The Frame

This is in a way a mystery, but a very quiet and unassuming one. Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) goes to live with her estranged sister Lea and her family, but there’s obviously a lot of baggage that we can’t figure out immediately. Over the course of the film it’s revealed that Juliette has just gotten out of prison after a 15-year sentence, and for what – I don’t want to spoil it because each deeper revelation really is wonderfully paced and acted by Thomas.

It’s hard to write much about the film, though, without spoiling it. I’ll just say that even though some of the subject matter is pretty devastating, I really felt at home in this movie, somehow. It’s to the great credit of the actors and director that even though the characters are often aloof and frustrated with each other, finding it difficult to connect after such a long time apart (and for such a reason), that I felt great empathy for all of them and wanted (in some cinematic way) to be with their dysfunctional family, and to understand them.

Challenge Week 37: Silver Linings Playbook

By Jandy

On October 9, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. David O. Russell films often leave me feeling a little bit off, and with the combination mental health and football fan angles in this one, I was afraid it would be overly simplistic and/or maudlin and/or too sports-related. It’s actually a very enjoyable, old-fashioned romantic comedy/drama, very well balanced between the main character’s attempts to get healthy and his budding romance.

I’ve liked Bradley Cooper since Alias days, so I’m glad he’s getting some great parts like this and recognition for them. And he’s very good as a bipolar guy just getting out of the hospital, moving back in with his parents, and trying to figure out how to reconnect with his wife…who has a restraining order against him. He’s a bit delusional about her, but it’s very believable and even if you wish you could smack it out of him, you know it’s just something he’s got to learn for himself.

Challenge Week 37: Requiem for a Dream

By Jandy

On October 9, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

This has been on my to-watch list for a very long time, thanks to falling in love with Aronofsky’s The Fountain and realizing I probably couldn’t call myself a huge Aronofsky fan without having seen his most well-known film. Fast-forward several years and I’ve now seen almost every Aronofsky film EXCEPT this one. Ha. I figured I’d get it during this challenge, and my friend Elisabeth came through.

The film follows four characters as they fall deeper and deeper into drug addiction. Jared Leto and his buddy Marlon Wayans continually hock Leto’s mom’s TV to score, but then move into dealing, hoping to hit it big (a plan Leto’s girlfriend Jennifer Connelly is on board with, because then she’d get the really good stuff). Leto’s mom Ellen Burstyn spends all her time watching a game show on TV, then gets hooked on diet pills that are basically speed when she thinks she might have a chance to be on the show. All these people are delusional and eventually their addictions get the better of them in horrific ways.

Challenge Week 36: Paris, Texas

By Jandy

On October 5, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

As a huge fan of Wings of Desire, I’ve been really eager to see more Wim Wenders films, especially this one. I didn’t know much about what it was about, though.

It’s kind of a road movie, with Walt (Dean Stockwell) finding his brother Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) wandering through the desert in Utah or somewhere, and bringing him home. Turns out Walt and his wife have been taking care of Travis’ son since Travis and his wife Jane both basically disappeared off the face of the earth. The rest of the movie has Travis first trying to repair his relationship with his son, then the two of them going to find Jane.

Challenge Week 36: 3 Women

By Jandy

On September 27, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

Well, that was absolutely nothing like what I expected. Here’s what I expected: a complex and realistic character study of three women with a complicated friendship. Like, I dunno, Interiors crossed with Frances Ha. Here’s what the film is: a fever dream of shifting and merging identities, sometimes violently, always awkwardly, and often disturbingly. I was fascinated.

Apparently the idea for the film came to Altman in a dream, which I totally believe, because this is very unlike any of the other Altman films I’ve seen. Sissy Spacek is a shy, wet-behind-the-ears young girl who gets a job at a spa and quickly idolizes a confident and chatty Shelley Duvall who shows her the ropes. But Duvall’s confidence is somewhat misplaced, as becomes painfully obvious when she has lunch over at the doctor’s building and thinks she’s flirting wildly with everyone when they’re really ignoring her completely. Spacek is enthralled, though, follows Duvall everywhere, and quickly manages to become her roommate. Then they meet the third woman, a nearly silent Janice Rule, the very pregnant wife of Duvall’s landlord who spends all her time painting bizarre primitive art on every concrete surface she can find.

Challenge Week 38: I’ve Loved You So Long

Challenge Week 37: Silver Linings Playbook

Challenge Week 37: Requiem for a Dream

Challenge Week 36: Paris, Texas

Challenge Week 36: 3 Women