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Permanent (2017)
We Are Poor and I Like It!
This movie is another quirky fun project in which Patricia Arquette absolutely shines. Playing the socially awkward, lonely, yet grounded in her circumstance matriarch of the Dickson family, Arquette brings especially weird 80s fashion to life and ridiculous heights. Rainn Wilson as the matriarch is equally brilliant at making his character seem out of place in their small town Virginia (after moving over from D. C.). He seems much more insecure about himself, especially his hair. Rounding out the family is daughter Aurelie, played by Kira McLean who begs her parents for a hair perm before starting school as the new kid. Things go sideways from there. I loved McLean's portrayal of Aurelie so much. While she is aware of the weirdness of her family and even exhibits her own quirkiness, her character is rooted in her own self-confidence despite the hurdles that teenage throws at you. She even manages to make a new friend.
While the story line seems a bit lacking, we thoroughly enjoyed the acting and quirkiness of the movie.
Tiptoes (2002)
Tiptoeing Around This Trainwreck
We chose this movie because we are huge Patricia Arquette fans. And she is the ONLY reason we made it through the movie with a bit of fun.
The story felt contrived. What was the point?
Matthew McConaughey overreacted his part of the total jerk. Gary Oldman as a little person was just plain weird! Why would they have so many little people as supporting cast and extras only to cast a non-dwarf as one of the main supporting characters? The rest of the cast was mediocre at best.
And what's with the title of the movie? It almost feels insulting unless it refers to our recommendation to tiptoe right around this one, aka, skip it.
Wildflower (1991)
A Sweet Coming-Of-Age Story
Wildflower is a beautiful gem of a TV movie with an outstanding performance by Patricia Arquette as partially deaf young woman who suffers from epileptic seizures and is held captive in a shed by her abusive stepfather.
Reese Witherspoon is playing Ellie, one of her earliest roles, who discovers Alice and starts to befriend her. Both women's excellent performance is greatly supported by Beau Bridge playing Ellie's and Sammy's dad.
The story line, while predictable, is well thought out, but unfortunately the writing is rather poorly executed, resulting in some uneven storytelling and what feels like an unfinished ending. Another thing that threw us off was that odd rose bush. If it were a real rose bush, this is not how one plucks a wild rose.
All in all a worthwhile and enjoyable film with some great performances.
Master (2022)
Well Done Allegory of Living and Dying While Black In America
This was a thought-provoking movie, allegorical in every sense. The terror of living as a black person, even more so as a black woman, in America was depicted well through the suspense and tension building up. The lack of a climax shock event each time seemed intentional, to highlight how much of a non-event the terror of black people is for white people.
I also liked the reversal of passing (at least that was my take on it).
The title of the movie certainly has triggering affect when put into historical context in the United States.
There were some scenes were we couldn't figure out what their purpose or meaning was.
The Ghost and the Whale (2017)
Chasing the Ghost of the Whale
Maurice Benard does a tremendous performance of a bipolar man grieving the loss of his wife in an accident at sea where he can't remember what happened, while navigating the resentment, hate, and doubt of the small town in which he lives, Bodega Bay (of The Birds fame), surrounding his guilt or innocence.
The film gets a lot right; the small town feel of suspicion and factions, the portrayal of untreated bipolar 1 disorder, the different ways in which people deal with grief, or choose not to.
The sub plot of the writer coming to town to investigate Annabel's disappearance seemed superfluous and distracting.
Although his arrival at Bodega Bay, being attacked by a crow with Tippi Hedren sitting on the porch watching was a nice nod to a classic.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
My Kind of Silver Lining
There is so much to unpack in this movie. It is as multi-layered as the characters in their affliction, a fluctuation between hell and manic exhilaration. Watching two flawed people, one with a diagnosed mental disorder, and the other one with an undiagnosed mental illness, find each other amidst life, family, friends, and Western medical therapy inflicting their world views upon Tiffany's and Pat's daily life is visceral, funny, triggering, even satisfying at times.
The dance competition routine is fantastic and shows in a brilliantly artistic way the highs and lows of BPD.
If you or somebody you know suffers from a mood swing disorder, this is an absolute must-watch!
Pariah (2011)
I'm not runnin', I'm choosin'...
This indie packed a punch, taking a critical look at Intersectionality from several different angles; blackness, womanhood, sexuality, gender identity, faith vs religion.
Lee's struggle of belonging in her different social settings was beautifully portrayed by Adepero Oduye, constantly remaking herself outwardly to fit in either at home or within her chosen circle of friends and community that speaks to her true inner self.
The dysfunctional home feels all too close to the real life struggle of teenagers trying to find their place in social settings as well as figuring out their sexual and gender identity, exacerbated here by the mom's extreme attachment to religion.
It's an indie gem that helps us better understand the immeasurable struggles especially for LGBTQ+ teenagers that all too often have tragic consequences.
Steel Magnolias (2012)
Nothing Like The Classic
While this was a solid performance by Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, Alfre Woodard, and Adepero Oduye, it was too close to the original (down to the dialog) to not compare and too far away from the energy and chemistry between the characters in the original.
Queen Latifah brought a very different (I suspect intentional) energy to M'Lynn's character that just didn't work for me.
Although the original makes me cringe these days for its problematic undertones and the southern US antebellum feel, the performances by Sally Fields, Julia Roberts, Shirley McClain, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, and Tom Skerritt are "unremakeable".
Look Both Ways (2022)
What if....
Not on equal footing with Sliding Doors, but nonetheless enjoyable and well done. It was a bit too corny for our taste.
On a side note, we loved the positive portrayal of Gabe as an involved dad.
Keep Breathing (2022)
An Allegory of Self-Discovery
This was a rollercoaster for us. We were ready to quit after watching 1 1/2 episodes. It seemed to lag depth, things seemed too convenient for a wilderness survival movie, and the flashbacks seemed annoying. But we decided to push through. And what a treat it became.
It is an emotionally challenging yet rewarding piece of filmmaking that should resonate especially with those who have unresolved childhood trauma. We recommend it.
To Be of Service (2019)
Soldiers are not trained for retirement
This is an impactful, thought-provoking documentary that touches on service animals saving the lives of service members.
It is well worth watching and discussing the many topics on which it touched.
The criticism here is that it was too ambitious for a less than 1.5 hr documentary. This topic is deep and wide enough to easily make a multi-episode documentary that provides more depth on specific aspects of service, shortcomings of our systems that are supposed to take care of service members, and the benefits and process of service animals.
Still well worth watching and reflecting on it.
No Men Beyond This Point (2015)
A Pin Cushion of Opportunity
This was interesting. Weird. Comical. Over the top. Underwhelming.
The premise had a lot of promise, flipping the patriarchy on its head. Sadly, it didn't deliver for us in providing meaningful entertainment. It just meandered through the hour and a half, pricking (no pun intended) a number of divisive social subjects without ever really punching a hole.
I am also not sure I liked the vehicle of a mockumentary as a way to deliver.
This Changes Everything (2018)
Gender Discrimination in Hollywood
Excellent and eye-opening documentary on the misogyny and gender discrimination of women in Hollywood. It would have been a 10 for me if it would have had a female director.
How to Become a Tyrant (2021)
Informative but poorly conceived presentation
I found the content very informative, but the jovial presentation of these horrendous tyrants was a complete fail for me, to the point of being disrespectful to the millions of people who were murdered by these monsters.
When They See Us (2019)
Systemic Racism On Display
Powerful. Infuriating. Heartbreaking.
Only wish the lighting of the series would have been better. We couldn't see most of the scenes because the lighting was so dark.
The Circle (2017)
No, No, No, and No
Oh, what a mess this was. My expectation were high for this movie, 1) for Tom Hanks and Emma Watson being in it and 2) for the subject matter. It is truly frightening to imagine how far we will let technology take our obsession with 24/7 availability through social media, and how much tech companies are willing to push moral and ethical boundaries. So, I gave it three stars for the three above mentioned reasons. Everything else in this movie was not worth a mention, whether it be the storyline, the development of the story, the depth of the story, or the depth or even presence of supporting characters.
The Help (2011)
The Courage To Believe
I really wanted to love the movie as much as I loved the book. Unfortunately, the movie fell short of the book by quite a bit. While I did enjoy watching it, I found that some of the story lines as well as the depth of some of the characters, especially Elizabeth Lefolt, suffered from the necessity of shortening the story to fit it into a 2 hour and 17 minutes movie. The acting of all main characters was solid, with my favorites being Minnie Aibeleen and Mrs. Walters. It is an entertaining movie to watch, but it does not measure up to the book. What made the movie fun to watch that one cannot experience reading the book was the soundtrack and the gorgeous cars.
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Beating the odds by getting even
This movie is truly one of my favorite ones. I have seen it so many times that I am actually afraid to take away the excitement of the movie trying to give a plot summary.
The basic story line is (based on true events) a young, single mom of three is struggling to survive life, pay the bills and just find her lot in life. Working for her new employer a law firm she stumbles across a pro bono case that will rock her world and change not just her life forever...
To sum it up in one sentence ... if you don't mind some profanities and you like Julia Roberts you have to watch the movie (if you already haven't).