Ten plus one
#93: August: Osage County - A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. [imdb]
I almost looked for a better-worded summary, but in fact, this one is completely accurate. It really is "a look into the lives" of a family of which every member, female and male, has serious issues. None of these issues are changed or resolved at the end of the movie, which plays out as a series of arguments. I can't think of a scene that doesn't have one, and many of these scenes are long, playing to the film's pedigree on stage. Ultimately, it's just profoundly sad, and tediously so.
The performances are as strong as you'd expect from this cast -- Meryl Streep is not nearly so cartoonish as the trailers imply, and Julia Roberts was excellent -- and I liked that in adapting it for a movie, the writer (who did both scripts) took advantage of the change in medium. Most of the time, it didn't feel like a play on screen, which a lot of these adaptations do. It's not a critique when that happens, necessarily, but I did notice and appreciate that work. Unfortunately, its other problems bogged it down too much for me to really recommend.
#94: Short Term 12 - A 20-something supervising staff member of a foster care facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend. [imdb]
I rented this today since it's been cited on a lot of lists, but either had a ridiculously short run here or never played at all nearby. It's hard to compare watching at home, with a smaller screen and kitten-shaped distractions and interruptions, to an immersive, focused theatre experience. So, caveats.
I wish I had caught it in theatres, though, because it would probably have been a top ten candidate. This is a little movie that goes deep. Brie Larson is brilliant as the authoritative den mother carrying her own and everyone else's burdens on her back. There are a lot of things packed into an hour and thirty minutes without it feeling overstuffed. They impressed me with their ability to show, and to take to heart a picture being worth a thousand words (at many levels, in this case, which made it even better). I would have liked it to continue so we could see Larson's character progress and learn more about the kids and staff of the home; that would be the wrong narrative choice, but it's the one you want to leave viewers needing.
This one is definitely recommended.
I almost looked for a better-worded summary, but in fact, this one is completely accurate. It really is "a look into the lives" of a family of which every member, female and male, has serious issues. None of these issues are changed or resolved at the end of the movie, which plays out as a series of arguments. I can't think of a scene that doesn't have one, and many of these scenes are long, playing to the film's pedigree on stage. Ultimately, it's just profoundly sad, and tediously so.
The performances are as strong as you'd expect from this cast -- Meryl Streep is not nearly so cartoonish as the trailers imply, and Julia Roberts was excellent -- and I liked that in adapting it for a movie, the writer (who did both scripts) took advantage of the change in medium. Most of the time, it didn't feel like a play on screen, which a lot of these adaptations do. It's not a critique when that happens, necessarily, but I did notice and appreciate that work. Unfortunately, its other problems bogged it down too much for me to really recommend.
#94: Short Term 12 - A 20-something supervising staff member of a foster care facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend. [imdb]
I rented this today since it's been cited on a lot of lists, but either had a ridiculously short run here or never played at all nearby. It's hard to compare watching at home, with a smaller screen and kitten-shaped distractions and interruptions, to an immersive, focused theatre experience. So, caveats.
I wish I had caught it in theatres, though, because it would probably have been a top ten candidate. This is a little movie that goes deep. Brie Larson is brilliant as the authoritative den mother carrying her own and everyone else's burdens on her back. There are a lot of things packed into an hour and thirty minutes without it feeling overstuffed. They impressed me with their ability to show, and to take to heart a picture being worth a thousand words (at many levels, in this case, which made it even better). I would have liked it to continue so we could see Larson's character progress and learn more about the kids and staff of the home; that would be the wrong narrative choice, but it's the one you want to leave viewers needing.
This one is definitely recommended.