She Said (2022)

This powerful drama, ripped from the headlines about the Harvey Weinstein rape and sexual assault cases, is even more moving because we know it's true. Jack, Amy, and I loved it, and I, for one, got emotional several times. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are terrific playing the real life New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (TOO-ey) and Jodi Kantor, respectively, who investigated producer Weinstein, under the guidance of their editor Rebecca Corbett, played by Patricia Clarkson. They wrote a series of articles which earned them a Pulitzer. Ashley Judd plays herself in the movie and Gwyneth Paltrow and Judith Godrèche provide their own telephone voices. James Austin Johnson, known for his Saturday Night Live impressions of our 45th president, ably supplies the former guy's voice.

Director Maria Schrader keeps it tight from the screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, adapted from Kantor and Twohey's 2019 book, also called She Said. Film rights to the book were acquired the year before it was published. I appreciated that the movie showed that the reporters had lives, including supportive husbands.

Nicholas Britell's soundtrack is streamable on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

Apparently this is the first movie to be shot in the actual New York Times building.

In 2020 Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years on prison for New York convictions, and is currently jailed in Los Angeles, awaiting trials for charges in California and the United Kingdom. Jurors have been instructed not to watch this movie, which is definitely slanted against the convict.

Mulligan was last blogged for Promising Young Woman, Kazan for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Clarkson for The Bookshop, Paltrow for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Godrèche for The Overnight, Schrader for directing the charming I'm Your Man, Lenkiewicz for co-writing Colette, and Britell for scoring Don't Look Up. Judd has dozens of credits and some of the ones I remember best are the mom in A Prayer for Owen Meany (1998), nurse Lexie in Where the Heart Is (2000), and Cole Porter's beard, er, wife in De-Lovely (2004). She currently spends a lot of time on humanitarian work benefitting women and girls worldwide.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences said they liked it as much as we did, averaging 87 and 91%. We rented it on iTunes/Apple TV on December 10.

Raymond & Ray (2022)

Unlike the critics, I found this dramedy about grown half brothers meeting up after their estranged father's death mildly entertaining. Ewan McGregor plays Raymond and Ethan Hawke is Ray, very different in personalities despite their father's having cruelly given them the same name, and the acting is good.

Rodrigo Garcia directs from his own thoughtful screenplay, trumpeter Jeff Beal's soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music, and here's a list of songs.

Full disclosure, I was extremely distracted watching this while transferring files from my old computer to a new one (it did not go smoothly and I'm not totally done yet).

McGregor was last blogged for Beauty and the Beast, Hawke for First Reformed, García for Albert Nobbs, and Beal for The Biggest Little Farm: The Return.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences don't care whose name is which—they didn't like it one bit, averaging 46 and 55%.

This was made for Apple TV and I streamed it with our subscription on December 13.

Catherine Called Birdy (2022)

Jack and I loved this movie about a playful, headstrong 14 year old girl in 13th century England, who resists her parents' efforts to marry her off. Yes, it's a young-adult story based on a young-adult novel, but that didn't bother us one bit.

Bella Ramsey stars as the clever Birdy, her dissolute father Andrew Scott, her warm but firm mother played by Billie Piper, and some supporting roles are filled by Joe Alwyn, Lesley Sharp, and Sophie Okonedo.

Lena Dunham directs from her script, adapted from Karen Cushman's 1994 novel, winner of Newbery Honor and Golden Kite Awards.

Carter Burwell's medieval-influenced score, featuring the wordless vocals of the ensemble Roomful of Teeth and singer Misty Miller, can be streamed on Apple Music and, no doubt, elsewhere. Here, too, is a list of songs.

Scott was last blogged for 1917, Alwyn for Harriet, Okonedo for Wild Rose, and Burwell for The Tragedy of Macbeth.

Now-19-year-old Ramsey played Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft in Judy, though I didn't write about her, and was in nine episodes of Game of Thrones, which I didn't watch, and has another series upcoming. Piper, a singer with several hit singles, starred in the series The Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007-11). Dunham was last blogged for her debut feature Tiny Furniture, but also, of course, created the series Girls (2012-17), wrote 62 episodes, and directed 19 of them. She released another feature this year, called Sharp Stick, and I hope to watch it soon.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are roosting with a comfortable 88% average, while its audiences are flying away at 59. As usual, we are not nesting with the flock.

We watched this Amazon original on Prime with our subscription on December 3.

Armageddon Time (2022)

Jack and I liked this story of Paul, a rebellious, artistic, Jewish 6th grader in 1980 Queens New York, dealing with antisemitism, racism, and family expectations. Banks Repeta stars as Paul, and powerful acting from Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong as Paul's parents and Anthony Hopkins as his loving grandfather contribute to the fabric. Tovah Feldshuh plays Hopkins' wife, despite being 14 years younger than he in real life.

Inspired by director/writer James Gray's childhood, the movie does take a few liberties with the history of the Trump family, but it gives Jessica Chastain a nice cameo as the former guy's sister Maryanne Trump.

Fourteen minutes of the dreamy soundtrack by Christopher Spelman is available on Apple Music and elsewhere, and can be spiced up by these songs from the movie, available on Spotify.

Having been neither a child nor a parent in 1980, I have questions about discipline depicted here, so contact me after you've seen it and we can discuss!

Hathaway was last blogged for Ocean's Eight, Strong for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Hopkins for The Father, and Gray for The Immigrant. Now-16-year-old Repeta is no newcomer to acting but new to me, Feldshuh has made over a hundred TV shows and movies and has four Tony nominations, and Spelman scored The Immigrant, one other Gray feature, and worked in the music department of Two Lovers, which Gray directed and co-wrote and I somehow forgot to write that fact in the blog.

This movie is beginning to rack up awards and nominations, despite Rotten Tomatoes' critics just surviving with an average of 76% and its audiences dying off at 48%.

We rented it on Apple TV/iTunes on December 6.

Amsterdam (2022)

Unlike the critics (see below), Jack and I did not hate this story about a group of American friends in 1933 who honor the service of veterans. And then other stuff happens. Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington head the cast, with Taylor Swift, Alessandro Nivola, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldana, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mike Myers, Ed Begley Jr., Rami Malek, and more making appearances. Robert De Niro shows up well into its 2:14 running time. This is at least twenty minutes too long. 

David O. Russell directs from his own script, and the De Niro part is based on actual events. Daniel Pemberton's score can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere. Here, too, is a list of songs.

The cinematography, production design, and wardrobe are luscious, thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki, Judy Becker, and J.R. Hawbaker and Albert Wolsky, respectively.

Bale was last blogged for Ford v. Ferrari, Robbie for Bombshell, Washington for Tenet (his voice resembles his father Denzel's), Nivola for Spin Me Round, Saldana for Avengers: Infinity War, Taylor-Joy for Emma., Myers and Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody, Begley for Book Club, De Niro for Father of the Bride 3, Russell for Joy (it's his most recent and it was released seven years ago), Pemberton for See How They Run, Becker for American Hustle, and Wolsky for Rules Don't Apply.

After I wrote about Rock in Dolemite Is My Name, we liked his acting in season 4 of Fargo. Three-time Oscar winner (plus five nominations) Lubezki was profiled in Song to Song, and Hawbaker is new to me, though not to the craft.

This movie is in Dutch with Rotten Tomatoes' critics, who are averaging a scant 33%. Its audiences like it a bit better at 62.

Soon after we watched it I read one of those bad reviews. It said that, even though the reviewer panned it, people should see it for the art. Robbie's character is a multi-media sculptor and filmmaker. Most of the wildly creative pieces were created by artist Linder Sterling, but Robbie, preparing for the role while in lockdown, made some art herself and apparently some of her Super 8 footage is included in the final cut.

We rented it on Amazon Prime Video on November 29, but now I know I like the Apple platform better, because Amazon clutters up the screen when you pause the movie and I have not yet figured out how to clear it. If you have HBO, though, you can now watch it with your subscription.

Tár (2022)

This movie is hard work, but my friends and I really liked the story about a prickly classical conductor at the top of her game, despite its overlong run time (2:38!) and esoteric dialogue. Our little watch party was grateful for the captions and pause/rewind buttons at home. Cate Blanchett just may win another Oscar for the title role of Lydia Tár, whose marriage and career are jeopardized by her behavior. Nina Hoss plays Tár's wife and co-parent and Noémie Merlant is Tár's assistant, heading up the big cast.

Director/screenwriter Todd Field wrote the part specifically for Blanchett and apparently would not have made it without her. 

Hildur Guðnadóttir's score, featuring the Dresden Philharmonic, which Blanchett literally conducts in at least one sequence, and others, can be streamed on Apple Music. I must also mention the spectacular cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister, gorgeous production design by Marco Bittner Rosser, and wonderful costume design by Bina Daigeler. There's a captivating sequence at the beginning where one of Tár's suits is being custom made.

Blanchett was last blogged for Nightmare Alley, Merlant for Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Guðnadóttir  for Joker, and Daigeler for The Zookeeper's Wife. Hoss starred in Barbara, though I didn't write her name in the exceedingly short post, and was in thirteen episodes of Homeland, plus many, many more projects, mostly in her native Germany.

Field was Oscar-nominated for writing both of his previous movies, which he also directed, Little Children (2006) and In the Bedroom (2001). Hoffmeister's dozens of credits include four episodes of Pachinko, which I loved, and Rosser is new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging a rhapsodic 90%, while its audiences may have needed more breaks than they were able to take, coming in at only 72%. We rented it on November 27 on Apple TV/iTunes while Jack watched football in another room.

To Leslie (2022)

Jack and I were drawn to this story of an alcoholic Texas mother who has squandered her lottery winnings and meets a kind motel manager, because the manager is played by Marc Maron. It's hard to watch but powerful as Andrea Riseborough gives her all to Leslie, Maron's (who, it's no secret, is a recovering alcoholic in real life) Sweeney is a nice voice of reason, and supporting strength comes from Allison Janney, Stephen Root, Andre Royo, and Owen Teague.

Directed by Michael Morris from a script that Ryan Binaco apparently based his own mother.

Sixteen minutes of the music by Linda Perry is available on Apple Music and 36 ½ minutes on Spotify. 

Riseborough was last blogged for Nancy, Maron for Respect, Janney for Bad Education, Root for The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Royo for The Spectacular Now.

Teague is new to me despite a list of credits that is long for his 24 years of age, Morris has directed a lot of TV and this is his first feature, and this is Binaco's second feature. Perry, Sara Gilbert's ex-wife and co-parent, is the former lead singer of 4 Non Blondes and has written music for Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, and Pink, to name a few. This is her third feature composing gig.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are dedicated to this one, averaging 98% and its audiences lagging only a little at 81. We rented it on Apple TV/iTunes on November 25.

Paper Towns (2015)

We saw this in a theatre when it was new but I forgot to write about it. Just want to have it logged and blogged. I think we may have liked it. It's about a high school boy whose crush disappears and he and his friends use maps ("paper towns") to find her. Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne star, Jake Schreier directs, and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H Weber adapted John Green's 2008 young adult novel.

Wolff was last blogged for Home Again which came out two years later, Delevinge for Her Smell (three years later, Neustadter and Weber for The Disaster Artist (two later), and Schreier for Robot & Frank (three years before).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences weren't tearing up the maps, with averages of 58 and 47%.

Ticket to Paradise (2022)

Fluffy and fun, this light entertainment won us over with Julia Roberts and George Clooney as sniping ex-spouses reluctantly joining forces to try to prevent their daughter from making what they agree would be a mistake. Kaitlyn Dever is the sensible daughter and Billie Lourd is her boozy best friend Wren. Male eye candy (besides Clooney) is provided by Maxime Bouttier as Gede (pronounced G'day) and Lucas Bravo as Paul.

Directed by Ol Parker and co-written by him and Daniel Pipski, it mixes witty dialogue with rom-com tropes and the gorgeous sets and locations in Bali and Australia are a joy to behold, as shot by Ole Bratt Birkeland.

Lorne Balfe's score can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere, and there are also lots of songs, some of which are listed here.

Don't miss the outtakes during the end credits and I appreciated (after watching this movie) this fun spoiler-ridden discussion of the production.

Roberts was last blogged for Ben Is Back, Clooney for The Midnight Sky, Dever for Outside In, and Parker for writing The Second Best Marigold Hotel after directing and writing both Mamma Mias, though I gave short shrift to the first and maybe I didn't see the second? 

Balfe was most recently in these pages for scoring Belfast. Lourd, Carrie Fisher's daughter, was in Booksmart with Dever; Bouttier, a former model, is new to me; and I know Bravo from twenty episodes of Emily in Paris. This is Pipski's screenwriting debut and Birkeland shot Judy, though I failed to mention him in the post, which is almost as short as the one I wrote for Mamma Mia.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are ready to exchange their tickets, with an average of 57%, while its audiences are joining us in paradise with an 87% average. It's still playing in a few theatres but we rented it on Apple TV/iTunes November 22.

See How They Run (2022)

Jack and I enjoyed this meta murder mystery that takes place during the 1953 London long-running stage production of the murder mystery, The Mousetrap. With its many nods to Agatha Christie (who wrote The Mousetrap novel), it features Sam Rockwell with a slight English accent as Inspector Stoppard, Saorise Ronan as eager rookie Constable Stalker, Adrien Brody as annoying Hollywood director Kopernick, and David Oyelowo as the screenwriter, among others.

Tom George directs from the script by Mark Chappell and Daniel Pemberton's jaunty score can be streamed on Apple Music and, no doubt, elsewhere.

Rockwell was last blogged for The Best of Enemies, Ronan for Little Women, Brody for The French Dispatch, Oyelowo for The Midnight Sky, and Pemberton for Being the Ricardos

This is George's feature directing debut after some television and Chappell's second feature screenplay, also after TV–I loved the series Flaked that Chappell created and wrote most.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are but trotting with middling averages of 75 and 69%, respectively. We liked it better than that and watched it on HBO Max November 11.

Bros (2022)

Although I'm not a big Billy Eichner fan, I was eager to see, and we didn't hate, this story about a commitment-averse "Cis White Gay Man" embarking on a relationship with another of the same description, played by Luke Macfarlane, in a send-up of Hallmark movies (here called Hallheart) and most every Meg Ryan movie.

The term Cis White Gay Man is a line in the script, co-written by Eichner and director Nicholas Stoller. Recently I had to explain to one of my readers the definition of cis, so read this if you need to.

Marc Shaiman's short and Hallmark-y score can be found on Apple Music, but some of those songs are included on this longer list of enjoyable hits from the soundtrack.

Earlier this year we saw, and liked Fire Island, also a rom-com about cis white gay men finding love, so I've been distressed to read many declarations that Bros is the first major motion picture all about gay men, or words to that effect. Apparently the distinction is that Fire Island, a Searchlight production, went straight to Hulu, and Bros, a Universal Pictures joint, was in theatres before streaming (and credits the powerhouse Judd Apatow as one of its producers). Hmph.

At one point, when the main characters are arguing, Macfarlane calls Eichner "relentless," which may describe why I sometimes don't love Eichner's loud-talking characters, such as in the serieses Billy on the Street and Difficult People, neither of which I could get through. I've also seen him in 16 episodes of Parks and Recreation and eight of Friends from College, but I liked those.

Macfarlane is best known to me as Scotty in 89 episodes of Brothers & Sisters. Stoller was last blogged for co-writing The Muppets after writing and directing Get Him to the Greek and Shaiman is profiled in Mary Poppins Returns.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' and audiences' averages are a familial 88 and 90%, respectively. Not for the whole family, though. It has a hard (you should excuse the expression) R rating. We watched it on Apple TV November 2.

Don’t Worry Darling (2022)

Jack and I didn't hate this story of "Victory," a colorful, lush 50s-style settlement in the California desert. I didn't think too hard while watching it and settled into the gorgeous cinematography, dazzling wardrobe, and now-laughable (to us, anyway) gender stereotypes. But the plot thickens as Florence Pugh's Alice begins to question reality. Harry Styles plays her loving husband Jack and Olivia Wilde is a knowing, helpful neighbor.

Wilde also directs, her second time behind the camera, from a screenplay by Katie Silberman.

John Powell's spooky original score, available on Apple Music, suggests that all is not as glossy as it seems, while the songs, some of which are also on Apple Music, and many of which we could hum along to, set the mood of a happy time.

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique channels Busby Berkeley with overhead shots of dancers in circles, as well as a rich palette of mid-century Palm Springs and Los Angeles interiors and locations. Arianne Phillips' costumes are fabulous.

Some years ago, Jack and I saw the play Maple and Vine with Molly and Craig in San Francisco, and Craig was distressed by the satire in which a modern couple has willingly given up their lives for the 50s lifestyle, but I found it creative. In this one, however, it's not clear how the folks ended up at Victory. You won't be faulted for thinking of Stepford Wives (2004) and The Truman Show (1998).

The production and release of the movie was rife with rumors about the possible feud between Wilde and Pugh and about the confirmed romantic liaison between Wilde and Styles, among others. And a process server interrupted Wilde as she was introducing the movie at a festival in April by handing her custody papers from her ex-fiance Jason Sudeikis, the father of their two children (Sudeikis did not condone the way papers were served). But there is much to consider in the movie itself. Here is a spoiler-filled analysis.

Pugh was mentioned but not profiled in my blog post on Little Women, for which she was Oscar-nominated, and Styles was blogged for Dunkirk. Wilde directed Booksmart and was in these pages for acting in Third Person plus mentions in The Change-Up and a cameo in How It Ends. Silberman was last blogged for co-writing Booksmart and Libatique for shooting A Star Is Born. Phillips designed the costumes for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are plenty worried, averaging a scant 38%, while its audiences are more relaxed, coming in at 74. We rented it on Apple TV on October 26 and it's now also free with subscription to HBO Max.

Fun Mom Dinner (2017)

A bit uneven but yes, it's fun. Toni Collette, Bridget Everett, Molly Shannon, and Katie Aselton are preschool moms whose night goes awry and the men in their lives are played by Rob Huebel, Adam Scott, and Adam Levine. There's some slapstick (to be expected with the presence of bawdy Everett) but also thoughtfulness.

Directed by Alethea Jones from a script by Julie Rudd, whose husband Paul Rudd has a cameo, it's a pleasant way to spend slightly less than an hour and a half.

I don't remember the music by Julian Wass, but here's a list of the songs, twelve of which are available on this compilation on Spotify.

Collette was last blogged for Nightmare Alley, Everett for Patti Cake$ (I also loved her in five episodes of Inside Amy Schumer and her starring role in the series Somebody Somewhere), Shannon for Spin Me Round, and Wass for Other People.

This is Jones' feature directorial debut, with plenty of TV episodes, including two of Dead to me, before and after this project. Rudd has not had any other scripts produced so far.

Sent back to the kitchen by Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 32%, and audiences at 35, Jack and I still did not hate it. We watched it on Netflix at a hotel when our baseball game was rained out October 13.

Vengeance (2022)

Jack and I liked a lot this dark comedy about a New York writer and would-be podcaster who goes to Texas to pursue a story about a woman he hooked up with briefly who has since turned up dead. B. J. Novak stars, directs, and wrote the script and is ably backed by, among others, Boyd Holbrook and J. Smith-Cameron as relatives of the deceased, Ashton Kutcher as a mysterious music producer, and Issa Rae as the podcast producer.

The neo-Western score by Billie Eilish's brother Finneas O'Connell can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

This is Novak's feature film directing and writing debut (though he wrote and directed several episodes of The Office and The Mindy Project, to name a few) and he was last blogged for acting in The Founder. Holbrook was last in these pages for Logan, Smith-Cameron for Nancy (she's best known for 29 episodes of Succession), Kutcher for Annie, and Rae for Coastal Elites.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average of 81% and its audiences' of 86 reflect our satisfaction with this one. We streamed it on September 21 with our subscription to Peacock but it's also available to rent on Amazon and Apple TV.

Funny Pages (2022)

We liked this story of a high school senior who writes and illustrates dirty (AKA underground) comics and doesn't want to go to college, to his parents' dismay. Daniel Zolghadri plays Robert and his parents are Maria Dizzia and Josh Pais. The part of Robert's best friend Miles was written for Miles Emanuel (more on that in a moment). Matthew Maher is featured as an unbalanced character and Louise Lasser makes a cameo as the Pharmacy Lady (in a wheelchair). I have to guess that naming our protagonist Robert is an homage to underground comic artist R. Crumb, whose first name is actually Robert and whose style is appropriated.

Owen Kline, the 31 year old son of Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline, makes his feature directing/writing/co-editing debut after a few shorts. I often quote from the scene in which he played Jeff Daniels' son in The Squid and the Whale (2005) (it's at the end of this clip). Apparently, in real life, Kline was working at a video store twelve years ago and 11 year old Emanuel came in to rent a Bergman film and they stayed in touch.

No composer is credited. I put in my notes that there were twelve songs and today I found this playlist of five on Spotify. Since it's been almost seven weeks since I saw it, and no soundtrack items are listed on imdb, I can't verify if the five songs were actually in the movie.

Another interesting bit of trivia is that, although Zolghadri is right-handed, Kline, who's a lefty, insisted that the character draw with his left and Kline was the hand double for the close-ups.

Pais was last blogged for Going in Style and Maher for It's Kind of a Funny Story, though both have had plenty of work since then. Zolghadri was in Eighth Grade and more. Though her name is new to these pages, Dizzia's many credits include Rachel Getting Married, Martha Marcy May Marlene, While We're Young, Going in Style, and 18 episodes of Orange Is the New Black. This is Emanuel's second feature acting gig. Lasser is best known for the title role in 325 episodes of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976-77) and has dozens of other credits, though only a few lately.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics smiled with an average of 82%, while its audiences remained straight faced at 47.  However, festival attendees at the 2022 Cannes Festival gave it a three minute standing ovation.

We rented it on Apple TV/iTunes on September 15.

The Woman Who Ran (2020)

This quiet South Korean movie shows one woman visiting three friends, one at a time, and they talk. Reviewers loved it but I was not transported. It's been a long time since I watched it and, at the time, I jotted "who was it about" and "very short" (it's 1:17 long). Even though I've read some reviews, such as this from the New York Times, I'm still not sure who ran or why. Most reviews are full of spoilers but there's not much to spoil here because it's a mood piece.

Kim Min-hee is the main character, although the movie starts with the camera lingering on one of the friends tending a chicken coop (hence "who was it about"). Hong Sang-soo directed, wrote, produced, scored, and edited. Hong has made one other appearance in this blog, for Night and Day, which was two and a half times longer--much too long.

As I mentioned, Rotten Tomatoes' critics give it a full 100%, while its audiences are jogging away at 55. I rented it on Apple TV on September 8.

Elvis (2022)

Jack and I enjoyed this spectacle about the famed performer, despite its length of 2:39. It focuses mostly on the relationship between Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) and his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks in a fat suit and five hours of makeup a day). The enormous cast includes Shonka Dukureh, who died at age 44 right after the movie was released, in her feature debut and finale acting and singing as Big Mama Thornton.

Director/co-writer Baz Luhrmann's co-writers are Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. Apparently there's a four hour cut somewhere. We'd like a two hour cut, please.

You will not remember the original score by Elliott Wheeler nor find it online, but the soundtrack on Apple Music and elsewhere includes Presley classics, covers by Butler, and other songs.

Contributing to the glorious images are cinematographer Mandy Walker, production designers Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy, and Martin doing double duty as costume designer.

This movie is said to be the second highest grossing music biopic after Bohemian Rhapsody, and in both films, the stars' drug use was barely mentioned. But, I suppose, delving into that would have made them both even longer.

I've mentioned but a few of the many trivia items on imdb and here's another: Presley dyed his naturally light hair black and so did Butler for this role.

Hanks was last blogged for News of the World; Luhrmann, Pearce, and Martin for The Great Gatsby; Doner for Heartbreaker; and Walker for Tracks. Butler has a number of credits, including playing a member of the Manson family in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. This is the feature debut for Bromell. Wheeler scored the hip-hop series The Get Down, and Murphy, who was an associate production designer on Gatsby, designed The Get Down, A Star Is Born, Queen & Slim, and more.

Some of Rotten Tomatoes's critics, averaging 77%, have left the building but its audiences, thank you very much, are at 94%.

We streamed it September 6 on HBO Max and I see that it is airing this week on regular HBO as well.

Official competition (Competencia oficial - 2021)

I loved this farce about movie making in Spain, with Penelope Cruz as an intense director and Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez as egotistical stars, with magnificent cinematography, sets, and locations. Jose Luis Gomez plays the egotistical financier who appears first in the movie, but, contrary to what I learned in film school, it is not that character's story. 

Co-directors Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat wrote the script with Gastón's brother Andrés Duprat. They and Martinez are Argentinian and there's a joke about an Argentinian accent late in the movie.

Cruz' brother Eduardo Cruz's soundtrack doesn't seem to be available to stream online and, in the two weeks since I watched this I've forgotten specifics.

But I remember distinctly (okay, I made a note while I watched--one of the advantages of streaming at home) the gorgeous photography by Arnau Valls Colomer, with beautifully composed wide shots, mirrors, and more. And a shout out to the hair department (too many to name) for Cruz' massive tangle of pumpkin colored tresses.

Penelope Cruz was last blogged for Parallel Mothers and Banderas for Pain & Glory, I may not have written about Martinez yet but I saw him in Wild Tales and he is an accomplished actor. Gomez was in, among many, Broken Embraces and The Skin I Live In, but also not blogged until today. Cohn and the Duprats are new to me but have a number of movie and TV credits, mostly together. This is Eduardo Cruz' third of four features and Colomer is a much-nominated and award-winning cinematographer with dozens of projects in his resume.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics officially sanction this movie, averaging 96% and its audiences are close behind at 83. I rented it on September 3 on Apple TV.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022)

Despite the prodigious talents of Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall as a narcissistic pastor and his tightly wound wife trying to resurrect their Black Evangelical church after a scandal, this mockumentary's pacing is wildly uneven. There are plenty of laughs and the wardrobe is spectacular, however. Maybe the long pauses are meant to underscore the cringe (and Jack and I usually love cringe) or to reflect the documentary style, but the story seems to come to a crashing halt from time to time. Nicole Beharie and Conphidance play the attractive, younger heads of a competing church.

Director/screenwriter Adamma Ebo fleshed out her 2018 short of the same name to make this feature with the aid of the Sundance Institute and producers Daniel Kaluuya, Jordan Peele, and Ebo's twin sister Adanne Ebo, among others.

The soundtrack album, composed by Marcus Norris and featuring the Southside Symphony, is available to stream on Apple Music and likely elsewhere.

Another interesting production value, besides the costumes designed by Lorraine Coppin, is that different aspect ratios are used to demonstrate which scenes are from the documentary within the movie, "archive" footage, and "real life."

Brown was last blogged for Black Panther, Hall for Shaft, and Beharie for Miss Juneteenth. Conphidance may be new to me but is no stranger to stage, screen, and music studio. This is Adamma Ebo's feature directorial debut and her sister was associate producer on one other feature, besides shorts for both. Norris also makes his feature debut and Coppin has dozens of previous credits.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't exactly honking at 72%, while its audiences took a detour, averaging 26%. Jack's and my opinion falls somewhere in between. We streamed it with our Peacock+ subscription on September 2.

Spin Me Round (2022)

Despite bad reviews, Jack and I didn't hate this spoof of a romance novel wherein Amber, the manager of an Olive Garden-type chain restaurant in Bakersfield, joins a group in an all expenses paid trip to Italy to meet the handsome founder. Alison Brie stars as Amber and co-wrote the script with director Jeff Baena. Alessandro Nivola is the effusive founder and Aubrey Plaza his mercurial assistant. Lil Rel Howery and Ego Nwodim are Amber's boss and best friend, respectively. The ensemble in Italy includes Molly Shannon (hilariously annoying character), Lauren Weedman, Zach Woods, and Ben Sinclair. There are plenty of laughs and, yeah, sometimes it slows down a bit, but I'll allow it. My regular readers know I am generous with my appreciation of cinema.

Pino Donaggio is credited as composer but this soundtrack isn't streaming anywhere that I can find. There is a list of songs, however.

The gorgeous location shots in Liguria and Pisa, Italy, and LA are thanks to Sean McElwee.

Brie, Baena, and Weedman were last blogged for The Little Hours. Plaza, who is married to Baena, was in that, too, but was most recently in these pages for Best Sellers. Howery was last blogged for I Love My Dad, Nivola for The Art of Self Defense, and Shannon for Wild Nights with Emily. After I wrote about Woods in Damsels in Distress, his work included 53 episodes of Silicon Valley. 

Nwodim, best known for 78 episodes of Saturday Night Live, was also in four of Brockmire and two of Love Life, among her dozens of credits. Sinclair created, produced, and starred in 52 episodes of High Maintenance (combining Vimeo and HBO) as well as other roles. Donaggio has scored hundreds of projects, mostly in his native Italy. The only one of McElwee's projects I have seen is Morris from America.

As noted, Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging a slow-moving 44%, and its audiences, at a nearly motionless 29, do not want anyone to see this. After we rented it on Apple TV/iTunes August 27, the screen recommended other low rated movies, some of which we liked!

Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)

We liked very much this sweet story about a recent college grad whose life changes when he meets his 13 year old brother's autistic classmate and her beautiful mother at a bar mitzvah. Cooper Raiff stars as Andrew and directs from his own well crafted screenplay, which has plenty of laughs and some poignancy. Dakota Johnson is the girl's mom Domino and Vanessa Burghardt, on the spectrum herself, makes a successful film debut as Lola. Leslie Mann is wonderful as Andrew and his brother David's mother and Brad Garrett's "Stepdad Greg" is stoic, taking grief from Andrew for comic relief. Raúl Castillo appears in the second act, but I prefer to let his character be a surprise to you as it was to us.

Este Haim and Christopher Stracey's 16 minutes of soundtrack is available on Apple Music and there are also great songs at the multiple bar mitzvahs. Here's a list.

Johnson was last blogged for The Lost Daughter, Mann for Welcome to Marwen, and Castillo for Little Fish. 

Raiff's previous feature (he made one before that and he directed, wrote, and starred in both as well) won the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and this one, so far, has won the Sundance US Dramatic Audience Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at that festival.

This interesting profile of Burghardt has a spoiler in it so I suggest you read it after watching the movie. Haim, the tall blonde sister in the band Haim, and Stracey scored all ten episodes of the series Maid, and make their own film scoring debut.

 
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are dancing to an average of 86% and, even though its audiences are moving off the dance floor at 61%, Jack and I think this is well worth watching. We rented it August 24 on Apple TV/iTunes.

I Love My Dad (2022)

Jack and I loved this dark comedy in which Patton Oswalt plays Chuck, a compulsive lying dad who, blocked on social media by his depressed grown son Franklin, catfishes him, pretending to be a beautiful waitress. James Morosini stars as Franklin and directs from his own well-paced screenplay. The movie begins by telling us that it actually happened but that Morosini's dad asked him to tell the audience it did not.

Claudia Sulewski is the lovely and kind waitress, Amy Landecker is Franklin's mom, Lil Rel Howery is Chuck's friend, and Rachel Dratch is Chuck's girlfriend, attractive and sexy for a change of pace for Dratch.

As I write I'm streaming the nice music by Jeremy Bullock on Apple Music.

The movie won both the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at South by Southwest Film Festival earlier this year, with more nominations and wins to come, no doubt.

Oswalt was last blogged for Sorry to Bother You, Landecker for Beatriz at Dinner (during the shooting of her 42 episodes of Transparent), Howery for Luck, and Dratch for Plan B.

Morosini directed and co-wrote one other feature and has a lot of acting credits. Sulewski and Bullock are are new to me though not to acting and composing, respectively. I heard Sulewski say in an interview that her photo has been used by catfishers in real life.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are only in like, with a 70% average, but its audiences are more affectionate with 83. We rented it on Apple TV/iTunes on August 17.

Hustle (2022)

Jack and I loved this story of a basketball scout, yearning to become a coach, and his Spanish protegé. Adam Sandler is terrific as Stanley and Juancho Hernangomez, an actual pro basketball player, is quite good as Bo. Supporting strength comes from Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Robert Duvall, Heidi Gardner, and a host of athletes and others playing themselves (identified in the credits with photos––don't skip the credits!), among the enormous cast.

Directed by Jeremiah Zagar from a script by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters, it moves right along.

The lively soundtrack by Dan Deacon with the London Contemporary Orchestra & Royal Scottish National Orchestra, available on Apple Music and elsewhere, adds to the fun.

Adam Sandler was last blogged for Uncut Gems, Latifah for Girls Trip, Foster for Leave No Trace, Duvall for Widows, Zagar for We the Animals, and Fetters for A Star Is Born.

Gardner, best known for 99 episodes of SNL, has also been in several movies and lots of TV.  This is Materne's feature debut and my first time hearing music by Deacon, who is not new to the business.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences average a bouncy 93. We enjoyed it on Netflix on August 9.

Luck (2022)

Jack loves watching these animated features more than I do and this one is perfectly serviceable. It is fun to watch them with a grandchild or three, however. Sam, a clever and sweet girl with terrible luck, has aged out of her orphanage, and travels to an alternate universe that's all about luck. Eva Noblezada voices Sam, Lil Rel Howery is Marv,  Simon Pegg is Bob the Cat, Whoopi Goldberg is Captain of the Luck universe, and Jane Fonda is Dragon. John Ratzenberger has a cameo as a bartender named Rootie.

The director is Peggy Holmes and the screenwriter is Kiel Murray with many other credits for story and concept. John Debney's score is available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. Noblezada sings the Madonna song Lucky Star both at the beginning and middle.

Howery was last blogged for Good Boys, Pegg for 2013 Oscar nominated shorts and The World's End. After Book Club and during 94 episodes of Grace and Frankie (2015-22), Fonda was most recently in these pages for Death to 2021. Debney was last blogged for Elf, which came out 18 years before I wrote about it and 14 years before The Greatest Showman.

Noblezada, a good singer, is new to me. Though I haven't actually written an introductory profile for Goldberg (she had a cameo in Top Five) I think everyone knows all about her––you might want to learn that Sister Act 3 is in pre-production.  Since his 270 episodes of Cheers (1992-93) Ratzenberger has been very busy, including all the Toy Story movies and much more. Holmes has directed one other feature, also animated, and Murray co-wrote two of the Cars animated movies, which I didn't see, among others.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is an unfortunate 49%, while its audiences come in at 68. We watched it on Apple TV+ on August 15 with our amused eight year old, who liked it a lot.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Not my genre and too long at 2:19 but I did laugh from time to time as Chinese immigrant Evelyn travels between parallel universes. Highly rated, with a high body count and lots of blood and mutilation, it has hints of Inception; The Matrix (1999); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); Kill Bill (2003 and '04); and the Keystone Kops (1912-17), with a dash of family melodrama. Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn (she also starred in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Ke Huy Quan plays her husband Waymond (not a typo), and Stephanie Hsu their daughter, who refers to at least one of their worlds as a “swirling bucket of bullshit.” Also appearing are Jamie Lee Curtis and Jenny Slate, among others, and Randy Newman lends his speaking voice to Raccoonie.

It is directed and written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who sometimes use the collective name Daniels.

The music by Son Lux (Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia, and Ian Chang) is available on Apple Music and elsewhere, and here is a list of songs.

Yeoh was last blogged for Crazy Rich Asians, Curtis for Knives Out, Slate for I Want You Back, and Newman for scoring Marriage Story (he also scored Ratatouille, which is referenced in the Raccoonie gag). Quan was in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), The Goonies (1985), Encino Man (1992), and 27 episodes of Head of the Class (1990-91), among other credits. This is the third feature for Daniels after a bunch of shorts and music videos, and this is Son Lux's second feature as composer, while Lott singly scored Paper Towns (2015), which I apparently forgot to write up back then.

Told ya it was highly rated: 95% from Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 89 from its audiences.

You can take a break at 1:25 with an hour left. I took more breaks than that. Jack did not watch it when I rented it August 1 on Apple TV/iTunes.

The Duke (2020)

On my watch list for months, this delightful caper lived up to all I had read, as a 60-something Newcastle man steals a painting from the National Gallery of London in 1961. Yes, it did happen. Jim Broadbent is terrific as Kempton Bunton ("That's not a real name," someone says in the movie, but it was) as is Helen Mirren as his impatient wife Dorothy. In the very large cast you'll also see Fionn Whitehead as their son Jackie and Matthew Goode as a lawyer. The Duke of Wellington is the subject of the painting by Goya.

Roger Michell (who died in September, 2021 at 65) directs with a firm hand from a multi-layered script by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman and I loved the 60s-inspired score by George Fenton, 

Broadbent was 71 and Mirren was 76 when the movie was released in 2020. Kempton was 61 when the painting was stolen. But, as I said in an earlier post, maybe in earlier times 60-something people acted older than we did when we were that age (!).

Kempton and Dorothy's grandson Christopher Bunton is among the producers.

Broadbent and Goode were last blogged for The Sense of an Ending, Mirren for The Good Liar, Whitehead for Dunkirk, Michell for Le Week-End, Fenton for The Lady in the Van. Bean and Coleman make their screenplay debuts.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are in royal agreement with Jack and me, averaging 97%, while its audiences aren't far behind in succession at 85. We rented it July 27 from iTunes/Apple TV and loved it.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

We liked a lot this romp in which Nicolas Cage plays a version of himself––divorced, charming, yet unreliable, insecure, narcissistic, and needing a job––who travels to Europe to meet a superfan and gets involved in espionage. Wonderful location shots and high production values plus fun supporting work from Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Lily Sheen, and more add to the enjoyment.

You don't have to be an obsessive Cage devotee to like this but it wouldn't hurt. There are references and/or clips from too many of his projects to count. And his screen credit here is his birth name Nicolas Kim Coppola (his father was Francis' brother).

Directed by Tom Gormican from a script by him and Kevin Etten, it moves along at a steady clip. Although there is one fantastical element that I wouldn't have missed, it doesn't ruin the movie.

Mark Isham's alternately moody and lively score can be streamed on Apple Music and others.

The settings include Dubrovnik, Budapest (including the Urania National Movie Theatre), and Los Angeles (including the Sunset Tower and Chateau Marmont), shot beautifully by Nigel Bluck.

Cage was last blogged for Pig, Haddish for The Kitchen, Horgan for Together, Sheen for Everybody's Fine (in which she played a young version of her real life mother Kate Beckinsale. Her father is Michael Sheen), Isham for scoring Judas and the Black Messiah, and Bluck for shooting The Peanut Butter Falcon.

I think I watched the first season of Narcos, in which Pascal played the drug kingpin modeled after Pablo Escobar, but he plays this role for laughs. This is Gormican's second film script (after writing with Etten on 4 episodes of a TV show) and directing debut. Etten has produced and/or written quite a lot of TV shows and this is his first movie screenplay. 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a not-quite-massive 86% and its audiences' similarly sized at 87. We watched it July 19 as a rental from Apple TV/iTunes.

Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)

Jack and I really liked this story of a real man in his 60s who figures out how to profit from a state lottery and brings his wife and many others in on the scheme to win millions. Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening are adorable as the title characters, as are Larry Wilmore, Rainn Wilson, and others.

David Frankel directs from Brad Copeland's screenplay, which was adapted from/inspired by Jason Fagone's 2018 Huffington Post article. I read the article after watching the movie and suggest you wait, too. I learned the movie changed some details, none of which bothered me. In fact, they made a better story. That said, I thought that the characters of Marge and Jerry did act older than the early 60s they were said to be. Perhaps, however, that's how folks acted in their actual place and time––Evart, Michigan just after the turn of this century. 

Whoa, news flash: in Andrea Estes' and Scott Allen's 2012 Boston Globe article that preceded Fagone's article, Marge is said to be "70-something." That makes their behavior more believable. The drier Globe story concentrates more on the lottery and is not credited for the movie, while the Huff Post article is about the people: Marge and Jerry Selbee.

Although I found a playlist of the songs, I don't think there's a link to the score by Jake Monaco.

Atlanta locations stood in for Michigan and Massachusetts, with cinematography by Maryse Alberti.

Cranston was last blogged for The Upside, Bening for The Seagull, Wilmore for Dinner for Schmucks (besides lots of TV acting, writing, and creating), Frankel for Hope Springs, and Alberti for The Kitchen. 

Wilson is best known for 188 episodes of The Office and, besides many TV roles, has acted in a handful of movies that I haven't seen. Copeland wrote 19 episodes of Grounded for Life, six of Arrested Development, and eight of Life in Pieces, to name a few.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have shrunk to 65% but its audiences are bigger at 78. We thought it was sweet when we watched on June 28 on Paramount+.

The Kitchen (2019)

Yes, we watched it three years ago but I forgot to write about it. I think we liked it. I recall that it's a violent story of three women who have to complete their husbands' crimes while the men are in jail. Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish play against type as desperate women, while, as we know, Elisabeth Moss can do anything.

It was directed and written by Andrea Berloff, based on a comic book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle. Bryce Dessner composed the score, which can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere. Maryse Alberti was the cinematographer.

McCarthy was last blogged for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Haddish for The Card Counter (this year), Moss for The One I Love (last year), Berloff for writing Straight Outta Compton (The Kitchen is her directing debut), Dessner for Cyrano (this year), and Alberti for Stone.

Its huge cast of talented actors is belied by Rotten Tomatoes' uncooked average of 23%, while the audiences' 69% average suggests it's slightly tastier.

If you are intrigued, it's available to rent on Apple TV/iTunes, Prime video, and more.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

As big fans of Emma Thompson, Jack and I were happy to see her latest (and were not disappointed), in which a 60-something London widow hires a young male prostitute to check sexual experiences off her bucket list. Thompson and Daryl McCormack bring plenty of depth to the roles of Nancy and Leo. 

This and another one (coming soon to these pages) do not get the age thing right. Imdb says her character is 55 but Thompson is 63, and her character seemed to me to be in her 60s or older. Director Sophie Hyde and writer/“creator” Katy Brand are 45 and 43, respectively, so perhaps they couldn’t bear to age their Nancy so much.

The music by Stephen Rennicks can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere.

There is a movement afoot to stop using the term “sex workers,” as some folks believe such people are victims of human trafficking. That may be true elsewhere, but Leo is no victim and the term is used a lot in this movie.

It was shot in 19 days in Norfolk, England.

Thompson was last blogged for Cruella and McCormack for Pixie. Hyde and Brand are new to me, though experienced. It may be relevant to note that Brand, who has more credits for acting than other jobs, had a small part in Nanny McPhee Returns (2010), which Thompson wrote and played the the title character. I put creator in quotations, above, because I’ve never seen it before as a movie credit.

Rotten Tomatoes’ critics are very lucky, averaging 95%, and its audiences are almost as fortunate at 85.

We watched it June 22 on Hulu.

Fire Island (2022)

Jack and I liked this romantic comedy, loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, the first feature with gay Asian males in leading roles. Five men, of modest means, vacation in the "gay Disneyland" Long Island, NY resort town of Fire Island, encountering racism and classism as they look for love and a good time. In gay Disneyland homophobia might be minimized, but other prejudices definitely rear their ugly heads.

Joel Kim Booster stars as Noah and wrote the script (originally a Quibi short and, I think, soon to be a TV series?) for himself and Bowen Yang, who plays Howie. Their travel mates are Matt Rogers, Tomas Matos, and Torian Miller. They meet James Scully, Conrad Ricamora, Nick Adams, Zane Phillips, and many more, while bunking at Margaret Cho's guesthouse. She stepped in to play the part after scheduling prevented someone (a man) from participating. 

Director Andrew Ahn, close friends with Booster and Yang, skillfully manages the pace between comedy, partying, and emotion.

Jay Wadley's jaunty score, streaming on Apple Music and elsewhere, is supplemented by many other tunes, listed here.

The movie is the only one to be granted an exception to the Bechdel Test (follow the link if you're not familiar with it). Alison Bechdel herself tweeted, “Okay, I just added a corollary: Two men talking to each other about the female protagonist of an Alice Munro story in a screenplay structured on a Jane Austen novel = pass.”

Cho was last blogged for Good on Paper and Wadley for Swan Song. Booster, Korean-born and raised by white American adoptive parents, has done a lot of acting and this is his feature screenwriting debut. Besides his 59 SNL episodes, Yang was very funny in eleven of Nora from Queens and much more. Rogers is currently in I Love That for You, among dozens of acting credits, and wrote ten episodes of The Other Two (Booster wrote one). Ricamora is best known for 82 episodes of How to Get Away with Murder. Matos, Miller, Scully, Adams, and Phillips are new to me.

You won't miss the opening with the actors singing the Searchlight Pictures theme. Do stick around for a voiceover during the closing credits.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hot for this one, averaging 94%, while its audiences are cooler at 76. We watched it the first weekend of Pride Month, on June 3, on Hulu.

The Biggest Little Farm: The Return (2022)

We enjoyed this 29 minute sequel to The Biggest Little Farm in which director, writer, narrator, and cinematographer John Chester further documents the organic, biodiverse farm he founded with his wife Molly in Moorpark, California (in Ventura County, about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles).

Noted composer Jeff Beal's score for this is not available so, as I type, I'm once again listening to his soundtrack from the earlier movie on Apple Music.

Some have complained that this short has too much repetition from the original, but Jack and I didn't mind. It's been three years since we saw the first, which was not, despite my prediction, honored by the Oscars with even a nomination, though it does have 15 wins and 27 other nominations, including the Critics Choice Award.

All of the aforementioned filmmakers were last blogged for The Biggest Little Farm. The sequel is not rated on Rotten Tomatoes.

The full length (1:31) original is now available on Hulu and we streamed this one on May 20 on Disney+.

Petite Maman (2021)

Just delightful! This story is about Nelly, an eight year old French girl whose parents are cleaning out Nelly's grandmother's house after her death. In the woods, Nelly meets Marion, a girl who looks just like her, and they are played to perfection by identical twins Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz, respectively. Many synopses give away an important plot point about the two girls, but I choose not to. If you are paying attention, you will come to it on your own.

Director/writer/costume designer Céline Sciamma captivates us with the sweet girls and the movie would be lovely for children to watch (if they understand the French language or can read subtitles–as of now, no dubbed version is available). Sciamma used some of her own clothing and props.

Three tracks from the movie by Jean-Baptiste de Laubier, AKA Para One, are available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. The gorgeous cinematography is by Clare Mathon.

Sciamma was last blogged for Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Mathon for Spencer. Apparently, Sciamma auditioned no one else after meeting the Sanz twins, who make their screen debuts.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hugely in favor of this, averaging 97%, while its audiences are shrinking at 78. We watched it yesterday on iTunes/Apple TV and it can be rented or bought on other platforms.

Dolphin Reef (2018) and Diving with Dolphins (2020)

Breathtakingly gorgeous! Dolphin Reef is the official Disneynature documentary and Diving with Dolphins is a documentary about making Dolphin Reef. Both were released in time for Earth Day in April 2020. They would make an excellent double feature with the first running only one hour 18 minutes and the second 1:19.

Natalie Portman narrates Dolphin Reef, which focuses on, among others, a bottlenose dolphin calf named Echo and his mother, but there are other creatures, including humpback whales and a brilliantly colorful mantis shrimp in the brilliantly colorful coral reefs, which, as we all know, are endangered by climate change. The locations are worldwide.

Keith Scholey is credited as director and story writer, Alastair Fothergill as co-director, and David Fowler wrote Portman's narration.

Steven Price's soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

Three cinematographers are listed for Dolphin Reef–Paul Atkins, Mark Gerasimenko, and Roger Horrocks–although many other photographers are shown in Diving with Dolphins. Martin Elsbury does the editing.

Diving with Dolphins is narrated by Céline Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau–one of the world's underwater diving pioneers–and herself an environmentalist and filmmaker.

As above, Scholey directs and wrote the story with Fowler providing the rest of the script.

The music by Barnaby Taylor does not seem to be available online, but as I write I'm listening to Price's delightful soundtrack to Dolphin Reef.

The cinematographers listed for the second movie are Atkins, Horrocks, Doug Anderson, Jamie McPherson, Didier Noirot, and Helen Sampson. It was edited by Elsbury and Sampson.

Portman was last blogged for Annihilation, Scholey for African Cats (though I neglected to cite him as director of Bears), Fothergill and Fowler for Polar Bear (below), Price for Baby Driver, Horrocks for My Octopus Teacher, and Taylor for Born in China. Atkins has dozens of credits, many but not all of which are nature docs. Gerasimenko has been aerial director of photography on over 100 titles and most likely did those honors here. Elsbury's long resume, dating back to 1981, includes Earth and African Cats but I left him out of those posts. Anderson and Noirot worked on Earth and many others, McPherson on lots of nature docs, including many TV series, and Sampson graduated from field assistant on Bears to assistant producer on Dolphin Reef to one of eight producers on Diving with Dolphins.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have floated Dolphin Reef up to 100% with its audiences' average just below the surface at 89. Diving with Dolphins isn't on that site but is definitely worth watching. Jack and I think you should see it second.

We saw them both this week, streaming on Disney+. You can also rent them on iTunes/Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video.

Now this is going on my Disneynature documentary list, updated right this minute. Note to my email subscribers: the Disneynature documentary list you get in your inbox will not have live links to today's posts but the list will be updated on the web version.

And milestone alert: I've just passed the 1400 mark–number of movies about which I have written on the blog since September 3, 2008, listed in my alphabetized index.

Polar Bear (2022)

Another magnificent Disneynature documentary, this one follows two cubs and their mother in their Norwegian habitat just 650 miles from the North Pole. It's miraculous how these film crews manage to get so close to wild animals and track specific ones as they migrate. And then the editor, as always, boils down so much footage into, in this case, an hour and 24 minutes of pure delight.

Narrated by Catherine Keener, co-directed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, and written by David Fowler, it did not disappoint Jack and me, despite chilly reviews. More on that in a moment. Climate change and its effect on the creatures is not given short shrift.

Harry Gregson-Williams' music can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere.

The gorgeous cinematography is thanks to James Ewen and Rolf Steinmann and edited by Andy Netley.

Keener was last blogged for Nostalgia; Fothergill for Chimpanzee (Disneynature); Wilson, Steinmann, and Netley for Penguins (ditto); Fowler for Born in China (yep); and Gregson-Williams for House of Gucci. Ewen has shot a number of nature docs before this one, and I've just learned that there is a making-of documentary about this documentary, called Bear Witness (2022). Love the punny title!

As I mentioned, Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are giving it the cold shoulder, averaging 74 and 70%, respectively. They're just wrong.

Jack and I streamed it on May 20 with our subscription to Disney+. I think it's also available for rent on iTunes/Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video. I will now add it to my brand new Disneynature documentary list. 

Disneynature documentary list

Here's the incomplete list with links to my blog posts, of the Disneynature documentaries. I will update as I discover, watch, and write about more in the series. Jack and I have loved every one that we have seen  and they're all suitable for the whole family, with the caveat for sensitive humans that some pictured animals are hunters and others are hunted.

All are, as I recall, under an hour and a half and are available to stream with a subscription to Disney+ or can be rented on iTunes/Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

Tiger (2024) (released in the US for Earth Day 2024)

Polar Bear (2022) (released in the US for Earth Day 2022)

Dolphin Reef (2018) (released in the US for Earth Day 2020)
Diving with Dolphins (2020) (making of Dolphin Reef)
Elephant (2020) (released in the US for Earth Day 2020)
Penguins (2019) (released in the US for Earth Day 2019)
Born in China (2017) (released in the US for Earth Day 2017)

Growing Up Wild Dec 2016 
Monkey Kingdom (2015) (released in the US for Earth Day 2015)
Bears (2014) (released in the US for Earth Day 2014)
Chimpanzee (2012) (released in the US for Earth Day 2012)
Disneynature: Wings of Life (2011) (released in the US for Earth Day 2011)
African Cats (2011) (released in the US for Earth Day 2011)

Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2008) (released in the US October 2010)

Oceans (2010) (released in the US for Earth Day 2010)
Earth (2007) (released in the US for Earth Day 2009)

March of the Penguins (2005) (added to the Disneynature collection after the fact) (I saw and loved it pre-blog)

Swan Song (2021)

Jack and I really liked this science fiction tale of a terminally ill man who has the opportunity to send his clone to his family so they don't have to suffer from his loss. Naturally, Mahershala Ali is fabulous as the lead, as are Naomie Harris as his wife, Awkwafina as another patient, and Glenn Close as the scientist developing the clones. I really liked her high-collared white blouses.

The multi-dimensional story is director/writer Benjamin Cleary's feature debut (after writing six shorts and directing four of them). The music by Jay Wadley can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. Since I was moved to mention the wardrobe, here's a shout out to costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers.

Ali was last blogged for Green Book (he won the Oscar for it), Harris for Moonlight (she was nominated and Ali won for that, too), Awkwafina for Raya and the Last Dragon, Close for Cruella, and Wadley for I'm Thinking of Ending Things. Summers has many credits and a few wins and nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences feel little need for duplication with averages of 79 and 76%, respectively. We found it clever and moving.

Not to be confused with the totally different Swan Song that we saw last fall (and also loved), it is an Apple TV+ original and we watched it on that platform on May 17.