Village Vidiot

“Vengeance,” November 7, 2022, (DVD).  B.J. Novak wrote, directs, and stars in this dark comic/drama of a who done it?  Novak leads as Ben Monalowitz, a New Yorker writer in the New York bubble of 30-somethings searching for pickups and a career boost that he hopes can come via podcasting.  He sees his opportunity on…

Newman, Woodward, Noir and More.  (October-November, 2022). Newman, Woodward, noir and more. We’ve been watching older films of late. This has been induced by the 6-part Ethan Hawke documentary “The Last Movie Stars” (HBO) about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Very informative and interesting. I learned much from it and really appreciated that look at…

“Defiance,” November 3, 2022 (2008), DVD.  Based on a true story, Edward Zwick’s direction and screenplay stays close to Nachama Tec’s book of the same name.  Filmed in Lithuania.  Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski (Daniel Craig, Live Schrieber, and Jaime Bell) are Belarussian Jewish brothers who separately escape the butchery of the SS in 1941….

“The Outfit,” September 30, 2022, Amazon Prime.  Leonard (Mark Rylance) is a cutter not a tailor.  A Saville Row trained cutter.  He produces the finest men’s suits.  And, in his little Chicago shop, he makes them for all sorts of people.  Chicago is dark and sinister as it often is; and the filming of the…

“The Greatest Radio Station in the World,” September 20, 2022, Director’s Cut, on-line.  This is a must see for fans of non-commercial, independent radio.  I am one of those.  I grew up with parents who listened to the John Carroll University station.  When I moved to Long Island in 1973, I found this brilliant station. …

“Elvis,” September 10, 2022, DVD.  Baz Lurhmann co-wrote and directed this Australian-heavy (although Hugh Jackman’s not in it) biopic of The King starring Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks in a fat-suit and plenty of makeup as carnival barker and entrepreneur Col. Tom Parker.  It was filmed on location in Australia at the start…

“La Dolce Vita,” September 5, 2022 (1960), DVD.  Yes, I had managed to never see this remarkable opus from Federico Fellini.  The film follows several days in the life of Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) a serious writer turned tabloid hack in a Rome growing more decadent by the day.  His is a life lived at night…

“The Worst Person in the World,” August 20, 2022 (2021), DVD. Renate Reinsve won Best Actress at Cannes for her remarkable performance as Julie in this look at the search for love and identity today. We both really liked this Norwegian story that felt a bit like Bergman’s “Scene’s From a Marriage” combined with Allen’s…

“Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer,” August 15, 2022 (2013), DVD, in Russian subtitled.  We greatly appreciated this fascinating, raw BBC documentary.  It gives us the story of this anarchistic, feminist, pro-LGBTQ punk band and their battles with both the Russian Orthodox Church and Vladimir Putin.  It begins with the musical disruption of a service at…

“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” July 10, 2022, Hulu, full female nudity, partial male nudity. We both enjoyed and appreciated this look at the complexities of female sexuality in the context of a culture that, despite the ‘sexual revolutions’ of the past 60 years, has not meant sexual fulfillment to many women in heterosexual…

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” June 10, 2022 (2021), DVD.  Jessica Chastain won an Oscar and SAG for best actress for her portrayal of Tammy Faye Bakker.  The film dramatizes her marriage to Jim Bakker (a slimy, duplicitous Andrew Garfield) and their rise to and fall from fame and fortune to bankruptcy and prison as…

“Parallel Mothers,” in Spanish, subtitled, May 2, 2022 (2021), DVD.  This Pedro Almodovar vehicle could have been a schmaltzy melodrama, but instead he turns it into a remarkably sensitive, thoughtful, and important film.  And motherhood is one of his favorite topics.  It truly makes the personal political and the political profoundly personal.  The magnificent Penelope…

“The Quarrel,” Canadian, April 21, 2022 (1991), DVD.  A friend suggested this one for me as it looks at arguments within traditional Jewish culture and those who choose more secular lives.  Its years after World War II.   Chiam  (R.H. Thompson) is a fully securlarized Russian/Ukrainian borYiddish writer living in New York City.  He comes to…

“Belfast,” April 14, 2022 (2021), DVD.  Kenneth Branagh wrote and directed this award-winning memoir.  His Buddy – an excellent child-actor, Jude Hill — is growing up Protestant in a mixed neighborhood in Belfast in 1969 and times are heating up as sectarian gangs riot and rage.  Dad’s (Jaime Dornan) off working in England, Mom’s (Caiatriona…

“The Name of the Rose,” April 11, 2022 (1986), DVD.  I saw this when it first came out, but hadn’t seen it since. Jean-Jacques (J.J.) Annaud’s reworking of Umberto Eco’s 1980 global bestselling—if not always read—novel is well worth re-watching.   William of Baskerville (Sean Connery as a Holmes-like Franciscan friar sleuth) arrives at a Benedictine…

“The Andy Warhol Diaries,” Week of April 1-7, 2022, Netflix, 6 parts, documentary. A brief cautionary note.  I’m a very big fan of Warhol’s work, so I’m aware of my biases on this one.  We both really appreciated and were really glad we watched this limited series.  Directed by Andrew Ross and based on his…

“West Side Story,” April 4, 2022 (2021), DVD.  Directed by Stephen Spielberg with a screenplay by Tony Kushner, Bronwen and I both liked and were quite moved by this remake of the Bernstein and Sondheim classic.  I grew up with the 1957 original Broadway cast recording on my parent’s faux stereo (three feet of separation…

“Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain,” March 28, 2022 (2021), DVD.  Anthony Bourdain’s suicide in 2018 at the age of 61 shocked so many people.  His authorial voice, his intense and candid takes on himself, food, restaurants, and culture more generally inspired and entertained millions of viewers tired of precious travel and food shows.  He…

“Free Guy,” March 20, 2022 (2021), DVD.  With so many meaningful films out there, why did I watch this one about a video game character who comes to consciousness?  Because 1) I could; 2) I like Ryan Reynold’s work; and 3) I like to share the best films with Bronwen.  But mostly because I could. …

“King Richard,” March 11, 2022 (2021), DVD.  Both Bronwen and I really liked this look at the role of Richard Williams (Will Smith in a stellar and underplayed turn) – and his remarkable wife Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis, also outstanding) – in the rise of daughters Venus and Serena to tennis super-stardom.  Six Oscar nominations including…

“The Hand of God,” (subtitles), March 8, 2022 (2021), Netflix.  Writer/director Paolo Sorrentino chronicles his late adolescence in this look at a transitional moment in his life with the coming of Diego Mardona to Naples soccer and family tragedies.  In many ways, this one emulates Fellini’s “Amacord,” one of my favorite films.  It’s the passage…

“Dune,” February 15, 2022 (2021), DVD.  I admit with embarrassment I never read the book this is based on.    I just didn’t care.  A very big opening segment of the trilogy that is sure to follow, this Dune did little to make me wish I’d read the book.  I know people liked it a lot,…

“No Time to Die,” February 8, 2022 (2021), DVD.  Another Bond has run his course, this being the last of Daniel Craig’s efforts.  He’s off doing theater now and will enjoy the fruits of his film stardom in a variety of roles.  Yet he’s going to be remembered as the second-best Bond after Sean Connery. …

“The French Dispatch,” February 4, 2022 (2021), DVD.  We mostly enjoyed this odd Wes Anderson confection that posits the New Yorker as an anachronistic, c.1960s, offshoot of a rural newspaper in Kansas.  It features fun work by Bill Murray, Benicio Del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Francis McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, and Owen Wilson…

“Being the Ricardos,” January 29, 2022 (2021), Amazon Prime.  Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) ruled over America’s televisions in the 1950s with her weekly comedy, “I Love Lucy,” filmed with her husband Desi Arnez (Javier Bardem) as Ricky Ricardo. With Fred (William Frawley-JK Simmons) and Ethel (Vivian Vance-Nina Ariande) Mertz, they brought a weird Americana into…