AFI FEST 2016 - 2 - Crosscurrent (orig. Chang jiang tu) [2016] / Godless (orig. Bezbog) [2016] / Layla M. [2016]

Among the films that played recently at the  2016 AFI Fest here in Hollywood, I was able to see the following:

Crosscurrent (orig. Chang jiang tu ) [2016] [IMDb] [AW] (written and directed by Yang Chao [IMDb] [AW]) is a visually beautiful, heavily Buddhism inspired reflection on timelessness and change as it follows the captain of a smallish-to-midsized family owned freighter taking a somewhat questionable cargo (a load of some kind of "illegal fish") up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to destination(s) ... _somewhere_ "West."

As he's about to start The Journey, he both spots / takes-note-of a beautiful if seemingly random Young Woman on a neighboring vessel in Port and comes across a Book of Poetry (imagine that) left by someone who had made that Journey, up the Yangtze River, some time before.

He then repeatedly runs into the Young Woman on his Journey and she always seems a step or two ahead of him.  And with regards to the Book, perhaps its most interesting characteristic would be that though written by someone who took this Journey Upriver as well, it was NOT ancient, but rather simply written by a random Sailor who made the Journey "in 1985."  But this would be classic Buddhism: What's 10, 20 or even a 1,000 years if one's talking of taking a Timeless Journey (if ever carried on the CHANGING Current of Time) ;-).  And indeed even since 1985, there were some fairly MASSIVE changes in the Geography of this Journey -- the Three Gorges Dam had since been built and some of the cities (!) referred to by the anonymous sailor were either inundated completely or moved.  And yet, there was the Eternal Yangtze River, changed "somewhat" but also Flowing as ever before.

Dear Readers, this is _not_ a "fast moving film."  Indeed, some of the critics have complained about its (to them) "lack of direction."  But as both a Travelogue -- the Buddhist shrines at Digang (Digangzhen) and Pengze, Zhang Fei Temple by Yunyang (moved recently as a result of the Three Gorges Dam), and  Fengdu are highlighted -- and as a Reflection on the Flow of Time, the film's really quite Excellent ;-) -- 4 Stars

Godless (orig. Bezbog) [2016] [IMDb] [CEu] (written and directed by Ralitza Petrova [IMDb] [CEu]) is a small, contemporary BULGARIAN film about the very traditional (orthodox) Christian themes of Conversion / Repentance and Redemption.  A young visiting "home care" nurse named Gana (Hanna, played by Irena Ivanova [IMDb] [CEu]) is introduced to Viewers as an already thoroughly "hardened by life" / cynical sort of person -- we see her "supplementing her income" by STEALING the I.D. cards of the elderly persons that she visits.  She gives the stolen I.D. cards to her boyfriend who in turn sells them to the Mob under the protection of 30-years-on corrupt local police official (hence he's "been in the trough" since BEFORE the fall of Communism) who then use the I.D. for all kinds of Identity Theft type crimes (draining bank accounts, taking out ridiculous loans in the old people's names, etc).  

Well, one of the new "old people" she's asked to start taking care of is an old, formerly jailed by the Communists, Choir Director of a small nearby Orthodox Church.  He invites her to hear his Choir, and it's THE FIRST TIME in a VERY LONG TIME that she's experienced ANYTHING so Innocent / Beautiful.  And so, yes, she starts to have a Crisis of Conscience.  Can she continue to rip-off her Elderly charges as she had so cynically / matter-of-factly done before?  And yet, she's ALSO "tied up with the mob" and so it's NOT EASY to "walk away."  Excellent, and naturally very sad film -- 3 1/2 Stars 

Layla M. [2016] [IMDb] [CEu] (directed and cowritten by Mijke de Jong [IMDb] [CEu] along with Jan Eilander [IMDb] [CEu]) is an excellent DUTCH "scared straight" style film about a young darker-skinned teenager named Layla (played with SPOT-ON teenage arrogance / naivité by Nora El Koussour [IMDb] [CEu]), the daughter of Moroccan immigrants but growing-up in Amsterdam, who despite being at least partially RIGHT about the racially inspired injustices that she and her friends / family experience, MAKES SOME TERRIBLY TRAGIC CHOICES: 

She runs off with her cute, slightly older, "knows a koranic verse or two" (but at HIS YOUNG AGE, ONLY "one or two...") / "just starting to grow a beard..." similarly young, coffee-and-milk-complected Arab-growing-up-in-Amsterdam boyfriend, who she "met online" hence UNDER THE RADAR of her already quite worried parents (They're NOT dumb, but short of locking her up, one simply _can't_ watch a kid _all the time_).  She marries him and, well, essentially _joins_ I.S.I.S. (!!) with him ... -- CHOICES that, of course, COME TO HAVE INCREDIBLY SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES.  

The genius of the film is that it PLAYS IT STRAIGHT _all the way_ through.  Viewers completely understand this young girl ... AND YET by the end of the film NO ONE, not even the young potential real-life Laylas out there would miss the film's message: Layla made some REALLY, REALLY BAD CHOICES that for which she was going to pay: There's simply no future for the wife of a probable suicide bomber.  None, except PERHAPS blowing oneself us as well, and THAT by definition ENDS one's future right then and there.  So no growing-up, no kids, no life like your parents or other family.  And if one doesn't do that ... just a REALLY LONG TIME IN JAIL (or returning to become a rest-of-one's-life burden to one's family).  Excellent film -- 4+ Stars


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AFI Fest 2016 - 1 - Kill Me Please (Mate-me Por Favor) [2015] / Harmonium (orig. Fuchi ni tatsu) [2016] / Panamerican Machinery (orig. Maquinaria Panamericana) [2016]

 

Among the films that played recently at the  2016 AFI Fest here in Hollywood, I was able to see the following:

Kill Me Please (orig. Mate-me Por Favor) [2015] [IMDb] [AC.br]*(written and directed by Anita Rocha da Silveira [IMDb] [AC.br]*) is a campy (if still decidedly _upscale_ ...) BRAZILIAN John Hughes-like film about a group of 15 year-old girls living in an new subdivision of high-rises somewhere at the edge of Rio de Janeiro where there were RAPES/MURDERS, usually of young (often teenage) women, happening in the still existing scrublands all around.  Where were the parents?  Well, that appeared to be part of the problem.  In classic John Hughes-like fashion, they're not around.  The parents of Bia (played wonderfully by Valentina Herszage [IMDb] [AC.br]*) the film's heroine are divorced and though Bia's been living nominally with her mother and increasingly creepy / disheveled older brother, ma' has a new boyfriend (presumably somewhere "in the city") and so she's NEVER AROUND as are none of the other parents (and the teenagers' school teachers / coaches play nominal presences in their lives).  So the teens, not unlike the teenagers in The Maze Runner [2014] are left pretty much to their own devices even as there are truly inexplicable things -- RAPES / MURDERS -- taking place "in the scrublands" / "bushes" ALL AROUND.

Since this is a contemporary Brazilian film, religion does play a role.  It's a somewhat goofy one, but not altogether disrespectful.  After all there were TERRIBLE THINGS happening "all around" and so the teenagers would come together to pray -- in a wildly exaggerated teen-oriented charismatic / evangelical manner.  But then, honestly, in the absence of any parents or any other credible civil authority, it became a totally reasonable response to a terribly frightening situation.

All in all, the film could make for an entry to a VERY INTERESTING film festival / series featuring young women directors focusing on the experiences of young women today.  Other entries could include The Virgin Suicides [1998] and The Bling Ring [2015] by Sofia Coppola,  A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night [2014] by Iranian-American Ana Lily Amirpour, Girlhood (orig. Band de Filles) [2014] by Franchwoman Céline Sciamma and the Oscar nominated Mustang [2015] by Turkish-French director Deniz Gamze Ergüven... -- 3 Stars

Harmonium (orig. Fuchi Ni Tatsu) [2016] [IMDb] [AW] (written and directed by Kôji Fukada [IMDb] [AW]) is an Cannes En Certain Regard award winning JAPANESE psychological thriller about a recently released prisoner named Kusataro Yasaka (played spectacularly with quite / unspoken RAGE - by Tadanobu Asano [IMDb] [AW]) who after serving-out a sentence of some 10 years, decides to reenter the life of his once best friend Toshio Suzuoka (played by Kanji Furutachi [IMDb] [AW]).

For his part, Toshio has spent the last 8-10 years building his life, having taken over his (Toshio's) since deceased father's machine-shop business, gotten married to a lovely, quite innocent-proper / morally straight (Protestant Christian) wife Fumie (played again wonderfully by Mariko Tsutsui [IMDb] [AW]) and together with Fumie has come to have a cute-as-a-button 8-year-old daughter named Hutaru (played by Momone Shinokawa [IMDb] [AW]).

And yet, there, one day, at the front day of his shop, stands ... Toshio's once BFF Kusataro and ... Kusataro asks Toshio for some help.  How can Toshio refuse?  And yet ... of course ... Fumie, his wife, knows NOTHING of who this former best friend, was.  And yet (again), she's a lovely, young, humble Christian wife/mother who's been taught to trust / defer to her husband and (also) to be kind to and "help the stranger."

Of course this can't possibly go well, and (mild Spoiler Alert...) IT DOESN'T.  Still one can not but feel for the wife, Fumie, who, after all, HAS DONE EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO THE WAY SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO, and yet, WHAT A NIGHTMARE UNFOLDS ALL AROUND HER.  Great and often _very sad_ film -- 3 1/2 Stars.

Panamerican Machinery (orig. Maquinaria Panamericana) [2016] [IMDb] [FA.es]* (directed and screenplay cowritten by Joaquin del Paso [IMDb] [FA.es]*) is an award winning feature-length MEXICAN parable / social satirical piece that played recently at the 2016 AFI Fest here in Hollywood:

The President of a quite random if also quite large "Civil Engineering Firm" just one day ... dies.  He's just found dead in his chair one morning.

Well, needless to say, the employees are "shocked" as they would naturally be upon hearing of the sudden death of any boss, coworker or acquaintance of theirs.  However, soon it becomes clear that this death was going to have more impact on their lives than other such deaths as they are informed by the Firm's chief accountant (and snake of a man) (played wonderfully by Javier Zaragoza [IMDb] [FA.es]*) that the Firm "hasn't produced anything in years" and had existed only because of the now dead boss lazily kept it afloat with his own money.  But OMG, now he's dead.  What now?

The chief accountant recommends that the employees all barricade themselves in the firm's compound (while _he_ burns all its financial records ;-).  A random, public accountant comes by for random accounting business.  The employees "arrest her," tie her up and throw her into a bathroom which starts to serve as a make-shift jail.  One or another of the employees gets the sense to try to just leave ... After all, her job (like everybody else's in the place) is now over.  Why not just try to start anew?  Again, the hysterical employees catch her before she "jumps the fence" and throw _her_ into their make-shift jail as well.

Why are they doing this?  Can't THEY ALL see that their future at this firm is over?  Well, obviously they're scared.  But scared of what?  Scared of the future?  Scared of having to have to work again?   Just complacent?  The film does make for an amusing social commentary -- 3 1/2 Stars 


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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The Edge of Seventeen [2016]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (O)  RogerEbert.com (3 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (1/2 Star)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jensen) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (J. Hessenger) review


The Edge of Seventeen [2016] (written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig) while NOT as completely awful as The To Do List [2013] continues a string of more-or-less obviously culturally left-wing propaganda pieces trying to be "next generation John Hughes"-like productions.

In the current film, otherwise promising young actress Hailee Steinfeld plays Nadine an already socially awkward sixteen year-old "with a story" -- her dad (played by Eric Keenleyside), who she dearly loved / counted on, died of suddenly of a heart-attack when she was 13 -- is driven to the edge when her best and arguably only friend Krista (played by Haley Lu Richardson) suddenly starts dating Nadine's hot/far more popular older brother Darian (played by Blake Jenner):

Shocked, dismayed, threatened, Nadine pleads: "Krista, it's either me or him.  It can't be both.  I've had your back for nearly 10 years, and my brother's an a-hole.  You have to choose ... now."    

Shocked now as well and offended by the threat, Krista picks ... you know ... and the rest of the film unspools from there.

Now, what would there be to _not_ like about a film with a set-up like this?  Almost ANY viewer would immediately identify with Nadine's feelings / situation.

The problem that I had with the film was with the soullessness of what follows.  To the cultural Left, God MUST be Dead.  And to be honest, if the film at least just left God "dead," I'd have far kinder words to say about the film -- even if the film, more or less obviously presents a case of "a teenage Job" ;-).  Instead, the film's maker(s) need to have God ridiculed:

In a totally gratuitous scene, Nadine is shown SITTING ON THE TOILET and THERE decides for some reason to PRAY.  Yet two seconds into her "prayer" she returns to complaining to God about how HE was "never there for her."  And at the end of her "prayer" and apparently her "movement" she reaches for the toilet paper and ...

Liberals reading this Blog, if you ever doubt WHY Donald Trump was elected President THINK OF THAT SCENE.  That was 2 minutes offered to MILLIONS of _captive viewers_ THAT DID NOTHING (added NOTHING to the story) BUT GRATUITOUSLY INSULT THE FAITH OF TENS OF MILLIONS OF SAID VIEWERS.   That's why Donald Trump is President -- because of DECADES of stupid, gratuitous insults (OVER and OVER) such as this.   

Franco too, did not become DICTATOR in Spain in a vacuum.  He BECAME the REASONABLE CHOICE for Spain because the Left CHOSE to "shoot up nuns."  Say what???  Yes, the looney Communists of Spain would STORM CONVENTS and _shoot-up nuns_ ... in up-to-then Super CATHOLIC Spain.  One of the nuns they shot-up in this way, María Francisca Ricart Olmos, OSM is now a Blessed from my religious order (the Servites).  Generally speaking, when a Party chooses to pointlessly / gratuitously _shoot-up nuns_, they literally LOSE "THE WAR" ...

I mention this because Left often has an utter blindness as to how they piss people off.  It doesn't take "a Racist" to get PISSED-OFF at the sight of NUNS being shot-up.  It doesn't take "a Racist" to get pissed-off at the depiction of "Prayer as Bowel Movement."

And that is why I am disappointed and ANGRY that those who could have made a very good film here CHOSE to STUPIDLY CHEAPEN IT by _making it_ a CULTURAL LEFT-WING PROPAGANDA PIECE. 

With sadness ... 1/2 Star.


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Bleed For This [2016]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (O)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B-)  Fr. Dennis (2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J.P. McCarthy) review
Los Angeles Times (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


Bleed For This [2016] (directed and screenplay by Ben Younger, screen story by Ben Younger, Angelo Pizzo and Pippa Bianco) is an appropriately R-rated (Parents please do note ...) quite-to-thoroughly-engrossing biopic / blue collar boxing movie.  Simplifying things _a bit_, the film tells the story of the truly stunning comeback of boxer Vinny Paz / Pazienza (played to Oscar Nomination worthy heights by Miles Teller).

Vinny Paz / Pazienza would not have become deserving of a movie about his life (but then _absolutely_ so) if not for (1) what happened to him (a few weeks after winning the WBA middle weight boxing title, he got into a head-on car crash leaving him with a broken neck) and (2) how he responded to it (DESPITE HAVING A BROKEN NECK, and having to wear a mechanical contraption called "a halo" attached to his torso / skull FOR SIX MONTHS so that his neck bones would heal, he never gave up his desire to return to boxing and _recapturing_ his title, which .. GO SEE THE MOVIE).

I mean MOVIES EXIST FOR MOVIES LIKE THIS.  It really is an absolutely incredible story about truly _never_ giving up.

Now there are problems with the movie, among them THE (FOUL) LANGUAGE.  Now Dear Readers do understand that I grew-up in Chicago and just spent the last 12 years back in Chicago serving at a lovely if also linguistically colorful blue collar / ethnic parish in Chicago, so I'm largely "tone deaf" to expletives.  But I do have to agree with the reviewer for the USCCB (Catholic Bishops' Conference) website (link as always above) who does complain about the language.  EVEN IF such language is (kinda) "real," it's certainly NOT edifying.  And honestly, it's a bit exaggerated, as are hookers and strippers all around in the film.  Again, Parents do note that this is an R-rated film and deservedly so ...

Still it is one heck of a story, just one that one (unlike the Rocky movies) one would be insane to show to a twelve year old ...

Good job folks, but you also should be somewhat ashamed ...


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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-II)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review


Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [2016] (directed by David Yates, screenplay by J.K. Rowling [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] based on her book written under pseudonym [GR] [WCat] [Amzn]) is a generally fun Harry Potter prequel that also would seem to have borrowed visually / conceptually from the Men in Black movies, and thematically from Marvel Comics X-Men series.

Set in Prohibition Era New York of the 1920s, the "Wizarding community" States-side at the time is portrayed in the film as being decidedly _underground_ if also quite _thriving_.  Yes, there was a fairly prominent / loud "Anti-Wizarding" movement (which in many respects looked like any/all "anti-Vice" movements of the time).  Yet, as with Prohibition itself at the time, there was a "live and let live" attitude taken by the Authorities: so long as the Wizarding community "kept to itself" (didn't "cause trouble" / didn't "flaunt" its presence publicly) the civil Authorities left it alone, indeed, to the point that the "Wizarding community" was portrayed as having its own (underground) "parallel government."

The existence of this "parallel government" is actually / interestingly shown as causing its own problems ... those "at the top" of this "parallel social pyramid" / "government" actually seemed to _want_ to "keep things the way they were" with Magic "repressed" and the "Wizarding community" remaining "underground".  Why?  Because said repression actually kept _them_ "the Elites" in this community "in charge."  Fascinating ;-)

But this repression had its costs, especially on "the young" of the "wizarding community" as they had (unsurprisingly) difficulty "repressing" their "magical powers."

So into this just under the surface "pot boiler" enters an English "Magi-zoologist" named Newt Scamander (played quite wonderfully in a slightly "fish out of water" sense by Eddie Redmayne).  He comes to the States with a suitcase full of strange "Fantastic Beasts" knowing that, yes, they were _nominally_ "illegal" but really _not with a clue_ as to what kind of a chaos he's bringing to the States with his very peculiar "baggage."  A few of his magical beasts "get out" of his bag, and ... the rest of the story ensues ;-).

Among that which ensues is Newt's running into an America circa-1920s "every man" named Jacob Kowalski (played wonderfully, if honestly, why didn't the film-makers CAST AN ACTUAL POLISH AMERICAN ACTOR TO PLAY THE ROLE, by Dan Fogler) who enters the story with "a very little Dream" of opening up a small "Polish style Bakery" (in part in honor of his sainted, once baking, grandmother) and found to his dismay that it was _not_ going to be easy to get "a start-up loan" -- with the Quintessentially "Anglo" banker telling him in effect "to make money son, you're gonna have to have money to begin with."

AS A MILD SPOILER, Kowalski's running into the parallel Wizarding World does actually come to help him out.  But before he finds said help, he's plunged into an "Alice in Wonderland" world that before entering it, he honestly would have never ever imagined.  All he had wanted to do is to quit his job "at the cannery" and "sell PACZKIS (pronounced "poonchkis") for a living" in honor of his sainted grandmother.  (Dear Readers, if you haven't had pączki (basically a Polish style "Bismark" or "Danish") in your life, YOU HAVE MISSED OUT ;-).  And yet, before he could get to open his little Polish bakery, what Marvels he had to witness / endure ...  

Anyway, the film becomes an interesting social parable reminding us of the various parallel subcultures that exist around us and the ultimate value of "helping each other out" even if we don't necessarily understand all that is going on in the said subcultures around us.

So, set nominally in 1920s New York, and largely about "Wizarding" ... it's a story that's remains largely "about us" even today.

Good job folks, pretty good job ;-).


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Arrival [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. McCarthy) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (B. Tallerico) review
AVClub (A.A.Dowd) review


Arrival [2016] directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on the story "Story of your Life" [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Ted Chiang [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) is a quite thoughtful / cerebral (read also rather _slow moving_ if beautifully shot) "first contact" Sci-Fi story that has _much more in common_ with 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968] than, well, the shoot-em-up Independence Day [1996, 2016] scenarios.

This is not to say that the arrival of twelve _enormous_ stone monolith-like objects from (...??) to earth, piloted apparently by a race of "septopods" (with _big_ octopus-like heads and seven elephant-trunk-like appendages), was not scary.  And yes, governments / intelligence services all around the world were scrambling to get answers to the obvious questions: Why were they here?  Where did they come from?  What did they want?

Yet, when U.S. Army Colonel Weber (played dead-on by Forest Whitaker) comes, hat-in-hand, to Ivy-League linguistics professor Dr. Louise Banks (played wonderfully by Amy Adams), it's clear that getting answers to these urgent questions was not going to be easy:  How do these aliens communicate at all?

The film becomes a fascinating meditation on the very nature of language, taking adage that "every language we learn gives us a new/different way of perceive the world" to a, well, SciFi-ish extreme ;-).  Still one fascinating if certainly "cerebral" (if also beautifully shot) movie.

Good job!


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Trolls [2016]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-II)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (0 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (G. Ihnat) review


Trolls [2016] (directed by Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn, screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, story by Erica Rivinoja, based on the Troll Dolls [wikip] created by Thomas Dam [wikip] [IMDb]) is an obvious loony-left (if highly commercial) entry into the nation's culture wars that most Viewers would probably wish they were not part of:

The film is about a race of HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (let's just call them "gay" in the pre-1960s sense of the word), RAINBOW-COLORED "TROLLS" who begin the film CAGED by a sullen, uncouth, green-colored REPTILIAN race of giants called "Bergens" who believed that the _only way_ that they could find happiness was if they ATE (destroyed the happiness of) said Trolls. 

Honestly folks, except for the "splash of Neon color" and the inversion of the Good and Evil characters, this film could have been produced by Goebbels & Co.

Now Readers, don't get me wrong.  I have repeatedly denounced Right-Wing propaganda products posing as children's films on my Blog, notably Hop [2011], Hoodwinked 2 [2011] and even the more-or-less obvious racism present in the scripting of Despicable 2 [2013].  I have also viewed and reviewed positively various well-done / _intelligent_ (and appropriately rated) LGBTQ-themed films over the years, including Beginners [2011] / Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2011], Love is all You Need [2012], Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? [2013], Stranger by the Lake [2013], Call Me Marianna [2015] and Carol [2015].

What I object to here, object to almost universally, and then _especially_ when it comes to CHILDREN'S FILMS (!) is a simplistic portrayal of GOOD vs EVIL especially when Viewers (remember these would be KIDS) are pushed into viewing ENTIRE GROUPS OF PEOPLE as "BAD" / "EVIL."

Yes, in as much as "the big / clumsy / ugly Bergens" justified their EATING (radically destroying the happiness) of the "cute as a button" Trolls as their _only way_ to "finding happiness" that would be EVIL.  But ... WHAT / WHO ARE WE ACTUALLY (!) TALKING ABOUT HERE?? 

Zero stars for hammer-over-the-head propaganda pieces.  Zero stars.


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Dr. Strange [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (J. Chang) review
RogerEbert.com (A.J. Bastien) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


Dr. Strange [2016] (directed and screenplay cowritten by Scott Derrickson along with Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill, based on the Comic [MC] [wikip] by Steve Ditko [wikip] [GR] [IMDb]) while on a purely artistic / technical level is simply spectacular (well worth the 3D glasses if one would wish to pay the $3-4 extra / ticket to view the film that way) is perhaps the most problematic (of the Marvel based films) to date for a Catholic (re)viewer like me.

I write this as both basically a fan of the Marvel comics based films to date and a as reviewer, who though writing from a Catholic perspective, recognizes that artists (including comic book writers / graphic novelists as well as film makers) in a free society clearly have the right to produce any work that they wish.

That said, artists / film makers, etc need to expect their their works will be critiqued and at times criticized by (re)viewers holding any number of values (and yes, at times, quite organized belief systems) including someone like me.

I write that this film has proven to be the "most problematic" of the Marvel based films thus-far because in numerous instances the story's writers / film-makers here appeared to chose to portray Christianity as "in league with" Darkness / the Enemy.

The film's chief villain, a certain Kaecilus (played by Mads Mikkelsen), who appeared to be seeking to move our world into a realm of Darkness, is shown meeting with his followers IN A CHRISTIAN (AND ARGUABLY A CATHOLIC) CHURCH.  Worse, for some reason the film's makers choose to argue (and repeatedly) that the possibility of ETERNAL LIFE is SOMETHING TO BE AVOIDED and arguably EVIL while FINITENESS is somehow by definition GOOD.

Tell that to a mother who's lost her kid to cancer / a car accident ... (or to a kid who loses his or her mother to cancer or a car accident).   In such cases, FINITENESS is self-evidently UNJUST and Christianity, quite FUNDAMENTALLY, seeks to REDRESS this self-evident INJUSTICE with its DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL LIFE -- that not even Death has the Final Word on one's life, that the Final Word belongs to God, and God's Final Word for us is Life with Him and Each Other for Eternity.  That would _seem_ like self-evidently a REALLY GOOD DEAL (Good News [TM]) for someone who's facing untimely death or the untimely death of a loved one.  And yet in this story "Eternal Life" is portrayed, repeatedly (and arguably quite dogmatically) as somehow "in league with Evil."

And I'm just saying that this is _Strange_ ...

Indeed in the film, the story's chief protagonist, Dr. Stephen Strange [MC] [wikip] [IMDb] (played by Benedict Cumberpatch), found himself staring squarely at the INJUSTICE of the FINITENESS of his own life.  He entered the story as a super-talented (if also arrogant) neurosurgeon only to find his life radically altered in a split second, when while driving a split moment's glance at an MRI on his cellphone caused him to smash his car in a way that shattered his hands (to the point that he could _never operate again_) and nearly cost him his Life.   Such a high Penalty for such a small Mistake.

That accident and its consequences forced him to set off on what inevitably _became_ a different kind of quest (from excellence in the narrow field of neurosurgery to something BEYOND IT) ... and much ensued.

Yet, that which ensued ... _need not_ have gone in a way that made CHRISTIANITY (or its hope in Eternal Life) "an Enemy" ... that was a choice made by the storytellers here.

And Dear Readers, I have no problem at all that the film's protagonist chose to go to Nepal to seek a more EASTERN (more HINDU / BUDDHIST) answer to his dilemma.  I'm just saying that CHRISTIANITY / a belief in Eternal Life need not be the enemy.  Indeed, I would hope that it'd be _a good part_ of the solution ;-).


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Keeping up with the Joneses [2016]

MPAA (R)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 Stars)  AVClub (C)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Walsh) review
RogerEbert.com (P. Sobczynski) review
AVClub (K. Rife) review

Keeping up with the Joneses [2016] (directed by Greg Mottola, screenplay by Michael LeSieur) is a film that I WISH I HAD CAUGHT EARLIER.  I chose to see it only this week (two weeks after its release during a lull in my calendar) because A LOT of the critics (above) DIDN'T PARTICULARLY LIKE IT and SOME EVEN HATED IT).  Yet, as I was watching the film, I realized that as in the case _of a number of other comedies_ about quite _regular people_ -- Katherine Heigl's One for the Money [2012], and Kevin James' Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 [2014] come-to-mind -- listening to the mainstream critics here was DEFINITELY A MISTAKE.

The film begins by introducing us to Jeff and Karen Gaffney (played wonderfully by Zach Galifianakis and Ilsa Fisher respectively) a _nice_ 40-something college educated / "professional" couple bidding goodbye to their two 8-12 yr old boys (we never really see them) who were boarding a bus for a two week "summer camp." They then drive back to their quite nice / spacious home "on a coul de sac" in some random middle-upper-middle class suburb (somewhere near Atlanta apparently).  Their neighbors were all similarly college educated professionals, living in similar quite nice / quite spacious homes.  Zach worked in "human resources" for a nearby defense contractor.  Apparently, a number of his neighbors worked (on the engineering side) of same said defense contractor.  Karen apparently had a degree in interior decorating and, in as much as she could find work, "worked from home."

The nature of Jeff and Karen's jobs is important here because there is an element of "loser" to them.  While most of the employees at Jeff's firm worked on "classified" projects (designing missile components, etc) Jeff had the very "pedestrian" (and _unclassified_) job of keeping these highly competent employees "happy" and "working as a team" (rather than resenting / undermining each other on account of their large but quite bruiseable egos ;-).  Karen, on the other hand, presumably started out an architecture major and came to focus on interior design because one's more likely to find work.  But in the process she's also reduced her horizons from "designing great structures" to "helping to redesign a neighbor's bathroom" (they wanted to "add a urinal" ;-) and _hoping_ that the neighbors would end-up paying her for the job ...

So on the one hand, their lives _were_ tranquil: They "made it", _look_ where they were living.  On the other hand, they're "kinda losers" on a street where the neighbors living in similar houses seemed to be doing _far more exciting things_ and seemed to have the money for "extra frills" (like adding that urinal to a bathroom) even if such "frills" seemed, even from "a step or two away" SOOO STUIUUPID ...

Into this world of soul deadening bbq-fork-in-hand pastel-colored banality enters a new couple, Tim and Natalie Jones (played again wonderfully with the requisite by Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot -- they must have had a blast playing their roles ;-), who immediately _don't seem to fit_.  Why?

Well, they buy the house next door to the Gaffneys "with cash."  Part time "real estate agent" neighbor Meg Craverston (played by Maribeth Monroe), for whom and her missile designing husband Dan (played by Matt Walsh) Karen is redesigning the bathroom to add that famous urinal, DOES NOT MIND that the Joneses would be buying their house "with cash" (It saves her work / worry about the sale still possibly falling through).  BUT it's immediately odd Karen (and should be to a fair amount of the film's Viewers).  WHO would do that?  Yes, the house and the neighborhood (with its lovely tranquil coul de sac) was nice.  Yes, the Joneses, who apparently had the money to pay for their quite nice house (on a street of similarly nice houses) with cash, were certainly _free do so_.  BUT ... honestly, "if one had that kind of money ... to buy a house like that on a street like that in cash ... WHY buy a house there?   Consenting to a simple mortgage, a couple like that COULD BUY A HOUSE ANYWHERE ... on an EVEN NICER, MORE INTERESTING STREET in a MORE INTERESTING / EXOTIC PLACE.

Well, of course, the Joneses "have their reason(s)" for buying that house on that street in that way, reasons that become ever clear(er) as the story progresses ... But it's fun to see _the only ones_ to catch the oddity in the Joneses entering into their quite suburban tranquility there "in the coul de sac" would be, "the most average / banal of them all," Karen and Jeff Gaffney.

And it's then interesting to watch what follows.  Because as lowly / pedestrian as Jeff and Karen Gaffney's lives may seem, they actually have a lot to offer the (seemingly) far more interesting / exotic Tim and Natalie.  

Indeed, by the film's end, I have to admit, I JUST LOVED IT ;-).  Everyone matters.  Everyone has something to give to others.  A great, great, initially pedestrian suburban tale ;-).   


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Screamfest L.A. 2016

One of the joys of having been transferred down to Southern California from Chicago is proving to be gaining access to a whole new level of film festivals including this "kick" -- the annual Scream Fest L.A. -- apparently held each year in Hollywood around Halloween Time ;-).  Of the films that played at the Festival, I saw the following (and a couple of them should make it to the cinemas or at least art-houses around the country):


Happy Hunting [2016] (R) (written and directed by Joe Dietsch and Louie (Lucian) Gibson) was an AMERICAN "Horror-ish" (something of a "Splatter") movie about "Warren Novak" (played by Martin Dingle Wall) a "regular guy" with some issues, who drove into a sleepy Arizona border town on his way to eventually cross into Mexico to resolve some of said issues only to discover that said "sleepy little border town" had some doozies of its own: A once / "back in the day" "hunters' paradise," all the game in the area had been hunted-down / wiped-out long ago.  So ... the townsfolk resorted to creating a new tradition:  Each year, they'd round-up and then chase / hunt-down and kill some of their more problematic residents or passersby.  Well, poor Novak (his name literally meaning "New Guy") came into the wrong town at the wrong time.  With something of a drinking problem, he soon found himself in the local clink only to be driven out the next day to the outskirts of town to be one of the sacrificial victims in this town's demented attempt to preserve its "proud hunting tradition."  For as its folksy Sheriff (played by Greg Sturm) put it: "Without Tradition, what else do ya have left? Nothing."   Much along the lines of "Mulberry meets The Purge [2013-2016] / The Hunger Games [2013-2016]" ensues ... ;-) -- 2 1/2 Stars


The House (orig. Huset) [2016] (would be R) (written and directed by Reinert Kiil) was a NORWEGIAN entry to the Festival. Set during in the mountainous hinterlands of the country during Nazi Occupation, two German soldiers, an officer and an enlisted man (played by Frederik von Lüttichau and Mats Reinhardt respectively) with a captured Norwegian resistance fighter (played by Sondre Krogtoft Larsen) in tow, seeking to find shelter for the night in the midst of a if not driving snowstorm then just a steady, steady, no reason to believe that it would end soon, snowfall, come upon a seemingly nondescript if uninhabited (perhaps for the winter) House in said Countryside, which they then enter only to find, of course, that this was _really_ "the wrong house" to have come to.  From dreams, flashbacks and/visions that all three experience, it becomes clear that the house had some sort of a Tormented / Evil history in the Past (some sort of an Exorcism had been performed there in the Past, and indeed one of the rooms is just covered by Crosses, all of them hanging upside down ... never a good sign).  They _don't_ seem to be able TO LEAVE the environs of this House that they've entered.  Sure, they could make it outside -- into the steady but unending snow -- make it even fifty or so feet into the woods, but then somehow and always they'd find themselves waking-up again "in the House."  Why?  Was the House "cursed?" (well, Yes...) but there seemed to be something more going on.  It all made for a quite interesting Norwegian "Nazi occupation themed" Twilight Zone-ish [1959-1964] [wikip] [IMDb] film [1] [2] [3] -- 3 Stars.


Lake Bodom [2016] [IMDb] [CEu] (would be R) (directed and cowritten by Taneli Mustonen [IMDb] [CEu] along with Aleksi Hyvärinen [IMDb] [CEu]) a FINNISH / ESTONIAN "Friday the 13th-ish" film THOUGH INSPIRED BY AN ACTUAL 1960 incident in which three Finnish teenagers were actually murdered (and a fourth wounded) while camping by a Finnish lake named Bodom some 22 km outside of Helsinki.  In the current film, four teenagers (played by Mikael Gabriel [IMDb] [CEu], Santeri Helinheimo Mäntylä [IMDb] [CEu], Mimosa Willamo [IMDb] [CEu] and Nelly Hirst-Gee [IMDb] [CEu]) come to the Lake near the Anniversary of the notorious murder, ostensibly because Elias, the nerdiest of the group, "had a new theory about 'what really happened'" back in 1960.  All of the other teens had their own reasons for coming along, among them, of course "that they were teenagers" and ... BUT in any case, like in the recent Blair Witch [2016] remake, the new four start "dropping like flies ..."  What was going on?  Well that's the film, and actually though with its requisite (but actually not terribly exaggerated) amount of blood / gore, there's quite literally a certain "campiness" / humor to the movie and its various often quite funny plot twists.  All in all, though certainly a B-movie, certainly not a bad one -- 2 1/2 Stars.


Inicuo: The Brotherhood [2016] (orig. Inicuo: La Hermanidad) [IMDb] [FA.es]* (would be R) (written and directed by Alejandro Alegre [IMDb] [FA.es]*) was a MEXICAN entry to the Festival that proved simply too Dark for me to stay through.  It was the only film in the Festival that I saw that I got up and left from (Dear Readers, as I've written before [1] [2] [3], just because one buys a ticket to a movie does not mean that one has to sit through the entirety of a film.  There are films that for any number of reasons one could decide: "Okay, I've had enough," and just get-up and leave.  The film here was about a twenty something young adult named Federico (played by Isaac Perez Calzada [IMDb] [FA.es]*) who after experiencing a good deal of pain and betrayals in his life founded a Cult that sought to perform Ritual Revenge on those perceived to have hurt him / the other members of his Group (the Cult).  Again, pretty Dark stuff ... I suppose it reminds viewers that (1) Betrayals / Evil exist and, actually, (2) that Revenge is NOT EXACTLY the "best approach" in dealing said Evil (even if Evil doers would perhaps deserve their due).  Still IMHO the film takes Viewers on a truly Dark path to make the point -- 1 1/2 Stars


The Unseen [2016] (would be R) (written and directed by Geoff Redknap) was a CANADIAN entry to the Festival that may feel to many, especially younger viewers, to be at least partly inspired by the Marvel Comics Wolverine movies.  Ten years back, seemingly regular guy, logger Bob Langmore (played by Aden Young) for reasons unclear upped and simply left his former wife Darlene (played by Camille Sullivan) and then 7 year old daughter Amelia (played now as a 17-year old by Max Chadburn) leaving a terrible hole in their lives that neither had been able to fully patch.  Yet despite obvious anger by both toward their former husband / father, Darlene comes to the conclusion that she simply has to look him up again because Amelia now was beginning to act very, very strange.  What was going on?  Well the story that unspools gives new context to Bob's previous abandonment of his family and is portrayed, at least in part symbolically, in a truly spectacular cinematic fashion.  Honestly, this film ought to win awards for its cinematography / makeup and even screenwriting / direction or at minimum open doors for the artists/film-makers responsible!  Excellecnt job here! -- 3 Stars.


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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Kodi [2016]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmiBeat listing**

FilmiBeat.com review**
IndiaGlitz review**
KollyTalk.com review**
OnlyKollywood.com (Surendhar MK) review**
TamilGlitz review**

Indian Express (K.R. Manoj) review**
Hindustan Times () review**
The Hindu (S. Ramanujam) review**
Times of India (M. Suganth) review**


Kodi [2016] [IMDb] [FiBt] (written and directed by R.S. Durai Senthilkumar [IMDb] [FiBt]) is a Indian (Tamil) film that opened both in India and across the world for India's Diwali holiday weekend.  It's a political thriller, which while having its action / comedic elements is really a _scathing denunciation_ of _systemic_ political corruption in Tamil? / Indian? politics today.

The film is about two sons, twins, of a humble "sound-man" (played by the Tamil actor Karuunas [IMDb] [FiBt]), who would help set-up the microphones at political rallies (though, poignantly and perhaps at least in part symbolically, HE HIMSELF WAS "MUTE").

Touched by the vow of a local politician that he and his Party (colors green and gold) would "fight to the death" to close a local factory which was poisoning its workers with mercury, the father takes his sons to a Party rally in front of said factory.  However, to the father's dismay, as soon as the Politician appeared to believe that there were enough photographs taken of him and his Party "protesting in front of the factory," the Politician called the rally-off, saying "their work was done" and began sending the gathered (Party) protesters home.  The father of the two sons, himself, again mute (perhaps as a result of some kind of poisoning in his family's past), can not let himself "just go home" like that.  So the father PICKS UP A CAN OF KEROSENE, pours it on himself and sets himself on fire in protest.  The Politician had promised that they would "fight to the death" to close the factory.  Now the Politician was packing-up to go home after hardly exerting himself at all.  This poor / sincere father WITH A WIFE AND TWO YOUNG SONS, was NOT going to "just go home as well."

... the story resumes 20 years later.   The two young sons Kodi and Anbu (both played by the Tamil actor Dhanush [IMDb] [FiBt]) had grown up, though the two had taken very different paths:  Kodi, whose name apparently meant "Flag" had therefore pursued a life of political action seeking to in effect "partly redeem" (and perhaps even "avenge") his father's death (to make it mean something), while Anbu stayed closer to his mother (played by Saranya Ponvannan [IMDb] [FiBt]) who was angered to current day at her husband for having so pointlessly left her a widow to raise two young sons in poverty.  Growing-up in precarity, both sons nonetheless were educated.  When the film resumes those "20 years later" we find that Kodi has just been promoted by the "Green and Gold" Party as the "Regional Head" of its "Youth Wing."  Anbu, on the other hand, has gotten a job as a mathematics instructor at the local university.

Both would basically live rather "small" yet _happy_ lives if ... not for the return of a crisis resulting from that cursed (20-years closed) mercury factory.  Yes, apparently IN PART due to their father's sacrifice ... officials HAD TO SHUT THE PLANT DOWN.  But now, twenty years later ... the plant was found LEAKING mercury into the local water supply.

When Kodi finds-out about the new situation, he immediately carries the news to his Superior, who ... tells him TO SIT ON THE INFORMATION UNTIL "AFTER THE ELECTION" promising him "WE'LL DEAL WITH THE SITUATION 'RIGHT AWAY' ... AFTERWARDS.

Well, intelligent enough to see a lie being told to his face ... he goes to the OPPOSING PARTY (their banner was RED with a HORSESHOE and A STAR.  Guess what Party, THEY represented? ;-).  Even though the GREEN-GOLD and the RED-W-HORSESHOE-AND-STAR parties were "sworn enemies" of each other, HE HAD "A FRIEND" THERE ... a young lady, HIS AGE named Rudhra (probably meaning "Red" and played by Trisha Krishnan [IMDb] [FiBt]) who he'd known all his life because they'd always go to the same rallies, just on opposite sides and who, like him, had "risen through the ranks" of her, the RED-W-HORSESHOE-AND-STAR party.  Indeed, though not openly, the two had become "lovers" of sorts, having "a lot in common" actually.

Anyway, Kodi tells his friend / lover Rudhra (from the opposing Party) the news about the closed but now found to be still leaking mercury factory.  Perhaps THEY could do something to save people's lives, BUT ...

... And that's then the story.  NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE.  Kodi and Anbu's father DIED to shut that plant down ("so that others may live.")  Now Kodi finds that the plant is yet again a problem but NEITHER Party wants to do anything about it (AGAIN).  He himself DIES, is MURDERED (by whom? ...).

And it's left to mild mannered brother Anbu ... who just wanted to stay home, live a nice simple life taking care of his mother on behalf of his more politically conscious father / brother ... BUT NOW HOW CAN HE "JUST SIT THERE" AND DO NOTHING ...?

And yet it is SO CLEAR that NEITHER PARTY GAVE A DAMN ... AND BOTH EVEN PUT OBSTACLES IN THE WAY of others TRYING "to do the right thing."   Indeed, BOTH PARTIES are shown solemnly having pictures of India's founder, the former living saint, M.K. Gandhi, piously hanging BEHIND THEM at their rallies and in their offices.  AND YET, NONE OF THE CURRENT POLITICIANS DO ANYTHING EXCEPT SEEK _random_ / _trivial_ POLITICAL ADVANTAGE OVER ONE ANOTHER.

Indeed, the film becomes a damning story about "one little family" that "cared" surrounded / embroiled in a system that CLEARLY "didn't give a damn at all." 

I would close here noting that out of four Tamil films (coming from India's state of Tamil Nadu) that I've seen here in the United States since beginning my blog, THREE had as a good part of their theme POLITICAL CORRUPTION.  These films become a reminder that India is a diverse place and that even if Bollywood tends to produce "lovely romances" at one end of the country, at its other end, in Tamil Nadu, the film-makers clearly have "other stories" that they want to tell.

Good job folks, very good job! ;-)


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Ae Dil Hai Mushkil [2016]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmiBeat listing**

AccessBollywood (K. Gibson) review
FilmiBeat.com () review**
iFlickz.com () review**
IndiaGlitz review**

Hindustan Times (S. Kushal) review**
Indian Express (S. Gupta) review*
The Hindu (N. Joshi) review**
Times of India (N. Bhave) review**

The Guardian (M. McCahill) review
The Variety (J. Leydon) review 

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil [2016] [IMDb] [FiBt] (story, screenplay and directed by Karan Johar [IMDb] [FiBt] dialogues cowritten by Karan Johar [IMDb] [FiBt] and Niranjan Iyengar [IMDb]), opening on 300 screens in the United States (hence basically in every major U.S. city) on the same day as it did in India, this Diwali release -- India as well as China have their own "Holiday Seasons" ;-) -- this really should be a MUST SEE in the West for contemporary film-lovers, ESPECIALLY FOR COLLEGE AGED YOUNG ADULTS.  I say this because there is simply NO WAY that a Westerner could see this movie and NOT have his/her view of contemporary India (and contemporary Indians) significantly, even _radically_ changed / deepened.

Indeed, this past summer, still living in Chicago, I had embarked on a self-plotted "Indian Film Tour" because I was simply exhausted with the extremely _limited_ portrayal of India / Indians IN WESTERN FILMS (seem Slumdog Millionaire [2008] or even the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2011] [2013] movies.  In Western cinema, to this day, India is almost _always portrayed_ as CRUSHINGLY POOR and Indians as "nice, perhaps even 'bright people' WHO WE SHOULD SIMPLY FEEL SORRY FOR."  NOT seeking to negate _at all_ the CRUSHING POVERTY of perhaps today 80% of India's ONE BILLION PLUS POPULATION, there are still 200-300 MILLION INDIANS today who are NOT POOR, often NOT EVEN CLOSE TO POOR, indeed RICH and even at times (as in one of the most memorable lines in the dialogue of the film) not merely "First Class Rich" but "PRIVATE JET RICH."

And so then it is, this film is UNAPOLOGETICALLY / BREATHLESSLY about the "Richer India / Indians" -- again 200-300 million of them -- WHO _even to this day_ (save for the occasional "Harold and Kumar" movie) GENERALLY DON'T APPEAR IN WESTERN FILMS (except perhaps as an occasional exotic oddity / villain).  

The film is about a circle of bright, educated, rich Indian young adults, all in their mid-late 20s, all living / having grown-up in London (many Western young adults would see them in, or even _teaching_, their classes), all of them feeling very much Indian both in language / custom even as they've naturally seen / incorporated various expects of their "life outside the old country" into their lives.

Notably when the story begins, the two central protagonists in the story Ayan (played by Ranbin Kapoor [IMDb] [FiBt]), Hindi, and Alizeh (played by Anushka Sharma [IMDb] [FiBt]), Muslim, are involved in relationships that previously, "in the old country" would have been seen in somewhat "simply not done" scandalous light: Ayan was in a casual relationship with a Western, (half)-Brazilian girlfriend (of two months) named Lisa (played by Lisa Haydon [IMDb] [FiBt]), Alizeh, okay had been set-up by her family "with a good catch" Dr. Feisal (played by Imran Abbas [IMDb] [FiBt]), a medical doctor, but actually was very much in love with an Indian born DJ (!) named Ali (played, notably, by Pakistani actor/heartthrob Fawad Khan [IMDb] [FiBt]).

Meeting randomly one night in some London hot-spot, Ayan and Alizeh quickly fall very much for each other -- he in "love", she in "like."  And the rest of the story unspools from there ... a story that could HONESTLY BE CALLED a CONTEMPORARY / INDIAN "JANE AUSTEN-ISH" TALE.  For remember folks that in Jane Austen's stories, the main characters were ALSO _breathlessly_ / _effortlessly_ / perhaps as one thinks about it _obscenely_ WEALTHY.  But the characters were, of course, MORE than "just their money," with quite relate-able concerns, THAT ALL OF US COULD UNDERSTAND. 

And here it is as well.  HE _loves_ HER, SHE _really likes_ HIM (as a Friend) ... and the Story, which follows them for a number of fairly significant years of their lives, asks the famous / perennial question: Can two young attractive people, male and female, find happiness ... being ... "just friends"?

A lovely, lovely story and again one that young Westerners REALLY OUGHT TO SEE.  You'll never see your Indian friends / classmates (even if you "thought you knew them") the same way again ...

Great job!


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Inferno [2016]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (2 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Turan) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review


Inferno [2016] (directed by Ron Howard, screenplay by David Koepp based on the novel [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Dan Brown [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb]) while not awful, awful and honestly giving Viewers lovely tours of Florence, Venice and finally Constantinople/Istanbul _often_ feels like Austin Powers' Dr. Evil [wikip] [IMDb] meets The Da Vinci Code [2006] [IMDb]. 

This is because the while the plot is James Bond-ish in quality -- a crazed billionaire bio-technologist named Bertrand Zobrist (played actually _quite well_ but not to Javier Bardem-levels by Ben Foster) decides that he's going to invent a viral plague that would kill half-of-humanity in order to save the planet -- he decides to partially hide his plot EVEN FROM THOSE WHO WOULD PRESUMABLY CARRY IT OUT in riddles decipherable only by Dante enthusiasts (!)

Enter then Dan Brown's Harvard "Symbologist" Robert Landgon [wikip] [IMDb] (played again quite competently by Tom Hanks though even he must have found his role here increasingly preposterous) "to save the day" RATHER THAN more conventional "save the day heroes" like Ian Fleming's James Bond [wikip] [IMDb] or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan [wikip] [IMDb] or even Steven Spielberg's / Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones [wikip] [IMDb].

Honestly only Austin Power's Dr. Evil [wikip] [IMDb] would be so stupidly esoterically weird as to HIDE his FIENDISH über-modern PLOT in ESOTERIC RIDDLES playing-on / riffing-off of Medieval texts:  HE ARGUABLY CONFUSES HIS OWN PEOPLE :-) who actually come to NEED poor Professor Langdon THEMSELVES to HELP THEM FIGURE-OUT WHAT THEIR EVIL MASTER HAD ACTUALLY WANTED THEM TO DO ;-) ;-)

But it is one heck of a ride ;-) ... and for a $10 (or so ...) price of admission Viewers do get to see some of the most beautiful (and fabled / history laden) cities in the world.  And yes, if it gets at least a few of said Viewers to pick-up Dante's Divine Comedy (and PLEASE DEAR READERS DON'T JUST FOCUS ON DANTE'S "INFERNO" ... PURGATORIO (especially the first chapters) and even PARADISO are true joys to Read / Bask In ! ;-) or learn about Marco Polo (who was a son of a 13th century trader from Venice and knew Constantinople as well as, of course, China) then this film would be well worth its being made.

Most of us CAN'T AFFORD to go to the places shown in this film, but through the wonders of Film (and wikipedia / the internet) we can choose to "travel" VIRTUALLY to these / other places, "for a while" ;-) and then ... blissfully "return home again" :-)
  
In this regard -- thanks Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, etc (and even Dan Brown) for helping us to want to stretch our minds a little and want to dream again ...

The film, if nothing else, was "one heck of a trip" ;-)


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