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%.