YESTERDAY (2019)

Rated:  PG-13

STARS: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle
GENRE: Comedy/ Romance/ Fantasy


What a pedigree this one has going in! It's directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and written by Jack Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill). Their hand prints are all over Yesterday, in the skillful way that Boyle builds dramatic tension layer by layer, and the way Curtis plays on our heartstrings with that sweet sappy love vibe. 

After a worldwide blackout during which he gets hit by a bus, struggling English musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) wakes up in a parallel universe where the Beatles didn't exist. He's the only one who remembers them. Malik has gone nowhere performing his own material, but he soon catches on that by learning and relearning the Beatles' songs from memory and claiming them as his own, folks are awe-struck. They've never heard anything like it. Literally. Now he's on the fast track to becoming a mega-star!

Along for the ride is his manager and childhood friend, Ellie (Lily James), who has believed in him through thick and thin. Ellie has harbored a secret passion for more than Jack's music, but has kept it under wraps all this time. With Jack's newfound fame, their bond will be sorely tested.

Yesterday makes some bold assumptions. The first being that you could separate the songs--as brilliant as they are--from The Fab Four themselves and have just any fairly competent singer perform them and that he would weave the same kind of magic and create the same unprecedented phenomenon as The Beatles themselves. (If that were true, Bing Crosby's rendition of "Hey Jude" would have been a chart topper!) No, it was all about John, Paul, George, and Ringo and who they were individually and collectively. And assuming that our younger generation of iPhone zombies--influenced by a lot of the garbage and the gangsta-rap crap that passes for music today would resonate with the innocent exuberance of an "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is the second big leap of faith. But without it, of course, you have no movie. So the willing suspension of disbelief has to kick in for you to enjoy Yesterday to the fullest. Still, it's good to hear all the old Beatles classics again, and watching the crowds go irrationally berserk for Jack and his music brings back golden memories of a sweeter day.

The cast features Kate Mckinnon in a funny turn as a corporate shrew who wants to ride Jack's wave for her own personal profit, and the real Ed Sheeran is here, playing himself, so the younger crowd--most of whom have no real grasp on what the Beatles' true legacy was--will at least have a contemporary musician they can identify with. 

Himesh Patel as Jack is an affable presence, and we are rooting for him for the most part, though we wonder if and when his conscience will get the best of him, and he will come clean about his deception. Lily James as Ellie is so vulnerable and sweet, I don't know why anybody wouldn't fall in love with her. And despite its flaws, you might fall in love with Yesterday too.

Grade:  B

JILL'S TAKE 


I enjoyed reading Tim's review a helluva a lot more than I did watching Yesterday. The creators, Jack Barth and Richard Curtis, obviously thought their brilliantly original concept (i.e. deleting The Beatles' existence) would carry this film. It did not. Not for me, anyway. So they tossed in a love story in case the audience didn't relate to all those classic Beatles' ditties.


And the constant repetition of being interrupted—while auditioning his 'latest song' for his non musical parents, trying to get romantic with his up-till-then platonic gal pal, attempting to ward off his Hollywood agent's unreasonable demands—got tiresome. Shakespeare did it with style. These guys simply overdid it.


I'll give the male lead Himesh Patel points for his vocal renderings. Especially his heartfelt version of "Yesterday." But I found it ironic that his character's last name Malik is similar to the real actor's last name Malek who played Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. I'd say the latter performed g-clef circles around the former....


There were some really funny one-liners. But I had trouble deciphering a lot of the dialogue. Should I blame the actors? The sound engineer? Or my auditory abilities?
This was no Slumdog Millionaire. Lord knows, it tried to be. But that meandering script sunk the proverbial ship
Grade: C -

COLD WAR (2018)

Rated:  R

STARS: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot
DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski
GENRE: Drama/ Romance


With border crossers being the hot button topic of the day, we get a film from Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski that crosses more borders--physical, political, and musical--than you can shake a stick at.

Zula (Joanna Kulig) is a performer in a song and dance troupe showcasing traditional Polish music and culture. Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) is the director who quickly falls for his lovely young ingenue, who is on probation for stabbing her father. (She's got real spunk and spirit, this one.)  She is also attracted to Wiktor, and they will do their thing with each other, and it will be good for a while. Until the commies want them to start injecting some Stalinist propaganda into their performances. Wiktor defects to France and Zula is supposed to follow suit--but she balks, and this is where the complications set in for the star-crossed lovers. But they manage to hook up improbably in Paris, Prague, and Warsaw amidst the changing circumstances of their lives. 

Pawlikowski reportedly based the lead characters on his own parents. But since his father was a doctor and his mother a literature professor, Cold War is not their story--though perhaps the seeds of it were sown when his mother removed him from communist Poland to a permanent exile in the west.

Music, the universal language, is what ties the disparate elements of Cold War together. The traditional folk music of Poland gives way to the jazzy film noir atmosphere of Parisian night clubs. The only constant is that the two leads remain hot for each other through a period spanning the decades of the fifties and sixties. (Only thing is they don't seem to age that much...but regular sex will keep you young looking...or so I hear!)

Joanna Kulig, who does her own singing and dancing, is immensely talented--an alluring and captivating presence who carries the film, which is something of a flawed masterpiece. I say flawed because of the ending. Without giving it away, I'll just say that it doesn't fit the characters. It's a lazy, deus ex machina way to end a film. Points deducted accordingly.

Grade:  B

JILL'S TAKE

For those of you who've gone to see movies with me, you already know my 'bottom line' litmus test. As we exit the theater, I always ask, "What one thing did you like most about this movie? And what one thing did you like least?" (It saves me from listening to long, disjointed cinematic opinions!) Then it's my turn. In the case of Cold War, my favorite thing was definitely the music. No matter what rhythm, language or how a song was presented, it reiterated to me how universal and powerful music is.

My least favorite thing? The editing. Cold War leapt from scene to scene faster than those high-kicking Polish dancers. Whatever happened to subtle transitions in movies? I realize life is often an emotional roller coaster but does art always have to imitate it?

This is the second black and white film I've seen this season. The first being Roma. (Both have received 3 Oscar nominations for Cinematography, Directing and Best Foreign Film). I wasn't killed with either. But forced to choose, I'd go with Cold War. For me, the black and white movie that truly deserved it's many, many Oscar wins was The Artist (2011).

Unlike Tim, I found the ending realistic. But then I'm less of a romantic than my co-reviewer!

Grade: C

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (2018)

Rated:  R

STARS: Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Regina King
DIRECTOR: Barry Jenkins
GENRE: Drama/ Romance

It's a rare thing when we can cite the music as being the transformative element in a film, but Nicholas Britell's exquisite and mesmerizing score is what turns If Beale Street Could Talk from what might have been just a good, hard-hitting, and poignant drama into a poetic work of art. And when we use poetic to describe a film, we're ascending into the rarefied air. 

Yes, there's a love story at the heart of this film, but it's no fairy tale. Far from it. If Beale Street Could Talk--based on the 1974 novel by James Baldwin-- dramatizes the endemic injustice in America of blacks being railroaded and locked up for crimes they didn't commit.

Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (Kiki Layne) are a young unmarried couple living in Harlem during the early seventies who are clearly in love, and seemingly have been since childhood. The opening scene of the film, which slam-bang portends its overall brilliance, is a doozy. Tish's family invites Fonny's family over to hear the announcement that Tish is going to have    Fonny's baby. Director Barry Jenkins uses the ebb and flow of circumstances and emotion effectively not only in this scene but throughout the entire film--as what starts out as a celebratory occasion suddenly turns ugly. 

But love will carry this couple through, as flashbacks and flash forwards show them in their first intimate encounter (tastefully done yet quite realistic), the joy of searching for and finding their first apartment together, and finally the incident which leads to Fonny being misidentified by a rape victim and put behind bars. 

How does a family with limited means work to reverse a miscarriage of justice in a climate of racism in America that has never been eradicated but just keeps morphing into new forms like a virus? That's  your central theme, and it's played out in heartbreaking fashion as we hope against hope along with Tish, who never gives up hope, and the two families, who will resort to doing whatever it takes to obtain the finances to support their effort.   

Here is where Regina King as Tish's mother shines, as she tracks down the elusive rape victim and tries to get her to recant her story. It's high drama, but it never feels melodramatic. It just feels achingly real.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the one glaring turn off for me, and that's the incessant cigarette smoking by nearly all the central characters. It's almost as annoying watching it as it would be to be in the presence of someone blowing smoke in your face. I don't know if director Jenkins was thinking this would enhance the grittiness or the authenticity of his story--but I looked up some stats and the smoking rate among whites and blacks in the U.S. is essentially the same, at around 15 percent, so having all these prolific puffers seemed like overkill. If you want to engender sympathy for a character, don't give him dirty habits. That aside, I think If Beale Street Could Talk has a good shot at being one of the nominees for Best Picture at The Oscars in February.    

Grade:  A -

JILL'S TAKE

(

Well, well, well. I never quite know how Tim will react to a film we choose to review. And since it is his blog, I always read his opinions before adding my own so we don't repeat ourselves. All I can say about this film is "I concur." It felt so real that I often thought I was watching a documentary. Forget about Romeo and Juliet or Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, this couple's love for one another was brilliantly acted and completely believable.

It is not an easy tale to watch. The injustices of being black in America dominate If Beale Street Could Talk and force the viewer to look at how little has changed since Baldwin wrote this story. 

I too loved that family scene Tim mentioned at the beginning of the film, as it showed how intolerant blacks can be toward each other. (Intolerance doesn't choose sides.)

My two gripes (very minor ones):  I was confused by the title since the story takes place in Harlem not Beale Street; and Fonny getting a life sentence for allegedly raping a Puerto Rican girl seemed like overkill.   

If Stephan James and Kiki Layne, the two star-crossed lovers, don't earn Oscar nods, I'll rip up my ticket to the Academy Awards Ceremony. (Not that I actually have one!)

Grade: B++

BEAST (2018)

Rated:  R

STARS: Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn
DIRECTOR: Michael Pearce
GENRE: Mystery/Romance/Horror

It's in there. That beast. In all of us, I suppose, and could rear its fangs at any moment given the right set of circumstances--or in this case the right person--to bring it to the fore. And as I write this I'm idly channel surfing and happen to land on the cheesy looking monster from An American Werewolf In London wreaking havoc on the rent-a-crowd of movie extras running screaming through the streets. 

What we're dealing with in Beast is a subtler kind of demon that inhabits the bodies of Moll (Jessie Buckley), a 27 year-old living at home with her family--a timid girl by outward appearances--and her boyfriend Pascal (Johnny Flynn), a hunter and illegal poacher of small animals who, with his haunted eyes, looks the part from the get-go. 

Teenage girls are being murdered on their English Channel island of Jersey, and Pascal becomes a suspect. Maybe it's because serial killers often start with animals. Or that he just seems strange and walks around looking menacing with a rifle for half the movie. But as Beast incrementally reveals more of who Moll is, we start to suspect that yeah, she just might have that in her too. (There was that attack with a pair of scissors on one of her young peers that she claims was in self defense.) They are kindred spirits, these two, and a passionate romance between deeply screwed up people is always fascinating to watch. Moll is like a Hawaiian volcano always on the verge of erupting, and in fact she does literally blow chunks in one of the film's did-we-really-need-to-see-that moments. That and a scene of animal cruelty that is gratuitously graphic might make you question first time writer/director Michael Pierce's judgement. 

But the reason to see Beast lies with Jessie Buckley. This is her movie, and she has the acting chops to bring off this controlled burn performance in a way that foreshadows some blazing fireworks at the end. And if that's your thing, you're in for the full 4th Of July treatment.

Grade:  B

JILL'S TAKE

A couple of reviews ago, I remember writing that I didn't like unclear endings, that too much thinking gave me hives. (Disobedience)  Well this who-done-it left me, my movie buddy and the man walking in front of us, as we left the theater, in disagreement about who the killer was.  But really, that isn't the point of Beast. Tim summed it up beautifully when he wrote 'a passionate romance between deeply screwed-up people.'  For anyone who thinks they're in a dysfunctional relationship, this movie will make you feel much better!

The actress who plays the female lead is breathtakingly good.  I looked her up on IMDb and got a kick out of her journey to cinematic stardom. And I quote:  "Jessie Buckley is an Irish singer and actress, who came in second place in the BBC talent show-themed television series "I'd Do Anything."  It kind of reminded me of Jennifer Hudson's success after coming in seventh in ABC's "American Idol."  She went on to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her stunning performance in Dreamgirls. (2007) I'd love the same fate to befall Jessie Buckley. 

But Beast isn't a flick for the faint of heart. Lots of violence, lots of tension. And a mother that would drive any sensitive young girl to the brink of madness. Or at least into the arms of an equally unstable boyfriend.  For all their scenes of sensuality, nobody took off any clothes. This irked my male companion.  And I must admit he  has point.  After all, nothing else seemed off limits to this demented duo.  Why such modesty in the sack?

I'm torn about grading Beast.  It was an unsettling film and there were a few slow moments where my eyelids got heavy. I still don't know who the killer was.  But the weirdness of the story, the haunting cinematography, the originality of the script deserve high marks.

Grade: B-

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (2017)

Rated:  R


STARS: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Esther Garrel
DIRECTOR: Luca Guadagnino
GENRE: Drama/Romance

Northern Italy. Music...wine and...sex!  I'm on board!

Elio (Timothee Chalamet) is a precocious 17 year-old music prodigy, staying with his parents for the summer at their posh Italian villa. He kinda likes a local girl, Marzia (Esther Garrel), and they end up having some naked fun together. But then a bit older American scholar working on his doctorate arrives to intern with Elio's father, the archaeology professor (Michael Stuhlbarg). At first, Elio is somewhat passively/aggressive hostile toward Oliver (Armie Hammer). But as they spend time together, biking around and playfully feeling each other out (no, what you're thinking of comes later), a mutual attraction develops. It's pretty clear the door to Elio's heart swings both ways. Over the course of the summer, Elio discovers that he has indeed found his first love. 

Call Me By Your Name is a beautiful film on many levels. The cinematography, the achingly poignant music score, but most of all the expressiveness and depth of emotion that young Timothee Chalamet is capable of displaying. (He's earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.) There is "one of those scenes" near the end--a conversation between Elio and his father--that I think is destined to be shown in college acting classes as a way of inspiring students to be all that they can be.  

There is nothing terribly graphic in Call Me By Your Name, other than some female breasts (go figure), though the make-out scenes between Chalamet and Armie Hammer--two purportedly straight actors?-- are extremely convincing, and I could have done with fewer of them. There is one scene with a juicy peach that you will either find cringe-worthy or hilarious, depending on how much you liked the warm apple pie bit from American Pie!  

Grade:  A -

JILL'S TAKE

I found it interesting that not one male—gay or straight—was in the audience when I went to see this painfully long, painfully self indulgent film. I realize director Luca Guadagnino is trying to be sensitive about a somewhat touchy (and I don't mean touchy-feely) subject. But the lengths he goes to not offend any possible homophobes—who wouldn't be caught dead seeing this film—seems like overkill. The developing 'friendship' between the 24 year-old student and his mentor's 17-year-old son takes forever. (In reel time, at least an hour and a half in a movie that last for two hours and twelve minutes!)

If I had to say something positive about this languid love story it would be to praise the score which almost feels like an actual character in the movie. Interestingly enough, no scorer is listed in the credits. Just a music consultant, a music coordinator and a music supervisor. Hmmmm...

I wish I had liked Call Me By Your Name more.(That title makes absolutely no sense, by the way.) But to sound perfectly cynical, I think the only reason it got a Best Picture nod from The Academy was to be 'politically correct.' (Who wants the gay community picketing outside the Kodak Theater on March 4^th?) Not to take away from the Best Actor nomination Timothée Chalamat received which he richly deserves. Still, it ain't no Brokeback Mountain.

Grade:  C

ALLIED (2016)

Rated: R

STARS: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard
DIRECTOR: Robert Zemeckis
GENRE: Drama/Action-Adventure/Romance

Allied has a little something for everybody. Action...adventure...intrigue...espionage...suspense... romance...and the eye candy of Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. (So I guess they can be forgiven for not coming up with a more imaginative title!)

Pitt is Canadian intelligence officer Max Vatan. Cotillard is French resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (don't make me spell that name again). Eye candy meets eye candy behind enemy lines in 1942 Morocco, where they devour each other upon first glance. It's not love at first sight, but it is marriage at first sight, as their cover story is that they are husband and wife. They hit the ground running with their act for the benefit of friends and Nazis. Their mission is to assassinate a high ranking German official and high-tail it outta Dodge (or Casablanca in this case).

Playing a role can sometimes put you in the mood for the real thing, and Vatan wants to make her his wife for real, which they take care of in London. Before you know it, a little one--Anna--pops out, and the three of them have one idyllic year together before the feces hits the fan. Max is called to Special Operations headquarters where he is informed that Marianne just might be a double agent, working for the Germans. Imagine his conflicted emotions when he is informed that if suspicions are true, HE will be expected to eliminate her. His wife...the mother of his child! Everything that comes after that would be a spoiler. But there's a lot to reflect on, primarily about how loyalty to duty and country trumps all human considerations in time of war. Could he carry out such a mind-bogglingly horrific order--if it comes to that--or will love conquer all (or at least take a valiant stab at it) in the end?

There is one quirky little scene in Allied that seems out of place. Vatan is shuffling cards like a magician to prove to a skeptical Nazi that he's a serious poker player, but the sequence goes on for so long it becomes cartoonish. I started to wonder if we were going to veer off into serio-comic territory, a la Raiders Of The Lost Ark, but fortunately the rest of the film plays it straight.

Pitt and the doe-eyed Cotlllard create some onscreen steam together, which probably wasn't difficult since rumor has it they were hooking up romantically for real throughout the filming.

That's called taking your work home with you.

Grade:  B +

JILL'S TAKE

Tim pretty much covered the main points of Allied and he'll get no arguments from me. As for the two lead's pheremone-filled chemistry? I definitely feel Angelina had just cause to worry! And all through the movie, I kept being impressed with how well-preserved Brad is at age 52. Nary a wrinkle graces his cherubic face -- and he's got a nice ass, too! But enough about the film's more profound points...

Allied is definitely an attention-grabber. Just as I thought I knew what was happening, a new plot twist would emerge and foil my assumptions. Is Vatan's wife a spy? Will he be forced to execute the woman he loves? This brings up my one bone of contention which is how Brad Pitt's character could be, on the one hand, such a cold-blooded killer and, on the other, so blinded by love? I'm not sure director Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future, Cast Away,Forrest Gump) could have directed it any differently. And if he had, the film might have lost a lot of its impact.

I won't give anything away by this, but I do want to mention and praise the acting of Marion Bailey who plays Mrs. Sinclair, a kindly baby sitter. 

Grade: B+ (sorry to be such a copycat, Tim)

CAFE SOCIETY (2016)

STARS: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively
DIRECTOR: Woody Allen
GENRE: Drama

When we buy a ticket to a Woody Allen film we know that he will be dispensing his philosophy on life, love, sex and mortality through his characters. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, we can often close our eyes when a character is speaking and see him standing right there--the voice of the master coming through loud and clear. (Allen narrates the story as we go along as well.) 

It's an acquired taste. But for true aficionados, Cafe Society will provide some very pleasant rewards--offering up a sumptuous feast of fine acting performances, gorgeous milieu, and a nostalgic soundtrack of classics from the 1930s.

Young New Yorker Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) heads to Hollywood seeking gainful employment, hitting on his big shot talent agent uncle Phil (Steve Carell), who eventually takes him under his wing. Phil's assistant, Vonnie, (Kristen Stewart) gives Bobby the nickel tour of the Hollywood scene, and before you know it he's smitten by her. After some initial coyness, she takes a shine to him as well. But Vonnie has divided loyalties, and I won't spoil what that is all about for you. 

The scene will shift to New York, where Bobby's gangster brother, Ben, runs a posh nightclub. Bobby hires on there, and matures into a suave and debonair thirties kinda guy. He marries the alluring Veronica (Blake Lively), and all seems well until his past shows up one day at the club, and divided loyalties once again becomes the watchword of Cafe Society.

Jessie Eisenberg is the Peter Pan of Hollywood. Now 33 years old, he continues to play characters in their early twenties and gets away with it.  He is totally believable here as the callow kid who heads out west, and again as the smooth talking nightclub denizen--looking more like his chronological years. (I wonder if they had to "age" him cosmetically to make him look like what he really is. Bizarre.) 

Kristen Stewart imbues her character with a sweetness and a vulnerability I haven't seen from her before ( recalling her sizzling turn in On The Road from 2012.)  

And it's Steve Carell in another understated role, proving himself an actor with depth, as I'm sure he must still feel the urge sometimes to break out into the comic persona that established his greatness for a long while, but he seems more fond of the straight face nowadays.

Cafe Society drew me into its world of elegance and style, and a pre-war kind of innocence that, if you're like me, you may never want to leave. 

GRADE:  B +

JILL'S TAKE

Phooey! Tim made all the points I was going to make. I absolutely loved this film and I'm not necessarily a Woody Allen fan. (Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Deconstructing Harry, to name a few of my thumbs downers.) But this film was romantic to the max with what I like to call 'Jewish realism.' Yes, the actors were brilliant. And yes, the sets and the costumes--especially the jazz singer wearing a huge peacock-feathered beret were spot on! But in my view the best character of all was -- the score.

Allen chose wisely, using sentimental tunes like "Tea For Two" while showing a freshly murdered corpse being dumped into a cement-mixing grave. If ever there was a film where the music manipulated the audience's emotions, Café Society takes the cake. Of course, as an excellent clarinet player himself, Allen's musical knowledge knows no bounds.

Although this has nothing to do with the movie, I want to make a point. When I told a friend I was looking forward to seeing Woody Allen's latest, he bristled. "Not me, I refuse to see any of that creep's movies, considering how he's conducted his personal life!" I said nothing. But I think it's worth mentioning. For me, talent trumps dysfunction. I know other movie-goers who won't see a movie if the actor's political views don't jibe with their own. How sad. They often don't know what they're missing.

Anyhoo, back to Café Society. I'd like to give it an "A" grade but, to be honest, I'd probably give any well-written dramedy an "A" right now due to the dearth of any decent summer films....

GRADE: B+ 
(sorry to be such a copycat, Tim)

KNIGHT OF CUPS (2016)

Rated: R

STARS: Christian Bale, Brian Dehnehy, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Freida Pinto, Teresa Palmer, Isabel Lucas
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick
GENRE: Drama/Romance


To frame it in language that my uncle Lemuel back in Nebraska would find user friendly: Terence Malick makes weird movies that some consider to be absolutely brilliant, while others just shake their heads and say:  Shit...I'll never get  those two hours back!

Case in point: Tree Of Life.  It was lauded as a masterpiece by many and was nominated for three Academy Awards. I found it to be disjointed and tedious. However, if I were to view it a second time, I might get a better grasp on what Mr. Malick was trying to convey. The same can probably be said for his latest offering, Knight Of Cups.

The "plot" is as follows. Rick (Christian Bale) is a Hollywood writer who drifts in and out of reverie with six pivotal women in his life--played by Imogeen Poots, Cate Blanchett, Freida Pinto, Natalie Portman, Teresa Palmer, Isabel Lucas, and Brian Dennehy. WHOOPS...Dennehy plays his father...heh heh...with whom Rick has flashback encounters designed to give us an inkling of past tragedies.

The characters in Knight Of Cups speak solely through their own interior monologue--in other words, they are talking to themselves. The action moves from one dreamlike sequence to another, through the kaleidoscopic cityscapes and the "beautiful people" of L.A. and Las Vegas--to the beach, to the bedroom, to the boredom (my own).Through all of this cinematically pretty navel-gazing, Christian Bale, as Rick, is trying to figure out who he is...or what his life is all about...or maybe what he is doing in this film in the first place.

It's a lot of weirdness, Uncle Lemuel (which I'm not averse to), but after awhile it gets to be too much of the SAME KIND of weirdness--like watching Freddy Krueger come back to life every damn time they kill him, or listening to Marco Rubio up on the debate stage!

Maybe Malick is making a statement about the dreamlike nature of life. That I can grasp. You sit in your living room gazing at a chair where somebody sat weeks, or months, or years ago and you wonder...were they ever really there?

I didn't love Knight Of Cups. I didn't exactly hate it (it's smattered with " T " and "A"). But it's true. I'll never get those two hours back.

Grade: C


JILL'S TAKE

I suppose after seeing Remember, a movie I felt was one of the best I'd ever seen, it's only fitting that the next one should be – bar none -- worst movie I've ever seen! I have very little patience with stories that have no discernible story. Obviously the producers of this turkey knew what they were dealing with and decided (after seeing the final cut and tearing their hair out) to make the trailer look as if it was a triangle love story between Bale, Blanchett and Portman. That's what I thought I was going to see!

Instead I was subjected to long silences, Tarot card headings, self-indulgent soliloquies and a film that seemed to go on forever. The only people I think might get something out of this meandering mishmosh are the 420 crowd. Warning: Take a BIG toke before entering the theater...

Grade: D ----

CAROL (2015)

Rated: R

STARS: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson
DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes
GENRE: Drama/Romance

How can I know what I want when I always say yes to everything is the line that nails the character of Therese (Rooney Mara), looking for all the world like a young Audrey Hepburn and exuding a similar Holly Golightly air of innocence and naivete. She is the perfect prey in waiting for Carol (Cate Blanchett), something of an older lesbian cougar who locks gazes with Therese at the New York City department store where the younger woman is employed behind the counter.

Carol is set in the early fifties, and the title character is a married woman, as many gay folk were during that era, due to the ubber stigma that homosexuality carried with it at the time. They played the game and tried to fit into "normal" societal roles... peering cautiously at the world from behind stacks of hatboxes inside the closet.

To further complicate matters, Carol is in the middle of obtaining a divorce from her from her hapless hubby, Harge (Kyle Chandler). He knows what she's up to, as she's had a previous lez affair with one of her longtime friends, Abby (Sarah Paulson). But he still loves his wife, and doesn't want to lose her. They have a young daughter, Rindy, and Harge is threatening to out Carol and have her declared an unfit mother--in which case she will surely lose custody of the child. So as Carol pursues her passionate desire for Therese, she must consider the consequences of her actions.

There is the obligatory lovemaking scene between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, with an ample amount of skin on display. (In case you're curious about these two in real life-- Blanchett, who is married, has stated she has had previous relationships with women. Mara, who starred as the gender-bending Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, is also rumored to be bisexual).

These are two heavyweight performances from the co-stars--Blanchett as the somewhat jaded, chain smoking Carol; Mara as the young ingenue discovering herself as a sexual being breaking through boundaries, pulled in different directions by members of both genders who want her.

Carol--adapted from the Patricia Highsmith novel, The Price Of Salt--is a tale of how two people find love and try to keep it alive in an us-against-the world scenario. It deftly captures the mood and the feel of a repressive era in our history when we weren't allowed to love just anyone of our own choosing.

Grade:  B +

JILL'S TAKE

Before commenting on Carol, I have to confess that I wasn't really in the mood for a movie, having seen two previous flicks in the past three days (The Big Short and Joy). My lids kept getting heavy and I was concentrating more on not nodding off than whether these two love-starved ladies would get it on or not. Like me, Carol was a bit lethargic.

In discussing it afterwards with Tim, I was still able to voice my dislikes (slow-paced direction, lugubrious content) and likes (Cate Blanchett's acting and Carter Burwell's score). Edward Lachman's cinematography also stood out for me as it lavishly set the stage for this clandestine love affair. I was reminded of John A. Alonzo's cinematography in Chinatown which had the same haunting feel to it. I guess my main gripe was how quickly these two ladies' sexual attraction turned into genuine love. (I'm sure it took longer in Highsmith's novel!)

I was also amazed that a mid-week, mid-afternoon showing of the film packed the movie house with viewers. I guess the promise of seeing two well-known movie stars getting naked in bed is a major draw.

Grade: C

BROOKLYN (2015)

Rated: PG-13

STARS: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen
DIRECTOR: John Crowley
GENRE: Romantic Drama

Normally I would keep you in suspense for a little while as I work up to my ultimate assessment of a movie, but this time I'm just going to gush, because Brooklyn may be the best film I have seen all year ( and we're very late in the year!)

Young Eilis Lacy (Saoirse Ronan) languishes in her small town in Ireland, until she gets the opportunity to emigrate to America and live in Brooklyn (where there are so many Irish folks it feels just like home!)  There she will work in a department store, receiving pointers on how to be personable with the customers. She'll live in a boarding house for young women. She'll meet a great Italian guy (Emory Cohen) and fall in love. But circumstances will draw her back to her native land--temporarily, or so is the intent--to console her emotionally manipulative mother following a death in the family. There she will become drawn in by one of the local bachelors, setting up a bigtime emotional conflict-- her heart stretched between two continents...the small town and the big town...an Irishman and an Italian--as we ride the edge of our seats (and it's not even a thriller), fully invested in the outcome.

And the reason we are invested is because everything about Brooklyn is perfect. The early fifties milieu...the fashions...the giddy girls at the boarding house...a world where politeness and reserve in speech and manner still prevailed...but most of all the extraordinary talent of the two leads and the chemistry they develop.

Emory Cohen has the stage presence of a young Brando, and Saoirse Ronan --whose beauty shines more from within than without--inhabits her character so thoroughly and convincingly that it seems she was born to play Eilis Lacy.

It there's anything here for my critical eye to land upon, it's that Brooklyn moves rather languidly, from a plot standpoint, through the first third or so of the film. But you're getting tons of character development along the way, augmented by a fine supporting cast.

 If Brooklyn isn't well represented come Oscar night, someone will surely deserve a good whuppin with a shillelagh!!!  In light of the current immigration debate, it stands as a shining testament to a time when strangers were welcome here. 

Grade: A


JILL'S TAKE

    Ready for some more gushing? I couldn't agree more with everything Tim has said about Brooklyn. It's romantically nostalgic without being cloying. Although the times were far more innocent (nobody was texting during sex), I could totally relate. In fact, it made me yearn for those bygone days when being shy was endearing. And virtue wasn't a character defect. Yes, there have been plenty of movies about immigrants coming to America, hoping for a better life. But this one has a uniqueness that won't quit. Whether it's dealing with homesickness, the angst of being an outsider, cultural differences,Brooklyn has it all.

I hadn't heard of the two leads before. But I guarantee, after this film, both Saoirse Ronan (even with a name like that!) and Emory Cohen will become familiar to all of us. Both actors have such incredible eyes. Mesmerizing!

The cinematography by Yves Bélanger is superb. Whether it's a crowded Coney Island or the sweeping dunes of a deserted beach in Ireland, the visuals are poignant and perfectly memorable. My only beef – and it's a real stretch for me to find one – is an interior scene where snow flakes suddenly appear, falling slowly to the floor. I assume the director felt it added to the mood. I felt it was distracting. That being said, I urge anyone reading this to run right — NOW!—and see this gem of a movie.

Grade: A +