Holler (2020)

Jack and I liked this story of a young woman who, with her brother, joins a scrap metal crew in rural Ohio to pay for college. Jessica Barden and Gus Halper are very good as the siblings, as well as Becky Ann Baker as a kindly aunt-like figure and Pamela Adlon as their mother.

Writer/director Nicole Nicole Riegel fleshed out her 2016 short film into this feature debut, which was nominated for the Best First Feature Spirit Award and more. I have a running list of this year's nominees and winners of selected awards, as if you didn't know.

Here's a fascinating interview with Riegel from NPR to listen to or read.

As I write I'm streaming the lovely Appalachian-tinged music by Gene Back on Apple Music.

Cinematographer Dustin Lane shot it on location in southern Ohio, with a lot of jiggly hand-held camera movements, forcing me to move to a chair farther from the screen in our home screening room (I don't mind, it is my second favorite chair). That's what I and other sufferers of Motion Picture Motion Sickness need to do in such cases. I also have an alphabetical list of some of the strongest inducers of MPMS. 

Baker was last blogged for The Half of It. Barden, who is British (her American accent is very good) has been in dozens of movies and TV episodes, including three of Better Things, created by and starring Adlon. Halper has been in five episodes of Dickinson and other shows. Adlon's hundreds of credits started with Grease 2 (1982) (she was 16 when it was released) and she has won several Emmy awards for voicing Bobby Hill and others in King of the Hill, writing and producing the series Louie, and for acting in Better Things, which I love.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hollerin' in the holler with an average of 92%, while its audiences are using their inside voices with 76.

We streamed it on Showtime March 29.

Best Sellers (2021)

I didn't hate this fluffy tale of a young woman who inherits her family's failing publishing company and its cranky author, who is its last chance for survival. Aubrey Plaza and Michael Caine are good fun, especially the latter as he gets to ham it up. Caine, 89, has said this is his last movie.

Full disclosure, I saw it on an airplane seven weeks ago so I remember little. Director Lina Roessler works from a script by Anthony Grieco, in feature debuts for both, after both worked as actors.

Paul Leonard-Morgan's soundtrack is available on Apple Music and here's a list of songs.

Plaza was last blogged for Black Bear, Caine for Tenet, and Leonard-Morgan for Limitless.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences place this firmly in the remainders bin, with averages of 52 and 44%, respectively.

Because I (and Rotten Tomatoes) have damned it with faint praise, you're probably unlikely to try to watch it, but if you're a fan of the two leads, you can find it for rent on various platforms. I watched it February 18.

After Yang (2021)

I loved this story of a diverse family in the future whose android nanny/companion malfunctions. It's a bit too languid and dreamy for Jack but I was transported by the beautiful visuals and the clever story. Colin Farrell (white Irish) and Jodie Turner-Smith (Black British) play the parents, now-11 year old Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja (Indonesian-American) is little Mika (she has a beautiful singing voice), and Justin H. Min (Korean-American) is Yang, the companion they purchased to familiarize their adopted daughter with her Chinese heritage. Sarita Choudhury, Clifton Collins Jr., and Haley Lu Richardson make appearances in the opening techno-dance number and join the story later.

This is the second feature for Korean director/writer Kogonada, and I also loved his first one, Columbus, which featured mid-century-modern architecture in Columbus, Indiana. In this one, the family's home is a magnificent mid-century-modern one-story in an unnamed location and the gorgeous cinematography by Benjamin Loeb shows it, and everything, to its best advantage.

Kogonada based his script on the short story Saying Goodbye to Yang by Alexander Weinstein, included in Weinstein's collection Children of the New World, which was one of the New York Times' 100 notable Books of 2016. Here's a spoiler-filled excerpt.

The ethereal soundtrack by Aska Matsumiya, also known as ASKA, is available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

The wardrobe by Arjun Bhasin contained no plastics, indicating the future's reliance on sustainable materials.

Farrell was last blogged for Widows, Turner-Smith for Queen & Slim, Choudhury for A Hologram for the King, Collins for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Richardson for Support the Girls, and Kogonada for Columbus. Tjandrawidjaja has acting and singing credits. Loeb's resume of shorts and features includes Pieces of a Woman, and Matsumiya has quite a few on hers as well. Bhasin costumed Monsoon Wedding (2001), Life of Pi, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, among dozens of others.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics are slightly less tuned in than I, averaging 88%, and its audiences need a reboot with only 66. We watched it on Showtime on March 21.

Flee (2021)

This emotional animated documentary about a closeted Afghani refugee and his family is very good. Directed and co-written by Jonas Poher Rasmussen with co-writer Amin Nawabi, the subject of the documentary, it is animated to protect the identities of Nawabi and his family. All of the animation is hand-drawn, with no tracing. There is also a bit of archival film included here and there.

Uno Helmersson's powerful score is available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

The movie made history for being Oscar-nominated in three categories––documentary, animated, and foreign (it was produced in Denmark)––but was edged out in all three. Here's my running list, which is almost up to date.

Another running list on this blog is the Producers Plethora Prize list, because I'm fascinated when so many people are active behind the scenes. This one, with 32 producers, including actor Riz Ahmed, has made the list, though far from the winner, which has 43!

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are glued to their seats, averaging 98 and 92%, respectively.

I downloaded it, dubbed and captioned in English, from Hulu and watched it on a long plane ride on March 23.