Pig (2021)

This multi-layered story of a reclusive former chef and his truffle-hunting pig is a tour de force for Nicolas Cage in the lead role of Rob, and Jack and I loved it. Cage is backed by Alex Wolff as Amir, who sells Rob's truffles to restaurants. Adam Arkin has a pivotal role in the third act.

Michael Sarnoski makes a solid feature directorial and screenwriting debut, co-writing the story with Vanessa Block, also her debut.

It's been six weeks since we saw it, but I remember loving the music as well. The soundtrack by Alexis Grapsas & Philip Klein is available to stream on Apple Music and elsewhere and imdb has printed the list of songs.

The dark, foggy, rainy cinematography is the work of Patrick Scola, shot in the forests of Oregon as well as iconic locations in Portland.

The one trivia point that stands out for me is that their budget was so small they couldn't afford a fully trained pig and the one they used bit Cage more than once. She is adorable.

Some interesting scenes of food being prepared earns this a spot on my running list of food movies.

Since the beginning of lockdown, we've been almost exclusively streaming movies, so I haven't been afflicted with Motion Picture Motion Sickness in our house. But this one does jump around with handheld photography and very sensitive folks might need to sit back behind their couches if possible. I'll add it to my MPMS list as well.

Cage was last blogged for Snowden. After I wrote about Arkin in A Serious Man, he's been in episodes of Masters of Sex, Fargo, and Modern Family, just to name a few. Wolff (the younger son of Thirtysomething actress Polly Draper and musician Michael Wolff), Grapsas, Klein, and Scola have many projects under their belts but they're all new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are high on this hog, averaging 97%, and its audiences aren't far behind at 84.

We rented the on iTunes/Apple TV on July 20. AFTER you see this fine film, you may want to read a spoiler-filled "biblical reading". It gives away everything. Seriously.

How It Ends (2021)

So good! We loved this. Zoe Lister-Jones stars, co-directed, and co-wrote (with her husband Daryl Wein) this apocalyptic comedy of a woman blithely walking around in deserted Los Angeles as an asteroid is headed in to wipe out everyone. 

Apparently Lister-Jones and Wein conceived and shot this during the 2020 COVID lockdown, which explains how the actors are able to walk down the middles of streets in the Silver Lake neighborhood with many cars parked and none driving.

There are so many funny cameos! Olivia Wilde. Bradley Whitford. Colin Hanks (who starred with Lister-Jones in the series Life in Pieces). Whitney Cummings. Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer. Helen Hunt. Fred Armisen. All the stars of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia except Danny DeVito. And more!

The original music by Ryan Miller isn't available to stream, though I found some of his other work. Here are the songs.

The locations, no doubt just belonging to the actors and their friends, have some spectacular landscaping. Check that out, too.

Ten years ago Jack and I did not like the movie Melancholia, which is also about earth about to be decimated by an asteroid. One reviewer said that "How It Ends is like Melancholia without the, um, melancholia." I definitely agree.

Lister-Jones and Wein were last blogged for Band Aid and Miller for In a World..., which is another terrific independent, female-driven movie.

Rotten Tomatoes critics don't care much how it ends, averaging a barely fresh 66%, while its audiences want it to end right now at 47. Don't listen. We thought it great fun when we rented it for a fee on iTunes/Apple TV on August 6.

Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019)

We enjoyed this story of an English goth teenager and his uncool mom. Earl Cave and Monica Dolan shine in their struggles with many a laugh to be had. Supporting cast includes the always funny Tamsin Greig and Rob Brydon.

Simon Bird directs from a script by Lisa Owens, based on the 2012 graphic novel by Joff Winterhart.

The music by Belle and Sebastian can be streamed on Apple Music and other platforms and is supplemented by this list of songs.

Greig was last blogged for the Oscar-nominated short film Revolting Rhymes and Brydon for Blinded by the Light. Coincidentally Brydon was also in Revolting Rhymes. Dolan has been in Pride and many other projects. Cave has had several roles both before and after this one.

This is the feature debut for Bird and Owens (his wife), though Bird has since directed six episodes of a series.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are heated up with a 92% average, while its audiences are decidedly cooler, coming in at 74.

We were inspired to watch it because it was briefly streamed from the website of our favorite independent movie art house. But then it left, so we rented it for a fee on iTunes/Apple TV on July 27.

First Date (2021)

Jack and I enjoyed this crime caper about a nice young man trying to impress a girl and getting into all kinds of hijinks involving a 1965 Chrysler. The independent movie was nominated for the NEXT Innovator award at Sundance earlier this year. Maybe that's how it came onto my radar.

Co-directed and co-written by Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp, it stars Tyson Brown as our hero and Shelby Duclos as his date.

The music by Crosby, Kevin Kentera, and Noah Lowdermilk is not available online. I might add that Crosby was also cinematographer and co-editor.

This is the feature debut for Brown, Duclos, Kentera, and Lowdermilk. Crosby has worked on quite a few shorts in most departments but this is his first time as a feature director or writer. Knapp directed and co-wrote (and did just about everything else on) one other feature, for which Crosby composed the music with Knapp.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't likely to ask for a second date, averaging 53%, but its audiences might consider it at 79.

We paid a fee to rent it on iTunes/Apple TV on July 13 and have no regrets.

Luca (2021)

Jack and I liked a lot this Disney/Pixar animated feature, a sweet-salty buddy picture about a couple of "sea monsters" (people-sized fish) who turn into humans when they get out of the water. Kind of a coming-of-age story for the teenage mer-boys, who have adventures in (and under) Cinque Terre, on the Italian Riviera (northwest coast).

Jacob Tremblay voices Luca, Jack Dylan Grazer is his buddy Alberto, Emma Berman their cis-human-female friend Giulia (pronounced Julia), Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan are Luca's parents, and Sacha Baron Cohen has a cameo as Uncle Ugo, who has a bonus scene at the very end of the credits.

Enrico Casarosa directs from the screenplay by Jesse Andrews & Mike Jones and story by Casarosa, Andrews, and Simon Stephenson.

They encounter discrimination (gasp!) because the villagers want to destroy all sea monsters but Giulia eventually understands and helps with that, too.

The soundtrack by Dan Romer is available on Apple Music and elsewhere, and there are other songs, especially Italian opera.

Usually I read the entire imdb trivia section but I want to catch up my postings, so this time it's TLDR (too long, didn't read). The two items I noted soon after starting the list were that the movie was made during the pandemic at their homes and that Luca, like Casarosa, is shy and reserved and has his big eyes opened up by the wilder Alberto. It's a fun list to read after watching, though.

Tremblay was last blogged for Good Boys, Rudolph for Wine Country, Gaffigan for Troop Zero, Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Andrews for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jones for Soul, and Romer for The Little Hours.

Grazer is the son of Brian Grazer (Ron Howard's long-time producing partner) and starred in the HBO series We Are Who We Are, among others, and this is Berman's first feature after one series. Casarosa makes his feature directing debut.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are swimming right along, with averages of 91 and 87%, respectively.

We watched it at home with our subscription to Disney+ on July 6.

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar (2021)

It's fluffy, slapstick, and mildly profane, but we liked this comedy about two naive Nebraska women going on a Florida vacation and encountering an evil villain. Kristen Wiig plays Star as well as the villain Sharon and Annie Mumolo is Barb. Both have the comedy chops for this absurd story (which they co-wrote) that often breaks into high production-value musical numbers. There's a cast of dozens, many of whom you'll recognize.

Josh Greenbaum directs and the music by Christopher Lennertz and Dara Taylor (here's the Apple Music link) is supplemented by this list of songs. Trayce Gigi Field was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award for Contemporary Film for this show. And the colorful production design is thanks to Steve Saklad.

Wiig and Mumolo were last blogged for acting in Wonder Woman 1984 and Bad Moms, respectively, and both for co-writing Bridesmaids, Greenbaum for Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show, and Lennertz for Shaft.

This isn't Taylor's first rodeo, er, composing gig, but she's new to me. Field dressed the people for Casa de mi Padre, 114 episodes of Two Broke Girls, and twenty of Dead to Me, among others, while Saklad dressed the sets for Juno (2007), Up in the Air, The Muppets, and more.

There's a bonus scene at the end so don't turn off your TV right away.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics enjoyed the view, averaging 80%, while its audiences were a little lukewarm at 61.

We watched it on Hulu on July 16.