Passing (2021)

In this sublime story of two light-skinned biracial women in 1929 New York, Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga shine as Irene and Clare. Friends from childhood, Irene lives in Harlem with her Black husband (André Holland) and Clare is passing for white, married to a white man (Alexander Skarsgård).

Actress Rebecca Hall, making her directing and screenwriting debut, has African-Americans in her family tree, as detailed in this article from The Daily Mail. Hall based her script on a 1929 novella by Nella Larsen. Hall wanted to find actresses who both could play either role and both are biracial as well.

The music by Devonté Hynes can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere, complemented by songs listed here which are evocative of the roaring 20s.

The magnificent black and white cinematography is thanks to Eduard Grau.

Thompson was last blogged for Sorry to Bother You, Negga for Loving for which she was Oscar-nominated, Hynes for scoring Queen & Slim, and Grau for shooting Suffragette. After I blogged about Holland, I loved him in the miniseries The Eddy in which he starred in all eight episodes after winning awards for Moonlight. And Skarsgård most recently appeared in these pages for The Aftermath, followed by fourteen episodes of Big Little Lies and one of On Becoming a God in Central Florida.

It's early, but festival nominations are accruing for this feature, which is averaging 90% from Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 85 from its audiences.

We greatly enjoyed watching it on Netflix on November 12.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)

Jessica Chastain's performance in the title role is a tour de force and the production design, hair, and makeup (prosthetic and otherwise) make it hard to look away, despite the overly long 2:06 run time. We didn't hate it. Andrew Garfield co-stars as Tammy Faye's husband televangelist Jim Bakker in the story adapted from a 2001 documentary of the same title. Cherry Jones plays Tammy Faye's mother Rachel, among the dozens of cast members.

Michael Showalter works from a script written by Abe Sylvia, based on the documentary by Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato. Jack and I remember reading about some of the events in the Bakkers' history when they occurred, but I was struck by Tammy Faye's continual optimism in this movie. Chastain's giggle and high pitched voice are quite the contrast from the actress' other work.

The original soundtrack by Theodore Shapiro can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere and Chastain, who had been wanting to produce and star in this after seeing the documentary, actually does her own singing, and quite well. Her songs are available to stream. Here's the imdb soundtrack list.

Chastain was last blogged for Molly's Game, Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge, Jones for The Party (followed by series arcs in Transparent and Succession, among others), Showalter for The Big Sick (followed by excellent TV directing including some of Grace and Frankie, Love, and The Shrink Next Door). This is Sylvia's second feature, and his credits include two episodes of Dead to Me and staff writer for the Nurse Jackie series.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are blinking, averaging a scant 67%, while its audiences are keener at 88. In the credits, photographs of the Bakkers and other real people, e.g. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, are a testament to the skills of the makeup department. If you do watch the movie, stay through the credits to hear more of Chastain's songs and a little bonus shot at the very end.

We rented it on iTunes on November 18.

I'm Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch - 2021)

We loved this comedy about a researcher who reluctantly agrees to test an android that’s been programmed to be her life partner. In German with subtitles, it stars Maren Eggert and Dan Stevens as the robot who apparently speaks German with an "English accent." Sandra Hüller has a supporting role as the android maker's company representative. The comedy is restrained but quite successful.

Maria Schrader directs and co-wrote the script with Jan Schomberg, based on a 2019 short story, set in 2029, by Emma Braslavsky.

I've tried and failed to stream the excellent soundtrack by Tobias Wagner, other than this track on YouTube. For some of the tracks, he clearly uses an out of tune piano for creative dissonance, and on others, such as the one linked here, everything is perfectly pitched.

Stevens was last blogged for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, in which he played a Russian (he is British through and through, best known as the unattainable heartthrob in 34 episodes of Downton Abbey) and Hüller for Toni Erdmann.

Eggert has dozens of credits but is new to me. Schrader won a Prime Time Emmy for directing all four episodes of Unorthodox and has helmed four other features, as well as having a full acting career. Schomberg has written a handful of features and directed some of them, including one starring Hüller and scored by Wagner. The latter has a number of credits in shorts, features, and TV.

A New York Times critics pick, this movie has a 96% average from Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 85 from its audiences.

Submitted by Germany as its official Academy Award entry, this has begun accruing wins and nominations at festivals, and is now available to rent on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and possibly other platforms. We watched it on November 9.

Lorelei (2020)

Jack and I liked this indie drama about an ex-con biker and the woman he left behind in their small American town. Pablo Schreiber and Jena Malone are very good in the feature debut of director/writer Sabrina Doyle. The three children––Chancellor Perry, Amelia Borgerding, and Parker Pascoe-Sheppard––novice actors all, are terrific as well. Apparently Malone, herself a former child actor, helped the kids a lot on set. The name Lorelei is often thought to represent a mermaid enchantress, and that theme becomes clearer in the third act.

The music by Jeff Russo can be streamed on Apple Music and here is a list of songs.

As a member of Film Independent, I get "For Your Consideration" emails which I read occasionally, and this was in one of them. Shot and cast (except for Schreiber and Malone) in Oregon except the aptly named Dive Bar in Sacramento, it has five festival wins and 21 nominations, last I checked.

After I wrote about Schreiber in Happythankyoumoreplease he played Pornstache in nineteen episodes of Orange Is the New Black, among his credits, and Malone was last blogged for The Public. Russo has scored a handful of features and a ton of TV series.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics swim right along, averaging 89%, while its audiences are slightly less buoyant at 79.

We rented it on iTunes October 20.

Bergman Island (2021)

This disjointed homage to iconic director Ingmar Bergman was not our favorite, though it is beautiful. Vicky Krieps and Tim Roth star as life partners and filmmakers doing a residence at the titular island of Fårö (rhymes with Laura), in the cottage where he shot Scenes from a Marriage (1973). Mia Wasikowska shows up in the second and third acts. I'm not all that schooled in Bergman's work but I know some of it. An aficionado would surely be more thrilled than we were.

This English-language debut of French director/writer Mia Hansen-Løve had some production issues and I've just learned that the movie was shot way out of order because Roth was cast way after Krieps.

No composer is listed but I found a review that mentions the Celtic harp music of Robin Williamson and here is one song and another. The lovely images are thanks to cinematographer Denis Lenoir.

Because we usually watch movies at home now and can pause the credits, I noticed that Ingmar Bergman Junior (born in 1951) played, as I recall, "man on boat."

Krieps was last blogged for Phantom Thread, Roth for Luce, Wasikowska for Tracks, and Hansen-Løve for The Father of My Children (which I also found disjointed)

We rented it from iTunes November 1 because it is a New York Times critics pick. Rotten Tomatoes' critics agree with the Times', averaging 86%, but we tend to be closer to Rotten Tomatoes' audiences at 55.

Annette (2021)

La La Land on acid, this rock operetta about two L.A. celebrities, provocative stand-up comedian Henry and opera soprano Ann, and their extraordinary daughter Annette is not for everyone. Jack and I did not hate it, but were glad to have watched it at home with the pause button at the ready. It's an unrelenting 140 minutes long. That said, it's clever and I've not seen anything quite like it before.

Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard are first rate as Henry and Ann and Simon Helberg plays the accompanist. Catherine Trottman provides Cotillard's operatic vocals and Hebe Griffiths sings for Annette.

This is the English language debut of director Leos Carax, working from a story by Ron Mael & Russell Mael. The brothers perform as the duo Sparks and originally planned the project as an album until they met Carax at Cannes.

Driver thanks comedians Chris Rock and Bill Burr, presumably helping him with his character's outrageous comedy shows.

Sparks is credited with the soundtrack and you can stream it on Apple Music and elsewhere. The album is the band's 25th studio album in fifty years.

Driver was last blogged for Marriage Story, Cotillard for Allied, Helberg for Florence Foster Jenkins, and Carax for Holy Motors,

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences, averaging 71 and 76% respectively, apparently wished for the pause button. I'm surprised, actually, that the audiences rate this unusual project higher than the critics.

It's an Amazon production that we watched with our Prime subscription on October 5.

Swan Song (2021)

Jack and I found this quirky movie good fun. It's based on a real person, Pat Pitsenbarger, the flamboyant hairdresser to the glitterati of Sandusky Ohio, where the movie was shot. In the movie, Mr. Pat emerges from his nursing home for one last hairdo, that of a deceased woman of means. Director/writer Todd Stephens, a Sandusky native, credits Pitsenbarger as an influence for coming out. Udo Kier is wonderful as Pitsenbarger, as is Jennifer Coolidge as his hairdressing nemesis Dee Dee, and Linda Evans has a cameo as the dead client.

This is Todd Stephens' fourth feature in 20 years and Kier was last blogged for Bacurau (Nighthawk). After I wrote about Coolidge in Promising Young Woman, she was mesmerizing in the HBO series White Lotus. There are songs, not listed online, and the original score is by Stephens' brother Chris Stephens, in his debut in that capacity.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are singing its praises with an average of 93%, while its audiences are more muted, coming in at 75.

We rented it on iTunes back on September 22 and chose it because it is on a Rotten Tomatoes list of highly rated movies and because of a personal connection to Sandusky (write me at babetteflix at gmail if you want to know).

Language Lessons (2021)

Jack and I loved this story of a Spanish teacher and her adult student who become friends on zoom. The whole thing is presented as zoom and selfie videos, clearly shot during the pandemic, but not taking place then. Natalie Morales, who directed, and Mark Duplass, who wrote the script with her, are the only ones on camera (we hear two other voices). Yet it keeps us interested the whole time.

There's no song listing posted online and the composer of record is Gaby Moreno, whose singles you can find at various sites.

It's early in festival season, but it's starting to earn wins and nominations.

Morales' directorial debut Plan B was released earlier this year. She was last blogged for acting in Stuber and her TV credits include eleven episodes of Parks and Recreation, 21 of The Grinder, and six of Dead to Me. Duplass was most recently in these pages for writing The Do-Deca-Pentathalon and he created and wrote most of the series Togetherness. I last blogged him for acting in The One I Love which came out five years before he was in Bombshell.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics give this an A with an average of 96% and its audiences aren't far behind at 85.

After enjoying Plan B I checked every week to see when we could stream this one. It came out in theatres in early September and we rented it on iTunes (also available on Prime) on October 26, the very first day.

Sink or Swim: Learning the Crawl in the Maldives (2015)

This delightful one-hour documentary about a group of volunteers teaching people to swim in the island nation south of India has human interest, magnificent locations, and a success story for the students, who live inches from sea level but had no skills.

Director/writer Jon Bowermaster keeps it moving on land and in the sea, as 48 third graders and eighteen burka-clad (!) mothers test the waters for the first time. He has made a number of other documentaries, most of which are water-based. No cinematographer is listed so we assume Bowermaster is behind the camera as well, creating the beautiful images.

Not surprisingly, the soundtrack by Steve Gorn isn't available online, but I am enjoying streaming some of his music. Here's one Indian-tinged track on Apple Music.

It brought to mind The Island President, the 2011 feature-length documentary about the leader of the Maldives, facing catastrophe from climate change.

Sink or Swim came to my attention because of an email this fall inviting me and other Film Independent members to stream movies from a festival. Then I missed the timeline but was able to rent it on October 13. Because the movie isn't easy to find, I'll give you the links for your viewing pleasure, available for a small fee on iTunes and Prime (here's also a link for The Island President on Apple TV). Sink or Swim has no entry on Rotten Tomatoes but we liked it a lot.

Outside In (2017)

Jack and I liked this story of an ex-con struggling in his return to freedom and his relationship with his high school teacher. Jay Duplass and Edie Falco are the leads with Kaitlyn Dever as Falco's daughter.

Director Lynn Shelton, who died of a blood disorder at 54 during lockdown last year, co-wrote the script with Duplass. Some have called it a comedy. It's not, but still good.

Andrew Bird composed the soundtrack, which is not available to stream.

Shot in Washington state, there's a lot of rain.

Duplass was last blogged for Landline, Falco for The Land of Steady Habits, Dever for Coastal Elites, and Shelton for Sword of Trust.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging a liberated 95% but its audiences are more confined at only 76. 

We watched it on Netflix on September 5.