If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025) ****
A mother's life collapses around her. This was more surreal than I was expecting, esp. the way the camera is intently focused on Rose Byrne like she is being examined under a microscope, which is why it's no surprise she was nominated for an Oscar. There's a dark humor to it all, and oddly Conan O'Brien is the least funny character in the cast. I have no idea what the title means.
Lover, Beloved (2022) ***
A one woman musical about the writer Carson McCullers that was written and performed by Suzanne Vega. Apparently she's been working on it for years, and I was familiar with a few of the songs. It was intriguing at first, but it's a little too esoteric for someone who knows nothing about McCullers. What I did get out of it is that Vega is an excellent actor with a theatre degree, and it's nice to have this context for some of her music. She could easily go the way of Laurie Anderson if she wanted.
Piaffe (2022) *
An erotic German film about a novice sound designer who studies horse sounds so intently for a pharma commercial that she grows a tail. The photography is lovely but it's light on eroticism and arty without being compelling.
Written on Water (2016) *
Hour-long documentary about water rights disputes over the Ogallala aquifer in Texas that doesn't present the information very well or explain the conflict. All I learned by the end is that they're running out of water.
Rambo (2008) ****
I went in with low expectations but this turned out to be a solid and sober action/war film. The story is simple, but Stallone directs the heck out of it, and the violence is incredibly brutal (in the vein of Private Ryan). It occasionally gets histrionic, but for the most part it's about a man who is haunted by knowing how much of a lethal killing machine he can be. I don't think anybody wanted a Rambo movie in 2008, but it's the best since First Blood.
Troy (2004) ****
I heard the director's cut was an improvement over the original, but it's been so long since I saw the original that I can't compare. Troy is a good movie that never becomes the great movie it needs to be to rise to its legendary subject matter. I'm not sure what's lacking. The effects are great, the production values are sumptuous (if a little too clean), the battles are decent (and apparently gorier in the director's cut), the actors are physically magnificent (with Brad Pitt in stunningly peak shape) and the hair is beautiful. However, the acting is ham-fisted, as they usually are in these kind of epics, to the point of laughter sometimes, and there's little depth to the story. I guess Wolfgang Petersen couldn't muster the nuance the story needed.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1973) ***
Fresh out of high school, Duddy is hell-bent on getting rich and schemes and hustles to the point of alienating those around him. Will he develop empathy or will he grow up to be Gordon Gecko? Richard Dreyfuss is terrific in this little Canadian film he made between mega-hits American Graffiti and Jaws. The film is adapted from a novel and you can tell by the way it skips around a multitude of characters and plotlines, which makes it feel extremely long and rambling. If it were a tighter film it could have been a classic. The supporting cast is great, esp. Denholm Elliott.
Cactus Flower (1969) ***
A mild comedy with 60s sensibilities that, like Vivacious Lady I watched a few weeks ago, is all built around a strained premise: Walter Matthau doesn't want a serious relationship, so he tells his girlfriend he's married with kids. Once you swallow that plot pill, it's down to the performers to carry the show. Goldie Hawn won supporting actress in her first film role for being absolutely adorable, and she avoids being the ditzy blonde, but the movie really belongs to Ingrid Bergman in her first American film in decades. Bergman's Scandinavian ice queen is filled with repressed desire and it's great to see her blossom. Matthau is completely miscast as a philandering ladies man with a 21-year-old lover, but he underplays and handles the role the best he can. Someone like Tony Curtis would have been a much better choice. Apparently Lauren Bacall played the role for two years on Broadway and was upset she wasn't cast in the film.
The Hallelujah Trail (1965) **
Several groups clash over a wagon train shipment of whiskey. Admittedly, I dozed off through a lot of this film, but it's a cartoony Western comedy that simply isn't funny. It's unsophisticated and witless humor aimed at 8-year-olds. The best thing I can say about it is the restoration looks great and the mountain scenery is beautiful. Maybe it should have been animated?
