Janet Planet
SimilarA Beautiful Mind (2001), A Real Young Girl (1976), Antonia's Line (1995), Awakenings (1990),
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) Boys Don't Cry (1999) Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), City of God (2002), Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Copying Beethoven (2006), Desert Hearts (1985), Frida (2002), Italian for Beginners (2000), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Lords of Dogtown (2005),
Lost in Translation (2003) Michael (1996), Monsoon Wedding (2001), Monster (2003), My Life Without Me (2003), Mystic River (2003), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), Sleepless in Seattle (1993),
Strange Days (1995) The Party (1980) The Party 2 (1982) The Piano (1993), The Queen (2006), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005),
Watch afterAvatar: The Way of Water (2022) Dune (2021), Five Nights at Freddy's (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Interstellar (2014),
Oppenheimer (2023) Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), Top Gun: Maverick (2022),
Janet Planet captures a girl caught in her mother’s orbit in the summer of 1991 as she struggles with what to make of the people who enter her mother’s life (friends, boyfriends, strangers) and what to make of herself. It’s also a brutal and empathetic reminder that of all the possible ages to be, 11 might be the worst, and in Janet Planet, 11-year-old Lacy would be the first to agree.
As desperate as adults are to regress to a world before endless Zoom meetings and the monotony of laundry, it’s easy for us to forget how utterly powerless you are at 11. It’s an age where adults still control nearly every facet of your life, and you bear constant witness to their bad decisions with no ability to either help or remove yourself from the situation.
“Every moment of my life is hell,” Lacy tells her mom, Janet, and if you’re honest with yourself about what being 11 actually felt like, you know it’s the most acceptable of hyperboles. But Lacy, observant and thoughtful, shows the kind of understanding I never did at that age when she adds, “But I don’t think it’ll last, though.” Creating moments of clear-sighted vulnerability like that is what playwright and now first-time director Annie Baker does best. Continue Reading →
Dream Scenario
Similar3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), A Clockwork Orange (1971), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), Brazil (1985), Bride of Re-Animator (1990), Buffalo Soldiers (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Dogma (1999), Election (1999), Forrest Gump (1994), Help! (1965), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Human Nature (2001), In China They Eat Dogs (1999), Life Is Beautiful (1997), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), M*A*S*H (1970), Mars Attacks! (1996), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Monsoon Wedding (2001), mother! (2017), Serial Mom (1994), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Butcher Boy (1998),
The Party (1980) The Party 2 (1982) The Science of Sleep (2006), Wonder Boys (2000),
Watch afterAmerican Fiction (2023), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), Leave the World Behind (2023), Napoleon (2023), Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023), Saltburn (2023), The Killer (2023),
StarringNicholas Braun,
At this point, you can roughly divide the output of Nicolas Cage into one of two categories. First, there are films so tailored to his reigning wild man of cinema persona that it seems unimaginable they could exist if he passed. In the other camp are the quieter efforts like The Weather Man, Joe, and Pig that remind of what a powerful actor he still can be. His latest project, writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario, combines both approaches into a single offering. The result is a strange and wildly audacious work anchored by a surprisingly deft and low-key turn from Cage that stands in marked contrast to the weirdness surrounding him. Continue Reading →
Blonde
SimilarGarden State (2004), Maria Full of Grace (2004), The Pianist (2002), The Straight Story (1999),
Watch afterBullet Train (2022),
Social media has normalized behaving as though we know and can even speak for celebrities. Going beyond the concept of the “number one fan,” we address them directly, make demands of them, and attack anyone perceived as meaning them harm, acting as though we’re under personal orders. It peaked during the Amber Heard defamation trial, then that angry energy transferred over to Olivia Wilde, largely for committing the crime of dating Harry Styles. The mere tweeting of Wilde’s name seems to summon antagonistic replies listing her sins, accusing her of everything from being a rape apologist to a pedophile to preventing Styles from being with the person he truly loves, fellow One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. Though Styles and Tomlinson have both denied (many times) that they’re in a secret relationship, their “true” fans insist that they know better, and that it’s all subterfuge to fool the press. So it’s up to the fans to aggressively defend them, even threatening those they perceive as “enemies.” Continue Reading →
Mare of Easttown
Mare of Easttown may at times feel like it’s kicking a dead horse. It’s a grammatically perfect post-Cardinal Bernard Law, cold-case-comes-alive thriller with rich performances by its entire cast. Yet for a story about a maverick detective purporting to be about more than crime, it follows surprisingly predictable beats, leaving little room for illuminating nuance. Continue Reading →