August: Osage County presents a painful, bitter, sad look at family dysfunction without much hope or goodness involved. It is a harsh look at a family struggling through addiction, death, manipulation, divorce, infidelity, suicide, and mental illness. The raw nature of the emotional journey of the family picked with sharp nails at the scabs of…
If you are over 40, please be sure you see Nebraska. It’s an incredible heartwarming, emotion-tugging, eye-opening, reality-grounding, laugh-out-loud film about aging, parents, family, middle-age, love, acceptance, understanding, and life. And it is excellent. Granted, for the first half hour, I found myself waiting for one of Will Forte’s SNL characters to turn to the…
Enough Said was a joy to see. The film displays a beautifully sweet honesty with its look at dating during midlife. The insecurities, the excitement, the laugher, the discoveries, and the ability to have fun, pure fun, with another, no matter your age—these things come together to create a feeling that it was more like,…
I loved this movie. Yes, it’s a teen movie, but it’s completely unlike others: it’s deep, painful, real, and most importantly, unpredictable. The layers of Charlie’s angst peel away slowly. My movie companion actually missed the key layer, much to her surprise. But that, to me, was part of the beauty: you discover, gradually, the…
I saw this one a few weeks before I wrote about it, and what a delightful time it was. The stories are varied as several folks leave England to live at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India. No, the hotel is not exactly the best, and no, it’s not completely exotic. But it is…
Super Sad True Love Story was a deeply interesting look at how the future can play out with technology and relationships. While reading, it was a good read. the novel has complex layers and characters. But the book is not remarkable in that it doesn’t stay with you. Its tale does not linger. It flits…