“Come Away” by Brenda Chapman (2020)

Excellent minority representation

A story for children with an ambitious script and many connotations, but irregularly directed and awfully static at times
Very special racially-mixed cast

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,9
Metascore 4,0
Roger Ebert 1,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 4,6
IMDB 5,7
TMDB 6,3
Average critics 3,4
Average public 5,5

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Carter Thomas, Ava Fillery, Derek Jacobi, Michael Caine
Director: Brenda Chapman
Writer: Marissa Kate Goodhill
Music by John Debney
Cinematography by Jules O’Loughlin
Film Editing by Dody Dorn

“The Second Mother” by Anna Muylaert (mother-daughter relationships 28/29)

“The Second Mother”
by Anna Muylaert (Brazil, 2015)

Good personages, gender content, minority representation, message, and expression
Excellent script and direction
Top images

A pearl of a movie, light, delightful, and full of palpable tensions

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore 8,2
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,8
TMDB 8,1
Average critics 7,9
Average public 8,2

Original title: Que Horas Ela Volta?

Cast: Regina Casé, Helena Albergaria, Michel Joelsas
Director: Anna Muylaert
Writer: Anna Muylaert
Music by Vitor Araújo , Fábio Trummer
Cinematography by Barbara Alvarez
Film Editing by Karen Harley

Multiple facets of mother-daughter relationships (4/29)

“Angela” by Rebecca Miller (USA, 1995)

First Feature

Good dialogues

A young girl with a depressive mother and a stressed father takes her younger sister into a (religious) fantasy journey, torn between anger and guilt, heaven and hell
Some very amateurish aspects (have you seen the microphones?) but a movie that keeps surprising the viewer and that has a very expressive musical score
Nevertheless, there’s something that just feels wrong… Maybe it’s the fact that all females are having difficulties integrating the reality…

IMDB 6,4

Cast: Miranda Rhyne, Charlotte Eve Blythe, Anna Levine
Director: Rebecca Miller
Writer: Rebecca Miller
Music by Michael Rohatyn
Cinematography by Ellen Kuras
Film Editing by Melody London

“The Second Mother” by Anna Muylaert (2015)

Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#19)

Good personages, gender content, minority representation, message, and expression
Excellent script and direction
Top images

A pearl of a movie, light, delightful, and full of palpable tensions

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore 8,2
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,8
TMDB 8,1
Average critics 7,9
Average public 8,2

Original title: Que Horas Ela Volta?

Cast: Regina Casé, Helena Albergaria, Michel Joelsas
Director: Anna Muylaert
Writer: Anna Muylaert
Music by Vitor Araújo , Fábio Trummer
Cinematography by Barbara Alvarez
Film Editing by Karen Harley

“When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” by Caroline Link (2019)

Good dialogues and minority representation
Excellent personages

A good story but the direction could have been more dynamic… just as the music. All in all, a bit boring

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,3
Metascore 4,7
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,8
IMDB 7,1
TMDB 6,8
Critics average 6,0
Audience average 7,6

Original title: Als Hitler das Rosa Kaninchen stahl

Cast: Riva Krymalowski, Marinus Hohmann, Carla Juri, Oliver Masucci
Directed by Caroline Link
Writers: Anna Brüggemann, Judith Kerr, Caroline Link
Music by Volker Bertelmann
Cinematography by Bella Halben
Film Editing by Patricia Rommel

“Wish You Well” by Darnell Martin (2013)

Tribute to Darnell Martin (1/4)

Weak music and poor direction
Top minority presence

A sketchy story that doesn’t get anywhere
Most children in this story have lost their parents, and you would think that’s a theme important enough to get deeper into it, but midway in the movie comes a new theme – an evil mining company wants to buy all the beautiful mountain land…
Boring music, infuriating editing, but the landscapes are nice 🙂

Rotten Tomatoes Critics —
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 6,6
TMDB 6,9
Average critics —
Average public 7,0

Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Mackenzie Foy, Josh Lucas
Director: Darnell Martin
Writers: David Baldacci
Music by Paul Cantelon
Cinematography by Frank Prinzi
Film Editing by Eric Wais

“Finding Ohana” by Jude Weng (2021)

a week of first features

Good humor

A film for you if you like a content focused on family and traditions,,, I don’t
Bad acting, but some good dialogues and images

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,3
Metascore 6,9
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,8
IMDB 6,1
TMDB 6,6
Average critics 7,7
Average public 7,2

Cast: Kea Peahu, Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson
Director: Jude Weng
Writers: Christina Strain
Music by Joseph Trapanese
Cinematography by Cort Fey
Film Editing by Priscilla Nedd-Friendly

“Friends With Kids” by Jennifer Westfeldt (2011)

a week of first features

Good gender content

Not much to say except sharp dialogues

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,5
Metascore 5,5
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,4
IMDB 6,1
TMDB 6,0
Average critics 6,1
Average public 6,2

Cast: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolph
Director: Jennifer Westfeldt
Writer: Jennifer Westfeldt
Music by The 88, Boris Skalsky, Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography by William Rexer
Film Editing by Tara Timpone

“The Second Mother” by Anna Muylaert (2015)

A Weekend Treat!

Good personages, gender content, minority representation, message, and expression
Excellent script and direction
Top images

A pearl of a movie, light, delightful, and full of palpable tensions

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore 8,2
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,8
TMDB 8,1
Average critics 7,9
Average public 8,2

Original title: Que Horas Ela Volta?

Cast: Regina Casé, Helena Albergaria, Michel Joelsas
Director: Anna Muylaert
Writer: Anna Muylaert
Music by Vitor Araújo , Fábio Trummer
Cinematography by Barbara Alvarez
Film Editing by Karen Harley

“Love Revisited” by Nicole van Kilsdonk (2017)

A Week of Weak Works

It is only very recently that we became conscious of the fact that older people too have a love and a sex life! It is certainly interesting to see more of it on the screen… However, not much else to get excited about this movie

IMDB 6,2

Original title: Oude Liefde

Cast: Hadewych Minis, Halina Reijn, Gene Bervoets
Director: Nicole van Kilsdonk
Writer: Peer Wittenbols
Music by Joris Oonk, Chrisnanne Wiegel
Cinematography by Gregg Telussa
Film Editing by Wouter Jansen

“Basil” by Radha Bharadwaj (1998)

Good personages, dialogues, direction, images and minoeity representation

A movie that shows how duty but especially honor plays a central role in patriarchy
A typical 19th-century costume drama with quiite a dynamic script – a pity that the last scene is so ‘frozen’

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,4
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,4
IMDB 6,0
TMDB 4,9
Average critics 4,4
Average public 5,8

Cast: Christian Slater, Jared Leto, Claire Forlani
Director: Radha Bharadwaj
Writers: Radha Bharadwaj, Wilkie Collins (novel)
Music by Richard G. Mitchell
Cinematography by David Johnson
Film Editing by Craig Nisker

“What We Wanted” by Ulrike Kofler (2020)

First Feature

Good personages and dialogues

A couple has tried everything to have a child, without success. He and she try to cope with the situation together, but cannot avoid to respond differently to it

IMDB 5,8

Original title: Was Wir Wollten

Cast: Lavinia Wilson, Elyas M’Barek, Anna Unterberger
Director: Ulrike Kofler
Writers: Sandra Bohle, Ulrike Kofler
Cinematography by Robert Oberrainer
Film Editing by Marie Kreutzer

“South Mountain” by Hilary Brougher (2019)

Great meassage
Excellent personages

Mixed feelings about this movie, first of all, because it’s annoying the way the music and a few twist put the spectator on the wrong track, until one realizes that there’s nothing going on at all…  BUT I liked the message for it shows that a relationship is built through time, and that love evolves and changes even though conventions tell that love has to go away (after a divorce, for example). In the end, worth watching…

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,8
Metascore 7,9
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 5,2
Average critics 7,9
Average public 5,2

Cast: Talia Balsam, Scott Cohen, Andrus Nichols
Director: Hilary Brougher
Writer: Hilary Brougher
Music by Herdís Stefánsdóttir
Cinematography by Ethan Mass
Film Editing by Maria Rosenblum

“Village Rockstars” by Rima Das (2017)

Good script, personages, images, content
Excellent direction

The life of a young girl who dreams of having a guitar
A serene movie in which children possess the rural Indian landscape
interesting scene when the girl gets her first menstruation
A movie predominantly made by Rima Das and her family, and if you’re patient enough to get to the end of the credits, you’ll see how extended her family is 🙂

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,3
IMDB 7,2
Average critics 8,0
Average public 8,3

Cast: Bhanita Das, Basanti Das, Boloram Das
Director: Rima Das
Writer: Rima Das
Music by Preetom Dutta
Cinematography by Rima Das
Film Editing by Rima Das

“The Secret Garden” by Agnieszka Holland (1993)

The work of Agnieszka Holland (3/3)

A Weekend Treat!

Good dialogues and direction

A children tale

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,9
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,4
Average public 7,7

Cast: Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, Laura Crossley, Maggie Smith
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Writers: Frances Hodgson Burnett (book), Caroline Thompson (screenplay)
Music by Zbigniew Preisner
Cinematography by Roger Deakins
Film Editing by Isabelle Lorente

“Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story” by Christine Swanson (2016)

Good direction, images, music, gender content and message

A bit too linear to my taste

IMDB 7,4

Cast: Teyonah Parris, Gary Dourdan, Darius McCrary
Director: Christine Swanson
Writers: Rhonda Baraka, Christine Swanson
Music by Kurt Farquhar
Cinematography by Tommy Maddox-Upshaw
Film Editing by Grisha Alasadi

“The Roads Not Taken” by Sally Potter (2020)

2020, a turbulent year!

Weak script

The broken life of a broken man broken into pieces
The story of a man who has lost track of time and who amalgamates the obsessive parts of his life at three different places (Greece, Mexico, New York)
Sally Potter didn’t succeed in letting us share this man’s painful journey, partially because of the continuous presence of his daughter: unable to follow what her father goes through, she takes the viewer away from him…

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,7
Metascore 3,9
Roger Ebert 5,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 4,8
Average critics 4,5
Average public 4,8

Cast: Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Laura Linney,, Chris Rock, Branka Katić
Director: Sally Potter
Writer: Sally Potter
Original Music Composer: Sally Potter
Cinematographer: Robbie Ryan
Editor: Emilie Orsini. Sally Potter, Jason Rayton
Composer: Sally Potter

“Meditation Park” by Mina Shum (2017)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Great script, humor, and images
Excellent personages, dialogues, and direction
Top gender content, minority presence and message

For her third feature, Mina Shum tackles again the problem of integration, this time, she takes the point of view of an older Chinese woman in Toronto who is kept subjugated by her husband. One day, she discovers that he cheats on her and decides to set herself free.
A warm and very real woman who belongs to the ‘forgotten’ individuals of our society; A husband who is prisoner of his Confucian values; and their children as mixed second-generation couples. All these aspects characterize Mina Shum’s work.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,4
IMDB 7,2
Average critics 7,7
Average public 7,8

Cast: Pei-Pei Cheng, Tzi Ma, Sandra Oh
Director: Mina Shum
Writer: Mina Shum
Music by Andrew Lockington
Cinematography by Peter Wunstorf
Film Editing by Daria Ellerman

“The Dandelions” by Carine Tardieu (2012)

French Week

Good dialogues and direction

Fun and some beautiful scenes
A sober movie, despite the exuberance of some personages
And for those of you who like Agnes Jaoui. her impact on the movie is very present

IMDB 6,8

Original title: Du vent dans mes mollets

Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Denis Podalydès, Isabelle Carré
Director: Carine Tardieu
Writers: Olivier Beer, Raphaële Moussafir, Carine Tardieu
Music by Eric Slabiak
Cinematography by Antoine Monod
Film Editing by Reynald Bertrand, Nathalie Hubert, Sylvie Landra

“Angela” by Rebecca Miller (1995)

The work of Rebecca Miller (1/5)

First Feature

Good dialogues

A young girl with a depressive mother and a stressed father takes her younger sister into a (religious) fantasy journey, torn between anger and guilt, heaven and hell
Some very amateurish aspects (have you seen the microphones?) but a movie that keeps surprising the viewer and that has a very expressive musical score
Nevertheless, there’s something that just feels wrong… Maybe it’s the fact that all females are having difficulties integrating the reality…

IMDB 6,4

Cast: Miranda Rhyne, Charlotte Eve Blythe, Anna Levine
Director: Rebecca Miller
Writer: Rebecca Miller
Music by Michael Rohatyn
Cinematography by Ellen Kuras
Film Editing by Melody London

“Meditation Park” by Mina Shum (2017)

Tribute to Mina Shum (3/3)

Great script, humor, and images
Excellent personages, dialogues, and direction
Top content

For her third feature, Mina Shum tackles again the problem of integration, this time, she takes the point of view of an older Chinese woman in Toronto who is kept subjugated by her husband. One day, she discovers that he cheats on her and decides to set herself free.
A warm and very real woman who belongs to the ‘forgotten’ individuals of our society; A husband who is prisoner of his Confucian values; and their children as mixed second-generation couples. All these aspects characterize Mina Shum’s work.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,4
IMDB 7,2
Average critics 7,7
Average public 7,8

Cast: Pei-Pei Cheng, Tzi Ma, Sandra Oh
Director: Mina Shum
Writer: Mina Shum
Music by Andrew Lockington
Cinematography by Peter Wunstorf
Film Editing by Daria Ellerman

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” by Marielle Heller (2019)

2019 was a good year!

Good script, personages, music, content (8)
Excellent dialogues, images (9)
Top direction (10)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,2
Metascore 8,0
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 7,8
Average critics 8,3
Average public 8,4

As she did in her previous movie “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” Marielle Heller takes us to visit a famous personage and creates a very original movie in the way she mixes the personages as well as the settings (even intelligently using the fact that the celebrity lives in Pittsburg and not in New York as Lee Israel did)
Extraordinary performance by Tom Hanks!

Cast: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Enrico Colantoni, Maryann Plunkett, Tammy Blanchard
Director: Marielle Heller
Screenplay: Noah Harpster, Micah Fitzerman-Blue
Director of Photography: Jody Lee Lipes
Editor: Anne McCabe
Original Music Composer: Nate Heller

“Troop Zero” by Bert & Bertie (2019)

2019 was a good year!

First feature

Good personages, dialogues, humor and direction (8)
Excellent content (9)

 A girl who pees in her bed, a ‘fat’ latina, a black rebel, a boy who’s half a girl, a girl who lost one eye… a broad spectrum of minorities who have to compete against the norm (= ‘normal’ children) 

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,5
Metascore 5,9
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 6,9
Average critics 6,2
Average public 7,6

Cast: Viola Davis, Mckenna Grace, Allison Janney, Milan Ray, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Epps, Ashley Brooke, Johanna Colón, Charlie Shotwell
Director: Bert, Bertie
Writer: Lucy Alibar
Cinematographer: James Whitaker
Editor: Catherine Haight
Composer: Rob Lord

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” by Marielle Heller (2019)

Good script, personages, music, content (8)
Excellent dialogues, images (9)
Top direction (10)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,2
Metascore 8,0
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 9,0
IMDB 7,8
Average critics 8,3
Average public 8,4

As she did in her previous movie “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” Marielle Heller takes us to visit a famous personage and creates a very original movie in the way she mixes the personages as well as the settings (even intelligently using the fact that the celebrity lives in Pittsburg and not in New York as Lee Israel did)
Extraordinary performance by Tom Hanks!

Cast: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Enrico Colantoni, Maryann Plunkett, Tammy Blanchard
Director: Marielle Heller
Screenplay: Noah Harpster, Micah Fitzerman-Blue
Director of Photography: Jody Lee Lipes
Editor: Anne McCabe
Original Music Composer: Nate Heller

“The Long Excuse” by Miwa Nishikawa (2016)

Facets of Fatherhood (4/10)

Good script, personages, direction, images, dialogues
Top score: gender (9)

Erasing motherhood: a rare look at fatherhood and male altruism

Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Pistol Takehara, Eri Fukatsu
Director: Miwa Nishikawa
Writers: Miwa Nishikawa (screenplay), Miwa Nishikawa (novel)
Music: Michiaki Katoh, Toshihiro Nakanishi
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
Film Editing: Ryûji Miyajima

“The Last Escape” by Lea Pool (2010)

Facets of Fatherhood (2/10)

Good dialogues, direction, images (8) Top score: minorities (10)

A typical Lea Pool’s family situation with a dominant father in continuous conflict with his children and a mother who holds the family together
A movie about incomprehension and resentment

Cast: Yves Jacques, Jacques Godin, Andrée Lachapelle
Director: Léa Pool
Writers: Gil Courtemanche, Léa Pool
Music by André Dziezuk, Marc Mergen
Cinematography by Pierre Mignot

“The Bad Batch” by Ana Lily Amirpour (2016)

Facets of Fatherhood (1/10)

Good script, personages, dialogues (8)
Excellent direction, images, music (9)

A very original movie (renews the western genre), a great work of art! (but not recommended for sensitive people)

Cast: Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Jim Carrey
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Writer: Ana Lily Amirpour
Cinematographer: Lyle Vincent
Editor: Alex O’Flinn

“Becoming Astrid” by Pernille Fischer Christensen (2018)

The work of Pernille Fischer Christensen (5/5)

Top score: message (9)

A poignant movie about motherhood
We don’t get to hear much about Astrid Lindgren’s work but the intelligent script gives us a good glimpse on how and why she created such stories for children as the extraordinary Pipi Longstockings
5th movie written by Kim Fupz Aakeson and Pernille Fischer Christensen
“For in the end, the narrative’s central crisis is resolved by Lindgren’s becoming a mother not only to her estranged young son, but to an entire continent of children.” [Pat Brown]

Cast: Alba August, Maria Bonnevie, Trine Dyrholm, Henrik Rafaelsen, Magnus Krepper, Björn Gustafsson, Maria Alm Norell, Maria Fahl-Vikander
Director: Pernille Fischer Christensen
Writer: Pernille Fischer Christensen, Kim Fupz Aakeson
Cinematographer: Erik Molberg Hansen
Editor: Kasper Leick, Åsa Mossberg
Composer: Nicklas Schmidt

“All That Matters Is Past” by Sara Johnsen (2012)

Sara Johnsen (3/3)

Top score: message (10)

A complex story in which the personages who seem to be victims are responsible and those who seem to be responsible might just be victims
Almost exclusively filmed in the wilderness
The Norwegian title ‘Uskyld’ means “innocence”

Cast: Maria Bonnevie, Inga Berger Schou, Tea Sandanger
Director: Sara Johnsen
Writer: Sara Johnsen
Music by Fernando Velázquez
Cinematography by John Andreas Andersen
Film Editing by Zaklina Stojcevska

“Lost In Yonkers” by Martha Coolidge (1993)

The work of Martha Coolidge (4/6)
Fridays Classics

Top score: music, script, personages, dialogues, humor, minorities (8)

A bit theatrical, the movie switches from conedy to drama
Good dialogues and humor, professional score by Elmer Bernstein

Cast: Irene Worth, Richard Dreyfuss, Mercedes Ruehl
Directed by Martha Coolidge
Writers: Neil Simon
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography by Johnny E. Jensen
director of photography: A. Troy Thomas
Film Editing by Steven Cohen

“Lore” by Cate Shortland (2012)

A year’s favorites review

Unpretentious, great acting, a dizzying but expressive camera work
Riveting!

Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi, Andre Frid
Director: Cate Shortland
Screenplay by Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw
Film Editing by Veronika Jenet

“Totally True Love” by Anne Sewitsky (2011)

A year’s favorites review

A good movie about another reality of love – that of a ten-year old girl for a boy in her class – within the intense but hard and unforgivable setting of prepubescent girls

Cast: Maria Annette Tanderø Berglyd, Otto Garli, Aurora Bach Rodal
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Writers: Vigdis Hjorth (novel), Kamilla Krogsveen (screenplay)
Music by Marcel Noll
Cinematography by Anna Myking

“Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame” by Hana Makhmalbaf (2007)

A year’s favorites review

= First Feature =

The difficulties that a young Afghani girl encounters when she decides to go to school
In their games the children mimic the sad world of their parents and reveal its absurdity
It is extraordinary how much this director is able to suggest with very little means: a notebook and a lipstick in the hands of a little girl are sufficient to summarize the feminine condition!
Excellent debut!

Cast: Abbas Alijome, Abdolali Hoseinali, Nikbakht Noruz
Director: Hana Makhmalbaf
Writer: Marzieh Makhmalbaf (as Marzieh Meshkini)
Music by Tolibhon Shakhidi
Cinematography by Ostad Ali
Film Editing by Mastaneh Mohajer

“Two-Legged Horse” by Samira Makhmalbaf (2008)

A year’s favorites review

A distressing story in an extraordinary setting that shows how a rich cripple boy exploits and enslaves a poor, mentally disabled young man, erasing all desires and identity in his submissive victim.
Remarkable acting!

Cast: Ziya Mirza Mohamad, Haron Ahad, Gol-Ghotai
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Writer: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Music by Tolibhon Shakhidi
Cinematography by Farzad Jadat
Film Editing by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“Blackboards” by Samira Makhmalbaf (2000)

A year’s favorites review

In a land where children are used as mules to carry stolen goods across the border, a group of teachers tries to find pupils. But all the inhabitants of these mountain villages refuse, saying that learning to write and to read is useless
A seemingly extremely simple movie full of deep resonances
“The stripped-down dramatic constructs, austere imagery and abstract characters are equal parts poetry and politics, obvious at times but evocative and heartfelt.” [Sean Axmaker]
[Duane Dudek] “A stark metaphor about diasporic people wandering aimlessly through rocky, desolate terrain, buffeted by unseen forces beyond their control” in which education and the hope for a better life it brings has no place

Cast: Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Writers: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf
Music by Mohammad Reza Darvishi
Cinematography by Ebrahim Ghafori
Film Editing by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“The Apple” by Samira Makhmalbaf (1998)

A year’s favorites review

= First Feature =

A father locks up his daughters because his wife is blind
Simple but irradiating / Excellent debut

Cast: Massoumeh Naderi, Zahra Naderi, Ghorban Ali Naderi
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Writers: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf (as Samireh Makhmalbaf)
Cinematography by Mohammad Ahmadi, Ebrahim Ghafori
Film Editing by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“Capernaum” (Capharnaüm) by Nadine Labaki (2018)

A year’s favorites review

Extremely touching and powerful movie, anchored in a revolting reality!
SPOILERS coming
Nadine Labaki opposes two families, both dysfunctional, both living on the fringe of society. On the one hand, a Lebanese family with many (many) children – Zain, a 12-year old boy, is one of them – living in the slums of Beirut. On the other hand, an Ethiopian woman with her baby living in a refugee camp. Although this single mother has nothing and struggles to keep her baby alive, it’s by her and her baby that Zain will find the love and care that were absent in his own family.

Cast: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawthar Al Haddad, Fadi Kamel Youssef, Nour el Husseini, Cedra Izam
Director: Nadine Labaki
Writer: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Georges Khabbaz, Michelle Keserwany
Music by Khaled Mouzanar
Cinematography by Christopher Aoun
Film Editing by Konstantin Bock, Laure Gardette

“C’est la vie” (La Baule-Les-Pins) by Diane Kurys (1990)

A year’s favorites review

Another look at Diane Kurys’ favorite theme: in the 1950s, a middle-aged woman with two daughers leaves her husband and has to start a new life. The way the two sisters experience this period is especially touching without being sentimental.
A great movie in which – to the displeasure of one critic – there’s no right and wrong, there’s no winner and no loser: adults and children just adapt themselves to the circumstances that compose their new life.

Cast: Nathalie Baye, Richard Berry, Zabou Breitman, Frederique Julie Bataille, Candice Lefranc, Vincent London, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
Directed by Diane Kurys
Written by Diane Kurys, Alain Le Henry
Produced by Alexandre Arcady
Photographed by Giuseppe Lanci
Edited by Raymonde Guyot
Music by Philippe Sarde

“Entre Nous” (Coup De Foudre) by Diane Kurys (1983)

A year’s favorites review

To escape a German internment camp during the war, a woman accept to marry a man she has never seen before. This marriage through which she acquires her freedom will become her prison after the war. She decides to divorce her husband and, with her two daughter – the oldest being the author – she moves to Paris where she meets another women. Attracted to each other, the two women will have to fight to gain their liberty.
These themes are a constant aspect of this author’s work.
The excellent script brings us through the changes that occur in the society and in the life of the personages in parallel.

Cast: Miou-Miou, Isabelle Huppert, Guy Marchand, Jean-Pierre Bacri
Written and directed by Diane Kurys
Produced by Ariel Zeitoun
Photographed by Bernard Lutic
Music by Luis Bacalov
Film Editing by Joële Van Effenterre

“Enough Said” by Nicole Holofcener (2013)

A year’s favorites review

Excellent acting in a finely-tuned story about the life and relationships of a middle-aged divorced mother

Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Ben Falcone, Toni Collette, Amy Landecker, Michaela Watkins
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Writer: Nicole Holofcener
Music by Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography by Xavier Grobet
Film Editing by Robert Frazen

“Entre Nous” (Coup De Foudre) by Diane Kurys (1983)

Homage to Diane Kurys (5/6)

To escape a German internment camp during the war, a woman accept to marry a man she has never seen before. This marriage through which she acquires her freedom will become her prison after the war. She decides to divorce her husband and, with her two daughter – the oldest being the author – she moves to Paris where she meets another women. Attracted to each other, the two women will have to fight to gain their liberty.
These themes are a constant aspect of this author’s work.
The excellent script brings us through the changes that occur in the society and in the life of the personages in parallel.

Cast: Miou-Miou, Isabelle Huppert, Guy Marchand, Jean-Pierre Bacri
Written and directed by Diane Kurys
Produced by Ariel Zeitoun
Photographed by Bernard Lutic
Music by Luis Bacalov
Film Editing by Joële Van Effenterre

“Capernaum” (Capharnaüm) by Nadine Labaki (2018)

Extremely touching and powerful movie, anchored in a revolting reality!
SPOILERS coming
Nadine Labaki opposes two families, both dysfunctional, both living on the fringe of society. On the one hand, a Lebanese family with many (many) children – Zain, a 12-year old boy, is one of them – living in the slums of Beirut. On the other hand, an Ethiopian woman with her baby living in a refugee camp. Although this single mother has nothing and struggles to keep her baby alive, it’s by her and her baby that Zain will find the love and care that were absent in his own family.

Cast: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawthar Al Haddad, Fadi Kamel Youssef, Nour el Husseini, Cedra Izam
Director: Nadine Labaki
Writer: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Georges Khabbaz, Michelle Keserwany
Music by Khaled Mouzanar
Cinematography by Christopher Aoun
Film Editing by Konstantin Bock, Laure Gardette

“C’est la vie” (La Baule-Les-Pins) by Diane Kurys (1990)

Homage to Diane Kurys (3/6)

Another look at Diane Kurys’ favorite theme: in the 1950s, a middle-aged woman with two daughers leaves her husband and has to start a new life. The way the two sisters experience this period is especially touching without being sentimental.
A great movie in which – to the displeasure of one critic – there’s no right and wrong, there’s no winner and no loser: adults and children just adapt themselves to the circumstances that compose their new life.

Cast: Nathalie Baye, Richard Berry, Zabou Breitman, Frederique Julie Bataille, Candice Lefranc, Vincent London, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
Directed by Diane Kurys
Written by Diane Kurys, Alain Le Henry
Produced by Alexandre Arcady
Photographed by Giuseppe Lanci
Edited by Raymonde Guyot
Music by Philippe Sarde

“For A Woman” (Pour une Femme) by Diane Kurys (2013)

Homage to Diane Kurys (1/6)

Last facet (for the time being) of Kurys’ introspective journey into the life of her parents and into her origins, with each facet bringing some differences and variations on the lives she tries to reconstruct but for most part must imagine.
Unfortunately, this last movie in Diane Kurys’ quest lacks the emotional charge that her preceding movies on the same theme had.

Cast: Benoît Magimel, Mélanie Thierry, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Sylvie Testud, Denis Podalydès, Julie Ferrier, Clotilde Hesme, Clément Sibony
Director: Diane Kurys
Writer: Diane Kurys
Director of Photography: Gilles Henry
Music by Armand Amar
Film Editing by Sylvie Gadmer

“Totally True Love” by Anne Sewitsky (2011)

Love obeys no rules
Three movies by Anne Sewitsky (2)

A good movie about another reality of love – that of a ten-year old girl for a boy in her class – within the intense but hard and unforgivable setting of prepubescent girls

Cast: Maria Annette Tanderø Berglyd, Otto Garli, Aurora Bach Rodal
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Writers: Vigdis Hjorth (novel), Kamilla Krogsveen (screenplay)
Music by Marcel Noll
Cinematography by Anna Myking

“Happy, Happy” by Anne Sewitsky (2010)

Love obeys no rules
Three movies by Anne Sewitsky (1)

first feature

A movie during which all the personages transgress their initial love-sex relationships.
Some loose ends and sketchy personages, but a self-assured touch and a sense of emotional drama with lots of potential.
Great use of music although the (musical) message has not been thoroughly thought of.
“Winner of Sundance’s grand jury prize for world cinema, “Happy, Happy” is a very strange film. Yet I was happy to be watching. It is short and intense enough that it always seems on track, even if the train goes nowhere.” [Roger Ebert]

Cast: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens
Directed by Anne Sewitsky
Written by Ragnhild Tronvoll
Music by Stein Berge Svendsen
Cinematography by Anna Myking
Film Editing by Christoffer Heie

“Two-Legged Horse” by Samira Makhmalbaf (2008)

Hommage to Hana and Samira Makhmalbaf

(and to Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marziyeh Meshkini)

A distressing story in an extraordinary setting that shows how a rich cripple boy exploits and enslaves a poor, mentally disabled young man, erasing all desires and identity in his submissive victim.
Remarkable acting!

Cast: Ziya Mirza Mohamad, Haron Ahad, Gol-Ghotai
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Writer: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Music by Tolibhon Shakhidi
Cinematography by Farzad Jadat
Film Editing by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“Blackboards” by Samira Makhmalbaf (2000)

Hommage to Hana and Samira Makhmalbaf

(and to Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marziyeh Meshkini)

In a land where children are used as mules to carry stolen goods across the border, a group of teachers tries to find pupils. But all the inhabitants of these mountain villages refuse, saying that learning to write and to read is useless
A seemingly extremely simple movie full of deep resonances
“The stripped-down dramatic constructs, austere imagery and abstract characters are equal parts poetry and politics, obvious at times but evocative and heartfelt.” [Sean Axmaker]
[Duane Dudek] “A stark metaphor about diasporic people wandering aimlessly through rocky, desolate terrain, buffeted by unseen forces beyond their control” in which education and the hope for a better life it brings has no place

Cast: Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Writers: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf
Music by Mohammad Reza Darvishi
Cinematography by Ebrahim Ghafori
Film Editing by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“The Apple” by Samira Makhmalbaf (1998)

Hommage to Hana and Samira Makhmalbaf

(and to Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marziyeh Meshkini)

first feature

A father locks up his daughters because his wife is blind
Simple but irradiating / Excellent debut

Cast: Massoumeh Naderi, Zahra Naderi, Ghorban Ali Naderi
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Writers: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf (as Samireh Makhmalbaf)
Cinematography by Mohammad Ahmadi, Ebrahim Ghafori
Film Editing by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

“Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame” by Hana Makhmalbaf (2007)

Hommage to Hana and Samira Makhmalbaf

(and to Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marziyeh Meshkini)

first feature

The difficulties that a young Afghani girl encounters when she decides to go to school
In their games the children mimic the sad world of their parents and reveal its absurdity
It is extraordinary how much this director is able to suggest with very little means: a notebook and a lipstick in the hands of a little girl are sufficient to summarize the feminine condition!
Excellent debut!

Cast: Abbas Alijome, Abdolali Hoseinali, Nikbakht Noruz
Director: Hana Makhmalbaf
Writer: Marzieh Makhmalbaf (as Marzieh Meshkini)
Music by Tolibhon Shakhidi
Cinematography by Ostad Ali
Film Editing by Mastaneh Mohajer

“Ballet Shoes” by Sandra Goldbacher (2007)

All we have is each other, says one of the three girls. A sentence that will be central in ‘Me Without You’
Another recurrent theme, the hurdles that women/girls face when they want to succeed!
A nice reference to director/choregrapher Bugsy Berkeley

Cast: Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton
Director: Sandra Goldbacher
Writers: Noel Streatfeild (novel), Heidi Thomas (screenplay)
Music by Kevin Sargent
Cinematography by Peter Greenhalgh
Film Editing by Adam Recht

“Down To The Bone” by Debra Granik (2004)

first feature

Dynamic camera, great acting

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Hugh Dillon, Clint Jordan
Director: Debra Granik
Writers: Jean-Michel Dissard, Debra Granik
Cinematography by Michael McDonough
Film Editing by Malcolm Jamieson

“Winter’s Bone” by Debra Granik (2010)

“A film with this sort of concise trajectory and unforced rhythm takes some time to digest, and Winter’s Bone is certainly a grower.” [Glenn Heath Jr.]

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Sheryl Lee
Directed by Debra Granik
Written by Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell
Music by Dickon Hinchliffe
Cinematography by Michael McDonough
Film Editing by Affonso Gonçalves

“Bird Box” by Susanne Bier (2018)

The good cast and direction, and the space provided for minorities – a mixed-race couple, an homosexual, a middle-aged lead woman, and a community of blind people among others – compensate for a scenario propped with cliches that are supposed to make the film acceptable in Hollywood’s terms. I miss the Danish Susanne Bier I once knew… [for more about this director, see The Movies of Susanne Bier]

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson, Danielle Macdonald, LilRel Howery, John Malkovich
Director: Susanne Bier
Writer: Josh Malerman, Eric Heisserer
Cinematographer: Salvatore Totino
Editor: Ben Lester
Composer: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

“The Land Of Steady Habits” by Nicole Holofcener (2018)

6 Mondays with Nicole Holofcener (6)

A finely-structured movie that shows the difficulties that men as young adults and during their midlife-crisis encounter as they try to find their place in a society that asks them to grow up. Immaturity is so difficult to live, whatever one’s age!
This movie parallels Nicole Holofcener’s preceding one, but instead of being centered on a middle-aged woman who has a daughter and develops a close relationship with the best friend of her daughter, it focuses on a middle-aged man, his son, and the close relationship that this man develops with the best friend of his son.

Cast: Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco, Thomas Mann, Elizabeth Marvel, Connie Britton, Michael Gaston, Josh Pais, Charlie Tahan
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Writer: Nicole Holofcener
Cinematographer: Alar Kivilo
Editor: Robert Frazen
Composer: Marcelo Zarvos

“Enough Said” by Nicole Holofcener (2013)

6 Mondays with Nicole Holofcener (5)

Excellent acting in a finely-tuned story about the life and relationships of a middle-aged divorced mother

Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Ben Falcone, Toni Collette, Amy Landecker, Michaela Watkins
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Writer: Nicole Holofcener
Music by Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography by Xavier Grobet
Film Editing by Robert Frazen

“The Savages” by Tamara Jenkins (2007)

3 Movies by Tamara Jenkins (2)

Cast: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco
Director: Tamara Jenkins
Writer: Tamara Jenkins
Music by Stephen Trask
Cinematography by W. Mott Hupfel III
Film Editing by Brian A. Kates

“The Last Escape” by Lea Pool (2010)

5 Fridays with Lea Pool (4)

A typical Lea Pool’s family situation with a dominant father in continuous conflict with his children and a mother who holds the family together
A movie about incomprehension and resentment

Cast: Yves Jacques, Jacques Godin, Andrée Lachapelle
Director: Léa Pool
Writers: Gil Courtemanche, Léa Pool
Music by André Dziezuk, Marc Mergen
Cinematography by Pierre Mignot

“Lore” by Cate Shortland (2012)

Unpretentious, great acting, a dizzying but expressive camera work
Riveting!

Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi, Andre Frid
Director: Cate Shortland
Screenplay by Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee
Music by Max Richter
Cinematography by Adam Arkapaw
Film Editing by Veronika Jenet

“Nanny McPhee Returns” by Susanna White (2010)

3 movies by Susanna White
first feature

A non-musical Mary Poppins with a good cast and some nice fantasy

Cast: Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes
Director: Susanna White
Writers: Emma Thompson, Christianna Brand
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography by Mike Eley
Film Editing by Sim Evan-Jones

“Paradise” by Mary Agnes Donoghue (USA, 1991)

First feature

first feature / good characters, good acting

Cast: Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, Thora Birch, Sheila McCarthy, Eve Gordon
Written and Directed by Mary Agnes Donoghue
Photographed by Jerzy Zielinski
Edited by Eva Gardos
Music by David Newman

“Mi Vida Loca” (My Crazy Life) by Allison Anders (USA, 1993)

Cast: Angel Aviles, Seidy Lopez, Jacob Vargas
Written and Directed by Allison Anders
Music by John Taylor
Cinematography by Rodrigo García
Film Editing by Richard Chew, Tracy Granger, Kathryn Himoff

“Elena Undone” by Nicole Conn (USA, 2010)

Lesbian love seen by a female director

Predictable but very real, with good love scenes / Shunned by critics

Cast: Necar Zadegan, Traci Dinwiddie, Gary Weeks
Director: Nicole Conn
Writer: Nicole Conn
Music by Mark Chait
Cinematography by Tal Lazar
Film Editing by Nicole Conn, Brian Wessel

“Project Eden vol.1” by Ashlee Jensen & Terrance Young (USA, 2017)

Very foreseeable developments, many cliches (the mafia speaks Russian, to make sure we know it is the mafia), enormous mistakes in the continuity (after she has been running hard for a few hundred meters, he asks her if she can walk), and a dystopian setting that is not even necessary to the plot… The few twists after an hour or so don’t make it better. One of the worse movies I’ve ever seen!

Actors: Erick Avari, Mike Dopud, Anna McGahan
Directors: Ashlee Jensen, Terrance M. Young
Writers: Ashlee Jensen, Terrance M. Young | 1 more credit »
Music by Jamie Murgatroyd
Cinematography by Christopher Lange
Film Editing by Terrance M. Young

“The Long Excuse” by Miwa Nishikawa (Japan, 2016)

A few recent movies on fatherhood

Erasing motherhood: a rare look at fatherhood and male altruism

Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Pistol Takehara, Eri Fukatsu
Director: Miwa Nishikawa
Writers: Miwa Nishikawa (screenplay), Miwa Nishikawa (novel)
Music: Michiaki Katoh, Toshihiro Nakanishi
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
Film Editing: Ryûji Miyajima

“Infinitely Polar Bear” by Maya Forbes (USA, 2014)

A few recent movies on fatherhood

Many good things about this movie: good humor, good dialogues, very good acting by Ruffalo. Add to this the efficient way to stage multiple facets about minorities  (depressed parent, mixed-race family, single father household, etc,).
The way the two daughters evolve and learn how to cope with their lovable but manic-depressive father is remarkable.

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Keir Dullea, Beth Dixon, Georgia Lyman
Director: Maya Forbes
Writer: Maya Forbes
Director of Photography: Bobby Bukowski
Music by Theodore Shapiro
Film Editing by Michael R. Miller

“Every Secret Thing” by Amy Berg (USA, 2014)

Good acting, good drama / “The interrogation scenes, between Alice and a detective played by Elizabeth Banks, explore the social disadvantages of a fat woman with a stark bluntness that’s unheard of in a popular cinema” writes Chuck Bowen.

Cast: Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Danielle Macdonald
Director: Amy Berg
Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener
Novel: Laura Lippman
Director of Photography: Rob Hardy
Editor: Ron Patane, Billy McMillin

“Infinitely Polar Bear” by Maya Forbes (USA, 2014)

First feature

Many good things about this movie: good humor, good dialogues, very good acting by Ruffalo. Add to this the efficient way to stage multiple facets about minorities  (depressed parent, mixed-race family, single father household, etc,).
The way the two daughters evolve and learn how to cope with their lovable but manic-depressive father is remarkable.

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Keir Dullea, Beth Dixon, Georgia Lyman
Director: Maya Forbes
Writer: Maya Forbes
Director of Photography: Bobby Bukowski
Music by Theodore Shapiro
Film Editing by Michael R. Miller

“It’s Complicated” by Nancy Meyers (USA, 2009)

 

 

Cast: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell
Written and directed by Nancy Meyers
Music by Heitor Pereira; co-composer: Hans Zimmer
Cinematography by John Toll
Film Editing by Joe Hutshing, David Moritz

“The Parent Trap” by Nancy Meyers (USA, 1998)

 

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson
Directed by Nancy Meyers
Written by David Swift, Charles Shyer
Music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography by Dean Cundey
Film Editing by Stephen A. Rotter

“Miss You Already” by Catherine Hardwicke (UK, 2015)

A movie that shows how humor has the power to lighten dramatic events
A world of women with supportive men

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette, Dominic Cooper, Jacqueline Bisset
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Screenplay: Morwenna Banks
Cinematography: Elliot Davis
Editor: Philip J. Bartell
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams

“First They Killed My Father” by Angelina Jolie (USA, 2017)

“That this movie even exists is a small miracle. That it seems to have been made without compromise and largely without ego makes it even more rare.” Matt Zoller Seitz. RobertEbert.com, September 15, 2017

Cast: Phoeung Kompheak, Sveng Socheata, Sareum Srey Moch
Director: Angelina Jolie
Writer Angelina Jolie, Loung Ung; based on the book by Loung Ung
Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle
Editor: Xavier Box, Patricia Rommel
Composer: Marco Beltrami

“The Long Excuse” by Miwa Nishikawa (Japan, 2016)

Erasing motherhood: a rare look at fatherhood and male altruism

Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Pistol Takehara, Eri Fukatsu
Director: Miwa Nishikawa
Writers: Miwa Nishikawa (screenplay), Miwa Nishikawa (novel)
Music: Michiaki Katoh, Toshihiro Nakanishi
Cinematography: Yutaka Yamazaki
Film Editing: Ryûji Miyajima

“The Bad Batch” by Ana Lily Amirpour (USA, 2016)

A very original movie (renews the western genre), a great work of art! (but not recommended for sensitive people)

Cast: Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Jim Carrey
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Writer: Ana Lily Amirpour
Cinematographer: Lyle Vincent
Editor: Alex O’Flinn

Paula Van Der Oest, director (3): “The Domino Effect” (U.K., 2012)

A plea against the global economy, showing how it particularly affects women and children. An ode to altruism, and to love as a safe haven. Great editing work and very sober dialogues, a hallmark of this director.

Actors: James D’Arcy, Theo James, Tiya Sircar
Director: Paula van der Oest
Writer: Paula van der Oest
Music by Adrian Corker
Cinematography by Guido van Gennep
Film Editing by Maurice Bedaux, Sander Vos

“Suzanne” (Katell Quillévéré, France 2013)

 

L’amour fou – Strong structure, sustained tempo, flawless

Actors: Sara Forestier, François Damiens, Adèle Haenel
Director: Katell Quillévéré
Writers: Mariette Désert, Katell Quillévéré
Cinematography: Tom Harari
Editing: Thomas Marchand

“Awol” (Deb Shoval, USA 2016)

Actors: Lola Kirke, Breeda Wool, Dale Soules
Director: Deb Shoval
Writers: Deb Shoval, Karolina Waclawiak
Music: Gingger Shankar
Cinematography: Gal Deren
Editing: Jeffrey Wolf

“Miracles From Heaven” (Patricia Riggen, USA 2016)

A tearjerker/feel good movie. It’s a pity its message is not more universal, its main ingredient, faith, being considered to be a monopoly of the church.

Cast: Jennifer Garner, Kylie Rogers, Martin Henderson, Brighton Sharbino, Courtney Fansler, Queen Latifah, Eugenio Derbez, Kelly Collins Lintz, John Carroll Lynch
Director: Patricia Riggen
Writer (book): Christy Beam
Writer: Randy Brown
Cinematographer: Checco Varese
Editor: Emma E. Hickox
Composer: Carlo Siliotto

“Things To Come” (Mia Hansen-Love, France 2016)

strongest: gender
weakest: humor

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, André Marcon, Edith Scob, Roman Kolinka, Sarah Le Picard
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve
Cinematographer: Denis Lenoir
Editor: Marion Monnier

“Frozen River” (Courtney Hunt, US 2008)

Director: Courtney Hunt
Writer: Courtney Hunt
Actors: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott

A feminine world from which the masculine is exiled at the fringe.
A world of women and children showing the universality and interchangeability of motherhood.
A multifaceted world on which it is as treacherous to tread as on a frozen river…