The Broken Hearts Gallery

Note to readers: I currently am not willing to risk my health (I’m 62 and an asthmatic) by visiting a theatre. All films that I have seen for review have been screened in my home. I am not going to tell you whether or not to attend a theatre. Just be aware of the risks, do your research, and please, if you do, follow all the safety procedures to the letter.

My View: The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020) PG-13     Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan), an art gallery assistant, has horrible taste in men and has a memento from every lousy relationship she has been in. She decides to start up her own gallery where people can leave items to display that have been left behind by former lovers. This might be the fresh start that Lucy and all other romantics out there need. All you need to know is that as soon as Geraldine Viswanathan appears on the screen, you will fall in love with her as the lovelorn but determined Lucy. The film doesn't have a great plot (how the gallery will ever make money is beyond me), predictable, and takes a little too long to conclude, but none of that matters because Viswanathan is just a force to be reckoned with. Viswanathan is a type of actress who makes you happy to be seeing her on-screen, with such a warm and winning presence that it almost overpowers her romantic lead, Dacre Montgomery; however, there is some great chemistry between the two. I thoroughly enjoyed Lucy’s two roommates/sidekicks (Phillipa Soo, Molly Gordon), who make the film even better to watch as they add some brilliant comic relief. I rolled in the aisle as they bet each other on how long each of Lucy’s relationships will last or described how they were going to hurt one of her boyfriends by a couple of outlandish means. The two are always there to not only pick up the pieces after each Lucy boyfriend breakup but also are remarkable wing women, ready to sing karaoke with the best of them. You are going to have a great time helping Lucy fill out her gallery of broken hearts.    My Rating: Full Price     The Broken Hearts Gallery Website  The film is currently in theatres.

Indiefest: All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020) PG-13   The documentary takes a look at the history and current activism against voter suppression in this country, putting a spotlight on a threat to the fundamental rights of citizens of the United States. This is a must-watch film about what we all take for granted, the right to vote, and how, if you look at America's history, just how hard that right is to achieve. The film does a superlative job of giving us an insight into how fragile the idea of voting by everyone is. The film centers on Stacy Abrams, who ran a hard-fought race for Georgia's governorship, losing by an incredibly narrow margin, even though the odds had been stacked against her. All In is a film that will piss you off at all the injustices which have occurred to keep the status quo in power and how important your vote and voice are in a world determined to stack the deck against democracy.    My Rating: Full Price     All In: The Fight for Democracy Website     Currently in select theatres and available on the Amazon platform starting Sept. 18th.

Indiefest: Rent-a-Pal (2020)   Set in 1990, David (Brian Landis Folkins) is a lonely bachelor who is stuck caring for his aging mother (Kathleen Brady). While seeking a partner through a dating service, he discovers a VHS tape call Rent-A-Pal. Hosted by Andy (Wil Wheaton), the service seems to fit David’s needs for company and friendship until David realizes that Andy’s friendship comes at a price, a price that David might not be able to afford. Rent-A-Pal is a strange, creepy film that takes a few steps in the right direction but ultimately falls apart by the third act. Some of the film is interesting as David slowly becomes under the spell of the idea that the only person in the world that understands him is on a pre-recorded videotape. I never felt fully engaged with the film, though at times I did enjoy the performance of Brian Landis Folkins, a sort of sad-sack everyman who can’t seem to get a break. The film’s final third doesn’t work as it becomes an attempt to become a horror film. The ending feels forced and predictable, taking away some of the enjoyment that I had during the film's early portions.    My Rating: Cable      Rent-A-Pal Website    The film is available in select theatres and available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Indiefest: Red White & Wasted (2019)   The film follows a family as Florida’s redneck culture is threatened as Orlando's last mud-hole is being shut down. This documentary follows a divorced dad, Matthew, who is raising two teenage daughters as he laments his glory days as a video hound who documented the pastime of mudding (big trucks running around in the mud). The film is a look into the world of the redneck, racist Trump supporters whose life revolves around guns, trucks, and the confederate flag. The film follows Matthew as he struggles to make a living finding metals for recycling, often going into trash containers behind warehouses and businesses. Matthew’s biggest concern seems to be not his older daughter that gets pregnant or his younger daughter, who has epilepsy but the fact that he can’t find a place in Orlando anymore to go mudding. I got tired of watching Matthew digging through trash while complaining about how Trump would get rid of all the ‘illegals’ that take jobs away from ‘us taxpayers.’  Red, White & Wasted is a depressing look at an ugly side of America, with no sign of ever changing.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee      Red, White & Wasted Website   Available for rent on participating on-demand services

Indiefest: The Social Dilemma (2020) PG-13   Documentary on how a handful of tech designers control the way we think, act, and live. After watching this film, you may never look at your smartphone the same way again. A genuinely fascinating film about how Internet companies like Facebook and Twitter use data to custom your experience on the Internet, whether you want it or not. This is a film that has quite a bit of alarming information on just how influential these companies are, including the incredible rise of things like suicides by teens (especially girls) and how some of the platforms may have started as a way to reach out to people but have become increasingly a way that isolates us. The film is packed full of information, some of it jaw-dropping, but never seems dull or slow. Not everything works in this film, and I did not enjoy the attempt to create drama by having us follow a fictional family as they go down the Internet rabbit hole, concentrating on the teenage boy of the family who becomes obsessed with some things he finds on the Internet. The film does a great job explaining the science of the Internet, as told to us by some of the very people who worked for the companies that now fill up your online life.   My Rating: Full Price     The Social Dilemma Website   The film is available on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest: Jimmy Carter: Rock and Roll President (2020)   Documentary about how Jimmy Carter, a little known governor from the state of Georgia, used a tight bond with musicians to fund his campaign and give him a crucial boost in the Democratic primaries. No matter your political leaning, you have to admit that Jimmy Carter is a kind and spiritual man. Knowing of his vast history of humanitarian work, that didn’t surprise me. What blew me away was how cool Carter was and is when it comes to music. Carter’s love and appreciation for music came from his time in Southern churches during his childhood. The film does an incredible job letting us into Carter’s time as a governor of Georgia and his unexpected rise to become the President. Carter used his connections with Southern musicians, like Charlie Daniels or Greg Allman, to get people to his political rallies. The film gives us insight into just how close Carter was to musicians like Allman or Willie Nelson, and when some of them got into trouble that Carter would stand by them. The film is full of extraordinary archival footage of concerts and rallies and interviews with Dylan, Allman, and Nelson. One of my favorite parts throughout the film is when some of these great, iconic musicians read poems that Jimmy Carter has written, punctuating the man and his beliefs. Jimmy Carter: Rock and Roll President is the feel-good, joyful film we need during this time or heck, anytime. Rock on Jimmy!    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again     Jimmy Carter: Rock and Roll President Website     In select theatres and available for rent on participating on-demand services.

Forgotten Film: Feeling Minnesota (1996) R   Freddie (Cameron Diaz) is a former stripper who is forced to marry Sam (Vincent D’Onofrio) to pay off a gambling debt by a local drug kingpin named Red (Delroy Lindo). Things get complicated when Freddie meets Sam’s brother, Jjaks (Keanu Reeves), and they instantly fall in love with each other. Freddie and Jjaks go on the lam together, with Sam and Red hot on their heels. This is a fun and peculiar romantic comedy that has murder, shoot-outs, and a ton of twists and turns that keep this film moving at an almost breathtaking speed. The reason to see this film is just how good an actress Cameron Diaz was. There are very few actors who could pull off this role, making you fall in love with Freddie and hope that she and Jjaks somehow get out of the mess they have gotten themselves into. Feeling Minnesota is a blast to watch and has an awesome scene-stealing cameo by Dan Ackroyd that you have to see.   My Rating: Full Price     Feeling Minnesota Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Broken Hearts Gallery: Executive Producer Selena Gomez

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Secrets We Keep (2020) R   Maja (Noomi Rapace), after suffering horribly in Europe during World War II, has relocated to America and is living happily in the suburbs with her husband (Chris Messina). One afternoon Maja encounters a man she believes attacked her and her family during the war. On impulse, Maja kidnaps the man and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she thinks he committed. I have been a big fan of Noomi Rapace since her groundbreaking role as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Swedish film series (so much better than the Hollywood version). I won’t miss this one.     The Secrets We Keep Info

Until Next Time!

Made In Italy

                      

My View: Made in Italy (2020) R    An estranged father, Robert (Liam Neeson) and son, Jack (Micheal Richardson), travel to Italy to sell a family home in Italy. The house brings up a tragic past, including the death of Robert’s wife and Jack’s troubled childhood. I enjoyed this film, but I am not sure it was the storyline that I enjoyed but the scenery. The plot is pretty thin and predictable, and as soon as Jack meets Natalia (Valeria Bilello), a local divorced restaurant owner, we know that they will end up together. The question is not when Robert and Jack will solve their relationship (a little too quickly with all the baggage involved if you ask me), but how. But hey, maybe this is just the fun, warm, romantic film we need.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Made in Italy Website    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

                                   Indiefest: Red Penguins (2019) PG-13    Shortly after the Soviet Union's collapse, an NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins bought a fifty percent interest in the infamous Red Army hockey team. Pittsburgh sent a young, New Yorker marketing executive to oversee the operation that became a wild ride of high jinks, including strippers and live bears on the ice, an attempted overthrow of the government, and the Russian mafia. In 2014, filmmaker Gabe Polsky brought us one of the best documentaries of that year, a film called Red Army about the story of the infamous Soviet Union’s Red Army hockey team that dominated the Olympics (except for that little ‘miracle on ice’ game). Well, Polsky has done it again in telling this story of a wild and brash marketing guy, Steven Warshaw, who traveled to Russia and tried to bring American know how on how to promote a team to the icy and broken area in Moscow. You are not going to believe some of the stories that are told in this film. Some are so unbelievable that if they were part of a Hollywood comedy, you would go, ‘that would never happen.’ This film is a blast to watch and no, you don’t have to be a sports fan to enjoy it. In fact, I was sorry that the experiment went on for such a short time. I would have loved to see what would have happened when Warshaw had to deal on a regular basis with the Russian mafia.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again     Red Penguins Website     Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

                                         

Indiefest: The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019) R   James (Claes Bang), an ambitious art dealer, is hired by a wealthy art collector (Mick Jagger) to steal a rare painting from one of the most mysterious painters of all time (Donald Sutherland). I went into this film hoping for a stylized thriller about a heist pulled off by a sophisticated thief; instead, this is more of a psychological drama that turns very dark. I have never been a fan of Mick Jagger’s acting, and there is a reason he hasn’t been in a film for almost twenty years…he’s pretty bad at it. The plot is razor thin from the start, and then as the film goes along, that thin line begins to unravel, and by the end, the film wants to shock, but the only shock is how badly this film ends. I wish the film had taken a different route with James’s love interest, played by the always engaging Elizabeth Debicki. I kept waiting for a twist to happen, one that would have made this film enjoyable to watch, but instead, those twists never made it to the screen, and the ending left me feeling like a saw a movie that needed a few more drafts in the screenplay.    My Rating; Bargain Matinee     The Burnt Orange Heresy Website    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

                                       

My View: The Secret Garden (2020) PG   Mary (Dixie Egerickx) has just come from India, where she lost her whole family to cholera. She is sent to a manor in Yorkshire to live with her uncle (Colin Firth) and his housekeeper (Julie Walters). Mary soon learns that the estate is home to a treasure trove of secrets, including a hidden garden locked away by her uncle for years after his wife's death. Sometimes we need to believe in magic, and that is one of the messages of The Secret Garden. You know the story (it has been made into countless films), but this film perfectly captures the book's essence with some additions of its own. The cast is led by Dixie Egerckx, who gives an enchanting and delightful performance of a young girl who has lost her parents and feels abandoned. We get to see the hidden garden in Mary's eyes, as it works its powers of rejuvenation on not only Mary but everyone who enters its grounds. The Secret Garden is filled with beautiful scenes, as Mary’s presence seems to bring the garden to its former glory. This is a story that the whole family can enjoy, and you will want to explore the special grounds with Mary and her fellow group of misfit adventures.    My Rating: Full Price     The Secret Garden Website     Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

  

                                    

Indiefest:    Creem: America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine      (2019)       Documentary on the legendary music magazine in 1969 to the untimely death of its publisher Barry Kramer in 1981. I was always a bigger fan of Rolling Stone, but that’s because they paid attention to movies as well as music. Creem was all about rock ’n’ roll and maybe a little sex also. It is a fantastic story about a bunch of music lovers who decided they would put out a magazine, and they didn’t care who they offended. Home to some of the greatest music critics of their generation, the magazine was on the cutting edge of music, often deciding who or what type of music was worthing checking out. The documentary does a great job of giving us an inside look on how crazy it was to work there, especially the early years where just getting to the office every day was a matter of taking your life into your own hands. The film is bittersweet as, like many of the rock stars the magazine wrote about, the magazine also burned bright for a time but ultimately died too soon. If you love great stories about the rock scene of the 70s and the legendary people who wrote about it, this is a film you will want to see.    My Rating: Full Price     Creem Website     Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

                                       

Indiefest: She Dies Tomorrow (2020)    Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil) is convinced that she is going to die tomorrow, and it sends her on a downward spiral. Amy’s friend Jane (Jane Adams) soon discovers that Amy’s feeling of imminent death is contagious, and they start a journey that might be their last day on earth. I feel that this is another one of those films that many critics are going to love because it is so mysterious and existential. On the other hand, I was bored throughout the film, not caring what happened to any of the characters and continually looking at the clock to see how much more that I had to watch of this movie. The film takes forever to get going as we spend the first fifteen minutes of the film following Amy around her house as she keeps playing the same song repeatedly on the record player. The film gains a little ground as Jane, Amy’s friend, shows up, but that momentum is soon over as the malaise that Amy is feeling also takes over Jane. I’m just not a fan of this type of film, one that never really answers any questions and revels in being mysterious about what it is trying to say and feel. I kept thinking as I was watching this film, can it be tomorrow already?    My Rating: Cable      She Dies Tomorrow Website     Available for rent on participating on-demand services.

                                           

My View: Work It (2020)   When Quinn’s (Sabrina Carpenter) admission to the college of her dreams depends on her performance at a dance competition, she decides to form a dance troupe to take on the best squad in the school. The only problem, Quinn needs to learn how to dance. If you are a fan of one of the many dance competition TV shows, then this is a movie for you. The plot is pretty weak, as Quinn’s entrance into Duke depends on if she can make the dance team (even though she has a 4.0 and a ton of extra-curricular stuff), but Carpenter is fun as the spunky Quinn and its fun to see her transformation from a klutzy amateur to someone who can dance. The dance numbers are fun, though I must admit, the final dance-off numbers didn’t really wow me too much, but you will enjoy watching Quinn and her band of misfits try to bring win and maybe find a little romance to top it off.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee        Work It Website      Available on the Netflix platform.     

                                            

Indiefest:     I Used to Go Here (2020)   Kate (Gillian Jacobs) is at the top of the world. She just completed her new novel and is about to go on a big book tour; that is until the reviews come in, and her book is a big flop. Kate, with nowhere else to go, accepts a speaking engagement at her alma mater. The question is always, can you go home again? The answer is yes, but you might not like what you find there. Gillian Jacobs gives a charming and engaging performance of a woman returning to where life was exciting and full of promise and possibilities. Filmmaker Kris Ray provides us with a story that is fun to watch unfold, as Kate attempts to impress a former professor while also trying to relive the past. I loved the cast of this film, especially the college kids who Kate kind of latches onto when things spiral a bit. Like a weekend visit to an old haunt, this film scratches a very pleasant itch, and overall gives us an enjoyable ride.    My Rating: Full Price     I Used to Go Here Info    Available for rent on participating on-demand services.   

                                            

Forgotten Film: Return to Paradise (1998) R   Sheriff, Lewis, and Tony (Vince Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix, David Conrad) meet up in Malaysia and have a great time. Sheriff and Tony return to New York, and right after they leave, Lewis, unbeknownst to the other two, is arrested for possession of hash and is sentenced to death. Two years later, Sheriff and Tony are contacted by a lawyer (Anne Heche) and told if they go back and testify, Lewis will receive a life sentence, and the other two will have to serve three years in prison, if only one of them returns, it will be six years. The movie is about choices and how far you are willing to go to do the right thing. Heche is the reason to see this movie as she does everything she can to try and persuade the two men to save Lewis’s life. This is an incredibly interesting film that will have you questioning what you would do in their place.   My Rating: Full Price     Return to Paradise Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of The Secret Garden: Head Cutter

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020)  PG-13  Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan), an art gallery assistant, has horrible taste in men and has a memento from every lousy relationship she has been in. She decides to start up her own gallery where people can leave items to display that have been left behind by former lovers. This might be the fresh start that Lucy and all other romantics out there need. I loved Viswanathan in the TV show Miracle Workers, so I can’t wait for this one.       The Broken Hearts Gallery Info

                                         

                               

                                                      Until Next Time!