Six months since the last posting indicates I have not been watching many movies lately. The ones on this list have no particular significance other than they must have been more readily available, for example by being broadcast on PBS, which is the case for the first nine shows listed. Gleaning movie award lists for new movies of interest did not actually produce many new movies of interest.
Hotel Portofino
– 2022 (3.2).Beautifully set by the sea in Genoa in the 1920s, this
PBS series is a pleasant surprise, with an interesting mix of
characters, including some quite appealing young actresses. Without a
specific main plot, there are plenty of subplots running the gamut
from minor personality conflicts to the major fact that the fascists
of Mussolini are in control of the country. English people run the
Hotel with guests including many English and an American couple. Only
six episodes in length, the series managed to point most characters
in new directions in the sixth episode. The announced renewal for a
second season could allow us to check in on old characters and see
how there new directions are working out, and we can also expect new
guests to arrive with their own subplots. There is potential here for
multiple worthwhile seasons if the writing does not disappoint.
In a Different Key –
2020 (3.0). An experienced duo of journalists created this sincere
documentary about autism. The movie is quite informative in a
refreshing way by using very few talking head experts and introducing
viewers to lots of actual parents and their autistic children. There
are also encouraging glimpses of some effective programs for
integrating autistic people into ordinary society. One of the people
we meet is literally autistic patient number one, a 1934 born man who
lives in a small town in Mississippi. It obviously helped the movie
making that the female journalist has an autistic son and the male
journalist has an autistic brother-in-law.
The Indian Doctor
-2010-2013 (2.9). Three seasons was apparently all that was planned
for this BBC series about a medical doctor and his wife from India
that accept a position as a GP in the UK, only to find out they are
assigned to a small coal mining town in Wales. So we have the fish
put of water story with colorful locals and their stories. Some of
the stories continue in a bit of a three season arc, but there is a
distinct villain in each season, first the evil coal mine manager,
then a missionary reverend who preaches against small pox vaccination
after a case shows up in town, then finally an evil sham property
developer and his disgraced physician brother. If the show had kept
simply to the theme of the first year and continued to develop and
progress the characters, it probably could have lasted several more
seasons. But apparently that was never the intention.
The U.S. And the Holocaust –
2022 (2.9). Ken Burns and his team tackle this tragic story with his
experienced tools of archival footage and with interviews past and
present. The best part is the research which is presented against the
graphic detail of the horrors of the genocide, telling the story of
the U.S. politics and public opinion of the time in a much deeper and
more nuanced way than we are used to being given.
Annika (Season One) -
2021(2.8). Nicola Walker plays yet another police detective with
inner turmoil and a wry self-effacing sense of humor. This time she
is in Scotland investigating homicides where the victims were found
at sea. Each episode is self-contained and she leads a diverse team.
She has returned to the area after an absence to take the lead job.
Her daughter turns 16 in the last episode and we are teased that her
no show father might actually be one of the team detectives.
Call the Midwife Christmas Special2022 -2022 (2.8). Several plot
lines quickly develop involving existing cast members and some new
people and they do come together somewhat but not as tightly and
Chistmas centered as might be expected. Nevertheless the usual
production values, acting and overall empathetic feel of the series
is still felt.
The Letter: A Message For Our Earth
– 2022 (2.8). In 2015, Pope Francis wrote Laudato Si’, a
letter to every single person in the world, confronting the looming
calamity of human impact on Earth and ourselves. It is one of the
most ambitious and revolutionary papal statements in history, since
it is directed not just to Catholics, but to everyone on the planet
and outlines the most critical environmental and social issues that
we collectively face. This documentary tells of four people chosen to
represent the poor, indigenous people, young people and wildlife who
meet with the Pope and interface with each other revolving around
love and protection of our planet. There is some overview and
background but the story of the four chosen people and how their
lives are affected by environmental impacts on the earth predominates
the movie.
Magpie Murders
– 2022 (2.8). This is an inside clever detective miniseries about a
mystery writer who hates the genre but is highly successful. His
editor and publishing house have prospered on the book series about a
detective from the 1950s named Attuicus Pund, but the draft received
for what could be the final book in the series is missing the last
chapter. Before the missing chapter can be located, the writer turns
up dead at his country estate. Searching for the chapter, the editor
travels to the estate. Subplots include the relationship of the
editor and her lover, a pending sale of the publishing house
contingent on finding the last chapter, and entanglements of people
in the community where the writer died . The editor is aided in her
pursuit of the mystery by Pund himself who educates his apprentice
and the editor about the dynamics of mystery solving along the way to
him eventually solving the case. Though clever as expected for five
episodes, the resolution typically comes together quickly in the last
episode.
Miss Scarlet and the Duke (Season Two) –
2021 (2.8). After a pandemic delay the series continues for a second
season with essentially the same dynamics, each episode being a
separate crime to be solved. The chemistry between Miss Scarlet and
Duke of Scotland Yard is engaging enough to bring viewers back.
Nomadland
– 2020 (2.8). This movie earned an Oscar trifecta, picture,
director and actress. Frances McDormand recognized the nomads
featured in this movie were a subject she could relate to and so she
bought the movie rights to the non-fiction book on which it is based.
For some reason immigrant Chloe Zhao is drawn to the outdoors of the
western United States. She collaborates with her favorite Director of
Photography Joshua James Richards, who captures poetic images of the
landscapes to meld with the poetic direction by Zhao. There are a few
professional characters, but mostly real nomads in real locales,
contributing a documentary feel. Non-nomads are curious about the
American nomadic life, about which little has been known, hence the
appeal of this movie. As would be expected from McDormand and in
particular from Zhao, this was not intended as an indictment of the
treatment of nomads or as a recruiting tool to produce new nomads.
Let the Little Light Shine
– 2022 (2.7). A K through 8 public school on the south side of
Chicago was not a good school, but then community involvement and a
great principal turned it around and it became beloved and top notch.
But then the political powers that be decided the school needed to be
phased in to use as a high school. That got the school community up
in arms. This documentary earnestly covers the subject but lacks
enough organization and structure to make it quite as good as it
should have been.
Must Love Christmas
– 2022 (2.7). This Canadian made for TV movie broadcast in the US
on CBS has the Christmas look but does not actually register
adequately as a Christmas movie. It is more of a romance with an
attempted balance of drama and comedy, as a reclusive romance novel
author is stalked by a male magazine writer seeking an interview. By
coincidence they both get stranded in the same small town where the
high school crush of the novelist also happens to be living. Maybe
the addition of at least one child would have added to the Christmas
charm.
Retrograde –
2022 (2.7). A young Afghan General and hisa US Green Beret
counterparts are followed closely in this documentary made during the
final stages of the American pullout. The following is so close that
the movie suffers from showing us pretty much only trees with no view
of the forest.
Who Killed Vincent Chin?
- 1987 (2.7). A bit dated, this Oscar nominee for documentary has a
misleading title in a way. We know Chin was killed in a fight that
started in a strip club and spilled over to the streets outside. The
white perpetrator plead guilt to manslaughter. But maybe the title
refers to the American system of racial animus towards Asians which
spilled over to the justice system. An old white Judge without any
real input put the killer on probation with a minimal fine because he
had a full time job and no criminal record A federal hate crime trial
went through an appeal and a retrial but the perpetrator was found
not guilty.The prejudice appears to be as bad as ever, but has there
been at least a little progress toward criminal justice?
C'mon C'Mon -2021
(2.6). A writer director made this black and white low budget drama
and got Joaquin Phoenix to plat the uncle and a nine-year old kid to
play his nephew. The man has some kind of NPR type job traveling
around recording interviews with kids whom he asks questions about
life. He ends up having to watch the boy while the mother tends to
her mentally ill husband. The boys travels to some cities with the
uncle and they have conversations and goof around a little. There is
not much to be gotten from this movie though AARP like it because it
is intergenerational.
The Basket
– 1999 (2.5). This well intended drama generated from Spokane and
told a story about two German teenagers orphaned by WWI who are
placed in a foster home in Waterville Washington by way of an
internment camp, while the war continues. The sister is a bit older
but the brother is school age and attends a one room school house.
The siblings experience some anti-German prejudice and the boy is
bullied. Their teacher is a man from Boston who loves opera and
basketball. The writer director tries to weave this into an appealing
story but the script, direction and some of he acting are fairly
amateurish. The setting in Waterville is very rare and for those
interested in that central Washington area, there are some beautiful
scenes of the golden rolling hills.
Three Wise Men and a Baby
– 2022 (2.5). Three adult brothers are close to their mother but
somewhat dysfunctional in their own lives, having been walked out on
their father at Christmastime when they were young. Then a few days
before Christmas, a baby is left at the firs station where the older
brother works, with a note asking him to take care of the baby for a
few days while the mother of the child sorts a few things out. This
is a Hallmark movie, so everything is expected to work out. There is
some mildly self-deprecating humor about the men but no drama
whatsoever, especially about who is the mother of the child.
