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"Cover-to-cover magic!" Brian Kaufman, author of Sins In Blue
Reviews
The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
A masterpiece
A film masterpiece with an IMDb rating of 6.9.
This visually stunning, emotionally impactful film-within-a-film stars the astonishingly talented Meryl Streep as both the title character and the modern day actress who plays her, and Jeremy Irons, who inhabits his duel roles with swagger, vulnerability, and complexity; their performances in this film solidified both of them as major motion picture stars. Script by Harold Pinter.
The locations in London, Lyme, and Exeter are moody and evocative. The take on abnormal psychology seemed convincing on the surface but not for me on deeper levels and too complex for me to write about at this time. I wish I had reviewed this when it was fresh in my mind. I seem to have a higher opinion of this film than many reviewers on IMDb. 10 out of 10 masterpiece in my opinion.
Exhibition On Screen: Pissarro: Father of Impressionism (2022)
A wonderful, inspiring film about the Camille Pissarro and the history of Impressionism.
"Try to make Monsieur Pissarro understand that trees are not violet; that the sky is not the color of fresh butter, that in no country do we see the things he paints, and that no mind can accept such aberrations!"- Albert Wolff, art critic, after the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876.
"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing." - Camille Pissarro
"We learned everything we do from Pissarro. It's he who was the first impressionist." and "He was a father for me. A man to consult and a little like the good Lord."- Paul Cézanne.
"He was such a teacher that he could have taught the stones to draw correctly." - Mary Cassatt
"I'm so sorry I missed you. I'm delighted with the paintings you left. Could you name a price and bring me others?'" - Paul Durand-Ruel
Not all of these quotes are from the film, which well utilities art historians and a stunning voice actor who reads portions from a vast collection of Pissarro's archived letters. The voiceover actor has a wonderful weathered tone; the inflection he uses to speak weary and wise words brought to my mind Tevya, the father in Fiddler on the Roof.
Sometimes I find art documentaries boring, but not this one. Impressionism is my favorite style of painting. This film got me to consider how strange it was for the public to get used to the new innovative style of painting by the group in Paris, led by Pissarro. It got me to think about how the French Academy's annual Salon, run by the government, dictated what the public would be exposed to. The Salon refused to show the new style of artwork, so The Society of Independent Artists pluckily exhibited their own work. Luckily, Monet and Pissarro eventually met openminded art collector Paul Durand-Ruel in London. He loved their innovations and funded many of the Impressionistic artists. The power of the art investor has never been more clear. Where would we be without Durand-Ruel? Where would we be without these genuine, profound artists that risked expressing themselves in a fresh way?
The son of Jewish merchants, Camille was born in the Danish West Indies. The narrative follows him through his life as he travels and lives in Paris, Venezuela, Norwood in London, and rural France. We learn how he became a radical atheist anarchist who supported worker's rights and married his father's servant, Julie Velley. Julie remained steadfast through a long life with Camille, who struggled financially until his later years because he stayed true to himself and his artistic integrity of painting laborers, peasants, and domestic workers in his landscapes even though it cost him income. The collectors favored the ballet dancers and fancy people on boating expeditions, and so on, but Pissarro preferred to paint nature in its imperfect modesty, and the beauty of working people.
I fell in love with everything about who he was: a restlessly experimenting artisan, anarchistist and uptopianistic. Driven, accommodating, honest, warm, a mentor, intellectually curious, and altruistic. He did not like social or political hierarchy. He was an anti-capatalist and devoted family man, proud of his Jewish heritage, but never practiced religion, and he put art before everything else.
Camille Pissarro painted women in the light of strength and dignity, for example, the gleaner who stands with arms akimbo in the field. These images convey love and respect. He painted these images from deep in his soul. I have been privileged to see his work, which positively and intensely affects me, many times in person. I don't know who I would I be without Pissarro. And who was he, this man whose favorite daughter, Jeanne, (Minette), died at age nine from a respiratory ailment? He painted her when she was healthy and then frail and sick. How heartbreaking that must have been for them both.
Pissarro had to flee to England during the Franco-Prussian War, although he wanted to enlist. While he was gone from France, the Prussian army destroyed most of his life's work, about 1,500 pieces. How crushing, yet he persevered and began anew! He focused on plein air paintings, which he did in a single sitting, working on sky to ground at the same time so as to not lose the first impression. Also, he painted the same scene at varying periods of the day. As noted, he painted women and workers with strength and dignity, used pure colors, impressionist brushstrokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate dipiction of light and its changing qualities, ordinary subject matters, unusual visual angles, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience.
Camille Pissarro was the only artist to take part in all eight Impressionist exhibitions held in Paris between 1874-1886. Not only did he get along with the other artists, he had a flair for discovering new talent, such as Cézanne, and inspiring, teaching, and leading them. In turn, he was open to learning. In the 1880s, when the Impressionist movement was in crisis, he explored Neo-impressionism: Pointillism, the brush stroke that divides the gesture into tiny bits and pieces, and Divisionism in which colours are divided into different componemts, which allows you to weave in complimentary colors. Durand-Ruel did not like Neo-impressionism and could not sell Pissarro's paintings, so Pissarro switched to another dealer, Theo Van Gogh, brother of Vincent.
In addition to painting, Camille Pissarro was an architectural draftsperson, lithographer, printmaker, and graphic artist. When his eyesight was failing in his last years, he rented rooms and painted cityscapes from within a window view. His five sons all became artists under his expert tutelage in which he let them find their way of expression. During the Dreyfus affair in 1901, he sadly lost longterm friendships with Degas and Renoir because they were antisemitic.
I highly recommend this film to art lovers, especially if you like Impressionism. I hope you will be as moved as I am by the life of Camille Pissarro.
Miss Potter (2006)
Utterly captivating film. Reneé Zellweger rocks the role of Beatrix Potter. Loved it!
If you're looking for a charming film to watch that also has depth, I recommend Miss Potter helmed by talented filmmmaker Chris Noonan. The film, (about beloved Peter Rabbit children's author, illustator, and famed conservationist Beatrix Potter), stars the always effervescent and authentic Reneé Zellweger in the title role, and the delighfully brilliant Scottish actor Ewan McGregor as her publisher and love interest. Beatrix Potter grew up in an upper class family in reserved Victorian England with a mother who was domineering and judgmental and a loving father who was overshadowed by his wife. The story focuses on how gifted artist and scientist Beatrix Potter took risks to assert and gain her independence as a writer and woman, whilst staying tuned in to her magical muse of nature, especially the animals that nursed her creativity and filled her heart from girlhood. The narrative arc is on Miss Potter's early writing career and unexpected rise to best selling author status. I found the film moving without being cloying or sentimental. The scenes in the Lake District are gorgeous. Reneé Zellweger makes acting look deceptively easy because she's that good.
Love & Mercy (2014)
Risk taking filmmaking pays off - thoroughly enjoyed this film
I'd been looking for a captivating film and luckily I stumbled on Love & Mercy about Beach Boy Brian Wilson's life. The director, Bill Pohlad, took creative risks by casting two actors, (Paul Dano and John Cusack), as Wilson in two different phases of his life - the 1960s and 1980s.
I grew up sort of at the end of The Beach Boy era, enjoyed their music, owned a few albums, and saw them in concert. I'm not well enough acquainted with Brian Wilson's personal life to know how realistic this film is or not.
What I got from the film was the story of an identified patient with some horribly cruel and unbalanced people around him. The way some human sycophants exploit and dimish the light and talent of those who shine is sickening. Who wouldn't crack under the constant and vicious treatment of father and so-called doctor, being misdiagnosed, drugged on harmful psychiatric drugs, high on hallucinogens, and under everyone's thumb?
Paul Giamatti played famed psychologist Dr. Eugene Landy in the creepiest, most effective way. Landy was known for micromanaging his "clients" lives round the clock. How hard is it to see who the sick person was? Controlling, maniacal, manipulative, and oppressive... what a phenomenal portrayal by Giamatti!
Elizabeth Banks shined as Brian's girlfriend Melinda Ledbetter, who became his second wife. Their love story, as portrayed in the film is affecting and inspiring. I also loved Paul Dano, such an interesting actor, as the younger Brian. Through it all, music was Brian's saving grace. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where the curtains part and the audience gets a peek into the creative process.
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
An absolutely wonderful film -- highly recommend!
The Peanut Butter Falcon, (a story about a young man with Down syndrome who escapes an old folks home where he is "being cared for by the state," to be free and pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler like his hero, Salt Walter Redneck), is everything I want a movie to be. It's boldly original, funny, dramatic, filled with quirky characters that form true connections and go through substantial transformations. The film introduces people that may look bad on the surface, but turn into the heroes they already were.
There is a secret handshake.
Plot turns are unexpected, fears faced, authority questioned, and dreams realized. There are action sequences and a love story but neither of those things overtakes the heartfelt, non-sentimental buddy picture at its core. The scenary is interesting and beautiful; the quality soundtrack perfectly compliments the amusing, unconventional narrative.
Zack Gottsagen plays Zak. The filmmakers met Gottsagen at a camp for people with Down syndrome. When Zack expressed his desire to be a movie star, they wrote this script especially for him.
Shia LaBeouf is remarkable as Zak's unlikely buddy on the run from a troubled past and misdeeds. Dakota Johnson is wonderful as the well meaning but misguided caregiver for Zak in the home. Classic character actor Bruce Dern has a memorable supporting role as well. I enthusiastically recommend The Peanut Butter Falcon.
Mar adentro (2004)
A masterpiece about the politics of dying with dignity, and life, and love -- ten stars
Javier Bardem is, in my opinion, one of our finest actors. In The Sea Inside, Bardem plays real life activist Ramón Sampedro, a Spanish sea-loving adventurer who fought for twenty-eight years for his right to die with dignity after breaking his neck in a diving accident that left him a bedridden quadriplegic and a burden to his family. Trapped in his body, Bardem as Ramón communicates his innnermost feelings through a slight move of his head or sweep of his expressive eyes as expert filmmaker Alejandro Amenabar tells Ramón's story and that of those who loved him.
Housebound for decades, looking longingly out of his window pane from bed, answering the phone by biting on a cord dangling above his head, and relying on his sister-in-law, older brother, and nephew to feed and care for him, Bardem's Ramón grins with Bardem's trademark charm and says, "When you can't escape and you depend on others, you learn to cry by smiling."
Although many quadriplegics find meaning and satisfaction in life, for Ramón, life is without dignity. It is, in his case, a life that is lived as an unhappy obligation. His request for a death with dignity is opposed by his government and his older brother who laments that his seafaring life was also ended by Ramón's accident. If Ramón ends his life, what would have been the point of his own sacrifice?
Gene, (Clara Segura), a worker from an organization that supports death with dignity in Spain, is Ramón's strongest friend and ally. Gene introduces him to lawyer Julia, (Belen Rueda), who is especially sympathetic due to her own progressive physical disorder. Julia and Ramón fall in love. Meanwhile, Rosa, (Lola Dueñas), a young factory worker / disc jockey sees Ramón interviewed on TV one day and comes over to meet him. Her relationship with Ramón begins as a well meaning but misguided do-gooder whose aim is to convince Ramón that life is worth living.
The various voices that surround Ramón, each with their own needs, some honoring his wishes, others opposing them, are interwoven in pitch perfect perfection that mirror what I have known of life as a witness to friends, clients, and colleagues whose rational appeals on various levels are thwarted by their inner circle and /or institutional apathy. I also know all too well what it feels like to have others project their own beliefs and neurosis onto me, rather than seeing the truth of who I am.
Ramón makes clear, "Those who love me, will help me to die." The surprising turn of events in this story, creative cinematography, gorgeous, evocative soundtrack, depth of this acting ensemble, and theme of what love really is, make this film a masterpiece for me.
I highly recommend this film... except to people that will rush to judge Ramón and lather him in their expectations that he man up and live willingly in his limited condition, which is agonizing for him. Every life is unique. We cannot know what another experiences. I found Ramon's story, as told by this talented group, extraordinarily moving.
Gary Gulman: In This Economy? (2012)
A charming comedian with perfect timing.
I wanted something light to watch. A friend posted a bit from this old TV special, it made me laugh, so I watched the show on Amazon. I was not familiar with Gary Gulman. I liked the show, especially the end bit about Jews playing basketball at the JCC. I love Gary's delivery style. Aside from having kind eyes, (as he does a bit about), he has a way of pausing before delivering his punchlines that I find charming and funny. Some of the material in this special is a bit dated, but it still had me laughing and loud and was a wonderful introduction to Gary's comedy. I plan to watch his more recent specials now and everything I can find with him in it.
Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh (2019)
Ten stars for Gary as a person and comedian...
I just watched this special on HBO because I've been enjoying Gary's comedy routines and am watching whatever I can. While he's funny, charming, vulnerable, and loveable, (with perfect timing), as usual in this special, it plays like an ad for psychiatric drugs and electric convulsive therapy. I know countless people who suffered, or still suffer, and / or became suicial due to the "treatments" Gary supports in this special. Some of them healed when they got off the drugs. Some suffer long-term effects because of the drugs and/ or ECT. I recommend reading the book Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill by award winning journalist Robert Whittaker for a more expansive, scientific understanding of these psyciatric "treatments." I also recommend following the Fb page or website "Mad in America" for stories of people harmed by the psychiatric industry.
A Simple Favor (2018)
Surprisingly fun film! Blake Lively and Anne Kendrick are wonderful together! I enjoyed this offbeat movie.
A fantastically bizarre dark comedy, drama, thriller, farce by filmmaker Paul Feig that is pure entertainment. Perfect if you're not looking for deep meaning, a particular character to root for, and are willing to just go with the freakish flow. Polar opposite best friend moms Emily and Stephanie, Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, both spectacular in their offbeat, twisted roles, hit their wry, humorous, emotional notes spot on. I laughed out loud often while I watched. Anna Kendrick's timing is brilliant. The awesome upbeat French soundtrack sets the eccentric tone. I've been looking up songs from the film. Je recommande!
Generosity of Eye (2015)
Inspiring film about art patron William Louis-Dreyfus and his brut artists - free on Vimeo
This film, made by Brad Hall, husband of supremely talented and likable actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
It is a love story between Julia's father, who was art collector Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, (aka William Dreyfus), and the artists he was a patron for and collector of -- especially Outsider Art by self-taught Brut artists who are removed from conventions of the art world. William reveres what he calls "pure ass talent," and in turn, the artists value his opinions.
In his own words, French-American billionaire Dreyfus, (Louis-Dreyfus Group is one of the four "ABCD" companies that dominate world agricultural commodity trading), was opinionated, extremely critical of the art world today, and responded emotionally to the pieces he bought, and built an idiosyncratic, contrarian collection. He liked to be right, especially about art.
A big time risk taker, Dreyfus is interviewed in the film along with artists and art critics. He began his collection with some Kandinsky watercolors after receiving his first bonus as a young man. He developed his eye for art, he explains, as a child in Paris who used to like to go to the Louvre and look at Peasant Girl, by Frans Hals, 1628, because of the cleavage depicted on the painting.
I found the panoply of art chosen with William's impeccable eye for art that is "worked" extremely uplifting and inspiring.
After fifty years as a collector, (who corresponded with such masters as Jean Dubuffet), Dreyfus followed his heart rather than being market driven. Near the end of his life, he met with Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone to discuss selling off his collection and endowing the proceeds to fund children in Harlem from birth through college to break the cycle of poverty.
Before making his fortune in business, William entered law school the year of Brown vs Board of Education. He feels the way America treated the black man has been a huge blemish for hundreds of years. He believes the system of paying to educate citizens is the way to eradicate this injustice.
Stories of individual artists are also deeply moving. James Castle was born deaf in a rural Idaho in farming community in early 20 century. He never learned to sign, but he drew.
Bill Traylor, homeless, drew for three years sitting on the sidewalk. A young white artist recognized his talent. Traylor has now been recognized as a master.
Artist Graham Nickson says William has a generosity of eye. "How he sees and how he chooses the work suggests that he's looking at the work in a way that is quite unique way and he's generous toward what the artist is trying to do and he registers that. And that takes a great deal of open mindedness."
William's story is one of the true patron who collected artists as friends, buoyed them with his vote of confidence, and was part of creating art even if the brush isn't in his hand.
Julia seems to learn about her father's art life and passion for justice right along with the audience.
I watched the film a second time to write down the artists featured in the film because each one is worthy of being studied. I hope I got all of their names here, and without too many misspellings:
Artists interviewed in the film: Catherine Murphy, Tara Geer, Graham Nickson, Stone Roberts, George Boorujy, Thornton Dial, John Newman, Hester Simpson.
Other artists: Leonard Cremonini. Peter Schmersal. Paul Gauguin. Gideon Bok. Eileen Doman. John Moore. Pierre Edouard. Claus Oldenburg. Matthew Daub. Acharya Vykul. Eduard Schteinberg. Sangram Majumdar. Jean Dubuffet. Henry Inman. E. M. Saniga. Stanley Lewis. Dee Shapiro. Nellie Mae Rowe. Bill Traylor. Raymond Mason. Sam Szafran. Jean Baptiste Secheret. Rackstraw Downes. Edouard Saciallan. Robert Bermilin. George Grosz. Gaylen Morgan. Justin Canha. Ken Grimes. Willie Young. Clemintine Hunter. Robald Lockett. Dwight Mackintosh. Kurt Knobelsdorf. Chuck Bowdish. Celia Paul.
Sculptors: Laura Craig McNellis. Hester Simpson. Red Grooms. John Newman. Alison (missed her last name), and Nichola Hicks, Judith Carlen. Albert Giacometti, and Charles Wells.
The art collection resides in a factory in Mount Kisco, New York.
Inherit the Wind (1960)
This movie classic explores the battle between fundamentalism and science
"An idea is more important that a monument and the advancement of Man's knowledge more miraculous than all the sticks turned to snakes and the parting of the waters." Henry Drummond
Fredric March and Spencer Tracy - who is fast on track to becoming my favorite actor - go head to head in a verbose, dramatic, high stakes trial based on the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial, that shows just what monkeys humans are (and that is an insult to monkeys) and pits Darwin's theory of evolution against creationism in court.
Grab yourself a huge leaf fan and some lemonade before sitting down to watch this stellar cast, (directed by the brilliant, unheedingly opinionated Stanley Kramer), steam in a Tennessee courtroom. Beads of sweat drip down their brows as they posture, position, and debate the fundamentalist interpretation of the bible versus the right and need to teach science in schools.
Biology teacher Bertram T. Cates, (i.e. John T. Scopes), played by the inimitable Dick York is accused of teaching evolution in school and arrested. The biased judge played by Harry Morgan bars all the scientific experts from witnessing for the defense. Makes sense...
Questions of separation of church and state vs. Acknowledgement of science are explored in this exceptional film classic with a narrative that continues to present day in so many ways.
In my ideal world, I'd have liked any hint of political correctness thrown out with a heathen - atheist replacing the moderate - agnostic role Spencer Tracy played as lead defense attorney.
March, as preacher Matthew Harrison Brady, (based on his real life counterpart, William Jennings Bryan), and Tracy as Henry Drummond, (based on his RLC, Clarence Darrow), the agnostic defense lawyer, hold nothing back. Their sparring reminds me of a heavyweight match that used words and wit, fire and brimstone. The scene where Drummond brings Brady to the stand as a witness had me on my feet, every bit of me engaged in this theatrical battle, waving fast my imaginary leaf fan to cool down.
Gene Kelley, effective in his dramatic role as journalist H. L. Mencken, observes the mindless masses marching in the street and utters these words, "those are the b*obs that make our laws. That's the democratic process." Indeed.
Fantastic film.
A Beautiful Life (2023)
Sweet film
Danish singer Christopher Lund Nissen, aka Christopher, composed and performed the soundtrack for this story of a fisherman with a troubled past who is discovered while playing a gig as support for his best friend Oliver. Christopher, with a sculpted face like that of a Greek god combined with a vulnerable angel, sings his heart out in this dramatic tale of creative and career success, love, and loss. Sometimes a 7 is the perfect film for the moment. I was engaged in the story, liked the supporting cast who were also very strong, enjoyed the music, and thought that Christopher nailed his role. Sweet film.
Carl Laemmle (2019)
Movie magic, monsters, and moxie
Visionary Carl Laemmle, affectionately known as Uncle Carl by many, lived a truly remarkable life. This documentary does a fine job of sharing his life story with the audience.
Raised as one of the youngest children in a poor Jewish family in Germany, seventeen-year-old Carl emigrated to the United States for a better life with fifty dollars in his pocket in 1884, before the Statue of Liberty was there to greet him. He lived a fairly uneventful life as a bookkeeper in Michigan until he was thirty-nine, at which point he began buying nickelodeons in Chicago after falling in love with movies. Carl, a visionary, saw great things for the future of movies and their potential to entertain to a degree that others did not yet envision.
As Laemmle's success in the film industry increased, Thomas Edison hit him with a slew of lawsuits, claiming a monopoly on moving pictures. Laemmle found ways to challenge Edison, including innovating the star system, which promotes individual actors and garners them a following. This enticed the top actors to work with the independent studios. After founding Independent Motion Pictures in New York, Laemmle wanted to get away from Edison's legal hounding, so he put distance between them by moving to Los Angeles.
In California Carl was a maverick in the Hollywood film business; he formed Universal Pictures and built Universal Studios in the San Fernando Valley, utilized nepotism to employ many in his large family, and made classic, hit films about monsters, (including Dracula and Frankenstein), as those on screen were better than the real life political monsters the world was dealing with.
Oh and nothing much else except that Uncle Carl also worked tirelessly to get Jews out of Hitler's Germany -- he saved over 300 Jewish families.
This film is interesting and inspiring. I saw it on Kanopy. I think it's streaming on various platforms.
Doing Jewish: A Story From Ghana (2016)
Interesting, moving documentary
Gabrielle Zilkha, Jewish by birth, raised in Montreal, Canada, celebrates the high Jewish holidays, but otherwise is pretty removed from her ancestors' religion. Gabrielle went to volunteer in Ghana with a woman's organization for six months. During the Jewish holidays, she missed participating in her families holiday ritual. She was told that there was a community of people practicing Judiasm in a nearby rural villiage, Sefwi Wiawso. Gabrielle went to visit this community. There she found a small group of people, led by Alex Armah, a young black man whose dream is to become a full rabbi and teach Judiasm, including Hebrew, to his community.
Gabrielle was told to go inquire of the chiefs and elders in the Tanaso region to get the history. The Sefwi believe their ancestors came from Arab countries, (some say from Israel), and were Jewish, but missionaries assimilated their people into the dominant religions of Christianity and Islam. This remained so until a Sefwi named Aaron had a vision in 1975.
The story goes that God told Aaron that his people are descendants of a lost tribe of Israel and the old testament should be their guide to their religion. Formed in 1977, they call themselves The House of Israel. Aaron's community built Judiasm from scratch and practiced on the down low. Elders were jailed for believing in one god and defending themselves against their neighbors.
Alex connected to the United Israel World Union outside of Ghana. Connecting with other Jews gave the Sefwis confidence in their Judiasm. Alex went through a conversion to Judiasm in Uganda. He wants his community to connect and be recognized globally.
Gabrielle realizes that the Sefwi Jews are way more Jewish than she is. While Gabrielle made this film, the Sefwis consulted with an Orthodox rabbi in Toronto, a Reform movement in Montreal, and a black Jewish scholar who explains that for many there is cognative dissonance for people who think of Jews as just being Caucasisn.
The rabbis who seem to hold the power to accept someone as Jewish or not say that there is a strong burden of truth that must be met for emerging Jewish communities. This is hard to do for those who claim to be a lost tribe and have not practiced the religion in centuries. To enter a Jewish community there are shared commitments that need to be met. In some cases of people wanting to convert, ancestry can be verified by DNA and that is satisfsctory to those who make these decisions.
What is it to be Jewish? Gabrielle who has the DNA recognizes that the Sefwi live and practice the religion as she, through her birthright, does not. Gabrielle says she IS Jewish but doesn't DO Jewish.
I am mostly Jewish via DNA, but secular. I found this film interesting as a character study of the Sefwi Jews and especially of Alex. It's curious how beliefs, customs, and religions are passed down, lost, rediscovered, and then challenged and questioned by others who feel entitled to decide. The devotion of, (and desire to be accepted into global Judiasm), from the Sefwi and other communities of practicing Jews in Africia is touching.
I ruminated on Doing Jewish for days after I saw it on Kanopy. I believe it is available to stream on other platforms as well.
When We Speak (2022)
An important and compelling documentary. 10/10.
I watched When We Speak - an extraordinary, riveting documentary about three women whistleblowers - three times more in a row. The film focuses on interviews with each of them. Their brave acts, (which came at a personal, financial, emotional, social cost for them), did not seem like a choice in the light of their integrity and compulsion to prevent harm to others. The wrongdoers get defensive and punish whistleblowers who challenge the misuse of power.
First up is Katharine Gun, who worked at General Communications Headquarters, a British intelligence agency. In 2003 she got an email regarding blackmailing and bribing the diplomats at the UN Security Council to persuade them to vote for the UN resolution that would authorize an (unwarrented) invasion of Iraq. Katharine was shocked, angry, and appalled. She could think of nothing else besides what would happen to the people of Iraq and also to the British troops. She asked herself whether her loyalties were with her employer and the state, or at a deeper level, with humanity.
Second up is Helen Evans who worked in Human Resources for Oxfam when she discovered that aid workers were exploiting vulnerable earthquake survivors for sex. The helpers were predators and victims were prey. She saw this was happening across many countries. She interviewed many victims. Men in positions of power coerced and raped females in desperate, dependent positions in life. In some countries, to be raped is a criminal offense; women might be forced to leave their villages for having sex outside of marriage. Helen was outraged by this systemic sexual exploitation and had to act.
Third up is actress Rose McGowan, one of the first to speak out on sexual abuse in Hollywood. She claims she was raped by Harvey Weinstein when she was just starting her career in Hollywood. Rose explains that anybody who upsets the status quo and goes after the complicity machine is targeted.
All these women made a difference at the cost of their own lives being changed forever. Rose was ostracized by many, including members of her family. She gave up Hollywood and moved to Mexico. Helen lost her marriage and feels tremendous guilt that she asked her husband and son to move out of their home in Oxford. Katharine's family moved from the UK to Turkey because of the financial losses she suffered as a result of her whistleblowing. Although it wasn't an easy question to answer, Katharine, Helen, and Rose all said they would do what they did again.
I know many people who work to expose the corruption in the medical / legal arenas. Preventable medical harm is a leading cause of death and bodily harm in the US. The complicity and coverups are immense. These whistleblowers, like the women in this film, do so at great personal cost. They too are compelled to act. Small battles have been won, but overall, the iatrogenic harm continues.
I saw this When We Speak on Kanopy. I believe it is available to stream elsewhere as well.
Acoustic Routes (1992)
There was life before Bert Jansch and life after. Get to know Bert's music. The world will remain crazy, but at least you will have Bert's music as an antidote.
A couple of months ago I was looking for a video of the traditional Irish song "The Parting Glass" on YouTube and I came across a version by Davey Graham and Bert Jansch. It is so gorgeous and compelling, I was immediately engaged in watching videos about these two musicians, which led to a continuing quest of seeking out many other British, Scottish, and Irish folk musicians. I have not emerged from this exploration yet, and I have no intention of ever doing so.
Acoustic Routes is one of the best videos, though they are all wonderful. I've been wanting to write such a thorough review of the film that I keep putting it off, so finally I will at least write a brief rave. I will open by saying what a gift it is that someone uploaded Acoustic Routes to YouTube.
The Telecommunications Reformation Act passed in the early 90s basically took all power of choice away from radio stations, leaving them to only play the songs deemed profitable by the corporate entities, thus music today is about profit, not art. To revisit a true musical artist, Acoustic Routes documentary about Scottish folk legend Bert Jansch, the acoustic guitarist everyone wanted to be who influenced a generation of musicians, is it.
This documentary, narrated by Billy Connolly, is not just about Jansch, the brilliant Edinburgh born finger picking guitar player whose irresistible style doesn't need any embellishments, or his humble attitude, (he recorded some of his albums in someone's kitchen), but also about the history of music and of his fellows featured in the film.
And what a stellar cast of folk and blues musicians it is including Brownie McGhee, Davey Graham, Anne Briggs, Ralph McTell, Wizz Jones, Martin Carthy, John Renbourn, Hamish Imlach, Archie Fisher, Peter Kirtley, Jacqui McShee, Duck Baker, and Al Stewart appear. This legendary music is magnificent. Each name listed here has led me to a wealth of remarkable music.
Whether this is a stroll down memory lane for you or an introduction to Bert's steel string virtousity, it is an excellent documentary that holds up through time. I also recommend Bert Jansch: 1) Dreamweaver (2000). 2) Walk On, A music documentary with guitar legends Brownie McGhee and Bert Jansch. 3) Folk, Blues, and Beyond, Davey Graham.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Brilliant Bradley and glorious Gaga sing their hearts out and sizzle together in this terrific film
The fourth film remake of A Star Is Born is actor Bradley Cooper's stunning directorial debut. The film showcases brilliant performances by Bradley and Lady Gaga as musicians who fall in love and follow a trajectory of challenges as her star rises and his diminishes due to alcohol and other substance abuse problems. A never better Sam Elliot plays the brother of charismatic country music star Jackson "Jack" Maine.
I choose not to watch this movie when it came out because I thought it might be a redundant modern Hollywood remake of the preceding versions. I could not have been more wrong.
The chemistry between Jack and Ally, the waitress, budding singer-songwriter Gaga plays with abundant warmth, grace, and explosive musical and theatrical talent, is tangible and electrifyng. Bradley Cooper is a phenomenon in this role. He transformed fully and believably into this musical superstar. The man can truly sing, and the duets between Jackson and Ally are mesmerizing. Lady Gaga is wonderful. A shining screen presence. Hugely likable.
Bradley studied with a vocal coach for eighteen months to inhabit the deep, gravely voice and Southern dialect he used in his role. His work paid off. For me, this A Star Is Born was a magical, memorable, moving theatrical experience. 10/10.
Living (2022)
Quietly impactful. Bill Nighy owns this role with an understated, moving performance.
Adapted from the 1952 film Ikiru directed by Akira Kurosawa, which was based on The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy, Living is a brilliant, beautiful film with a solid, satisfying character transformation. I love Bill Nighy's minimalistic acting: you can read everything on his face even when it's practically still. As Mr. Rodney Williams, a lead gentleman bureaucrat in 1953 London, his life hit an uninspired, ungenerous rut as a young man without him even noticing it. A diagnosis of terminal cancer changes the old curmudgeon into a man trying to learn to live before it's too late, and realizing the way to do that is by giving. Better late than never. The supporting cast is strong, high lit by an exuberant, guileless Aimee Lou Wood as young former colleague Margaret Harris, who shows Nighy sympathy and kindness. The score by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch is outstanding. I recommend this fine film.
Hou lai de wo men (2018)
A masterpiece - deeply moving and relatable
Have you ever had a true love in your youth or beyond but you didn't stay together long term due to financial, emotional, and / or social circumstances at the time, and yet your abiding connection continues and always will? I found Us and Them, (a sweet, bittersweet love story), to be a cinematic masterpiece that - regardless of the fact that I live across the globe - I found deeply and poignantly relatable.
The lead actors, Zhou Dongyu and Boran Jing create characters who are quirky, real, believable, complex, and charming. They share a palpable, thoroughly engaging onscreen chemistry. Zhou plays Xiao-Xiao, a college age woman who presents at first as whimsical and a bit kooky. These outer traits belie the deep wisdom she possesses inside. She is a delight to watch. Xiao-Xiao meets Jianqing and his college buddies on a train from Beijing (where they live) to their home village during Chinese New Year. I was captivated by the changes this young couple go through together and individually.
The scenes alternate between several time frames including when the main characters meet, their developing friendship, which grows into a romance, and their present lives about ten years after they met, as they reflect back on their lives. The film includes an interconnected look into Jianqing's relationship with his father, and Xiao-Xiao's involvement in that father-son relationship.
I watched Us and Them a few days ago and am still thinking about it. 10 / 10 from me. If you don't speak the language, I recommend using subtitles rather than dubbing.
Summerland (2020)
A new favorite film and actress, Gemma Artherton. Heartfelt, whimsical story, beautifully shot and acted. This won over my heart!
Broken by love, broken by life, Alice (30s) - played beautifully by Gemma Arterton - is a reclusive writer immersed in a project about pagen women in a breathtaking seaside town in East Sussex, England, near and at the White Cliffs of Dover and county Kent. Her bad lot in life left her rude and nasty to the point where I was ready to give up on the movie at the start because I didn't care for her demeanor. It was clear from the film synopsis that Alice would go through a transformation, but I didn't think it would matter to me since she was so awful - even to an innocent child - at the first.
I managed to continue watching long enough to see a curly haired, intelligent and curious boy of about eleven, Frank, an evacuee from London during the blitz of World War II, brought to Alice's doorstep for her to act as his guardian. The audience knows this won't go well, and this is where the story hooked me. Lucas Bond skillfully and endearingly interacted with Artherton, an absolute gem of an actress, and their individual and united stories are told in a most wonderful, whimsical fashion as young Frank and Alice bond and find their lives intertwined in unexpected ways.
I don't want to say more about the plot so as not to ruin the story. Written and expertly directed by decorated playwright Jessica Swale, co-staring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Courtney, and Penelope Wilton in strong roles, I now have a new favorite film. 10 / 10 from me. I saw this on Netflix.
Nadie Sabe Que Estoy Aquí (2020)
Potential for a good film. Missed the mark for me.
This contemplative, artistic film features a story about Memo, an obese, emotionally tortured recluse of few words who works on his uncle's sheep farm in a remote and beautiful part of Chile. He was a promising child singer whose career was stolen from him because he didn't have the physical appearance the producer thought he should to attract female fans. Marta, a delivery person, befriends Memo. His traumatic past is revealed in a way I found confusing and I didn't connect with the characters emotionally. The performances were good. Other viewers who like character driven films may love this film. I found it interesting, but dark. It left me feeling flat.
Maestro (2022)
An engaging, vicarious trip to alluring Greece was enjoyed via this captivating, melodramatic first season of Maestro
I enjoyed watching the first season of Greek series on Netflix, a music-filled drama-melodrama-thriller about love and missed opportunities for love in the face of societal and familial judgments. The beautiful wash of the isle of Paxos, the piano, orchestra, singing, Greek rhythms, lyrics, and language are as intoxicating as the actors who perfectly inhabit their unique characters. A wonderful cast.
Maestro was written and directed by the talented, handsome, and charming leading actor, Christopher Papakaliatis, who plays a musical director hired to come to the island to helm a music festival put on by the slimeball who is running for mayor while running a criminal enterprise from his lavish home. Sounds about right for a politician. Oh, yeah, and there's a murder that the production teases the audience along with by sneaking in brief scenes out of the timeline of the main events, which are building towards the climactic conclusion of the cliffside performances of the festival.
The storyline also deals with issues of abuse. There were moments when I didn't know who to root for, didn't have anyone to root for, but then I did, and let's face it, I was hooked through all nine episodes and will definitely watch the next season. I am interested in seeing all of these skilled actors in different productions.
Christopher Papakaliatis as Orestis
Klelia Andriolatou as Klelia
Fanis Mouratidis as Fanis
Maria Kavoyianni as Maria
Marisha Triantafyllidou as Sofia
Orestis Chalkias as Antonis
Yorgos Benos as Spyros
Haris Alexiou as Haris
Giannis Tsortekis as Haralambos
Antinoos Albanis as Michalis
Stefania Goulioti as Alexandra
Dimitris Kitsos as Thanos
Tonia Maraki as Gianna.
Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)
Plodded along then reached a lovely crescendo at the end. Films with widely mixed reviews are often my favorites.
Based on the play Outside Mullingar by director and playwright John Patrick Shanley, the quirky, uneven film Wild Mountain Thyme started out just okay and ended up absolutely magical. Set in gorgeous, atmospheric Mayo County in rural Ireland, the film showcases the luminously talented Emily Blunt as Rosemary, a capable, lonely farmer, who can sing beautifully. Jamie Dornan plays Anthony, Rosemary's neighbor, an odd and unlucky man and her love interest. Christopher Walken does a tremendous acting job as Anthony's off the mark father despite not nailing the accent. Jon Hamm plays the entitled American cousin of Anthony, and gifted Irish actress Dearbhla Molloyand delivers as Rosemary's mother. If you want to see a sweet, uplifting film and can get past some questionable accents, I recommend sticking with this whimsical charmer to the end. I have never loved Emily Blunt more. I'm glad I watched this delightful, fun film.
Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)
Extraordinary film about Janis Joplin, powerhouse singing sensation, cultural icon. Her story, her music, highly recommend!
There is nothing that humanizes and equalizes a superpower superstar like Janis Joplin more than hearing the letters she wrote home to her parents as a teen and young woman. In these letters she asserts her independence, shares news of her life, good and bad, and apologizes for being her own rebellious, free, and ambitious self in San Francisco and beyond, a far way from her small hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, where she was bullied, squashed, and judged, including for her equal treatment of people across the racial divides of her day.
Through Janis' letters that begin, "Dear Family," as well as those to her fellows, friends, and lovers, the filmmaker offers the audience a moving portrait of Janis' personal and professional life. Her huge singing voice, which surprised her when was seventeen, is generously on display in concert footage showcasing the soulful, bluesy, psychedic rock and roll music Janis sang, purred, and belted out in her unique and monumental way. Having snippets of these letters read by musician Cat Power in such an authentic, heartfelt, and wistful way elicits quite an impact.
Janis' loving heart, indomitable spirit, passion for being on stage and having a conversation with the audience, and her vulnerabilities - the little girl aspect - are presented in a forthright way. I feel like I know her somehow by her choices, (brave to insecure), which make sense in the context of her life. Interviews with her sister and brother, Laura and Michael, members of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and more, add depth to this project as we follow her quest for stardom, rise to fame at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and a varied narrative of joy, success, boldness, hesitation, and worry, all in relation to being true to herself and growing as a musician, baby.
I enjoyed the cameos by Dick Cavett, whereas the snippets of musicians who didn't know her personally detracted a bit from the film for me, but they didn't away much from the main material that delivered a stunning profile of an extraordinary musical artist and cultural icon. Janis' life story, of course, is bittersweet, because she died so young from a heroin overdose at only twenty-seven years old. I came away from this movie thinking more about her life than her death. She lives on through her remarkable music and legacy.
I watched Janis: Little Girl Blue for free on YouTube.
The Martha Mitchell Effect (2022)
The Cassandra of Watergate - an excellent must see film
Martha Mitchell, a bright, perceptive, vivacious, and bold woman would not keep her mouth shut -- for good reason. She picked up the phone and talked to reporters in attempts to get the truth out about corrupt President Nixon and his cronies. Sadly, Martha was gaslit, sedated, and slandered by these narcissist, power hungry crooks including Richard Nixon and her husband, U. S. Attorney General John Mitchell, a former bond lawyer and Tricky Dick law partner who became Nixon's campaign manager in 1968. I don't know what Martha ever saw in John who seems like such a nasty turncoat. She deserved better. I'm glad the filmmakers told her story and gave her back her agency.
The Martha Mitchell Effect is when a medical profession labels a person's accurate perceptions of events as delusional, resulting in misdiagnosis -- and mistreatment. Much like or the same as the reaction of perpetrators of assaults known as DARVO -- Deny and Reverse Victim and Offender. As a patient safety activist for over a decade, I witness these rampant slander and blame the victim and whistleblower tactics every day. We all see this go on all the time, so why does the public keep believing crminals and punishing truthtellers? Oh yeah, money and power.
I highly recommend this skillfully made academy award nominated documentary about a brave woman, important subject, and pervasive and destructive social construct. Easily 10 out of 10.