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Reviews
On Broadway (2019)
Fantastic primer for the initiates
I thoroughly enjoyed this due to my cursory knowledge of Broadway. It brings up a lot of interesting topics in a really vivid way. It shows why the stars are the stars, but at the same time casts a very wary glance of how commercialized Broadway has gotten. With high tickets prices and big-name remakes of popular movies, it often feels like the rich get richer and no one knows any better or any deeper. If they had added 20-30 minutes to the film and explained a few things more in depth, then there might be more 'something for everyone'. But it still covers a lot of territory in its 122 minutes, still makes me want to see a lot of these plays, a lot of them for the first time. I'll never argue with seeing Hugh Jackman or learning more about Andrew Lloyd Weber or August Wilson. This flick definitely captures the magic of Broadway.
Tangerine (2015)
Raw
Glad to see the theater packed for this one. The way it was shot feels like a documentary, but the raw subject matter and unpolished acting were in-your-face in the best ways. There's no time to judge these fast-moving, trans-gendered prostitutes, and why would you? Everything's f***ed up. Family people are not what they seem, everyone's motivations are unique, people are desperate for acceptance, affection and enough money to make it to the next day. They play the hands they're dealt, like all of us, spinning around and around, trying to get answers and making stupid mistakes along the way. In the end, it's still a friendship movie, not a package with a shiny, redeeming bow. Sick of safe, sanitized, statistical NPR? Here's your movie.
Tusen ganger god natt (2013)
Important as it is a beautifully rendered story.
This represents the first great movie I've seen in awhile. We think it's the old Hollywood story about families sticking together. Instead a mother tries to honor her teenage daughter's idealism about the world - an idealism that's desperately needed but nearly impossible to achieve. This mixed in with a home front situation and seems to be beyond ideal. The acting is frequently subtle, sometimes powerful, but they certainly cast the right amount of people (i.e. not too many) to solidify a strong message. I was impressed at how directly the dialogue took on world politics and non-profit organizations. Beautiful camera work - the theme - and a surprise ending make this a must-see.
The Cube (2013)
Metaphysical, Mystical Look at Love, Memory
The Cube kept me guessing through an intense tale of a relationship in which a man and woman hold long-held truths from each other. Red blocks keep showing up on their doorstep... all that changes when they start moving around, go to the coast, opening new doors and emotional portals.
This is also a story about what you can achieve on a very limited budget with dedicated actors, a well-organized, larger number of scenes and creative camera work.
Great atmospherics and quirky humor from different characters keep things very entertaining. I especially enjoyed and appreciated the message at the end.
Tender Mercies (1983)
Road Most Taken
"Solemnity, purposeless, inert solemnity" damns poet Mary Oliver. "Tender Mercies" shows the complexity behind the stoic stare and the empty country road, shows the warmth and reassurance of a seemingly simpler life. A man has to stare down the ugly parts of his past and prove he doesn't trust happiness at the same time he must have the courage to quietly welcome it back into his life. Surprises abound (and plenty of pleasantly bold ones in the angles of the camera), but sometimes the most surprising turn is the straightest road. The honest road that connects to the audience. Scriptwriters and actors take note - rarely has a movie said more with less than "Tender Mercies."
Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq (2007)
Vital, Moving
A deeply moving film showing what happens to amputees, to the men and women who survive the many roadside bombs in the Iraq War after the TV news reports finish their 30 second stories. Required viewing for everyone as it doesn't take sides but asks in every scene and interview - was this all worth it? Is there an official explanation that's plausible, understandable? The bravery of these men and women is unbelievable. One amputee soldier said she had a hard life growing up and joined the military "to stay out of trouble." It made me a little sick to watch - some very raw and honest footage - but it could have been a lot longer, with more opinions and stories, and all the better for it. Still, this should be shown everywhere, in every high school, every living room, in every office on Capitol Hill.
A Tale of Delight (2012)
Nothing Hidden
A Tale of Delight is a delicate, intimate look at PTSD, a movie full of gradations and yet full swings of time, tone and development. Through the romance starting this film, we get to know the lead character, the real side of Mike. This after the breakthrough he was having from whatever tough upbringing he went through. We have a caring sister with her own problems, a supportive friend who now has kids to raise, a wimpy husband married to a control freak of a cousin.
In short, we have an afflicted Mike dealing with the invasive clumsiness of family and the expert, distanced therapy of a counselor and support house.
We hurt precisely because we're good, or want to be - that was the feeling I got from Mike, so I liked how long it takes us to get to know him. It goes well with the intimacy/intricacy of each scene, how exclusive it feels to witness how he treats a small girl around a Christmas tree, how he speaks directly to the camera at the harrowing end of this film.
And what happens at the end can be up to interpretation, an appropriate un-sugarcoating of a serious issue affecting anyone who has to go through the type of hell Mike does, be they accident victims, men and women in uniform, sufferers of domestic violence, etc.
We often don't know how our kindness affects others. Mike's sister doesn't wait to find out. She, like the audience, like this amazing film, looks post traumatic stress straight in the eye.
Wartorn: 1861-2010 (2010)
Required Viewing
The strain of experiencing wartime atrocities with the nation's patriotic fervor for war was the most striking comparison this film made. Fittingly, our military was not made the culprit.
James Gandolfini interviews every range of soldier, from vets and their families to the highest ranking officers. Military leaders throughout "Wartorn" admit that no one, unless they have no feeling at all, can be turned into a killing machine. Vets and their families talk about being trained to be murderers - and not trained to be civilians again. In the discussion after the documentary, panelists talked about the need to remove the stigma of emotional strain and needing mental help. Every one of our leaders in D.C. need to see this movie, but until they do, the armed forces and the V.A. themselves appear to be working harder to heal soldiers from within, to treat mental injuries as seriously as physical ones.
There's a lot of work to do. The average vet suffering from post traumatic stress disorder waits 12 years before seeking help, during which time jobs are lost and marriages broken up. Often times the help needs to come to the vet.
"Wartorn" is too short, but the discussion afterwards gives it a useful backdrop. It is a difficult and necessary twist to think of a regimented military and top-down society having the compassion it needs to keep as many soldiers as possible out of harms way and to completely treat the ones who make it back.
No (2012)
Packed plot
"No" is is a tense and riveting drama about Chile's dictator Pinochet in the late 1980s. It did remind me of "Argo", its true story, tight plot and seamless weaving in of history. And even though we know the ending, it's a nerve-racking journey nonetheless. I thought they kept the scenes at a perfect length, with some dialogue seamlessly continuing even though the characters move from one place to the next. "No" has a a bit of a broader feel than "Argo", a wider cast of emotions and characters on the ground, more content and a reminder at the end that no matter the outcome of the referendum on Chile's president, many many memories and ramifications loom ahead. The Academy Award nominee "No" will help you appreciate the power of good filmmaking.
The Falls (2012)
No Agendas, Just Humanity
Thank God for indie films, all puns intended. The Falls is a sensitive, nuanced treatment of Mormonism, sexual orientation and the fierce battles between commitment to a greater cause and following one's own truth. The similarities between this religion's place in our society and the gay rights movement is the film's cleverest and most meaningful contribution. Utterly convincing, outstanding acting by Nick Ferrucci, Benjamin Farmer and especially Brian Allard as a lonely Gulf War vet. I wanted a little more background development for the two leads, and an abbreviated fight scene was jarringly awkward, but that didn't take away much from the movie and its messages. The Falls leaves you with something you won't soon forget.
The Tree of Life (2011)
What Is Larger Than Life?
The Tree of Life, with its universe gazing and evolutionary visions, says that each and every moment we have is as big and as important as all that space. It turns the whole "the world's so big, we're so small" axiom on it's head. We can't hide from our lives any more than the world can hide from a black hole, from traveling planets. My parents are this big as this movie shows - every parent is, for good or bad, every individual is. Terrence Malick, with his fluid camera flying through space and time, with the extra moments he takes with every scene, with his search for the meaning and beauty of each of these lives, keeps trying to for a masterpiece. "The Tree of Life" enters that canon.
Committing Poetry in Times of War (2007)
Vibrant Spoken Word Poetry, a Political View from the Streets
"We're seeing the McDonald-ization of democracy - all our views have to fit in this little box", says one interviewee. If you love poetry and democratic movements like Occupy, the documentary "Committing Poetry in Times of War" is a vital part of that dialogue. Fantastic readings and a story of a high school teacher in New Mexico fired for leading a poetry group in and out of school. An important theme is how naturally creativity leads to protest and hopefully greater freedoms. Fast, precise editing, a lot of extra content and music that all accentuated the commentary. Disappointed was I to not to hear more opposing views, which would have broadened the audience, but it did bring back the feelings of how horrible things were under the Bush regime. We get a full view of police brutality in an Albuquerque protest against the Iraq War and a visit to town of George W. Bush. This is a McDonald-ized view of our society: our noisy, messy, violent little Happy Meal.