Belfast (2021)

For this must-see movie, director/writer Kenneth Branagh was inspired by his childhood during "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, expertly blending terror and unrest with 1960s music, a young boy's optimism, a family's love for each other and their homeland, and magnificent black and white photography. With 120 nominations and 26 wins as of this writing, the movie is an Oscar darling. See my running list of selected nominations and awards.

Young Jude Hill couldn't be cuter as Buddy, while his parents (Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan) and grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds) are strong but playful.

Branagh recruited fellow Belfastian (see this link about what to call them) Van Morrison for the soundtrack but I can't find it online for streaming. I messaged Focus Features to ask, but they didn't get back to me before I finished writing. Imdb has this list of songs and here's one song from the movie on Spotify.

Director of Photography Haris Zambarloukos' glorious pictures were shot in Belfast and County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and London.

Buddy and his family also love movies, and the website ScreenRant has compiled a fun list of "Movie Easter Eggs and Pop Culture References."  I advise you to read the link after seeing the movie.

There's a dedication on an end title card which will serve as a bonus for my fellow intrepid credits-watchers.

Branagh was last blogged for directing Murder on the Orient Express (as for his writing, he previously adapted six Shakespeare plays plus the opera The Magic Flute into movie scripts). Balfe was last in these pages for Ford v Ferrari, Dench and Zambarloukos for the aforementioned Murder on the Orient Express, and Hinds for The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. This is Morrison's seventh feature film score.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't too troubled, averaging 86%, while its audiences are more optimistic at 91. We rented it on iTunes on December 14.

Zola (2020)

This crazy thriller/comedy is based on actual tweets by a waitress/stripper who traveled from Detroit to Florida with a woman she just met who promised lucrative work. It's not for everyone (rated R for sex, lots of nudity, violence, profanity, you name it), but Jack, Amy, and I found it hard to look away.

Taylour Paige is terrific in the title role as is Riley Keough who plays Stefani, the white girl with offensive Black mannerisms and accent. Also featured are Colman Domingo as a pimp and Nicholas Braun as Stefani's clueless boyfriend.

Originally James Franco was set to direct, produce, and star, but dropped out due to sexual harassment charges against him. Janicza Bravo then stepped in as director and co-writer with Jeremy O. Harris. 

Stripper A'Ziah (AKA Aziah AKA Zola) King wrote of her adventures in 148 tweets in 2015 and David Kushner, er, fleshed them out in a Rolling Stone article "Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted" (here are the tweets and the full article).

The spooky music by Mica Levi is available on Apple Music and here's a list of songs.

Keough was last blogged for Logan Lucky, Domingo for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Paige was in it, too), and Levi for the Small Axe anthology. Braun is best known as the hapless cousin Greg on Succession. Bravo has directed a number of shorts and TV episodes and one other feature (she co-wrote that one, too) and this is Harris's feature writing debut.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics, averaging 88%, are warmer than its audiences at 68.

We streamed it on Showtime on December 18. Check out its nominations in my list of 2022 awards.

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Confounding yet beautiful, this story of wealthy Montana ranchers in the 1920s was hard for us to follow but so visually spectacular that we stayed with it. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons are brothers Phil and George, with Phil as grating and macho as George is kind and generous. Kirsten Dunst's (Plemons' real life fiancée and mother of their two children) Rose and Kodi Smit-McPhee's Gordon are multi-layered characters who keep us surprised. In cameos we see Thomasin McKenzie as a housemaid (I think) and Frances Conroy as the matriarch. The acting is all good.

Acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion directs and based her script on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage. I guess my problem is with the pacing.

Jonny Greenwood's evocative soundtrack, which can be streamed on Apple Music, and Australian cinematographer Ari Wegner's sweeping landscapes kept us in our seats.

Cumberbatch was last blogged for 1917, Plemons for I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Dunst for The Beguiled, McKenzie for Jojo Rabbit, Conroy for Joker and No Pay, Nudity, Campion for Top of the Lake, and Greenwood for Spencer. This is not the first, er, rodeo for Smit-McPhee and Wegner. The latter has nominations and wins for her work on this and other projects.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are howling with delight, averaging 95%, while its audiences' tails are stilled with a mere 61. Check out my running list of nominations and awards to how this one is doing so far (ten Critics Choice nominations as of this writing).

Jack and I streamed it on Netflix December 10.

King Richard (2021)

So good but too long at 2:24, this tells the uplifting story of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams' father Richard and his determination to see his (willing) girls excel. Will Smith also excels in the title role as do Aunjanue Ellis as his wife and Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton as young Venus and Serena, respectively. Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal as tennis pros are among the rest of huge cast.

Reinaldo Marcus Green directs from a script by Zach Baylin, which was featured on the 2018 Black List (each year the Black List promotes highly regarded unproduced screenplays).

The music by Kris Bowers can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere and here's a list of the songs.

Apparently Smith shared his $40m earnings (as both actor and producer) with the other actors!

Don't leave your seat before seeing bonus footage of the real Williams family.

Smith was last blogged for Bad Boys for Life, Ellis for The Birth of a Nation, Goldwyn for All I Wish, and Bernthal for Ford v Ferrari. Sidney has a number of credits including Fences and Hidden Figures and Singleton has one other feature and one series under her belt. Green is new to me and this is Baylin's writing debut.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences find little fault with this, averaging 91 and 98%, respectively. Award givers are considering this for quite a few accolades as well. This year's list of selected awards and nominations, sorted by title, is a work in progress that you can view at this link and on every page of the blog. I will add to it as info is released.

We watched it on Hulu December 7, blocking out three hours so we could take a break or two.

Here Today (2021)

Billy Crystal directed, co-wrote, and stars in this sweet story of the friendship between a comedy writer with early stage dementia and a flamboyant singer (Tiffany Haddish). Alan Zweibel co-wrote the screenplay based on his short story The Prize.

Crystal was last blogged for acting in Standing Up, Falling Down, Haddish for Yearly Departed after The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Crystal has directed and written two other features, Mr. Saturday Night (1992) and Forget Paris (1995) and directed the the TV movie 61* (2001), as well as many TV credits. 

Zweibel wrote for 109 episodes of Saturday Night Live from its inception in 1976, co-created and wrote for It's Garry Shandling's Show, and much more. Back in 2012, when writing about A Dangerous Method scored by Howard Shore, who played on SNL in the early days, I wrote: "I got to speak with author Alan Zweibel, one of the original Saturday Night Live writers, recently. I mentioned his 'Spud beer' spot (sorry, video isn't readily available but here's a still picture), from that 1975 season, Howard Shore and his "All-Nurse Band" (they were all men, wearing nurse dresses and caps for the bit) performed the song St. James Infirmary and Zweibel played a patient in a hospital gown. Zweibel told us was his very first appearance on TV, and he was impressed that I remembered. Jack said, 'That's just what she does.'"

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are gone today, averaging only 48% for this movie, but its audiences stayed  here averaging an enthusiastic 93. Jack and I vote somewhere between. We liked it.

We had no internet from the first few days of the month and got this on DVD from the library on December 4th when we were jonesing for a movie. At this time it's available to stream on Starz if you have that, for sale on Apple TV or Prime, and probably will be rentable soon. 

Spencer (2021)

This self-described "fable from a true tragedy" about the Princess of Wales is heartbreaking and beautiful. Kristen Stewart is getting Oscar buzz as the late Diana and it's well deserved, as we watch her struggle mightily over a few days in 1991 with anxiety, repression, and bulimia in her castle prison. The movie makes no pretense of being exactly truthful in its events or chronology. 

Apparently Stewart spent a lot of time perfecting her English accent, with help from the same dialect coach used by Emmy winner Emma Corrin, who played Diana in The Crown series.

Among the many in the supporting cast, Sally Hawkins' Maggie stands out. Maggie was inspired by a real palace employee who prefers to remain anonymous.

Pablo Larraín directs from a script by Steven Knight and the tension is palpable. Larraín, for one, is no stranger to fictionalized accounts of real people, as in Neruda and Jackie, the latter of which earned Natalie Portman her third Oscar nomination (she won one of them, for Black Swan). But I digress.

Jonny Greenwood's score (occasionally described in the captions as "discordant") can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere. Not at all discordant are the magnificent costumes by Jacqueline Durran, many of which recreate actual ensembles worn by Diana, and the spectacular photography by Claire Mathon, shot in Germany (Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Brandenberg) and Norfolk, England.

Stewart was last blogged for JT LeRoy, Hawkins for The Shape of Water, Larraín for Neruda, Knight for Allied, Greenwood for You Were Never Really Here, Durran for Little Women (she won the Oscar for it), and Mathon for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (she won the César Award, the French equivalent of the Oscars, for that).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is only semi-royal at 83%, while its audiences are much more common with a scant 52. Jack and I enjoyed it when we rented it on iTunes on December 5.

25 rules for movies and television

Rule #25 (first published December 12, 2021)

In a movie or TV show, someone walks into a house and immediately starts hollering the name of a family member or roommate. Often the family member or roommate is not there and often there's a bad reason why not. But what really gets me is, THAT'S SO RUDE! I would never do that yelling and would not be pleased if someone walked into my house and started yelling for me.

Rule #24 (October 20, 2020)

After a parent says good night to her/his kid in the kid's room, the parent will have one hand on the door when the kid will speak up about an important topic.

Rule #23 (May 29, 2019)
Jack has come up with this rule. Characters frequently just order "a beer" without specifying the brand. He would never do that! UPDATE: a friend told me that in some countries a bar might serve only one brand of beer.

Rule #22 (January 18, 2018)
Any scene of the Vietnam War will be accompanied by danceable pop music recognizable to most baby boomers and many others.

Rule #21 (June 21, 2017)
If a movie is set anywhere in France outside of Paris or Cannes, there will be a road lined with tall trees on both sides.

Rule #20 (June 21, 2017)
If a movie is set in London, we will see Big Ben, London Bridge, and/or Buckingham Palace and the guards.

Rule #19 (November 29, 2015)
In a movie about newspapers, there will be at least one shot of the giant printing presses rolling off all the papers. Jack and I love these soon-to-be nostalgic sequences.

Rule #18 (November 8, 2015)
Someone says a name and the other person immediately knows how to spell it. Today in one movie the other person wrote down "Conn," when to my ear it could easily have been Kahan, Kahn, Khan, Cahn, etc.

Rule #17 (July 19, 2015)
Someone who knocks on a hotel room door is not housekeeping nor room service, even if he or she pretends to be. Thanks to Jodi for the suggestion.

Rule #16 (September 2, 2014)
The only one to stay after class to talk to the teacher or professor is the star of the show. This courtesy of Jack, a veteran of the classroom.

Rule #15 (October 7, 2013)
When a villain is responsible for an explosion, the camera shows him/her in the foreground walking toward the camera with the explosion in the background, and the villain seldom reacts to the loud noise.

Rule #14 (September 3, 2012)
When a modern character jumps in the water, there is almost never any consequence to the cell phone that he or she is undoubtedly carrying.

Rule #13 (February 6, 2012)
As an ex-smoker I can tell when people have actually inhaled and when they're faking. They're usually faking. You can tell by the way the smoke drifts out of their mouths instead of being blown in plumes or rings (my friends loved making smoke rings--I didn't smoke long enough to get good at it). And then, 19 times out of twenty, when an onscreen smoker stubs a cigarette into an ashtray, s/he doesn't finish the job, leaving it smoldering. Another reason to be grateful we don't have smell-o-vision.

Rule #12 (November 21, 2011)
On screen, driving the wrong way on a crowded street, freeway, sidewalk, or even through a parade, causes honking, swerving, screaming, running, but almost never a quick crash or fatality. Please, please, PLEASE do not test my theory!

Rule #11 (October 14, 2011)
A character rings the doorbell or knocks, and someone is there within 5 seconds, no matter how big the house or apartment. If it's longer than that, no one is home. Jack's corollary: if it's longer than that, someone is inside dead or dying. Try counting the seconds next time you're watching something.

Rule #10 (November 28, 2010)
When a character is driving, s/he usually finds a parking place right in front of the destination. Also known as the Doris Day Parking Spot (thank you Dan, I had never heard of it put that way). The only time I ever heard my atheist mother pray was when she was driving us in New York City (which could cause some passengers to look to their own deities) in the 50's and 60's. Searching for a parking place, she would chant, "I'm God's perfect child," repeatedly, until gleefully finding an available spot.

Rule #9 (October 31, 2010)
Zooming in on a computer image usually delivers a sharp, recognizable picture, even though that seldom happens on my screen.

Rule #8 (May 21, 2010)
If a character is supposed to be unsophisticated, maybe even a hick, he or she will frequently hail from Ohio. In the Grey's Anatomy season finale last night, one character, an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital, said she was from Columbus (a bustling city and the state capital), and was the daughter of a teacher and a "corn farmer."

Rule #7 (May 4, 2010)
In a movie, turn on a computer and it boots up immediately. Copy a file and it zips by, blazing fast. Hook one gadget to another, and the correct cable is always there. Every now and then, it will take way too long instead, but usually, it's unrealistically cooperative.

Rule #6 (April 5, 2010)
When a character is watching a news item on TV that concerns him or her greatly, that character will usually switch off the TV before the news item is finished.

Rule #5 (March 23, 2010)
In a movie, the wait staff seldom clears the glasses or bottles from the table, leaving them lined up so that the audience can count them (to see how drunk the characters are by any given time).

Rule #4 (March 13, 2010)
In a movie, if a woman faints, she is probably pregnant. If she throws up, and didn't drink to excess just before, she is definitely pregnant.

Rule #3 (November 30, 2009)
Any movie located in New York City will have a shot of the lead actor walking on a crowded sidewalk, looking all the more crowded by the use of a zoom lens that makes the other people seem closer and reduces the depth of field, or sharpness around the actor.

Rule #2 (March 15, 2009)
If a film or a scene is set in Paris, the Eiffel Tower will be visible from at least one location.

Rule #1 (January 12, 2009)
A character who coughs in a movie will be dead by the beginning of the credits. Over 99% of the time.

The Humans (2021)

Don't expect an Amy Schumer comedy here, but Jack and I liked this excellent drama, where a family gathers for Thanksgiving in a run down New York apartment and demonstrates their fears and conflicts with only an occasional laugh. The spectacular ensemble is made up of Beanie Feldstein, Richard Jenkins, Jane Houdyshell, Schumer, June Squibb, and Steven Yeun. Playwright Stephen Karam adapted his play and directs this production, adding an eerie cinematic underlayer that's hard to describe.

The music by Nico Muhly is not available online but you can follow the following links on Apple Music to hear songs by Steve Reich, Billie Holiday, and Philip Glass that were used in the movie.

Feldstein was last blogged for Booksmart, Jenkins for Kajillionaire, Schumer for Snatched, Squibb for Soul, Yeun for Minari (Oscar-nominated for it), and Karam and Muhly for The Seagull, the former for writing the screenplay adaptation and the latter for composing its score.

I've seen but a handful of Houdyshell's screen roles, but it should be noted that she won a Tony for The Humans onstage, among her nominations for other shows. This is Karam's feature directing debut. The Humans won him the Tony Award for Best Play in 2016 it was also a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics love this, averaging 92%. There's no audience rating, I'm guessing because not enough people have seen it?

We streamed it on Showtime on November 30. It's no secret that I prefer to watch a movie with captions. When we cued it up a few days before, I couldn't get the captions to work on our Apple TV. In the opening scene cast mutters in the hallway and I couldn't understand what they were saying. There are a lot of scenes shot from a distance and the dialogue is not very clear. After much cursing (by me--Jack is calmer), we watched Little Fish instead that day. It turns out that on Showtime you have to swipe down to activate the captions and they worked fine after that. Captions are very much needed for this movie and I recommend you use them.

Little Fish (2020)

In hindsight, I appreciate more and more this drama about gaining and losing love and memories. A dangerous, contagious illness sweeps the world, causing patients to lose their memories. It's based on a 2011 short story by Aja Gabel (you can read it here) and adapted and shot in the spring of 2019, entirely before COVID-19.

Olivia Cooke stars (and executive produced) and her love interest is played by Jack O'Connell. Their close friends are Soko and Raul Castillo and all the acting is quite good but it's told somewhat out of sync. Once you know that, it makes more sense.

Chad Hartigan directs from the screen adaptation by Mattson Tomlin. I prefer the French and Portuguese titles, which translate to "If I Forget You...I Love You" and "Memories of a Love," respectively. There is a little fish but it's, well, little.

Shot in Seattle, Vancouver, and other British Columbia locations including "the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam nations," it is set in Canada, although Cooke speaks with her real British accent and O'Connell, though he is Irish, speaks with an accent defined in imdb as Canadian.

The eerie soundtrack by Keegan DeWitt can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere.

The is Cooke's third (COVID) pandemic release, and she was blogged for the other two: Pixie and Sound of Metal. O'Connell was last in these pages for Money Monster, Castillo for We the Animals, Hartigan for Morris from America, and DeWitt for Her Smell. Soko (a musician née Stephanie Sokolinski--she performs onscreen and off) provided one of the many voices in Her, though I didn't mention it, and this is Tomlin's third screenplay.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't forgetting this, averaging 91% and its audiences aren't far behind at 80. We streamed it on Hulu on November 25.

Note, I just read the Gable short story (link above) for the first time. It has similarities and many differences with the movie. If anyone had asked me, I would say that the screenplay was inspired by the story, rather than based on it.

Passing (2021)

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

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

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

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

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

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

We greatly enjoyed watching it on Netflix on November 12.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)

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

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

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

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

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

We rented it on iTunes on November 18.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lorelei (2020)

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

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

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

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

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

We rented it on iTunes October 20.

Bergman Island (2021)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Annette (2021)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Swan Song (2021)

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

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

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

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

Language Lessons (2021)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Outside In (2017)

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

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

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

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

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

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

We watched it on Netflix on September 5.

Respect (2021)

We loved the official--sanctioned by the Queen of Soul herself--biopic of Aretha Franklin with Jennifer Hudson kicking ass in the lead role of Franklin from pre-teenhood until 1972 (she was 30). Hudson is ably supported by Forest Whitaker as Aretha's father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin; Marlon Wayans as her husband Ted White; Tituss Burgess as gospel conductor James Cleveland; Audra McDonald as her mother Barbara; Marc Maron as producer Jerry Wexler; Skye Dakota Turner as young Aretha; Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington; Kelvin Hair as Sam Cooke; and so many more.

At 2:25 it's too long but still wonderful for those of us who grew up with her music as well as you whippersnappers who found it later.

Of course the movie was on my radar but listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast interview with director Liesl Tommy sealed the deal. Tracey Scott Wilson wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the story with Callie Khouri. Nice that the top jobs on this picture went to women.

Kris Bowers is credited with the original score (I'm listening on Apple Music with my subscription) but you're unlikely to remember it when there are so many classic vocal songs, many of which are listed here. 

Shout out to costume designer Clint Ramos for the marvelous wardrobe.

I have watched one episode of the Nat Geo series about Aretha starring Cynthia Erivo, another terrific singer. It's good and some of the story is different, and I realized that I'd better get this one posted before watching any more of the series so as not to conflate the two.

Hudson was last blogged for Chi-Raq, Whitaker for Black Panther, Wayans for On the Rocks, McDonald for Beauty and the Beast, Burgess for Dolemite Is My Name, Maron for Sword of Trust, Blige for Mudbound, and Bowers United States v. Billie Holiday. This is Turner's second role and the kid has got pipes. Hair has been in one other feature.

Tommy and Wilson make their feature debuts after directing and writing, respectively, some TV episodes. Khouri, the Oscar-winning writer of Thelma & Louise (1991), also wrote Something to Talk About (1995), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), and 8 episodes of the long-running series Nashville, which she created. 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics don't, to paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield, give this no respect, averaging only 66%, while its audiences loved it, coming in at 95. We rented it on iTunes on September 1.

In closing, let me give you an earworm: my friend Kim's mother thought the song was R-E-S-P-Beasley Street. Try to forget that!

East Side Sushi (2014)

Jack and I liked this one, another feel good movie, about Juana (do not say Joo-anna), an immigrant living in East Oakland California with her father and young daughter, who has ambitions to become a sushi chef. The movie earned many festival nominations and wins. Diana Elizabeth Torres as Juana and Yutaka Takeuchi as Aki, the head chef, head up the cast, and the movie has many wins and nominations.

Anthony Lucero makes his feature debut both directing and writing the screenplay, and shot most, if not all, of the movie in his native Oakland, with cinematography by Martin Rosenberg.

The score by Alex Mandel features some taiko drumming and can be streamed on Apple Music, among others, with some tracks available on Soundcloud.

Torres, Takeuchi, Rosenberg, and Mandel have a few other credits but are all new to me.

Eleven years ago, at Vivian's request. I began a list of food movies. She actually recommended this one and it's now number 31 on the list.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics ate it up, averaging 95% and its audiences took a big bite at 83.

We watched it free with our Amazon Prime subscription on August 25.

Pixie (2020)

Jack and I thought this lots of fun. It's a dark comedy, a thriller, a western, a road movie, a gangster pic; talky, but great, as Olivia Cooke, in the title role, leads a couple of young men into crime in their native Ireland. Ben Hardy as Frank and Daryl McCormack as Harland are her bumbling henchmen. Colm Meany, who seems to be in nearly every Irish movie, plays Pixie's stepfather, and Alec Baldwin makes an appearance in, oh, the second act as a dangerous priest.

Barnaby Thompson directs from a script by his son Preston Thompson and the music by Gerry Diver and David Holmes is supplemented by this list of songs.

A few interesting trivia factoids are that McCormack, who is Irish, gave accent tips to Cooke and Hardy, who are English. Barnaby's favorite movie is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), while Preston's is Something Wild (1986), no surprise given the humor and action in this one. I noted at the time that I enjoyed the photography by John de Borman.

Cooke was last blogged for Sound of Metal, Hardy for playing Roger Taylor (one of the members of Queen) in Bohemian Rhapsody, Baldwin for The Public, Holmes for The Laundromat, and de Borman for Made in Dagenham. I mentioned Meany in my post about Damned United, but did not profile him. So he was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Snapper (1993) which I loved, and his dozens of credits include The Commitments (1991) which I also loved and is part of the same series, Into the West (1992), Con Air (1997), and Get Him to the Greek. Daryl McCormack is new to me but not to his craft.

Barnaby Thompson has produced dozens of features and this is his third time directing, while his son Preston has written one other feature. This is Diver's feature composing debut after only three TV episodes.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are minimizing this movie's worth, averaging 76%, though most appreciate Cooke's performance, and its audiences belittle it further at 66. Don't care. Liked it a lot.

We rented it on Apple/iTunes on August 4, 2021.

Dream Horse (2020)

What a feel-good movie! Based on a true story, it chronicles a group of Welsh village folks who pool their money to help bartender Jan Vokes raise a champion racehorse. A deglamorized Toni Collette does a wonderful job playing Vokes as does Owen Teale as her husband Brian. Damian Lewis comes in after a bit as a member of the Dream Alliance, and all the character actors are adorable.

Welshman Euros Lyn directs from a script by Neil McKay, and the music by Benjamin Woodgates can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere.

Collette was last blogged for I'm Thinking of Ending Things. Teale has dozens of credits but I don't know him. Lewis, who played Steve McQueen in Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood, is best known as Nicholas Brody in 37 episodes of Homeland and Bobby Axelrod in 60 of Billions. Lyn has directed dozens of TV episodes, two other features, and a couple of TV movies and this is the feature screenwriting debut for McKay. It's also Woodgates' feature debut.

There is a wonderful musical bonus during the credits. Do not miss it!

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are trotting along with an 88% average, with its audiences at a full gallop at 97.

We rented it on Apple/iTunes on August 21.

Pig (2021)

This multi-layered story of a reclusive former chef and his truffle-hunting pig is a tour de force for Nicolas Cage in the lead role of Rob, and Jack and I loved it. Cage is backed by Alex Wolff as Amir, who sells Rob's truffles to restaurants. Adam Arkin has a pivotal role in the third act.

Michael Sarnoski makes a solid feature directorial and screenwriting debut, co-writing the story with Vanessa Block, also her debut.

It's been six weeks since we saw it, but I remember loving the music as well. The soundtrack by Alexis Grapsas & Philip Klein is available to stream on Apple Music and elsewhere and imdb has printed the list of songs.

The dark, foggy, rainy cinematography is the work of Patrick Scola, shot in the forests of Oregon as well as iconic locations in Portland.

The one trivia point that stands out for me is that their budget was so small they couldn't afford a fully trained pig and the one they used bit Cage more than once. She is adorable.

Some interesting scenes of food being prepared earns this a spot on my running list of food movies.

Since the beginning of lockdown, we've been almost exclusively streaming movies, so I haven't been afflicted with Motion Picture Motion Sickness in our house. But this one does jump around with handheld photography and very sensitive folks might need to sit back behind their couches if possible. I'll add it to my MPMS list as well.

Cage was last blogged for Snowden. After I wrote about Arkin in A Serious Man, he's been in episodes of Masters of Sex, Fargo, and Modern Family, just to name a few. Wolff (the younger son of Thirtysomething actress Polly Draper and musician Michael Wolff), Grapsas, Klein, and Scola have many projects under their belts but they're all new to me.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are high on this hog, averaging 97%, and its audiences aren't far behind at 84.

We rented the on iTunes/Apple TV on July 20. AFTER you see this fine film, you may want to read a spoiler-filled "biblical reading". It gives away everything. Seriously.

How It Ends (2021)

So good! We loved this. Zoe Lister-Jones stars, co-directed, and co-wrote (with her husband Daryl Wein) this apocalyptic comedy of a woman blithely walking around in deserted Los Angeles as an asteroid is headed in to wipe out everyone. 

Apparently Lister-Jones and Wein conceived and shot this during the 2020 COVID lockdown, which explains how the actors are able to walk down the middles of streets in the Silver Lake neighborhood with many cars parked and none driving.

There are so many funny cameos! Olivia Wilde. Bradley Whitford. Colin Hanks (who starred with Lister-Jones in the series Life in Pieces). Whitney Cummings. Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer. Helen Hunt. Fred Armisen. All the stars of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia except Danny DeVito. And more!

The original music by Ryan Miller isn't available to stream, though I found some of his other work. Here are the songs.

The locations, no doubt just belonging to the actors and their friends, have some spectacular landscaping. Check that out, too.

Ten years ago Jack and I did not like the movie Melancholia, which is also about earth about to be decimated by an asteroid. One reviewer said that "How It Ends is like Melancholia without the, um, melancholia." I definitely agree.

Lister-Jones and Wein were last blogged for Band Aid and Miller for In a World..., which is another terrific independent, female-driven movie.

Rotten Tomatoes critics don't care much how it ends, averaging a barely fresh 66%, while its audiences want it to end right now at 47. Don't listen. We thought it great fun when we rented it for a fee on iTunes/Apple TV on August 6.

Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019)

We enjoyed this story of an English goth teenager and his uncool mom. Earl Cave and Monica Dolan shine in their struggles with many a laugh to be had. Supporting cast includes the always funny Tamsin Greig and Rob Brydon.

Simon Bird directs from a script by Lisa Owens, based on the 2012 graphic novel by Joff Winterhart.

The music by Belle and Sebastian can be streamed on Apple Music and other platforms and is supplemented by this list of songs.

Greig was last blogged for the Oscar-nominated short film Revolting Rhymes and Brydon for Blinded by the Light. Coincidentally Brydon was also in Revolting Rhymes. Dolan has been in Pride and many other projects. Cave has had several roles both before and after this one.

This is the feature debut for Bird and Owens (his wife), though Bird has since directed six episodes of a series.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are heated up with a 92% average, while its audiences are decidedly cooler, coming in at 74.

We were inspired to watch it because it was briefly streamed from the website of our favorite independent movie art house. But then it left, so we rented it for a fee on iTunes/Apple TV on July 27.

First Date (2021)

Jack and I enjoyed this crime caper about a nice young man trying to impress a girl and getting into all kinds of hijinks involving a 1965 Chrysler. The independent movie was nominated for the NEXT Innovator award at Sundance earlier this year. Maybe that's how it came onto my radar.

Co-directed and co-written by Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp, it stars Tyson Brown as our hero and Shelby Duclos as his date.

The music by Crosby, Kevin Kentera, and Noah Lowdermilk is not available online. I might add that Crosby was also cinematographer and co-editor.

This is the feature debut for Brown, Duclos, Kentera, and Lowdermilk. Crosby has worked on quite a few shorts in most departments but this is his first time as a feature director or writer. Knapp directed and co-wrote (and did just about everything else on) one other feature, for which Crosby composed the music with Knapp.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't likely to ask for a second date, averaging 53%, but its audiences might consider it at 79.

We paid a fee to rent it on iTunes/Apple TV on July 13 and have no regrets.

Luca (2021)

Jack and I liked a lot this Disney/Pixar animated feature, a sweet-salty buddy picture about a couple of "sea monsters" (people-sized fish) who turn into humans when they get out of the water. Kind of a coming-of-age story for the teenage mer-boys, who have adventures in (and under) Cinque Terre, on the Italian Riviera (northwest coast).

Jacob Tremblay voices Luca, Jack Dylan Grazer is his buddy Alberto, Emma Berman their cis-human-female friend Giulia (pronounced Julia), Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan are Luca's parents, and Sacha Baron Cohen has a cameo as Uncle Ugo, who has a bonus scene at the very end of the credits.

Enrico Casarosa directs from the screenplay by Jesse Andrews & Mike Jones and story by Casarosa, Andrews, and Simon Stephenson.

They encounter discrimination (gasp!) because the villagers want to destroy all sea monsters but Giulia eventually understands and helps with that, too.

The soundtrack by Dan Romer is available on Apple Music and elsewhere, and there are other songs, especially Italian opera.

Usually I read the entire imdb trivia section but I want to catch up my postings, so this time it's TLDR (too long, didn't read). The two items I noted soon after starting the list were that the movie was made during the pandemic at their homes and that Luca, like Casarosa, is shy and reserved and has his big eyes opened up by the wilder Alberto. It's a fun list to read after watching, though.

Tremblay was last blogged for Good Boys, Rudolph for Wine Country, Gaffigan for Troop Zero, Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Andrews for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jones for Soul, and Romer for The Little Hours.

Grazer is the son of Brian Grazer (Ron Howard's long-time producing partner) and starred in the HBO series We Are Who We Are, among others, and this is Berman's first feature after one series. Casarosa makes his feature directing debut.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are swimming right along, with averages of 91 and 87%, respectively.

We watched it at home with our subscription to Disney+ on July 6.

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar (2021)

It's fluffy, slapstick, and mildly profane, but we liked this comedy about two naive Nebraska women going on a Florida vacation and encountering an evil villain. Kristen Wiig plays Star as well as the villain Sharon and Annie Mumolo is Barb. Both have the comedy chops for this absurd story (which they co-wrote) that often breaks into high production-value musical numbers. There's a cast of dozens, many of whom you'll recognize.

Josh Greenbaum directs and the music by Christopher Lennertz and Dara Taylor (here's the Apple Music link) is supplemented by this list of songs. Trayce Gigi Field was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award for Contemporary Film for this show. And the colorful production design is thanks to Steve Saklad.

Wiig and Mumolo were last blogged for acting in Wonder Woman 1984 and Bad Moms, respectively, and both for co-writing Bridesmaids, Greenbaum for Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show, and Lennertz for Shaft.

This isn't Taylor's first rodeo, er, composing gig, but she's new to me. Field dressed the people for Casa de mi Padre, 114 episodes of Two Broke Girls, and twenty of Dead to Me, among others, while Saklad dressed the sets for Juno (2007), Up in the Air, The Muppets, and more.

There's a bonus scene at the end so don't turn off your TV right away.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics enjoyed the view, averaging 80%, while its audiences were a little lukewarm at 61.

We watched it on Hulu on July 16.

Good on Paper (2021)

Unlike many critics, Jack and I fully enjoyed this story of a frustrated 30-something comedian/actress who decides to go against instinct to hang out with a guy she meets on a plane. Iliza Schlesinger is a working stand-up comic who developed a true story into this screenplay and plays the lead role of Andrea. Margaret Cho, a hilarious stand-up/actress in her own right, plays Andrea's best friend and Ryan Hansen, in fake teeth and a chubby suit, is the hapless plane-mate. I spotted two Orange Is the New Black alumni: Beth Dover, who plays goth Leslie in this movie, and Matt McGorry as Andrea's cousin Brett.

Kimmy Gatewood directs from Schlesinger's script which co-mingles footage of her comedy shows, telling the story, with the dramatization.

The soundtrack by Jonathan Sanford isn't available online but you can listen to some of his music on his soundcloud page. Here's more info on him and the songs featured in the movie.

Schlesinger was in Pieces of a Woman, but it must have been a small part because I failed to mention her. Here's her website. Cho is a brilliant, raunchy comedian and you should grab any chance to see her do anything. She's one of the main reasons we chose to watch this. Here's Cho's site. Among many other credits, Hansen was in the ensemble for twenty episodes of Party Down (2009-10) which Jack and I really liked streaming last year. Dover was prison administrator Linda on OITNB and McGorry was a prison guard on that show, as well as one of the ensemble in How to Get Away with Murder.

Gatewood makes her feature directorial debut after acting in a bunch of TV, including 29 episodes of GLOW as Stacey and six of Atypical as Coach Crowley, and directing a few short films and TV episodes. Sanford is new to me but has scored a handful of projects.

As I said above, Rotten Tomatoes's critics are bad on paper, averaging 52%, and its audiences even worse at 38. Nonetheless, we had a lot of laughs watching it on Netflix July 8.

Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

A spectacular music documentary, this is about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, held 100 miles south of Woodstock the same summer. Musician Questlove, AKA Ahmir-Khalib Thompson (born in 1971), was chosen to direct after some of the producers unearthed 45 hours of footage from the basement of Hal Tulchin (1926-2017), the filmmaker who shot the original event. 

You will see historical footage interspersed with the performances (listed below) and the subtitle is derived from the seminal 1970 Gil-Scott Heron poem and song (listen here) The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. The festival's location was, at the time, called Mount Morris Park and is now Marcus Garvey Park, in memory of the Jamaican political activist.

Executive producers Jon Kamen and Dave Sirulnick first became aware of the festival when making What Happened, Miss Simone? Both documentaries opened the Sundance Film Festival. Further reading (Variety article and New York Times article) and listening (NPR story) are available.

Jack and I were coming of age in 1969 and the music is very special to us both. I'm sure not all of Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are as old as we are, but they share our sunny outlook, averaging 99 and 98%, respectively.

Made for Hulu, this is playing in a few live movie theatres at the moment, as well. We're not quite ready to go back to live mingling, so we sent a small donation to our favorite art house in lieu of tickets after we watched it July 10.

There's a bonus at the end of the credits, so don't leave your seat before you see it.

The festival took place on six Sundays from June 29-August 24, 1969 (Woodstock was August 15-18) with performers including:

The 5th Dimension

Ray Barretto

The Chambers Brothers

The Edwin Hawkins Singers

Mahalia Jackson

B.B. King

Gladys Knight & the Pips

Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach

Moms Mabley

Herbie Mann

Hugh Masakela

Babatunde Olatunji

David Ruffin

Mongo Santamaria

Nina Simone

Sly and the Family Stone

The Staple Singers

Cal Tjader

Stevie Wonder.

The movie includes archival and/or current appearances by 

Redd Foxx

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Jesse Jackson

Mayor John Lindsay

Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father Luis

Chris Rock

and more.

In the Heights (2021)

I loved this so much that I watched it again (in segments because it's too long at 2:23) and I almost never do that. Jack liked it too, despite its length. Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical has been transformed for the big screen with Busby Berkeley-type choreography, drone shots, and an overall good time. Anthony Ramos steps in for Miranda as Usnavi and Corey Hawkins for Christopher Jackson as Benny. Melissa Barrera is Vanessa, Leslie Grace is Nina, Jimmy Smits is her father Kevin, and Olga Merediz, who was Tony-nominated for Abuela Claudia, fills the role again here. All of them sing with spirit and precision. The three salon ladies are played for laughs by Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, and Dascha Polanco. Miranda and Jackson are seen as competing ice treat sellers (the Piragüero and Mr. Softee).

Jon M. Chu directs from Quiara Alegria Hudes' screenplay, based on the musical stage play with music, lyrics, and concept by Miranda and book by Hudes. The score is also credited to Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman.

Special mention of cinematographer Alice Brooks and choreographer Christopher Scott. And where did they find the dancers in the swimming pool scene whose shoulders popped out like that??

Just a few trivia items: at one point Kevin is on the phone and the hold music is an instrumental of You'll Be Back from Hamilton. In the song 96,000, the original 2008 lyric was "Donald Trump and I are on the links and he's my caddy." Now he sings Tiger Woods. And filming for Steven Spielberg's adaptation of West Side Story took place just a few blocks away in New York.

Ramos, Miranda, and Jackson were last blogged for Hamilton, Hawkins for Straight Outta Compton, Smits for Mother and Child, Rubin-Vega for Jack Goes Boating, and Chu for Crazy Rich Asians. Barrera is best known to me for playing Lyn (the wild sister) in 22 episodes of Vida. Grace is a singer/songwriter making her acting debut. Beatriz is the hilarious Rosa Diaz in 153 episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, among her many credits, and Polanco played Daya in 89 of Orange Is the New Black as well as Beatrice in four of Russian Doll, to name a few. This is the feature film debut for Hudes, Lacamoire, and Sherman. Brooks shot Queen Bees and Scott choreographed Now You See Me 2, though I failed to mention them.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are averaging high 95 and 94. The movie is playing in bricks and mortar theatres but, after much discussion, we streamed it on HBO Max on June 30. It would certainly benefit from the big screen, though, if you are willing to go there. Otherwise, donate in lieu of tickets!

Whether you watch it at home or away, stay tuned for the final bonus song after the credits.

Queen Bees (2021)

Fluffy, yes. Silly, uh-huh. Qualifies for a Lifetime movie, okay. But we still enjoyed this tale of a smart, prickly, elderly woman who has to stay in a senior independent living facility while her house is under repair. I looked up the ages of all the stars so you don't have to. I'm a big Ellen Burstyn (89) fan and she does no wrong in the lead as Helen. Ann-Margret's (80) Margot isn't far from her usual ditzy characters, Jane Curtin (73) is pretty funny as "mean girl with a medical alert bracelet" Janet, and Loretta Devine (at 71, the youngster of the group) is the nicest one as Sally. The principal men in the cast are James Caan (81) and Christopher Lloyd (82), and everyone is just fine.

Michael Lembeck directs from a script by Donald Martin, based on a story by Harrison Powell. 

The New York Times called Walter Murphy's score "saccharine," and I can't disagree, though the Times did not pan the movie overall. The soundtrack isn't available online anyway. 

I loved Burstyn's outfits and the terrific wardrobe is thanks to Cynthia Flynt.

Burstyn was last blogged for Pieces of a Woman, Ann-Margret for Going in Style, Curtin for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Caan for Elf.

Devine has nearly two hundred credits, from Waiting to Exhale (1995) and Crash (2004) to 81 episodes of Boston Public (2000-2004) to 22 of Grey's Anatomy (2005-2103) to 145 of Doc McStuffins (2012-2020), just to name a few. Lloyd, who also appeared in Going in Style, is, of course, best known for playing Jim in 84 episodes of Taxi (1978-1983) and Doc Brown in all three Back to the Future movies (1985, 1989, 1990), from his much longer list of roles.  

Lembeck did a lot of acting in the 1970s-90s and moved to directing after that, mostly TV episodes. I'm not familiar with any of Martin's dozens of credits, and Powell has four other producing credits. Murphy scored Ted and its sequel and wrote the 1976 hit A Fifth of Beethoven. Flynt has done costumes for a couple of dozen projects including A League of Their Own (1992).

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a stinging 50% but its audiences are more royal at 87.

We paid full fare to rent this on iTunes on June 23. I recommend waiting until it's free and watch it for a date night, either for boomers or those who are close to some.

Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb (2020)

Jack and I really liked this documentary about journalist Hunter Thompson's running to be elected Aspen, Colorado's sheriff in 1970. Vintage film and stills are expertly woven with voiceovers and film from the present, and it moves along beautifully.

Ajax Phillips and Daniel Joseph Watkins are the directors and screenwriters, inspired by Watkins' 2015 book "Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson's Campaign for Sheriff."

The score by Gustavo Sanotaolalla doesn't seem to be available anywhere, other than the song Valley of Last Resort by him and Gary Clark Jr. (listen here). Because I care, I tracked down the song list from the online press kit. Scroll down on this link. The movie's trailer is right after it.

Santaolalla was last blogged for the soundtrack of Wild Tales.

Rotten Tomatoes has not rated this movie, so here's a review from Rolling Stone, one of Thompson's employers. We rented it on June 16 from Apple TV.

Bo Burnham: Inside (2021)

OMG. Jack and I were blown away by this clever, hilarious, and thoughtful one-man musical show with comedian, actor, director, writer, songwriter, singer, and editor Bo Burnham. We've never seen anything like it. 

Shot entirely in his house for a year during the pandemic lockdown, it has him talking, singing, playing, and dancing awkwardly with lighting and editing effects complementing both his comedy and neuroses. Is it autobiographical or is he just playing a character?

Halfway through the 87 minute show, there's a card that says INTERMISSION so there's your pee break.

An album of his many catchy tunes is available, but I recommend watching the video on Netflix first and then go back to hear the songs you liked best. Here's a link to all the services that are streaming the album.

If you want to delve more deeply into the show, I found this article and then this one fascinating. They are riddled with spoilers, though, so wait to read them until after you watch it.

Burnham was last blogged for acting in A Promising Young Woman, where he played the more sympathetic of Cassie's former classmates, and his directing/writing feature debut Eighth Grade earned a raft of wins and nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are inside with us, averaging 97 and 94%, respectively. We watched it on Netflix June 18 and highly recommend it.

Shiva Baby (2020)

Jack and I enjoyed this cringey comedy about a young woman, Danielle, who runs into her sugar daddy Max at a Jewish funeral reception. Danielle cannot stop lying to everyone, her relentless parents overshare and pick at her, and some viewers may not be able to stand it, but we laughed a lot. 

Rachel Sennott is terrific as the awkward Danielle, as are Polly Draper and Fred Melamed as her pushy parents. Molly Gordon has some good scenes as Maya and Danny Deferrari plays Max. Let me just say that I found it confusing that Max is wearing glasses when they're having sex in the opening scene, and no glasses at the shiva. I also thought, for a moment when we first see him without glasses, that it was the actor Jay Duplass, and then thought I would've liked to see Duplass in the role. But Deferrari is fine. Deborah Offner has a funny featured role as one of the gossipy shiva ladies. I always like her, and not only because we were in the same NYC elementary school class many moons ago (we have completely lost touch, though).

Director/writer Emma Seligman fleshed out her seven minute long 2018 short of the same name (nominated for a South by Southwest Grand Jury Award) into this, her first feature, which is still only 78 minutes long. I found the short on Vimeo. In it, we see Max's face better at the beginning so there's no question as to who it is at the shiva. Also in the short, Danielle's father is played by Ted Seligman, father of the director.

An interesting trivia item is that actress Dianna Agron, whose character is referred to several times as a shiksa (non-Jewish woman) is Jewish, while Sennott, Draper, and Deferrari are not. Hey, it's called acting.

This one racked up some 2020 nominations and wins and came out streaming and in theatres this spring.

Ariel Marx's eerie soundtrack consists of mostly plucked violin, viola, and cello, mixed with synthesizer. The entire score is available on her website as well as Apple Music (and probably more). One track is called Anxiety Attack. and the whole album could be unsettling in its creativity.

Draper was last blogged for Obvious Child (in which she played a much kinder mother), Melamed for Together Together, and Offner for The Boy Downstairs. We have been enjoying the series Call Your Mother, in which Sennott has a supporting role, and this is her second feature. Gordon has not been in these pages yet, but had roles in Animal Kingdom, Booksmart, and Good Boys, among others. Deferrari has acted in Private Life and more. Agron's long resumé includes 74 episodes of Glee as Quinn and five of Heroes. Marx has scored dozens of shorts and eight features, including this one.

 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have brought this baby up to a 98% average, while its audiences aren't so familial at 76.

We rented it on iTunes June 8 because Chris recommended it to us and we're glad we did.

Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016)

Bam! I, a fireworks fanatic, was moved to tears of joy watching this documentary about the Chinese artist whose mediums include pyrotechnics, pen, and paint. Jack liked the movie, too. The art is spectacular, the photography splendid, and the music superb. The internet says his name is pronounced Tsai gwoh djung (rhymes with my low young).

Director Kevin Macdonald, his two dozen producers, two directors of photography (Robert Yeoman and Florian Zinke), and two editors (Adam Biskupski and Nick Emerson) bring us a magnificent show whose only award, surprisingly, was a nomination for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize.

The sky ladder project serves as bookends here for Cai's work, which also includes the fireworks displays at the Chinese Olympics on 08/08/08 and the 2014 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit) meeting, as well as the Ninth Wave exhibit, also in 2014, which included stuffed animal replicas (you have to see it), gunpowder on paper, and so much more. As much as I love fireworks, the Ninth Wave alone made the movie worth watching. Here is the artist's website.

We also get a glimpse into Chinese politics and Cai's love for his aged grandmother and father.

The music by Alex Heffes doesn't seem to be available online, though he is experienced and lauded.

Macdonald was last blogged for State of Play, Yeoman for The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Heffes for Queen of Katwe. Zinke's credits seem to be all Chinese movies, documentaries, and shorts, none of which I have seen.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are reaching for the heavens with us, averaging a perfect 100%, while its critics are slightly more earthbound at 84.

Made for Netflix, this is a scant 76 minutes long, and we watched it Friday June 4. I can't remember how it made its way onto my watch list but I'm very glad it did. We recommend it highly.