THE CONGRESS- 2014. Synopsis by Netflix. “Actress Robin Wright plays herself in this surreal drama about a film star who agrees to have her digital image recorded for reuse in future films. Despite the handsome payoff, Robin begins to recognize some unforeseen consequences of the deal.”
9/5/14- Fairly good critical review. Audience reviews are mixed so far. TRDB.
September 5th, 2014
THE SKELETON TWINS- 2014. Synopsis by Netflix. “When near-death experiences on the same day motivate estranged twins Milo and Maggie to reunite, they’re forced to reevaluate their empty lives as they attempt to mend the long-broken bond between them.”
9/3/14- Reviews are very positive for this drama. TRDB.
9/19/14- I enjoyed this movie very much and except for a bit of Hollywood it seemed very realistic and poignant to me. TRDB.
Add comment September 3rd, 2014
FINDING FANNY- 2014. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Five Goans set off on a road trip in search of an old postman’s childhood love, Stefanie “Fanny” Fernandes, though nobody knows whether she’s alive or dead or just a figment of someone’s imagination.”
9/12/14- Just a few reviews and both professional critics and audiences have been mixed on this one. The NY Times did not like it. TRDB.
Add comment September 3rd, 2014
WETLANDS- 2014. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Eighteen year-old Helen Memel (Carla Juri) likes to skateboard, masturbate with vegetables and thinks that body hygiene is greatly overrated. Struggling with her parents’ divorce, she spends her time experimenting and breaking one social taboo after the other with her best friend, Corinna (Marlen Kruse). When a shaving accident lands her in the hospital, she sees it as a way to reconcile her parents, but ends up forming an unlikely bond with her male nurse, Robin (Christoph Letkowski) in the process.”
9/1/14- Uniformly good reviews for this unusual sounding comedy/drama. An article about this film and about Juri appears in the Arts and Leisure section of the NY Times on Aug. 31. TRDB.
Add comment September 1st, 2014
THROUGH A LENS DARKLY- 2014. Synopsis by Netflix. “This documentary examines how black photographers have used the medium since its inception as an implement for social change. The film presents examples from Anthony Barboza, Deborah Willis, Glenn Ligon, Carrie Mae Weems and other notable figures.”
8/30/14- Weak reviews. TRDB.
Add comment August 30th, 2014
THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS- 2014. Synopsis by Netflix. “Set in a luscious art-nouveau apartment house in Brussels, this dizzying thriller begins with a businessman coming home to find his wife missing. But as he attempts to unravel the mystery, he finds himself plunged him into a surreal world.”
8/29/14- Poor reviews by critics and audiences as well. TRDB.
Add comment August 29th, 2014
SHADOWS FROM MY PAST- 2014. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “In 1940 Gita Weinrauch Kaufman escaped from Austria with her immediate family the day they were to be transported to Dachau Concentration Camp. More than 50 years later, she returned to Vienna with her husband and co-director, Curt Kaufman, to ask the question: Is present-day Austria truly different from the country from which she fled?”
8/29/14- Just 3 reviews– 2 up, including today’s NY Times and 1 down. It sounds interesting and I will try to see it. TRDB.
Add comment August 29th, 2014
SECOND OPINION: LAETRILE AT SLOAN-KETTERING-2014. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “The War On Cancer, launched in the early 1970s, set the stage for a massive influx of new ideas in fighting the disease of cancer. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, America’s leading cancer research center at the time, was assigned the task of testing an unconventional therapy called “Laetrile” in an effort to curb the public’s “false hope” in the alleged “quack” therapy. Ralph W. Moss PhD, a young and eager science writer, was hired by Sloan-Kettering’s public relations department in 1974 to help brief the American public on the center’s contribution to the War On Cancer. One of his first assignments was to write a biography about Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura, one of the Center’s oldest and leading research scientists as well as the original co-inventor of chemotherapy.”
8/29/14- OK reviews by critics and audiences have liked it very much. TRDB.
Add comment August 29th, 2014
THE NAKED ROOM- 2014. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “The location: a pediatric therapist’s office. The characters: severely depressive child patients and their anguished parents. In Nuria Ibáñez’s fascinating and acclaimed documentary, the austere interior of a Mexico City hospital is the setting for a profoundly moving and educational film.”
8/29/14- I’ve seen 3 reviews- 2 down including the NY Times and 1 up. TRDB.
Add comment August 29th, 2014
LAST WEEKEND- 2014. Synopsis by Netflix. “A matriarch (Patricia Clarkson) asks her adult sons to visit their gorgeous Lake Tahoe home for a final weekend before she sells it, but it quickly becomes a comical disaster.”
8/29/14- Poor reviews. TRDB.
Add comment August 29th, 2014