Music Mondays: Sara Bareilles "She Used to Be Mine"

Did you know that singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles wrote a musical? Titled Waitress, it's an adaptation of the 2007 movie of the same name that starred Keri Russell. The stage production premiered this past August at the American Repertory Theater (the run those this past week), but Sara released a lyric video for one of the show's songs as well. "She Used to Be Mine" is a stunning, soaring theater ballad after my own heart, with Sara's signature vocal flourishes that make it so incredible.

With plans to move to Broadway in March 2016, I'm already eager to hear the full cast recording. If this track is an indication, Bareilles has written a hit. Have a listen! Especially if you love musicals, like me.

(PS - thanks to my friend Jason for bringing this song to my attention over the weekend!)

Artist: Sara Bareilles
Song: "She Used to Be Mine"
Album: Waitress musical production (no album yet)

Movie Review: "The Intern" (2015)

© Warner Bros.

Walking out of The Intern this opening weekend, I didn't expect to have the reaction to it that I did. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers, a favorite for comedies featuring an older generation of acting talent, it's been many years since one of her movies has felt relevant or in touch with the times. Perhaps it was the six year break between this and the hollow disaster that was It's Complicated that did it, but Meyers has once again struck emotional gold with this touching and hopeful workplace dramedy.

Years into his retirement, widower and former company man, Benjamin (Robert De Niro), has reached a sticking point: boredom. Hoping to once again find purpose and excitement in his daily life, he answers a job posting looking for interns 'of a certain age'—senior citizens with a lifetime of wisdom—interested in working at an e-commerce start-up. Run by workaholic, Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), Ben is paired with the busy CEO, despite her obvious reluctance. It doesn't take long for Ben to make waves at the office full of twenty-somethings needing the calm encouragement of someone who's seen it all, none more-so than Jules, who's struggling to find balance in her busy life.

This isn't a story that relies on erection jokes or shots of old people trying to figure out technology. Okay, so those moments are in there, but they're brief, and usually for the sake of Ben connecting with the myriad of dorky male side characters he's interning alongside. If anything, all of that gives the movie a light-hearted fun and games section that gives Ben the chance to let loose and have a good time. He can't be doling out life lessons every second. No, those important moments are saved for Jules, who needs them most.



There's this facial expression that Robert De Niro makes where he raises his eyebrows and purses his lips in a knowing way (he's doing it in the top picture). We all know it pretty well, at this point. When he was a younger actor playing mobsters and mentally unstable Vietnam vets, it was a frightening look, one that suggested he knew something that you didn't—mainly that he was gonna kill you or your days were numbered. But here, the same look offers something different, an indication that his experiences or insights are about to be shared. There's one moment when Jules even comments on this. He's like an open book, and he is there to impart wisdom, and it is completely and unexpectedly moving.

Hathaway and De Niro have a chemistry as Jules and Ben that is loving and uniquely platonic. There's never confusion about their dynamic, even as their friendship grows and changes. He's not a father figure—neither of them think that. They respect each other as equals. He's quite literally her friend and confidant, one with 40 years more experience whom she learns slowly to trust and rely on, and I fell head over heels in love with them.

De Niro is magical, a true gentleman who gave this role a lot of heart, to the point of making me well up with tears. With him by her side, Hathaway got to let her maturity as an actress shine. You believe her as a mother, a wife, and a CEO, and none of these roles take a back seat to the others. It's a balance I commend Meyers for finding, but it's Hathaway and De Niro that are to be credited for making this movie so much more than its gimmicky premise. Neither of them phoned it in, and no one would have blamed them if they had. I might add in there little JoJo Kushner as Jules' young daughter, Paige, who steals every scene she's in, even with De Niro.

If anything, The Intern is a love letter to the baby-boomer generation through the lens of the modern tech age. Despite some weaker comedy moments meant to poke light fun at how old old people are, it spends more than a little time highlighting their class, strength, and wisdom—and that Gen-Y'ers could learn a thing or two about the benefits of carrying a handkerchief. To say I left the theater wishing my boyfriend wore more suits is an understatement, a superficiality the movie tries to remind us might actually matter in a world where adulting is a tough, scary thing. We need all the help we can get out there, and a nicely tailored jacket could give anyone the confidence to deal with whatever might lie ahead. It certainly couldn't hurt.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars

AFI Top 100: #47 "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Marlon Brando & Kim Hunter in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

When I started this AFI Top 100 project in July of last year, there were a small handful of movies that I really looked forward to—far, far down the road. Personal favorites that I couldn't wait to share with everyone, and that I'd have to fight my bias to review fairly. This movie was at the top of that list. The Elia Kazan-directed, Tennessee Williams-written masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire, settling in nicely at #47. Based on Williams' famous stage play, it can be credited with bringing star Marlon Brando to the masses... his first major motion picture, and the role that started it all.

Aging Southern Belle, Blanche DuBois (Vivian Leigh) makes her way to her sister's small New Orleans apartment, desperate to escape her secrets and forget the recent loss of their plantation home, Belle Reve. Her sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), left the family home long ago, finding her independence and marrying tough, foul-mouthed, and the more-than-a-little abrasive Stanley Kowalski (Brando). As Blanche moves herself into their home, Stanley begins to question her honesty, which isn't helped by her inability to shed her delusional air of superiority. As Blanche's lies begin to unravel, so does her sanity.

Project 365: Movies 195 - 202

195 / 365: Gaslight (1940)

© British National Films

You've heard of the term "gaslighting," right? It's a term used in clinical psychology to describe the emotional and mental abuse of a person by causing them to doubt their own memories, feelings, and instincts. It is a sadistic tactic to drive an otherwise sane person mad, and the verb "to gaslight" was inspired by this film. Or rather, the play on which this film was based. More famously adapted with Ingrid Bergman four years later, this film version is the original made for a British audience.

When an elderly woman is murdered in her townhouse inside a wealthy London neighborhood, the police suspect it must have been a robbery gone wrong when they find that rare rubies belonging to the woman are missing. Twenty years later, the home finally has new inhabitants when Paul Mallen (Anton Walbrook) moves in with his delicate wife, Bella (Diana Wynyard). Almost immediately, Bella begins to notice strange and unnerving things in the house, noises coming from the boarded up 4th floor. When she goes to her husband, he dismisses her, shaming her behavior and blaming her unhinged mind for the tricks it plays on her. Little does she know that it is her husband who is up to no good, and a local detective (Robert Newton) will need Bella's help to figure out what.

The terror of this movie is how the abuse of Bella's mind unfolds. So simple at first ("Did you hear that? she asks Paul. "Hear what? There was no sound," he responds), creating the foundation of perpetual doubt, building to fully formed manipulations that cause her to question her own internal truths. Convincing her that objects have moved, that she's misplaced her things or taken his, shaming her in front of the servants, even in public. As her protests fall on deaf ears, Bella begins to truly think she's crazy, and it becomes traumatic to watch. The surface plot, the search for the rubies, is a total MacGuffin. All of the drama and suspense comes from Bella's struggle as you clasp your hands over your face and cry out to her that someone believes her, you believe her!

A wonderful film that takes its time and manages to affect you in unexpected ways. Less seen--and a bit less dark—than the American version, it's still necessary classic cinema viewing. Especially if you're a fan of thrillers.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: TV / Turner Classic Movies
Seen Before: No

196 / 365: Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)

© Triangle Film Corporation

This movie was the #49 film on my AFI Top 100 countdown challenge. Read my full review here.

Rating: ★ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: No

197 / 365: Mr. Holmes (2015)

© Roadside Attractions

A now elderly Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen), 35 years retired from his work as a detective, is living in Dover with only his apiary and housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), for company. Also running around causing mischief is Munro's young son, Roger (utterly brilliant newcomer Milo Parker), a big fan of Mr. Holmes and his mysteries, especially the final one: Holmes' first-hand account of his final case. The problem is, he can't remember the details, just the face of a beautiful woman. The film follows an ever more senile Holmes in search of answers as to why his last case pushed him into seclusion, flashing back to two different periods during his later years, and all the while, he battles his memory loss and the inevitability of his final days.

The mysteries themselves—there are three, one in each section of the story—aren't particularly mysterious. They're questions with an obvious answer that happens to be untrue. As a result, our interest is piqued by the questions, but the resolutions are underwhelming. With a "Well yeah" and a knowing nod, we can only sit back and watch our Sherlock be much more impressed with the discovery than we are. The most "Sherlock-y" moments come from when he "does that thing" he does and tells people where they've been simply by looking at them. It's a small aspect of his classic character, but it never gets old, even when it gets old for him.

A beautifully filmed movie from director Bill Condon (reuniting with McKellen after 1998's Gods and Monsters), it doesn't lose its spark by not having the shocking reveals we're used to in Holmes adaptations. But it should set your expectations in another direction. Linney's character is solid, but unremarkable, and she isn't given a lot to work with, save one final moment with McKellen at the end of the movie. The real wonder here comes from the relationship between Holmes and Roger, who become unlikely cohorts. See the film to experience McKellen's incredible transformation into a 92-year-old and the effortless performance by Parker.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

198 / 365: March of the Penguins (2005)

© Warner Independent Pictures

Narrated now infamously by the world's greatest voice, Morgan Freeman, this incredible documentary follows the year-long journey of the Emperor Penguins as they walk 70 miles from the sea inland to mate, care for their eggs, and raise their newborns, all in the harshest place on Earth: Antarctica.

To say that I'm captivated by these penguins is an understatement. I mean, weren't we all in the summer of 2005? Penguins were everywhere, all thanks to this little, French-funded documentary. What the filmmakers did so well here is providing an expansive range of emotions, and most effectively, attributing human-like emotions to their non-human subjects. Sadness, fear, loneliness, desperation, all of it bubbles up at one time or another as the penguins fight for no other reason than to keep their young alive.

Of course, despite this being rated-G and certainly accessible for children, there is no shortage of tragedy. Once warm and protected eggs lost to the cold, baby penguins separated from their parent and frozen in minutes... it is extraordinarily painful to watch. An obvious struggle for a nature and wildlife filmmaker, to not intrude or interfere with the natural order of things. The connection to the penguins and fear for their safety that every one of us feels when we watch this movie is a testament to its success.

Rightly so, it won the Oscar for Best Documentary that year, and it set a precedent for all wildlife documentaries since. The Planet Earth docu-series came out the following year, but it was March of the Penguins that introduced all of us to the calm and patient cinematic experience of witnessing the beauty of animal life.

Rating: ★★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

199 / 365: Hot Rod (2007)

© Paramount Pictures

Watching this Adam Samberg movie (you know, the one he left SNL to star in) is a far better experience nearly 10 years later that I think it might have been when it first came out. He's become an established and mature comedic performer, most notably in FOX's "Brooklyn Nine Nine," and that affects how I see this ridiculous comedy.

Rod Kimble (Samberg) is the world's greatest stuntman--he says. Petering around on a motorized bicycle, he and his 'crew', Dave (Bil Hader), Rico (Danny McBride), and Kevin (Jorma Taccone) construct elaborate stunts in their hometown, advertising Rod's epic skills to anyone who'll come to see him despite his having no skills at all. When his disapproving step-father (Ian McShane) is diagnosed with cancer, Rod promises to do the biggest stunt ever—jumping fifteen buses—to raise money and finally win his dad's respect.

The movie hits most of the right notes with the physical comedy, establishing right away that this is a sort of fantasy world where people can endure cartoon-like amounts of bodily harm and still survive. Samberg's face-pulling and bright-eyed childishness is an appropriate character quality for Rod, who is stuck in perpetual adolescence. I got a lot of chuckles out of watching his tantrums, usually directed at his step-dad.

There are certainly many jokes that fall flat, usually the ones that are repeated ad nausem. The side characters are all one-note, but they they work as support for Samberg. Mid-movie, the love story is incorporated by introducing Denise (Isla Fisher), who joins the crew. Rod's crush on her is sweet, but she's basically kind of useless as a character. If anything she adds a bit of maturity to the group and levels Rob out, but sadly, she doesn't make a lot of sense, especially the forced relationship she's in with Will Arnet's douchebag character, Jonathan. Not to mention, Isla's accent was trying real-real hard, but it was floundering on a consistent basis.

A great cast of comedians round out a kinda dumb movie, that's more Talladega Nights than Step Brothers, but has enough laughs to keep you entertained.

Rating: ★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: No

200 / 365: The End of the Tour (2015)

© A24 Films

Based on a recounting of the events in author and journalist David Lipsky's Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, The End of the Tour is a meandering and deep conversation between Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), at the time contributing to Rolling Stone, and author David Foster Wallace (Jason Siegel) during the final days of his book tour for Infinite Jest (considered one of the greatest American novels ever written). Like a significantly more mobile My Dinner with Andre, with a similar devolution of adoration into realization, Lipsky's awe of Wallace is tested when the veil of his life is lifted.

The film begins with the revelation of Wallace's suicide in 2008; even if you already knew that's how his story ended, it gives important weight to the plot. A story about a man who has and does suffer from debilitating depression... and what that looks like, without judgment. As Lipsky reacts to the news of the author's death, he pulls out his old cassette tape recordings of their interview. Flashing back to 1996, Lipsky's own work of literature, The Art Fair, hasn't fared too well on the bestseller list, and when he hears about a new book titled Infinite Jest, he reads it hoping it's nowhere near as good as everyone says. It is, he thinks, even more so. Begging his editor at Rolling Stone to let him do a featured interview with Wallace, he travels to Minnesota to Wallace's home town to get to know the man behind the myth.

The plot avoids getting too heavy by focusing the casual interview on mundane, human interests, like junk food and movie guilty pleasures, topics that put Wallace at ease and allow him to let his guard down. There are moments when Eisenberg conveys Lipsky's excitement without it ever being visible to Wallace, who might turn off if he realized he'd spoken so freely. Eisenberg is the perfect interviewer, devoid of empathy. Not cold or cruel, but the emotions of others braise the surface only. What about the drug use? is a difficult question to ask, and if you feel too heavily, it might never get asked. Eisenberg's demeanor and acting style is right in line with what Lipsky's role needed, who had to ask questions Wallace wouldn't want to answer, all without coming off like a complete asshole. Over the course of the film, it's Wallace who breaks him of that hardness and challenges his feelings of creative inadequacy.

This movie belongs to Siegel, though. His uncomfortable smile and awkward chuckle, loving and hating every moment of his time with Lipsky simultaneously. He speaks as Wallace as organically as anyone could, embodying the author and his most famous lines with natural ease. That's no easy task when you're talking about someone as iconic, beloved, and studied as Wallace. An impressive dramatic departure from Siegel's normal roles, and I hope a indicator of what's to come for him.

I enjoyed this more than Set Fire to the Stars, a very similarly-plotted true story. End of the Tour's emotional resonance is what hits hardest. Siegel's Wallace is likable despite how tormented he is, or how abrasive his ego can be. And Eisenberg is far more relaxed than he usually is, which makes him relatable maybe for the first time ever. A down-to-earth, but poetic, movie that discusses literature with gusto and depression with honesty.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

201 / 365: Meru (2015)

© Music Box Films

When it comes to a good sports movie or documentary, I'm a pretty big sucker. We all know the formula, it's pretty cut and dry at this point. We know the rises and the falls and the successes and the triumphs—but it grabs us, hook, line, and sinker every time. Meru is no different in this regard—but it's in this regard where the similarities end. While films of fiction or historical accounts rely on carefully crafted scripts, the swell of the music and soaring cinematography—and documentaries about the same rely heavily on pooled footage, second-hand accounts, or even news reels... Meru sets itself apart. No actors. No film crew. No special effects. Just three men, a camera, and the obsessive need to succeed where there has only ever been failure.

The story of Meru is as follows. Beginning in 2008, three elite climbers led by Conrad Anker prepared for their next big climb. This time, they would attempt to scale Meru Peak and its Shark fin route deep in the Himalayas that has never successfully been climbed. Sheer-faced granite sides 21,000 ft high, it is considered the most difficult big rock climb in the world. Conrad and his small team, including pro-climber and photographer, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk, the new member in the group and least experienced, must traverse the entire thing alone, lugging hundreds of pounds of gear by themselves. Tireless preparation couldn't prepare them for the harsh elements and impossible conditions of the climb, and through Chin's stunning photography and the team's insightful interviews (including intense and poetic recounts from climber and author Jon Krakauer), a portrait of obsession, danger, and persistent passion is painted like never before.

This film is monumentally good. I didn't breathe for the first third of the movie, but once I started, that's when the tears came. Simply exhilarating, it is expertly crafted. Never have more risks been taken in capturing events on film. Chin had the foresight to record their entire journey from start to finish; the fears, the dangers, and—with great confidence—the process. Climbing movies, real or fictional, focus most of their energy on the drive to the summit or personal dramas, skipping right over how climbing actually works, the culture, and the mindsets of those who do it. Meru isn't just about the summit. It is about these men, the lives they live, and the risks they take (the most shocking sequence in the film doesn't even take place on Meru).

I'm still thinking about this film. I can't shake it. It is quite literally the best documentary I've ever seen, even surpassing the perfectly constructed Searching for Sugar Man. Meru has the thrills, the heart, and of course, a cathartic, emotional climax that could inspire us all to do better and aim for greatness. In my top two movies of the year, this is a flick that is an absolute must for everyone. I can't imagine a single person walking away from this documentary unaffected. Spectacular, see this movie immediately.

Rating: ★★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

202 / 365: Stardust (2007)

© Paramount Pictures

I wanted to think this movie was stupid. The trailer looks like a bad episode of Once Upon a Time (a TV show that my boyfriend enjoys, so it wasn't a surprise that he insisted we watch this love fantasy together. I'm such a lucky girl.) Anyways, as I was saying, I wanted to be proven right, that this silly-looking film was indeed utter garbage... but it wasn't. In fact, it was deliciously sweet. Still silly, but it got me right here *points to heart*, and anyone who grew up on the likes of Hook or A Neverending Story is likely to feel the same.

In the British countryside sits a small hamlet by the name of Wall, so named because along its edge runs a stone wall, guarded 'round the clock, that separates our world from a world of Magic. Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) has been struck dumb by love, a love not reciprocated by his beloved, Victoria (Sienna Miller). When he and Victoria witness a bright star fall deep into the woods behind the wall, Tristan promises her he'll journey to find the star, bring it to her, and win her love. Little does he know that the star is in fact a magical woman, Yvaine (Claire Danes), and a battle is raging between would-be rulers of a recently vacated throne—and a group of witches led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) in search of the star's power to possess everlasting life and beauty.

A busy movie with a lot of moving parts, there are plenty of characters to meet and keep track of. Not to mention a wonderful supporting cast (Robert De Niro as a closeted cross-dressing pirate Captain makes up some of the film's best sequences.) At the same time, the story is still predictable in the way that love stories usually are. Add in the fantasy aspect, and you see most of the plot twists and turns coming. But there are delightful little surprises in there to make it feel fresh.

Clare Danes is wonderful in this, so sweet and lovely, and her usually glassy-eyed expression is an ideal fit for a woman who is in fact a glowing, magical star. Cox' Tristan is delightful to a point, but a bit infuriating in his obtuseness. Can't he see Victoria isn't right for him, and that Yvaine is?!? Ugh, men. But hey! If it were that obvious, we wouldn't get all of the magical comedy that comes up with the dueling princes and Lamia's desperate search. It all adds up to an easy-going, sparkling movie-viewing experience, and it's worth a watch with a couple of girlfriends or a romantically-inclined significant other.

Rating: ★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: No

Music Mondays: Lana Del Rey "Dark Paradise"

With everyone freaking out about the release of Lana Del Rey's new album, Honeymoon, last week, I've been in the mood to revisit her old stuff. Specifically, the first song of hers that I fell in love with off of her original LP Born to Die: "Dark Paradise." Incredible album, hypnotic song.

Are you on the Lana bandwagon? Or do you still need convincing? If this song doesn't help convert you, nothing will. And however you feel about her, no artist is causing such obsession among a fan base.

Happy Monday!

Artist: Lana Del Rey
Song: "Dark Paradise" | download
Album: Born to Die

Movie Review: "Grandma" (2015)

© Sony Pictures Classics

Coming a bit out of nowhere, a lot of attention is being paid this little movie, an unexpected sleeper of the late summer that isn't interested in style, but instead, aims for substance. Clocking in at under 90 minutes, Grandma has roughly 10 people in it, and 8 of them are women. Moreover, most of them are over 40 and the subject matter is wholly feminine. It certainly has a lot of ammunition in its clip to be preachy and political, but writer/director Paul Weitz smartly decided to keep it simple and make it all about the characters and the events of a single, unassuming day.

Elle (Lily Tomlin) is a recently unemployed professor and once semi-lauded poet. Having broken up with her much younger girlfriend of four months, Olivia (Judy Greer), her self-important moping is interrupted by a knock at the door. Turns out, her teenage granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), is pregnant and needs $630 for an abortion, all before her afternoon appointment. The anti-establishment Elle, however, is broke and without any credit cards, so the two hop in the car to hit up everyone Elle knows who might be willing to help, all to avoid going to the one person Sage is scared to see: her mother, Judy (Marcia Gay Harden).

Throughout their 8-hour journey, Elle can't help but showcase her combative and short-fused temper. "You have an anger problem," Sage says. "No, I have an asshole problem," Elle responds. "When people are assholes, I get angry." The irony and hypocrisy of this isn't lost on either of them, since Elle's Asshole Flag is flying a full-mast, pretty perpetually these days. Tomlin is able to be simultaneously comedic and dramatic, and it is her rare gift as an actress. Where the other characters in this film lack emotional depth (Garner has her moments, but just can't keep up with her screen partner), Tomlin has more than enough to make up for them.



Harden's role as Sage's frightening, corporate mother is brief, but insightful, and many of the most human moments stem from her outbursts. Greer's Olivia could easily have been an afterthought, shuffled off screen in the first 5 minutes, but Weitz knew better and brought the story back around to her again, not once but twice. Seeing Greer in a role as calm and normal as this one is the best way to see her. She also has lots of mature, romantic chemistry with Tomlin, which I didn't expect. The dynamic between every one of these women certainly suggests the uselessness and frivolity of men, which was pure delight.

Beyond all the hijinks and desperation, the real meat—or heart—of the story is a story you don't get to see. It's the story of Elle and her 38-year relationship with Violet, Sage's other grandmother. Weitz makes no efforts to introduce Violet to us. She's the past, and Elle clearly doesn't want to talk about the past, no matter how much she's still living in it. But what's also clear is that Elle was probably a better person with Violet by her side. Perhaps the vitriol was stemmed a bit, or maybe Violet made Elle see the better in people. Because the Elle we see now is unapologetic in her aggression and willingness to pick a fight. Her struggle to overcome her pride takes precedence over all of the rest.

This movie didn't stir my emotions unexpectedly, but it wasn't as docile as I'd anticipated. The trailer suggested a hollow, neutered version of the actual plot and should be avoided at all costs for fear of turning you off to this movie completely. There is a lot more here to be enjoyed than the concept of a foul-mouthed Grandma making a ruckus and pouring coffee over people. Grandma is nothing ground-breaking, but that's sort of what makes it so special. It's not trying to be.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars

AFI Top 100: #48 "Rear Window"

James Stewart in Rear Window (1954)

We've reached the second of four iconic Hitchcock movies that grace the AFI Top 100 list, and personally, I think one of the best. The claustrophobic, intimate thriller, Rear Window, coming in at #48. A simple idea, it's been tweaked and redone in modern film and television for decades; the idea of a person who sees something curious going on with a neighbor, which must mean something sinister is afoot.

L.B. 'Jeff' Jefferies (James Stewart) is a National Geographic photographer, bound to a wheelchair after shattering his leg on the job. Now stuck day in and day out inside is tiny rear-facing apartment, he's got nothing to do with this time but sit by the window and watch the neighbors. Visited daily by his fiery nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), and his fashion model girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), his boredom begins to overwhelm him until one night, he begins to suspect that a Salesman living across the courtyard has killed his wife. Despite this likely being all in his head, Jeff becomes convinced he's right—he just has to prove it.

Project 365: Movies 187 - 194

187 / 365: Wait Until Dark (1967)

© Warner Bros.

This is an intricately set-up film with compelling opening images. Like any good thriller, though, you have to pay attention. Our villains explain everything—you may not know you need to know it, but it's all important. Originally a play that debuted on Broadway in 1966, this is an intimate and claustrophobic story that is tailor-made for the screen.

Roat (Alan Arkin), a cruel heroine smuggler, is betrayed by his mule when she purposefully drops a vintage doll full of drugs into the arms of an unassuming photographer at the airport. When Roat comes in search of the doll, he enlists a corrupt detective and a suave con-artist to scout the photographer's Greenwich Village home for it while the man's out of town, with only his blind wife, Susie (Audrey Hepburn), left at home. Over the course of the night, the men create an elaborate play, finding ways to invite themselves into Susie's home by creating doubt in her mind about what is true and what is false.

No one is more unassuming, more in the wrong place at the wrong time, than Hepburn's Susie. It's hard not to cry out "Lock your damn door, girl!" but at that point, it's too late. She's conned and manipulated, and to watch it dawn on her over the course of the film is heartbreaking. The feeling of helplessness overwhelms even us, because what can she do? Turns out, she's not as incapable as she might have appeared. Ingeniously following the clues that her heightened hearing allowed only her to notice, she fights for her survival in the darkness of her basement apartment.

The final 15 minutes of the movie aren't just thrilling, they're stunning. Visually, Hepburn is a delicate flower; but she proves in this film just how strong a performer she is, balancing Susie's terror with her survival instinct. So many things about her role could have been infuriating, which is bound to happen when your protagonist is being grossly taken advantage of before your eyes. Frustrating doesn't even begin to cover it. But it doesn't get to that place, because she's consistently putting the pieces together, and in the end, makes exactly the right decisions. A perfect thriller in the vein of the old classic noirs. A must-see.

Rating: ★★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: TV / Turner Classic Movies
Seen Before: Yes

188 / 365: What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

© Netflix

This "Behind the Music"-esque documentary chronicles the life and art of brilliant jazz musician and activist Nina Simone, and her vital transition from a rising blues star to an activist voice. Pooling never-before-seen interviews and private footage, we're granted access into a world of music, intellectualism, and turbulent personal struggles.

Directed by Liz Garbus, there is a delicate line that we cross over, back and forth, and back and forth. This line is the divide between the story of a magnificent, vivacious personality and talent... and an angry, hateful tempered woman who became lost in her desire for Black justice in a nation that she never felt she belonged to. This dance that Garbus plays with this line is key to the film's success. Too far over—or settled too long—on one side could easily have pushed Simone's story into that of either frivolous celebrity or racial stereotype, but the balance is expertly executed. The resulting story is a picture of Simone that is far more complex and unexpectedly tragic.

The most effective interviews about the performer's life behind closed doors come from her daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud. Stories of love and abuse paint a terrifying picture of Simone that is juxtaposed with footage of the woman that she allowed the world to see: one with the gift of song and an emotional range that could captivate an audience. A representation that, it becomes clear, was a struggle for Simone to maintain, with feelings of rage impossible to suppress.

As a newcomer to both Nina Simone's music and life, I found her to be a confounding figure. This is a surefire recipe to further one's curiosity, and while I was left feeling like I wanted to know more, I got the sense that not much was missing. Garbus made no effort to paint Simone as someone she wasn't. Her talent was only matched by her troubled mind, and this film does an excellent job representing that truth.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: No

189 / 365: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

© Warner Bros.

New movie release, reviewed previously on Through the Reels. Read the full review here.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

190 / 365: American Ultra (2015)

© Lionsgate

New movie release, reviewed previously on Through the Reels. Read the full review here.

Rating: ★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

191 / 365: Waiting for Guffman (1996)

© Sony Pictures Classics

I mentioned Waiting for Guffman briefly in my My Dinner with Andre review. Mainly because this comedy was the first time I'd heard of the two-man feature, and one of the best jokes in the script is centered around the concept of My Dinner with Andre action figures. That's the kind of dry, ridiculous humor that can be expected from this mockumentary, written and directed by Christopher Guest, that focuses on a small-town, amateur musical production. A truly transcendent film for anyone who has ever done—or wanted to do—theater.

Eccentric Corky St. Clair (played by Guest) is about as 'big city' as the small town of Blaine, Missouri—the stool capital of the world—gets. Dejected and beaten down by the New York theater scene, Corky's brought his dreams of the stage to the people of Blaine, whose more delusional residents are more than happy to participate in any show Corky directs. When the town plans its 150th anniversary celebration, Corky writes his most ambitious show to date, a musical about the town's history titled Red, White, and Blaine. The cast is headed by married, narcissistic travel agents who've never left Missouri, Ron and Sheila Albertson (Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara), as well as a handful of other buffoons who believe Corky when he tells them that New York theater producer Mort Guffman plans to attend their production—which could mean a transfer to Broadway if they don't f*ck it up.

The dialogue is unforgettable, which is more incredible once you learn that everyone is making it up as they go along. It's obvious when you watch it, because there's almost no way you could plan the random exchanges that occur between these characters. Every interaction is organic and absurd, and the actors brilliantly inhabit these completely oblivious people. Parker Posey as Dairy Queen server turned starlet, Libby Mae Brown, is a personal favorite. Her monologue about the different kinds of Blizzards is a masterpiece of improvisation. Eugene Levy as a cross-eyed dentist comes in at a close second.

The best, and scariest, part of this movie is how real it is. These people exist, anyone who's done theater in any form can tell you that. Watching it through the lens of Christopher Guest (who can make even the most mundane, common situations funny—think Best in Show) is what raises it to a whole other level of comedy. Wonderful movie from the mind of a very talented man.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

192 / 365: Welcome to Me (2014)

© Alchemy

A mentally unstable woman, Alice Klieg (Kristen Wiig), wins $86 million in the lottery, throwing a very welcome wrench into her routine of obsessive behaviors (usually revolving around swans or watching and reciting old episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show). Balancing just on the edge of sanity thanks only to her parents and supportive friends (Alan Tudyk and Linda Cardellini), Alice takes a dive off the deep end when she approaches the producer of a public access TV show, Rich Ruskin (James Marsden), about starting her own talk show. The subject? Her. Nothing but her, and she'll write the check to fund the whole thing today.

It shouldn't come as a surprise when I say that Alice and her self-centric show "Welcome to Me" are damn trainwrecks. It's literally unbearable to endure, but you can't look away. As a result, it isn't funny at all, because it is such a tragedy. She's absolutely psychotic, and it's hard not to resent all the people who call themselves her friends and family for allowing her free reign to do this, mega-millions or not. Even worse, that they actually want to be part of her life. Watching it all unravel, with her friends and family abandoning her, begs the question, why didn't this all happen sooner?

The cast is distractingly good. Thank god, too, because the story isn't. It's clear what the filmmakers were attempting to do here, and they brought in the very best people in an attempt to humanize this story. But the tone is all wrong. It doesn't know whether it wants to be funny or make a statement about mental illness, and it ends up struggling to do either. The only moment that felt genuinely human is the moment that Alice realizes she's won the lottery. I think everyone can imagine what they'd do in that moment, so even then, it's hardly revelatory.

Skip this movie. It's not worth the anxiety that comes with watching it.

Rating: ★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: No

193 / 365: Frances Ha (2012)

© IFC Films

Since the moment this movie was released, I had friends from all sides telling me that I needed to see it. I even have a friend who saw it seven times in the theater. Usually the recommendations came with a bit a warning; an acknowledgement that the feels might be a bit overwhelming in their familiarity. So naturally, I avoided seeing it completely until now. Call it self-preservation.

A young dancer named Frances (Greta Gerwig) living in New York City gives up a romantic relationship over commitment to her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner)—a decision she relishes in until Sophie doesn't give up the same for her. As their lives go in different directions, Frances struggles to discover who she is without her partner for life, especially when one of them is growing up—and one of them isn't.

Gerwig is awkwardly brilliant in this role, her tragic obliviousness as she grasps onto "the story of us," and the idea that she and her best friend will always be on parallel paths. The "my person" monologue is beautiful and heart-breaking and it hurt my soul. Director Noah Baumbach creates the simplest visual style with the black and white, it really lets the script shine. The editing is impatient. To say that mimics Frances is so obvious, but the movie doesn't pull any punches.

Her ego is insufferable, a reflection of all of our immaturities, I guess. Maturity comes on unexpectedly, prompting outbursts like "I can't believe that 'pregnant' is no longer crazy" and some-such adult nonsense. The twenties are hard; we reject parts of ourselves to be what we think we're supposed to be. It takes awhile to figure out that growing up isn't devastating; it can be freeing.

I used to have a friend like this, my person, and life carried us down different paths. This movie made me miss my friend. The way you talk about them, bring up their name in casual conversation to other people, even though you know things aren't the same as they once were. Frances Ha has an innate power to bring out emotions you try to suppress, but that can bring about a certain catharsis if you let it. It's poignant and intelligent, and whether you're a Sophie or a Frances or a little bit of both (guilty), this movie is bound to feel like it was made just for you.

Rating: ★★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: Yes

194 / 365: Pariah (2011)

© Focus Features

As filmmakers approach stories written about characters within minority communities— something still hugely under-represented in Hollywood—it becomes ever-more important to incorporate those who stand at the center of more than one. That is what Pariah does with near perfection. A tale about how to survive a remarkably difficult and emotional time when the world tells you who you are well before you know it yourself.

Alike (Adepero Oduye) is a Brooklyn teenager straddling different and, she thinks, incompatible worlds. Enjoying a secret freedom of being openly gay through the encouragement of her best friend and fellow lesbian, Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike sheds her true self every time she walks through her front door to face her very Christian mother and ambivalent police officer father. Fear of being found out influences her hesitance in pursuing a relationship, until she meets the curious daughter of her mom's church friend, Bina (Aasha Davis). A hopeful naiveté leads Alike to take a chance and discover what it means to be not only an intelligent, African American lesbian, but her unique, uncompromising self.

I adored this movie. It's small and intimate, and Oduye is a spectacular young performer. Alike is a perfect protagonist in the sense that, at the start of the movie, she's completely unformed. She has an idea of who she is, or who she wants to be, but she's nowhere near embodying it. Her evolution to a greater understanding of herself within the confines of this short film is inspiring. And the journey is hardly a simple one. Kim Wayans' turn as Alike's strict and fearful mother, Audrey, is brutally honest, and scene-stealing at that. Not a single character wastes space on screen. I don't know that last time I was able to say that.

The film does have some limitations, mainly due to its small scope—a symptom of an independent budget. While the world presented is a bit small, that feels just about right for these characters. Even within the drama of Alike's story, we are still granted a glimpse into Laura and Bina's, to offer new perspectives. Writer/director Dee Rees gives everyone their time, and it results in a well-rounded, personal story. Too few people have seen this movie, but it's worth your time to track down.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: Yes

Music Mondays: Tonic "Queen"

Selecting a song to represent my love for Tonic is a tall order. During a lazy drive home from Northern California yesterday, I kept getting pulled back to listening to their first three albums on a cycle. The first band I fell in love with on my own accord during 8th grade—and one people made fun of me for loving, inexplicably. Lemon Parade and Head on Straight are wonderful, but Sugar owns my heart. And if I had to pick, their track "Queen" might just be my favorite.

A bit maudlin, it also has one of my favorite bridges in any song. Nothing connected with my teenage melancholy like these guys.

Am I alone? Does anyone out there love Emerson and the boys as much as I do?

Artist: Tonic
Song: "Queen" | download
Album: Sugar

Movie Review: "American Ultra" (2015)

© Lionsgate

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about American Ultra is that while it might be about a stoner... it's not a stoner movie. This isn't Pineapple Express. It's not about a stoner thrown into the middle of dangerous political war games that have literally nothing to do with him—it's about a stoner thrown into the middle of dangerous political war games that have everything to do with him. Notice the distinction? Of course, that shouldn't downplay the bevy of pot and drug jokes, of which there are plenty. Sadly though, it doesn't rise above the cliché to become anything special.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mike Howell, a pothead working at a convenience store who has an inexplicable fear of leaving his small town. His girlfriend, Phoebe (Kristen Stewart), is more than a little supportive, and she slips nicely into their laid-back existence. That is until a rogue CIA agent (Connie Britton) learns of the agency's plan to terminate her pet project: a sleeper agent that just happens to be Mike. To save his life, she hurries to activate his killer protocol, leaving him with sweet ninja fighting moves and no idea how he got them. When CIA agent Adrian Yates (Topher Grace) descends upon the town with an army of assassins, Mike must figure out a way to survive and keep the love of his life safe.

Kristen Stewart is top-notch when she's delivering real, non-stammering dialogue. She also had great chemistry with Eisenberg, who tends to inherently reject chemistry with anyone. There are lovely, caring moments between them, and at one point, I was even touched by their relationship. A wrench gets thrown into the works, mucking it all up, but their relationship is what gives the movie any foundation. The CIA faction of the bunch is full of recognizable faces, most of them stellar actors. There was a dude wearing what looked like a Bill Pullman mask, and then you have Topher Grace acting all weasel-y, popping up with that expert comedic timing, even when moments didn't call for it.



The primary issue with American Ultra is that it's completely underdeveloped. There were lots of opportunities to slip in exposition, or provide motivations for Topher Grace's villainy, but they weren't there. Characters were underdeveloped, and so was the action at certain points (i.e. the explosions felt like a distraction every single time, when the close-up moments that were few and far between were much more effective). Missed opportunities everywhere. That doesn't mean it wasn't funny, but nothing met its full potential.

The comedy has a handful of great moments (Eisenberg's "I'm still in handcuff" line had me unexpectedly rolling), and a lot of it stemmed from nonchalant deliveries, rather than the lines themselves. Stewart saying "Mike Mike Mike!" a lot also made me laugh, even if only because it reminded me of that Hump Day commercial. Watching Eisenberg squirm when he surprises himself with his first kill also brought an excess of delight. Oh, and there was a lot more blood than I expected. I know that seems silly, considering the trailer, but I was still pleasantly surprised by its commitment to the violent aspect.

If anything, this is a harmless, late-night renter. Order a pizza, crack open some beer (or smoke some pot), and pop on the VUDU. You'd have a relaxing evening with probably no regrets.

Rating: ★★½ / 5 stars

AFI Top 100: #49 "Intolerance"

Intolerance (1916)

It's happened. We've made it to the oldest film on the AFI Top 100 list, a movie acting as a clear replacement for one that deserved the spot more, but was too racist to be acknowledged by any film institute without backlash. Coming in at #49 is D.W. Griffith's epic tale of history, love, and intolerance, aptly titled... Intolerance, from 1916. What should have been it's place, you might ask? None other than Griffith's previous film, 1915's The Birth of a Nation—a far superior film, but one so controversial, Griffith quite literally made Intolerance as a response to his critics for being so—you guessed it! Intolerant of his views! Get used to it, I'm gonna be saying that word a lot, which won't be half as much as this movie said it.

With an understandable need to represent a groundbreaking filmmaker like Griffith without igniting the same level of controversy for praising him, the AFI shoehorned Intolerance on here, and as a result, forced me to endure it. And at nearly 3 hours, it was no easy task. It watches like a silent Cloud Atlas, which for me, is hardly an invitation for excitement.

Project 365: Movies 179 - 186

179 / 365: Grandma's Boy (2006)

© 20th Century Fox

God, this movie was stupid. My affection for Nick Swardson aside, this movie is for someone else, but not really for me. I laughed, it had its moments, but in the end, it was a movie that wished it was Zoolander that didn't even come close. The scope was small and every character was petty, even our hero, Alex (Allen Covert), who was

Alex is a video game tester who just can't grow up. After getting evicted from his apartment and trial-running couch-surfing at all his friends' places, he's left sleeping at the office. That is until his Grandma (Doris Roberts) offers to let him stay with her and her two elderly roommates. A twisted version of Golden Girls ensues, where Grandma takes advantage of her grandson, making him do manual labor chores, when all Alex wants to do is get high with his friends and design a video game that will change the gaming world forever.

Not only is the plot predictable, but the comedy is, too. I enjoyed seeing Linda Cardellini in there as the only actual adult in the movie, and it made Alex and his buddies more interesting when she let her hair down to hang out with them. Even then, though, everything gave off a "minimal effort" vibe. The only aspect I genuinely liked was the company Alex and his friends worked at—gaming companies are exactly like that. Otherwise, this movie is for a crowd that doesn't include me.

Rating: ★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Netflix
Seen Before: No

180 / 365: West Side Story (1961)

© MGM

This movie was the #51 film on my AFI Top 100 countdown challenge. Read my full review here.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

181 / 365: Fantastic Four (2015)

© 20th Century Fox

New movie release, reviewed previously on Through the Reels. Read the full review here.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

182 / 365: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

© New Line Cinema

This movie was the #50 film on my AFI Top 100 countdown challenge. Read my full review here.

Rating: ★★★★ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

183 / 365: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

© New Line Cinema

Since it's nearly impossible to say "this movie" instead of "these movies" when you talk about Lord of the Rings, this critique acts as a continuation—a sequel, of sorts—to my review for Fellowship of the Ring, featured on the AFI Top 100 countdown. Appropriate, I think. What's not difficult to say is that this movie is my favorite of the three. It's also, arguably, the one that is inherently flawed.

Picking up immediately where the first film let off, Two Towers has no real beginning. In that same vein, it also leads directly into the third and final film, so it also has no real end. It's this fact that makes me love it most, but it also throws traditional pacing out the window. There are no wrap ups, no (okay, very little) exposition, and the stakes couldn't be higher. It's focused, non-distracted storytelling at its best. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) have continued on alone to Mount Doom with the One Ring, separating from the Fellowship, which is already beginning to break apart. With Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) taken prisoner, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys Davies) go in search of them, ridding the land of evil when and where they can.

Every characters' true personalities begin to come out during this film, as they're faced with isolation, betrayals, and crippling fear. This film also features Gollum (Andy Serkis) most prominently, and he is without a doubt the the series' most compelling character. The motion capture of Serkis in the role still looks incredible thirteen years later, and I'm still bitter that he didn't even get an Oscar nomination. He's that freakin' good. The energy of the movie is also what sets it apart. The shift from the climactic battle of Helm's Deep, my favorite battle of the trilogy, is humorously paired with Merry and Pippin's drawling conversation with Ent (aka giant tree creature), Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys Davies). Every time Peter Jackson cuts away from the action at the stronghold to the meandering calm of the Forest is cause for a chuckle. Not because it's funny, but because it's so delightfully jarring.

I don't believe there's a single lover of this trilogy that doesn't have a favorite. The group I marathoned the films with almost unanimously cited their favorite as Fellowship. Not a surprise, since it provides the emotional introductions that gripped our attentions to begin with. But Two Towers is intense, interesting, and unexpected. Not a single character walks away without putting some serious skin in the game, which neither of the other movies can claim. They're all in the most danger at all times, and without spoiling too much any silly people out there who haven't seen it, this one makes you cheer the most. For me, that's what makes a movie memorable.

Rating: ★★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

184 / 365: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

© New Line Cinema

To say this final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is "less than" the others is nebulous. It's wonderful, an excellent cap off to an epic series that is also the only one to snag that coveted Academy Award for Best Picture (the previous films were nominated, though, nothing to scoff at). But it's also the most laborious of the bunch. With a myriad of wishy-washy denouements, distracted battle sequences, and very few new characters of note, Return of the King struggles to maintain the momentum that the previous two set. But even still, it's really freaking good.

Frodo (Elijah Wood) has made it to the bowels of Mordor, the home of the Ring of Power's master, the Dark Lord Sauron. Pushing towards Mount Doom, the burden of the Ring may well be to much for Frodo to bear as his paranoia overtakes him and prompts him to push away his steadfast friend, Sam (Sean Astin). The remainder of the Fellowship, fresh off of a victory at Helm's Deep, has continued on to Gondor, the home of Aragorn's (Viggo Mortensen) ancestors and the location of the empty throne off the King. Nestled at the edge of Mordor, the armies of Middle-earth prepare for war, not knowing when or if Frodo will accomplish his mission to destroy the Ring forever.

While this might be my least favorite of the three films, it does contain my favorite scene: Pippin singing sadly as the men of Gondor ride into battle, and towards death. The film contains many quiet, torturously sad moments, that make it feel more settled that the previous two. Our journey is almost over, and the end is in sight. When watching these films back-to-back, that all feels remarkably cathartic. But it can also feel frustrating, because the story isn't as tight, or doesn't move as quickly, as we might want.

It's no wonder that Return of the King falters a bit as it closes out the series. Nothing to air major grievances about, but if we are—which we are—comparing the films, this final chapter had a hefty role to play that the others were saved from. It was responsible for succinctly, clearly, and masterfully wrapping up every plot line and character arc, not to mention make every fan of Tolkien's world feel satisfied. A tall order, one that no movie, no matter how good, could accomplish. But King came as close as any. In the end, we've witnessed a story of epic proportions, with stakes that never cease, even towards the end as these characters we love bid farewell to one another.

A worthy film, to say the least, with an ending (multiple endings) that indicate just how hard it was for all of us, especially the filmmakers, to say goodbye.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: DVD
Seen Before: Yes

185 / 365: Irrational Man (2015)

© Sony Pictures Classics

Irrational Man has its Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? moments, the dynamic between higher education faculty and the dissatisfaction with life, always lecturing and never turning off that need to tout philosophies... it's grating if you can't find the humor in it. I imagine many people wouldn't, even if only because this comes no where near Woolf's satiric melodrama. Unlike Woody Allen's standard comedy stemming from neuroses, this stems from complacency—the desire to have life mean something all while the realization that it doesn't crushes you into inaction.

Abe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a pot-bellied, depressed philosophy professor with a reputation that precedes him: he's trouble, but he's brilliant. Skeletons in his closet aplenty, Abe arrives at a wealthy New England college writhing with buzz and gossip, where he meets Jill (Emma Stone), one of his students who's become infatuated by the mystery that surrounds him. Through the trivial dance of "will they or won't they?" (spoiler alert: they will), Abe overhears the tragic story of a stranger that compels him to take action, and plan the perfect murder.

Dual narrations—switching between Jill and Abe—throw the film's balance off, pulling away from the interesting nature of Abe's emotional rebirth and diluting it with Jill's entitled tripe. The strength her character possesses comes out of left field, and her indignation (obsession, even) with Abe and his actions makes her come off as indignant, not just. Jill's mind-numbing self-righteousness might represent Allen's brand of comedy, as it only serves to highlight the heavy-handed intellectualism. Try to dress Emma Stone in all the peasant dresses and shirts you want in order to add to her youthful naivete, or have her always furrow her brow questioningly, none of it works. She doesn't work.

Phoenix' turn as antihero, Abe, however, works on almost every level. The constant proselytizing aside, the manner in which he speaks about the world, his plan, his frustrations, are simultaneously smart, delusional, and humorous. He finds a nice balance within the character, walking that find line of Allen's script that is presenting a complicated and despicable man. Even his relationship with fellow faculty member, Rita (Parker Posey), offers some wonderfully telling moments. It's only when he interacts with Emma Stone's Jill that the movie turns tone deaf. It's like they're acting in two different movies, and no matter how on purpose her lack of self-awareness is, it's insufferable to endure.

Allen might be blinded by his most recent muse, Emma Stone, but allowing her any major role as a protagonist in this film was a huge mistake. She could easily have been on the periphery, projecting her unique brand of wide-eyed emotions in Abe's direction, but saving us from having to see it in every other scene. There was potential with Abe's story, but with so little time spent focusing on it, the crime, the drama, the passion, everything drags awkwardly to a less than cathartic climax.

Rating: ★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No

186 / 365: Ricki and the Flash (2015)

© TriStar Pictures

The ingredients that make up this movie are clearly hand-selected for maximum Kim appeal. Diablo Cody script. Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep singing. My favorite Meryl Streep daughter (Mamie Gummer) playing Meryl Streep's daughter. How could this recipe not come out perfectly golden brown?

Ricki (Streep) is a struggling, albeit self-satisfied, rock performer living in Los Angeles, performing regularly at a local dive bar with her band, The Flash. When her ex-husband, Pete (Kevin Kline, who is aging incredibly well, I might add), calls to let her know that their daughter, Julie (Gummer), is getting a divorce... and not handling it well, Ricki reluctantly hops on a plane to Connecticut to visit the family she hasn't seen in years.

Despite the fact that this script has a subtle "first draft" feel to it, it still manages to be fully formed. Clearly they have the A+ talent to thank for that, which also includes four-time Tony winner Audra MacDonald in the grotesquely one-dimensional role of Pete's second, longer-lasting, wife. How Audra walks away from this movie without my despising her is a testament to her skills. The arguments throughout (of which there are many) are overly vitriolic, prompting more than one "Geez, everyone, calm the eff down!" reaction. There's solid drama without everything needing to turn nasty, but within minutes, it's clear there's no avoiding it.

Streep has the ability to be likable in every role she takes on, which is ideal for Cody's inherently flawed protagonists (think Juno or Young Adult). It's hard to imagine anyone else pulling off this role—not because it's complex; it's not, at all. The fact that Ricki lacks complexity is why someone of Streep's acting caliber needed to embody her. Ricki has a predictable arc, and a self-absorbed reaction to nearly everything that happens in the film. But it's Streep who is an emotional dynamo, and she infuses Ricki and her surrounding relationships (especially that of The Flash guitarist, Greg, played by Rick Springfield), with boundless, necessary depth.

Don't expect too much from this movie. It's worth seeing for the Streep/Gummer scenes alone, but there is added entertainment in other moments that keep it from being forgettable.

Rating: ★★★½ / 5 stars
Watched: Theater
Seen Before: No