Lester’s Eight Independent Movie Recommendations I Know You Did Not See That Are Really Good

Lester’s Eight Independent Movie Recommendations I Know You Did Not See That Are Really Good

“KILLING THEM SOFTLY” - R 2012 ‧ Crime/Drama ‧ 1h 37m - When rival crook Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola) hatches a plan to rob a card game run by mob lackey Markie (Ray Liotta), he picks a low-rent thug named Frankie (Scoot McNairy) to do the job. Frankie picks a less-than-ideal partner (Ben Mendelsohn) to help him, but despite their combined incompetence, they manage to make off with the mob's money. In retaliation, Markie's bosses hire Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), a mob enforcer, to eradicate those responsible. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDyaNnrgdp4

“WINTER’S BONE” -  R 2010 ‧ Drama/Drama ‧ 1h 40m - Faced with an unresponsive mother and a criminal father, Ozark teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) does what she can to manage the household and take care of her two younger siblings. Informed by the sheriff (Garret Dillahunt) that their father put their home up for bond and then disappeared, Ree sets out on a dangerous quest to find him. Her entire family's fate now in her hands, Ree challenges her outlaw kin's code of silence and risks her life to learn her father's fate. HULU

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE_X2pDRXyY

“FROZEN RIVER” – R 2008 ‧ Drama/Crime ‧ 1h 37m - After her husband deserts her, working-class mother Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is in great need of money to find a home. Lured by the possibility of easy cash, Ray joins Lila (Misty Upham) a widowed Mohawk who earns a living by smuggling immigrants from Canada to the U.S. across the St. Lawrence. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5pPQdLN4mg

“JUNEBUG” - 2005 ‧ Drama/Comedy-drama ‧ 1h 47m - On the way to meet with an independent artist in the South, newlywed art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) is convinced by her husband, George (Alessandro Nivola), that they should stop to meet his family in North Carolina. Madeleine's affluent lifestyle clashes with the family, but she befriends George's wide-eyed and pregnant sister-in-law, Ashley (Amy Adams), who is nearing her due date. Through the family, Madeleine gains greater insight into George's character. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUj7k7Ypb60

“EVERYTHING MUST GO” - R 2010 ‧ Drama/Comedy-drama ‧ 1h 37m - Long time salesman Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell) has seen better days. No longer at the top of his game, Nick, an alcoholic, loses his job for showing up drunk one too many times. On the same day, he finds that his wife has dumped him -- and his possessions -- on the front lawn of their home. Facing the fact that his life is collapsing around him, Nick holds a giant yard sale that turns into a unique survival strategy. Based on a short story by Raymond Carver. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZC-s2oNLT0

“THE RED VOILIN” -  R 1998 ‧ Drama/Music ‧ 2h 20m – Mostly English – Some Subtitles – MY PERSONAL TOP 10 OF ALL TIME - The intricate history of a beautiful antique violin is traced from its creation in Cremona, Italy, in 1681, where a legendary violin maker (Carlo Cecchi) paints it with his dead wife's blood to keep her memory alive, to an auction house in modern-day Montreal, where it draws the eye of an expert appraiser (Samuel L. Jackson). Over the years between, the violin travels through four different countries, where it has a profound impact on all those who own it. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3feDUcDRNAg

“LOCKE” - 2013 ‧ Drama/Road ‧ 1h 25m - A man's (Tom Hardy) life unravels after he leaves a construction site at a critical time and drives to London to be present for the birth of a child conceived during a one-night stand. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_METW96TAFw

“SHORT TERM 12” - R 2013 ‧ Drama/Indie film ‧ 1h 37m - Calm and competent, Grace (Brie Larson) is a young counsellor at a California care unit for at-risk teens. However, her cool facade begins to crack in the pressure cooker atmosphere as she and some of the unruly residents are reminded of past and present abuses. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhS6tvSb0UQ

Lester’s Quarantine Viewing Recommendations

Lester’s Quarantine Viewing Recommendations

“BETTER THINGS” – FX Network - Family Comedy - Season 4 Currently on FX  - Seasons 1 - 3 on Hulu - `Better Things' is the story of Sam Fox, a single mother and working actor with no filter trying to raise her three daughters -- Max, Frankie, and Duke -- in Los Angeles. She also looks out for her mother, Phil, an English ex-patriate with questionable faculties who lives across the street. Whether she's struggling to keep her daughters close or trying to push one of them out of the nest, Sam approaches every challenge with fierce love, raw honesty, and humor. At the end of the day, Sam's just trying to earn a living, navigate her daughters' changing lives, survive her family, have fun with a friend or two, and also -- just maybe -- squeeze in some private time.

“WESTWORLD” – Science Fiction Drama - Season 3 Currently on HBO – Must see previous episodes in sequence to understand - Westworld isn't your typical amusement park. Intended for rich vacationers, the futuristic park -- which is looked after by robotic "hosts" -- allows its visitors to live out their fantasies through artificial consciousness. No matter how illicit the fantasy may be, there are no consequences for the park's guests, allowing for any wish to be indulged. "Westworld" -- which is based on the 1973 Michael Crichton movie of the same name -- features an all-star cast that includes Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and Golden Globe winner Ed Harris. Based on the 1973 landmark film.

“KILLING EVE” – BBC & AMC - Drama – Some Dark Comedic Tones – Season 3 Starts April 12^th – Must see previous episodes in sequence to understand - Eve's life as a spy is not adding up to what she had hoped it would be when she started. She is a bored, very smart, MI5 security officer who is very desk-bound. Villanelle is a very talented killer, mercurial in mood, who clings to the luxuries of her job. Eve and Villanelle go head to head in a fierce game of cat and mouse, each woman equally obsessed with the other as Eve is tasked with hunting down the psychopathic assassin.

“ALI WONG” – NEFLIX – Alexandra Wong is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She is noted for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra and Hard Knock Wife, both of which received critical acclaim.

“DAVE CHAPELLE” – NETFLIX – Needs no selling, he sells himself.

"THE LAST DANCE" - ESPN 10 Part Documentary -  Starts Sunday April 19 - The Last Dance is a 2020 sports documentary miniseries focusing on the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls. The series will feature film from a crew that had all-access pass to the Bulls during the National Basketball Association season

“ANTHONY JESELNIK”  His 2 Netflix one hour specials had me in stitches. With his “Fire in the Maternity Ward” and Thoughts and Prayers” Anthony Jeselnik gets right to it. There’s no opening sequence or introduction. We’re presented with a no political correct approach as one of the most measured disciplined hilarious standup comedians. Whereas some comics race to the punchline, he’ll repeat parts of the setup to punch up the tension.

“OZARK – NEFLIX – Season 3 now available – Created by Bill Dubuque ("The Accountant," "The Judge"), this drama series stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, a financial planner who relocates his family from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Ozarks. With wife Wendy and their two kids in tow, Marty is on the move after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong, forcing him to pay off a substantial debt to a Mexican drug lord in order to keep his family safe. While the Byrdes' fate hangs in the balance, the dire circumstances force the fractured family to reconnect.

“RUN” – HBO – Romantic Comedy -  April 12^th - Ruby Richardson walks away from her ordinary life in the suburbs to revisit her past with her college boyfriend, Billy Johnson. The two made a pact 17 years earlier: If either one of them texted the word "RUN" and the other replied with the same, they would drop everything and meet in Grand Central Station and travel across America together. Merritt Wever as Ruby Richardson, a woman looking to reinvent herself and Domhnall Gleeson as Billy Johnson, a successful life guru.

“THE GOOD FIGHT” – Subscription CBS Access -  Season 4 will premiere with two new episodes on Monday, April 9 and April 16. The series will then return from a one-week hiatus with additional episodes on April 30. - Must see previous episodes in sequence to understand. The series follows Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, as she loses her employment after an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's preeminent law firms.

“AFTERLIFE”   Season 2 - April 24 – Netflix - Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais stars in the comedy series, which he also writes and directs. Tony had a perfect life -- until his wife Lisa died. After that tragic event, the formerly nice guy changed. After contemplating taking his life, Tony decides he would rather live long enough to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he likes. He thinks of it as a superpower -- not caring about himself or anybody else -- but it ends up being trickier than he envisioned when his friends and family try to save the nice guy that they used to know.

“BETTER CALL SAUL” – AMC Season 5 finale – April 20 - He wasn't always Saul Goodman, ace attorney for chemist-turned-meth dealer Walter White. Six years before he begins to represent Albuquerque's most notorious criminal, Goodman is Jimmy McGill, a small-time attorney hustling to make a name for himself. He's a forceful champion for his low-income clients, an underdog whose morals and ambitions often clash. Jimmy works with private eye Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia cop and recent transplant to the Southwest. Mike has a specialized skill set -- he's a "fixer" of sticky situations -- that Jimmy soon learns to appreciate.

AVAILABLE NOW

FX “FARGO” Season 1 – 3 – Now on Hulu - Brilliant  - Occasionally Violent - Some of the best acting and writing ever assembled.

NETFLIX “PEAKY BINDERS”- Seasons 1 - 5 – Gritty – Violent Based on true story of UK Organized Crime 1900’s.

NETFLIX “GODLESS” – Multiple Emmy nominated and winning western drama.

HBO  “CHERNOBYL – Gripping – brilliant true story – great acting and writing.

FX “THE AMERICANS” – Now on HULU – A compelling drama for 6 straight seasons about Russian spies living in America during the 1980s.

STARZ - "LUTHER" - Seasons 1 - 5  A British crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as DCI John Luther and Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan. Luther is a brilliant but emotionally impulsive detective who is tormented by the dark side of humanity while hunting down murderers. Once the self-destructive detective knows the killer's identity, it becomes a psychological duel between predator and prey.

HBO "MCMILLIONS" - 10 part documentary - McMillions is a miniseries about the McDonald's Monopoly game scam that occurred between 1989 and 2001, perpetrated by Jerry Jacobson, who was in charge of security for the agency that ran the promotion, and several accomplices.

Emma - Review

Emma

“Emma” is a 2020 British comedy-drama film directed by Autumn de Wilde, from a screenplay by Eleanor Catton and is based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel of the same name. Its story follows specifically “Emma Woodhouse”, a young beautiful and highly vain woman who lives in a large mansion on the Hartford estate of her elderly father in the village of Highbury. “Emma” has absolutely no wish to marry but enjoys pairing her family and friends together so her daily preoccupation is to find new ways to interfere and delve in the love lives of her many friendships, loves and heartbreaks with a mix of drama, dramatic humor and romantic sweetness in this latest adaptation of the Jane Austen’s book. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, and Bill Nighy.

REVIEW: Personally I consider myself a bit of an anglophile when it comes to all things British, especially in regards to the theater, movies, plays and culture. So generally speaking I am usually eager to see these type of throwback films where the men collectively project chivalrous masculinity with their innate traits of honor, courage, grace nobility and loyalty, while the women equally exude their feminine ladylikeness with innate traits of gentleness, empathy, humility, sensitivity, sensuality and radiance. And with a running time of 2:02 minutes “Emma” is luxuriously steep in these many human qualities.

But inspite of it being almost flawless with its textured execution of these many esthetic human qualities, I found myself spending far too much time waiting for these performances to elevate the written material itself; to make it evolve into a much needed display of emotional nuance that explained and explored what these interwoven characters really meant to one another. Instead, while “Emma” had the occasional compelling emotional moment, it felt overall like an exercise of untapped wasted acting potential. Only the lead character “Emma” herself came across as being sumptuously endearing and captivating to know, experience, to ever care about. Director Autumn de Wilde and her many actors appropriately delivered the humor, wit and drama when the material required it, but in the end their heart felt efforts too often only projected on the surface in well-dressed 1800's attire just layerless stick figures characters with lovely British accents devoid of any meaningful human depth and emotional connectedness.

“Emma” looked fresh, looked uniquely reimagined and sounded virtuously charming, ultimately it's a fresh and pretty coat of colorful cinematic paint on a wasted good story.

2.00 Stars

The Invisible Man - Review

The Invisible Man

“The Invisible Man” is a 2020 science fiction horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell. A contemporary adaptation of the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells that first saw the big screen in 1933.  In this adaptation the film stars Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Early in the story we see Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) who is trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy scientist named Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). In the dead of night she disappears into hiding, aided by her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), their childhood friend James (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). Apparently distraught by Cecilia leaving him Adrian later commits suicide and surprisingly leaves Cecilia a generous portion of his vast fortune. But shortly after a series of bizarre events start to occur in her home Cecilia begins to suspect his death was a hoax. As these eerie coincidences turn lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

REVIEW: The Mount Rushmore of cinematic heroines is now complete. In 1979 we saw Sigourney Weaver masterfully deliver the first heroine with her “Ripley” and her life and death struggle with the indestructible “Alien”. In 1984 Linda Hamilton delivered an equally convincing performance with her “Sarah Connor” life and death battles with the equally indestructible “Terminator. And in 2015 Charlize Theron delivered a stellar performance with her “Imperator Furiosa” road race battles with “Lord Immortan Joe” in the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Now we can add Elisabeth Moss and her “Cecilia”. Though her heroine is not in a battle with a fictional monster per se, her battle nonetheless is still a life and death struggle with a plot thoroughly committed to the socially conscious Me Too Movement with a monstrous man of real flesh and blood.

Now as you are watching the film unfold you are already way a head of the events by knowing in real time what Cecilia” already knows - her dead boyfriend is alive, he has figured out how to disappear, he is torturing her and he is in the room. So for about an hour the film walks us through the perfunctory paces of her many friends and family repeatedly offering the standard litany of plausible denials and references about her “imagining things” and she “needing therapy”. These utterances in the film along with (unfortunately) most of the supporting cast of characters were the less compelling components to the plot. 

Specifically most of the cast outside of Moss felt like they were more push pined into the story for continuity and conveniences sake. But even with these momentary brief hiccups none of it hindered the showcasing of Moss’s acting prowess to carry the entire film to its dramatic ending. With both her vocal softness and loud blood curling screams, with facial expressions of a foreboding fear in the room and piercing eyes that burned through the screen that evoked a woman who was smart, calculating, resourceful and relied not on muscles, but with authentic feminine strengths and guile while taking on a cloaked ubermensch adversary determined to exact his revenge. With a running time 1:50 minutes Moss delivers a full bore complex emotionally compelling story of once a victim of unspeakable brutalized cruelty to becoming a victim no more, all immersed in quite a few creepy scenes including one at the 1:12 minute mark that I did not see coming that made me yell out an audibly loud…………. “Oh F&%k”................Trust me you will too.

While the film is a bit jagged at times with its movement in and out of creepy realism “The Invisible Man” is still an absorbing unnerving psychological horrifying thriller. With a smartly executed pace there are more than enough great scenes and solid moments that while even being occasionally flawed still makes this latest 2020 adaptation a must see in the theater.

3.50 Stars

Lester’s Way Too Early 25+ Best Picture 2021 Oscar Winning Contenders

Lester’s Way Too Early 25+ Best
 Picture 2021 Oscar Winning Contenders
Scheduled for release in 2020

“Ammonite” - Ammonite is an upcoming British-Australian romantic drama film written and directed by Francis Lee. It stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. The independent historical drama tells the story inspired by the life of fossil hunter Mary Anning. The story is set in 1840s England, when Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.

“Annette” - The film tells the story of a provocative stand-up comedian (Adam Driver) and his wife, a world-famous soprano (Marion Cotillard). Their glamorous life takes an unexpected turn when their daughter Annette is born, a girl with a unique gift.

“Bernstein” - A portrait of Leonard Bernstein's singular charisma and passion for music as he rose to fame as America's first native born, world-renowned conductor, all along following his ambition to compose both symphonic and popular Broadway works. Director Bradley Cooper and stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan.

“Cherry” - American crime drama by Anthony and Joe Russo with a written screenplay by Jessica Goldberg and Angela Russo-Otstot. The film stars Tom Holland in the lead role, along with a supporting cast that includes Ciara Bravo, Bill Skarsgård and Jack Reynor. An Army medic named Nico Walker (Holland) who has returned from Iraq dealing with an opioid addiction and posttraumatic stress disorder begins robbing banks.

“Da 5 Bloods” - A group of veterans from the Vietnam War return to the jungle to find their lost innocence. Stars Chadwick Boseman – Spike Lee Directs.

“Dune” - Director: Denis Villeneuve of Incendies, Sicario, Blade Runner and Arrival, revisits the science fiction story in the far future of humanity, Duke Leto Atreides accepts stewardship of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the most valuable substance in the universe, "the spice", a drug which extends human life, provides superhuman levels of thought, and makes foldspace travel possible. The ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.

"Greyhound” - Directed by Aaron Schneider - Nazi U-boats pursue a convoy of Allied ships during the early days of World War II. Tom Hanks stars.

"Hillbilly Elegy” - Directed by Ron Howard aka for Apollo 13 is a film memoir of a family and culture in crisis based on J. D. Vance book about the Appalachian values of his Kentucky family and their relation to the social problems of his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, where his mother's parents moved when they were young. Amy Adams and Glenn Close star. 

“In the Heights” - Explores three days in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights. Stars and Produced by “Hamilton’s”  Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

“Mank” (Netflix) - “Mank,” Directed by David Fincher and written by the director's late father Jack Fincher, which tells the true story of Herman J. Mankiewicz as he sets out to write the script for Orson Welles' “Citizen Kane.” Stars Gary Oldman.

“Macbeth” - A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power. Director Joel Coen and  stars Denzel Washington.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” An upcoming drama film directed by George C. Wolfe, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson. Depicts the tensions musician Ma Rainey encountered between her bandmates, her white agent and her producer while recording an album in 1927. Stars Viola Davis as Ma Rainey, Chadwick Boseman and Glynn Turman.

“Minari” – A Korean family moves to Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s. Director Lee Isaac Chung. Won Best Picture at Sundance Film Festival.

“News of the World” - A Texan traveling across the Wild West agrees to help rescue a young girl who has been kidnapped. Director Paul Greegrass aka for The Bourne films also stars Tom Hanks.

“Nightmare Alley” – A thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro about a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money. Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman and Rooney Mara. 

“Nomadland” - “Nomadland” is a road movie following Fern played Frances McDormand aka Fargo and 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO, a woman in her sixties, who after losing everything in the Great Recession embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. 

“On the Rocks” - An upcoming American comedy-drama film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It stars Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, Marlon Wayans, Jessica Henwick and Jenny Slate. The story follows a young mother who reconnects with her larger than life playboy father on an adventure through New York.

 “Soul” – Animation of a middle-school music teacher dreams of playing at legendary New York jazz club "The Blue Note".

“Stillwater” - When six old friends go on a weekend camping trip, it turns tragic when one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, triggering further turmoil as they attempt to unmask the killer within their own group.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” - In 1969, seven people were charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Aaron Sorkin aka for ‘The Social Network writes and directs.

 "Tenet" – World espionage and time travel. An action thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman trilogy - Dunkirk). It stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh.

"The French Dispatch" – Director Wes Anderson aka for Moonlight Kingdom and The Isle of Dogs tells the story of a staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

“The Last Duel” - A historical period drama film directed by Ridley Scott. Based on the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager, the script is written by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener, with Damon starring in the lead role opposite Adam Driver, with Affleck in a supporting role. Former best friends Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris are ordered to fight to the death after Carrouges accuses Le Gris of raping his wife in 14th-century France.

"The Prom" (Netflix) - Focuses on the relationship between an Indiana teenager (Caitlin Kinnunen) who wants to bring her girlfriend (Isabelle McCalla) to her school's big dance. Instead, they're banned from attending and band together with other friends to help fight the injustice.

“Those Who Wish Me Dead” - A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him and a forest fire threatening to consume them all. Director Taylor Sheridan formerly known for writing Sicario, Hell of High Water and Wind River. Stars Angelina Jolie, Jon Bernthal aka Sicario and Nicholas Hoult aka Mad Max: Fury Road. 

“True History of the Kelly Gang” - a British-Australian biographical western film directed by Justin Kurzel. It stars George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Orlando Schwerdt, Thomasin McKenzie, Sean Keenan, Charlie Hunnam and Russell Crowe. Based on Peter Carey's novel. The story of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they flee from authorities during the 1870s.

“Untitled Project” – Director David O. Russell aka Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, The Fighter and Three Kings – Stars Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Michael B. Jordan and possibly Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, and Robert De Niro. 

"West Side Story" - West Side Story is a romantic musical film remake directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Tony Kushner. The film stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler and is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

The Photograph - Review

The Photograph

“The Photograph” is a 2020 American romantic drama film written and directed by Canadian Director Stella Meghie. It follows “Mae” (Issa Rae) the estranged daughter of a famous photographer named “Christina Eames” who dies unexpectedly. When “Mae” finds a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box, she soon finds herself delving into her mother's early life. Meanwhile an unexpected romance comes into her life with a rising journalist “Michael Block” (Lakeith Stanfield) who is assigned to cover her late mother’s story. Over time both “Mae” and Michal” begin to fall in love with each other but will the unanswered questions and revelations from ‘Mae” mother past be an issue in their future together? Actors Chelsea Peretti, Lil Rel Howery and Courtney B. Vance also star.

REVIEW: The term “a picture is worth a thousand words” was popularized in the 1920s by Fred R. Barnard, who is often credited with the origin of the proverb. In the film “The Photograph” let me offer you a few hundred words…………. give or take on what I thought of the film’s suggested name sake.

Aesthetically, the film looks great with its excellent lightening, exquisite set designs and some fabulous music that encompasses the period from 1989 to present day. But while these subtle aspects can elevate the overall quality of a solidly conceived film it still comes down to the strength and quality of the written words and the ability of those actors to convey the plot’s idea into a compelling and moving reality. In this case “The Photograph” made a valiant effort to connect all the dots but in the end misses its mark.

While the central plot is about the consequences of loved lost, especially as seen through the flashbacks of “Mae’s  mother difficult decision to leaving someone behind when she was young, I found the films efforts to making the case of another generation burden with similar concerns in their lives lacking. While actors Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield looked good as couple together I never bought the argument that they actually found each other that interesting, nor for that matter the hidden subplot theme the “sins of our parent” having any barring on their decision to being a couple or not.

In retrospect “The Photograph” felt less a story about a deep, abiding love and romance and more about decent, likeable, educated, honest, smart people (past and present) being on the most thoughtful, respectful, kind, gracious and emotionally generous sexual one time “Hook-Up”. Nothing more.

Hollywood films have been around at least 90+ years with romantic love themes (in all of its varying forms) that I would be willing to wager has made more up than half its entire historical library of efforts about people from different background, genders, races, across borders and even with animals loving each other both unrequited and in abundance against all odds . Hell even the prison film “Shawshank Redemption” is a love story about two men who grew to have a deep abiding love for one another that was non-sexual but love no less. 

What these film all share is telling a story using at least one key or more component of …………… “Love at first sight, inner and outer conflict, external obstacles and turmoil, society and social ills, character growth and or extraordinary sacrifice (see “Jack” from “Titanic”). In ‘The Photograph” none of these components are in play the film anywhere, not once. Not in the present nor in any of the flashbacks scenes involving “Mae”’s mother. In the end all I saw were two people who basically were not a good fit to begin with. So why all of the emotional herranging?.

Film love stories (and love reality) in its early stages is chaotically organic and primal (see “Silver Linings Playbook). In film it introduces you the viewer to someone you don’t know, may not have even anything in common with, that over a 2+ hour period takes you on a whirlwind journey where in the end not only do you know them better, you are rooting hard for them to live happy ever after. In the end of "The Photograph" films effort I did not care if “Mae” or “Michael” stayed together. Not because they were not nice people, they were. No the director simply never made the case through the characters emotional growth THAT I SHOULD EVER CARE.

On the plus side, Director Stella Meghie has a definite talent and an sharp eye for shooting good looking films visually. But the aggregate film required me to dig to deep what she wanted me to think of these two lovers and their reason for being together. In the final scene “The Photograph” does not offer up a single romantic moment of rapture, rather leaves you with more of a romantic lacuna.

May be I am just an old sentimental sap. May be I have listen to way too many Sade, Phyllis Hyman and Anita Bakers songs in my time. But hey if  a four minute song can sweep me away with the simplicity of a moving emotional lyric………………..” When we met, always knew, I would feel that magic for you, on my mind constantly in my arms is where you should be……. I’m caught up in the rapture of love (Anita Baker), than a 1:50 minute movie cannot do no less. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYYDaDPmqBs

2.50 Stars

The Assistant - Review

The Assistant 

“The Assistant” is an American drama film written and directed by Kitty Green and starring Julia Garner (NETFLIX “Ozark”), Matthew Macfadyen, Kristine Froseth, Makenzie Leigh, Noah Robbins, Dagmara Domińczyk and Purva Bedi. It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019. It was released on January 31, 2020, by Bleecker Street.

Fictionally somewhere outside of NYC, we see actress Garner playing a bright highly accomplished Northwestern University recent graduate named “Jane”. She’s an aspiring film producer and has just landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment movie mogul who coincidentally in the film you never see; not even a passing glance of. But on numerous occasions throughout the film you do hear his foreboding voice on the phone and see his dictatorial emails to “Jane”.

Still, “Jane” knows she is clearly lucky to having such a highly coveted prized entry level job in this prestigious studio, even though the fast majority of her very long dark to dark day besides getting up to go to work and heading home is spent much like any other assistant in America………..making coffee, ordering lunches, arranging travel accommodations, taking phone messages and deflecting phone calls for the male employees aka “lying” as to where they really are. But as routine as her daily duties have absolutely nothing to do with making films she begins to grow increasingly aware and weary of the abuse she sees and experiences first hand that begins to insidiously and negatively color every aspect of her workday and her goals in life. The day after day accumulation of male chauvinistic degradations directed at her as well as their surreptitious and stealthy improprieties they take with new aspiring albeit naïve female actresses forces “Jane” to possibly consider taking a stand that could cost her dearly.

REVIEW: “The Assistant” at its core is largely a quiet, patient and deliberate film, but overall is an adroitly unsettling to film watch also. Minimalistically shot with almost 90 percent on the entire film visually shot in “Jane’s reception work area it masterfully captures the duality of what inwardly is a normal happy, lovely and healthy person enduring a day after day toxic environment of brazen emotional vulgarity and abuse. I emphasize the word “emotional” in that there was very little in the way of actual verbal profanity in the film, but it still manages nevertheless to feel and seem to be filled vulgarity when it comes to moral decency, especially when it comes to men and their relationship with women. More so we sense vulgarity as we watch “Jane” feeling totally trapped by her wearing her angst and anxiety on her face and in her eyes all the while projecting a professional attitude even though at times she is no more respected than someone telling the family pet…………..”Go fetch the ball”.

I loved films that seem on the surface to be small but in the end delivers a much bigger message to embrace and “The Assistant” is just such a film. It’s a story executed as a subtle observational narrative which moves from the work place mundane to unexpected moments that are eerie, icy and creepy. Overall during its 97 minutes it shows what it feels like to live with, to endure and even survive to the minute a predator in the work place. It’s also examines male indifference and misguided instincts to just look away or  to offer up some dumfounded principled excuse and belief that male predatory actions in the work place is just a normal  part of the American work experience. ITS NOT.

It’s abundantly clear that this is a Harvey Weinstein-inspired drama, but its Julia Garner's work here that gives the film its big heart beat, its tenderness, its fear and its clarity of morality and decency without a shred of a political agenda. And while “The Assistant” offers nothing in the way of a solution nor takes any principled stand as to what to do, it still effectively captures very insightfully the mood and devastation of "screaming in silence" looks like and in the end how that silence is complicit to the atrocities exclusively directed far too often to way too many women in the work place everywhere.

3.50 Stars