2023 * R * 1h 37m If you like slow burning, tense, creepy movies, you're in luck. I wasn't sure what to expect with "Eileen" but I really enjoyed it. If you can use the word "enjoy" with a film like this.
The movie stars the young and talented Kiwi actor Thomasin McKenzie, who I thought shined in the sleeper movie "Leave No Trace." If you haven't seen it, it's a film worth looking for. Here she plays Eileen Dunlop, a secretary who works at the men's prison in a small town in Massachusetts in 1964. The film does a perfect job of setting the scene for the era, and the cinematography gives it a depressing, bleak look and feel. Eileen has a dead-end job, and her home life is no better. She lives with her dad, a retired cop who spends his days drinking himself into a stupor.
One day a glamorous doctor Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), shows up. She's a brilliant woman, determined to use her psychological training to help the inmates at the prison. To say Eileen is smitten is an understatement. She practically worships the ground she walks on. And the two strike up a friendship that appears to be heading in a carnal direction. Until...
I'm definitely not going to reveal what happens next. Let's just say, I never saw it coming. It was quite a shocker. The plot twists will keep you hanging on and guessing right until the end. Speaking of the which, that's the one problem I had with the film. I thought the resolution was a bit weak--the writers could have done better. But overall, the film was definitely worth watching. Especially to see the performances from the two leads.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Currently streaming for free on Kanopy (with your library card) and Hulu. And to rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and other services.
2022 "Not Rated" 1h 40m What a refreshing take on the classic road trip movie. It's a perfect combo of buddy (albeit, the love/hate variety) movie, sci-fi, indie, and comedy, all rolled into a zany, fun-filled wild ride of a film. If you looking for something different, and I mean different, you owe it to yourself to check out this little gem.
Peter (Matthew Jeffers) and Winona (Sarah Hay) live in the same apartment complex in NYC. He's a gay, little person who's just plain mad at life. She's a kind hearted prostitute who's on a mission. She's determined to head up north into Canada to meet up with aliens so she can be abducted by them and taken to a distant galaxy. She's on a schedule and convinces Peter to steal a neighbor's car and join her on her quest. Well, actually she bribes him with a huge wad of cash.
This is quite unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's full of laughs, interesting encounters, and at the heartfelt dialogue as you'd expect from a film like this. The writing, acting, and directing, all come together perfecly to create what I think is destined to become a timeless, indie classic.
4 out of 5 stars
Currently streaming for free on Kanopy and Hoopla (with your library card). Also on Paramount, Apple TV, and other services.
2023 * PG-13 * 1h 27m Imagine, if you will the movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” for adults. Or seniors, to be more exact. That’s a fairly apt description of this absolutely charming, tenderhearted, and unique little film. It’s directed by Marc Turtletaub, who’s known for such memorable films as “Little Miss Sunshine,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Safety Not Guaranteed,” and “The Farewell.” The fact that Sir Ben Kingsley stars in the movie doesn’t hurt either. When you see his nuanced performance here, you realize why he’s been knighted. And hearing his American accent, it also confirms just how well trained so many British actors are.
Milton (Kingsley) is a doddering older duffer who lives alone in a small Pennsylvania town. He has a son who lives in California who he has little contact with. Fortunately, his daughter Denise (Zoe Winters), a busy veterinarian lives nearby and frequently checks up on hm. His life isn’t very exciting, to say the least. The highlight of his month is the city council meeting, which he regularly attends. At each session, during the open forum, he recites the same prepared list of complaints. Naturally, his speech is met with rolled eyes from his fellow citizens.
One night, something remarkable occurs. A spaceship crashes in his backyard. Now if this happened to you or me, we’d go crazy. However, Milton is such a mild-mannered soul, he’s almost totally unfazed by the event. In fact, his main concern is that the craft landed on his beloved Azaleas! The next day he discovers an alien laying on the ground half way to his back door. This is no ordinary being. He’s a silver, androgynous creature with kindly eyes and is totally silent. Milton dubs the alien “Jules” and the beginning of a subtle, intergalactic friendship commences. Jules is played by Juade Quon, who in spite of not speaking, conveys a sense of compassion and empathy. You want to just go up and give the little creature a hug!
When Milton discovers Jules enjoys eating sliced apples, he heads to the store to stock up on the fruit. There he tells the cashier he’s buying a big sack of apples for an alien that’s crashed in his backyard. Naturally, word gets back to his daughter who’s already concerned about his mental state. She’s noticed he’s recently done little things like leaving a can of beans in the medicine cabinet, which he shrugs off as being forgetful. After hearing him talking about an alien in his yard, she arranges for him to meet with a neurologist. When she suggests he may want to look into assisted living, he storms out of the office. End of discussion.
Naturally it’s hard keeping a spaceship in one’s backyard a secret for long. Milton eventually confides in two acquaintances, Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Joyce (Jane Curtin). The three co-conspirators soon figure out that Jules is working on repairing his craft, hoping to return to his home planet. To that end, they join forces to provide him what he needs to make that happen.
What’s more, an event like a ship crashing in a small town doesn’t go unnoticed by the government. The incident is initially reported on the news as a weather satellite falling out of the sky. But as more information is gathered, they suspect it’s from outer space. And the race is on for agents to discover its whereabouts.
I really enjoyed this different take on the alien story. While it’s a sci-fi movie on paper, it has a quiet, folksy feel to it, minus all the histrionics typical of a Hollywood production. It was one of those rare films I simply didn’t want to end. The trio of Kingsley, Curtain, and Hansom was so sweet, you wish you had relatives like them.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
Note to parents: The film is rated PG-13 and I think it would be fine for family viewing. About the only thing objectionable are a couple of F-bombs. But I ask you, what kid hasn’t heard that?
Currently streaming for free with your library card on Kanopy. Also on Paramount, and to rent on Prime Video.
2023 * Not Rated * 1h 45m I know David Duchovny had a good run back in the day with the hit series "X-Files. I never saw the show but noticed recently he's been involved with a number of projects as a director, writer, and actor. And I must say, several of his newer movies have really impressed me. Especially this one. He stars in it along with Logan Marshall-Greene and Stephanie Beatriz. I loved the character she played in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," but she proves here that she can play a lot more than a snarky, hard-assed cop.
When Marty (Duchovny) discovers he has cancer, his estranged son Ted (Marshall-Greene) decodes to take care of him. The two have a lot to work out, since their relationship wasn't the best. The grief counselor Mariana (Beatriz) assigned to Marty is a sweet, lovely woman and before long, Ted ends up falling for her. All this action takes place against the backdrop of the Boston Red Sox and their battle with the Yankees to win the pennant. The "Curse" in the title refers to the famous "Curse of the Bambino"which, if you're a fan of the game, you'll know what it signifies.
Well, the pennant race isn't going quite like they wanted it to, so Ted arranges for Marty's friend to engage in a bit of clever deception--faking a Boston winning streak. This proves to be one of the funnier parts of the film. The interactions between father and son are equally amusing and poignant. Marty is an old advertising guy (as am I), and he has all sorts of tales to tell.
This movie proved to be a lot better than I thought it was going to be. If you're in the mood for something a bit different, be sure to check out this little indie flick. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Currently streaming for free with your library card on Hoopla and Kanopy. Also on Hulu and to rent on Prime Video.
2011 * PG-13 * 1h 43m I'm a big fan of films from Down Under. Both Australia and New Zealand have produced some brilliant movies over the last decade or so. I absolutely loved the hilarious show "Flight of the Conchords" from back in the day. Actually, I think I need to give it a rewatch. One of my favorite characters was the duet's agent played by Rhys Darby. In "Love Birds" he co-stars with the formidable Sally Hawkins. You can feel the chemistry between these two, right from the start of this sweet little rom-com.
At the beginning of the film, Doug (Darby) and his girlfriend Sally (Fay Smythe) are breaking up. More specifically, she's walking out on him. Then, shortly after a duck crashes into his roof. He's not quite sure what to do with the bird so he takes it to the local zoo where Holly (Hawkins) gives him some advice. Thus begins two relationships. The first one is with the duck, who he names Pierre. They become buds and he takes his loyal pet everywhere, including his work. The second is with Holly, naturally. However, his relationship with Holly is hampered by her son, who is still getting over the loss of his father.
There are a lot of funny bits and Darby is his usual goofball self. I felt his pratfalls and physical humor was a bit over the top at times. But who am I to quibble?
Overall, I thought this movie, while somewhat predictable, was great fun. The interactions between the two stars was delightful. And there's a whole bunch of supporting characters that contribute to the comical nature of this film. If you're in the mood for an amusing rom-com with a Kiwi flavor, give this one a shot!
3 1/2 out of 5 stars
Currently streaming for free on Hoopla (with your library card) and Tubi. Also to rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Peacock, and other services.
2023 * R* 1h 40m“Wicked Little Letters” is a wicked little film you can’t help but crack up watching. It’s about a character assassination that took place in Littlehampton, a sleepy seaside town in the south of England. The scandal was fairly tame by today’s standards, but at the time, the early 1920s, it rocked the nation. I thought it was amusing that today, a nasty comment on social media can practically destroy someone, while a hundred years one had to use the postal service to achieve the same thing. The methodology has changed, but the end result is the same.
The film has the feel of a BBC production, but includes so much swearing, I doubt they’d have anything to do with filming it. It stars a couple of my favorite actors, Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, who happened to appear together in the recent movie “The Lost Daughter.” In that film they play the same woman at different points in her life. Here, their interactions are the crux of the film. Thea Sharrock directed. (I reviewed her fine film “The Beautiful Game” earlier this year).
Edith Swan (Colman) is a devout Catholic, and a priggish spinster who lives with her elderly parents Edward (Timothy Spall) and Victoria (Gemma Jones). Here, Spall is wonderful as the domineering, tyrant of a father who rules the household with an iron fist. He’s also a religious fanatic who makes his daughter read from the bible several times a day. Colman’s nervous twitches and grimaces perfectly help define her character. Things begin to unravel when the women in town begin getting obscene letters. And Edith is the target of a daily missive, laced with the worst kinds of verbal abuse. She immediately suspects her next-door neighbor, Rose Gooding (Buckley).
Rose is quite the character. She’s a bawdy Irish immigrant who lives with her boyfriend and her young daughter. She loves nothing better than to spend her free time in the local pub, drinking, singing, and stirring up trouble. Of course, she also happens to swear like a sailor, which makes her the prime suspect, in Edith’s eyes. Edith contacts the local constabulary and has Rose arrested, based on nothing more than a hunch. Because Rose can’t make bail, she’s sent to prison to await trial.
Meanwhile the police station’s “Woman Police Officer” Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) decides to do a little sleuthing on her own. Her fellow officers are so sexist they refuse to just refer to her as a police officer but feel the need to add “Woman” to her title. They also feel that she has no business digging into the case on her own and when she does, she’s duly fired.
Without giving anything away, let’s just say the real culprit of the obscene letter writing is revealed about halfway through the film. From this point on, the focus of the movie involves Officer Gladys’s detective work. A couple of Edith’s acquaintances Kate (Lolly Adelope) and Ann (Joanna Scanlan) aren’t her biggest fans and are eager to help Gladys in her investigation. One of the angles she pursues is analyzing the penmanship in the letters--something that’s scoffed at by her colleagues.
I found the whole movie absolutely delightful. The acting is first-rate, as you’d expect from a cast that includes Colman, Buckley, and Spall. All the supporting actors are perfectly cast as well. I especially enjoyed the attention to detail paid to the 1920’s era costumes. One of the highlights of the film was watching Edith and her father reading the saucy letters out loud to each other. That alone is worth the price of admission.
If you’re looking for something a bit different, and oh-so British, don’t miss this charming little film.
4 out of 5 stars
Note to parents: The film is rated “R” due to the foul language—it’s laced with F-bombs and other cusswords. Other than that, I think it would be suitable for older teens.
Currently streaming on Netflix. And to rent on other services including Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
2023 * R * 1h 43m I was looking for a light little rom/com to kill some time and put me in a pleasant mood before hitting the hay. Wow! I was not expecting anything like what this film offered up. Sure, there's a little bit of rom, and just a tad of com, but for the most part, it's a very thoughtful, dialogue-driven movie, which really caught me off guard.
The film stars David Duchovny and America's sweetheart, Meg Ryan, who also directed the film. They play Bill and Willa, respectively. They were lovers twenty years before and run into each other for the first time since they broke up at an airport. As luck would have it, the airport is closed down due to a major snowstorm, and at first, a few flights are allowed out, then all flights are cancelled for the night. So they're stuck with each other.
At first, they trade off witty remarks and try to impress each other with how clever they are. Slowly, their barriers are let down and they start to fill each other with what actually transpired all those years ago. Things get pretty heavy. And you begin to cling to every word they utter. Lots of feelings are uncovered. along with a bunch of "what ifs." I know both Duchovny and Ryan are seasoned actors, but this may be their finest film in years.
The film could easily have been a stage play, since 99% of it focuses on the two leads. I thought it was extremely well written and filmed. The cinematography was quite good, and it contributed to the surreal feeling to the movie. A bit of comic relief comes from the Public Service Announcer, who delivers his messages to not just the airport in general, but occasionally directly to Bill and Willa. If I had to categorize it, I guess I'd call it a rom/com for adults.
3 1/2 out of 5 stars
Streaming for free with your library card on Kanopy. Also available to rent on Apple TV Prime Video and other streaming services.
