A Place to Call Home (Seasons One through Six) – 2013 to 2018 (3.3). All six seasons are rated as one since they were binge watched. Who woulda thunk an Australian soap opera written by a man could be so much fun. Well this one is, at times tapping into empathy to bring a tear to the eye and at others having us laughing at the antics of villains while simultaneously rooting for their comeuppance. Set in the 1950s on a dynastic sheep ranch outside Sydney, the series tackles issues like the personal aftermath of WWII, changes to the social class structure, homosexuality, race, gender conflicts and the meaning of family and blood kinship. The fist three seasons encouraged coming back for more, even though for a time it appeared there would only be two seasons. It did come back for a third and then the final three seasons proved to be even better, with the series wrapping up in a satisfying wind down rather than a jumbled rush. Though more seasons could have been enjoyable it was wise to end before any deterioration.
This is Us (Season Five) – 2020 (3.0). The structure of this series is already somewhat disjointed because of covering the stories of multiple characters and the utilization of flash backs and flash forwards. But with the pandemic the production and televising schedule was also disrupted, further interfering with continuity. In spite of these disruptions the show manages to maintain its qualities, but the knowledge there will only be one more season with so many story lines to finish with the constraints of the flash forwards means season six will have even more challenges. This will eventually be a prime candidate for binge watching by new viewers.
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard – 2021 (2.9). The timelessness of this true story of a uniformed black member of the US Armed Forces returning from WWII being outrageously blinded by a Southern white policeman is brought home by the fact the exact same thing happened in 2021 the month the documentary was aired. The movie does a good job of telling this largely overlooked story and the out sized impact it had on leading to immediate changes (like Truman's executive order to desegregate the US Armed Forces) and helping usher in the modern civil rights movement.
Cold War – 2018 (2.9). This Polish drama is set in the early days of Poland behind the Iron Curtain when a musical director is part of talent scouting for young singers and dancers to start a Polish folk troupe. He is struck by the savvy and talent of one girl in particular and sure enough they become lovers and plan to escape to the West when the troupe is in East Berlin. But the girl does not show up and the man goes without her. The rest of the movie follows their intermittent path crossings and star crossed attempts to hook up permanently. By the end it works out – and it doesn't. Director Pawel Palikowski loosely based his script on the lives of his parents. The film is pleasingly short and easy to watch and the performance of Joanna Kulig is especially captivating.
Gleason – 2016 (2.9). An overachieving linebacker from Spokane plays for the WSU Cougars and then the New Orleans Saints, retires, marries a great match and then is diagnosed at age 34 with ALS, followed shortly after by the news that his wife is pregnant with their first child. Steve Gleason started making videos for his child to be, so that he would be able to pass advice and love on to the son who would very likely lose his father before he was old enough to know him. This documentary follows Steve and his wife Michel on their journey coping with ALS and starting a foundation to help other patients. Along the way we see how debilitating this disease is and the toll it takes on Michel also as his primary caregiver. But Steve says the main purpose of his video blogs is for the benefit of the father and son relationship, and it turns out also to be therapeutic for the relationship of Steve with his own father.
The Handmaiden – 2016 (2.9). Stylish and quite watchable in spite of its length, this Korean movie has a clever script with a feminist bent. The two female leads are given more nuanced roles which they handle quite well. The male characters are more appropriately one dimensional. Erotic lesbian scenes are legitimately central to the film even though they are fairly graphic.
Ida – 2013 (2.9). This Polish drama written and directed by Pawel Palikowski is set in the early days of the cold war in Poland and won the foreign film Oscar in 2015. A novice nun who came from an orphanage is told by her superior that she has one known relative she should visit before finalizing her decision to take her vows. She is also told she is Jewish. She goes to visit her aunt who at first brushes her off. But then the two embark on a journey to learn what became of their family during WWI. Though she has become a judge, the aunt leads a depressingly dissolute life. Th novice remains serious but open about whether to take her vows and makes her decision in the final couple minutes of this refreshingly short but meaty movie.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco – 2019 (2.9). San Francisco rooted collaborators Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails created this quirky ode to their city. A young black man with no show parents adopts a classic Victorian house in a 100 year old neighborhood. He does upkeep on the exterior of the house even though he does not own it or live in it, because, he explains, it was actually built by his grandfather after returning from WWII. The man travels via skateboard and public transport and lives with his best friend in the house of the blind grandfather of the friend. When the house becomes temporarily vacant, the young man moves in as a squatter. There are supporting characters but the city itself and the role it plays in the lives of the people is what holds the movie together. Though there is no conventional plot or drama, this film is refreshingly watchable, a well realized love poem.
A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story- 2015 (2.8). Born with an extremely rare genetic disorder, Lizzie was blessed with an extremely supportive family. Nevertheless, as school years started the manifestations of her syndrome, extreme underweight and distorted facial features, and the way other children reacted began to take a toll. One day Lizzie discovered on the Internet that she had been labeled the ugliest woman in the world and many posters at the web site left vicious comments about her. Lizzie chose to not go in the gutter with those people, but instead to post her own positive videos and build her audience as she became an activist against bullying. This touching documentary is well worth watching even if one has to suffer through IMBD TV commercials.
Itzhak – 2017 (2.8). This uplifting documentary about violinist Itzhak Perlman wisely labels every piece played, encouraging us to be informed on the sounds of the works of various composers and thereby be drawn to classical music for the beauty and depth it offers. Perlman and his wife are an inspiring couple in their love and growth together and as partners in a mission to teach young people in particular to appreciate great music and to consider developing what musical talent they may have. The Jewish experience of the lives on the Perlmans and Jewish people in general is always part of the lives and music of these people and the violin is shown to be an integral part of that.
Wake in Fright – 1971 (2.8). Australians love this movie about a new school teacher in the outback heading away for a Christmas break and stopping in a small town on the way to Sydney. In the town he is encouraged to drink socially with the local blokes and is sucked into to a gambling den where he loses all his money. Taken under wing by a disgraced local doctor he meets and mans around with a wild bunch drinking, fighting, killing kangaroo and lusting after the horny daughter of the doctor. Never able to make it to his girlfriend in Sydney, the teacher returns to his hated job as an indentured teacher. That Australians love this movie is propaganda for the “lesser Australia” movement.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God – 1972 (2.7). Werner Herzog makes weird movies. Klaus Kinski was a weird actor. They worked well together. In Aguirre, Herzog shows Conquistadors river traveling in the Amazon, a splinter group from Pizarro. Mutiny puts Aguirre, played by Kinski in charge and his maniacal delusions inevitably lead to doom. Location shooting is the highlight of this movie, which does very little to address the aspects of the conflict between the civilizations.
Catch-22 – 2019 (2.7). George Clooney wanted to give the classic novel more time than was allowed in the movie version. The material about the stupidity of the military machine, though still true, seems rather dated, and this miniseries did not do anything to revive interest.
Hemingway – 2021 (2.7). Ken Burns continues to use his same techniques in this multipart documentary of the American novelist and Nobel prize winner. Those who have never read his novels nor been impressed with those made into movies will probably not be inspired by learning more about Hemingway the man to try one of his novels after watching this. They will also probably rate it 2.7 or lower. The work of Burns is best when it concentrates on American times and movements rather than too much or completely on individuals.
The Peanut Butter Falcon – 2019 (2.7). Good intentions, authentic locales and a story with some heart are not quite enough to get this movie over the hump. A young Downs man with no family is put in a nursing home from which he escapes and sets out on a journey to attend the wrestling camp of his hero. He quickly meets a man on the run from his own troubles and after some initial obstacles they predictably bond. Also predictable is that the young social worker from the home tracks him down and becomes enchanted with the footloose lifestyle of the two men. A tighter script could have raised this a level.
Two Days, One Night – 2014 (2.7). A female worker who was “voted off the island” by he co-workers at the instance of her low level management has the weekend to lobby her colleagues for a new vote on Monday. The choice was between getting a bonus or keeping the colleague. For a French movie there was a surprising total lack of any reference to unionism. The style of filming was also a bit too tedious.
Atlantic Crossing – 2020 (2.6). This Norwegian produced miniseries may have been inspired by true events, but it was not very inspiring. Being Norwegian it understandably focused on the Norwegian Crown Prince and his wife the Princess. And maybe FDR was smitten by her and that added to the strain in the royal marriage already stressed by the Prince staying in London and the Princess and children accepting the FDR invitation to stay in the US. The whole thing seems quite clumsy and from the US point of view it seems FDR had more important things to do during the War than put the Princess top of his agenda whenever she traipsed in to the White House. The War itself plays third fiddle at best in this composition. Eight episodes of screen time could have been put to much better use.
Shetland (Seasons One and Two) – 2013-2014 (2.6). Set in the Shetland Islands and based on crime mystery novels by Ann Cleeves, the first two seasons of this BBC series come across as boilerplate. The remote setting and small town cast of characters suggest comparison to Broadchurch, but it is a pale enough one to not inspire watching any further seasons.
Invisible Life – 2019 (2,5). Set in Rio in the 1950s, this drama fails in 139 minutes to evoke any concern for the characters, all of whom remain boringly one dimensional. The idea behind the script is that two sisters are lied to by their parents when one girl runs off and returns pregnant and is thrown out by the parents. The other sister is a piano prodigy who longs to study in Vienna and is never told by the parents that her sister returned and was thrown out. Both sisters believe the other is living overseas when in fact they are both living in Rio. The script fails miserably in its approach to the idea, never building depth in the main characters, never taking the supporting characters beyond the shallow (with the possible exception of the woman who takes in the discarded girl), and never addressing the actual efforts the girls could have made to actually renew their contact. Sex scenes seem gratuitous and the whole script seems out of balance over time, in spite of the extra length of the movie.
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