Movie #1765 "Oban" (short documentary) The second show doc was narrated by
Akiko, one of the last survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima --- this is done in an animated fashion and it is very powerful. She was born in 1925 and she lived on a island off of Japan, but she was working in Hiroshima proper when the bomb hit --- the traveling back to home in dire need of help was horrific to watch, even in animated style --- I will never forget the sound effect of people's hands snapping off due to the extreme heat from the bomb --- It was really well done, but I would have wanted even more information on such a tremendously impactful moment in our history. This might be nominated for AA but not sure if for animation or short doc. 4 out of 5.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Movie #1764 ........................."Take Me To Prom" - short documentary
Movie #1764 "Take Me To Prom" (short documentary, available on You-tube right now) -- this was the first short documentary I saw at the Milwaukee Film Festival was a hit right out of the gate. And, of course, it's Canadian (they are known for quality short films) This film would be embraced by the LGBTQ community while also being very universal about how we feel about going to prom and our various experiences, traumatic, memorable, life changing, controversial, etc. I am not a huge documentary fan mostly because I think they go on and on and on, and they tend to rely too much on interviews, but this one is short, to the point, and even though it deals with interviews, I like the fresh way it used old footage (occasionally displaying it on old t.v.'s for example). It also shows visual images when interviewees are telling a longer story, and I liked that. But, some of the speakers had problems being clear, so I think subtitles should have been used in those cases (like they do on the news). I'd give it 4 out of 5.
'TAKE ME TO PROM" 21 mins 2019
'TAKE ME TO PROM" 21 mins 2019
Being queer at prom: true stories from seven different decades.
Featuring intimate, charming interviews with queer Canadians ranging in age 17 to 88, Take Me To Prom invites audiences to revisit this iconic adolescent milestone.
Meet Alf, a quiet wallflower with a secret crush. Fontaine only remembers the details of his date’s dress. Marcy skipped her prom for a wild escapade. Alphonso staged a liberating protest with his friends. Marc bravely went to court so he could take his boyfriend to prom. Carmen’s traumatic prom marked the beginning of her inspiring transformation. And Caroline’s story captures the complex reality faced by queer youth today.
Vivid set design, re-enactments and archival footage transport audiences across 70 years of teenage heartbreak and rebellion — all while telling a story of social change over seven decades.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Movie #1763 ........................."Instinct"
Movie #1763 "instinct" ---- finally, the one I found most disturbing because of the subject matter and the way it was handled was this film. Once again, I will quote from the Chicago Film Fest handbook..
"Charged with assessing inmates' eligibility for parole, psychologist Nicoline (Carice van Houten) becomes locked in a battle of wills with Idris (Marwen Kenzari), a charismatic serial rapist in this erotically-charged thriller. Though he's convinced everyone he is a reformed man, Nicoline suspects that Idris remains dangerous, and with each session between them, power dynamics shift --- just who is manipulating whom? The answers remain elusive in this powerfully immediate yet nuanced study of gender politics and the complex nature of desire. Dutch with subtitles. 98 minutes, 2019, rated R, Director: Halina Reijn, the Netherlands."
I have had good experiences with Dutch films --- but this was truly a disappointment. I saw the words "erotically-charged thriller" so I was ready for that and the subject matter, but I thought it would be more intelligent ---if she has a degree and some experience, I couldn't see her acting the way she did --- but then, I went back and forth with the idea that maybe she was baiting him , but the more I watched it, and we saw how damaged her life has been up until now, esp. with a weird relationship with her mother, I felt that wasn't the case . So I got more and more fed up with her behavior -- it seemed outlandish, at times, and not believable. And there was too much of that behavior -- maybe one scene when she falls for something he is dishing out to her , but not most of them. Then, if he is such a serial rapist, he'd be better at what he does to get her to fall for him --- he befriends a rabbit. But then in a few scenes, he brutally breaks its neck -- his behavior isn't we'll planned like I would think this rapist needs to be to get her into his trap --- it was all bizarre, and I would have locked both people up for mentally ill --- and that might just be what the film was going for. But I would think in this day and age, it should give the female some tools maybe to combat a serial rapist? am I asking too much from a film? By the end, I felt enough is enough and it was no surprise ---- in fact, I thought it could have ended more smartly a few times before --- a film shouldn't go on too long that the observer can think of better scenarios. I give it a 1.
"Charged with assessing inmates' eligibility for parole, psychologist Nicoline (Carice van Houten) becomes locked in a battle of wills with Idris (Marwen Kenzari), a charismatic serial rapist in this erotically-charged thriller. Though he's convinced everyone he is a reformed man, Nicoline suspects that Idris remains dangerous, and with each session between them, power dynamics shift --- just who is manipulating whom? The answers remain elusive in this powerfully immediate yet nuanced study of gender politics and the complex nature of desire. Dutch with subtitles. 98 minutes, 2019, rated R, Director: Halina Reijn, the Netherlands."
I have had good experiences with Dutch films --- but this was truly a disappointment. I saw the words "erotically-charged thriller" so I was ready for that and the subject matter, but I thought it would be more intelligent ---if she has a degree and some experience, I couldn't see her acting the way she did --- but then, I went back and forth with the idea that maybe she was baiting him , but the more I watched it, and we saw how damaged her life has been up until now, esp. with a weird relationship with her mother, I felt that wasn't the case . So I got more and more fed up with her behavior -- it seemed outlandish, at times, and not believable. And there was too much of that behavior -- maybe one scene when she falls for something he is dishing out to her , but not most of them. Then, if he is such a serial rapist, he'd be better at what he does to get her to fall for him --- he befriends a rabbit. But then in a few scenes, he brutally breaks its neck -- his behavior isn't we'll planned like I would think this rapist needs to be to get her into his trap --- it was all bizarre, and I would have locked both people up for mentally ill --- and that might just be what the film was going for. But I would think in this day and age, it should give the female some tools maybe to combat a serial rapist? am I asking too much from a film? By the end, I felt enough is enough and it was no surprise ---- in fact, I thought it could have ended more smartly a few times before --- a film shouldn't go on too long that the observer can think of better scenarios. I give it a 1.
Movie #1762 ........................."Fire Will Come"
Movie #1762 "Fire Will Come" --- it tells you all in the title.....and here is the blurb from the Chicago film fest book that incited an interest in me to go see it:
"Winner of a Cannes Jury Prize, this haunting slow-burn drama follows ex-con Amador returning home to live with his elderly mother after serving time in prison for arson. As an outbreak of fires encroaches on his community, he struggles to readjust to rural life under the watchful eyes of the villagers. Rendering the richly forested Galician countryside with a patient painterly eye, the film's mediative silences and smoldering embers presage an ominous future ahead. Galician with subtitles. 85 minutes. 2019, director: Oliver Laxe (Spain/France/Luxenbourg)"
Well, it was way too slow and not near enough information given to us. He is sooooo quiet, his mother says hardly a word......his neighbors hardly say a word --- and we are left with a bunch of questions...... Was his incarceration unjust or did he, indeed, start fires? We don't think he started the last one, or did he? How did the last one start? what the heck award did this film receive? It couldn't have been for script, or acting..... my guess is photography (although the photographer I brought with me said "meh" on hat subject. I thought the way the land was photographed was kind of pretty, and the fire sequence was pretty good, too. No "backdraft," but not bad. I still would give this film a 1 --- DON'T BOTHER!!!! And it was the first we saw at the Chicago Film Fest, but the least one we liked.
"Winner of a Cannes Jury Prize, this haunting slow-burn drama follows ex-con Amador returning home to live with his elderly mother after serving time in prison for arson. As an outbreak of fires encroaches on his community, he struggles to readjust to rural life under the watchful eyes of the villagers. Rendering the richly forested Galician countryside with a patient painterly eye, the film's mediative silences and smoldering embers presage an ominous future ahead. Galician with subtitles. 85 minutes. 2019, director: Oliver Laxe (Spain/France/Luxenbourg)"
Well, it was way too slow and not near enough information given to us. He is sooooo quiet, his mother says hardly a word......his neighbors hardly say a word --- and we are left with a bunch of questions...... Was his incarceration unjust or did he, indeed, start fires? We don't think he started the last one, or did he? How did the last one start? what the heck award did this film receive? It couldn't have been for script, or acting..... my guess is photography (although the photographer I brought with me said "meh" on hat subject. I thought the way the land was photographed was kind of pretty, and the fire sequence was pretty good, too. No "backdraft," but not bad. I still would give this film a 1 --- DON'T BOTHER!!!! And it was the first we saw at the Chicago Film Fest, but the least one we liked.
Movie #1761 ........................."Components of Love"
Movie #1761 "Components of Love" -- this movie deals with the comfortable and uncomfortable moments of love --- a take off on "Betrayal" that shows the beginning and ending of a relationship, and then what can come next when people pick up the pieces --- there's no doubt we are told constantly that love is a complexity, but this film shows it ---- the plot is below and you can see how complex that is, and what compounds the problem is the equal love for the child, who isn't really the guy's child, but he has raised him for all of the time he has been on earth, so he can't be denied the bond he has made with this boy. This is not a film for everyone because its pacing would test a lot of audience members seeking for more to the story and more action. But what I found interesting is the three people involved --- you see glimpses of how it could work, but then moments of why it never would again. And that is so sad to me, because I think if you want things to work, you can make that happen many times. This movies points out that that isn't always the case. I'd give it 4 stars out of 5, but I doubt if you will ever get to see it, but you never know --- it may be found on a streaming service some time. Who knows?
"COMPONENTS OF LOVE" 2019 90 mins Rated R
Love is ephemeral and relationships complex in this fragmented chronicle of a romance between two young adults in present-day Berlin. When Sophie meets Georg, she’s pregnant and recently abandoned by the child’s father. They quickly fall in love, with Georg raising her son as his own, though the ties that bind their patchwork family ultimately prove tenuous. With a sharp eye and steady hand, Bliese delves into the mysteries of attraction and the waning of desire.
"COMPONENTS OF LOVE" 2019 90 mins Rated R
Love is ephemeral and relationships complex in this fragmented chronicle of a romance between two young adults in present-day Berlin. When Sophie meets Georg, she’s pregnant and recently abandoned by the child’s father. They quickly fall in love, with Georg raising her son as his own, though the ties that bind their patchwork family ultimately prove tenuous. With a sharp eye and steady hand, Bliese delves into the mysteries of attraction and the waning of desire.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Movie #1760 ........................."The Aeronauts"
Movie #1760 "The Aeronauts" This is a film I saw at the Chicago Film Festival before it has been released -- it was the best one I saw at the festival. It deals with a subject I can say I have never seen in film or ever really thought about --- those first balloonists and meteoroligists that went through all kinds of physical conflicts to help us surge ahead in flying and weather forecasting, two things we take completely for granted. That it is a woman, makes it even better for me, because it means she had to get people to believe in her prowess BEFORE entering the balloon because it was a man's job..... this is such an inspirational film, but Felicity Jones is the best part of the film --- that, and the production design (both of which should get AA nods for 2019). The film needs to be seen on a big screen, so if you are interested in the subject matter and you want to watch a film with lots of action, go see it now before it shrinks to the small screens in weeks to come. I give it 4.5 out of 5. Felicity gives a wow performance!
"AERONAUTS"
Movie #1759 ........................."Flea Bag" Season 2
Movie #1759 "Flea Bag" Season 2 --- better than Season 1, in my opinion. Winner of an Emmy, the writing is impeccable, the acting is over-the-top fleabaggish, but very effective, and the show is so observant of social relationships and just life itself. And especially sister to sister, mother to daughter, step mother to step daughter, and the list goes on. Oh yes, it's raunchy, and yes, at times pretty grim, but very powerful. This is not a show for everyone, but the humor and winks and nods to the camera make it for me. 4.5 out of 5. (on Amazon prime)
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