Category Archives: 2023

2023

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival Closes with “Shari and Lamb Chop”

Leave a comment

Like Sweeney Todd and his glistening knives or Tom Brady and his spiraling football, famed ventriloquist Shari Lewis was wielding something mighty at the end of her arm. Lisa D’Apolito’s feel-good documentary Shari and Lamb Chop (B+) chronicles the multi-hyphenate singer, dancer, comedienne, educator and puppeteer through a veritable variety show of every major era of television as she showcases astounding work ethic and a charm offensive. The daughter of a vaudeville magician, a young Shari aspires to sing and dance and becomes famous for a sassy sock puppet that no late night talk show or game show host will ever let her forget to bring along. Through intimate found footage including some remarkable on-set sequences from multiple iterations of Shari’s various children’s shows, D’Apolito finds an array of heightened emotions in her subject. Surprising tidbits include both puppet and ventriloquist doing a full show in Japanese as well as Lewis co-writing a Star Trek episode. The film is vibrant and colorful with a wistful nostalgia for an old-fashioned brand of good-natured humor. Through Shari’s myriad talents on display and interviews by the likes of illusionist David Copperfield, SNL’s Sarah Sherman and surviving Lewis family members, it’s a lovely tribute. With so much at arm’s length, this film will make you want to hug someone you love.

Note: This was the closing night film of the 2024 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival with streaming films continuing through March 7. A full line-up of streaming films can be found here: https://ajff.org

2023

Aronofsky’s “Postcard from Earth” a Must-See Nature Film at Vegas Sphere

Leave a comment

A new movie built for a special venue is engineered to blow your mind and, despite its gargantuan magnitude, possesses small spellbinding ways to change the way audiences view our world. There hasn’t been an immersive movie before quite like Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard from Earth (A-), developed as an installation for The Sphere in Las Vegas and building on a grand tradition that makes CinemaScope, Cinerama, IMAX and even Disney’s Soarin’ look like tiny canvasses. The sheer technological audacity of 18K resolution images by new Big Sky cameras, a flood of 500,000 gigabytes of data on a 160,000 foot domed video screen 35 stories high featuring 270 degrees of viewing experience, climate control, 4D haptic capabilities for the venue’s seating, and scents to create an immersive environment makes for a cinematic wonder to behold.  Aronofsky’s blend of a sci-fi framing device and majestic imagery of nature and civilizations chronicles the story of life on Earth with both dreamlike plaintiveness and pulse-pounding urgency. On a distant planet, astronauts Byron (Brandon Santana) and Fang (Zaya Ribeiro) land in a state of stasis to be reminded of the earth where they one lived. What follows is a nearly hourlong narrated journey of spectacular footage across seven continents to witness glorious plains and prairies, wondrous oceans and canyons, breathtaking cathedrals and cityscapes and humans and animals in daily rituals paying homage to earth’s glory or harming it. The director wields both a telescope and a microscope to showcase parades of elephants, the panorama of hikers atop the highest mountaintops or revelers celebrating high holy days as well as the smallest creatures in their own habitats. The music is triumphant. 4D effects conjure thunder, wind and rocket propulsion directly to the seats of audience members, as faint scents of nature briefly waft through the auditorium. It’s a picturesque love letter to Mother Earth on a screen four football fields large, with so much epic visual splendor at times, you’ll want to crane your neck to see even more. The “save the planet” message is clear and not nearly as preachy as it could have been given the filmmaker’s proclivity for characters obsessed with creation myths. The film is a must-see; and, in its poetic and transfixing beauty, has the capacity to bring people together in newfound respect for our precious resources and glorious planet home.

2023

Food and Romance are on Display in “The Taste of Things”

Leave a comment

The central couple of Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things (aka La Passion de Dodin Bouffant) (B-) finds their best way of communicating to one another is through gourmet cooking, and this French film is a series of gastronomic love letters between Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche. Call it Culinary Paradiso. The film is notable for its gorgeously lensed sequences of creation in the kitchen, as the lovers make sumptuous entrees, soups and desserts for one another. You may leave craving quail or Baked Alaska. The central characters are a bit elusive, but it’s nonetheless a joy to see them cooking. Ensemble characters seen at dinner parties or sampling dishes before they are served are undercooked in the screenplay, with much of the film a two-hander. Ironically the film doesn’t always set the table stakes for the payoff it purports to conjure up; it’s sometimes an empty soufflé. Go for the gorgeous stovetop stylings and stay for a few nice insights about feeding a relationship.

2023

Despite Inspirational Story, “One Life” is “One-Note”

Leave a comment

A case of a miraculously story told too conventionally, One Life (C), directed by John Hawes, splits its time between 1939 and 1987 with Johnny Flynn and Anthony Hopkins both portraying British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II. Hopkins is strong as always, channeling melancholy, but Flynn makes little impression playing what’s supposed to be a meticulous mastermind in the underwritten backstory. The most riveting parts of the plot about how Winton saved the children are only partially dramatized, leaving much of the history safely shared in overly talky sequences. The final act swells with emotion, but the overall film is simply not specific or gripping enough. The triumph of history doesn’t translate to a triumph of a movie.

Note: This screening was part of the 2024 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. The festival’s theatrical movies run through February 26 with streaming films also available through March 7. Full line-up of offerings can be found here: https://ajff.org

2023

“Remembering Gene Wilder” is Fond Farewell to Beloved Actor

Leave a comment

One of the great comic actors of film is immortalized with a warm tribute in Ron Frank’s documentary Remembering Gene Wilder (B), chock-full of clips, interviews, behind the scenes footage and the title subject’s own narration from the audiobook of his 2005 memoir. Mel Brooks is always an enjoyable interview, and he doesn’t disappoint here with his sentimental observations. The best parts of the film involve recollections of work on Brooks films The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein plus Willy Wonka and his series of pairings with Richard Pryor. The late stages of Wilder’s life are marred by tragedy, which is covered gracefully. The film is a solid if uninspired largely chronological telling of Wilder’s life without too many surprises. Unlike many of the actor’s most memorable manic performances, the film could have been just a little wilder. 

Note: This screening was part of the 2024 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. The festival’s theatrical movies run through February 26 with streaming films also available through March 7. Full line-up of offerings can be found here: https://ajff.org

2023

Sophie Nélisse is Stirring as Real-Life Holocaust Heroine in AJFF Opener

Leave a comment

Our heroine thwarts her antagonist in the most unlikely of places, right under his nose and abode, in Louise Archambault’s thrilling and often moving dramatic WWII-era film Irena’s Vow (B). Real-life Roman Catholic nurse Irena Gut, splendidly played by Sophie Nélisse, makes a life-changing decision to be resilient in the face of evil after she witnesses an atrocity in the streets of occupied Poland. Soon she finds herself sheltering and protecting twelve Jewish people during the Holocaust by hiding them in the cellar of the home where she is employed as a housekeeper by Nazi officer Eduard Rügemer (a somewhat thankless role played by Dougray Scott). The dozen refugees hidden below in this upstairs/downstairs scenario are largely secondary in a story that focuses on the suspense of close calls between Irena and Eduard. Polish actors Eliza Rycembel and Filip Kosior are among the supporting standouts, creative while confined. Andrzej Seweryn is wonderful as an ally and Maciej Nawrocki terrifying as an adversary. Archambault continually amps up the tension, allowing the protagonist to demonstrate her cleverness in the face of great danger. Nélisse is impressive and believable in the pivotal titular role. Some of the story’s payoffs play out better than others, but the overall miracle of the rescue of lives will undoubtedly move those who see the film.

Note: This movie was the opening night screening of the 2024 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival with theatrical movies running through February 26 and streaming films through March 7. An encore screening of this feature is scheduled for Wednesday, February 14 at the Tara Theatre. Full line-up of films can be found here: https://ajff.org

2023

Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” Often Fascinating

Leave a comment

Just as moviegoers are debating whether the recent film title Maestro refers to its male or female lead, I can reasonably proclaim Michael Mann’s Ferrari (B-) refers to Laura Ferrari played by Penélope Cruz who absolutely steals the show from the film’s intended subject, her character’s husband and the mastermind behind the iconic sports car company Enzo Ferrari played by Adam Driver. Cruz is absolutely magnetic as a business partner, grieving mother and jilted wife who dominates the film’s most powerful sequences. She shows up with a gun in a grand entrance and is number one with a bullet every time she’s on screen. Driver is good too and rather fantastic in some signature speeches, but Cruz gives a performance for the ages. It’s one thing to be eclipsed by Cruz’s tour de force; and it’s another thing altogether to be the miscast Shailene Woodley in a thankless and oddly accented role as Enzo’s mistress Lina Lardi. Surprisingly, racing sequences are few and far between as a Godfather style historic melodrama takes center stage, sometimes reaching intended operatic heights but other times meandering a bit. The film is best when a study of contrasts – between spouses, balancing relationships and love, navigating public and private life in Italy, and experiencing the thrill and terror of racing itself in the med-twentieth century. The story of a man’s two families, his battle against the tyranny of time itself, his tragic familial and wartime losses and his unswerving eye on impeccable design and victory is satisfying and often quite absorbing. The sequences on the race track are well done too and filmed from cinematic perspectives rarely captured, but everything that’s not Cruz in the film is simply second fiddle. Another familiar face in the cast is Patrick Dempsey as driver Piero Taruffi; it would have been nice to explore more about the men behind the wheel or even a fairly formative incident merely referenced in the post-script. Mann doesn’t fully summon or realize his thesis here, but the parts that work in the film hum with precision.

2023

Spanish Oscar Candidate “Society of the Snow” is Thrilling Survival Story

Leave a comment

Traditional disaster movies can veer toward the exploitive or sensational, but if anyone was up for the challenge of thoughtfully dramatizing the 1972 Andean mountain range plane crash in which only a third of those aboard survive (formerly told in 1993’s Alive), it’s the skilled director of the tsunami thriller The Impossible, J.A. Bayona. His Society of the Snow (aka La sociedad de la nieve) (B+) is grueling and rewarding, crafted with epic filmmaking skill and an ample running time and showcasing a stirring spiritual side to the story of resilience. Those stranded by the downed plane have various conflicting perspectives about how to handle their struggle, which escalates as they face hunger, avalanche and much more. Told with desaturated colors and realistic sound mixing against a formidable icy landscape, it’s a profound and immersive work. The film’s Uruguayan and Argentine cast members, most of whom are newcomers, include talented actors Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Fernando Contigiani García and Enzo Vogrincic Roldán as rugby teammates who take on key roles to overcome their dire situation. Visual effects supervisor Laura Pedro and cinematographer Pedro Luque do wonderful work to depict muscular action and wilderness survival against a rugged, stark setting as we watch the characters waste away while keeping inventive options open. The film also honors those who were lost in the tragedy with poignant visual overlays to Michael Giacchino’s evocative music. As survivors become one another’s best hope and face moral questions and rare moments of levity, Bayona creates a gripping drama and demonstrates why the story is so worthy of telling.

2023

Duvernay’s Ambitious “Origin” Tackles Society’s Great Divides

Leave a comment

A brilliant new film imagines a world in which people outlast a system that makes outcasts. Writer/director Ava Duvernay’s cerebral drama Origin (A-) unfolds like a procedural as its central character, writer Isabel Wilkerson (sublime work by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), sets herself on a path of global investigation while authoring the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents about how civilizations ranging from Germany to India to the U.S. have oppressed and dehumanized certain groups in their societies. Watching the protagonist’s intellectual discoveries while she simultaneously grapples with tragedy makes for an unusual structure that summons evocative flashbacks and compelling side stories to demonstrate the interconnectedness of peoples’ plights around the world. It sounds heavy and is, but the journey is essential and the work has the ability to move and enlighten audiences in unexpected ways. Duvernay is in complete command here of her vision and builds on her compelling documentary moviemaking style to fashion a type of neo-parable that should be shown and discussed in every classroom around the world.  The lush cinematography by Matthew J. Lloyd and the urgent music by Kris Bowers help propel a conversation-filled movie into a very watchable experience. Matching the majestic Ellis-Taylor are ensemble members ranging from the filmmaker’s muse, the exquisite and funny foil Niecy Nash-Betts, to a very nuanced performance by Jonathan Bernthal. Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman and many other familiar faces show up in the globetrotting adventure of enlightenment. There’s a quiet child performance in one sequence that alone is one of the most heartbreaking captured on film. As the director shows the man-made obstacles that block empathy  and a shared destiny among people, she points out optimism of a push toward collective freedom. The film is stirring and essential.

2023

”Godzilla Minus One” Makes History

Leave a comment

Even if the great radioactive reptilian monster didn’t actually make an appearance in the movie – and he does, spectacularly, Godzilla Minus One (aka Gojira Mainasu Wan) (B+) would still be a fascinating epic exploring survivor’s guilt and overcoming collective trauma. This Japanese kaiju film directed, written and with visual effects supervised by Takashi Yamazaki, takes place in Japan during the late days of WWII and the ensuing years as a kamikaze pilot played by Ryunosuke Kamiki must reckon with his own failure to act when faced with his own fear of mortality. The narrative weaves in real-life historic events such as the bombing of Tokyo and nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll which lend gravitas to the proceedings, plus there’s a tight domestic drama as well opposite exquisite actress Minami Hamabe providing an emotional center of gravity to the existential scare of a giant beast emerging. The film is smart when it comes to the physics of trying to thwart the threat and authentic in its depiction of characters overcoming obstacles. When the towering terror does make a series of signature appearances, the effects are tremendous and the destruction on a gargantuan scale. The film’s crafts are impeccable with standouts including cinematography by Kōzō Shibasaki and music by Naoki Satō; the film plays more like an intimate historical drama than a creature feature and will undoubtedly reward those who experience it on a big screen.

2023

“All of Us Strangers” a Poignant Heartbreaker 

Leave a comment

The protagonist Adam superbly played by Andrew Scott has some unfinished emotional business to reckon with in Andrew Haigh’s intimate, immersive dramatic fantasy All of Us Strangers (B+). The hero’s journey involves a new romantic partner in the form of Paul Mescal and an interlocking plot in which Adam’s parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) come back into his life despite having perished in a car crash three decades earlier. Given the intricacy of the film’s structure and the cerebral presentation of an unlikely premise, Haigh guides his characters masterfully with a transfixing wisdom and wistfulness. The film’s bending of time and space works so effectively because Scott keeps viewers so grounded in his emotional arch; he delivers a quietly revelatory performance. Mescal continues his streak of interesting indie roles with a strong portrayal of a character just out of reach. And Foy and Bell are wonderful as the flawed but fabulous couple who get to tie up some loose ends with the adult son they never knew. The film is a talky tearjerker that ponders some big issues including loneliness and abandonment and is sure to provide tender recognition to those who have lost loved ones. Haigh continues to traverse unexplored territory about gay characters and doesn’t serve up easy answers; he blazes new emotional and filmmaking landscapes. From its effective use of evocative pop music to its stunning close-ups of interlocking characters thrust into unexpected disclosures, the film is a lovely discovery and a must-see for cinephiles.

2023

Done Dirty Down Under: Charming Leads of “Anyone But You” Trapped in Australia and Bad Script Together

Leave a comment

The song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield plays a supporting sonic part in Will Gluck’s romantic comedy Anything But You (C), which is fitting as the film feels so unwritten one might be surprised to find it wasn’t actually authored by AI. The two leads, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell), despise one another and are stuck on a destination wedding holiday together in Sydney, Australia where they have to “fake it till they make it” to keep the peace. Occasional spurts of amusing physical comedy plus exasperating shifts in motivation keep the proceedings consistently uneven. After watching the movie, I read it was based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (oh, Beatrice and Benedick and lots of overheard conversations!), which makes the lack of creativity in the formulaic, circuitous script even more dumbfounding. But the real feature here is the preternaturally attractive and charming lead couple at the heart of the movie; both give their all – bronze bodies, snappy come-ons and comebacks – to propel the paltry plot. Otherwise the film wastes both rom-com veterans such as Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths as well as its exotic port of call; there’s a scene in which hikers look over what’s supposed to be a gorgeous view of a valley,  but it’s a quite unremarkable view of basic treetops.  Because somehow, despite their unmotivated actions, we still find ourselves rooting for Sweeney and Powell; and the movie gets a little better, a little more loose and limber, toward the end. It’s all a bit of a voyeuristic dirty window into a charismatic screen couple in need of better agents.