Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight – 7.5

/0 Comments/in /by

A thoroughly charming cinematic representation of Alexandra Fuller’s riveting 2001 memoir about the 1980 transfer of white to Black power as Rhodesia was reborn as Zimbabwe. The story is told through the eyes and actions of seven-year-old actress Lexi Venter in an astonishing performance, while her innocence is matched by her psychologically fierce and tormented mother, played by Embeth Davidtz, who also wrote and directed. The story has a documentary truth as well.

Familiar Touch – 7

/0 Comments/in /by

Less a story than a scrapbook account of moving one’s mother to a memory-care facility. Kathleen Chalfant is superb as the regal 80-year-old who has retained her culinary skills but has no inkling of who the people around her are. Sympathetic, not maudlin, the picture it presents of a stage in life we have experienced with our own parents is touching if inevitably sad, if not scary.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life – 6

/0 Comments/in /by

After time spent watching streamers it felt good to sit in a theater and see characters on a big screen with lush scenery behind them. Beyond that, this film was largely forgettable, although it left me wondering what its title meant. Camille Rutherford was fine as the Austen-besotted would-be writer, but the main attraction, for us as well as her, were the blue eyes of Charlie Anson in the Mr. Darcy role.

Sinners – 7.8

/0 Comments/in /by

One powerful movie. Ryan Coogler keeps us on the edge of our seats, guessing where the story is going before it explodes in our faces. There’s a lot about music, especially the blues, Southern culture, power, magic, sex (romance?) and race (the good guys are Native American, the bad guys white, and everyone in between in Black). I only wish I had closed-captioning, and maybe if Michael B. Jordan hadn’t played both brothers I could’ve told them apart.

Warfare – 7.3

/0 Comments/in /by

A minute-by-minute recreation of Navy Seals under attack in Ramadi, Iraq, remarkably devoid of a point-of-view, unless it’s that war is, if not hell, not a lot of fun. Why the American soldiers are holed up in this building, who is attacking them, or even why America is in this war are not even hinted at, which makes watching this film a somewhat clinical exercise. This happened, and that seems to be enough for the filmmakers.

The Teacher – 8.1

/0 Comments/in /by

Forget the context of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle, as if that were possible, this film succeeds as a wonderful human drama, a gripping story with superb lead performances by Saleh Bakri and Imogen Poots, both easy on the eyes. Then add the context of Palestinian life in the West Bank, even without Israel’s later all-out assault on Gaza, and the movie’s philosophical and political messages hit so much harder. Because it is a story well told and was filmed in comparatively controlled conditions, albeit on site, this is a much stronger and more watchable movie than the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Major kudos to British filmmaker Fareh Nabulsi for pulling off a major movie with minimal resources.

Misericordia – 7

/0 Comments/in /by

An affectless Jeremie returns to a small French village (apparent population: 6) and shakes everyone’s world while mainly strolling through beautiful fall woods with mushrooms sprouting. We’re never sure what’s on Jeremie’s mind; like many a good French film, it’s all about relationships. It gives us time to think, and wonder.

The Last Stop in Yuma County – 7.8

/0 Comments/in /by

A fun and funny dramedy set in a remote Arizona diner where (spoiler alert) everyone gets killed. Everything you need to know about each character is evident from their looks, and is confirmed once they open their mouth. You feel like you’re watching a movie from the ’60s, with no stars, one set and a budget under a million. And unlike the France in Misericordia, the scenery is no advertisement for Yuma County.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig – 7

/0 Comments/in , /by

A remarkable challenge to Iran’s theocracy, this Cannes Award-winning film not surprising earned director Mohammad Rasoulof an eight-year prison sentence. The first half was a compelling political drama, intertwined with family dynamics and believable characters. The second half went off the rails, so much so that streaming it on two separate nights we felt we were watching different films.

Black Bag – 5

/0 Comments/in /by

A stylish espionage caper with fine performances by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender that disguised the holes in the plot. I.e., I had no idea what happened by the end and wondered if the film, by Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp, was satirizing the genre. Put six very flawed spies around a table and see if you can guess who did it, without really knowing what “it” is.