Cast: Janet McTeer, Aidan Quinn, Emmy Rossum, Pat Carroll, Jane Adams
Written and Directed: Maggie Greenwald
Music: David Mansfield
Cinematography: Enrique Chediak
Editing: Keith Reamer
Category Archives: comedy
“La La Land” (Damien Chazelle, USA 2016)
excellent music
weak script
No good movie can be made on a bad script!
Beloved reader, please DO NOT READ further! If you have seen the movie and enjoyed it – like everyone else seems to have – don’t read further, I might spoil your pleasure.
If you haven’t seen the movie, do like everybody else: enjoy it.
SPOILERS ahead!
“Victoria” (Justine Triet, France 2016)
excellent direction and personages
weakest: message
A divorced lawyer mother of two tries to put some order in her chaotic life..
Cast: Virginie Efira, Vincent Lacoste, Melvil Poupaud
Director: Justine Triet
Writers: Thomas Lévy-Lasne, Justine Triet
Cinematography: Simon Beaufils
Editing: Laurent Sénéchal
“Like Crazy” (Paolo Virzi, Italy 2016)
Cast: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Micaela Ramazzotti, Valentina Carnelutti
Director: Paolo Virzì
Writers: Paolo Virzì
Music: Carlo Virzì
Cinematography: Vladan Radovic
Editing: Cecilia Zanuso
“Don’t Think Twice” (Mike Birbiglia, USA 2016)
Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Gillian Jacobs, Keegan Michael Key, Chris Gethard, Tami Sagher, Kate Micucci
Director: Mike Birbiglia
Writer: Mike Birbiglia
Cinematographer: Joe Anderson
Editor: Geoffrey Richman
Composer: Roger Neill
“Frank & Lola” (Matthew Ross, USA 2016)
strongest: originality + direction + music + minorities
weakest: message
Cast: Imogen Poots, Michael Shannon, Justin Long, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Nyqvist, Emmanuelle Devos
Director: Matthew M. Ross
Writer: Matthew M. Ross
Cinematographer: Eric Koretz
Editor: Jennifer Lilly, Rebecca Rodriguez
Composer: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
“Bridget Jones’s Baby” (Sharon Maguire, USA 2016)
strongest: humor
weakest: script + message
Cast: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Patrick Dempsey
Director: Sharon Maguire
Writer: Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Emma Thompson
Cinematographer: Andrew Dunn
Editor: Melanie Ann Oliver
Music: Craig Armstrong
“Elle” (Paul Verhoeven, France 2016)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writers: Philippe Djian (based on the novel by), David Birke (screenplay)
Actors: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny
The “ever-mysterious sexual power within a woman”1 exudes not only from the main female character, but even more strongly from the new equilibrium that the end of the movie sets in motion.
1 – ELLE: A Complex & Challenging Exploration Into Lurid Territory by Laura Birnbaum. Film Inquiry, Nov. 9, 2016 http://www.filminquiry.com/elle-2016-review/
“Captain Fantastic” (Matt Ross, USA 2016)
Director: Matt Ross
Writer: Matt Ross
Actors: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler
An excellent tribute to Noam Chomsky
“Broadcast News” (James Brooks, USA 1987)
Director: James L. Brooks
Writer: James L. Brooks
Actors: William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter
The story doesn’t go anywhere / Holly Hunter is great but the other female roles are excessively stereotyped.