Judy J,, CA

I saw a good film about vincent Van Gogh called Vincent and Theo. Theo was his brother.  Vincent was a troubled soul who shot himself at 42

 

Denny G., FL.

Didn't want to go another month without contributing, but can't remember what I sent for the March issue.  I hope you had a lovely Easter. I haven't been to the movie theater lately, but do have a couple I've streamed.

            Anora (2024) - Streamed on Hulu, I think:  Casey and I watched this the afternoon of the Oscars - we wanted to get one more nominated movie in before watching the Academy Awards that evening!  I'll admit - I wasn't prepared for that!  We thought it was a good movie (and parts of it were a riot), but Best Picture?  No, I don't think so considering the competition.  Not attempting to take anything away from it, but the whole movie awards thing is so different these days - a good example being Everything Everywhere All at Once.  This one was definitely better!

            The Place Beyond The Pines (2012) - Netflix:  I agree with your review (see Archives).  I really like Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, but I kept waiting to be really moved in some way - I just wasn't particularly.  Rotten Tomatoes had a pretty decent rating for this film about three stories ( a motorcycle stunt rider, a policeman, their two sons 15 years later and the consequences of the fathers' and sons' actions), but it fell a bit short for me. 

            Adolescence (2025) - Netflix:  This is more of a series really, but it's quite good (a very serious series about a 13-year old boy arrested for murdering a classmate).  I was especially impressed with Stephen Graham who plays the father of the accused teenager.

            Documentaries I would recommend:  STILL (2023) - Apple TV Michael J. Fox - have always loved this guy):  Agree with your review - it's amazing how he has dealt with his challenges, and THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA (2023) - Netflix:  Very interesting - Orin O'Brien is charming.

            Don't think anyone mentioned the Oscars, but I think Conan O'Brien was just fine.  It's not the show it used to be (not quite the excitement and glamour of yesteryear), but then again.....the films today aren't either.  Too lengthy, but tastefully done for the most part.

​

Joanna C., AZ

            Hollywood through Time's Post: A former professor of mine and a friend taught cinema at the University of Rochester.  He posted this. You might find him an interesting connection .  His name is George Grella and you can find this post and more at his Facebook page:

            Sorcerer (1977) is a tense thriller directed by William Friedkin, best known for The Exorcist and The French Connection. A remake of the 1953 French film The Wages of Fear, it follows four men from different parts of the world who find themselves in a remote South American village, each running from their past. Desperate for escape, they accept a dangerous job transporting volatile nitroglycerin through treacherous jungle terrain to help extinguish an oil well fire. The film’s title metaphorically refers to the uncontrollable forces of fate that haunt the characters. Despite its gripping story, Sorcerer faced challenges at the box office, primarily because it was released just after Star Wars (1977), which dominated theaters. Audiences expecting another Friedkin blockbuster were instead met with a slow-burn, existential thriller with minimal dialogue and an intense focus on mood and tension. The film’s opening, which spends significant time establishing each character’s backstory, initially confused viewers but later gained appreciation for its deep character development. One of Sorcerer’s most famous sequences is the nerve-wracking scene where the trucks cross a rickety, rain-soaked suspension bridge, with the cargo threatening to explode at any moment. Friedkin insisted on using practical effects, shooting on location in the Dominican Republic under extreme conditions. The production was plagued by budget overruns, crew illnesses, and logistical nightmares, making it as grueling as the film itself. The eerie, electronic score by Tangerine Dream added to the film’s haunting, almost surreal atmosphere. Though a box office disappointment, Sorcerer has since been reevaluated as one of Friedkin’s greatest works. Many modern directors, including Christopher Nolan, have praised its intensity and craftsmanship. Today, it is regarded as a lost gem of 1970s cinema, a gripping meditation on fate, survival, and human desperation.

 

Mike B., AZ

Thanks, Barb & Gery

 

Barbara R.,AZ

Thank you!

 

Art S., IN

Hi Barbara and Gary--Thanks for the latest movie reviews.  I always look forward to reading them.  I mainly see movies in theaters, so don't watch them on TV or streaming services.  Well, it may be Spring there but not here in Indiana.  It's in the 40s and 30s here in the mornings and will be down to 27 degrees by next Tuesday, but that's just Indiana for you.  I'm too old to move to a warmer climate and would never move back to Florida, where I grew up, because of the politics there.  Besides, almost all the people I knew there have died.  Luckily, I've made some younger friends here, who are only in their 70s and 80s!

 

Carol M., AZ

Thanks, Barb, Always enjoy your reviews.

 

 

 

Art S.,IN – Reviews

         Dorothy arranged a Tuesday afternoon movie for a group of us to see, and at first I was somewhat ambivalent about going because the movie's title was The Penguin Lessons and I wasn't sure I wanted to see a penguin, no matter how cute and bright he might seem, as a main character in a movie that adults would want to see. I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to go and am I glad and thankful to Dorothy for choosing it. It was a beautiful movie, well-acted and well-directed and photographed. It was based on true events that happened in the 1970s. Steve Coogan plays a British teacher starting a new job at a private boys' school in Argentina. He has a week off and goes to Paraguay where circumstances allow him to get a penguin who is the only survivor of many who died in an oil slick. He brings the penguin back to Argentina where he hopes to find a zoo that will take him. This is all against a background of political turmoil going on, with people disappearing, with most never to be found again. (Curiously, it is the same background for the movie, "I'm Still Here", which recently played here and won a lot of awards--also based on true events.) This movie mixes comedy and drama, as the teacher is trying to escape a tragic episode in his own life--his daughter has been killed in an auto accident by a drunk driver. He teaches or tries to teach English to the boys who are rowdy and not too interested in learning much new until the penguin enters their lives and the classroom. The penguin mainly just listens and everyone around him seems to want someone to listen to them. It's totally non-Disney-like and that's where the great direction comes in. It has a sad/happy ending, which I won't elaborate on, but go to a theater to see it or if you can find it on your streaming services, be sure to watch it. 

            Four of us went to the Art Cinema to see the new movie, Bob Trevino Likes It. The young woman at the center of the film is looking for her father on the Internet when someone with the same name befriends her and they start on a path toward a wonderful friendship. The man is played by John Leguizamo, about the only actor I recognized. He has a wife and a sad history but this is no affair that he wants as one might think from the way they met and their rather aggressive pursuit of becoming good friends. The girl has grown up being treated badly by her father, who seems only interested in himself. In one shocking scene, he presents her with a list of things he has bought her and what their cost was, insinuating that she needs to pay him back for all the money he has spent "raising" her, starting with baby food. Needless to say, she had trouble expressing her anger even when taken to a "rage room" where she is told she can destroy everything she wants. I won't reveal any more particulars in the story, but it is interesting and is based on true events--in the woman director's real life. Most of the acting is good, except for a couple of minor players who seemed over the top in their performances. It has won several awards and people seem to love it. In the last few scenes I'll bet there wasn't a dry eye among any of those watching it. A very sad but at the same time a rather uplifting movie. Whoever comes up with movie titles these days aren't very smart, especially if they want their movie to attract a large audience. While the title does fit the movie and is descriptive, it's a very poor choice.

            I ended up seeing the new movie, The Ballad of Wallis Island by myself, as the group I usually attend with went last week and I didn't go because I didn't think I would like it as much as some other movies playing, but then a friend told me that while it started out slow, it got better and that the ending was really interesting, so I went to see it by myself--and really by myself, as there were only 9 other people in the rather large theater, where they put new movies expected to be there for awhile. Well, it did start out slowly but very quirky. It's a British film billed as a comedy, but more like a drama in my opinion. I wasn't familiar with any of the actors, except Carey Mulligan, whom I usually like. The storyline is about a very strange man who has won the lottery twice and with some of the second million he's won, he decides to get his two favorite singers/songwriters to come to the rather isolated island where he lives in a huge old home he bought there with his first million and where he lived with his late wife, who died about five years before this story begins. He has a lot of quirks--for example, he plays tennis on his private tennis court against no one, so he only has perfected his serve, which the musician he's invited to the island to give a concert just for him, cannot return his serves. He can't play any other tennis well--just the serves. He has invited his two favorite singers to put on a show for less than a hundred people he tells one of them, when really he is the ONLY one to be in the audience. He only tells one of them about this but is planning to pay them each half a million to a third of a million dollars. The singers, who were also lovers, broke up their collaboration years ago and haven't seen each other since, so there is quite a bit of tension between them. I won't go into any more of the rather strange couple of days of practice before the concert, but the last two scenes are very interesting where one man jumps in the ocean thinking he will save the other who may be planning to drown himself (or not). One scene has the musician leaving the island to return home and he opens a small suitcase and the contents are surprising. Then the next scene shows the only other person on the island who had been invited to the concert--well, I won't tell you what she is carrying. Two things I had trouble understanding was a faucet that kept dripping and why the millionaire jumped into the ocean without even taking his shoes off. It would make a good movie to be discussed afterward because of all the quirky dialogue and off-the-wall comments by the millionaire.