Spelling the Dream

My View: Spelling the Dream (2020)   An Indian-American has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the past 12 years. This documentary explores this trend, which is one of the longest in sports history, highlighting four students as they compete to win the tournament. You are going to fall in love with these kids, and how can you not. They are funny, sometimes a little quirky, and unbelievably smart. All the kids profiled have incredibly supportive families, where not just the parents help the kids study. Still, the whole family becomes involved with the preparation and work to get ready for this incredible feat. What I came away from this film is not only how wonderful these families are but how much the kids participating enjoy the challenge and some, the spotlight. Spelling the Dream is a feel-good film that is helped by interviews with comedian Hari Kondabolu and CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Enjoy getting to know the kids and get ready to be on the edge of your seat, rooting for them when they start spelling words that you have never heard of.    My Rating: Full Price   Spelling the Dream Website    The film is currently available on Netflix.

Indiefest: Tommaso (2019)    An American, Tommaso (Willem Dafoe), living in Rome with his young European wife, Nikki (Cristina Chiriac), and their daughter, is preparing for his next film. Tommaso is haunted by his past mistakes, so much so that he begins to question his life and his sanity. I am a huge Willem Dafoe fan, and even in films that I don’t like (The Lighthouse), I always find his performances fascinating. Dafoe doesn’t disappoint as he is on screen the whole time, but I just wish I liked the film more. This is a film where a character is dealing with being sober for the past six years and has a young wife and daughter. Add to the pressure of planning/writing a movie and teaching, Dafoe’s character is being stretched thin, and he begins to experience things that are not part of reality. Tommaso is a film that you never know what you see is happening, or is it just a figment of his imagination, like drinking coffee in his regular hangout, but this time, the barista is naked. I never entirely connected with the movie or with Tommaso, who, for most of the film, isn’t a likable person, someone who can only see his point of view. It’s one of those films that after you see it, you feel exhausted both mentally and physically.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee     Tommaso Website    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: Shirley (2020) R   Shirley (Elisabeth Moss) is a world-famous horror writer who is as well known for her writing as for her gloom and doom nature. Her writing of a new project is disturbed by the arrival of newlyweds Fred (Logan Lerman) and Rose (Odessa Young). This is a visit that the young couple will never forget. Moss is brilliant as the moody and troubled Shirley, a talented writer whose world revolves around her writing and her husband, played by the bombastic Michael Stuhlbarg, who, at first glance, loves her, but their relationship is far more complicated than we could first imagine. Moss dominates the screen in every scene she is in, though I was also impressed by how Odessa Young, as the headstrong but very young newlywed, holds her own on the screen with Moss. The film is complex, and we slowly, along with Rose, learn that Shirley isn’t the monster that she seems to be at first. The film has a bit of a mystery in it, as a young woman from campus has gone missing, and Shirley starts to write a novel based on what could be behind her disappearance. We never solve the mystery of the missing woman, nor do we ever fully understand the enigma of Shirley, but it’s a captivating and compelling ride nonetheless.   My Rating: Full Price    Shirley Website    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

My View: And We Go Green (2019)   Documentary on the International Formula E circuit, the world’s fastest-growing Motorsport. The film follows the professional drivers on the circuit as they race for victory across ten major cities. I really enjoyed this film about a sport I knew very little about. The race cars look like formula one cars but are powered by electric motors. The film does a great job of showing us that the handling of the vehicles is very different from any other race car, without a combustible engine to listen to and a braking system that, just like your hybrid cars, uses those brakes to replenish the batteries. The film follows a group of drivers, giving us up close and personal insights to the drivers and their pasts. The racing is fast and furious, with great in-car shots and audio that gives you insight on just how challenging the races are. As I said, I didn't know much about this sport before, but I’m a fan now.   My Rating: Full Price     And We Go Green Website   The film is currently available on Hulu.

Forgotten Film: Stop Making Sense (1984)   One of the greatest rock concert documentaries ever! If you can’t have fun watching this film with The Talking Heads rock group giving one of the great performances of all time, then I don’t have any hope for you. The music is magical, David Byrne is mesmerizing as the lead vocalist, and the band is as tight as they come. This is one of those concert films that is so good, you don’t miss not seeing the performance live.   My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again     Stop Making Sense Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Shirley: Historical Magick Consultant

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Babyteeth (2019)   A seriously ill teenager named Milla (Eliza Scanlen) falls for a parents worst nightmare, a small-time drug dealer, Moses (Toby Wallace). Milla’s new love gives her the freedom to find things to be joyous about and to take chances on life. I look forward to this film that cleaned up awards on the international film festival circuit.     Babyteeth Website

Until Next Time!

The Invisible Man

My View: The Invisible Man (2020) R   Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) is in an abusive relationship with her husband (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and with the help of her sister (Harriet Dyer), and their childhood friend (Aldis Hodge), she escapes and goes into hiding. When her husband takes his own life, Cecilia is the sole beneficiary of his will, leaving her millions of dollars. Cecilia was always told by her husband that he would hunt her down if she ever left him, even from the grave. Now Cecilia is convinced that her husband has figured out a way to become invisible, making her life a living hell. Over the past couple of months, I have seen some incredibly crappy films that have tried, very unsuccessfully, scare me. I am happy to tell you that finally, we have a suspense film (its not quite a horror film) that, through a smart and skillful script, creates scenes that are filled with tension and fear. In the age of ‘Me Too,’ it is refreshing that a film captures the real horror and panic of a woman being terrorized, and no one will believe her side of the story. What I love about this film is that while most of the characters, including some of Cecilia’s closest friends, feel that she is going nuts, we, the audience know that what Cecilia is experiencing isn’t a figment of her mind, but something that is really happening to her. The film deftly treats Cecilia as a strong woman who has legitimate fears of what her husband is capable of, even if it seems that he is attacking her from beyond his grave. Moss is perfect as the everywoman who is determined to solve what is happening to her, even if she has to do it by herself, powered on by only her wits and will power.   My Rating: Full Price     The Invisible Man Website

Indiefest: Emma. (2020) PG  Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a young, beautiful woman, who much to the delight of her father, Mr. Woodhouse (Bill Nighy), refuses to marry. Instead of matrimony for herself, she feels it is her mission to play matchmaker for her friends and family. Emma’s plans don’t always work out, and Emma may find that love may be just around the corner, whether she wants it or not. Anya Taylor-Joy brightens up the screen in every scene she is in, making it so much fun to watch her character weave her magic with her friend's lives. Emma is a beautiful film to watch, filled with luscious scenery and amazing costumes. The film is a delight for not only your eyes but is filled with very amusing situations as Emma tries to influence everyone she encounters with her ideas about relationships. And, any film that has Bill Nighy as a hypochondriac father who is always on the lookout for a draft that he is convinced is in every corner of his household, is worth the price of admission. This Jane Austin adaptation is a film that the words delightful and enchanting kept coming into my mind as I was watching it.   My Rating: Full Price    Emma. Website

Indiefest: The Traitor (2019) R  The life of Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino), the ‘boss of two worlds’ who was a high-ranking mafia chief who became an informant and brought down the Sicilian mafia in the 1980s. I go every year to the Cinema Italy Film Festival here in Atlanta and have seen some outstanding Italian mafia films. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of them. In what seems like a vanity project for lead actor Pierfrancesco Favino, the film is a slow, meandering film that seems much longer than its 2 hours and 25-minute length. I found the movie incredibly dull as I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters in the film and never truly understood why, after years of service, did Buscetta turn state’s witness for a crime family that made him a lot of money. The film wants to be a Godfather-like saga, but instead, we get a watered-down movie that has minimal action and a lot of scenes of courtrooms with very little substance or style. The film has won some awards and was up for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, how? I have no clue. The only thing I know is I never want to see this film again.   My Rating: Cable    The Traitor Website

Indiefest: Beanpole (2019)   In 1945, post World War II Leningrad, two women (Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina) who bonded after fighting side by side as anti-aircraft gunners, are trying to put their lives back together when a shocking accident brings them closer and seals their fates. I want to warn you that very early in this film, there is a scene that is extremely uncomfortable and painful to watch. I have a feeling some people may leave the theatre after that scene, and it’s probably for the best because this is a film that is full of pain and misery. The film is about two women who have been damaged, both mentally and physically, by the horrors of war. Is the movie worth staying for? I believe so, mostly due to the moving performances of the two leads who are playing two characters that aren’t always likable, but you still want some piece of small happiness to happen in their lives. I was struck by how this film looked, where an occasional splash of color, like a green dress, seems like a tiny miracle to a landscape of cloudy days and old, dirty wallpaper. I don’t know if I will ever forget these characters, two women that try to survive with the help of each other.    My Rating: Full Price    Beanpole Website

Indiefest: Blood on Her Name (2019)   Leigh (Bethany Anne Lind) accidentally kills a man on her property, which Leigh decides to cover up. Leigh’s life becomes unraveled as she struggles to keep her son safe, her livelihood secure, and the deceased’s girlfriend (Elizabeth Rohm) at bay. Blood on Her Name is a hauntingly beautiful southern film noir movie that never feels the need to explain everything as we are thrown into the mix right from the start when we, along with Leigh, discover a dead body in her place of business. In a film where it seems, everyone is guilty of something and has something to hide, it’s hard to determine who to believe, but we do choose to root for Leigh because she may be involved with something dark and seedy, we can see that at her heart, she is a good person. Bethany Anne Lind gives a complex and multilayered performance as Leigh, that propels the film to its gritty finale. Leigh lives in a world where your mistakes will eventually catch up to you, and you hope that those mistakes of the past don’t cost you your life.    My Rating: Full Price   Blood on Her Name Website   

Forgotten Film: In The Loop (2009)   Shot in mock-documentary style, this hilarious film is about the people who work in the upper elections of government and how one badly miscommunicated statement can mushroom into a major problem. The US and Britain are trying to decide if they will declare war against an unnamed Middle Eastern country. I love this film and its quick and witty dialogue. The cast is brilliant with James Gandolfini, as a US general who is anti-war and Peter Capaldi as the communication director of the British Prime Mister stand out in roles that they just go nuts in. Why this film didn’t do well at the box office is beyond me because there are lines spoken that should be part of the banter of anyone who loves to quote movies.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again     In the Loop Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Invisible Man: Head of Music Preparation

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: The Climb (2019) R   The friendship of two guys (Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin) as seen in a series of different chapters of their lives through the years. The film was the talk of the Sundance Film Festival as it is shot in a series of long takes. My fellow film critics that have seen the movie haven’t stopped talking about it. have seen the movie haven’t stopped talking about it.     The Climb Info

Until Next Time!