.

For the complete list click here.

Bridge of Spies (2015)

The trailers for this looked bleak but after my aunt Mary recommended it highly, Jack and I saw and loved the true story of a 1950s insurance lawyer defending a Russian spy and more. Of course, with Steven Spielberg at the helm, the production values are sky-high, and the art direction, picture cars, props, and Amy Ryan's hair and wardrobe are practically worth the price of admission. The reliable Tom Hanks (last blogged for another real-life person, Walt Disney, in Saving Mr. Banks) keeps us rooting for our hero, and Mark Rylance (new to me but winner of three Tonys and star of numerous productions in his native England) is marvelous as the commie. Ryan (most recently in Birdman) brings her character of the lawyer's wife a lovely June Cleaver attitude and the aforementioned period costumes and hairdos. Oh, this is one example where Rule #1 is broken--he gets a cold.

Spielberg (last directing gig was Lincoln) lends gravitas and the script by Matt Charman (new to me after two mini-series and one feature) and Joel & Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis) has more laughs than we expected. Production Designer Adam Stockhausen may have a shot at another Oscar after winning earlier this year for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Thomas Newman's (most recently in these pages for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) score is another reliable component of the overall experience and may be streamed from this link.

I have to also recommend a seven minute bit Hanks did with Jimmy Fallon on the latter's show, reading scripts by elementary school kids who were told to write something called Bridge of Spies. Very funny. Watch it here.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are in agreement with Mary and us, averaging 92/90. This should be playing for a while longer in your neighborhood until its estimated February release on DVD.

Truth (2015)

Jack and I liked a lot this story of 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes and the scandal when she, her team, and Dan Rather uncovered in 2004 George W. Bush's failure to fulfill his requirements in the Texas Air National Guard in the 70s. Cate Blanchett (last blogged for Cinderella) will get the Palm Springs International Film Festival Desert Palm Achievement Award for this and the movie Carol (coming later this year) and here puts in a terrific performance as the brilliant, dogged journalist. The real Mapes, on whose memoir the movie is based, is not unattractive, but Blanchett is positively luminous wearing an Armani wardrobe designed especially for the movie.

Probably my only quibble is that the filmmakers didn't even try to make Robert Redford (most recently in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) look anything like Rather. But we appreciated the avuncular chemistry between him and Blanchett. Topher Grace (I watched and loved all 179 episodes of That 70s Show, and also liked him in Traffic (2000), P.S. (2004), In Good Company (2004) (co-starring with Dennis Quaid), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Valentine's Day, and Interstellar, though I didn't mention him in the last two) brings some passion and righteous indignation to this role. Dennis Quaid (some of his best work before this was Breaking Away (1979), The Right Stuff (1983), Suspect (1987), The Big Easy (1986), Great Balls of Fire (1989), Postcards from the Edge (1990), Flesh and Bone (1993), Wyatt Earp (1994), Something to Talk About (1995), Any Given Sunday (1999), Frequency (2000), Far From Heaven (2002), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and the aforementioned In Good Company), Elisabeth Moss (last blogged for Top of the Lake), and John Benjamin Hickey (profiled in Get On Up) all contribute.

Screenwriter James Vanderbilt (co-wrote The Amazing Spider-Man), who makes his directing debut with high production values, agreed to shoot in Blanchett's home country of Australia so she could be near her family on the job. The soundtrack is by Brian Tyler (most recently in the pages for composing Avengers: Age of Ultron) and can be previewed on iTunes and other retailers.

One scene in the movie inspired me to write Rule #18. And many times Rule #6 is obeyed.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are lukewarm at 58% and its audiences are averaging 61. Haters gotta hate. We enjoyed it.

Burnt (2015)

Jack and I enjoyed this story of a hot-headed American chef trying to make a clean and sober comeback in London after many fiascos in Paris. The food stylings and music are just great. Maybe the plot's a bit pat (could be butter, er, better) but this is going on the food movie list as soon as I finish the post.

Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller (who were both last blogged in American Sniper) once again co-star as the chef and sous-chef with layered performances (and she has an interesting haircut). Daniel Brühl (most recently in The Woman in Gold), Matthew Rhys (I know him better for 109 episodes of Brothers & Sisters than for 40 episodes of The Americans--I quit watching the latter because it was so bleak), and Omar Sy (last in Jurassic World) all do well as some of Cooper's cohorts, plus I appreciated cameos by Emma Thompson (most recently in Saving Mr. Banks), Uma Thurman (I liked The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Henry & June (1990), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), Kill Bill 1 and 2 ((2003 and 04), Prime (2005), The Producers (2005), and five episodes of Smash in 2012), Alicia Vikander (last in Ex Machina), and Lily James (first blogged in Cinderella).

"Poor John Wells," I wrote about the director in my post for August: Osage County, since it rated low, as did this (28% critics, 60 audiences on Rotten Tomatoes). The script is by Steven Knight (The Hundred Foot Journey) and the story by Michael Kalesniko (wrote Private Parts (1997)).

Jack, who is a big fan of blues music, particularly loved the opening sequence with It Serves You Right to Suffer by John Lee Hooker remixed or something by "The Avener" (stream it here or listen to JLH's original in a much slower tempo). The rest of the music, by Rob Simonsen (last blogged for Foxcatcher), should be released in an album, but hasn't.

The haters have no taste. Savor the experience and sample this movie while you can.

The Martian (2015)

Jack and I really enjoyed this long (2:14), special-effects laden story of an astronaut stranded on Mars in the near future. There are no lulls, as the action flashes back and forth between the red planet, our planet, and the crew of the spaceship. Matt Damon (last blogged in The Monuments Men) is as charming as ever as our hero, who keeps a video diary so he doesn't have to talk to a volleyball to let the audience know what he's feeling.

On the spaceship we have Jessica Chastain (most recently in A Most Violent Year), Michael Peña (last in Gangster Squad), Kate Mara (last in 127 Hours), and Sebastian Stan (not blogged but had a small part in Rachel Getting Married, played Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and was one of the sons in Ricki and the Flash), and they alternately banter and work. In the serious NASA crew on earth the heavy hitters are Chiwetel Ejiofor (Oscar winner for 12 Years a Slave), Jeff Daniels (last in Looper), and Kristen Wiig (most recently in The Diary of a Teenage Girl). Notable cameos come from Donald Glover (after his 89 episodes of Community he played one of the MCs in Magic Mike XXL) and Mackenzie Davis (20 episodes starring as a computer geek in the AMC series Halt and Catch Fire) as computer geeks.

Ridley Scott (last blogged for Prometheus) directs from Drew Goddard's (wrote some things I haven't seen and nine episodes of Lost) adaptation of Andy Weir's book. Many of the best lines are taken straight from those pages, e.g. "I'm going to science the s*** out of it." That line, which is in the trailer, is why I was eager to see the movie. On another note, it's a really good ad for duct tape.

Harry Gregson-Williams' (last in the blog for Monkey Kingdom) score can be streamed in its entirety from this link (which has some stopping and starting at the beginning, and is supplemented by a fun selection of disco music, some of which is listed here.

Despite the mother who brought into our small theatre a toddler who alternately whined, cried, or sang with joy until removed after an hour's time (I stormed out and hissed at an employee, to whom I later apologized--Jack said he was "caught in the crossfire"--and someone from management asked them to leave), we had a great time. It has been playing for four weeks now but is still available in 3D, though we didn't spring for it. Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences are loving it as we did, averaging 93% all.

The Walk (2015)

Lots of fun, this tale of tightrope walker Philippe Petit's 1974 daredevil journey between the twin towers of the World Trade Center boasts high production values and caused this vertiginous moviegoer's legs and feet to tingle every time the camera (or CGI computer screen) swooped down.

It's been called a docudrama and a sequel to the excellent documentary Man on Wire, since both credit Petit's memoir To Reach the Clouds. Whatever you call it, the talents of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (last blogged in The Wind Rises) as M. Petit and Charlotte Le Bon (first blogged in The 100-Foot Journey) and Ben Kingsley (most recently in Iron Man 3) as his closest partners in the crime, as well as director Robert Zemeckis (last blogged for Flight), who worked from a script by himself and Christopher Browne in his feature debut, shine as much as the special effects.

Composer Alan Silvestri (most recently in these pages for Flight) provides some dreamy French-inspired tunes and catchy jazz riffs in the soundtrack, which you can stream from this link. The other songs are listed here.

It's still playing in these parts (in standard, not 3D, as we saw it two and a half weeks ago) and is rated 85/85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Irrational Man (2015)

Back in August we liked Woody Allen's latest, about an impotent philosophy professor who nonetheless has affairs with both a student and another professor, better than the critics did. There's a lot more to the plot but I don't believe in spoilers so I'm not going to say. This is Joaquin Phoenix's (last blogged in Inherent Vice) first Woody Allen (last year's was Magic in the Moonlight) picture, and he certainly has the chops: this time as a narcissist who finds passion in an unlikely way. Emma Stone (Magic in the Moonlight was her first Allen joint and she was most recently in these pages for Birdman) is the lovely young student and Parker Posey (some of my favorites of her work are Waiting for Guffman (1996), You've Got Mail (1998), Best in Show (2000), The Anniversary Party (2001), Personal Velocity (2002), A Mighty Wind (2003), The Oh in Ohio (2006), For Your Consideration (2006), Broken English (2007), and Price Check--she's working on Allen's 2016 release which will be her second outing with him) is the more age-appropriate partner for the other professor.

Allen's usual gorgeous locations and sets are this time in Newport and other Rhode Island locales, shot by Darius Khondji (Magic in the Moonlight).

The aforementioned critics (Rotten Tomatoes 42% to audiences' 53) may have kept this from the dollar theaters but the DVD is supposed to be out in January. I suppose this is mostly for the most ardent fans, but that would describe Jack and me, so there ya go.

Ricki and the Flash (2015)

Not high art, but still enjoyable, this story of a mother and daughter reuniting decades after the former left to chase a career in rock has good production values, some laughs, and some pathos. We know Meryl Streep can sing, as evidenced by A Prairie Home Companion (2006), Mamma Mia! (2008), and Into the Woods, and can do comedy. Her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer (covered in The End of the Tour) is showing promise, here playing Ricki's reel daughter Julie. Rick Springfield (I haven't seen a single one of his 73 episodes of General Hospital but I liked his Grammy-winning song Jessie's Girl in 1981) is quite good as Ricki's bandmate Greg who loves her, and Kevin Kline (last blogged for My Old Lady) and Audra McDonald (this six-time Tony-winner--we saw her as Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill--can sing Broadway to jazz to opera, and was in 77 episodes of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, among others, but doesn't sing a note in this movie) are also compelling as the father and stepmother of Julie and her brothers.

Jonathan Demme (profiled in Rachel Getting Married) directs with an experienced hand from a script by Diablo Cody (covered in Young Adult), who was inspired by her mother-in-law (read this Vanity Fair article).

No composer is credited because the on-screen band performs most of the songs on the soundtrack. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are pretty tepid at 64/52%. You still might enjoy it, playing at the dollar theaters now, or when it's released on DVD next month.

Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)

In August Jack and I loved this one based on director/writer Maya Forbes' own life, growing up poor with her bipolar (hence "polar bear") white father Cameron Forbes (yes, that Forbes family) and black mother Peggy, starring Maya's daughter Imogene Wolodarsky (she is amazing in her screen debut) as Maya's character, named Amelia Stuart for the story. Mark Ruffalo (last blogged for Avengers: The Age of Ultron) may be nominated for playing Cameron Stuart in a rich and layered performance. Zoe Saldana (most recently in Guardians of the Galaxy) and Ashley Aufderheide (has done a little TV since then) are also wonderful as Amelia's mother and little sister, respectively. Imogene is also a little clone of her mother, as evidenced by this photo of the four main cast members with Maya.

Maya Forbes makes her directorial debut here after writing for The Larry Sanders show and a few produced screenplays we haven't seen, co-written with her husband Wallace Wolodarsky.

The soundtrack is credited to Theodore Shapiro (last in these pages for Spy) and you can preview four of his tracks from iTunes or other pages, but I imagine the 1970s tunes will stay with you longer than his sprightly cues.

The movie was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year and Forbes won a Director to Watch Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes' critics averaged 80% and its audiences 75. I suggest you see this sometime--the DVD release is estimated for January 2016.

Ant-Man (2015)

Also in mid-July, this Marvel Comics picture provided lots of laughs and action with the talents of Paul Rudd (last blogged in They Came Together) in the title role, Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra), Evangeline Lilly (117 episodes of Lost), Corey Stoll (This Is Where I Leave You), Bobby Cannavale (Spy), and many more. I did make a note at the time that the fights were easier to follow than in many action movies.

Director Peyton Reed (Bring It On (2000), Down With Love (2003), and The Break-Up (2006)) took over for Edgar Wright (The World's End) after the latter had put a lot of work into the screenplay, also credited to Joe Cornish, Adam McKay (Anchorman 2), and Rudd, and based on the original series by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. As always, there's a funny cameo from Lee. Be patient.

The prolific Christophe Beck (most recently in these pages for scoring Cake) changes it up for the genre. You can stream the whole thing on youtube.

This spoiler-laden link is but one outlining some easter eggs for fan-boys and -girls.

Rotten Tomatoes' averages are 80% critics and 89 audiences. This may be back at a second-run movie house but your best bet is to catch it on DVD after its December release.

Amy (2015)

In mid-July we loved this sad documentary about the talented, addicted, and doomed performer Amy Winehouse. With archival footage and interviews with her family, who are not at all happy about about the finished product, it shows sides of the performer we didn't know existed.

Directed by Asif Kapadia, the documentary will be released on DVD in December 2015. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are firmly in line with us, averaging 97 and 91% respectively.

Grandma (2015)

Jack and I really liked this story of a prickly woman and her granddaughter searching for cash to fund an abortion in Los Angeles. Lily Tomlin (covered in Admission) is brilliant as Elle, a published poet still reeling from the not-recent death of her long-time partner Violet, and Julia Garner (I didn't recognize her, though we've seen two of her pictures) is good as the pregnant teen. Marcia Gay Harden (last blogged in Whip It) is terrific, as always, as the daughter of one and mother of the other, feared by both.

Nat Wolff (most recently in Palo Alto and was in Admission as well), Sam Elliott (I'll See You in My Dreams), Judy Greer (Men, Women & Children), Laverne Cox (trans woman Sophia on Orange Is the New Black), and Elizabeth Peña (sadly, she died a year ago. Some of my favorites were Lone Star (1996), Tortilla Soup (2001), Transamerica (2005), and Mother and Child) all turn in good cameos. Read this glowing review from Variety after you've seen the movie.

Director/writer Paul Weitz says he had had the idea for the script before working the same duties on Admission with Tomlin but she helped him flesh it out.

The magnificent 1955 Dodge Royal driven by Elle in the movie actually belongs to Tomlin.

Joel P. West composed the dreamy music, which can be streamed on Spotify or purchased on amazon and iTunes.

Jodi, of the Tuesday night movie club, saw it before we did--moving and travel have kept us away from the big screens far too long--and dismissed it as "typical film fest fare not living up to its potential." We and Rotten Tomatoes' critics at 93% heartily disagree (RT audiences average 70%). In fact, we think film festivals tend to provide the best entertainment. Check this out at your neighborhood art house and listen for my new favorite movie line: "I don't have an anger problem, I have an a**hole problem."

Milestone: this is the 800th movie summarized on the blog since September 3, 2008. Sorry I've been too busy to write for a while. Working now to catch up!

The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

Jodi, Christine, Jack, and I loved this story of a 15 year old in 1976 San Francisco who becomes obsessed with sex after losing her virginity to a 35 year old. Perfectly acted, beautifully shot, wonderfully cinematic with cool animated bits, and impeccably written and directed by Marielle Heller in her debut, adapted from Phoebe Gloeckner's graphic novel of the same name. Jodi and Christine, both mothers of little girls, were slightly horrified by the plot but entranced nonetheless.

Bel Powley (not her first rodeo but she's new to me) is 23 and Jack and I were surprised to learn on Jimmy Fallon's show that she is British, as her American accent is flawless. Not to mention her wide-eyed wonder of the teen years. As the rapist, er, love interest, Alexander Skarsgård (last blogged in Disconnect, coincidentally another scary movie for sane parents) is terrific, and Kristen Wiig (most recently in The Skeleton Twins) is brilliant as the mom.

Wonderful location shots of the city by the bay are thanks to Brandon Trost who has won, so far, the Cinematography Award at Sundance for this movie. And there are a bunch of great 70s tunes on the soundtrack, released today, including two by the composer Nate Heller (his debut as well) but inexplicably not the one in the trailer, even though the composer sings it himself in the movie.

Critics at Rotten Tomatoes are averaging 94% and audiences 82, reflecting the festival awards and nominations accruing in the beginning of the movie's release. We highly recommend this one.

Trainwreck (2015)

Just like its writer/star Amy Schumer, this movie, about a commitment-phobic party animal named Amy who meets a great guy, is profane and envelope-pushing. Jodi, Jack, and I loved it. I first heard Schumer's comedy on the dirty comedy station Raw Dog on satellite radio, which I tune in to whenever I get a loaner car. You should definitely watch the three seasons (30 episodes) of Inside Amy Schumer, her Comedy Central series, and it's been renewed for a fourth.

Bill Hader (last blogged an hour ago for Inside Out) is a perfect foil for her as the love interest Aaron, and LeBron James, playing a version of himself, makes a great sidekick. Some of the more noteworthy other supporting players are Vanessa Bayer (107 episodes of Saturday Night Live) as Amy's friend and colleague, Tilda Swinton (most recently in Snowpiercer) as her hilariously blunt boss, Brie Larson (last in these pages for Don Jon) as Amy's down-to-earth sister Kim, Mike Birbiglia (after his cameo in Annie he had a series arc in Orange is the New Black) as Kim's dorky husband, Colin Quinn (89 of SNL and some other stuff) as Amy and Kim's father, and Ezra Miller (most recently in The Perks of being a Wallflower) as an intern. Since Hader's character is a sports doctor, there are plenty of real athletes, as well as quite a few celebrities, playing themselves,

Director Judd Apatow (last in these pages for This is 40) is the obvious choice for raunch, and he does well with Schumer's material.

Since we saw this six weeks ago, I don't remember much of the music, and the internet doesn't seem to remember that Jon Brion composed the soundtrack, only that there are lots of songs.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 85% and its audiences 75, yet it has made lots of money, seventh of current releases in as many weeks, tripling its $35 million budget. Throw some money Amy's way, or wait for the small screen. But do see it if you can handle the filth.

Inside Out (2015)

Jack and I enjoyed this animated story of the anthropomorphic emotions inside a young girl's head when her parents move her across the country. Chris liked it so much he saw it three times so we saw it once, which was good. It is a strange concept and, as such, has been analyzed a great deal, including in this spoiler-filled article.

Starring Amy Poehler (profiled in They Came Together, which I didn't like) as Joy, Phyllis Smith (she has been in a movie, Bad Teacher, in addition to 187 episodes of The Office) as Sadness, Bill Hader (last blogged in The Skeleton Twins) as Fear, Lewis Black (he's done some movies, beginning with a tenth-billed role as Paul in Hannah and her Sisters (1986), and TV, but is best known as an acerbic comedian) as Anger, Mindy Kaling (after I mentioned her small part in No Strings Attached she got her own series, The Mindy Project, which is a big hit) as Disgust, Diane Lane (starting as a teenager in A Little Romance (1979), she's worked steadily and well on, among others, The Outsiders (1983), Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Chaplin (1992), Unfaithful (2002), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), Fierce People (2005), Must Love Dogs (2005), Hollywoodland (2006), and, my personal favorite, A Walk on the Moon (1999)) and Kyle McLachlan (covered in Mao's Last Dancer) as the parents, Kaitlyn Dias (this is her second feature) as the girl Riley, and Richard Kind (most recently in these pages for Obvious Child) as her toy Bing Bong. There's a host of cameos, including Paula Poundstone, Frank Oz, Laraine Newman, and Flea (bassist of the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers).

Co-directors Pete Docter (last blogged in Up, for which he won his Oscar) and Ronaldo del Carmen (his first time directing a feature) are credited with the story; Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (first time for the latter two) with the screenplay; and Poehler and Hader with additional dialogue--you can probably tell which parts, as Joy's dialogue does bear a certain resemblance to Leslie Knope's, Poehler's character on Parks and Recreation.

The sprightly soundtrack, which can be streamed from this link, is by Michael Giacchino, who also won his Oscar working with Docter on Up. After 11 weeks release Inside Out is second only to Jurassic World in current movies' earnings, which happens to have been Giacchino's last appearance in these pages.

Inside Out had been on the big screens for a while when we saw it over six weeks ago, but it's still raking in the dough. We didn't spring for the 3D version but we had fun, as did the critics, 98% of whom loved it on Rotten Tomatoes, and their audiences, at 90%.

The End of the Tour (2015)

Jack and I really liked this tour de force by Jason Segal as author David Foster Wallace, whose five days with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and Lipsky's subsequent book is the basis of this movie. I haven't seen nor read any Wallace, but Segal's (last blogged for This is 40) performance is remarkable--one gets no glimpse of the comedian as he transforms into the complex writer. Jesse Eisenberg (most recently in Now You See Me, and there's a sequel in the works) doesn't do anything amazing as Lipsky, but he's still very good.

This is mostly a buddy/road trip picture ("the tour" is a book tour for Wallace's hugely successful novel Infinite Jest), but a few women show up in supporting roles, including Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter, she's been in, among others, Taking Woodstock, all 13 episodes of Off the Map, Side Effects, seven episodes of The Good Wife, and Cake, though I didn't mention her in the linked ones and haven't yet written about her co-starring role in Ricki and the Flash), Mickey Sumner (Sting's daughter, last in Girl Most Likely), and Anna Chlumsky (after I covered her in In the Loop the former child actress has been in 38 episodes and counting of Veep).

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (for Dinner with Friends) Donald Margulies wrote the screenplay, which was on the 2013 Blacklist (the year's top unproduced movie screenplays), and gave it to director James Ponsoldt (most recently made The Spectacular Now), one of his former students at Yale.

The prolific and talented Danny Elfman (most recently co-scored Avengers: Age of Ultron) provides a dreamy score (stream some of it here), which is supplemented by songs from Tindersticks, R.E.M., and more (songs).

Rotten Tomatoes' averages, at 92% critics and 89 audiences, are more in line with our opinions this time. We recommend it.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann - 2013)

I liked very much this charming, off-kilter comedy about a naïve yet wily centenarian whose past and present misadventures belie his advanced age, inserting him, á la Forrest Gump, into history. With a voiceover dubbed into English (at least for our subtitled version), the movie follows Allan, who likes to blow things up, from his birth past his notable birthday. Swedish comedian Robert Gustafsson (now 50), who figures he spent three weeks of the shoot in makeup, has the body language down pat for his older role and switches for the flashbacks.

Director/co-writer Felix Herngren (new to me, he's a TV, movie, and commercial director, writer, producer, and actor, and after this movie he worked on the writing team for all 13 episodes of The Comedians and the producing team of Welcome to Sweden) and co-writer Hans Ingemansson adapted the worldwide best-selling novel of the same name by Jonas Jonasson.

The circus music by Matti Bye (sample here and here) made me think of the soundtrack to Curb Your Enthusiasm.

It's ridiculous that the averages on Rotten Tomatoes are only 67 for critics and 69 for audiences. No sense of humor. Humph. Especially for something that may have the longest title ever. For those keeping track, Jack had no opinion because he couldn't join me that day.

Jurassic World (2015)

Amy, Nick, Jack and I enjoyed this sequel to the 1993-1997-2001 series in which a beautiful workaholic manager and a handsome scientist try to save her nephews and everyone else when all hell breaks loose at the dinosaur theme park. Lots of action, a high body count, some laughs, high tech special effects, and plain old corn are par for the course for a Steven Spielberg-driven project (he directed the first two and his Amblin Entertainment put out all four, with more on the drawing board).

Bryce Dallas Howard (last blogged in 50/50) is suitably Type A as park manager Claire who can run like the wind in her Jimmy Choos and Chris Pratt (most recently in Guardians of the Galaxy) should have been given more comedy but is getting better and better at this leading man stuff. Irrfan Khan (last in The Lunchbox) moves away from his stereotypical poverty roles and this time plays the wealthy owner in a gorgeously tailored suit. BD Wong (covered in Focus) reprises his role of Dr. Wu from the 1993 movie, and who better than Vincent D'Onofrio (most recently in The Judge) as the angry and reckless head of security? Jake Johnson (last blogged in Safety Not Guaranteed) and Lauren Lapkus (small part as a prison guard in season 2 of Orange is the New Black) have some good moments as computer geeks and it's nice to see Omar Sy moving to this side of the pond from his French roles (most recently The Untouchables), here as a guard.

This movie was our annual splashy pre-fireworks date, so, while we were stuck in traffic downtown, I read to Jack some of the trivia (there's a lot and we didn't get through it all, so I can't properly warn you about spoilers). We liked knowing beforehand that Jimmy Buffet is the guy holding two margaritas in the Margaritaville restaurant, the little boy hugging the giraffe is Howard's own son, and that Jimmy Fallon reads the safety instructions on the Universal Studios tram tours. I appreciated that Howard's all-white wardrobe is an homage to the white suits worn by Richard Attenborough, who had her role in the original. Jack liked that Pratt got to keep the motorcycle.

The director/co-writer this time is Colin Trevorrow, in his second feature gig after the afore-mentioned Safety Not Guaranteed, a small independent movie with little in common with this one other than Jake Johnson, a science fiction theme (albeit low-budget), and writer Derek Connolly. The husband-wife team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Plant of the Apes) are also credited as co-writers and for the story. And of course, the late Michael Crichton wrote the 1990 novel on which all of this is based.

Cinematographer John Schwartzman (profiled in Saving Mr. Banks) shot the lovely and scary pictures, while prolific and admired composer Michael Giacchino (last scored Tomorrowland) provides the soundtrack, which I found surprisingly unmoving for someone of his talent. Listen for yourself.

You already know if you're going to like this, regardless of Rotten Tomatoes' critics (71%), audiences (82), or us. Just think carefully about which kids you bring because we found it quite violent and occasionally terrifying. PG-13 is probably about right.