Social Dilemma – 6

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What’s the problem with social media? This film cites two, without particularly differentiating them. 1) It’s an addiction that is consuming the time and minds of the younger generation, especially. 2) It’s driving the polarization of our society, as “likes” determine what information people receive. The first appears soluble, as several of the expert talking heads reveal at film’s end, by limiting, or even banning, their children’s exposure. The second is more accurately an accelerator, albeit on steroids, rather than an inherent problem. Polarization, and the universe of alternate facts, were being driven by Fox News and talk radio before we had Twitter. The problem is people’s willingness to accept false facts, not to mention disseminate them. Social media is just the messenger, and history shows that killing the messenger is never the answer.

If You Could Read My Mind – 8.5

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A thoroughly enjoyable musical biography of Gordon Lightfoot, with a Canadian viewpoint and tone. The title song alone was achievement enough for a lifetime, but Lightfoot’s career extended through two eras – the folk rock of the ’60s and singer-songwriter era of the ’70s – both fertile periods with wonderful memories to revive. Practically every recognizable Canadian folk or rock singer opined or appeared (plus, inexplicably, Alec Baldwin), which balanced the autobiographical comments of Gord himself, looking much older than 80. I liked his music when it appeared; I guess I didn’t realize, however, just how good it was.

Boys State – 8

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A scary and depressing documentary about the annual American Legion-sponsored gathering of 17-year-olds, in which 1,200 boys divide into two parties and spend a week forming a government, this one from 2018 in Austin, Texas. Scary and depressing because even at that idealistic age, politics is seen as a cynical exercise and abortion and gun control are the defining issues, neither in a good way. The documentarians do a good job of creating a story with a rooting interest, given they didn’t know the outcome when they started. It’s only too bad they couldn’t manufacture a more inspiriting process or a happy ending.

Broadchurch, season 2 – 5

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A limp excuse for an unnecessary second season about a crime that was handled quite well in season one. There was no character development and the story consisted of a subplot that was hard to follow and harder to accept and a court proceeding that, week in and week out, made no sense at least to us American lawyers. Charlotte Rampling’s character was particularly inexplicable, and her opponent was insufferable.

An Easy Girl – 6.5

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It is a pleasure to enter the lush world of the French Riviera, albeit on the small TV screen, and to return to the world of French (Belgian) cinema, where the “action” is a series of conversations, with some (large) bare breasts thrown in. I was somehow reminded of Proust by this story of an innocent 16-year-old, a summer at the beach, observing and learning about sex and society. We get to know four people, and that’s enough.

The Assistant – 6

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Imagine the most demeaning job you can think of, despite the status of working as assistant (what used to be called “secretary”) to the ceo of a glamorous entertainment company. Then imagine a movie that consists entirely of living through one day in that job, exclusively from the assistant’s point of view. I kept waiting for something to happen, for the plot to kick in. But no, we just watched Julia Garner, looking drab in a drab outfit, endure one humiliation after another. That was it.

Just Mercy – 8

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Wonderful performances by Jamie Foxx, Michael Jordan and Brie Larson make this a pleasure to watch. Even not having read the book, there were no surprises, and if the story were not true you’d criticize the screenwriter for a lack of imagination. But what’s wrong with a happy ending that makes you cry? And events since this movie came out in 2019 have only made the depicted injustices against Black lives more credible and relevant.

Money Heist (season 1) – 8

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For six episodes this is an enthralling intellectual chess match between adversaries that are equally likeable, featuring a crew of robbers who are uniformly engaging. If the plan succeeds, no one is to get hurt and no one will suffer the loss of the millions the robbers are minting for themselves. But then around episode 7, the brainy Professor turns into Harrison Ford, one of the robbers is revealed as a sadist, the plot developments become so impossible to believe and the chess match dissolves. We have to wait for season 2 to learn how the robbers get away, and I will be glad to see more of Tokyo and Nairobi and Moscow, though not so much the others, and I wish Raquel, the chief inspector, all the best.

Palm Springs – 4.5

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A must-see for all Andy Samberg fans, not so much for anyone else.  OK, Cristin Milioti is pretty good, too. But the rest – plot, setting, secondary characters – is pretty puerile, a bad takeoff on Groundhog Day. The movie lurches from gag to gag, with no direction home.

John Lewis: Good Trouble – 4

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We watched this in homage to a great American the day after he died. As a documentary, it wasn’t much: familiar clips of the civil rights struggle–still shocking and heartbreaking–mixed with contemporary film of Lewis greeting and hugging well-wishers, with about a fifty-year hole in the middle. The only new piece for me was a reference to his first race for Congress against Julian Bond, in which Bond expressed seemingly sincere disappointment at Lewis’s less than honorable campaign. The sole negative note in 90 minutes, I wish it would have been explained or explored some more, along with some of Lewis’s battles and stands during his Congressional career. The definitive film about John Lewis is yet to be made.