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Op-Ed: Britain’s Working Class: A Journey Through the Films of the 1960s

The working-class communities of Britain are etched into the very foundations of the countries that structure it. These people – these salt-of-the-earth individuals – have been on a journey through wreck and ruin since time immemorial, right up until the present day. Whether it was during the smog-drenched industrial times of the 1800s, most of which spilled out into the new century, or a post-war Britain still feeling the poverty-like conditions resulting from those dark events, whatever the cause, Britain was left reeling from pain for years. The 1960s was a decade that had the hopes of the people reliant upon it; to change people’s lives for the better, and even though the “Swinging Sixties” were monumentally freeing for some, there was still a divide of classes that was hard to forget.

Film has always been a great method of escapism; saving up all those shillings (old British currency for those wondering) from working down the mines or in the factory, to spend on an exciting trip to the pictures – the saving grace for many people during that time. If they were lucky enough to afford it, that is. The question is though: how did this decade of film represent its working-class people? Well, ultimately, it produced some of the most iconic British films to date. The frustrations of angry young men – a term that was linked to the youth of the era – became the structure for the much loved ‘kitchen sink’ genre that produced undeniable realism in its portrayals.

A film that kickstarted the decade, a film that has since become one of the most iconic British films of the century, was the Karel Reisz film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. It is such a wonderful example of the mentality of working-class youth in a small Northern town; indestructible to the world, even if this world that they exist in consists of a small prison-like settlement. There’s a saying used a lot in England: “a small-town mentality”, which perfectly depicts the mindset of many a young person who hails from such a place. In Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the great Albert Finney’s portrayal of Arthur Seaton is the perfect representation of the angry young man who has become a prisoner of this small-town mentality.

Arthur Seaton is in his early twenties and was born into a working-class family in Nottingham, England. He works in a factory (it was either that or down the mines in those days), so he can count himself lucky, but to dull the pain of this seemingly unfulfilling life, he spends his time boozing over the weekend and courting multiple women. It’s a sad, almost ominous feeling in reality; working your fingers raw for five days a week only to spend two days in blissful solitude, while Monday slowly creeps back up before you know it – no wonder all these men were angry and bitter. Arthur is really just an amalgamation of thousands of youths from that period, but it’s how the town itself is projected that offers the greatest amount of realism. It is filled with so many hard-working individuals, most of whom are at home with this simple little life – but this film could have been set in one of several northern communities up and down the country because of how relatable it really feels. This place, and the people in it, often assume the world outside their own is not worth exploring or even noticing at least, and there’s something quite dreary and depressing about that notion of thought, one that plagues the minds of countless others to this day.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was just a conception piece for the decade though; the mere blueprint for any film that follows it that represented Britain’s working class. There was an enormous number of young people during the 60s that became disillusioned with a dream that would allow them to escape the monotony of this prison-like system. What was that dream we hear you ask? Well, it was to be a famous sports star of course. It was the best route of escape, a chance at stardom unless stardom went to your head, that is.

In 1963, the Lindsay Anderson-directed film This Sporting Life cranked up the stakes with its representation of the angry young man ideology. Starring Richard Harris as Frank Machin, a mine-working Yorkshireman with a knack for finding trouble where trouble is hard to find, and yet, it’s this very temper that gives him his big break with a professional rugby team. Frank is living the dream of so many young men of the time, and although an unpolished player, it’s the aggression and desire he possesses that impresses everyone around him – but when success comes, you need to walk in humility, something Frank needed to realize. His playing career isn’t equaled in his personal life; he loves a widow (Rachel Roberts) with no returned feelings, and his inner turmoil begins to affect his sporting escape route.

This Sporting Life’s gift was its efficiency in becoming hugely relatable. Like the previous film, Frank Machin is another amalgamation of so many different young men – countless times they became the victim of failure, but Frank is a representation of the ones that made it. However, there’s a darkness to the film’s realism and particularly that of Frank’s personality and the relationship he has with the other characters. The use of dialogue is key to the film’s overall representation of the class system too. Margaret (the widowed landlord and the object of Frank’s affection) often calls him a “great ape”, which could very well be deemed as a comment about his upbringing and his apparent lack of education. It’s just one example of the oppression that working-class people have been afflicted with over the years, and although it might only be words, it represents the contempt that supposed higher classes have towards their “lesser” peers.

The aforementioned films are prime examples of the kitchen sink drama that the decade became associated with, but it wasn’t limited to just that, far from it even. The 60s was a period experiencing a lot of changes, both good and bad. For all the excitement around the music and the culture, there was a damning social predicament accentuated by unemployment and housing dilemmas that led to an unprecedented increase in crime and extreme levels of uncertainty.

Ken Loach is seen by many as the king of British social realist films, and it all began in 1967 with a little film called Poor Cow starring Carol White as the unlucky titular animal, with Terrence Stamp and John Bindon in supporting roles. Poor Cow has those ‘kitchen sink’ like ideologies while also attempting to become a lot more diverse in what it was representing. White portrays Joy, a single mum living in London who must now fend for herself after her mentally and physically abusive husband Tom (John Bindon) is sent to jail. However, she soon becomes involved with Dave (Terrence Stamp), a charming criminal associate of Tom’s who swoons Joy and her young son Johnny and tempts them with an idyllic life of love and potential security. As a side note, if you’ve ever seen the Steven Soderbergh film The Limey (1999), footage from Poor Cow was used for the flashbacks of Terrence Stamp’s character – it’s an interesting approach to creating a 30-year character arc at least.

There are aspects in this film that echo through the rest of Loach’s eclectic filmography; the working-class environment and the aggressive men that are birthed from a violent and unforgiving climate. Domestic violence has established itself as a scourge on society for as long as time allows, but it’s inside the seemingly simple lives of the working class where it caused irreparable damage. Poor Cow explores the repercussions of such problems and how one person can have a frightening hold on a person’s psyche: a never-ending plague on those seemingly simple-looking households that are staples in community life.

Although Poor Cow was criticized for feeling false, or in the words of The Monthly Film Bulletin, a “superficial, slightly patronizing incursion into the nether realms of social realism,” a slightly harsh evaluation of a now iconic film it feels, its use (or overuse) of documentary-like footage offers an authentic take on the working-class community in which it is set. There’s a simplicity to it that shines out amongst the rest, whether it’s the neighbors or the characters that give the local public house the charm it deserves, they are all techniques and concepts that have stuck with Loach and his films every step of the way.

To us British, all three films evoke a sense of simplistic symbolism to those that watch them. They were the template for the genre of British social realism to evolve over the decades and take on even more meaning, but still, these examples remain as significant as ever. The working class way of life has undertaken many changes in this country over the years; affected by politics, changed through culture, and cultivated through oppression, but the core values remain the same, and cinema was always there to represent it in so many diverse ways.

Chasing the Gold: What Oscar Contenders Have Been Released So Far This Year?

As the month of May begins, let’s take stock of what films released so far this year have the best chance of receiving at least one Oscar nomination at the 2024 ceremony. This time last year the eventual Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once had been released, and the Oscar nominees The Batman and Turning Red had come out, too. What’s been in theaters or on streaming in the last few months that have a chance at the Academy Awards? Here are five titles that have potential…

1. Air 

Air is the most likely Oscar contender that’s been released in the first four months of 2023. Ben Affleck’s newest drama tells the true story of how a shoe salesman led Nike in its pursuit of Michael Jordan. Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, and Viola Davis lead a stellar cast, and the reviews with critics and audiences have been strong since the film’s debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Alissa Wilkinson in Vox, for example, called the film “pitch-perfect” and “deeply entertaining.” One major detriment to the movie is that it’s had a quiet release since opening wide in theaters in early April, and I’m not sure if enough voters will remember the movie by the time we get to the awards season. But if the film stays in the awards consideration long enough, we could be looking at nods in Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress for Viola Davis, and/or Best Costume Design. 

2. John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 received the strongest box office and best reviews of the Keanu Reeves franchise upon its opening at the end of March, and if there’s enough room for a surprise fifth nomination in Best Sound, John Wick: Chapter 4 could make it into that category. A Best Editing nod a la The Bourne Ultimatum (which won, by the way, in 2008) would be a great show of strength for the movie, too. What hurts the film’s chances is that none of the first three films has been nominated at the Oscars, and the extreme violence might turn voters. However, if there was ever a chance for a John Wick movie to get in, this would be the one.  

3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

It might not have gotten the greatest reviews, but its behemoth box office and acclaim from audiences might signify a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination next year, especially if there’s not a lot of competition in the category. The biggest knock against the film’s chances aren’t the reviews necessarily but the lack of respect from the Academy for video game adaptations, both animated and live-action. But when looking back on the last decade of Animated Feature nominees, a few films that got in weren’t loved by critics, particularly The Boss Baby from 2017. The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be able to ride its popularity with audiences all the way to an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, especially if some of the late-breaking animated films of 2023 underperform. 

4. Beau is Afraid

Beau is Afraid has been a divisive film with both critics and audiences, but Ari Aster’s new three-hour epic might have enough praise to keep the film in the awards conversation. For example, Megan Navarro in Bloody Disgusting says, “Those willing to ride the wave of genre and mind-bending insanity will find themselves rewarded by a profoundly imaginative Kafkaesque odyssey as dementedly funny as it is often horrifying.” Phoenix’s best chance at a Best Actor Oscar nomination next year will be for Ridley Scott’s upcoming historical drama Napoleon, not Beau is Afraid, but Patti LuPone has been getting some of the best film reviews of her career for her supporting performance as Beau’s mother, Mona. The film’s awards chances have been hurt by some poor reviews, low box office, and Ari Aster’s previous two films Hereditary and Midsommar both coming up short on Oscar nominations morning. However, Beau is Afraid could receive a surprise acting or screenplay nod if enough people continue talking about it throughout the year. 

5. Little Richard: I Am Everything

It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, just dropped in theaters and on VOD, and it’s easily one of the best reviewed documentaries so far this year. It’s an engaging celebration of the rock pioneer Little Richard that currently has 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and countless rave reviews from critics, like David Rooney in the Hollywood Reporter, who said, “Even if you’re not a fan of Little Richard going into this film, chances are you will be by the time it’s over.” Outside of there being a glut of impressive documentaries near the end of 2023, look for Little Richard: I Am Everything to make it into the Oscar final five for Best Documentary Feature in early 2024. 

Schindler’s List: A Retrospective 30 Years Later

The social importance of a Hollywood film comes to the forefront every few years. It must be marked with a sense of gratitude for the movie to be made. It is not just about content, but also the artistry that comes with it to convey those strong messages speaking to us on injustice from a dark chapter in history. World War II is a continuing fountain for such stories because of the depths of heroism and evil that touched everyone in the conflict, especially regarding the Holocaust. There are many films set on that subject and for Steven Spielberg, it was personal to him as a Jewish man. It was a film that took him a decade to get prepared emotionally for and he almost lost the film to his friend, Martin Scorsese. But, in 1993, after finishing Jurassic Park, Spielberg went to Poland to tackle this personal project.

The result was a masterpiece and one of the greatest films ever made in Hollywood. It made Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes major stars and introduced cinematographer Janusz Kaminski as one of our best cinematographers. Spielberg took a chapter from this dark moment in human history and converted it into a candle that still remains flickering. In a single jump cut, the candle that gets snuffed out sends us back to 1939 Poland. He brought back into the consciousness of America, and the world, the need to remember such crimes against humanity so they will never be duplicated again. Rather than preach about it, he adapted Thomas Kenneally’s book about Oskar Schindler (Neeson), the German manufacturer who went from war profiteer to savior of 1200 Jews who was bound for death until he paid for their survival.

The black-and-white visuals reflect the only thing being seen in newsreels. Noticeably, there are no crane or dolly shots. In keeping with the newsreel-like shooting, it was predominately handheld or on a tripod. Outside of the beginning and the end, the only thing in color is a little girl wearing a red coat which catches Oskar’s attention twice. Unlike previous films, Spielberg portrays in its horrible gore what victims were forced to do and how they were killed. He looked away when they filmed the scene of elderly Jews who had to run naked and show they were still fit. They built replicas of actual locations near where they originally stood and came up with the film’s epilogue while they were in the middle of principal photography.

In Steve Zailian’s script, he gives Schindler’s story in two parts. In the first half, he is all about keeping himself a successful businessman and finding beautiful women to be with, even though he is a married man. The first time we see him is in the club where he buys a Nazi officer and his date a drink. It is the first step of the process *in which he becomes the center of attention because of charisma, leading a waiter to tell an inquiring official with excitement, “That’s Oskar Schindler!” The second half is about a man who gradually realizes the extent of the Nazi’s cruelty and plan for the Jews. He is on horseback watching the liquidation of the ghettos and is deeply affected by the roundup and the mass killings, which is where the first sight of the girl in a red coat catches his eye. It is not instant, but his conscience shifts as it becomes more evident that the Germans will lose the war and all Nazi members, like him, will be found out.

Then, there is the personification of evil in Amon Goth (Fiennes), a psychopath who will kill anyone at random. He is bluntly misogynist and randomly kills for sheer sport. The blood runs cold through him, yet he develops a relationship with Schindler, even protecting him after he kisses a Jewish girl, which is illegal. But Goth is also a realist and not a zealot who fights to the end when he tells Schindler, “the party is over,” as the army is retreating from the east and people have to be evacuated towards Auschwitz. He is the one who asks Schindler how much each of his workers and their families are worth to him before Schindler gives the names to his accountant, Itzhak Stern, who types them.

In these scenes, the citizens affected by the occupation of Poland are forced into the ghetto, and their liquidation drops in the middle of what these harrowing moments were like. Families being forced to share a bedroom apartment, Nazis verbally abusing their captives, and the efforts they go to hide when the liquidation happens. Even the children get involved in the emotional turmoil as they even turn on themselves and reject rumors of the real truth, their extermination, in the camps. The story is about them as much as it is about Schindler and his change of heart. Their survival, how lucky they were, and the uncertainty afterward when a Russian soldier tells them they’ve been liberated, but says to neither go East nor West because Jews are still hated.

The reason Spielberg decided to push on with this project was because of the amount of Holocaust denial he was seeing. Tragically, this can be said about now with more anti-Semitic incidents in recent years. Spielberg refused a salary because he thought of it as, “blood money,” making a profit off the tragedy, and believed it would be a flop anyway. (It grossed $322 million from a $22 million budget.) The success of the film would not just give Spielberg his first Oscar for Best Director, but it would intensify the awareness of the Holocaust and why it has to be remembered. Thirty years after its release, the same emotions it invokes in those who see it are the same and is Spielberg’s finest artistic achievement. 

 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man) 

Movie Review: ‘Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret’ is a Heartfelt Gem


Director: Kelly Fremon Craig

Writers: Kelly Fremon Craig and Judy Blume

Stars: Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates

Synopsis: When her family moves from the city to the suburbs, 11-year-old Margaret navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.


Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is one of only a handful of films that tell the story from the female perspective of coming of age with a perfect amount of tender love and care. Based on the classic middle-grade novel by Judy Blume of the same name, her book was as influential as a glimpse of the future of what it was like to be growing up in America during a period of significant social change. The story was as much about larger issues, such as losing faith and questioning it, and how that contributed to anxieties, especially for early female adolescents.

Writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig’s (The Edge of Seventeen) excellent adaptation of Ms. Blume’s book follows eleven-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) as she moves from the land of big skyscrapers, apples, and attitudes to a picturesque New Jersey suburb. Her teacher, Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum), encourages her to explore her lack of faith due to her interfaith, yet agnostic upbringing for a class assignment.

Margaret’s mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), is Catholic, and her father, Herb ( Benny Safdie), is Jewish. Barbara’s parents cut her off because she married Herb, leaving Herb’s mother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), to spoil Margaret and hope she embraces her Jewish heritage. When not spending time with her grandmother, Margaret has made a best friend in Nancy (Nancy Wheeler), who joins their secret club where they make up cardinal rules and discuss everything from boys to their anticipated “red panda” moment (thank you Turning Red for the metaphor).

What sets Ms. Craig’s film apart from other Judy Blume adaptations is that the kids in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret actually acttheir age. There are cute scenes of the girls trying to force their way into puberty, like the Kool-Aid man through a brick wall, with the chant “I must, I must, I must increase my bust,” and the overwhelming consternation of early adolescence. Craig captures the spirit of Blume’s book in an intimate and refreshingly honest manner that is wholly entertaining and, at times, moving.

For example, watch the way the director captures two moments with the young female characters. Fortson’s Margaret, cute and uplifting, and for Wheeler’s Nancy, encompassing all the anxiety, fear, shame, and embarrassment a pre-adolescent girl can feel, is done perfectly and beautifully. Most importantly, the mother’s reaction tells how meaningful the mother/daughter relationship can be during those crucial times in a young girl’s development into womanhood.

Some may argue Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is out of touch with society regarding religion. The book was written during a different time and place. (It should be noted that 84% of the global population identifies with a religious affiliation, and only 29% of people in the United States identify as agnostic.) Frankly, the book is timeless as it has become increasingly relevant regarding the passage of time with those all-consuming sobering, and mortifying moments of growing up.

And that’s where Ms. Fortson’s wonderful and even, say, brave performance comes into play. This is a movie about relationships – the ones with her parents, which are touching; the one with her grandmother, which is heartwarming; the ones with her friends, which are endearing; and finally, the one she has with God, which is nonexistent and equivalent to an existential crisis when it comes to Margaret’s pride conflicting with a tremendous amount of self-doubt that she must overcome.

Her performance is a heartfelt gem, just like this movie.

Grade: A-

Movie Review: ‘Blackberry’ is Fun For Those Nostalgic Users


Director: Matt Johnson

Writers: Matt Johnson, Jacquie McNish, and Matthew Miller

Stars: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson

Synopsis: The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone.


Matt Johnson’s new abrasive comedy, Blackberry, is just as much about true genius as it is about the drive never to settle or rest on your laurels. The rise and spectacular fall of the world’s first smartphone, created and sold from Waterloo, Ontario, once held 45% of the global market share. A few years later, the company formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM) had zero in a jaw-dropping fall from grace. How? By developing a dangerous level of hubris in themselves, their product, and their place in society by thinking they reached their own capacity in a constantly evolving field.

Blackberry tells the story of Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel), a Turkish immigrant who immigrated with his Pontic Greek parents when he was five years old. He started RIM out of a small strip mall with his best friend Douglas Fregin (Johnson), with dreams of bringing everything your computer can do to a phone. The goal was to use a free, untapped wireless signal across North America with their invention, PocketLink. As Doug describes it, a device is a computer, page, and “email machine” all in one.

At least, that’s the pitch they make to Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), who is intrigued enough about the idea to look up from the notes for a meeting he’s about to hijack. A melon-headed pompous blowhard, Balsillie knows one thing about business and bluntly interrupts their pitch by telling them they need a better name. Later, after being let go from his job, he shows up at RIM’s offices and eventually strikes a deal to become the co-CEO with Lazaridis, infusing the type of institutional arrogance that was ultimately the company’s downfall.

Blackberry’s script was written by Matt Miller and adapted from the nonfiction business book, Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. The film’s shooting style has the look and feel of a mockumentary, as the camera zooms in to capture reaction shots of critical characters. This brings a sense of what these three were doing, breaking the rules and making new ones as they went along. Miller evolves the true story into an absurdist comedy that embraces the theme that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness later than to ask for permission from the start.

The film is perfectly cast, with Johnson saving some of the funniest lines from Miller’s script for himself. Baruchel still brings some of his trademark neurotic style, but he plays the role with more of a stoic quality than one would expect. He has the film’s best scene, exasperatingly trying to explain to the board of Bell Atlantic that new competitors just don’t have that trademark and satisfying Blackberry trademark typewriter click when typing out messages. However, the film develops its infused caustic sting from Howerton, who captures Balsillie’s well-known hostile style in a way that moves the film’s story quickly.

I’ll admit, I had more fun with Blackberry than most, purely for nostalgia’s sake. Growing up across the border from Waterloo, I once owned and loved my Blackberry Bold. I even held the Blackberry Storm in my hands and sent it back because it never worked, then never receiving a replacement. Even the well-known failure of Balsillie trying to bring the NHL to Hamilton, Ontario, is still fresh in my memory. It’s a trend now in films, from Ben Affleck’s Air to the upcoming Flamin’ Hot, of films capturing moments in time that changed the world in some small or large way. Johnson’s Blackberry works as a work of sentimentality for the past but also teaches us to always keep an eye out for what will happen in the future.

Grade: B+

Podcast: Updated MCU Rankings – Episode 533

 

This week’s episode is brought to you by Koffee Kult. Get 15% off with the code: ISF

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, inspired by Marvel’s latest in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, Ryan and Brendan offer up their updated MCU rankings! At this point in the MCU, there’s been over 40 films and Disney+ series that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so there’s plenty to decipher and it was fun looking back at the best Marvel has given us so far.

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Thoughts on the MCU (2:00)
Before we get into our updated rankings, we had a fun discussion talking about the MCU, where it stands as of now and what its future might hold. Vol 3‘s box office has been lower than what’s predicted, but is that a sign of the times? Or what’s to come?


RELATED: Listen to Episode 516 of the InSession Film Podcast where we discussed our Top 10 Movies of 2022!


– Top 10 MCU Movies (1:02:40)
As noted above, this is where we offer up our updated MCU rankings by primarily talking about our Top 10 films/shows that the MCU has offered up to this point. What would be your Top 10?

Show Sponsor: First Time Watchers Podcast

– Music
Avengers Theme – Alan Silvestri
Captain America – Henry Jackman

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 533

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Podcast Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

On this episode, Brendan and Ryan discuss Marvel’s latest in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3! The MCU has been in a little bit of flux lately, but James Gunn’s latest (and last) entry has been exactly what it needed.

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (3:00)
Director: James Gunn
Writers: James Gunn
Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan

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Women InSession: Howard Hawks – Episode 37

This week on Women InSession, we take a deep dive into the films of the legendary Howard Hawks! With films such as Scarface, Bringing Up Baby, Only Angels Have Wings and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, among many others, there’s much to love about Hawks’ filmography.

Panel: Zita Short, Amy Thomasson

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Music
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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Women InSession – Episode 37

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Podcast Review: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

On this episode, JD and Brendan discuss Kelly Fremon Craig’s latest film Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., based on the famous Judy Blume novel! This is a film that we’ve been anticipating as fans of Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen, and spoiler alert, it didn’t disappoint.

Review: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (3:30)
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Writers: Kelly Fremon Craig
Stars: Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates

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Westfront 1918: The Other “All Quiet On The Western Front”

World War I films are having a moment thanks to the acclaimed works 1917, Benediction, Amsterdam (okay, not all are acclaimed), and the newly minted Oscar-winner All Quiet On The Western Front. World War II could not exist without the first one, even though the sequel is a more fascinating battle. With Edward Berger’s successful version of the famous anti-war novel, it has pushed to mind other movies about the same period. Specifically, a film about the war made during those interwar years. In the Weimar Republic, when Germany was still struggling to get itself together after its defeat, director Georg Wilhelm Pabst dared to make a movie about the country’s final months before their capitulation.

Even with the Nazi Party gaining strength and touting against any sign of defeatism, Pabst adapted another anti-war novel, Four Infantrymen on the Western Front, into his first talking picture. The film is set in France during the last months of the war and said four infantrymen are on leave to start the story. One name, Karl, is revealed, and the others are referred to by their occupation: the student, the lieutenant, and the Bavarian. The student falls for a young French woman, but the four have to return to the front. The hardships fall on them, quite literally, as it appears all of the fighting was for naught.

The film was released in 1930, the same year Hollywood released their original version of All Quiet. The infrastructure director Lewis Milestone had was a lot better than Pabst’s, who had to find a creative way of using sound while maintaining his artistic credentials with his camera. He could do his visuals without the worry of the sound equipment, but now he had to find proper places to maximize it, as well as capture the crashes and bombings that took place. In the studio, interiors were one thing, but taking the battles outside and moving his camera proved to be a challenge. It was a depth of realism never shown before to the German public.

It wasn’t all bombs and blood. Pabst also put in the human fragility around his four leads. One is the aforementioned romance between the student and the young French girl. Karl has a wife back home but discovers her affair with the butcher to curb loneliness and to get extra food since the rations won’t do. Yet, he shows no emotion to this betrayal. The Bavarian is a loner who seems mentally strong, but even he has his breaking point. Then, there is the lieutenant who keeps to himself until the last shelling when he loses all composure. In the end, after Karl says the blame goes to everyone involved before dying, a wounded French soldier extends his hand, referring to him as a comrade rather than an enemy.

You see the fear, the cynicism, the despair, and the acceptance that it will not end well in these characters. Carnage is all around them and if they come out of it alive, it will be a miracle. A few dozen guests at the premiere fainted at such a sight, and the objective critics could only praise Pabst for being truthful of the outcome to their countryman in battle. Unfortunately for Pabst, he faced condemnation on two sides of Germany on the brink. The Left liked the film but said Pabst failed to be political and explain why the war started. The Right, including the Nazis, condemned the film for its defeatism, and was subsequently banned in 1933.The movie did not need to be full of blood & guts to show what war is. That’s the beauty of any war film before the advent of computer special effects. It shows the poison of nationalism, just like the beginning of the recent All Quiet when the new recruits cheer on the belief that the country will defend the Fatherland and crush its enemies. There’s a tune the Bavarian sings, “Never leave your house and home or a cold grave will be yours.” An estimated 10 million soldiers on both sides ended up in one. Even with powerful messages like Westfront 1918, there would be millions more in another world war.

 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man) 

 

Movie Series Review: Happy Together

On this episode, Ryan and Jay continue our Wong Kar-wai Movie Series with his 1997 film Happy Together! It may not have the same legacy as Chungking Express or In the Mood for Love, but it’s certainly one of Kar-wai’s better movies.

Review: Happy Together (3:30)
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Writers: Wong Kar-wai
Stars: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, Chang Chen

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InSession Film Podcast – Happy Together

Podcast: Ranking Disney’s Golden & Silver Ages – Episode 532

This week’s episode is brought to you by Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Follow us on social media for your chance to win a FREE digital code!

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, inspired by David Lowery’s new film Peter Pan & Wendy, we thought it would be fun to rank (collectively) all 13 films from Disney’s Golden and Silver ages! There were debates. Some great memories. And a lot of fun.

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Golden Age Films (6:00)
These films include Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. Some on our panel believe a few of these to be all-time animated films. Others here do not quite hold up as much over time. Either way, we had a great time about how great, and historical, this age was for Disney Animation.


RELATED: Listen to Episode 516 of the InSession Film Podcast where we discussed our Top 10 Movies of 2022!


– Silver Age Films (1:00:00)
These films include Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book. These films from Disney Animation are more uneven on the whole, but there are some great films here. This age rendered the biggest debate among our panel. It was quite enthralling.

Show Sponsor: First Time Watchers Podcast

– Music
No Strings On Me – Dickie Jones
The Bare Necessities – Phil Harris, Bruce Reitherman

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 532

Next week on the show:

Updated MCU Rankings

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Movie Review: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ is James Gunn’s Opus


Director: James Gunn

Writers: James Gunn, Dan Abnett, and Andy Lanning

Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista

Synopsis: Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own – a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful.


When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU as most know it, an argument could be made that the original Guardians of the Galaxy is the most important of the entire series, not just for the ever-expanding franchise and universe, but for the creatives behind and in front of the camera. Before Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt was best known as a goofy television star who had done character work but never had his film breakout, Dave Bautista was a former pro wrestler just getting into film acting, and James Gunn was a relatively unknown director in the public eye. Since then, however, Pratt has become a bonafide action leading man, Bautista became one of the most exciting actors in the business, and Gunn is running the show for the DC Cinematic Universe.

It’s not as though this rise to stardom for these three, and more, was a given either. Guardians of the Galaxy was a risky project for Marvel; likely the riskiest thing the studio has done in its 15 years of producing media. A movie that had a human team up with the daughter of Thanos (the overarching main villain at the time), a naive and foolish muscular alien, a talking raccoon, and… a tree whose vocabulary is limited to, “I am Groot,” didn’t, on paper, look like a franchise that would eventually bring in over $1.5 billion in box office sales. Nevertheless, this risk that Marvel took reminded everyone, even early into the days of Marvel, what this Cinematic Universe was built on. Now, almost 10 years after the release of the original Guardians of the Galaxy, the newest iteration of this story, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is a farewell to not only these heroes but a filmmaker as well, all of whom were always quietly the backbone of MCU.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 begins in the past, showing The High Evolutionary (frequent Gunn collaborator Chukwudi Iwuji) reaching to grab a young Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) before transitioning to the present day. In the present day, the Guardians have claimed Knowhere (the severed head of a celestial) as their new home and headquarters. The group is still coming to terms with the outcome of both wars against Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame); no one is taking it harder than Peter Quill, a.k.a Star-Lord (Pratt), who spends most of his time drunk in a bar after losing the love of his life in Gamora (Zoe Saldana) only to get back a version that doesn’t love him back.

After getting a drunk Quill back to his bed, Rocket is attacked by an unknown figure, who we later discover is Sovereign Warrior Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), whose powers are unlike any the Guardians have ever seen. The Guardians, with help from other inhabitants of Knowhere, fight off Warlock forcing him to retreat back to his home planet. However, this isn’t until after Rocket is badly injured, and when trying to save his life, it is discovered there is a killswitch implanted on his heart that must be deactivated before they can operate. The Guardians team of Quill, Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), and Groot (Vin Diesel) must team up with Gamora, who is now a Ravager, to find the passcode, while also stopping the Sovereign and The High Evolutionary from getting to Rocket.

Marvel has been rightfully criticized for the look and feel of some of their recent films. For over 10 years, the studio had perfected a style that worked well enough storywise, but really stood out in box office gains. Less individuality has been brought to these movies, and movie after movie it seems as though there is no director’s vision, only Marvel’s. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, however, this couldn’t be further from the case. James Gunn’s final outing is so inherently him that he could have made a case for calling the movie “James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.” All of Gunn’s idiosyncrasies that made him so popular are there – the jokes hit and the dynamic between the cast is as good as ever – but it is the extra step he took that truly made this one of the more unique MCU projects.

Serving as the sole writer on the film – a choice that had rarely been done in the MCU until lately – Gunn didn’t just infuse this movie with jokes and quips and an emotional storyline underneath, no, he brings the dark into light crafting one of the most harrowing origin stories in film history. The story of Rocket has been relatively unexplored within the vast Marvel universe and for good reason. Using memory and flashbacks, Gunn finally feels the need to tell Rocket’s story and, in doing so, accentuates the pain that the angsty raccoon has been carrying his entire life. There is a strong balance between emotion and explanation in Gunn’s script and there is never a branch into the territory of emotional manipulation as after two solo films and multiple other outings with these characters, their family dynamic feels earned. This kind of tonal balance between the humor and the dark themes is exactly why DC wanted the writer/director.

Just as his script pushed the boundaries of what we have come to know, his direction is raised to an even higher bar. Gunn goes full out behind the camera allowing cinematographer Henry Braham the freedom to capture some of these fight sequences in the wackiest and most exhilarating of ways. Mixed with some of the best visual effects work that has been seen from recent Marvel projects, the fights, no matter where they are and who they’re with, always look and feel real. More than just the fights themselves, the direction matches the script perfectly knowing when to have fun and when to get serious.

And when it does get serious, it is highlighted in the performances. All of the classic Guardians have their time to not only be the silly versions that we have seen for years but also show a side of the characters that haven’t been explored often. Zoe Saldana is great as always, and Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, and Pom Klementieff all give their best performance as these characters. Meanwhile, Chris Pratt gives the performance of his career as someone who feels responsible for his best friend’s condition and is struggling with being in the presence of his past love. However, no performance stands out as much as Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary. His character may not be one of the best villains in the universe, but Iwuji’s performance elevates the character into being the most menacing villain yet. Whether in the present or the past, his constant obsession with creating a perfect utopian society, and his ways of going about it, are enough to strike fear in the audience; but his outbursts and maniacal rage mixed with his moments of quiet paired with his threatening stature provide a true horror for who he is and what he is capable of.

No matter what else, the best part about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is that it provides something rarely seen in Marvel-related properties: a proper ending. A sprawling and emotional epic that is both a celebration of the time spent with these characters as well as an acceptance of a future without them. James Gunn’s final Marvel project is an emotional epic, easily the most grandiose the filmmaker has ever been, and DC fans should feel as though they are in good hands. Marvel will miss him, and this group will never be the same, but that’s okay,  they will always be the Guardians of the frickin’ Galaxy.

Grade: A

Podcast Review: Peter Pan & Wendy

On this episode, Brendan and Ryan discuss David Lowery’s new adventure film in Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy!

– Review: Peter Pan & Wendy
Director: David Lowery
Writers: David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks
Stars: Jude Law, Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Yara Shahidi

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InSession Film Podcast – Peter Pan & Wendy

Women InSession: John Huston – Episode 36

This week on Women InSession, we discuss the life and career of the great John Huston! With films such as The Malthese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen, among many others, Huston is without question one of the best to do it from his era.

Panel: Kristin Battestella, Zita Short, Amy Thomasson

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Music
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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Women InSession – Episode 36

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Movie Review: “Peter Pan & Wendy” brings true wonder to Neverland


Director: David Lowery

Writer: David Lowery, Toby Halbrooks

Stars: Jude Law, Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson

Synopsis: Wendy Darling, a young girl looking to avoid boarding school, meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Wendy, her brothers, and Tinker Bell travel with Peter to the magical world of Neverland, where she encounters an evil pirate captain.


I grew up with Disney’s animated film Peter Pan (1953), but it was never one of my personal favorites. Over the years, I never felt like revisiting this adaptation, so the live-action remake actually comes out at a good time. However, there have been so many movies already based on the original play, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, and the book, Peter and Wendy, by J. M. Barrie, that a new version of one of the world’s best-known tales isn’t exactly an easy task. Titled Peter Pan & Wendy this time, David Lowery (The Green Knight) brings us his vision of a project that the filmmaker considers a personal passion.

I feel that these Disney remakes always need some sort of preface, as there are always controversies surrounding them. Peter Pan & Wendy generated the usual discussions, raised by vocal minorities who don’t accept any kind of change, as they believe that everything is part of some conspiratorial modern agenda. If the complaints about the title including the name of the female protagonist simply demonstrate the ignorance of such people – who were unaware of the fact that the original book had a pretty identical title – the debate about gender and/or race swapping of characters is more heated and complicated.

It’s increasingly difficult to distinguish between those who genuinely intend to defend the original work and those who share too many complexions with life to accept anything outside of the so-called “normal”. Personally, I have always looked at this topic in the same way: if the character is fictional, I don’t see any problems with changing any physical characteristic, unless that attribute is essential to the narrative – case of Pocahontas, whose origins are inherently linked to the story and its central themes.

On the other side, there are situations like those of Ariel or Tinker Bell, the latter being a fairy played in Peter Pan & Wendy by Yara Shahidi (My Father’s Dragon), a Black actress who, expectedly, sounded the alarms in the basements of those who get crazy about this type of casting. I remember Tinker Ball being an extremely expressive, amusing character, largely due to the fact that she couldn’t speak, something that Shahidi perfectly embodies. Skin color in no way influences her arc or how other characters relate to her, besides we’re not even talking about a human being.

I began this piece with these topics, as one of the biggest compliments I have to offer Peter Pan & Wendy is precisely the exemplary manner in which it uses the diversity and inclusion of its cast. The small changes made to the world-building preserve the essence of the original tale, modifying only aspects that Barrie himself never explained, making room for necessary changes regarding outdated stereotypes and behaviors. This adaptation is much broader, and any child will be able to see themselves on the big screen – including the first-ever actor with Down syndrome in a film from the studio.

The main themes and messages remain intact throughout the entire runtime. Peter Pan & Wendy tackles all the expected plot points about the complications and fears of growing up and leaving childhood behind without ever deviating from what other adaptations have done in the past. A tad too familiar, as I anticipated more narrative variations. Some darker approaches are definitely interesting, but the lack of color doesn’t always sit well, giving the occasional feeling of not belonging to the respective world.

Daniel Hart’s (A Ghost Story) score stands out from the other technical components, elevating the several adventure set pieces and transforming Neverland into a truly magical world. Lowery’s visuals bring a real sense of awe and wonder, and any scene with the floating boat is capable of impressing any spectator, even at home. Honestly, I consider Peter Pan & Wendy to be one of Disney’s most stunning live-action remakes to date. Aside from some CGI improvements on some of Tinker Bell’s close-ups, I don’t have any notes.

Ever Anderson (Black Widow) and Jude Law (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) deliver the best performances of the movie, portraying Wendy and Captain Hook, respectively. The actress perfectly embodies the characteristics of an adventurous, virtuous older sister, working as a role model for the younger kids. The actor clearly demonstrates that he’s having fun with the typical mustache-twirling villain, bringing a certain charm to a character who has a compelling past and motivations beyond the most common cliches. The rest of the cast is decent enough, but one has to tolerate a few inconsistent exclamations and ADR that lack genuine emotion – remember that the vast majority of the actors are mere children.

The iconic songs are featured in Peter Pan & Wendy, so fans of the original adaptation won’t be disappointed. As always, the expectations of each viewer will significantly influence their opinion of the film. I believe Lowery manages to please both the audience that wants a copy-paste version without any relevant narrative changes and the viewers that prefer something totally different. The balance and care for the story are possible to observe with each passing second.

Grade: B+

Movie Review: “Chevalier” proves that Kelvin Harrison Jr. is an absolute star


Director: Stephen Williams

Writer: Stefani Robinson

Stars: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Marton Csokas

Synopsis: The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with a love affair and falling out with Marie Antoinette.


It’s time to confirm what Kelvin Harrison Jr. has been telling us since bursting onto the scene in the stunning take on white guilt and black existentialism thriller Luce. Harrison can easily transition from leading man (Waves) to chameleon-like character actor (The Photograph). He’s a singular, generational talent whose performance in the new film Chevalier is magnetic. It’s an absolutely scintillating turn that doesn’t so much burn up the screen as Harrison sets it ablaze.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Joseph Bologne, a once-celebrated composer, virtuoso violinist, and French revolutionary who rose through high society circles from relative obscurity. As a child, Bologne’s talent was undeniable. The unwanted son of a French plantation owner and an African slave, Bologne was a violin prodigy who fought for every inch of recognition because of the uncontrollable biological pigmentation of his skin was all people chose to see. As Bologne grows older, he brashly challenges any composer and violinist with a seat at the table, an exclusive club that refuses to let him in.

As word-of-mouth spreads of a Creole man of color with immense talent, Bologne begins to rub shoulders with stunning and infamous figures we know from the history books, the ones that have strangely left Joseph Bologne absent. Bologne beings to attend lavish dinner parties with lavish Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and La Guimard (Minnie Driver) and has a torrid affair with opera singer Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving), causing trouble with her husband Marc René (Marton Csokas), who doesn’t take kindly to his wife’s dalliances. She becomes Bologne’s muse as he works to create a piece that will earn him the respect he deserves

The title Chevalier refers to Bologne’s Royal Order of the Legion of Honour in French status, with over 75,000 total, which translates to Knight. The Chevalier de Saint-Georges was an obscure historical figure whose accomplishments were wiped away when Napoleon reinstated slavery to help establish a foothold and develop his Louisiana Purchase. This is well-respected television director Stephen Williams’s (Lost) first feature film in over two decades. It’s a costume drama that is tightly paced, gorgeous to look at, and where characters are wound up and ready to wear their emotions on their sleeves at a moment’s notice.

Much of this is fictionalized, and great artistic license is taken here. However, Atlanta and What We Do in the Shadows’ scribe Stefani Robinson creates a tighter and well-contained story than other films with such liberties. Chevalier has your classic themes of identity and classism. However, Robinson also strategically layers and attaches themes of trauma, abandonment, and the feminization of dependence to those low-hanging, fruitful subject matters. However, I would have liked Boynton’s Maria-Antoinette not to be the same cliched character who didn’t care about people experiencing poverty (history proves this wasn’t necessarily the case) and to explore how abolishing slavery led to an increased amount of serfdom.

While the film’s story will ultimately be foreseeable, Chevalier rests on the shoulders of the immensely talented Harrison. The film needed an actor to pull off confidence, even north of arrogant, while merging real-life human emotions with the French tokenism of the time and the greatness he was continuously being dangled in front of his face. This is a provocative figure, and Harrison’s tantalizing turn, with a handful of anger-fueled indignation at clear turnabouts, is simply captivating. As is an emotionally charged scene towards the film’s end, where Bologne experiences a tragic and equally horrific loss.

Yes, Chevalier isn’t exactly revolutionary, pun intended, and is hampered by a movie of the week subplot between the titular character and Marie-Josephine (even if that does lead to the film’s most powerful moment). Still, the is a compulsively watchable and highly entertaining glimpse at the forgotten significance and a stunning lack of recognition carried by a stunning Harrison, who shares one undeniable quality with Joseph Bologne.

Greatness.

Grade: B

Podcast Review: Showing Up

On this episode, JD and Jay discuss Kelly Reichardt’s new film Showing Up, starring an excellent Michelle Williams! Simply, it may be the most Reichardt film to ever Reichardt.

– Review: Showing Up
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Writers: Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond
Stars: Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, Maryann Plunkett, John Magaro

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InSession Film Podcast – Beau Is Afraid

Criterion Releases: May 2023

It is now May and getting close to the summertime, so the heat is being turned up with the new batch from Criterion. It’s five films this time around; two getting the 4K UHD treatment, and three new additions. One film is the debut of a New Hollywood renegade, another film is one of many classics from Ridley Scott, and the last is a contemporary film that was not seen much at all by a well-noted director. The two re-releases are a Japanese cool pop smash from the 1960s and a poetic story above Berlin during the 1980s. 

 

Branded To Kill (1967)

The first of two re-releases, this classic piece from the Japanese New Wave by iconoclast Seijun Suzuki was so hated by the studio that he was fired. It wasn’t the first time he ran afoul of making visual, violent, and comic work that didn’t go with tradition, but was popular with the burgeoning youth of the period. Joe Shishido plays a hitman who screws up the job so badly that his bosses put out the hit on him and he must escape. The absurdism of his composites cost Suzuki a decade from filmmaking, but fans of his including Park Chan-wook, John Woo, and Quentin Tarantino inspired them to make movies as wild as they can be.  

 

Targets (1968)

The debut film from Peter Bogdonavich was a shockwave to the system that helped take down Old Hollywood with a montage of mindless carnage through two prisms. One is a retiring horror actor (Boris Karloff) and the other is a disillusioned young man (Tim O’Kelly) who decides to go on a shooting rampage. In the same year as the killings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, it was a timely release that commented on random gun violence (sounds familiar) while acting as a low-budget thriller. It was produced by Roger Corman and Bogdonavich received some help from Samuel Fuller on the script, who asked to not be credited. 

 

Wings Of Desire (1987)

The second re-release is Wim Wenders’ magical realist tale over Berlin about an angel (Bruno Ganz) who falls for a woman and is willing to become mortal to be with her. From above the city, he and other angels can hear everything from the people below and the temptations are too great to resist that even Peter Falk, playing a fictional version of himself, tells the angel what it means to be human. Made before the reunification of Berlin and Germany, Wenders’ portrait of a city that remains beautiful but forcefully separated is a spiritual journey full of wonder in black & white and color. 

 

Thelma & Louise (1991)

A high mark in feminist cinema, Ridley Scott’s road trip adventure with two friends (Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon) who become sudden fugitives is a drive of rebellion against everyone who wouldn’t see them as equals. Changing the gender roles of women in the driver’s seat and getting revenge on male chauvinism, the movie strayed from the narrative of women cannot defend themselves and that they can be as tough as men. Brad Pitt played the suave drifter who teaches the girls how to rob a bank and shot himself up to international stardom, and writer Callie Khouri won an Oscar for her script.

 

Petite Maman (2021)

A quiet follow-up to Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, director Celine Sciamma created this relatively short film – a brisk 72 minutes – about a young girl who has lost her grandmother; when her distressed mother leaves him, the girl bonds with another girl her age with a surprising connection to the mom. Sciamma’s story of grief and generational love is another sight of beautiful scenes with hope after grief that contains the action within a small frame of time, yet is very impactful.  

 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man)

Poll: What is your favorite David Lowery feature film?

Has there ever been a better “one for you, one for me” filmmaker than David Lowery? Perhaps Christopher Nolan and his run from The Prestige through The Dark Knight Rises is the most obvious example, but in the current landscape where Disney owns everything, the jumps between Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story, The Green Knight, and Peter Pan & Wendy seems even more impressive. All his films, whether distributed by Disney or A24, still carry his signature “eco-friendly” stamp, emphasizing Earth’s natural greens and browns common among classic eco-fables. And for many, he is still batting a thousand.

With that said, what is your favorite film directed by David Lowery?