An exceptional success at mixing comedy and drama / Rich representations of minorities, excellent dialogues
Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Caleb Landry Jones, Kathryn Newton, Clarke Peters
Director: Martin McDonagh
Writer: Martin McDonagh
Cinematographer: Ben Davis
Editor: Jon Gregory
Composer: Carter Burwell
Working in pair: man + woman directing
Great female lead, good humor, surprising editing
Cast: Lydia Wilson, Johnny Flynn, Ellie Kendrick
Directors: Emily Harris, Ate de Jong
Writer: Ate de Jong
Cinematography by Zoran Veljkovic
Film Editing by Brent Backhus, Antonio Rui Ribeiro
The many facets of the love that surrounds a young woman
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Jason Flemyng, Fabrice Luchini, Elsa Zylberstein
Director: Anne Fontaine
Screenplay: Pascal Bonitzer, Anne Fontaine
Music by Bruno Coulais
Cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne
Film Editing by Annette Dutertre
Excellent scenario and some fantastic editing.
Many have called it a bad movie (see the main ratings) because of its scandalous theme – two middle-aged women falling for two young men they know. However, the same critics wouldn’t have blinked if the movie had staged two men falling for their daughter-in-law. Hypocrisy at its best!
Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Sophie Lowe
Director: Anne Fontaine
Screenplay: Christopher Hampton
Novel: Doris Lessing
Music by Christopher Gordon
Cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne
Film Editing by Luc Barnier, Ceinwen Berry
Summarized: only the perfect (male) match can give sense to a woman’s life. No story to be proud of!
Just like Touchy Feely, a female reacts dramatically when her boyfriend offers her to commit herself more fully to their relationship. Adding to the sequel feeling, both movies stage an adult female, a teenager, and 2 adult males. In both movies, the “mother” is absent.
But instead of defining its personages realistically as they are in Touchy Feely, those in Laggies are inconsistent. A hopefully one-time hiccup in an up-to-now interesting oeuvre.
Cast: Keira Knightley, Sam Rockwell, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Webber, Ellie Kemper, Jeff Garlin, Kaitlyn Dever
Director: Lynn Shelton
Screenplay: Andrea Seigel
Director of Photography: Benjamin Kasulke
Original Music Composer: Benjamin Gibbard
Parallel relationships built between 2 half-sisters and 2 brothers / The father of the 2 half-sisters is evoked as a constant figure, whereas their mothers are replaceable (see Laggies)
Cast: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass, Mike Birbiglia
Written and directed by Lynn Shelton
Music by Vinny Smith
Cinematography by Benjamin Kasulke
Film Editing by Nat Sanders
How men be afraid of “pussing out”!
Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard
Directed and written by Lynn Shelton
Music by Vinny Smith
Cinematography by Benjamin Kasulke
Film Editing by Nat Sanders
Intimate situations around 2 or 3 personages characterize this director’s work
My Effortless Brilliance and Humpday are built around male relationships, while the following movies are more female oriented, with males used as catalysts
Cast: Basil Harris, Jeanette Maus, Sean Nelson
Director: Lynn Shelton
Writers: Basil Harris, Jeanette Maus
Music by Ted Speaker
Cinematography by Benjamin Kasulke
Film Editing by Sean Donavan, Lynn Shelton
“The haggard, inconstant flashes of beauty, and then the wretched squalor and miserable humanity”
Excellent musical choice and editing. Music by John Tavener, Zbigngiew Preisner, Henryk Górecki, Georges Bizet, and many more (this blog provides a good overview)
Cast: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso, Iaia Forte, Pamela Villoresi, Galatea Ranzi, Franco Graziosi, Giorgio Pasotti, Massimo Popolizio
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Screenplay: Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello
Music by Lele Marchitelli
Cinematography by Luca Bigazzi
Film Editing by Cristiano Travaglioli
Wrong music! A bit to conventional.
Cast: Marie Leuenberger, Maximilian Simonischek, Marta Zoffoli, Bettina Stucky, Rachel Braunschweig, Sibylle Brunner, Noe Krejcí, Finn Sutter
Director: Petra Biondina Volpe
Writer: Petra Biondina Volpe
Cinematographer: Judith Kaufmann
Editor: Hansjörg Weißbrich
Composer: Annette Focks