Wicked Little Letters (2023)

Jack and I loved this comedy about Edith, a prim 1920s English woman, and her cheerful foulmouthed neighbor Rose. Olivia Colman and Jesse Buckley beautifully inhabit the leading roles, with added support from Timothy Spall as Rose's dreadful father, Gemma Jones as her quiet mother, Anjana Vasan as Woman Police Officer Moss, and Lolly Adefope and Eileen Atkins providing extra laughs as Edith's card game friends. Moss encounters quite a bit of sexism, played for laughs, and I can't for sure confirm whether she's referred to as Woman Police Office or Woman Police Constable, but always the three word title.

Director Thea Sharrock keeps a lively pace with the screenplay by Jonny Sweet, based on a hundred year old true story in Littlehampton, England. If you know the real story, outlined in this spoiler-filled link, you won't be surprised by the twist, about an hour in, that Jack totally saw coming.

Isobel Waller-Bridge's soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music.

Colman was last blogged for Empire of Light, Buckley for I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Spall for Finding Your Feet, Jones for You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Waller-Bridge for Emma. I'm a fan of Vasan's series We Are Lady Parts, about an all-female Muslim punk band (streaming on Peacock), and Adefope's work on the series Shrill, as well as a role in Saltburn among her dozens of credits. Venerable English actress (like Jones) Atkins may be best known for Gosford Park (2001) but has played over a hundred film and TV parts starting in 1959. This is Sharrock's third time directing a feature, with a fourth on Netflix right now. Sweet started acting before writing and has a small part in this movie. It's his feature screenwriting debut.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a slightly mischievous 80%, while its audiences come in at a positively devilish 92. We rented it on Apple TV on June 8.

We Grown Now (2023)

We greatly enjoyed this story of ten year old best friends Malik and Eric in the 1992 Cabrini-Green public housing complex in Chicago. My memory is sketchy since we watched it over four months ago (more on that in a moment), but I jotted down the word transcendent. I've since been reminded that a seven year old boy was killed by a stray bullet there that year.

Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez play the boys and their families include Jurnee Smollett, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Lil Rel Howery.

Written and directed by Minhal Baig, it has mostly Chicago locations, including interiors in the Art Institute of Chicago. This spoiler-free article can tell you more about her.

I'm streaming the soundtrack by Jay Wadley and Attaca Quartet on Apple Music.

Watch for still photos over the early end credits.

Howery was last blogged for Spin Me Round and Wadley for Fire Island. This is James' third feature and Ramirez' first. Smollett was much lauded for the title role in Eve's Bayou (1997), and The Great Debaters (2007). Her dozens of credits include seven episodes of Parenthood in 2013. Merkerson, briefly mentioned in Mother and Child, is best known for 391 episodes of Law & Order. This is Baig's third feature.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are maturely averaging 93 and 90%. We watched it February 10 on a screener I obtained as a member of the Independent Feature Project--we get to preview movies nominated for Spirit Awards, and this one had three. No wins there but it won two at the Chicago International Film Festival and one in Toronto. It opened in April in the major cities and is now, finally, available to rent on all the major platforms.

The Fall Guy (2024)

Jack and I liked very much this action/rom-com/homage to movie stunt people, loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name, with Ryan Gosling as the dedicated title character. Emily Blunt is his multi-faceted love interest, Aaron Taylor-Johnson the narcissistic leading man in the movie within the movie, and Hannah Waddingham that movie's determined producer. Lee Majors and Heather Thomas, who starred as the stunt man and his love interest in the series, have cameos in a final scene after the credits (don't miss it!)

Director David Leitch is a former stunt man, and Drew Pearce's screenplay gives credit to Glen A. Larson, the writer of the series. This project has been in development for fourteen years with a number of filmmakers attached. That said, this doesn't take itself too seriously and the movie is loaded with "Easter eggs," some of which we got, others that went over our heads.

I'm streaming the exciting soundtrack by Dominic Lewis on Apple Music as I type. 

This movie is helping with the campaign to get stunts recognized as an Oscar category, both in its subject matter, and directly in dialogue. Chris O'Hara's credit as stunt designer hasn't before been used, and imdb's list of the stunt department is quite long. Also quite long is that site's trivia list. It's fascinating, and includes that Gosling has a fear of heights, but still did the 150-foot fall at the beginning of the movie and that with 8.5 car rolls, this movie breaks the Guinness World Record of the most car rolls (a fact which Waddingham's character actually mentions in the dialogue).

It was shot almost entirely in Australia (the country's film commission helped with the budget), and, impressively, got to shoot one sequence right in front of the Sydney Opera House.

Because you follow my lead and will stick around for the final bonus scene, you will also see a short documentary about stunts as the credits begin.

Gosling was last blogged for Barbie, Blunt for Oppenheimer (they joked at the Oscars about being the love interests in the two smash hits), Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals, Leitch for Deadpool 2, Pearce for Iron Man 3, Lewis for Money Monster. Waddingham is best known for 34 episodes of Ted Lasso as the team owner Rebecca, and we also liked her in 14 of Sex Education as one of Jackson's two moms. I've seen almost none of Majors' hundreds of credits, other than three episodes of Weeds, one of Community, one of Grey's Anatomy. He's 85 years old now and apparently has four upcoming projects right now. Thomas, 66, was in all 112 episodes of The Fall Guy and I've seen nothing of hers. 

We have seen quite a few movies with O'Hara's stunt work, including two Kill Bills (2003 and 4), Spider-Man 2 and 3 (2004 and 7), The Hangover, The Hangover Part III, Water for Elephants, We Bought a Zoo, Iron Man 3, and Baby Driver, to name just a few.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are rolling with averages of 81 and 86%, respectively. We rented it on Apple TV May 28.

Challengers (2024)

Jack and I enjoyed this story of three professional tennis players at different stages in their careers, despite its veering back and forth between the sports and the love triangle. Three beautiful stars carry the plot which begins with Patrick (Josh O'Connor), broke and trying to get back into tournament play, Tashi (Zendaya), now a tenacious coach, and her husband and client Art (Mike Faist), who's got the yips (performance anxiety--am I using the right sports metaphor?). There are lots of flashbacks to different times in their lives. When Tashi is in a scene, her hairstyle will confirm when it's taking place.

We were getting impatient at the pace changing from languid (the romance) to frantic (the sports) until I remembered that it's directed by Luca Guadagnino, Italian auteur known for his poetic approach. Several times I observed the camera lingering a long time on something, only to have a character do or say something to advance the plot at the very end of the sequence. That said, the tennis scenes are exciting.

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross's score, available on Apple Music, does capture the different moods quite well. There are also a bunch of songs, listed here, including two by the Toronto Children's Chorus.

Zendaya was last blogged for Dune, Faist for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, Guadagnino for Call Me By Your Name, and Reznor & Ross for Empire of Light.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are serving up some love (wait, I think I'm mixing the tennis metaphors) with an 89% average, while its audiences are simply volleying (did I get that one right?) at 73. We rented it on Apple TV on May 26.

Unfrosted (2024)

Jack and I laughed a lot at this critically panned retelling of the invention of Pop Tarts in 1963. Jerry Seinfeld directs, co-writes, and stars as the Kellogg's executive spearheading the development, with a supporting cast including funny people Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Max Greenfield, Sarah Cooper, and too many more recognizable personalities to name them all here.

Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, and Barry Marder also co-wrote the snappy script, full of absurdities while being based on truth.

Christophe Beck's soundtrack can be found on Apple Music and here's the list of songs, which includes one written for the movie by Seinfeld and others and performed by Megan Trainor and Jimmy Fallon.

Shout out to the production design by Clayton Hartley, splendidly evoking the candy-colored era. And lots of fun trivia can be found here.

Of course you know Seinfeld, last blogged for a cameo in Top Five--he created, wrote, and starred in 172 episodes of his eponymous series Seinfeld, he's played himself in a bunch of things, and we like his Netflix series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. He co-wrote The Bee Movie (2007), which I haven't seen and this is his feature directing debut.

Schumer was most recently in these pages for The Humans, McCarthy for The Kitchen, Gaffigan for Linoleum, Greenfield for The Glass Castle, and Beck for Ant-Man and the Wasp. Cooper is best known for her hilarious lip-syncing of the 45th president's speeches but uses her own voice in her comedy career. This is her second feature acting gig. 

Feresten was a staff writer on Late Night with David Letterman and co-wrote nine episodes of Seinfeld. Robin worked on SNL and Seinfeld, among other shows. Both co-wrote The Bee Movie with Marder and Seinfeld, which was the first screenplay for all four, and this one is their second. Hartley has a few dozen credits, including We're the Millers, The Big Short, and Don't Look Up.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics are burnt, averaging 43% and its audiences, at 51, are half baked. We watched it on Netflix May 22. Stick around for the blooper/dance reel at the end credits, which is reported to have had more views than the whole movie.

Paint (2023)

Despite critics' disdain, we enjoyed this story of a soft-spoken, eccentric painter whose daily show is broadcast on Vermont Public TV. Owen Wilson stars as Carl Nargle, inspired in part by Bob Ross, and sports a similar perm, as his character seems stuck in the 1970s, even though there are cell phones in the story. Support comes from Michaela Watkins, Stephen Root, Wendi McClendon-Covey, and more.

Director/writer Brit McAdams' screenplay made the 2010 Black List, which is a lineup of scripts judged by a respected panel to be the best unproduced screenplays each year. I really liked the funny twist at the end.

Lyle Workman's soundtrack isn't available online so I'm streaming his latest album as I write and it's quite pleasant. Someone made a Spotify playlist of songs in the movie.

Upstate New York stands in for Vermont locations, including a Saratoga Springs TV station, empty because of COVID in the spring of 2021. This Fast Company article about the movie is fascinating but does contain a slight spoiler in the end of the second paragraph, so reader beware.

Stick around for a dance/blooper reel during the end credits, which is reported to have been watched more than the rest of the movie. Pro tip: on a computer, when Netflix shrinks the screen during the credits (and I start cursing), click on the little window to continue watching. On an Apple TV, press the up button or swipe up, depending on your remote. Do not use the back button because that will end the screening (and I will continue cursing when I accidentally do that).

Wilson was last blogged for Inherent Vice (though I didn't mention him as part of the large ensemble in The French Dispatch), Watkins for You Hurt My Feelings, Root for To Leslie, McClendon-Covey for one of the voices in Elemental, and Workman for Win Win. It's McAdams' feature directing debut.

As I said above, Rotten Tomatoes' critics have thrown turpentine on this with a 32% average and its audiences are fading with 57. Jack and I streamed it on May 8 on Hulu.

Tiger (2024)

Jack and I loved, as expected, the latest animal documentary from Disneynature. Narrated by Priyanka Chopra Jonas and directed by Mark Linfield, Vanessa Berlowitz, and Rob Sullivan, it follows a tiger and her cubs in the forest of India. Its website tells us its hour and a half length was cut from 1500 days of filming.

The Indian-influenced soundtrack by Nitin Sawhney is available on Apple Music and probably elsewhere.

I noted that some of my favorite moments were the peacock, the "frog fu fighting" (my invention), the langur monkey ballet, and the fireflies. 

Here's my list of Disneynature documentaries and here is Disney's. Remarkably, there are no computer generated effects in these docs.

Jonas was last blogged for (the scripted feature) The White Tiger, Linfield and Berlowitz for the Disneynature Elephant, and Sullivan makes his feature co-directing debut after a handful of nature TV serieses.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are purring with an average of 88 and its audiences' claws are still retracted at 75. We watched it on Disney+ with our subscription on April 23. It can also be rented on the usual outlets.

Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

Sorry, Chris (who recommended it), we could not finish this weird black and white slapstick "story" about a man in the snowy wilds of North America encountering trials and tribulations. Sure to become a cult favorite, it features Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (who co-wrote the script with director Mike Cheslik) as a fur trapper trying to defeat, you guessed it, hundreds of beavers as well as some rabbits, all played by humans in furry costumes. The music by Chris Ryan is not available online. 

Even at a length of 1:50, Jack and I got impatient and switched to something else. Perhaps it would be better as a series in shorter doses. However, Rotten Tomatoes agrees with Chris. See below.

Tews and Cheslik co-wrote one other feature, which Tews directed. Cheslik makes his feature directing and co-writing debut and Ryan has scored three other features, dozens of shorts, and a few TV series.

Unlike us, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are dam well happy about this one, avaeraging 96% and its audiences close behind at 86. We paid Apple TV for the rental on April 30 but did not get our money's worth.

The Breaker Upperers (2018)

Jack and I really liked this New Zealand comedy about two women, best friends, whose business is to end relationships for people who don’t want to do it themselves. Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek star, direct, and wrote the script. Jemaine Clement makes one of the recognizable cameos and the prolific Taika Waititi is executive producer. One to watch is Rose Matafeo, who has a scene as the "Check Out Chick."

No composer is credited but here's a list of songs, including one by Pip Brown, AKA Ladyhawke, who is Sami's wife.

Clement was last blogged for Brad's Status and Waititi for Jojo Rabbit, for which he and the other producers were Oscar nominated for Best Picture. Sami co-starred in eight episodes of Deadloch, often providing comic relief, and co-wrote one of them. She was in the ensemble of Waititi's hilarious Our Flag Means Death and makes her feature directing debut here. Van Beek directed and co-wrote one feature before this, and has some other acting credits as well. I mention Matafeo because I liked the series Starstruck which she starred in and created. Every one of the above filmmakers is from New Zealand.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't too broken up over this, averaging 87%, but its audiences are seeking counseling with 52.

We found this movie on a list of Netflix movies running 90 minutes or fewer and watched it on April 17. Sit tight because there's a bonus scene at the beginning of the credits (followed by the Ladyhawke song) and a tiny one at the very end.