The Party and Leaning into the Wind

The Party is a very funny, adult film.  With a snappy script, the cast is headed by Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson and Bruno Ganz.  A clear Do Not Miss.  Leaning into the Wind, is a documentary about about the extraordinary British artist, Andy Goldsworthy.  This is the second collaboration made between him and the director and photographer, Thomas Rieddelsheimer, and it is up to their first, the compelling Rivers and Tides (2001).

Oscar Nominations

No big problems with Oscar noms except Best Director.  What!  Martin McDonagh gets no nod for Three Billboards....?  And how about Novitiate for Best Movie?  Glad to see Faces Places got nominated for Best Documentary, but what about Human Flow?
Now for a rare nod for Best Freckles to Julianne Nicholson in I, Tonya and Noviate.
And a first time nod for the steadily increasing degrees of creepy to Get Out.  

Get Out and The Post

I usually skip horror movies, but when I noticed the attention that Get Out was receiving this award season, I went to see it.  I think calling it a horror movie does not do it justice.  This film is nice, then creepy, creepier and yes, then an absolute horror.  The black/white relations in it add spice and humor.  All in all, a fully engaging experience and one not to be missed.
The Post is also an excellent film, centered on the publication of the Pentagon Papers.  It depicts the power and achievements of journalism.  Two of our finest big stars, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, deliver compelling performances.
I admit to being so awed by Get Out that I have nothing more to say about The Post.

5 "Little" Movies Also Get High Ratings

Faces Places.  As artists, Agnes Varda and JR, collaborate to traverse the French countryside making new friends and creating art and large format photos.  Its a fantastic exhibition of their imaginations.  The warmth which develops between them and those they meet feels genuine and magnetizing. 
God's Own Country.  This movie is set on a small farm in northern England.  The family consists of the parents and a son, Johnny, who's a tough nut to like.  A Romanian immigrant, Gheorghe, comes to the farm as a temporary worker but before long, he and Johnny strike up a friendship and more.  This simple story and setting develop into an extraordinary film in the harsh and bleak, but beautiful,  landscape.
Noviate.  A young girl with an agnostic mother is drawn to Catholicism and eventually pursues a vocation as a nun.  The girl (Margaret Qualley), the mother (Julianne Nicholson) [see predeeding post on this blog], and the Reverend Mother (Melissa Leo) all deliver compelling performances.  A thoroughly engaging film.
Human Flow.  Artist Ai Weiwei created this astounding documentary about the world-wide refugee crisis.  So many of us are aware of the homeless issues and poverty extremes where we live, but this film, global in scope, takes us beyond to an expansive reality.  It is dense and absorbing.
BPM (beats per minute).  This film involves the HIV/AIDS battles in Paris in the early 90s.  It  focuses specifically on the ACT UP organization and its many attempts for recognition and medical treatment for those afflicted, but also on the religious and political establishments and their passivity and prejudices.  A frustrating but exhilarting film.

Julianne Nicholson, actress

I first noticed Julianne Nicholson in the movie Flannel Pajamas (2006), in which she played the woman in a nasty, but disappointing (you were rooting for them)  break up from her partner.  She was extraordinary.  I've seen her here and there since then, but now in 2017, she has 2 (semi major) roles in Novitiate, in which she is the loving, but angry and vulgar mother of a daughter who has decided to become a nun.  It's a challenging role that she plays to a T.  She also solidly plays the coach in I, Tonya. Furthermore, she is the recipient this season of the rarely given samoblog award, Best Freckles.

Realty Message 2017/2018

There's a turd in the punch bowl.

2 "Big" Movies Get High Ratings

These 2 great films, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Darkest Hour will obviously be up for Oscars this season.  Frances McDormand is spot-on as a fed up mother whose murdered daughter's criminal investigation has dragged on without results for over a year.  Is there an actress alive who could have come near to matching this performance?  Plus, the script here is also Oscar worthy as well as the cast, especially Sam Rockwell, as an angry cop and Woody Harrelson as the sheriff.   In The Darkest Hour Gary Oldman plays Winston Churchill as a tough, gruff, articulate and forceful leader during the time the Brits and the world needed him most.  It's another Oscar worthy performance and so is that of his wife, played by Kristin Scott Thomas.