The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko)

This fine film certainly marks the mainstreaming of the "two-mommies" phenomenon--not because it features a family with two mommies (as well as a daughter, a son, and a sperm donor), but because the adult characters are flawed enough to be mildly irritating. For example, Nic (Annette Bening) the alpha-female in this pair may be a feminist lesbian, yet she still repeatedly refers possessively, even patriarchally, to the family as "my family" and to her right to determine how its individual members behave. Jules (Julianne Moore) can be as annoyingly impractical as the worst stereotypical suburban housewife, and Paul (Mark Ruffalo) remains stupefyingly self-centered. Nevertheless, the film works because all the characters are earnest in their attempts to work out problems common to all families, as well as those limited to gay families.

Recommend.

Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)

A director any less bold that Granik would have made this movie to be about either hope or despair. Granik avoids both, instead making it about perseverance in an environment where everyone else has given up. Responsible for caring for two younger siblings and her withdrawn mother, Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) must find her father, dead or alive, before he misses his court hearing and their home is forfeited to the bail bondsman.

Visually, each shot of the Ozark back country is filled with copious amounts of bleak minutia that in less assured hand would merely depress the viewer. These details provide the unspoken back story that Ree negotiates. This is clearly the country of illegal meth cooking, a fact that forms the backdrop to the oscillations between violence and indifference that Ree must face down. That she accomplishes her mission is no cause for hope. No ray of sunshine breaks through the gray sky, no white knight prances in to deliver these foresaken children. And yet, and yet.

For a lyrical homage to the film, see David Denby's review in 5 July 2010 New Yorker.

Highly recommend.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (David Slade)

A last minute invitation lured us to the dark side. We managed to miss the first two films in the Twilight saga, but no problem. The plot is thin enough that we were able to catch up with little effort. Weak script, weak acting, but lots of fun anyway.

Recommend. Why not?Post Options

The Girl who Played with Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden), Daniel Alfredson

Less engaging than the first one (Girl with the Dragon Tatoo) because the audience is asked to accept too many unbelievable sequences. Wouldn't the bad guys notice they were being followed? Can the tires of a Prius really squeal?
In any case, it was good to spend a couple of hours with Lisbeth and Michael. A good summer flick.

Recommend

I Am Love (Io sono l'amore) (Luca Guadagnino)

Tilda Swinton is one of my favorite actresses, and I will see any film she appears in--even if this British actress is playing a Russian married to a Milanese tycoon (and thus unable to understand English). The visual and auditory sumptuousness of the film derives from its anatomization of Italy's stylish elite, while its narrative heart depends upon the melodrama of a passionate woman in an lukewarm marriage. And then there's the film's several meditations on cooking and food--no pasta or tomatoes served on these Italian tables--clearly associating provocative cuisine with intense sexuality.

Highly recommend.